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parkers-gal · 3 years

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can you do a rogers!daughter x Peter Parker where he confesses his love to her after a battle and the avengers hear on coms

loved this a lot <3 (might do a part two. lemme know if y’all are interested hehe)

｡☆✼★━━ requests are closed ━━★✼☆｡

You’re paired with Wanda and Clint for the latest mission: invading HYDRA for the super-soldier serum. It’s hard work, and you’ve been fighting for a good hour. You’re getting closer to the center, and as you consistently report back to your dad and Tony through the comms, you can’t help but feel like something else is bound to happen. Sure, you’re your father’s kid, and maybe you inherited a few of his enhanced abilities, but you’re wearing down the line and your muscles are starting to ache in that familiar overworked way.

“How’s it going down there?” You hear your dad through your earpiece, and with a final punch to one of the guards, you wheeze out a response.

“Fine, just clearing out the area. Are we clear to enter yet?”

“Almost.”

You hum, turning the corner with your gun up front, just as Natasha had trained you so many times before. “I’m all clear over here.”

“Proceed to the lab. Tell me if anything goes sou-”

You don’t get to hear the end of your dad’s sentence, because somebody sends you a harsh blow to the side of your head, momentarily interfering with your senses. You go stumbling to the floor, muttering a quick “fuck” under your breath.

Turning over, you move to get up, but somebody picks you up by the collar of your suit. Suddenly, you feel cold metal against your temple and you know someone’s pointing a gun at you.

“Make a move and you’re dead meat,” he seethes out. His grip on you is strong, and you blink away harsh tears while attempting to stop your winced expressions of pain. You swallow thickly, and more voices come in through your comms.

“Y/N?” Steve yells, worried. “Y/N are you okay?”

Wanda’s voice runs through your ears, “Steve, someone’s holding her hostage!”

“Who’s down?” Tony butts in.

“Y/N,” Sam fills in. “Scanner shows a gun to her head.”

“Wait, Y/N?” You hear Peter, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. God, what you would give to be with Peter instead of this HYDRA agent. “Is she alright? What’s happening? Where is she?”

“Kid, I need you to not panic,” Tony says, thrusting upwards while he flies over a portion of the building to find Steve. “Y/N’s got a gun to her head and we can’t risk anything right now.”

“Right,” Peter swallows, “Sorry.”

“Does anyone have any ideas?” Wanda inquires before sending another agent flying into the wall.

“I do,” your father barks, vibranium shield coming into contact with a man who has a gun. He pushes the door open, “Attack.” He makes his way through the hallways and corridors, hoping to find any trace of you.

“Steve, you need to be careful. We don’t know what this guy can do.” Sam reports flying alongside Tony while the two of them find Peter webbing a few people to the walls of the building.

“You okay, kid?”

Peter nods at his mentor’s question. “We need to help Y/N.” His voice comes off frantic and worried, and if this were any other occasion, Tony would’ve teased him for being so protective of you.

“Tell me what you’re here for,” the man with a gun and an awfully shaved beard questions you, the gun nudging further into the side of your head.

Your jaw clenches and you swallow again, “I’m not telling you anything.”

The man makes a move to do something, and you know it can’t be good.

Suddenly, the hairs on Peter’s neck stand upright and his Peter Tingle goes off hazardously. He pauses where he is, stopping his movement while he blinks in surprise, senses going into overload. Suddenly, he makes the connection, and in a split second, he’s running so fast Tony can’t even register where he’s going and what he’s doing.

“Kid! Hey!”

Peter bursts through the door, web slinging and snatching the weapon right out the agent’s hand before he can even blink. You gasp in surprise, head shooting in the direction of Spider-man.

Peter blows a hit to the man’s head, successfully knocking him out in one hit. He’s at your side in seconds, questions flying out while you try to adjust to the quick change in situation.

“Y/N, are you okay?”

“Peter, I’m fine,” You assure him, bringing his hands away from your face.

He doesn’t get the message though, and his hands fly back up to your face, allowing you to nuzzle into his glove-clad palm. He uses his hands to turn your face, inspecting your eyes and cheeks and jaw for scratches and bruises. He’s muttering under his breath, frantic and paranoid.

“Pete, Pete,” You hold both of his hands, keeping them away from your face. “I’m fine. Are you alright? Why’re you so worried?”

The eyes of his suit widen and he backtracks slightly, but not enough to lose physical contact with you.

“Why am I so worried? You just had a gun to your head, Y/N! You could’ve died!”

“But I didn’t.”

“But you could’ve!” He huffs, neither of you realizing that the entire team can hear you through the comms — and that they are. “That guy could’ve killed you! We could’ve lost you- I could’ve lost you!”

“Peter, it’s part of the job,” You calm him down with a humorless chuckle, slightly wary of where this is going. “This wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. But you saved me,” He tries to dodge your hands but you persist, bringing him close. “You saved me, Peter.”

“But what if I didn’t?”

“You did.”

“But what if I don’t make it next time, huh?! What do I do then?”

You click your tongue, glancing around at the barren room and the man passed out on the floor. You take a step closer to Peter.

“You see that over there?” You point towards the glass container. “That’s the super-soldier serum.” You don’t hear the gasps of the Avengers. “You just saved my life and retrieved them. There’s no ‘what if’ when it comes to your abilities, Peter. You made it.”

He’s quiet for a few beats. “I don’t want to lose you,” He confesses, whispering it while leaning his forehead against yours. “I love you.”

You blink in surprise but his eyes are shut while he stays put against your face. His lips are mere inches from yours, and you can feel the warmth radiating off of him. The two of you are too caught up in the moment to hear everyone else gasping at Peter’s confession.

“Yeah?” You interlock your fingers, your other hand slowly taking the flap of his mask and dragging it up above his lips. His breath fans your face, and your eyelids flutter shut for a moment. “I love you, too.” It comes out as a whisper, and before you know it, Peter’s leaning in and so are you. And for a split second you realize this is your best friend that you’re kissing, but then you realize that it feels so right.

Meanwhile, Tony turns to Steve with wide eyes and Rhodey is mouthing “did you know?” to anyone who can answer. Tony puts his hands up defensively, feigning innocence, and both men turn to look at Steve, who’s beside Bucky and Sam now.

“Well?” Tony whispers?”

“I didn’t know!” Steve defends, grumbling a “not like I’d approve of it anyways.”

“I knew,” Bucky raises his hand.

“Yeah, and me,” Sam agrees and Bucky rolls his eyes with a scoff.

“No you didn’t. She told me.”

“Yeah and she told me, too.”

“Well she told me first.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes it is! I-”

“Guys!” Wanda cuts them off. She uses her head to motion towards a room, and heads turn in the direction of you and Peter, who are walking out with a briefcase full of the remaining serums.

“We good?” You ask as Peter pulls his mask down over his mouth and nose. Everyone nods and you walk over to your dad’s side.

“You okay, honey?”

“Fine, dad. Let’s just get out of here.”

He nods before looking at Tony. “Circle around the building and report back. Meet you on the quinjet in five.”

Peter smirks behind his mask when he realizes Bucky, Steve and Sam are all going to run their ways back to the jet.

“Race ya!” he yells before grabbing hold of your waist and thwipping up into the air. You scream in delight and Steve watches the two of you leave. Sam laughs at his seemingly protective-dad-mode.

#peter parker fic #peter parker fanfic #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x rogers!reader #rogers!reader #peter parker x avengers!reader #peter parker x avenger!reader #avenger!reader #avengers!reader #peter parker fluff #peter parker angst #peter parker imagine #peter parker blurb #peter parker oneshot #peter parker request

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septembercfawkes · 3 years

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Getting Passive Protagonists to Act

Many beginning writers struggle with protagonists who are too passive. The plot seems to constantly be happening to him or her, but the protagonist doesn’t take an action to make the plot happen.

Ideally, when an event happens to a protagonist, the protagonist responds by taking an action that influences the next event, which then influences the protagonist, which then influences an event—and on and on. But that can be easier said than done. Especially if you have a protagonist who prefers to live life passively.

This could all get confusing, though, because in story structure, almost all protagonists will more or less become more proactive. But for the sake of this post, I'm talking about protagonists who are characteristically passive. A protagonist who may want to kick up his feet in a hammock with a glass of lemonade and watch the world deal with its own problems. How do we write a story about that guy?

Many people will tell you that you can't--you must change the character.

But that is not wholly true.

It's true in a good story, we need the protagonist to act--especially at key moments--but that doesn't mean he innately yearns to act.

Often the best solution in dealing with a passive character is to strengthen the stakes. Let me explain.

Anyone will Act with the Right Stakes

The stakes are potential consequences; they are what are at risk in the story. We often think of them as negative things (someone's life may be at risk), but they can also be positive things (the opportunity to be taught by a professional in your ideal vocation).

Stakes are important because if there is nothing at risk, then what happens, doesn't really matter, which means what the protagonist does, doesn't really matter, because it doesn't change any outcomes. The story only matters insomuch as we understand potential outcomes. The protagonist's choices only matter if they affect the outcomes.

For example, we only care about Frodo destroying the Ring because we know doing so could rid Middle-earth of Sauron’s evil. If we didn't know that, what happened with the Ring wouldn't really matter. And what Frodo did wouldn't carry any weight. (You can learn more about stakes in my article "How to Write Stakes in Storytelling.")

When struggling with getting a passive protagonist to act, (almost) always look at the stakes.

No Stakes

Make sure that you’ve at least laid out stakes. Sometimes writers feel like the stakes are obvious, so they don't mention them. Just as bad, if not worse, the stakes may be too vague. And definitely worse: nonexistent.

If the protagonist doesn't have anything clearly to gain or lose, why would she act? If what happened to the Ring didn't change something, why would Frodo go to Mount Doom? Why would any of us do anything if it didn't make some kind of difference?

In a case like this, clear stakes need to be on the page.

Let's look at some examples of what one might consider passive people within the context of their stories.

Shrek wants nothing more than to live alone on his swamp. If there is nothing at risk, is he really going to go on an adventure to rescue a princess? Probably not.

In The Edge of Tomorrow, I think it could be argued that the protagonist, Bill Cage (played by Tom Cruise) is somewhat passive in relation to the main conflict. The story is about him fighting in a war against aliens, but he has absolutely no desire whatsoever to enter combat--in fact, he's a coward. You think he would sign up to be the first in combat out of the goodness of his heart? No way.

In Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow, protagonist Vash would rather spend all day, every day eating donuts, playing with kids, and helping out the person down the street. He'd rather live life under an alias than face the fact he's the only one capable of standing up to the antagonist and saving the human race.

If none of these characters ever had anything at risk, then they would have never taken the actions they needed to, to move the story forward. They would have been forever passive.

In short, they only acted once there were stakes.

Wrong Stakes

If there are stakes on the page, and the character still isn't acting, then chances are they are either the wrong stakes (things she doesn’t care about) or the stakes are too small (the potential consequences don’t pose a real threat or a meaningful gain).

If they are the wrong stakes, you need to think about what the protagonist cares about and put it in jeopardy. We all care about something--whether that’s a reputation or a pet.

For a passive person, you might need to dig deeper and brainstorm longer to figure out what it is. And if you are having trouble, keep in mind that it's also possible the passive protagonist wants something for someone else or his environment. Maybe she's satisfied drinking lemonade and getting picked on, but she's not okay with her kid getting bullied--that's not something she can let happen.

Shrek mostly cares about living alone on his swamp. If his distant neighbor is at risk of dying in loneliness, Shrek's likely not going to do much about it. The best way to get him to act, is to put his home and lifestyle at risk. He will be willing to take action to save that.

Bill is afraid of dying (it's part of what makes him a coward). If he's put in a situation where he could die, he'll be forced to act.

Vash is obsessed with saving people. Children, friends, innocents, criminals. It doesn't matter who. He doesn't want anyone to die. If no one is at risk of dying, then it's unlikely he will be drawn to fight his antagonists. Almost always he is led to act because someone's life is at risk.

Small Stakes

If the stakes are too small, you need to make them bigger by making them broader or more personal.

Even the most passive person is unlikely to feel passive with a gun pointed at them. Unless they have a death wish, in which case, you could have the gun pointing at a loved one, or you could threaten torture. Even people who have a death wish don't want to be tortured. Almost all of us will act if the stakes get big enough.

Alternatively, you can promise an opportunity that is too good to pass up. If all I want is to live out my life on a hammock by the beach sipping lemonade, then maybe the best motivation is the promise of getting that. Maybe I'd be willing to act, if it ensured that.

It's bad enough for Shrek to have a few creatures come on his swamp, but the fact that countless numbers of them will be exiled to his swamp, is even worse. This is a big enough issue to get him to act--he decides he must visit Farquaad, which moves the story to the middle.

It's bad enough to die once, but it turns out for Bill, that he has to die over and over and over again. He also has to go on the battlefield over and over and over again, too. He keeps repeating the same events. This is enough to get him to try new tactics (and really, what other choice does he have?).

It's bad enough that Vash can't save everyone. But when it turns out the antagonists plan to destroy the whole human race, well, he can't live out life in donut-filled peace, playing cops and robbers with tykes. He has to act.

Inaction Stakes

If your passive character still really does not want to act, it's worth keeping in mind that inaction is an action--it just needs significant stakes. There needs to be negative ramifications for the protagonist not acting. Ideally, eventually these negative consequences get so big or so personal, that the protagonist has to do something about it.

For example, at one point, Vash decides to live under an alias and do nothing. He decides to be inactive. Unfortunately, this results in an entire town getting wiped out by the antagonist. Doing nothing has steep consequences. He needs to at least try to do something.

This can become a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation--where "damned if you do" at least carries a small chance of success over "damned if you don't."

At one point in Edge of Tomorrow, Bill decides to do nothing. He even goes to a bar to drink in the middle of the day. Guess what? He still has to repeatedly die. Whatever he does, he ends up dying, and having to repeat that time frame. He can either be endlessly in a tortuous loop where he dies, dies, and dies, or he can keep trying to fix the situation. On the surface, it seems like he has a lot of options, since he gets to make different choices each time he repeats the day, but 99% of them lead to the same outcome. So in reality, he has very few choices. Act and maybe die. Or don't act and keep dying.

Limit Options

Related to the last one, one way to push a passive character to act, is to limit her choices and the outcomes. In fact, if we want to take this to the real world, studies show that the more options people have, the less likely they are to make a choice--or even make a good choice.

Like Bill, when there aren't really any options, the protagonist will be pretty much forced to act. Either keep reliving the same torture or try to do something about it.

Add to it some kind of countdown or convergence, so that the protagonist has a very limited window to act, and she'll have to do something.

Stakes Reveal Character

How the protagonist acts when there are things at risk, will reveal what kind of person she is.

In this sense, one might argue, that by strengthening the stakes to get her to act, you are changing her character after all.

Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that you are now revealing who she truly is.

Whatever the case, it can become an argument of semantics.

Similar things can happen with the term "passive."

Just understand the concepts and the tools.

The Reluctant Hero

In most, if not all cases, a characteristically passive protagonist will create a reluctant hero. Shrek doesn't want to save Fiona. Bill doesn't want to win the war. Vash doesn't want to confront the antagonist. They just want something to not happen, more than they want to do The Thing™️.

In this sense, while the passive protagonist will ultimately still be acting within the plot (which is necessary to write a good story), he or she may still yearn for passivity.

Of course, the character's arc may possibly shift that yearning by the end.

And it should go without saying, that pretty much all these same tricks will work for passive side characters, as well--when you need to get them to act. For example, in The Office, Stanley is characteristically passive. He pretty much sits in silence and does crossword puzzles. But when pushed far enough, he will back talk his boss. And when he wants something bad enough (like a free pretzel on pretzel day), he'll actually act.

#Writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writer problems #writing reference #protagonist #fanfic

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bern-the-bridge · 2 years

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Realistic Character Writing in Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime Spoilers)

Kugisaki Nobara

During the episode that Kugisaki was introduced, I already knew that JJK was going to be different from other shounen anime I’ve watched. Putting aside how absolutely badass this girl is, in her debut episode one scene in particular stuck out to me, and that is when the Cursed Spirit she fought held a child hostage.

A Cursed Spirit had taken hold of a kid and threatened to kill him if Kugisaki didn’t surrender. In any other anime, if this happened, more likely than not the protagonist would offer themself up without question. However, while Kugisaki does ultimately discard her weapons and put her hands up, she did something first that legitimately surprised me.

She thought about it.

Kugisaki actually considered giving the child up to save herself, knowing that otherwise they would both probably die. She weighed her options against each other. In most other anime, there would be no contemplation because she’s supposed to be a hero, she’s supposed to do the good thing. But as good as Kugisaki is, she still doesn’t want to die.

Which brings me to the other scene I want to discuss about her. In the season finale, Kugisaki and Itadori had a conversation about the morality of killing the Death Painting brothers. Kugisaki accepted that it was part of the job, because that’s the reality they live in. Because while the death penalty can be argued to be inhumane in the world we live in, their world is vastly different.

In our world, all humans have about the same capability and resources to commit crimes, as any human can learn how to wield a gun or use a bomb. But in the world of JJK, there are people that have the power to accomplish much scarier feats that can end up hurting way more innocent people. If Gojo suddenly turned evil, it wouldn’t be enough to put him in a cell and call it a day because all life is sacred and killing is bad, because he has the ability to harm much more than the average person. He would be a much larger threat.

If Kugisaki had to pick between killing or dying, she would pick killing in a heartbeat.

Fushiguro Megumi

Fushiguro holds the same regard for killing as Kugisaki. He accepted it to be a part of his duty. However, one of the most fascinating scenes for me is his argument with Itadori about a dead prisoner during the Cursed Womb Arc.

It’s honestly a really interesting parallel with Kugisaki and her hostage scene. But instead of rescuing an innocent kid, it’s one who is older and has a criminal record. Because not all victims are pure and pristine. Sometimes rescuing one person could end up killing others, too.

However, saving the victim isn’t even an option in the scene, because he had long since died. What Itadori wanted to do was bring the body back for his mother to confirm his death as well as to give her closure. But Fushiguro doesn’t stop there either, because he doesn’t think it would be worth the risk. Bringing the body with them would make them prone to an ambush, and it would have slowed them down from potentially finding actual survivors who would be even more vulnerable.

And it’s a really gray area, because while the stereotypical heroic thing might be to stop everything to help one person, they are still just teenagers who need to look out for themselves, too. While Fushiguro was seemingly selfish when in comparison to Itadori, Fushiguro was also thinking about his companions who were with him and had much less mission experience.

Itadori Yuuji

Still in the Cursed Womb Arc is one of the most intriguing fight scenes in the anime, which was Itadori versus the Cursed Womb. Itadori had been built up to be this selflessly courageous martyr, sacrificing himself to let Fushiguro and Kugisaki escape.

But as he neared his death, Itadori suddenly burst into tears.

There was nothing inspiring or admirable to watch as Itadori got beaten up. All I could see was a kid crying out that he didn’t want to die, over and over again.

Anime is full of teenagers, children even, who are willing to sacrifice themselves for their friends or the world without a second thought. They are seen as martyrs, idolized for their bravery and heroism.

But JJK is different because instead of a perfect paragon unblinking at the prospect of death, we watched Itadori break down, full of yearning, regret, and tears.

However, what is important to note, is that Itadori still did it. He was still willing to give himself up if it meant protecting his friends, even if he was shown to be fearful and crying.

Because while JJK is unafraid to portray their heroes struggling in the harshness of reality, to portray them with human flaws and differing morals, to portray them being tempted to do the wrong thing, that doesn’t change the fact that they are still heroes.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #itadori yuuji #fushiguro megumi #kugisaki nobara

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crossdressingdeath · 3 years

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I really saw people say that if JC should apologize to WWX, then so should he and I'm just like?????? For what????? Seriously, I don't understand. It gets even more annoying when they try to justify anything bad he ever did with "he saw his parents die and his sect was almost wiped out!!!" which I mean, yeah, that sucks but like, how does that make any of his mistreatment of WWX or JL after the fact ok?????

What does WWX even have to apologize for?! "Sorry I've always been better than you and wasn't prepared to pretend to be mediocre so you wouldn't have to feel the need to put in effort rather than just coasting on your family name"? (Seriously, slight digression, people talk like JC hates WWX's "natural talent" (which is also bullshit, WWX would've worked his ass off, being naturally inclined towards something doesn't make you an expert in it unless you put in the work) because he works super hard to be good at stuff but WWX always outdoes him "without trying" but point me to any point in the book that suggests JC ever tries to improve beyond the bare minimum requirement of being A Cultivator rather than just coasting on the fact that he's going to be a sect leader whether he has any merit in that position or not; he would literally rather die than put in extra effort, you cannot convince me JC has put in serious effort at anything other than being a serial killer a day in his life.) "Sorry your mother taught you that your father telling you trying to leave your allies to die was Bad meant he loved the kid he didn't have to tell those things to but also repeatedly put in upsetting, triggering, or life-threatening situations for your sake more than you"? "Sorry I saved your life by giving up my only currency in our society for your sake because you refused to live as an ordinary person"? "Sorry I wasn't okay with leaving the innocent people who risked their lives to save ours to die on false charges of complicity in WRH's atrocities, which you knew was what was happening but weren't prepared to do anything about?" "Sorry you got me brutally killed by an army by calling me a traitor to the sects because I wouldn't help you murder civilians?" "Sorry I'd rather spend my life with people who treat me with love and respect than the guy who got me killed out of petty spite"?! The fact that JC is good at making incredibly kind and self-sacrificial gestures seem bad just because they don't go entirely JC's way (just mostly and to the detriment of everyone else involved) doesn't mean that that's actually the case!

And yeah, people really do act like traumatic shit happening to you gives you to the right to do whatever you want to whoever you want. Which isn't just a JC stan thing, it's a pretty common take on social media. And it's stupid every time it comes up, because that's not how anything works. But it really is like... "You can't get mad at him for abusing JL and repeatedly trying to murder WWX, his family died!" Uh... in what fucking world does that have anything to do with what JC's done? Sucks that his family died, but that doesn't give him a free pass on child abuse and repeated counts of attempted murder! Not to mention the serial killing and leading an army to kill old people and children. Sorry, guys, his parents and sister dying doesn't mean he has the right to brutally murder a bunch of other people's parents and siblings.

#mdzs #grapehate #asks #anon

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in-my-feels-probably · 3 years

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INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

Prologue - Before

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more.

INEFFABLE -- Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.)

too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of.

Prologue - Before

Elham Creed had never known what it was like to be part of a family. From a Ravkan orphanage, to the Little Palace, finally landing in Ketterdam, the Barrel, she had never felt the sense of safety and security she had longed for as far back as she could remember. She wouldn’t find it in Ketterdam.

At 13 years old, with nothing but a collapsable sword belted around her waist and the clothes on her back, she had spent the first few days in the Barrel stalking around, stealing scraps of food where she could, trying to get her bearings. The frigid air sweeping over the harbour into the edge of town at night where she slept was enough to make Elham almost miss her room at the Little Palace.

Almost.

She wouldn’t go back, not after her mentor, Baghra’s, warnings. All she could do was push forward and move on. She spent nights alone ducked away into abandoned shacks, using her powers to spark warmth and light, practicing control. Being an inferni had its perks, but Elham was special. She didn’t need a starter, or a piece of flint to create a spark she could turn into a flame. She could create the flame all on her own. She kept this and her powers a secret, however. If the Darkling had taken interest in her abilities, there’s no doubt one of the Barrel bosses would bait her into doing their bidding.

And Elham Creed would do no one's bidding. She would be no one’s puppet.

---

Elham remembered the first time she killed a man. Coincidentally, it was also the first time she met Kaz Brekker. She was now 14, making her way towards the harbour, working on one of the odd jobs she could scam her way into. She headed past the White Rose on the way, one of the most frequented brothels in Ketterdam.

She headed down the alley behind the sorry excuse for an establishment, when she heard a scream. She rounded the corner, to find a man with his hand wrapped tightly around one of the employed girls' wrists, the other hand making its way up her hip, pinning her against the wall.

It’s a shame. Maybe if he had heard her coming, he could have avoided the sword held up to his neck. He could have avoided his death.

Most men in the Barrel, as Elham had come to realize, were not good men. While the “pigeons,” as she had come to know the tourists as, would have tucked tail and ran, this man did not. He only scoffed.

“A sword?” The man had slurred at her, clearly drunk. “You do realize I could have you shot and dead in a second, and get back to this lovely girl you so rudely interrupted me from. Although, you’re a pretty thing. Exotic. Maybe I’ll have you instead,” he had said, reaching for the pistol strapped to his hip.

Big mistake.

With her eyes glossing over, and a rage building inside her, she quickly removed the sword from his throat, and ran it through his back. He sputtered, and fell to his knees, choking on his own blood, or maybe his last words, Elham didn’t take the time to figure out which. She walked around to face his front as he gazed up at her, clutching his stomach with wide eyes. She breathed heavily, eyes wild.

“Good riddance.”

She lifted her foot and sent him sprawling back against the street, blood pooling around him. She glanced back at the girl who was still frozen against the wall, and her eyes softened.

“Thank you,” she whispered, before hurrying back into the White Rose. Elham only nodded, taking a breath, before turning to head towards the harbour.

That’s when she saw him.

A boy, no older than 14, dressed in black, gloves fitted to his hands. He seemed to be analyzing her, gears turning in his head. Kaz hadn’t mastered his pokerface yet, and Elham was good at reading people. She was unsure why she didn’t feel threatened by his presence, especially since he had just witnessed her kill someone, and she had no idea what his intentions were.

“You just killed a Dime Lion.”

Elham had heard of the gang before, and their leader, Pekka Rollins. She knew she was going to regret interfering with gang business, but her head was beginning to cloud, tears forming in her eyes. But she had saved that girl, she had saved herself, it was a split second decision. Unable to form words, she met the boy's stare.

She only slowly nodded in response.

After pondering for a moment, he had offered to take her to his boss, claiming that she’d be a valuable asset to the team. He’d never admit to her that it really was because he couldn’t bear to see the Barrel swallow up and harden another innocent kid, and maybe it was the way her eyes had glazed over, or how tattered her clothes were, or simply because she didn’t look at him like he was some sort of monster, but he took her in.

It was true, Haskell had been needing a new asset to the team, someone young and quick who could take care of themselves. Bringing a girl back to the Dregs was a risk, and Kaz was in no position to make himself look weak around the gang, but he just couldn’t leave her there in the street. That part of the Rietveld in him hadn’t died yet.

To this day, Elham isn’t sure what made her accept his offer to come with him. After almost a year in Ketterdam, she trusted no one, got close to no one. She had no business getting involved with a gang, she could have walked away, continuing to the harbour for the job assigned to her. There was something about him, though. And going with him was arguably the best decision she has made, she had decided.

---

Elham had been part of the Dregs for a few months, slowly gaining a reputation for herself. Kaz had taken a liking to her, almost admiring how fast she had taken to a life of crime, to the rigidity of the Barrel. He found a secret comfort in her presence, and in the fact that her story was similar to his. She hadn’t revealed much about her past to him, just enough to keep him intrigued.

And he was, despite his brain demanding he think otherwise, intrigued. She was ambitious, and cunning. Most interestingly, however, she was ruthless.

She had killed many men since the day she met Kaz. Barrel men were not good men. Elham made it a point to seek out the men who only caused pain. Men like the first man she had killed, men like Pekka Rollins and his Dime Lions. Men like them didn’t get to cause all the pain and suffering they did, and live.

Kaz had dubbed her, “The Valkyrie,” once, while on a job. The other Dregs took a liking to it, and it stuck. She asked him many times what it meant, why he would call her that, but he only smirked to himself, amused by her new found reputation, much to her annoyance.

He finally explained it to her, the night he broke his leg. They had been paired on the job together, and it had gone disastrously. They were sprinting along a rooftop, when Kaz made a bad landing, completely breaking the bone in his leg.

It was the first time she touched him.

When she first joined the Dregs, she had quickly picked up on the fact that he didn’t want to be touched. She could sense his unease when they had to be close together on jobs in tight spaces, or when one of the drunken Dregs would pat him on the back for a job well done, or during a brawl with a rival gang. She always kept her distance, respecting his space.

But this time, she had no choice. Kaz was crying out in pain, and Elham knew she had to get him back to the Slat to get his leg reset, and out of harm's way. She clicked the button on her belt and grabbed for the hilt of her sword, and with a flick of her wrist, it unfolded into place to its full length. Kaz had pulled himself to a kneeling position, desperately trying to hide his vulnerability, eyes frantically looking for an escape. She offered the hilt of her sword to him.

“Kaz, you have to let me help you. I’m sorry, but you have to let me. Hold onto the hilt, and on three, I’m going to tug under your arm to get you standing. We’ve got to get you back to the Slat before you pass out from the pain or we get ourselves killed out here.” He only gave her a pained look, before nodding, and they slowly made their way back to the Slat, with him putting as much weight on the hilt as he could, Elham trying her best to make sure he couldn’t feel her fingers through his jacket as she dragged him along.

Hours later, while he lay unconscious on the cot in his room, Elham had anxiously waited in the chair in the corner of the room. She hadn’t realized how much she had grown to care for Kaz, for him and her life with the Dregs. She knew she would have killed for him that night if it came to it, no doubt about it in her mind. Kaz only awoke for a few minutes that night, and had mumbled a few words to her.

“Do you know what Valkyrie means? It means ‘chooser of the slain.’ It seems like you choose who lives and dies around the Barrel. Killing men, making sure I don’t die. It’s fitting, isn’t it?” He had joked to her, the faintest of grins tugging at his lips. Elham had sucked in a breath, and offered a small smile at him, standing to leave as he drifted off, knowing he was going to be alright. Broken, as she knew he would think of himself, but alright.

---

It had been a few years in the Dregs, as the Crows slowly formed. First Jesper, then Inej. The Dregs had become a force to be reckoned with in Ketterdam. Despite their ages and newness to the life of a gang, The Sharpshooter, the Wraith, the Valkyrie, and Dirtyhands were well known identities around the Barrel.

They had hardened over the years, Kaz more so than any of them, the Barrel being a quick teacher in offering harsh life lessons.

Elham remembered the first time one of them uttered the words, “no mourners, no funerals.” Inej had been interested in what Elham’s name meant, Elham meaning inspiration, Creed meaning belief or law. A particular favorite member of the Dregs, and a friend of Rotty’s, had been killed on a job. Elham took this particularly hard, he was one of the men that had made her transition into the gang easier.

They sat silently in her room together, when Jesper spoke softly. “You know, I’ve been thinking about your name. Creed. Maybe, ‘no mourners, no funerals’ could be our creed.” Elham had let a tear roll down her cheek at that, and she nodded at Jesper, letting him grab her hand, while Inej, perched on the window ledge, laid her hand on Elhams shoulder. Kaz had lifted his eyes from the floor when Jesper spoke, his eyes landing on the girl. He slowly slid his cane towards her, softly tapping the end at the base of her ankle, before returning to his original position.

It was one of Elham’s favorite memories of them. Of him.

The Crows were chaotic and an odd group, but they were Elham’s family, as close as she would ever get to one. Saint’s forbid she ever told them that, it would go straight to Jesper’s head. But they were enough for her. Her Crows were enough. And they were about to raise a little bit of hell.

---

A/N - hi everyone, omg im so excited about this book, i hope you liked the prologue, im working on the first few chapters and will have them up soon. let me know what you think so far, and thank you for the support!

#kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #six of crows #shadow and bone #wattpad #prologue #original character #ineffable #in_my_feels_probably

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red-talisman · 4 years

Text

An unbetaed snippet of post-CQL canon Yunmeng reconciliation, which is mostly extremely morbid and blunt conversation after beating each other hard enough that they’re too tired for their usual conflicting modes of emotional avoidance.

EDIT: now edited and posted on AO3. :D

CW for past suicidal ideation. Part of my “let WWX express some of his cynical humor and creepiness more often” and “let WWX find out about JC’s own sacrifice goddamnit” agendas.

___________________

Jiang Cheng stares blankly into the trees, their trunks slowly disappearing in the deepening darkness of twilight. Wei Wuxian’s back is warm against his and heaving for breath just as heavily. He thinks his ankle might be broken, but Wei Wuxian is probably worse off.

“You’re an asshole,” Wei Wuxian says thickly.

“Hypocrite,” Jiang Cheng mutters without heat, and Wei Wuxian manages a snort between his gasps.

“Yeah.” After a moment, he adds, with an echo of the old Yiling Laozu in his voice, “You know that if you ever do something like that again, I’ll probably find a way to do something worse than I did before.”

“If I do what, save your life by pulling the same fucking sacrificial shit that you do?”

“I swear to every god out there that I will bring you back as a fierce corpse and kill you myself,” Wei Wuxian says in a pleasant, albeit still somewhat breathless, tone. “I will dismember your carcass and make Jin Guangyao look like a fucking amateur.”

“Good thing Mo Xuanyu’s core isn’t worth shit, then,” Jiang Cheng replies. All of his attention is focused on the feeling of his brother’s bones and muscles moving against his own spine.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a pause. Somewhere distant Jiang Cheng hears the panicked yells of what’s probably the juniors they left behind a few li back. Then Wei Wuxian sighs. “We’re really fucked up.”

Jiang Cheng takes his time considering and discarding several possible responses. His ankle hurts like a bitch; Mo Xuanyu’s core may not be worth shit, but damn if his asshole genius brother hasn’t figured out how to make the most of it anyway. He finally settles on a tired, “Yeah.”

The silence stretches on long enough that Wei Wuxian goes on, more quietly, “You and Shijie are the only reason I didn’t die in the Burial Mounds. The Wens grabbed me before I knew whether or not you’d even survived the core transfer.”

Jiang Cheng tilts his head just enough to glance briefly over his shoulder. “How did you survive the Burial Mounds?”

“Nope, no, I’m not putting that on you. Not even Lan Zhan knows. I can’t...I can’t do that.”

“Fine. Then tell me, is any of it going to come back and bite us in the ass at the worst possible moment?” he asks dryly.

Wei Wuxian snorts, humorless. “Nah. It’s all mine.”

“Would you tell me if it wasn’t?”

When Wei Wuxian hesitates for a few telling seconds, Jiang Cheng mutters, “You fucking asshole.”

“Yeah.” Wei Wuxian sighs again.

“You left me.”

“You didn’t need me.”

“Who the fuck said that?”

The knobs of Wei Wuxian’s spine are starting to press painfully into Jiang Cheng’s. Wei Wuxian snorts. “I was practically a fierce corpse myself when I dragged myself out of the Burial Mounds. Your position as sect leader was too precarious,” he says bluntly. “You were seventeen years old with no real family, a sister who was getting married off anyway, and an adopted brother who’d been controversial years before the war even happened and who was clearly half-mad and getting worse. And I...my mind never really left the Mounds, honestly.” He coughs, makes a wet sound, and spits. “If I stayed much longer I was going to end up dragging you back into Hell with me. I was a risk you couldn’t afford and I wasn’t going to destroy Yunmeng Jiang a second time.”

"Don’t pull that bullshit, Wei Wuxian.” Jiang Cheng is so, so tired. “Mother was wrong. You know Wen Chao was looking for any excuse. You’re as responsible for that as our shidi was for using a round kite.”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t respond. Jiang Cheng makes a mental note to beat that nonsense out of him in the future, when he can lift his arms again and his ankle isn’t most likely broken.

But Jiang Cheng remembers what it was like to try turning weapons, human and sword alike, into tools of peace. There are still whole weeks of the Sunshot Campaign that are just smears of sense-memory: the cacophony of screams and curses; the reek of mass funeral pyres and the soft ash drifting through the air like black, silent snow; the startling warmth of being suddenly drenched in blood after Sandu sliced open another living human. Half the time he’d come back to himself laughing hysterically, unable to see anything through the tears on his face, and as the war dragged on, the tears eventually dried up. It had taken months afterwards to settle into the mindset of rebuilding for Lotus Pier. (If he’s honest with himself, he never really did settle there. There's always a part of him still dragging itself through mud made by blood spilled on battlefields and churned up by soldiers' boots.)

“Jin Ling’s the only reason I never actually killed myself after you died,” Jiang Cheng says. “...Don’t you ever tell him that.”

“Wait, what?” Wei Wuxian snaps.

“You saying I would’ve died without a core - it was never about not having a core, you idiot, not really.” Not to say that hadn’t hurt, and Jiang Cheng really doesn’t know how he would’ve managed life as a commoner. But there were still worse things to lose than a core, which had also just lost and was about to lose yet again. “I had a few ideas on how to do it, depending on where I was and what was available when I decided I might as well get it over with.” He huffs a brief laugh and idly rubs his thumb over Sandu’s hilt. “I thought poison might be a good option, if a little heavy-handed on the metaphor.”

“I’d be laughing,” Wei Wuxian says flatly, “if you weren’t talking about killing my little brother.”

“Am I?”

“You never stopped.”

The silhouettes of the trees start to blur in Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “You left. You left, and everyone died, and somehow I was responsible for keeping our sister’s baby alive while the wolves tried to eat what remained of our sect from every direction. You left.”

“I never wanted to.”

“But you did.”

“Because I didn’t see any other way to keep you safe.”

“Because you chose strangers over family.”

“Because I didn’t see any other way to keep you safe,” Wei Wuxian hisses. Apparently they’re not so exhausted that they can’t get pissed after all. “I was hardly human anymore, Jiang Cheng. If I was going to die, then at least I’d die actually managing to save innocent people this time around and you would be safe from me.”

“I never wanted you to do that for me!”

“And I never wanted you to do that for me!”

The tension that had them both struggling to sit up straight suddenly breaks, and their backs collide again. Jiang Cheng grits his teeth against the urge to groan over the pain that ricochets through his chest and down his limbs. He hears a muffled yelp from behind him.

“You’re a damned fucking asshole and you’re my fucking brother and I hate you and don’t you ever assume you know what I need again, do you understand me,” snarls Jiang Cheng.

“You’re the damned fucking asshole and if you ever do that again then I will brand a reminder into your flesh right over the scar from the discipline whip,” Wei Wuxian snaps back, because he's never held back from fighting dirty if he thought it necessary.

“Fine!”

“Fine.”

They both stare into the dark forest, in opposite directions. It sounds like the juniors have finally picked up their tracks. Useless, the whole lot - Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian hadn't exactly been subtle in stepping aside for a private conversation that inevitably escalated, how could it take the kids this long?

"Those dumbasses had better not forget that we're on a night-hunt," he says.

"Like we did?" Wei Wuxian replies.

"You started it."

"Did not."

"No, I'm not doing this with you."

"Hey, you started this one."

"Shut the fuck up."

They fall silent again. A cold breeze picks up and Jiang Cheng feels Wei Wuxian shiver, pressing back just a little more firmly against Jiang Cheng for warmth, and he...leans back too. Just a little.

"I'm still fucking pissed at you," says Wei Wuxian.

"And I've got years' worth to pay you back for," says Jiang Cheng.

"Fine."

"Sect Leader Jiang!" they hear. "Senior Wei!"

"If you don't show up for the mid-autumn festival," Jiang Cheng suddenly says, "I'll come drag you out of the Cloud Recesses by the heels."

"But the dogs - "

"Don't be an idiot. Jin Ling's dog is the only one allowed in Lotus Pier, you know that."

Well, come to think of it, Wei Wuxian probably doesn't know that, but whatever, now he does. Wei Wuxian is terrifyingly silent, but before Jiang Cheng can say something that will inevitably bring them back to throwing fists, he hears a quiet, "Yeah, okay."

"Do you think they killed each other?" they hear Lan Jingyi asking loudly. "I mean, Sandu Shengshou versus the Yiling Patriarch - who would win?"

"Don't be an idiot," retorts Jin Ling, and Wei Wuxian's body briefly shakes with a laugh. "My uncle, obviously."

"They're both your uncle, idiot!"

Jiang Cheng just sighs and lets his head fall back against Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.

#jiang cheng #wei wuxian #yunmeng bros #yunmeng reconciliation #through inappropriate and blunt conversation #this is not Trauma-Informed (TM)#i just wanted to vent some of my own feelings about them both #jukebox fic #mdzs

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sourwolf-sterek32 · 3 years

Text

Welcome to the End

Summary: Y/N Winchester was a hunter like her brothers, following in their fathers footsteps. Saving people, hunting things, the family business.

During a case in Georgia, you meet the Dixon brothers and after saving Daryl’s life against a Chupacabra, the two of you become close. But, when the zombie apocalypse starts, life as you know it changes forever.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Winchester!Reader

Word Count: 4.3k

Warnings: Language, descriptions of blood and injury

Chapter 14-

Negan was John Winchester.

No.

That was impossible, it couldn't be your father.

Your father had died over 14 years ago.

It couldn't be him.

"Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon." He chuckled, his eyes glancing over all of you.

But, he didn't even look twice at you as he looked your way before looking at some else. Did he not recognise you?

"Dad?" You whispered, your voice trembling as he turned towards in confusion.

"Now, you look awfully familiar. What's your name?" Negan asked as he crouched down in front of you curiously.

"Y/N."

"Don't recognise the name, but you do look familiar." He responded before standing back up and looking around at your group, dismissing you entirely. "Anyway, which one you pricks is the leader?"

Why couldn't he remember you? How was he here? You had so many questioned and you had no idea what to do.

"It's this one." Someone said.

"Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan and I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes." Negan said with a grin before he turned away from Rick and began to walk in front of the rest of you as he spoke.

"You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes, pay attention." Negan instructed as he pulled the baseball bat off his shoulder and he held it beside Ricks head.

This was not your father.

Your father would never kill innocent people. He would never do this, especially to you. Whoever or whatever this man was, it wasn't John Winchester, but you couldn't figure out how it had taken your fathers body. Maybe it was a shapeshifter, or a demon, but you thought all of them had died when the dead started to rise.

You sat up straighter as you eyed the bat inches away from Rick's face, your hand reaching for your angel blade hidden in your boot. If it was a shapeshifter or a demon, you could kill it.

Suddenly Daryl grabbed your shoulder, silently shaking his head, knowing what you were about to do and you just nodded as he removed your hand and you looked back towards Negan and Rick.

You couldn't risk doing something stupid and getting someone killed.

"Give me your shit or I will kill you." Negan threatened, moving the bat closer to Rick's face.

Rick ducked his head away from the back and that was all it took for you to snap. Nobody threatened your friend like that, especially not this asshole wearing your fathers body.

"Touch him and you'll be dead before you hit the ground." You warned, glaring at Negan, but you didn't miss how Rick quickly looked towards you with pleading eyes silently begging you to shut the fuck up, but you ignored him as you stared at Negan.

"Shit, darling. That isn't any way for a lady to speak."

He stepped back from Rick, his eyes on you in amusement.

You could see Daryl visibly tense out the corner of your eye and you hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. Although, Rick was probably hoping the same thing about you.

Negan had somehow taken over your fathers body, which was just insane because you and your brothers burnt his body all those years ago and you had no idea what was going on.

"My men roughed you up good, huh?" He asked, his eyes flashing over the blood on your face as he began to walk over to you, slinging the baseball bat back over his shoulder as his eyes locked with yours.

Negan stared at you for a few seconds, his eyes scanning your body like he was sizing you up before he turned back towards the others.

He continued talking about how he now owned you all and anything you had, he now owned. But you were only really listening to him, as you took in your surroundings.

There was no way you could fight your way out of this. All your weapons had been taken and there were over 30 Saviours all standing around behind you with guns or melee weapons in their hands.

You glanced over at Daryl beside you, he was staring at the ground, the blanket still draped over his shoulders to try hide the fact that his bullet wound had healed. He lifted his head sensing that you were looking at him and your eyes locked with his ocean blue ones.

"You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punisher now, did you? I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me and you can't do that if you're dead now, can you? I'm not growing a garden. But, you killed my people. A whole damn lot of them, more than I'm comfortable with and for that, for that you're gonna pay. So, now I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you."

Negan was going to kill someone, he was actually going to kill one of you.

"This." Negan began to say as he pulled the baseball bat off his shoulders as he waved it around. "This is Lucille, and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour." He stated and you gasped in shock.

Lucille.

He named the baseball bat after your mother. But, how did he know that name? He didn't know you, so how the hell did he know Lucille?

You stared at Negan for a few seconds trying to figure out what the hell was going on before something suddenly clicked.

Maybe this was Chuck.

He said 'you'll be seeing your father soon' before you killed him, at first you thought it meant that you were all going to die and see him then, but maybe Chuck had planned this. Maybe Chuck had put a demon or shapeshifter in your fathers body and they still had some of his memories which is why Negan thought you looked familiar.

You were so caught up in your thoughts, you barely even noticed that Negan was walking up and down the line of you, until he stopped in front of Maggie.

You only just realised how pale she looked and how her hair was now cut short, when did that happen?

"Jesus. You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now." Negan teased when suddenly Glenn lunged forward.

Your reaction time wasn't quick enough in your weakened state as you reached out to try and grab him, but he was too fast.

"No!" Glenn screamed, but before he could reach Negan, Dwight tackled him to the ground aiming Daryl's crossbow to Glenn's head and you froze in panic.

Dwight had Daryl's crossbow. He had it aimed at Glenn, loaded and everything.

"Nope, get him back in line. Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it."

He paused for a moment before he continued talking.

"Sucks, don't it? The moment you realise you don't know shit. This is your kid, right? This is definitely your kid." Negan stated, his eyes flashing between Rick and Carl as he began walking over to the teenager and your blood turned cold.

"Just stop this!" Rick yelled, speaking up for the first time.

"Hey! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order."

He walked up and down the line, his eyes scanning over your friends as he began to whistle, clearly trying to figure out who to kill, but the thought of him killing any of these people, any of your new friends... you couldn't even think about it.

"I simply cannot decide. I got an idea." Negan announced as he slung his bat off his shoulder and walked towards Rick.

You were a second away from getting up and spear tackling the man before he spoke again and you froze.

"Eenie." He said with a grin before he moved onto the next person with a grin forming on his face.

"Meenie. Miney. Mo. Catch. A. Tiger. By. His. Toe. If. He. Hollers. Let. Him. Go." He continued as he went over the group, but he wasn't going in any particular order as he held the bat in front of your face and you just sat yourself up straighter as you stared Negan in the eye before he chuckled and moved onto the next.

"My mother. Told me. To pick. The. Very. Best. One. And. You. Are. It." Negan dragged out and you watched in horror as he stopped and pointed his bat towards Abraham.

You heard Rosita and few others gasp before Negan continued.

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that." He said as he raised the bat.

There was nothing you could do but watch as he slammed it down against Abrahams head and you couldn't stop the scream that escaped your lips as you watch Abraham's body fall to the floor. The tears you were trying to keep in began falling down your cheeks as you looked away, unable to watch

"Look at that. Taking it like a champ!" Negan shouted, causing your head to quickly snap towards Abraham as he forced himself back up on his knees, blood tripping down his forehead.

"Suck... my... nuts." Abraham groaned, his eyes locked with Negan's.

Negan just grinned before he raised the bat and slammed it back down against Abrahams head causing his body to fall forward.

He hit the ground with a thump before Negan continuously slammed the bat down against Abrahams head, until you couldn't recognise it anymore.

You couldn't tear your eyes away from your friend, watching the blood and brain matter get crunched together after each hit as you covered your mouth with your hands to try and muffle your sobs.

This was not your father.

John Winchester would never do this.

Whatever Chuck had done, there was no way this was your father, it was just someone wearing his skin. Your father would never do this.

"Oh my goodness! Look at this!" Negan exclaimed, taking a step back from Abrahams body as he swung his now bloodied bat in the air causing some of the blood to fly off and hit Rick in the face making Negan chuckle even more. "You guys, look at my dirty girl! Sweetheart, lay your eyes on this." Negan said, walking over to Rosita as he held the bat towards her.

"Oh, damn. Were you- were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for all this. Red, and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So take a damn look." Negan said again, walking back to Rosita as he held the bloodied bat right in front of her, but she refused to look at it. "Take a damn look!"

Suddenly, Daryl launched from beside you and you quickly tried to grab him, but you were too slow.

You watched in panic as Daryl punched Negan in the jaw, sending the man stumbling back a few feet before Dwight and another man grabbed Daryl and tackled him to the ground.

"Daryl!" You and Rick both yelled, but your voices were that broken you could barely recognise them.

"No! Oh, no." Negan shouted, pointing his bat towards you before he pointed it at Rick.

Negan's face suddenly dead serious before it broke out in a grin as he chuckled, but your attention was on Daryl who Dwight now had pinned to the ground with his own crossbow aimed at his head.

"That? Oh, my! That is a no-no. The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here."

"Do you want me to do it? Right here." Dwight spoke up and your hands formed fists by your side as you stared at the blonde man with the crossbow.

If he so much as made a move, he'd be on the ground before he knew it. You might be weak, but you'd do anything for Daryl and you could feel your eyes threatening to start glowing, but you didn't want to give away your powers yet.

"No, you don't kill that, not until you try a little."

To your relief Dwight lowered the crossbow as he grabbed Daryl and dragged him back into the line beside you.

Daryl was breathing heavily trying to control himself as he glared at Negan from under the hair covering his face.

"Anyway, that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people. First one's free, then what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word." Negan continued to say as he walked towards Daryl and a shiver ran down your spine.

He was going to kill Daryl. No, you couldn't let him do that.

Slowly you moved your hand down to your boot. Trying not to make any sudden movements, but Negan's attention was purely focused on Daryl as you reached past your pant leg to your boot until the handle of the angel blade was in the palm of your hand, the rest of it still hidden.

"First impressions are important. I need you to know me." Negan continued to say, his attention purely focused on Daryl, but then he glanced towards Glenn out the corner of his eye and you froze.

You quickly glanced around at the rest of your friends, but all of them were staring at the ground, not wanting to look Negan in the eye which meant they didn't see it. But, you did.

Negan wouldn't glance over at Glenn for no reason... he was going to kill Glenn, not Daryl.

No, you couldn't let that happen either.

"So, back to it." Negan said, his eyes focused on Daryl as he raised his baseball bat, but you didn't miss how his feet turned slightly towards Glenn and that was it.

You acted on pure adrenaline, not even realising what you were doing until it was too late.

You jumped to the side in front of Glenn, just as Negan swung the bat and you only just got you free hand up in time to stop the bat from connecting with your head as you managed to catch the bat with your hand.

You were trying to use your powers to stop the bat from hitting you at all, but obviously that didn't work since the bat connected with hand.

The force of the hit caused you to cry out in pain as the sound of bones cracking filled the air. If it wasn't for all the adrenaline souring through your veins, you were pretty sure you'd be lying on the ground crying right now.

The barbed wire wrapped around the bat, sliced through your hand, mixing your blood with Abrahams, but you didn't let go. Hell, you weren't even sure you could let go with the wire stuck inside your palm or the fact that you were almost certain that the force of the hit had broken at least one bone in your hand, but that was a problem for later.

It took Negan a moment to register what just happened as he stared at you in pure shock, but you just stared right back at him, not letting him see how much pain you were actually in before he just chuckled.

He pulled the bat from your hand causing you to gasp, but you quickly masked your pain as you glared at him.

"You have some mighty big lady balls." Negan commented as he crouched down in front of you in amusement.

You could see Daryl's body trembling out the corner of your eye in fear or anger or probably both.

Negan leant forward about to say something before you quickly pulled your angle blade out with your good hand and sprung forward.

Your sudden movement caught Negan by surprise as you leaped behind him, wincing as you used your bad hand to hold his back to your chest as you pressed blade to his throat, slicing the skin ever so slightly, but nothing happened.

If he was a demon or shapeshifter it would have burned him, but the only thing that happened was tiny droplets of blood dripped down his neck.

He was real, he was human. How was he real?

Suddenly all the guns in the area cocked as the rest of the Saviours all aimed their weapons towards you. But, you made sure to hold Negan in front of you as a shield. The Saviours wouldn't risk the shot, especially not with their leader right there.

"Drop your weapons, now!" You shouted in a stern voice.

Glancing at all the Saviours, you only just realised how many of them there actually were. Maybe you didn't quite think this through, but in your defence you only had a couple seconds to think.

You looked around the area, eyeing them all cautiously and that's when you saw them.

Sam and Dean.

No.

You had to be seeing things. Your powers had messed with you and you were pretty sure your hand was broken. You were hallucinating them. They weren't real, right?

For a moment, you froze as you stared at them. They were leaning against of the trucks, Dean with a shotgun resting over his shoulder as Sam stood beside him.

They were both just staring back at you, no emotion behind their eyes at all and you quickly realised that they were not your brothers.

Your brothers wouldn't let this happen. They wouldn't let an innocent man get butchered or their little sister to get hurt. Something had happened to them and you were willing to bet that it had something to do with your father.

You forced yourself to look away from your brothers as you glanced over your friends, Rick and Daryl were both staring at you with wide and panicked eyes while Glenn stared at you in shock and slight relief, but suddenly Negan began to chuckle, bringing your attention back to him as you frowned. Why the hell is he laughing right now?

"Well, shit. I did not see that coming. But, you may want to lower that funky looking knife." Negan warned.

"Tell your men to lower their weapons."

"Boys." Negan shouted and a split second later they all moved their sights from you and began to aim their weapons at your friends. Dean with his gun at Daryl, Sam with gun at Rosita as they stood side by side, fingers on the trigger.

"Sam. Dean. Don't do this." You whispered softly, but they clearly heard you loud and clear.

They both looked over at you as you stared at them with pleading eyes and for a moment you thought you saw a hint of regret flash across Sam's face, but a split second later it was gone.

You could feel Daryl and Rick staring at you in confusion before they both looked in the direction you were looking and by the way their bodies tensed even more they must have spotted your brothers.

"You boys know this girl?" Negan questioned causing you to press the blade harder against his throat.

"She was our sister." Dean answered and you felt a small amount of relief wash over you.

They still remembered you. But, why the hell were they on the Saviours side?

"Is that going to be a problem?" Negan asked and Dean instantly shook his head.

"No, sir." Sam responded, shaking his head as well as you stared at your brothers in shock. How could they do this?

"If you hurt any of them, I will slit your bosses throat. Do you want to risk that?" You questioned, your eyes flashing between Sam and Dean before you glanced over at the rest of the Saviours, noticing the slight hesitation on their faces as they stared at Negan waiting to be told what to do.

"You slit my throat, my men will kill every last one of your friends here and then they'll pay a little visit to your community and slaughter all them too. Do you want to risk that?" Negan asked, his tone mocking yours and you knew the man was grinning despite not being able to see his face and you sighed.

"Let them go and take me instead. You can do whatever you want with me, just leave the rest of them alone, deal?" You asked, hating how desperate your voice sounded.

"Y/N." Daryl mumbled, staring at you hopelessly with wet eyes, but you just gave him a sad smile.

This was the only way. This was the only way you could guarantee your friends safety.

"Deal." Negan responded and with that you lowered the knife from his throat and all his men lowered their weapons.

Negan quickly swiped the blade from your hand as he grabbed you by your bad hand causing you gasp at the sudden pain as he began to pull you back towards the line up and he threw you to the ground in the space between Daryl and Glenn again.

You landed on your side, unable to stop the groan leaving your lips as pain burst through your hand.

Suddenly, Negan grabbed you by your hair and forced you back onto your knees as he stared down at your injured hand, but you didn't take your eyes off him as Negan chuckled.

"That is definitely broken. But, you're lucky that's the worse injury you got." Negan said.

You could tell Daryl wanted to say something, but he didn't dare speak, not after his last action nearly resulted in Glenn's death as his eyes flashed down to your injured hand.

You looked down properly at your hand that you now had cradled to your chest to find it covered in blood, some Abrahams, but most of it yours coming from all the slices covering your palm from the barbed wire. But, you didn't miss how bruised and swollen your hand was already getting under all the blood. Man, you wished your powers were back to normal, the wound would have been healed by now.

"I'm going to kill you." Rick's broken voice called out.

"I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up." Negan responded, making his way over to Rick as he crouched down in front of him, leaning his bloodied bat over his knee.

"Not today, not tomorrow, but I'm gonna kill you." Rick repeated and for a moment Negan didn't say anything as he stared at him before he chuckled again.

"Simon, what did he have, a knife?" Negan asked, keeping his eyes locked with Ricks as he spoke.

"Uh, he had a hatchet." The man with the moustache answered and mentally noted that his name was Simon.

"A hatchet?"

"He had an axe."

"Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Or did I?" Negan asked making a clicking noise with his tongue as he motioned towards his bat. "Give me his axe."

You watched cautiously as Simon walked over, handing Negan the axe as he stood up and tucked it through the belt of his jeans before he grabbed Rick by the collar of his jacket and began dragging Rick towards the RV.

"No!" You screamed, about to get up, but both Daryl and Glenn grabbed your shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me and if not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean the ones that are left." Negan shouted, pushing Rick into the RV as he slammed the door closed behind him.

You stared at the RV waiting for them to come back out the door any second, but then the engine roared to life and you watched in panic as the vehicle began to drive off and you couldn't stop the small whimper that left your lips and you weren't sure if it was due to the pain in your hand or the fact that Negan might kill your best friend.

"Y/N-" Daryl began to say before Dean cut him off.

"No talking!"

You glanced over your shoulder at your brothers who just glared right back at you before you turned your attention back to Daryl who was staring at you through teary eyes.

You just gave him small nod to tell him that you were okay, although he clearly didn't believe you in the slightest as he looked back down at your hand that was still cradled to your chest, but there was nothing you could do about that now.

There was nothing any of you could do at all right now.

MASTERLIST

Next Chapter

-Gifs used are not mine. Credit to rightful owners.

A/N-

Thank you for your support on the last chapter, it meant the absolute world to me.

I am trying to be more frequent with chapter updates for you all, so hopefully the next one won’t be too far away. Have a great day guys, stay safe xx

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon x Reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fanfiction #The Walking Dead #the walking dead fanfic #the walking dead fanfiction #twd #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #supernatural #spn

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nikakistos · 3 years

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Mikasa will kill Eren

With the series ending in only three chapters at the time of writing this meta/prediction post, i want to share my thoughts about how the battle between the Alliance and Eren will conclude. More specifically, i will analyze all the reasons that make me believe that Mikasa will kill Eren and put an end to this battle.

Mikasa’s character arc

The first important reason that made me reach to that conclusion is non other than Mikasa’s phenomenal and, in my opinion, underrated character arc. So, let’s get to know Mikasa.

Mikasa starts the story as a sheltered kid. She lives in the mountains, far away from any other kids, with her mom and dad being her only company. Her mom and dad were her entire world. She was a naive, innocent little girl who used to overlook the cruel nature of the world, focusing entirely on it’s beauty. She was content living like that with the people she loved the most, without having any grandiose dreams of her own.

And then, reality ensues. Three human traffickers kill her family and try to sell her as a sex slave. Mikasa, being only a child and alone was about to surrender. Without her family she didn’t have a place in the world. She didn’t know how to live without them.

Until Eren comes to save her. Out of the blue he kills the first two of the traffickers and unties her. However, the third one appears and disarms Eren. Before blacking out, the young boy tells Mikasa the words that later became her mantra “Fight! If you don’t win, you die. If you win, you live. If you can’t fight, you can’t win!”

That is the moment that Mikasa’s survival instincts awaken her Ackerman powers. The moment that she accepts that this world is kill or be killed and realizes it’s true nature. And the moment she learns the truth of the world she finds the strngth to kill her assailant. Mikasa kills so that she won’t be killed. And the moment her enemy falls, the old Mikasa dies.

Broken and homeless, Mikasa asks Dr.Yeager what she should do now that she had no one. How could she live on her own? She never learned how to do that. Mikasa, from the very beginning of her life, is a codependent person. She thinks that she can’t go on alone. And at this moment of sadness comes Eren and wraps a muffler around her neck to protect her from the cold. Both from the physical cold, but also from the cold, hard world that took her happiness away. He offers her a home. Their home.

From that moment onwards Eren became Mikasa’s world. He replaced her parents as her new family, alongside with his mom and dad. Mikasa, realizing that Eren was no more than a troublesome kid with a knack for getting into troubles, decides to be by his side forever and protect him. Partly out of gratitude for saving her and giving her a home, parly because it was his mom’s wish, partly because she is in love with him, but also in order to protect herself and her own peace of mind Mikasa latches onto Eren. And she makes the same mistake as before. She starts viewing Eren as a wholly good person. She keeps the image of the scarf and forgets the violence that came before. She projects onto Eren all of the beauty in the world.

After Carla’s death, Mikasa’s overprotective attitude only worsens. She resolves to follow Eren at all times and be there for him, without considering his feelings. She actually had a habit of misinterpreting his sentiments about her clingy nature quite often. Whoever threatens her life with Eren becomes an enemy. So, Mikasa, who never got over her trauma, thinks that Eren is the most important part of the world and that without him she can’t go own. To that end she joins the military, when in reality she never cared about humanity’s struggle against the titans. Mikasa was fine living an uneventful life with Eren and Armin.

However, those sentiments are not fit for a soldier. As a person who dedicated her heart for humanity’s survival, her first priority being Eren becomes a hindrance. A soldier should always put his feelings second. Fulfilling the mission should always be first. While Mikasa proves herself to be extremely effective in the Battle of Trost initially, with her stoic and direct nature saving hundreds of lives, when news of Eren’s death reach her she breaks down completely. She convinces the rest of the cadets to fight, while not being prepared to do her duty. She gives up and she is ready to die, until Eren’s memory and her desire to not forget him help her pull through and fight for her life. This marks the first instance of Mikasa’s growing maturity. She finds a reason to keep moving forward even without her family.

Mikasa is a survivor. Keep carrying on and living even after the deaths of her beloved people has always been a part of her. And this is not something that comes directly from Eren, but from her own self and love of life. Her Ackerman powers only activated due to her own survival instincts. Not from Eren’s orders. While she hasn’t realized it yet, Mikasa takes pride in being alive. In a world where only the strong survive, she feels proud of counting herself amongst them.

Of course, the revelation of Eren being alive makes Mikasa regress. She continues with her overprotective behavior and with her reckless, emotional behavior. Her desire to exact vengeance on Annie causes her to jeopardize the mission to retrieve Eren and sideline Levi. Mikasa was hurt by Annie, becaue Annie exposed her again. She showed her that she is not entirely capable of protecting Eren. She also showed her once more that fighting impulsively and allowing feelings to interfere when in a mission puts her life at risk. The first time, she was saved by Eren. The second, by Levi. So, Mikasa resolves to do better next time. She resolves to become a better soldier. Her sense of responsibility over Levi’s injury pains her and she tries to make up for it. She scolds Eren for not fighting her, despite her having killed numerous Survey Corps members. Her effots pay off and this eventually leads to Annie getting captured.

Unfortunately, Mikasa’s feelings have continued to resurface in critical moments. And those feelings did not concern Eren entirely. Despite Mikasa claiming that she only cares about a small amount of lives, specifically Armin and Eren, perhaps she hadn’t realize that she cares for far more people than she initially believed. Even after promising Levi to not make any more blunders, the only reason that Reiner and Bertholt escaped from her was the bonds she had created with them. She saw them as her comradres. She later tries to make up for her failure by trying to make the rest of her comrades see Reiner and Bertholt as enemies of humanity and prevent them from hesitating like she did and putting a tough front against Ymir, but again, the damage had already been done.

Mikasa had grown to care for more people than Eren and Armin. Mikasa during the Battle of Trost threatened Dimo Reeves who was delaying the evacuation process, because he was getting more of her comrades killed. She saved innocents and civilians. She was angry at the Female Titan for killing so many of her comrades. She created strong bonds within the 104th unit. She even showed consideration for Levi, even though she disliked him for beating up Eren. More importantly, as the series progress, Mikasa starts caring more about the world in general. The little girl who only cared about herself and her family members has now become a soldier who fights for the entire world. She even develops a sense of belonging to Paradis, viewing it as her homeland, when she wasn’t even willing to fight for the island 4 years ago. Her cold exterior starts to crumble and she opens up. She protects a child who killed one of her best friends, a stark contrast to the earlier version of Mikasa who nearly ruined a mission by trying to have her vengeance against Annie. The Mikasa who simply cared for her small world and had no ambitions of exploring the outside world easily embraces the volunteers from Marley and becomes optimistic about their intergration to Paradis. The exact opposite of Eren.

This gradual “defrosting” of Mikasa and her repeated failures, along with the realization of the inferiority feelings she was causing him to have, force Mikasa to alter her treatment of Eren. While she was constantly nagging and smothering him, she starts to become more supportive of him, encouraging him and helping him believe in himself, just like she did with Armin. Not only that, this enables her to become a better soldier as well. While the Mikasa of the first few chapters was willing to disobey orders if that meant being close to Eren, she starts trusting the leadership of Levi, whom she resented, and entrusts Eren to Armin in the Battle of Shiganshina. She understands that she has a role to play as a soldier and that Eren can take care of himself either alone or with the help of other people, without her being near. This results in a huge victory in Shiganshina.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that she has changed completely. Mikasa still refused to obey Levi’s orders and attacked him when he tried to revive Erwin instead of Armin, Despite all, her feelings for the people who are closer to her, Eren and Armin are still too strong sometimes and overpower her better judgement. However, it was at this point exactly, that Mikasa received her second warning. She has to keep moving forward with the knowledge that all the people she knows will eventually die. And she did. Mikasa did give up in the end during the Serumbowl. She has matured.

Unfortunately, Mikasa’s love for Eren is still hindering her. Even now, after all that, Mikasa’s sole dream is living with him forever. She is in love with him, even though he has commited horrible crimes that go against her values. Her introverted, shy nature plus her fear of losing him do not allow her to express her true feelings, but she does have them.

And here comes Mikasa’s greatest flaw. Despite all of her development, she still thinks that without Eren she is lost. She has no goal left. She never learned how to live as an individual and as an independent person. That’s why she believes his lies so easily. She doesn’t recognize her sense of self without him. She still ties her identity to Eren. She has all of the foundations for living as a complete and healthy human being, but her inability to separate herself from Eren is destroying her and clouding her judgement. That’s why she asks Armin what to do in chapter 125, that’s why she tries to stop Pieck from killing Eren in chapter 135, that’s why she says she won’t kill him. And most importantly for her, that’s why she couldn’t admit that she is in love with him in chapter 123. Mikasa simply cannot handle rejection from Eren. She can’t think of a future for her without him by her side. She almost reconsiles herself to loving him from afar.

It is very evident and telling from her reaction to Louise and her first talk to Annie that Mikasa is actually ashamed for prioritizing Eren over anything else and simply following his footsteps. In reality, Mikasa doesn’t want that. She wants to be her own person. She wants to be Eren’s equal, not his follower. That’s why she doesn’t wear the scarf anymore.

Well all these need to and will change. Mikasa has to put her feelings aside one more time and act as a soldier and finish off the threat to humanity. She needs to stop tying so much of herself to Eren and realize for good that she can live without him, despite wanting to be by his side forever. And in order to do all that, she has to stop lying to herself for good. She has to admit her feelings, her true feelings not solely to her, but to him as well. And judging by her own regrets, she will.

Mikasa’s character arc has her going from a happy, naive little girl, to a broken, gloomy, stoic person who only cares about a couple of people to a proper soldier who cares and fights for the entire world, friends and foes included. She opens up, makes friendships, develops a more pacifistic worldview compared to her survival mindset of old. But most importantly, she will become a normal, functioning human being.

Nature of the conflict

Moving on from Mikasa’s characters arc, i believe that the nature of the conflict of the series in and of itself points out towars Mikasa killing Eren. The first and primary conflict in the series is the fight between Humans and Titans. The world has expanded since the first chapter. The series has become more complex. And yet, in the final battle we see some people fighting to protect humanity from the hordes of titans that want to trample the remaining human race outside the walls of Paradis.

In this exact setting we have the Survey Corps, the group of people that from day one fights for humanity’s survival and liberation from the terror of the titans fughting against the biggest symbol of oppression and enslavement in the entire series. The Wall Titans.

The Scouts dreamt of an idealized world when fighting against the titans. And still, even after this world was revealed to be quiet different than they imagined, more disappointing, they still don’t give up. Because they understand that the world is a cruel place, but it also very beautiful. The person who best represents this theme in the series is none other than Mikasa Ackerman. And she is fighting for the Scouting Legion against the person who showed her both sides of the world in the same day. That person has renounced all the beauty in this world and focused only on the ugly side. And he fights for the Titans.

In a series about humans fighting against titans, Mikasa is a character associated with human strength.

While Mikasa (and the Survey Corps in general) is associated with human strength, Eren on the other hand has been constantly referred to as a monster. A devil. Something inhuman. Now of course, technically speaking Mikasa is also part titan and Eren is also part human, however this symbolism still exists.

Judging by the narrative and the themes of the series, an Eren victory is downright impossible. It just doesn’t fit for the titans to defeat humanity. The story has put so much emphasis on the creation of a better world, free of curses and hate. Eren, being the physical manifestation of both can’t win. He has to die. And in such a story, is there a better way to topple the biggest titan of all time, using the trademark weapon of humanity? That it the ODMG.

Foreshadowing

In this part, i will let the pictures do the talking. It is evident from all of them and from my previous analysis of Mikasa’s arc that a full blown conflict between her and Eren is bound to happen. And Mikasa killing Eren has been referenced way too many times for that to be a coincidence.

Every single time in this latest arc that Eren being killed is mentioned, Mikasa is at the forefront. Isayama focuses on her too much in these scenes. Considering the fact that now that Gabi has realized what the true nature of the titans is, the fact that they have wrapped the explosives around Eren’s neck, Armin going Colossal being foreshadowed over a billion times, Eren seems to be in huge danger. Killing the Source of the Titans would likely kill Eren, seeing as how he is nothing but a head without a body. And it doesn’t look like he can regenerate. Stopping the Colossals might only be possible by killing the centipede that is tied to Eren’s survival. And for all the reasons i have mentioned, i believe that Mikasa will be the one to kill it.

#snk #aot #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #mikasa #mikasa ackerman #eren #eren yeager #eremika #snk meta #aot meta #attack on titan final season #attack on titan season 4 #character analysis #character development #snk spoilers #attack on titan manga #attack on titan predictions #shingeki no kyojin analysis

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cblgblog · 3 years

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So my issues with Irondad are well documented at this point, starting from their very first scenes. Specifically the utter tone deafness of Peter’s recruitment, by both Tony and the writers. Tony starts the movie being blamed for the death of a 20-year-old kid who was in the wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. That accidental death that can be put down to negligence on his part, is pivotal to what happens next. So pivotal he uses it in his pitch for why the other Avengers need to sign the Accords.

Tony, midway through the movie, deliberately brings a 15-year-old child into this conflict. A child he blackmails into going with him, because if you don’t, I will tell your aunt.

Charles Spencer was an innocent civilian, wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. He died. That tears Tony up, as it rightfully should. And yet, in the midst of his crusade about following laws and accountability, he lies to May Parker about taking her 15-year-old nephew out of the country and into a warzone. Ignoring some well-established laws about child soldiers.

Tony blackmailing a child who’s had his powers for 6 months into participating in this conflict makes no sense. Ever. It especially makes no sense in the context of Charles Spencer and his mother. Yet neither Tony nor the writers seem to comprehend this. Which is why Irondad has been bullshit from the start. Blackmail and kidnapping are not sweet, father-son moments, even if you ignore the fact, as the MCU wants to, that Peter had a father already, in Ben Parker. He has a loving adult parental figure in May Parker. Both of whom cared about him before he had spider powers that might be helpful to them.

All of this, I’ve said before, so have others. And then I realized that I actually hate Irondad more than I thought. That Feige and co. mishandled it even more than I thought, and why? Because of this.

We know the story. Peter was, supposedly, this kid Tony saved at the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2. Started out as a fan theory, and then was confirmed that yes, this is true, this is exactly what we intended.

Now, we know Civil War had different writers/directors than Homecoming or FFH did. We also know that, for all the lip service of, ‘It’s all connected,’ we know that the creatives in these different franchises do not always talk to each other, and that they often blatantly contradict each other.

Taking all that into account, acknowledging that…the dumbasses at Marvel did not think up the idea of Peter being the Iron Man 2 kid. They heard the theory, thought it was cool, then took credit for having meant that the entire time, yes, that was totally us.

We know this because it is never mentioned in canon. All those Tony and Peter interactions, all those times of yes, Mr. Stark, I just want to be like you, Mr. Stark, and Peter never mentions that? When Tony takes he suit from him in Homecoming and Peter says that he just wants another chance, wants to be like Tony, would he not mention that hey, you saved my life, Mr. Stark. You saved my life and I just wanted to be like you, and now I can be, now I can save lives like you, just please give me another chance.

If the Iron Man 2 theory were true, would he not say that? In FFH, when he’s all guilt-ridden, I didn’t save him, would he not mention that hey, he saved my life before I was Spider-man, before I was special, before I was anyone?

Now I know what you’re thinking. The Iron Man 2 thing isn’t that big a deal. It’s not a crucial thing. And you know what, you’re right. It isn’t, it’s just always annoyed me, in an eyeroll way, that the same people who couldn’t count properly between 2012 and 2017 (8 years later flashing in giant letters across our screens means that Homecoming was meant to take place in 2020), that these same people who let something so blatantly timeline breaking get through then took credit for a kind of cool, kind of clever fan theory. It’s annoying.

I’ve now realized, however, that it is far more than annoying to me. Because TPTB at Marvel did not think of that idea for themselves, but if they had, and if they’d run with that idea? If they had, it would’ve made Peter’s recruitment in Civil War so much more fucked up than it already is, but so much more interesting. So, so, so much more interesting.

I’ve talked about why Spidey’s own movies (as much as you can call them that given the level of Tony infiltration) prove that the theory isn’t true. Now let’s go to Civil War. Different writers, yes, but let’s talk anyway about why we can tell from CW that Peter was not that kid.

He gets home. May is like, look who it is, Tony Stark. Not, look who it is, the hero who literally saved your life. When Tony locks himself in Peter’s room with him (still fucking gross, Jesus Christ), Peter is just, nope, I got no idea what you’re talking about. That’s—no, I’m not a superhero, no. He’s defensive. He’s apprehensive. He’s trying to figure out what fresh hell this is. He’s trying to hide stuff from Tony. If this is the guy who saved him at the Stark Expo, why this reaction? Why not, oh my god, you saved my life, I thought I’d never see you again, not, not up close I mean. When Tony asks him to do a thing, why is it not, well yeah, duh , you saved my life, where do we start? Or even, okay, I don’t really wanna do this, but, you saved my life, I owe you?

So, nobody wrote a fucking word of any of Peter and Tony’s interactions under the theory that he was the Stark Expo kid.

But what if they had?

Tony shows up at May’s place. He does not know who Peter is, in relation to their “meeting” before. He’s expecting to have to do some level of smooth talk to get in here but, nope. May’s just, oh my god, you saved my boy’s life, come in, come in!

We don’t know for sure that Peter was orphaned by the time of the Expo, but if we base it on comics and prior films, he likely was. Most versions seem to have him fall under Ben and May’s care between 2 and 6. O1’ birthday means he would’ve been around 9 at the Expo. So, more than likely, Ben or May or both were the ones there with him. They may credit Tony with saving their lives as well.

So, Tony starts the movie being called out by a grieving mother. Going down this route, we’re at the midpoint…and here’s a different mother telling him how great he is. How he saved the most important thing in her life. How if Ben were here (May’s wearing her wedding ring around her neck btw, you can see it in the scene), Ben would say the same thing. Shake his hand. Hug him.

Now, Tony’s got a sharp ass mind, when it’s not clouded with booze or drugs or the like. Since he wasn’t wasted at the Expo, there’s a good chance that, given some details, he remembers saving this kid. He remembers how small this little boy actually was. He remembers how light this kid was when he grabbed him. It was a few seconds in a long ass night, that he hasn’t thought about in years, but to May Parker, it’s everything.

So maybe at this point Tony’s rethinking this. He’s remembering that little boy, realizing how young he still is. He pulled that boy from danger. And now here’s this woman who invited him into her house, told him how her husband just passed recently, things have been hard, especially for Peter but God, he’ll love to see you. Maybe Tony’s rethinking this, coming up with a way out, when Peter shows up. And then, aw hell. The kid’s just a mess of excitement and shock, possibly tears…okay now it’s just gotten harder to make an exit.

Let’s pause here to say that May Parker is not fucking dumb (“Cut the bullshit. I know you left detention. I know you left the hotel room in Washington. I know you sneak out of this house every night.”).

May is not dumb. Letting the 50-year-old dude go into her nephew’s room with him, alone? Arguably dumb, even if it is Iron Man. Letting him grab the kid for some Stark…thing, and take him wherever Tony said he was taking him on 12 seconds notice? Even more arguably dumb. CW as it’s written dumbs down May’s character for the sake of an already questionable plot point. Especially since she literally says she’s not a fan of Tony in Homecoming. Yes, her comment there comes after the “internship,” her noting Peter’s distraction and stress because of it. But still, it’s fucking weird that she’d let this man take her kid out of the country, alone, in CW. It makes her dumb for the sake of plot.

But if Stark saved Peter’s life not so long ago? It at least makes a bit more sense. He’s a hero. Peter literally wouldn’t be here without him. Why would Tony hurt him now?

So, back to the scene. Peter’s probably less paranoid about showing his stuff to Tony. Probably not spilling everything himself, but when Tony notices things, Peter’s probably less panicked over it, more willing to confirm. Yes, he’s got these powers, okay? And he hasn’t had them for long, but he’s trying to do good, like Tony. He’s trying to do the right thing, like Tony.

Now, this kid has such literal hero worship going, and he’s so damn inexperienced, he admits that. And Tony’s still got Charles Spencer’s mom in his head. He’s dead, Stark. And I blame you.

Can Tony really take this kid—actual minor kid younger than Charles was—take him and put him on the field against the goddamn Avengers? That woman out there with the dead husband and the ring around her neck, what’s he going to say if Peter gets hurt, or worse? Sure the kid obviously has skills but, can he risk another grieving mom?

So, maybe Tony’s rethinking this. Maybe he can still get out of this, improvise a Plan B. But then there’s a text from Nat or Ross. Where are you? We’ve only got a few hours, what’s the play?

Special circumstances, nobody in that group is really gonna fight to kill…it’s special circumstances, and he can keep the kid mostly sidelined.

This time, he doesn’t have to blackmail Peter. He doesn’t have to threaten to expose his secret. Peter’s willing, either because he genuinely wants to, or he feels he owes Tony a debt. So there goes the dick factor of Tony literally blackmailing a child. And the lack of questions Peter seems to ask about what he’s fighting for, the acceptance of vague answers, that’d also make more sense in this context.

In this version, Tony is both more and less of a dick. He’s doing less active threatening and manipulation…but he’s also being doubly manipulative. His genuinely good deed gives him an easy in with the Parkers. He’s playing on the credibility of an earlier, at least somewhat better version of himself. One who saved Peter Parker and hadn’t yet ended Charles Spencer.

Look, I won’t lie, I legit don’t know what I’m saying anymore, except that Marvel sucks for taking credit for a thing that they definitely do not have credit for. Which isn’t particularly new for them, and wouldn’t particularly matter if the thing they took credit for (and didn’t do anything with) could’ve offered some interesting story possibilities.

#anti tony stark #anti irondad #iron man 2 #peter parker #may parker #kinda fuck marvel though really #spider-man #civil war

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janiedean · 3 years

Note

ooh so linked to the Brienne ask re: the kingsguard part. What are your thoughts on Aerys’ kingsguard, especially like Arthur Dayne who Jaime from what I remember has complicated feelings for but pretty much idolises him. And they’re so loved by almost everyone in universe!!! Like idk how to think about them really my feelings for them are also complicated

+ okay good because I honestly don’t see why people love them so much like most of the things we’ve heard about them are like. Objectively bad. And like yeah the idea of them is cool but well that can only go so far. also I’m sorry if these asks are a mess I’m exhausted!! ALSO I think you’re amazing for answering all of us anons with such detail I always love coming on to your blog

(putting both asks in the same place uu)

in order: the fact that they're loved by everyone in-universe and fandom actually likes them (or at least arthur dayne hahahahaha god) is like... some of george's best trolling because guess what the entire point is that they're supposed to look like amazing people/the real deal when instead they're all terrible the end - except again for the poor martell prince whom we don't know enough about and I'll give him a pass bc martell people are usually not stupid af but in order:

as I said george has made a point of stating that knighthood is a rotten institution and the kg especially aerys being like... what should be the highest honor for a knight is equally as rotten as knigthood in general and is made of people who do Not Deserve The Title - I mean again hey it's orders so marital rape is fine, hey we're leaving the 15yo to man an entire castle? WHY NOT, the king is mad? WELL WE SWORE TO SERVE HIM, like not counting martell prince there isn't one single person in the aerys kg except jaime who actually upheld the oaths they swore ie protecting the innocent so make of that what you will

the fact that jaime aka the fifteen year old is literally the only one who gets the job and then goes there like 'hey we're basically covering for marital rape what the fuck' and no one else bats an eyelid should already say everything there is to say about these people's moral standard

the fact that none of them actually stuck up for the fifteen-year old who was obviously not ready for the job nor tried to idk do anything to make it easier on him or whatever also says everything about their moral standard because honestly fuck you

the fact that everyone thinks they're amazing jaime included when they're all pretty much shitty is like... well, same as fandom does, which means that the readers bought what people in-narrative do... except that the moment you scratch the surface it's really damned bad

and I'm saying barristan is on thin ice because from his chapters you can see he's like... not a bad dude but like his reaction to jaime being in there still when he saw aerys is 'ah that fucker who killed the king and was so proud he had to try and get into it at fifteen'? like??? fuck you?? honestly the fact that all of them literally served a dude who put people on fire and was a menace/danger to the realm and then have the gall to think that jaime is the worst or who didn't like try to help him or anything while he was obv struggling with his vows and the fact that he was serving a madman says all about their moral standards, again

and honestly arthur dayne is the literal worst of all of them because like - first of all oh you knight the 15yo who goes along with you slaying bandits and you don't try to dissuade him from joining the kg? what the fucking fuck am I supposed to think - second of all you don't even warn him of what is expecting him when he joins when you've been there for a while? - but third of all which drives me insane and I hate that fandom sleeps on it and goes around happily like ARTHUR/LYANNA THE SHIP OF DREAMS... okay listen like I have literally zero investment in lyanna as a character or in r + l and I don't necessarily think he did everything - I think they had a mutual infatuation and eloped and she sorely regretted it and then it was on r. who shouldn't have like acted on it because he happened to be the 20+ year old with a wife and kids, but there's the whole tower of joy situation - in which sorry but we have arthur fucking off KL with other kg people and leaving all the others in the literal shit bc they'd have to deal with aerys and it'd be less of them than they should be, to go with rhaegar to the tower of joy to help him elope which whatever, and then lyanna was left there after r. had to go back... when her brother and father were burned alive and like if she knew that then I doubt she'd have wanted to stay and if she didn't then they withheld fairly important fucking information, so like he stayed there guarding a pregnant 15-16 yo who most likely did not want to be there and who is pregnant by his best friend whose family oh accidentally murdered half of hers........ and lyanna was there even after rhaegar died so I mean it's not like the moment he happened this dude goes and says 'hey maybe we should actually go back and see if we can solve this mess' no he kept her prisoner there anyway - on top of that... here I'm wildly speculating but: he had to know rhaegar was dead and when ned showed up if we are to believe him and idt he was unreliable on that... ned didn't want to fight him or kill him he just wanted to get his sister and leave and like he was most likely in love with ashara aka arthur's sister so why the fuck would he want to kill him right, and like rhaegar's dead and arthur has nothing to lose by letting ned up especially knowing that lyanna is fucking dying in childbirth like she's dying her brother's there just let him up and solve it later esp when the dude doesn't want to kill you....... but no ned had to kill him because he wouldn't budge and why the fucking fuck wouldn't you budge at that point? your side lost the war, the guy you were friends with that you did all of this for is dead, the girl is about to die at least let her die with her family, why? - only thing I can deduce from it: that rhaegar told him that the baby's survival was the most important thing because third head of the dragon blah blah blah and that if the war was lost to just grab the baby and lyanna if she survived and fuck off to essos until he grew up, except that lyanna didn't survive so the conclusion is that he tried to stop ned from going up there bc he'd have found out about the baby and tried to stop them and at that point who gives a fuck if lyanna died or not but he'd have liked... let her die and kill ned in the process and done that most likely, and sorry but when they knightly vows are, I would like to remind everyone, In the name of the Warrior I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent. In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women…. like... what, what exactly has this dude done that would qualify as that? because lyanna would be young and innocent and a woman and he basically is letting her die, that behavior does not qualify as bravery and he'd like... deny the kid a chance of growing up with his family period if he killed ned and he didn't seem to particularly give a fuck las we checked, and that's like not counting the whole 'oh I won't tell the 15yo who idolizes me that he's signing

his life away to trauma nor I will support him for shit when he does' part of it, but the tower of joy stuff is shady whichever way you look at it and honestly the more time passes the more I'm convinced this guy is just a complete pos and the worst of them all except gregor when it comes to like 'people thinking you're a good knight and you're actually a pos instead' and I'm dying on that hill until george proves me wrong

and on that the thing is that... I ranted about it once here but basically jaime idolizes the shit out of him because he never saw that even if his subconscious kinda knows because when he had the weirwood dream his greatest fear was confronting the former kg and everyone was accusing him of stuff he couldn't have physically prevented (more ranting on the weirwood dream here) and he's there like 'ah I wanted to be arthur dayne but I became the smiling knight instead' but like... actually he is more of a true knight than arthur dayne can ever hope to be? because like in the above meta I was talking specifically about how to pia he's like... better than arthur dayne, but like not to be that person but jaime who thinks he's the gregor clegane of his time and not arthur dayne, while arthur dayne was... doing the shady toj thing with lyanna - saved an entire city from aerys blowing it up - risked his neck for brienne even if he didn't even like her as in he got himself kicked in a healing stump when he couldn't even stand up for himself so she wouldn't be raped - risked his neck going back for her at harrenhal and jumped into the bear pit without even knowing how he'd manage it - was actually being a decent person to tommen until c. forced him to leave - the moment he saw what happened with pia he gave her her rapist's head when she's like a commoner no one gaf about and took her into her service - when his squire wanted to bed her he like told him to be kind to her jfc - is per tyrion the only relative who actually loved him/freed him/actually stuck up for him (and tysha is on tywin thank you all very much and jaime feels so great about it he doesn't think about it until he can't anymore) (also he was the one chasing the bandits away in the first place so he was probably there like oH I HELPED A MAIDEN too lmao god fuck tywin) - actually stuck for his cat vow bc he took riverrun without bloodshed - sent brienne after sansa with the magic amazing sword because he wanted to upheld their shared vow to cat going against his own family - the moment brienne shows up like hey wanna blow this joint and leave the army you don't wanna lead to find sansa he didn't even like blink before saying yes and I'm supposed to think that in between him and arthur dayne he isn't the only one who actually stuck to his vows as well as he could/knows anything about them/is actually a trueknight™? because lmao the fact that jaime doesn't fancy himself one because of aerys when everyone fancies arthur dayne one when the latter did absolutely fucking nothing beyond slaying bandits to put his money where his mouth was while jaime didn't even like brand himself like that and still did all of that and half of it was acting on instinct not even like doing the math before and *he* was the one wanting to be knighted at fifteen and took his vows seriously when oh wait knightly vows are basically the epitome of selflessness is like again grrm trolling the hell out of everyone characters included but it's clear from the narrative imvho and I can't wait for the moment he serves the just desserts and a) jaime realizes it b) everyone else in-narrative realizes it c) bran timetravels to the fucking toj and we find out what actually went down there and this saint arthur narrative is burned to the ground because honestly no

there, I think I spat out almost all of my venom XD

#anonymous #ask post #janie writes meta #ch: jaime lannister #ch: arthur dayne #anti arthur dayne #spoilers: ALMOST because like #everyone writes fic abt arthurlyanna raising jon in essos being IN LOOVEEEE #which honestly... given the premises is like guys ship what you want but i'm skeptical #and then I had to stand through years of ppl bashing on joncon #for having done THE EXACT SAME THING WITH AEGON #but oh he was pathetic for that apparently #like take your not really veiled homophobia and go honestly #bc giving shit to joncon for stuff that arthur or barristan already ddi #and WORSE for that matter #(or ned lmao)#is just.... never mind it's been years i'm still pissed off #only good thing about 8x05 is that the joncon hatred sort of stopped #bc they realized he wasn't wasted ink #but yeah nvm that here you go anon #i'mma stop now

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heyitsani · 3 years

Text

A Dream Ripping at the Seams

@damianwayneweek fic Reverse Robins

Word Count: 5024

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings: Referenced past child abuse, canonical character death mentioned

Pairing: None

Summary: He had planned the whole thing out. The moment he had seen the notes in Richard’s file on the computer, he had known he needed to get him out of there and away from Batman as soon as possible. He refused to lose another brother.

Saving Richard because he failed to save Todd was his only priority.

Notes: Guess what! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! And it also happens to be Reverse Robins day for Damian Wayne week! So to celebrate, I wrote this fic to give to all of you lovely people. But especially those in the RR Discord who are always willing to encourage me to run with an idea that comes up last minute.

Also, this fic ends abruptly and that’s the point. I might continue it, I might not. But it’s supposed to feel sudden and full of questions.

To clear up confusion: Dick was 10 when adopted, Jason died when he was 15 and Dick 11, Dick is 12 (nearly 13) when the story starts, and 13 when it ends.

You can also read it on AO3 here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian waited until he had the opportunity to get Richard away from the manor for the afternoon before he approached the subject with the boy. He hadn’t been certain he would need to, at first, but the longer Richard was in the house with his father the more he saw the signs he had seen with Jason. And that meant he needed to act.

So he had asked Richard if he wanted Damian to pick him up from school one Friday in February so they could go for ice cream before dinner. Richard had, unsurprisingly, agreed enthusiastically like Damian had known he would. With the kid’s sweet tooth, he never turned down things like ice cream. Especially since it wasn’t something the circus really got much of apparently. Traveling in trailers didn’t allow for too many luxuries like freezers.

“Richard,” Damian started once they were seated on a bench in a local park, not far from a playground that the child was eyeing. When the sapphire eyes turned on him, Damian took a deep breath and looked directly at him. “I know you have figured out what Father and the rest of us do in the night.” Richard nodded, smiling as he licked his cone. “Has Father approached you about training yet?”

The boy nodded again, and Damian pressed his lips together. Twelve years old. Twelve. None of them had been that young outside of himself, but his situation was different. Being born into the League of Assassins made for a different upbringing. “Is that bad?”

Shaking his head, Damian made sure his face was neutral before speaking again. “No, but I have concerns.” The boy blinked at him, but remained silent as though he was waiting for his brother to tell him what it was he was concerned about. “You do not know of my childhood, but it was far from…pleasant. I was raised in a place called Nanda Parbat that trains people to be the kind of people Batman fights against.”

“But you were a kid?” Richard sounded confused; ice cream forgotten as he tried to sort through what Damian was saying. And what he wasn’t saying. “Why would you train a kid like that?”

“Because that was the way things were done there.”

“Then they were done wrong.”

Damian let out a soft laugh, corner of his mouth raising just slightly at the thought of this twelve-year-old child telling him that he had been raised wrong. “Be that as it may, you are correct that I was a kid and that should not have been my childhood.”

Richard hummed and went back to his ice cream, looking out at a pair of dogs playing in the grass. Damian observed him as he watched the dogs, wondering what he was thinking. He wasn’t sure how to ask the boy to do what exactly he was thinking, but he just hoped Richard would go along with it. That he would agree to leave because this was not the life he should be living.

“Dami?” Richard looked back to him, and Damian raised his eyebrows. “You don’t want me to train with Batman.” Damian shook his head. “Ever?”

And wasn’t that the real question?

Damian wasn’t sure if he wanted Richard, the purest of them all, to be exposed to how ugly the world was the same way the rest of them had been. It would ruin him. It would steal the innocence that Damian found himself desperately wanting to protect. It would tear out everything good in him and leave him a shell.

“Never,” he admitted quietly. Richard dropped his gaze again and chewed on his lower lip. “I want you to understand why. My childhood aside, I do not want to see what happened to Todd happen to you. I do not want you to lose yourself the way I have seen Drake do. I do not want you to realize the ugly truths of the world long before your time the way Cain or Brown have. I want to protect you from all of that.”

With brows drawn down, Richard looked at him again. He was looking at Damian with that look, the one he had seen Cain look at him with too many times to count. The look that penetrated all the walls and shields he had put around his mind and heart.

“You want me to leave.”

“I want to take you away from here and hide us both until you are able to stand your own against Father on the subject,” he quickly corrected, not wanting Richard to think he wasn’t welcome in the Wayne family. “I want to protect you from a fate I wish we all could have been protected from.”

Richard took a lick of his ice cream and Damian waited, worried the boy would tell him no and then tell his father everything Damian had planned. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Richard nodded. “Okay.”

And Damian released his held breath, relief washing over him. He could save one of them, the best of them. He could do one right thing in his life, a life filled with so many wrong things.

“We leave in a week.” Richard’s eyes turned determined, and he gave a firm nod before looking over toward the playground again.

“Can I play after my ice cream is finished?” Damian laughed and nodded, too relieved to deny him anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who is she?” Richard asked, tugging on the black chuba Damian had selected for himself the moment they had touched down in Tibet. The weather was fairly cool, and he hadn’t thought to purchase the proper wears before he had put his plan into motion. But thankfully he had anticipated needing to switch enough money into Yuan to get them by for the first couple of months. It had made purchasing weather friendly clothing for himself and Richard much easier.

Looking down at Richard, Damian frowned and followed his eyeline to the familiar statue that stood at the top of the mountain, guarding over Nanda Parbat. “She is Ruma Kushna,” he told Richard, who couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the beautiful stone statue. He couldn’t blame the kid, he had been fascinated with the goddess when he had been younger. She had been formidable and even his grandfather had spoken highly of the goddess. “She watches over all of those in Nanda Parbat.”

Richard frowned and looked away from the statue, blue eyes skittering over the various people wandering around the market they were making their way through in an attempt to find lodging. “She is not kind then,” the boy said, looking up at Damian with a fierce look.

“What makes you say that?”

Richard shrugged and looked away, curiosity stealing the boy’s attention once more. But Damian couldn’t forget that look for stubborn protectiveness that had covered Richard’s face in the moment. It had been breathtaking if he were honest. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him like that when they weren’t preparing to fight him for one reason or another.

Pausing at a stall with various spices that smelled familiar and distant at the same time, Damian gave the older woman a friendly smile. “Tashi delek,” he greeted her, giving a small bow of his head. “My son and I are looking for lodging, do you know of anyone with vacancies in their home that would spare space for us? We are willing to pay.”

The woman seemed to consider him closely, glancing from him to Richard and then back again. He knew his excuse of Richard being his son was flimsy when someone considered their age difference, but it was the story he needed to stick to for the time being. He couldn’t risk someone looking too deeply into their relation if they thought they were merely brothers. And Damian would be drawn and quartered before someone took Richard from him and returned him to Bruce.

“I have a spare sleeping quarter if you could spare your strength,” the woman finally replied, kindness heavy in her old eyes.

“Tuchi che!” Richard exclaimed, smiling brightly at the woman who almost looked surprised at his enthusiasm. Damian struggled to hold back a smile of his own as he gave the woman a firm nod, silently agreeing to her terms.

“I am Damian and this is Richard. We are grateful for your hospitality.” The woman chuckled and waved them off, telling them to scout the market for anything they might need since their packs were small and probably did not hold much out of the bare necessities. “What should we call you?”

The woman’s smile warmed, and she leaned back. “I am Amala,” she responded. “Now go find you both some clothing that is not of the city but of the mountain.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You are al Ghul,” Amala stated as she handed over the cup of tea. Damian froze, eyes wide as he looked at the woman who still looked at him with that same kindness she had since that first meeting almost four months ago. But he couldn’t figure out how she could possibly look at him that way if she knew who his family was. “The League is well known in our village, as small as we may be. They look after their own on the mountain. But there were whispers of the Heir refusing to return and the Demon Head demanding justice.”

Looking down at his teacup, cradled in both hands to warm his palms from the cool night air coming in from under the door, he sighed before glancing back toward the corner where Richard was sleeping. Confirming Amala’s words would put them both in danger of being discovered. He had picked this village because it meant they were right under his grandfather and mother’s noses. They would never look for him here.

But if he lied, he risked having to run with Richard again. And the child was finally settling nicely in the village. He had made friends with some of the other children and he was catching up on his studies. The last thing Damian wanted to do was uproot him yet again. His life had been disrupted enough since the death of his parents.

“I am he,” Damian admitted, looking back to Amala. The woman smiled knowingly before pressing a finger to her lips in a ‘shhhh’ motion and Damian let out a sigh of relief. “How did you figure it out?”

The woman shrugged. “You have your mother’s eyes,” she said, as if that was enough to give it all away. “And your mother used to bring you down here as a babe, just learning to walk the mountain. I recognized you the moment you approached my stall at market.”

“Has anyone else?”

“Not that I have heard.”

But that didn’t mean they hadn’t. If someone told his mother or even one of the footmen, Damian would need to pick Richard up and run. He wouldn’t have a choice. He probably should do it now before anyone had the chance to come after them.

“Thank you, for trusting us then.”

Amala waved a hand. “I could see in your eyes that you were running from something. That you were protecting your son from something.” Damian held back the cringe at the word son, knowing she had to have figured out that Richard wasn’t his. “You are safe in my home. I will not bring harm upon you. No matter if it is from up the mountain or from far away.”

Damian swallowed, bowing his head against the onslaught of emotion that hit him from her words. “Thank you,” he whispered, unable to look at her just yet. “Protecting him is all I am after.” He looked over at Richard again and blinked away the tears. “It is my only goal.”

“And that is what makes you a good father,” she said softly, “blood or not.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Baba!” Richard called out; voice distorted as it came into the house from outside where he had been helping plant some new seedlings. “Dami!” That made Damian pause. It had been a while since Richard had called him by his name, out of habit or fear Damian couldn’t be sure which. But it made a small sense of panic arise in his chest and had him dropping the piece he had been sketching and immediately run out the front door.

He froze when he saw a man kneeling in front of Richard, black cloak and hood pulled over his head, hiding his face from Damian but not from Richard. But when the man looked up, Damian felt his stomach drop.

“No,” he whispered, hurrying forward and pushing Richard behind him as he glared at Timothy Drake, his father’s second eldest but first adopted child. “You are not welcome here, Drake,” he said lowly, English rusty from lack of use since coming to Tibet.

Drake held up his hands and took a step back, but Damian held tighter onto Richard who tried to move out from behind his legs. “I am not here to cause trouble, Damian,” Drake offered. And Damian knew him well enough to know the man was being honest. But it didn’t mean he could let his guard down. “He doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t know I found you.”

“Trackers.”

“Rerouted.”

Taking a deep breath, Damian glanced around before giving Drake a nod and herding Richard into the house, knowing Drake would following them. “Richard, go work on your schooling.” Richard looked up at him, frowning at the order, before glancing over at Drake. “Now, Richard.” And though Damian knew the child didn’t want to, Richard walked away with a pout to the table where his schoolwork sat waiting. “How did you find us?”

“It wasn’t easy, you covered your tracks better than any of us expected,” Drake said, eyes watching Richard as he took his seat and began writing in the notebook. Damian could tell he was curious, but Damian needed answers before Drake got his own. “I looked at footage we had searched through a million times and got lucky.”

“And Father doesn’t know? I’m meant to believe you simply didn’t tell him? You?”

“He thinks I’m off world with the Titans.”

“That doesn’t answer why you didn’t tell him.”

Drake seemed to consider his answer for a moment before shrugging both his shoulders. “Dick didn’t seem to be in distress in the footage I found. He looked like he wanted to be with you.”

“I explained it to him before we left. He agreed to come with me on his own.”

“Why did you take him?”

A familiar anger built in his core and Damian had to push it down with a few deep breaths before he could answer Drake without yelling. “Because I would not let him sacrifice Richard the same way he sacrificed all of us. Because since losing Todd, he has lost sight of the true mission and we have become nothing but soldiers to him. I would die before I let that man turn Richard another glass case bearing a bloodied suit of armor,” he growled, fists clenched tightly.

Drake watched him with those eyes, the ones Damian had always hated because it always felt like he was a risk and Drake was calculating how dangerous he was in any given moment. As if Drake was just like his father, with a file of ways to put an end to Damian because part of him was too dangerous to be trusted.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Drake finally said, looking back to Richard with a nod. “I didn’t believe you could have taken him for anything other than his own good.” The cool blue eyes looked back to Damian and had lost some of the calculating look. “B won’t stop though, Damian. He’s desperate to find you both even though it’s been over six months. I don’t know how long until he realizes that you hid both of you in plain sight of the League. Does Ra’s or Talia know you’re here?”

“Not that they have revealed to me,” Damian admitted. “Our patron, she knows of my heritage and has sworn an oath of secrecy. But she is League loyal due to their protection.”

Damian watched Drake fully take in the appearance of the home they were in, the simple nature of it all and Damian couldn’t help but wonder what the man thought of him now. What did he think of the haughty Wayne heir who had loved to shove that fact in every ones faces, telling them that he was the heir to one of the richest men in the world. That he was heir to Batman, the Dark Knight. The Damian standing in front of Drake was far from that person as Damian could probably get.

“This has not only saved him,” Drake finally said, looking directly at Damian. There was no lie that Damian could see and though he wanted to deny what his brother said, his eyes glanced over to Richard and knew it was the truth. He was not who he had been before they had left Gotham. He had been losing himself in his own grief and it was only the deep seeded fear of losing yet another family member that forced him to pull out of it and take action.

But he couldn’t admit that to Drake, could he? “I wouldn’t lose him the way we lost Todd. I did what I had to do. He never would have listened.”

“No, he wouldn’t have.”

“And has anything changed?” Drake frowned; eyebrows furrowed. And that was enough of an answer for Damian. “He’s just become obsessed with finding us instead.”

Drake nodded. “It’s been bad enough that Superman watches Gotham from afar to keep B from doing something he might regret.” And Damian knew, yet again, that he had made the right choice in getting Richard away from that. “Can I give you a burner that only I know about?” Damian’s eyes snapped back to Drake, having drifted back to Richard yet again. “I want to be able to give you a heads up if he comes your way. It might not be much of one, but maybe enough for you to get a head start.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, having that option, but Damian also knew it might give his father access to the pair of them without Drake even knowing. But Drake did know technology more than anyone else in the family. Perhaps it was a risk he could take.

“All right,” Damian relented, giving a nod. Drake’s features looked relieved, to the point where Damian wondered if he had made the wrong decision. But he could work on the device later and see if it had been bugged or tampered with in any way.

Drake dug into his small pack and pulled out a small phone, probably a prototype that Wayne Tech had decided wasn’t worth the trouble. He quickly showed Damian how to turn it on and use the basic features before it was turned off yet again and Damian was tucking it into the pocket of his pants.

“I need to go, I can’t reroute much longer. But if you need anything, please call me. I have your back.” Damian gave a nod before watching Drake walk over to Richard and kneel down to talk quietly with the teen. He didn’t bother listening in, knowing Richard would tell him what was said later, but he did watch. He watched Richard listen and nod, responding with his own words before reaching out and hugging the man around the neck.

When Drake stood and turned to leave, Damian was fairly certain he saw a sheen of tears in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian knew something was different the instant he walked into the small house, even if he couldn’t immediately tell what. It caused him to stop short in the doorway, Richard smacking into him because he had been too absorbed in the book of mathematics one of the men of the village had shared with him.

“Baba, what…?” The child complained but Damian’s eyes focused on the figure in the corner of the room instead, not answering.

“Mother.”

The woman moved forward, like a serpent seeking prey, into the light with a smirk on her face. “Son,” she greeted, eyes looking over his ragged appearance from his day of labor with a hint of distain before stopping on Richard. “You really do have too much of your father in you.”

Rolling his eyes, Damian shuffled Richard into the house and nudged him toward their sleeping corner. And though he didn’t think his mother meant them harm, he still kept his body between the two of them and coiled his muscles to prepare for a fight.

“What are you doing here? How did you even know?”

“Oh please, Damian,” Talia sighed and came closer before lounging in one of the chairs near the fireplace. “Do you honestly think we weren’t aware the moment you landed in Tibet? That we weren’t tracking you from the very start? You have forgotten your roots.”

Damian narrowed his eyes. “Then why did you wait so long to approach me?”

“Because we did not need you.” That made Damian tense further. The League needing him would lead to nothing good, he knew that deep in his core. “I have something in Nanda Parbat that requires your attention before it can be dealt with. And no,” she held up a hand to stop his question, “it is not your father. But it does have a link to him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He couldn’t trust his own eyes in that moment. It wasn’t possible. Was it? No, he had seen the body. He had been there as the coffin had been lowered into the plot and covered with dirt. He had laid his hand on the tombstone and apologized for not being able to get to him in time.

But that was definitely Jason Todd in front of him.

“How is this possible?” Damian asked, glad he had put Richard in his old rooms while he handled this. Richard had known Todd for only a year before he had died. This was not something Damian wanted to expose the teen to before he knew what the point of all of this was.

“We are not certain. We can’t even say how long he has been like this. He has been dead for nearly 18 months and we have had him here for the past six.” Damian frowned, walking closer to Todd, trying to catch the teen’s eye. “He is alive and everything is in working order, but it is as though death stole his soul.”

“Of course it did! He died!” Damian snapped, looking back at his mother who stood a ways back watching but looked bored. “We buried him. We…” Breathing heavily through his nose, Damian looked back to Todd and shook his head. They had mourned him. And now he was there, living and breathing but lifeless. Everything that had made him Jason Todd seemed to have been stripped away. “What do you intend to do with him?”

His mother’s heels clicked on the marble floor as she moved closer and stopped once she reached the pair. He watched a slender hand reach out and pet the side of Jason’s face. Annoyed, Damian’s hand shot out and grabbed his mother’s wrist to stop the obscene gesture. “What do you intend to do with him,” he growled, gripping her wrist tightly and turning to fully face her. He narrowed his eyes and stared her down, not willing to let her brush him off. She had brought him here for a reason.

“We will put him in the Pit, of course,” she said, unaffected by the grip he had on her or the look on his face. “We just wanted to see if a familiar face might wake him up first.”

“Mother,” Damian gasped, releasing her and stepping back. “We do not put innocents in the Pit. It is not done.”

Talia raised a brow and Damian glowered. “There is no ‘we’, Damian. You made your choice.”

“You cannot do that to him. He had anger before his death. He was murdered brutally. These are all things the League has always avoided in resurrections.” Damian looked over at Jason’s empty eyes and frowned, shaking his head. “You cannot sentence him to that Madness. He is a child.”

“He is no more a child than any of you were. My Beloved has only had one true child in his home and you stole him away in fear of him turning your precious Richard into the same monster each of you fight off daily.” Talia tilted her head, considering him. “You most of all, my son.”

“You created the monster long before he got his hands on it.”

A slender shoulder rose and fell gracefully. “Perhaps, but you have Demon blood in your veins and you have always been destined for so much more than this charade of a life you have taken up.”

Damian clenched his jaw and looked away from his mother, unable to deny her words. He knew this farce he and Richard had been living would not sustain them forever, but he knew it was what the teen needed at the moment. If he returned Richard to Gotham, his father would rip the child away from him and Damian would lose him to the fight he desperately wanted to protect Richard from. The Bat would get into his head and Damian would lose.

No, returning to Gotham would never be an option until Richard was old enough to stand on his own.

“You could remain here. Take up your title again and we could train and teach the boy to be the very best.” Damian immediately shook his head. That wasn’t any better than the fate that awaited them in Gotham. “It is only a matter of time before he finds you. He will exhaust all resources and then call upon me. He will come to Nanda Parbat and hear the tinkling laughter that reminds him so much of the boy his own son had stolen away from him. He will follow the sound to a yard where a teen with black hair and sapphire eyes kneels in the dirt, pulling weeds from around the plants that have just begun to sprout.

“He will watch in wonder at the change a year, perhaps two years, has made in the boy. And then he will see the man who is responsible for the heartache and fear he experienced over that time, standing in the window watching the teen just as he had been. And he will take him back. He will threaten them both with everything in his itinerary until there is no choice but to return.”

“And then he will ruin him,” Damian whispered, closing his eyes because he knew his mother was right. It was the fear that kept him up each and every night. His father would never stop searching and he would eventually get desperate enough to turn to Ra’s for help. And he would come himself to plead his case because otherwise Ra’s would laugh in his face and behead whoever was foolish enough to come in his stead.

Opening his eyes, he stared into the familiar one watching him closely. “You win.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian hated that his mother insisted on Richard being in the room with them when Todd was placed in the Pit, but he wasn’t in any position to argue. He just hoped that nothing happened that would require him to use the sword strapped to his back in order to keep Richard safe. The last thing he wanted was for the teen to see that side of him, the side that would require him to take up arms against another of his brothers.

But Richard stood just behind him, stubborn look on his face as he watched Todd over near the Pit. The green glow of the waters within gave the room an ethrial look but made Jason look sickly. With that blank look on his face, Damian felt his heart ache for the boy he remembered. He had tried harder with Todd than he had with Drake, but it didn’t mean he was the best of brothers. He hoped the teen knew he had tried.

But emotions had never been his forte.

Thankfully, he was doing even better with Richard than he had with any of the others. The teen had taught him much more than he ever thought possibly while he had taught the boy what little he had to offer outside of self-defense. Which, he had taught him as well. Just not to the same effect that training to be a Cape would have done.

“Are you ready to witness true magic, Richard?” Damian frowned over at his mother when she entered the room and moved over to stand with the two of them. He looked back and down toward the teen, who he found watching his mother with narrowed, untrusting eyes. Good boy.

Damian had made sure that he always questioned his surroundings and stayed wary of those he didn’t know. Apparently, Talia al Ghul fell in that category.

The woman simply quirked an eyebrow at him before she walked over to where the footmen were getting ready to move Todd to the platform. Reaching out, Damian tugged Richard closer to him in hopes to shield him from the coming disaster. His mother might be certain this was a good idea, surely for her own gain, but he knew this was not something that should be done. But as good of a fighter Damian was, he could not take on the entire League. And he would need to do just that if he wanted to get Todd out of there before he was manipulated and twisted into a shadow of the teen he had been.

“Let us begin,” Ra’s said as he took his place on the opposite side of the Pit.

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