#and chose to die for her to further her plans

[mozart-in-a-gokart]

My Thoughts On How TUA Season 4 Should Have Ended

Read it like a script outline maybe? Idk I never took screenwriting?

Way more detail below the cut:

Im so sorry if this whole thing comes across as very fan fictiony towards the end. I did my best.

::Here are some refreshers for some of the concepts I touch on at the beginning and where my logic comes from::

Note: I may have spelled Luther as Luthor throughout this and I realized this only after I was just about to post this so… bear with me.. thank you.

So we learned these things previously:

Season 1

Viktor was the trigger for the big world ending apocalypse

Season 2

Viktor was the trigger for the 3rd world war that ended the whole world

Season 3

Viktor has the ability to transfer marigold .We learned that from the whole storyline with Harlan in season 3.

Viktor had the ability to stop Allison from resetting the universe but chose-not to at the very end of the season.

Edited Addition: The Kugalblitz itself was the result of a grandfather paradox involving the umbrellas in the sparrow timeline. (I.E. You go back in time, you kill your grandfather, therefore you have no way of existing later.). Their parents were dead so the universe couldn’t handle these extra variables that shouldn’t and theoretically couldn’t have existed, so it collapsed in on itself.

Season 4

When the universe is reset all of the October 1st kids seem to exist because Lila also exists in the reset universe (we don’t see the sparrows unfortunately so this is a toss up but for the purposes of this I assume they exist we just never saw them.)

Edited to clarify a point: Lila’s parents are still alive in this timeline, meaning she was born to two parents with no marigold. This further backs up the idea that the same must be true for the rest of the Hargreeves siblings because if it wasn’t, one of two things would have had to have occurred. One: The marigold would have had to have been released. However, If it had the umbrellas would all have been born with their abilities, which they did not have at the end of season 3 in the new universe. Two: Another Kugelblitz would have occurred because they wouldn’t have parents and therefore would have had no explanation for existing in the new universe, causing yet another cascade failure.

Abigail has this insane amount of guilt that comes from creating both the Marigold and Durango.

The show seems to establish that in Abigail and his marriage, Reginald is the one who considers the children expendable and always has. Abigail seemed to care about them quite a bit (at least until the last episode)

Abigail manages at the last second to convince Reginald to die with her and let the cleanse happen because it’s THEIR FAULT all this is happening, not the umbrellas

When Lila and Allison’s family get on the train they do in fact transfer over and are inserted into the “correct” and “one true” timeline. They are essentially rewritten by the universe to allow them to exist there.

With all these things in mind this is what I think should have happened

Abigail should still have managed to convince Reginald that this was all their fault but it should have happened earlier in the episode.

Abigail should have put an emphasis on the fact that it isn’t the umbrellas fault at all and that they have a right to exist. That it’s the least they can do is try and help them figure a way out of this after everything they have been put through both in Abigail’s name, and by Reginald himself.

Reginald finally grows as a person, accepts this, and they both go with Viktor on the crusade to save Ben.

While on the journey Abigail learns about Viktors ability to transfer Marigold from one person to another and she LATCHES onto this.

Abigail and Reginald have a discussion about a plan that involves transferring the Marigold to both of them of Viktor can’t manage to convince Ben.

(Maybe there’s a scene similar to season 2 where Viktor talks with sparrow Ben in his mind. Sparrow Ben ends up making the point that they have to let him go. HES NOT THEIR BEN. He NEVER has been. They have to let him go. Let him do this selfish thing. He misses HIS family. His SPARROWS. Let him die.)

This is a good end IMO for sparrow Ben because he isn’t out Ben. We’ve all been talking about Ben being Ben for so long we forget this Ben is literally A DIFFERENT PERSON. He sees the umbrellas as his family’s murderers. It’s tragic but, I can’t see this Ben ever truly growing to love the umbrellas the way he seemed to with the sparrows

With that Obviously the plan to stop the cleanse by convincing Ben falls apart. Plan A never works.

They all would congregate back at the dilapidated Hargreeves mansion.

They all still talk about options and Five still says that the only way to end this once and for all is by destroying all of the marigold (Instead of being all defeated about it I think he should be angry and wired when he’s talking about it. I hate this drowned kitten looking guy. Where’s my embodiment of the it’s always sunny Pepe Silva Meme)

While they all argue about trying to use the subway to save themselves and Five doesn’t think it will work Reginald steps forward and tells them all to be silent.

They all force of habit stop and stare at him.

He says that he and his wife may have a way to save them all.

Klaus, Luther, Diego, and Five are all against letting him talk

Lila, Allison and Viktor are willing to let him talk what harm could he do now at the end.

He asks Five about the subway and if he’s right that you leave it at the exact moment in time you entered. Five agrees as far as he knows that’s correct.

Reginald and Abigail ask Five to blink all of them there, right now so they have a bit more time to explain.

Five says no not until they tell everyone what’s going on. He’s had enough running around and beating around the bush. Reginald explains things now.

Reginald does.

He explains that their bodies in this particular universe were not made originally of marigold. They were just born here. So theoretically, if they no longer had Marigold in their system. The Umbrellas themselves won’t need to be erased. They could attempt to escape with their family.

Luther points out that they don’t know how to extract the marigold.

Viktor reminds them that he can transfer it but he doesn’t know how good he is at it. Plus he needs to transfer it somewhere. He can’t just release it.

Reg : “That is correct. You would need to transfer the marigold to another vessel. It won’t work if it’s not in something living.”

Diego: “What’re you saying?”

Five: “He’s saying one of us has to stay behind Diego.”

Allison: “So what? You’re asking one of us to volunteer? To choose to be erased?”

Everyone starts up angrily shouting at Reginald who is interrupted by Abigail.

Abigail: “None of you would stay behind.”

Five: “Elaborate?”

Abigail: “Five you blink everyone to the subway. While we’re there Viktor transfers all of the marigold from all of you to Reginald and myself. All of you board the train. We will stay behind.”

Everyone is silent and staring

Klaus: “you’re cool with this Dad?”

Reginald: “I am not your father young man. I am Not your Reginald Hargreeves. I am however, a Reginald who knows how to respect hard work, which you all seem to have been doing for a great many years trying to stop exactly this thing from occurring. I understand that my wife and I helped set this in motion and I am nothing if not accountable.”

Luther: “wow… “

Abigail: “Let us do this?”

Lila is immediate in her agreement

Five doesn’t like the idea of this but it’s all they’ve got.

They all start teleporting as the Bennifer Cleanse beast starts shattering the windows to the house

We watch time seem to slowdown because the creature understands that the marigold isn’t “in this dimension anymore” it doesn’t know where to look.

We watch a subway staircase form in the center of the room and see tendrils of the Flesh Creature winding around it but never down in it because it doesn’t have a way into the subway. (You have to blink there)

We have a moment where the Umbrellas link hands in a circle and glow (like we do every season. It’s tradition)

We go around the circle through each of the umbrellas faces and watch the marigold pulled from them slowly. And transferred into Reginald and Abigail who are standing in the center we see it leave them and they all collapse

Viktor still has a little bit left in him and says he doesn’t have the strength to transfer it

Everyone looks defeated at that

Diego and Lila while they’re looking at one another

Allison and Klaus are hugging one another

Luther and Five collapse on the bench

Viktor says it’s alright. That he’s gonna stay. He’s gonna choose to stay and be part of the solution this time. He owes it to them for ending the world three separate times (He’s gonna choose to save everything and not cause it)

They all hug him at the door to the train and say “goodbye”

Five is keeping the train door open by standing in front of them

Klaus hugs Viktor and thanks them for being the only normal one of the bunch and keeping them down to earth

Klaus: and hey! Don’t sell yourself short! That third time wasn’t really YOUR fault. Allison was the one who—

Allison shoves Klaus out of the way and into the train.

Allison and Viktor hug the longest out of everyone.

Allison: “I’m gonna miss you so much.”

Luthor picks Viktor up and spins them around : “I’m sorry for not being a better brother. You deserved more.”

Viktor: “ make it up to me by finding Sloane in the next world and naming your first born Viktor.”

Luther is laughing and nodding boarding the train

Diego shakes Viktor’s hand and apologizes for blaming them for so much in previous years. “I was really closed off and I should have been better. I love you brother.”

Viktor: I love you too Diego”

Diego’s holding back tears as he boards.

Five is the last to say good bye

The two are just staring at one another quietly

Five: “You know… I never thanked you…”

Viktor: “For what?”

Five: Not giving up on me the first time

Viktor is confused

Five: “When I disappeared years and years ago. When I came back pogo told me about the Sandwiches and the lights and everything. I know it’s too late, but I’d be remiss if I never said it. So, thank you. For not giving up on me.”

Viktor smiles at him.

Viktor: “I guess I should say the same.”

Five cocks his head

Viktor: “You never gave up on us. Every single time the world was ending. You never gave up on saving us. You drove yourself insane trying to save us all and we never thanked you.”

Five scoffs

Five: “Guess we’re both thankless assholes…”

Viktor: “Nah”

Viktor shakes their head and pulls five in for a hug

Viktor: “Thank you for everything Max.”

Five slowly hugs them back

Five: “Don’t call me that”

Viktor pulls back

Viktor: I’m sacrificing myself for your asses. I can call you whatever I want.”

Five steps back

Five: “Goodbye Viktor”

They give all wave at Viktor as the doors start to close

Suddenly an umbrella Lodges itself in the doorframe and everyone including the audience is shocked

Abigail has stopped the doors from closing

Viktor whips around to see Reginald right behind him

Reginald: “Must I do everything around here.”

Reginald, now with marigold and Lila’s abilities of Mirroring, mirrors Viktors ability and removes the last of the marigold from him before pushing Viktor through the doors and onto the train.

Abigail lets go and the train doors close leaving all of the Umbrellas and extended family shaken

Abigail waves at them as the train starts pulling away and we see Reginald tip his cap to them

Reginald: Farewell Children of the Umbrella Academy.

Abigail: You were Extraordinary.

The train pulls away and we see Reginald and Abigail take each other by the arm and walk towards the exit of the subway

The camera is frozen in place and we watch them ascend the stairs. We hear the scream of the The Cleanse Creature echo the the subway stars start shaking

Tiles crack and light starts flashing from the stairway the ceiling begins to cave in and we transition to the umbrellas on the train

Viktors been helped up and they’re all dazed and confused just waiting for “it” to “happen” whatever “it” is

We get a similar scene to the original scene where they’re letting the cleanse consume them

During this scene is when Five explains that they will all likely forget one another. Because their parents are in all different parts of the country. They will have never met. It’s a hard reset.

This makes all of them sad (OBVIOUSLY) so we get the same cleanse conversation as more of a we don’t know if we will ever see each other again and if we don’t I just wanna say this to you all kind of conversation

We still end it with Klaus saying “You know, I just wanna say I love you guys… but you are all assholes.”

Everyone laughs and as they’re laughing music swells

We get a cut of the subway flashing colors because the reset is happening

We get flashes of color washing over each of them with the various scenes of them from previous seasons and those timelines disappearing

We flash through them in order of number

Luthor

Diego

Allison

Klaus

Five

Lila (as six instead of Ben roll with me I promise I have a reason)

And Viktor

The final flash is a long shot of all of them smiling in the train car and the camera zooms down it and into the same wormhole at the end that leads to the “real” timeline

We cut to black

There’s beats of silence (yes multiple)

The audience is thinking “Are we ending it here? Is it gonna be ambiguous? Are we about to see credits?

No.

Slowly a stereo fades into view we’re staring at it

Someone walks in front of it wearing a very familiar jean coat

We hear the stereo button click and The song “I Think We’re Alone Now” starts playing

We watch Viktor pull a woman who looks very much like sissy into their arms and they start to dance laughing loudly. There’s a pure white violin in the corner that looks like it’s been used so often and so long but so lovingly. We zoom out the window out the window and see this is on a farm somewhere we focus on the windmill wheel turning

It transitions to the wheel of a beat up old car arriving at the park. We watch Lila and Diego’s kids stumble out of the car holding skate boards and bubble wands. They’re older than they were. Lila shakes her fist at them from the passenger window. She’s shouting at them. You can hear her shouting be careful! And then shouting more in Punjabi

We don’t see who’s in the drivers seat but we zoom in on Lila’s fist and it transitions to another fist. This one gripping a paper and shaking it as it moves across a classroom towards the front.

We follow the page as it’s placed on a desk then pan up to a figure in a suit writing complex equations clearly having something to do with physics or rocket ships in chalk across a board

On the desk is a nameplate that comes into view only when the figure turns around to address the room and we see very clearly it’s an adult Five. The nameplate reads Maximillian Murphy PHD.

He’s addressing the class and telling them to get their assignments in by Monday if they want input before the final assessment. Mrs. Murphy will take them from you if you have them now. He gestures to the woman who set the paper down on his desk in the transition who comes around the desk and sits on it. She’s wearing a polka dot blouse. He’s finally found a real Delores.

The two smile at one another and we pan up to the ceiling and zoom in on a vent grating which transitions to the front grill of a bus

We see muddy shoes scramble up the steps and cut to the inside of the bus. We see the figure only from the back as they scramble down the middle of the bus clutching a rucksack wearing very old fashioned Amish clothes. We only see them from the front when finally fall into a seat next to a guy reading a book wearing dog tags who looks like he’s just getting back from deployment somewhere

We watch Klaus turn and greet Dave in the modern day and hear them have the same conversation we heard on the bus in Vietnam on this bus in the middle of nowhere USA

We transition from Klaus laughing here to a time a bit in the future. Klaus laughing wearing clothes more like him and pulling Dave down a street past a shop window full of movie memorabilia we hear him saying something about wanting a good view of the take off. Trust him just come this way’

We zoom in on a script that transitions to one that lands on a coffee table. We watch Ray pick it up and Allison settle herself on a chair near by. We watch and hear them talk about this new pilot for this new show And how “it’s a good one I can feel it” “okay. Let’s do this then.” In the background we can see acting awards on a shelf. Alison isn’t just a commercial actress. She has been in things and is good at it. Claire comes barreling down the stairs and jumps between them on the couch. “Wheres the remote! It’s starting!”

We see Allison and Ray lean in forgetting the scripts

We pan across the room and it all melts away into a car radio

We see a hand turn it up and we hear it talking about the first launch nasa’s funded on a while. Space stuff.

We follow the figure who turned up the radio as they lean out of the car and gesture wildly as Lila and the kids to come over here quickly!

You see all of them start sprinting to the car to listen.

We watch through the front windshield of the van Lila climb in and kiss Diego. The kids all pile in and stare at the radio in Awe.

We get a shot of Diego turning up the radio dile which transitions to a gloved hand adjusting diles on what is clearly the console of a rocket ship. We pan up and it’s LUTHOR. Space boy ready for take off

We hear the the count down of a take off start over the last portion of “I think we’re alone now” by Tiffany

The screen gets smaller until Luthor is in a neat box in the middle of the screen as we count down characters are added to the screen in their own boxes all tuning in to watch this launch

Ten - Sloan with a little girl on her lap pointing at the tv from the couch in a house that is so clearly hers and Luthors. She’s mouthing wave bye to daddy! It’s your daddy! Bye space boy!

Nine - Dot, Herb, the handler, and someone with a gold fish print Hawaiian shirt (AJ for sure), dressed to the nines are sitting in a backyard with a radio on listening and laughing

Eight - hazel and Agnes turn up the volume of a Tv at a doughnut shop they both clearly own. Hazel is behind the counter and Agnes’s waiting tables. The few tables seated have people we recognize there. Cha cha. Eudora and Detective Beaman.

Seven - Viktor and Sissy watching the tv over their living room couch

Six - Grace stopping with a baby carriage at a store front filled with tvs. Her baby on her hip pointing at the tv mouthing the the word rocket to the baby who giggles

Five - Five, His Wife and a bunch of other professors or huddled around an old tv in a lab in a physics building. one of the scientists is holding an open notebook with sketches of the comic characters in it. It’s Gabriel Bá. You can see him mouthing “come on come on!”

Four - Klaus and Dave sitting on a blanket on a hill near the nasa bad along with a ton of other people on blankets pointing and holding binoculars. Gerard way and his wife are among them.

Three - Allison, Ray, and Claire all leaning in to watch eagerly

Two - Diego Lila and all their kids leaning in to hear

One - every box but the ones with the Umbrellas go black.

It’s a close up of all of their eyes. They all read as excited. Looking up towards the future. “the beating of our hearts is the only sound”

All those squares go black on some tambourine beats

Houston we have liftoff.

Credits roll.

END CREDITS SCENE.

A close up of Ben’s eyes. We zoom out. We’re back on that train in Korea. We see him frown a second as he realizes something. He puts the book down a second. He looks out the window. Looks at his phone. There are text messages that read “dude where are you? We’re watching the launch without you!. How’d you miss this?!”

You see him realize.

In Korean “Motherfu—“

We cut to black again and cut him off.

The End

Is it cheesy? Maybe? But you know I think we deserve a little cheesy.

[msafterhours]

Play

Male Reader x Rocket Punch / EL7Z UP Yeonhee

~4.7k words

"You're overthinking this."

"No, I'm not!" you argue. "If I sneak over there, I can—"

CLANK!

A sudden bang silences your sorry excuse for hesitation as a shot glass appears in your line of sight and splashes liquor all over your arms.

“Apologies for the spillage,” Yeeun says to you. Her eyes tell an entirely different story as they roll: one of an identical exasperation that’s found in Yeoreum’s expression beside you. “A gift from the lovely lady at the end of the bar.”

You follow her gaze, eyes skipping along the bar stools until they reach the far side, where you hear hints of a giggle from the other side of the curtain of blonde they hide behind.

A sigh rips itself from your chest—not at Yeeun, mind you. Mostly at yourself, because you shouldn’t have assumed Yeonhee would let you host a party for the group without stirring up at least a bit of trouble. Then again, you didn’t expect her to put her plan into motion this early into the night.

“Ah, I see. Thanks, I guess.”

After another roll, Yeeun’s eyes turn to Yeoreum, capturing her in a conversation and leaving you entirely with no options other than to follow up on your gift. You rise, scoot in your stool, and walk around the countertop until you reach the end, where a certain someone awaits. “What are you doing, Yeonhee?”

The curtain parts as she flips her hair with a professional grace, revealing those twinkling eyes and slight smirk that refuse to ever leave your heart and mind. “Oh hey,” Yeonhee says, running a finger along the rim of her own shot glass. “You come here often?”

“This is literally my kitchen.” You remain standing, refusing to sink to her level and take the bait.

“So that’s a yes?”

You chuckle, you grimace, but most importantly, you cave. “Yes Yeonhee, I come here often.”

“Interesting …” she says, stretching the word out long enough that you almost believe her. “I would have guessed you’re the type who’d die without food delivery.”

“Hey!” you scoff, nose scrunching in indignation as you relent and pull up a stool beside her. “Who are you to talk when you’re constantly begging for me to make you midnight snacks?”

“Shush, not so loud,” Yeonhee murmurs, pulling you in closer as she leans in. “So … that means you know somewhere private we can go together?”

Her question tells you two things:

What exactly she’s trying to do with this little performance

That you chose a terrible time to try to take a drink of the drink she’d so kindly gotten for you

You fall into a fit of coughs as the burning liquid goes down the wrong pipe, leaving you gasping for air as everyone else in your apartment turns and grimaces at the sight. “Hey, you alright?”

A large hand slaps against your back, finally allowing you to inhale as Nana’s boyfriend looks at you with concern. You turn, still struggling to form words as you tell him, “Thanks, I—” but it gets cut off as another cough rips through you.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asks, leaning in closer.

You grab him by the shoulder, pulling him even closer as you finally regain the ability to string together words and whisper, “Name a number and I’ll pay you it if you can get the other six out of my apartment right now.”

“What? I—”

“Right. Now.” You silence any further questions with a slight smirk of your own, conveying everything he needs to know.

“₩200,000—”

“Done.”

“... and a favor,” he finishes.

You grimace, but in a split second and a single glance, your mind is made. Because you see her. Yeonhee. Eyes trained on you, expectations clear as day even as she’s so casual about it all: blowing a bubble with her gum—when the hell did she—hand in her hair as she twirls it around. 

“Done.” Turns out her hair’s not the only thing Yeonhee’s got wrapped around her finger.

“A pleasure,” he says, then turns to face the others. “Alright girls, first round at karaoke’s on me! We’re gonna give this guy,” he says, with a pitiful glance in your direction, “a chance to rest his vocal chords and Yeonhee a chance to play nurse. Everyone ready?”

It’s a pitiful excuse with all the subtlety of a freight train, but it seems you’re a sorry enough sight for the other members to let you off the hook. A few minutes later, once all the goodbyes are said and done, they finally depart and take their judgemental eyebrows with them, leaving you solely in the sights of Yeonhee’s fuck me eyes.

“Hey stranger,” she calls out, crossing her legs as she lounges against the countertop. “Looks like it’s just you and me now. Alone.”

“Looks like it,” you say, striding around the island to the excessive amount of alcohol intended for the party that was supposed to happen tonight. “Can I buy you a drink?”

A spark of pleasant surprise tugs at the corner of her mouth, mirth filling her expression as you play along. “Please do.”

You reach down, opening the cabinet and pulling out another pair of shot glasses—ones much bigger than you'd ever use for “responsible” social interactions. Two heaping helpings of hard alcohol later, you slide a glass across the countertop and into the expectant hand of your houseguest.

“So, what are we toasting to?” you ask. “Our good health? Family? Friends—like the ones we just kicked out?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Yeonhee responds, the sparkle in her eye shining as bright as ever. “How about something even more special?”

“To us?” you suggest, offering your drink to her.

She leans forward, as if she’s intending to indulge and take a sip, but instead, she leans further in. It takes a moment for you to realize that she’s kissing you—subverting your expectations seems to be her specialty tonight—but as soon as the realization sets in, you’re all too eager to indulge. Your hairs stand on end as you melt into the contact, losing yourself in the connection and cursing its loss when she pulls away.

“To us,” Yeonhee confirms when you reopen your eyes and stare into hers, tipping her own glass to your lips as you both down the other’s drink, savoring the saccharine burn as it flows down your throat. You waste no time pulling Yeonhee into another, deeper kiss before she can take a breath. The faint hint of strawberry from the flavored vodka remains, but the softness of her lips is even sweeter. Your mind spirals as the kiss deepens, and the lids of your eyes shut, allowing you to focus on the other sensations overwhelming you.

The needy scrape of her teeth against your bottom lip. A moan, barely escaping her lungs and echoing against the inside of your mouth as she leans into you. Her scent: hints of vanilla hidden amongst the overpowering scents of alcohol that have long since overtaken your kitchen. Another taste entirely emerges as the kiss deepens further and her nibbles become more insistent, nipping at your skin and drawing the taste of iron from your veins.

Some foolish sense of self-preservation forces you to pull away, leaving you stunned by the sight of Yeonhee, eyes focused on you as she drags the back of her hand against her lips, wiping away any evidence of her misdeeds as she smiles all too sweetly. “You wanna like, get out of here?”

“Oh yeah? And go where?”

“You could take me back to your place.”

“Yeonhee, we … sure. Let’s go back to my place,” you accept, eyes too wide to roll as she stands and saunters over to you.

“Wonderful. Mind giving me a ride?” Yeonhee asks as she closes the distance, stunning you once more as the scent of her perfume reaches your senses.

“Of course,” you say, sweeping her up into your arms. Your heart melts all over again as she yelps in surprise, wrapping her arms around your neck as you hold her close against your chest. You circle around your living room once, twice, thrice, and while the sound effects of screeching tires and honking horns might be a bit unnecessary, the melodious laughter that rings out from Yeonhee makes it more than worth the effort.

Finally, you set her back down, but make sure to pull her into a hug, keeping her close as you whisper, “Alright babe, we’re home. What now?”

“We could do another round of shots,” Yeonhee offers, though the suggestion’s a formality at best when she pulls away from you and sits down on the couch with legs so invitingly spread. “Or …”

“I could taste something even sweeter,” you finish. A quick glimpse at her eyes gives you all the invitation you need, gives you that last bit of confirmation that your thoughts couldn’t be more aligned.

You settle into a familiar position: seated between Yeonhee’s creamy thighs, head shaking in disapproval at the sorry excuse for a pair of shorts separating you from your desires. It’s with a practiced poise that your fingers hook into the waistband of her shorts and then further still, capturing her panties and removing both barriers in a single tug.

“So eager …” Yeonhee murmurs, corners of her mouth curling as giggles slip past her lips. You lose any chance you might have had to respond as you look up into her eyes and your train of thought is completely derailed by the sight of her bottom lip, captured between her teeth as she wordlessly begs for you to continue.

Unfortunately for her, instead of diving into the main course, your exhales serve as an appetizer, cascading hot breaths across her glowing skin. Your fingertips trace symbols alongside the insides of her thighs, spelling out names, places, and whatever the fuck else your imagination can come up with as you send faint shockwaves across her synapses, triggering the slightest of shivers across her body. Any hints of laughter died many moments ago, replaced by her best attempt as disinterest as she mumbles and grumbles and asks can’t you just get on with it?, but her words quiver and die on her lips as she whimpers in frustration.

Her hands find a home in your hair and dig into your scalp, growing more insistent by the second as she stares at you through half-lidded eyes, letting out impatient, exasperated sniffles as you just barely miss her most sensitive areas. In the dim glow of your apartment, you see a faint sheen of arousal coating her folds, but it’s nothing compared to the torrent of pleas and promises as Yeonhee asks why? and please? and begs for you to stop teasing me …

Part of you wants to acquiesce, give your beautiful girlfriend what she wants like you always do, but instead, your hands clamp down on her thighs, capturing them in a firm grip, denying Yeonhee the friction she so desperately craves even as she squirms and kicks and struggles to bring herself over the edge. You’re perfectly in tune with Yeonhee’s desires, reading her shudders and shakes like notes on a sheet, using her body as the instrument of your desires as you play her a symphony of suffering, a cacophony of crescendos that you cut short before they can ascend all the way up the scale.

The performance sends ripples across the rest of her body, sending waves of tension along the tight muscles of her stomach before ascending further upward. One of your hands follows the path up to her breast and its painfully hard nipple, capturing it between two fingers and tweaking the sensitive nub, earning another heavy gasp through gritted teeth as Yeonhee loses further control of her labored breaths.

A sigh.

A plea.

A moan.

A scream.

All of it mixes together in your ears, just another drop amidst the river of incoherent muttering spilling forth from Yeonhee’s lips. There’re curses and cries, requests for mercy and hopes that you die, a spate of stammered and slurred syllables that grow your smirk ever wider as you oh so slowly inch closer to her core.

Another exhale, a brief brush of the back of your knuckle against her clit, another pinch of her nipple—you employ every tactic available in your arsenal as she slumps back against the couch, reveling in the raw desperation on her face as arousal overwhelms her ability to fight back. You’re sadistic enough to keep her teetering on that precipice for a few minutes longer, just long enough for her cloudy eyes to fog over and for every single muscle in her body to clench.

It’s at that pinnacle of tension that you pounce, lips latching onto the swollen bud of her clit and sucking hard as you slip a pair of fingers into her dripping folds. Immediately, her whimpers turn to wails then die in her throat, her voice breaking as little raindrops of relief spill from the corners of her eyes.

Yeonhee melts into the couch as the tremors overtake her and waves of pleasure crash over her body. The gasps of breath she breathes in between her sobs are your favorite song, an orchestra of overwhelming release that you demand an encore of. Even as her back arches, her toes curl, her eyelids shut and her fingertips dig into your scalp, your hunger persists, driving you to demand more.

Another thrust of your fingers. Another kiss on her thigh. Another brush against her clit. Then another. And another. Her fingers dig deeper still, clinging to you like you’re her only tether to reality even as you’re the one bringing her to the brink of madness. Her moans climb an octave, then higher still, offering little affirmations of fuck and yes and please as you chase your shared desire.

The second orgasm comes quicker and hits much harder than the first, sweeping over Yeonhee like a hurricane and leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The way she spasms, the way she shakes, it’s picturesque how her juices leak out and coat your face. Her walls clamp down on your fingers and force you to slow your pace to a crawl, allowing Yeonhee to come down from the high you’ve brought her to.

With that, you finally withdraw from her, mesmerized by the sight of her chest rising and falling in time with the heavy breaths she desperately sucks into her lungs. “So?” you ask, shamelessly smug as you lick the juices off of your soaked fingers. “Was that everything you were hoping for when you saw me from across the bar?”

“Not even close,” Yeonhee fires back, eyes burning bright as she stands and meets your eyes. “But it’s a damned good start.”

She leans in before you can reply, capturing your lips with fervent need as she pulls you close. “You know what I think?” she murmurs.

“What?”

“You, my dear,” Yeonhee murmurs. “Are way too overdressed.”

Yeonhee punctuates her point by dropping your belt to the ground—when did she even—and skating her hands up your stomach before hooking her fingers into the waistband of your jeans. With an insistent tug, she catches your eyes, pouting oh so prettily. Her teeth catch in her lower lip, pressing against it so, so softly as even as her desire threatens to set the room ablaze. And just in case that wasn’t enough—

“Please?”

No’s never an option when she asks so nicely. You do as she desires, lifting your shirt above your head and plunging the room into darkness for a moment. As your vision returns, you’re met with the sight of an empty room, save for Yeonhee’s shirt fluttering in the wind, acting as the sole hint as to where she’s gone. Well, that and the melodious laughter echoing down the hallway.

A soft smile spreads across your face as you follow the sounds of her footsteps, leaving a trail of clothes in your wake as your mind races. Part of you wants to play this slow, deny her desires even further, but that single syllable echoes throughout your head. Please. It’s unfair, really. She’s unfair. But that’s also what makes it so fucking fun.

At the top of the stairs awaits the entrance to your bedroom, and within lies an image that stops your heart for a swift second: Yeonhee, lounging atop the bed, her golden river of hair cascading over the pillows as she licks her lips at the sight of you.

“So.”

“So?”

“So,” you deadpan, taking slow, measured steps until you reach the foot of the bed. “What now?”

“I had an idea … if you’re willing to humor me,” Yeonhee offers, recapturing her hair around her finger and twirling it around, just like she did at the start of all of this.

“I’ve been doing so all night, no reason to stop now,” you jest, earning a mirrored smile that manages to just barely hint at Yeonhee’s adorable charm beneath the sultry expression.

“So … what if I laid back?” Yeonhee asks as she twists herself on the bed and hangs her head off its edge. Her eyelashes, still damp from your earlier torment, flutter up at you and send your stomach spiraling into knots. There’s this magnetism to her, something about those doe-like eyes that sends you into decision paralysis as you ponder whether to lean down and kiss her on the nose or shove your cock down her throat and see just how messy your pretty girl can get for you.

“What if you took this incredible cock,” she purrs, warm breath cascading over your cock and sending shivers down your spine. She tilts back and parts her lips, mirth lurking in the corner of her smirk as she asks:

“And fucked my face like this?”

Your body reacts before the words even register in your mind, one hand cupping her cheek as the other guides your cock closer, positioning yourself right above her face. Her eyes widen in both desire and delight as she opens her mouth even wider, allowing you to push yourself forward into her waiting warmth. Yeonhee wraps her lips around you, enveloping you and sucking you even deeper as her tongue darts forth, exploring every available inch of your shaft as you continue ever deeper.

A deep, guttural groan rips itself from your chest as Yeonhee bobs her head back and forth, sending waves of boiling crimson through your veins. Both of your hands find a home amidst the silky strands of Yeonhee’s hair, gripping tighter with every withdrawal and subsequent thrust of your hips. Your eyes keep glancing downwards, checking for fear in your lover’s eyes, but Yeonhee meets your stare every time with a mirror of the desire and arousal she evokes in you so effortlessly.

As your breaths shorten, Yeonhee’s tongue grows more daring, more insistent. Her intoxicating presence quickly overwhelms your senses; the sight of her in such a vulnerable position, the scent of her skin so tantalizingly close to you, and the downright vile symphony of chokes gasps moans and more as she struggles to withstand the intensity she demands of you. Even with her words taken from her, the way she claws at the inside of your thighs and the seal her lips have on your cock—she makes every single movement and action with the single-minded focus of bringing you to an orgasm just as intense as the ones you’ve given her.  

Your pulse quickens, pulses, and rises, pounding at an elevated, erratic rate as you approach the edge. As you look down and catch one last sight of the beauty giving herself wholly for your pleasure, you do nothing to fight the oncoming storm, instead allowing yourself to tip over the edge into bliss.

The first of your senses to go is sight. Your view of the room goes dark as your head feels light, disconnected from the only part of your body demanding attention.

The next is sound. Any chance you have of hearing the harsh and heavy groans of pleasure reverberating out from your gasping lips is lost, swept up under the current of the sanguine rush pounding in your ears.

Touch spares you no such mercy. Your teeth grit as shockwave after shockwave pulse up your spine and to each and every one of your extremities, turning what would otherwise be an already incredible orgasm into a full-on out-of-body experience.

You remain unmoving, barely keeping upright and at the mercy of the merciless mess before you. Yeonhee refuses to let up even for a moment, oxygen unimportant as she laps at your shaft, gulping down each drop of your cum until she’s drained every ounce of pleasure from you.

Only then, when your sight is barely coming back into focus, do you see her: a single string of saliva connecting the corner of her lips to your cock before breaking off and glistening on her chin. With a coy smirk, Yeonhee wipes it away, making a show of lapping it up off of the back of her hand as her eyes sparkle with sultry satisfaction.

A moment of silence passes between you two, one you’re more than willing to spend admiring the aftermath of your shared desires. Yeonhee’s face is an absolute fucking mess, cheeks flushed with pleasure, lips reddened and swollen, altogether a perfect image of debauched beauty.

There’s something about Yeonhee like this, eyes half-lidded as she awaits her well-deserved praise that kick-starts your heart in a way no one else has even come close to replicating.

“Fucking hell, Yeonhee,” you murmur as you climb into the bed beside her and take her into your arms.

“Wasn’t that fun?” she asks, words light and airy as her eyes sparkle, faux innocence painted on every feature as if she hadn’t nearly sucked out your soul. “Pretty good idea, right?”

“Oh yeah babe, 11/10, no notes,” you respond with a huff, flopping onto your back like a starfish as your eyes close and you take a deep inhale.

The opening notes of your favorite song play as laughter overtakes Yeonhee, sending her into a fit of giggles that leaves you short of breath all over again. A small oof escapes past your lips as she lightly hits your chest, letting out one last bit of playful energy before she snuggles up against your side and wraps her arms around your torso. “The night’s still young, you know. I bet the others haven’t even finished their first round of drinks at the karaoke bar.”

“Oh?” you ask, eyebrow arched even as your eyelids remain firmly shut. “Were you hoping to join them?”

“Of course not. Do you want to be the one who has to explain that you faked an illness just because we were too horny to wait any longer?”

“What do you mean ‘we’? You were the one who just had to play out their filthy fantasy right then and there,” you fire back, opening up your eyes just enough to glare at her.

“I don’t seem to remember you putting up much of a fight,” she responds, shrugging as she looks away to hide her smile.

You opt to let silence be your response because, well, she’s right, but honestly, when you pull her close and feel the way she nuzzles her face into your chest and you catch a whiff of the floral scent of her conditioner, you realize you have higher priorities.

“So.”

“So?”

“Round two?” you ask.

“Wasn’t that round two?” Yeonhee asks, eyebrows scrunching together in deep thought.

“I’d argue that was the second half of part one—evening things out, if you will.”

“I think the pause and change of location means it’s a whole new round.”

“This whole thing started because you pretended my kitchen was a bar and that we were complete strangers. Is this really the time to argue semantics?”

“Actually, yes; I would argue immersion is integral to—”

“Yeonhee.” You cut her off there, interrupting her mid-sentence as you shift your weight atop hers and pin her wrists to the headboard. Your other hand finds a home in her hair once more, twirling those golden locks as you let the silence speak volumes.

“Yes?” she whimpers, eyes wide and breaths heavy.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Another moment passes. Another. Her pulse pounds in your grip, her lips part, her chest heaves, yet you let the silence linger. The air grows tense, making it hard for even you to breathe, but you hold your tongue, patient enough to make her ask, “Why?”

You free your hand from her hair, instead using it to position your cock as you line yourself up with her sopping heat. As you’re about to slip inside her, you lean forward, letting your lips brush against her ear as you whisper, “Because I’m going to make you lose count.”

With that, you push forward into her once more, eliciting another gasp that dies in your mouth as you claim her lips with your own. Her body presses against you, back arching in a truly exquisite display of the pleasure overtaking her. Bit by bit you press onward, breath tight in your chest as you pull away from the kiss and her velvety interior suffocates your cock.

Yeonhee’s breaths come in short, desperate puffs, ragged and scarce as you ruin her further; her teeth find a familiar home in her lower lip as she tries to suppress the signs of satisfaction showing across every inch of her immaculate form, but fails spectacularly.

“More than you bargained for?” you tease, running your thumb over her bruised bottom lip. She opens her mouth obligingly and sucks on your thumb, tongue tickling the pad before moving on to nibble on your knuckle.

“It’s never too much for me,” Yeonhee pants out, words still shaky as she rolls her hips up to meet yours, issuing a further challenge.

“You’re insatiable,” you chuckle. Yeonhee begins to respond, but you silence her once more by capturing her hips in your hands and slamming them down against the bed. You keep her pinned there, perfectly in place for you to achieve your pleasure. Each thrust becomes more insistent, finding a deeper depth inside of her as her hands grasp and claw at your scalp.

Everything feels too close yet not enough—the curve of her body molds against yours, legs clasping around your waist and pulling you ever deeper; she looks at you through tear-stained lashes, eyes unfocused as she tries to keep sight of you. Her fingers weave into your hair and pull, sending tingles of ecstasy and agony into your mind as she clings to her only tether to reality.

Somewhere in the heat of these moments, time fades into irrelevance, seconds slipping past like grains of sand through your fingers. You pin her to the bed, push her up against the headboard, pull her into the shower, bend her over the sink, toss her onto the bed once more, and drown her in the waves of euphoria all over again. Long after the clock ticks forth into a new day, you sink into the silky sheets alongside Yeonhee. You look over and you’re mesmerized by the sight of her, skin shining with the sheen of sweat as she wears your cum as a point of pride.

“Tired yet?” she challenges you, smirking as she trails her delicate fingertips down your chest.

“Fucking exhausted,” you admit, smiling just as wide as her eyes sparkle with mirth. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t go another round if you’re desperate for more.”

“Oh god no, I still need to walk out of here in the morning. Hold me though?”

Yeonhee tries to rest her head against your chest, but you’re quick to pull away and respond, “Go clean up first, you’re a fucking mess.”

“And whose fault is that?” she huffs, crossing her arms in protest.

Your eyes roll, but you sweep her into your arms as you stand, chuckling to yourself as she yelps in surprise and wraps her arms around your neck. “Fine, we go wash up and then we can snuggle as much as you like. Deal?”

“Deal.”

…

…

…

“You're such an idiot, I can't believe you got Yeonhee sick,” Yeoreum huffs from the other side of the phone.

“What do you mean? She seemed fine when she left earli—last night.”

“Really? She's been complaining all day that her throat hurts!”

“O-oh,” you stammer, badly masking your surprise with a cough as your phone dings. “That is … yeah. My bad then, sorry.”

(My most genuine gratitude to @capslocked for their assistance in making this fic far better than it would have been otherwise and for just being significantly more helpful than I could have ever hoped for. I have two other short story ideas in mind that I'll likely try to finish before diving into a mid-length project, after which I think I'm going to try and fully tackle the Saccharine rewrite. As always, thank you so very much for choosing to spend your precious time reading my work, it means everything to me.)

[lafiametta]

For all its profound tragedy, there was something magnificent in Mariko's death because it was an act she chose for herself.

Not only did it serve a purpose — by dying, she lays bare the tyrannical nature of Ishido's regency and furthers Toranaga's broader plan — but it was a fulfillment of the duty she believed she owed her father and her disgraced family name.

For years, she has asked for permission to die — from her husband, from Toranaga — and been denied. Even her foreign lover protests against the sacrificial choice she wants to make, begging her to remain alive if only for him.

In the end, she does not ask permission. She reclaims herself — Akechi Mariko — and chooses her fate, one that belongs to her alone.

[ellieluvr420]

Change (Abby Anderson x reader)

They had her, the love of your life, they had her and they were going to die for it.

Your actions weren't even conscious anymore, acting only on instinct, adrenaline-fuelled rage that drove you to the point of insanity. There was nothing in your way because anything that tried to stop you was slaughtered, infected dropping left right and centre until the horde that they had lured to you was laying in a pile behind you. Your clothes drenched in blood, slowly drying and staining your skin until a new layer covers it as the next wave flies at you.

People this time, but it made no difference to you. The only person your mind could register was her, so when the sharp edge of your axe dug into the poor man's neck that made the mistake of running at you, the squelching feeling only made you more exhilarated. You rip the axe out of his neck and the splatter of blood that paints you and the floor tastes as sweet as honey to you. Two men go down as your gun fires twice.

You keep walking, your pace never slowing, and as two more soldiers walk in front of you with their hands up a sick smile plasters itself onto your face as you dig the axe into one's abdomen as you shoot the other straight in the throat. Their time to surrender was over, they made their bed and now they can lay in it for all eternity.

The closer you get to her the stronger you feel as you leave a trail of bodies behind you, your path stained red. You swap from your handgun and axe to your assault rifle as you see a large swarm of soldiers running at you. When you had stumbled across the gun hiding from other passers by you felt like you had won the lottery and as the melody of screams fills your ears while you watch them drop to the ground like flies, you only felt luckier. You had never been violent, you were forced into training to be a soldier but now you understood how it feels, the bloodlust, you would never stop. Not when you've got her back, not ever, anyone that isn't her would die if they crossed your path from now. You would never lose her again and if your soul had to wither away for that to happen you would give it up in a second.

The thundering bangs of bullet after bullet leaving the chamber of your gun made you dizzy, faint almost, the power surging through you was enough to make you feel like you weren't human. A whole wave of soldiers down, just like that. Commotion sounds from behind you and without even glancing backwards you light a molotov that you had been saving for an occasion like this and chuck it behind you. There's that melody again, the harmony of shrieks and cries for help, the smell of burning flesh invades your nostrils and to you it smells like a freshly baked cake. They shouldn't have taken her but they learned their lesson too late.

You push forward further and further until you reach the building you knew they were keeping her in. She's yours and she'll be with you soon. "I'll be there soon baby." You mutter to yourself as you change the magazine of your gun to a fresh one before slamming it into the glass of the locked doors, another barrier between you and her demolished. You're barely through the shattered door when you hear the footsteps of countless soldiers running to their deaths. You imagine some of them being sure this would be the mission that set them apart, that made them a hero, and then you imagine their families being informed that the fucking idiot got themself killed because they underestimated you. You're a different person to who you were when you were a part of the WLF and Abby is too and they were too stupid to see that when they took her from you.

You both made the plan to run and you weren't prepared to give up the dream any time soon. You were leaving and she was leaving with you, even if you had to kill every member of the WLF and reduce their bases to rubble, so be it. They chose this. The thundering footsteps got closer as you took cover behind a wall and raised your gun, ready for the first wave. The continuous thud that accompanied the firing of your bullets was music to your ears and as the hallway goes quiet you advance further. A shriek fills your ears and your blood runs cold because even in a state of distress you'd recognise her voice anywhere. You're so close.

You follow the sound until you're outside the room you know she's being held in. You sling your gun over your shoulder and brandish your axe as if it's made bespoke for your hand. You slam the door open and before even looking at the love of your life you bring the axe down into Isaac's head, over and over again until he's unrecognisable. You stand from his lifeless form, breathing heavy and eyes crazed before they soften as you make eye contact with her. She's here, really here and you could feel her soft skin caressing yours as you undid her binds and gave her your handgun. "Ready babe?"

"Let's go." You raise your gun once again as the crashing of soldiers coming straight at you sends shockwaves through your body. The more blood you spilled in your escape, the more you wanted to stay to spill more but Abby's hand gently pulling you toward the gate that let you run to your fantasy rips you away from the carnage you had left in your trail.

You had wanted to leave to find peace but this feeling had a funny way of changing you.

If blood wasn't spilling, you would never be at peace. Abby watched you change right in front of her eyes, you became a blood-thirsty monster and all she wanted to do was help you get your fill. You left for peace and peace for you both ended up being bringing death and destruction to whatever crossed your path. Darkness overtook you both and you revelled in it.

Bloodlust had transformed you into angels of death, falling further from grace with every body that dropped before you.

erm idk i needed some female rage vibes rn and instead i came out with something minorly psychopathic, akneewayz

[gremlingottoosilly]

in if you need to be mean, would the reader ever try to escape? and if she did, how would konig react? thinking about like, she planned for a few months how would she escape him, and she feels very conflicted bc she loves him, but she wants freedom and thats the only thing konig would never give her. so when hes away she takes the car and just goes. i dont know where, but shes so desperate te be free again to do whatever she likes without him hovering and always by her side trying to control what she does! would he feel sad? would he be devastated? would he go after her? i know that theres like a 1% chance of it happening but im so curious about how he would react and how it would change their relationship.

anyway, love your fanfics gremlin you're a genius!!! 🫶

Konig made everything in his power to prevent her from escaping without locking her up and breaking her legs, but it doesn't mean he won't do it.

He refuses to let her study German because he moved her to this foreign country without her knowing the language, and he specifically chose a distant tiny town in the middle of the Austrian woods, where not a lot of people know English and therefore, it would be hard for her to communicate. She doesn't have his car keys or a driver's license, he didn't leave her a lot of cash, so she forced to use his cards with updates of withdrawal and spending sent to his account, and she also just has a dependant visa that wouldn't allow her to do independent anyway. Her only way would be speaking to the police and hoping that they would start the investigation. It would be really hard because, well, Austria doesn't really care about immigrant's problems unless it's an international scandal, and Konig would know anyway - because he has cameras in the house, which he doesn't even hide, and if the investigation would die down, or his girl wouldn't go to the police, he wouldn't really break the contract and run to her immediately. He has quite a few friends around, especially if Krueger or Klaus are around and not on deployment with him, so he could ask them to go and visit his...wife. She is scared and a bit hysterical because of the foreign country, so she can tell weird things about kidnapping and escaping, they shouldn't listen to her! Konig won't be so nice when he returns. He really wanted to play this fantasy of having cute little housewife, nice house and a girl that is absolutely in love with him. He knows that you like him, at least, that you didn't want to escape, you're just silly! He infantilised you before, mostly because of the age difference, but it would be even harsher now. You are not allowed to leave the house, he often simply locks you in the bedroom so you won't have anything to do besides waiting for him to return with groceries and fuck you into the mattress. He didn't want to break you leg, but if you keep resisting, he might kinda push you a bit further. He would assign you a no-nonsense older caretaker so you would have company and help while your leg is broken! She also thinks that you have some sort of weird mental illness that made you paranoid and afraid of your husband, so you can't even get help from her. You can forget about going out while he is on deployment either. And he is very reluctant to let you out, even with him, the first few months after your attempted escape. The world is too dangerous for you anyway,

[cal-flakes]

hiii could you do something with rafe and a beach day please? love ur fics sm ❤️❤️❤️

thank you lovely <3 i am living for these fluff concepts, KEEP EM COMIN xxxx

╰┈➤ beach day with soft!rafe hc’s

warnings: a tad nsfw if you squint, fluff overload

: ̗̀➛ rafe was like an excited puppy when y/n finally told him what she wanted to do for her birthday this year.

: ̗̀➛ she wanted to spend the full day at the beach.

: ̗̀➛ why? he had no idea, but if that was all she wanted to do he was going to make sure it was the best day ever.

: ̗̀➛ he’d wake her up at first light, having planned out the whole day.

: ̗̀➛ “hey birthday girl, time to get up..”

: ̗̀➛ “baby, it’s three in the morning..”

: ̗̀➛ “yeah, we’re going to see the sunrise, come on..”

: ̗̀➛ and while she got up and got dressed, he’d pack the car.

: ̗̀➛ he’d make sure to bring everything they would need to spend the day at the beach.

: ̗̀➛ a cooler for snacks and drinks, a disposable barbecue, fire wood, blankets, towels, changes of clothes, one of his hoodies because he knew she preferred his.

: ̗̀➛ and lastly, a birthday cake, made specially for her.

: ̗̀➛ when he told her he’d planned every second of the day, he really meant it.

: ̗̀➛ once he’d finished packing, he headed upstairs to collect her.

: ̗̀➛ “c’mon angel, let me carry you to the car”

: ̗̀➛ he carried his sleepy princess to his range rover, making sure she was comfortable and buckled in safely.

: ̗̀➛ the half hour drive to the beach went by quickly as she dozed off in the passenger side.

: ̗̀➛ rafe chose a small beach on the island, one where they wouldn’t be bothered too much.

: ̗̀➛ putting his car in park, he peppered kisses over her face as she stirred awake.

: ̗̀➛ “birthday celebrations start now pretty girl, c’mon”

: ̗̀➛ he chuckled as she stumbled out of the car in a sleepy daze.

: ̗̀➛ early mornings were quite chilly in kildare, so she’d opted for a pair of his sweatpants and a hoodie over the top of her bikini.

: ̗̀➛ he held her hand graciously as she followed closely behind him, careful not to fall.

: ̗̀➛ she settled on top of a towel while rafe set everything up around them, leaving a few pieces in the car that they wouldn’t need until later.

: ̗̀➛ he’d even brought pillows, and while she adored his thoughtfulness, she dreaded having to get the sound out of them once they got home.

: ̗̀➛ finally situated, they cuddled on top of the towels and blankets, watching the stars as the waves crashed further down the beach.

: ̗̀➛ instead of watching the sunrise, he chose to watch her instead, his heart fluttering as the bright gleam reflected in her eyes.

: ̗̀➛ “what are you looking at?”

: ̗̀➛ “you”

: ̗̀➛ once the sun had claimed it’s spot in the sky, the heat began to settle over the outerbanks, resulting in y/n frantically removing her comfy clothes.

: ̗̀➛ “oh my god, too hot! too hot! m’gonna die”

: ̗̀➛ rafe eyed the pink bikini she’d chosen for the day, observing how it hugged and complimented her curves.

: ̗̀➛ “do you have a boner?”

: ̗̀➛ “angel, i always have a boner when im with you..”

: ̗̀➛ around eleven, the sun had reached its peak, provoking y/n to apply the sun cream rafe had brought.

: ̗̀➛ “here, let me do it princess”

: ̗̀➛ “rafe, im a big girl, i can do it myself”

: ̗̀➛ “shh, todays your special day, you’re not lifting a finger”

: ̗̀➛ y/n moaned slightly as rafe straddled her bum, massaging her back.

: ̗̀➛ “baby, if you don’t stop that im going to fuck you right here..”

: ̗̀➛ lots of beach sex.

: ̗̀➛ after a while of sunbathing and reading, the pair decided to go for a swim.

: ̗̀➛ y/n tied her hair back as she waded through the light waves, enjoying the warmth of the water.

: ̗̀➛ rafe dove in immediately, thrashing about like a child.

: ̗̀➛ y/n looked around, frantic, when rafe disappeared beneath the surface.

: ̗̀➛ shrieking as he suddenly pulled her under by her legs.

: ̗̀➛ “you’re an asshole, you know that right?”

: ̗̀➛ “yeah…but you love it”

: ̗̀➛ making out in the ocean was a must.

: ̗̀➛ “you know, there’s nobody here yet..” she whispered suggestively.

: ̗̀➛ rafe didn’t even need to respond, immediately pulling her bikini bottoms aside.

: ̗̀➛ they spent the whole day like that, in and out of the sea, sunbathing, reading, eating.

: ̗̀➛ by nightfall, they’d watch the sunset together, y/n inbetween rafe’s legs, resting against him.

: ̗̀➛ “i’ve had the best day, thank you rafe”

: ̗̀➛ “anything for you angel”

[mybrainsautocorrect]

Bedelia’s word to Will at the end of season three may be my favorite in the whole show

Can’t live with him, can’t live without him??? There has literally never been a phrase so true for two people as this one

Will literally could never just leave Hannibal alone, even when he left him there was no forgetting. I mean he came back and it took him a couple of days?? To just forget his family? And decide it never could’ve worked anyway??? Like Will I know you’re down bad and all but what

But then there’s also the not so secret homicidal rage he has for Hannibal every time their eyes meet like how can one person want to be with the one person they want to brutally murder so bad

And then his plan to kill both Hannibal and Francis?? He knew even then he wasn’t coming out of this- he chose to end with Hannibal before they went off that cliff

He chose Hannibal, and then Hannibal chose him

What confused me about the end for a minute was why Hannibal did that? It didn’t make sense to me that he would give up in that way, especially not since it was almost outright stated that while Hannibal may love Will, his love is a hunger, it’s not borne of equality, it’s not healthy it’s just the absolute best he has to offer- the only way he can feel. Hannibal’s love should push him further to want to control Will shouldn’t it?

But the parallels of the show are not something I will ever get over. Will said it to Reba, even if it wasn’t exactly fact considering Francis wasn’t dead, that she had influenced Francis to become better because she had made him unable to watch her die and unable to kill him herself. It’s the same with Will and Hannibal. Will made Hannibal better, or at least started to, which allowed for them to find comfort in each other at the end.

I firmly believe that Will may not have been strong enough to avoid falling off that cliff, but Hannibal sure was so why did he give it all up?

I also want to add that I think it may be at least partly logical on his part— he has no life beyond this. His name and his face have been plastered all over the US if not all over the world so everyone knows what he’s done. He’s also already done it all. If Hannibal is truly as driven by curiosity as his actions would have us believe, he simply got bored. Will was Hannibal’s only unexplored avenue, and they reached the end of their path. They knew what it was like to truly work together and that was the only unanswered question left. He simply had no greater curiosity than following Will

Now this is more or less all nonsensical but I had to get some of these thoughts out- I may not may not come back at some point and flesh this out so that I’m making actual real points

[tinosawruswrites]

Drunken Confessions

Week 2: Drunken Confessions (One-shot)

BG3 Baddies/Lilith Hell Discord server Fanfic prompt

Word count: ~3100 words

Synopsis: After saving the world, the party holds a drunken celebration at the Elfsong. Goofy chaos ensues and Alina (Tav) in her heavily inebriated state confesses her feelings to Astarion.

Tags/Warnings: Named Fem! Tav (Alina), OC Tav with backstory and defined personality, rogue half-elf Tav, spawn Astarion, spoilers for act3, spoilers for the ending of the game, side character Gale, Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Minsc, Jaheira, Halsin and Minthara, reckless alcohol consumption, minor dubcon cause one of them is absolutely blasted, but it’s mostly innocent little kissies on the cheeks etc, attempts at comedy.

Extra special thanks to @charmandabear for helping me by proofreading, fixing grammar errors and giving me insight on how to better my writing!

The party arrived safely back to what remained of the Elfsong. The tavern had been spared from most of the chaos of battle, its structure intact, but a part of its roof collapsed and a couple of its walls with gaping holes in it – almost a fit metaphor for the state of the party.

Karlach and Wyll went off to Avernus and the Emperor disappeared. Astarion had to make a brief vanishing act to escape the sun, emerging back into the group only after Gale located the spellbook that allowed him to cast darkness.

Alina had started crying when Astarion made a run for it and Karlach almost burnt alive. She calmed briefly after each of their little problems was solved, but didn’t stop fully until after they had all settled in the Elfsong.

Lae’zel attempted to voice her plans to leave once they were done, but felt too bad to actually commit once Alina took both of her hands into her own, eyes leaking and lips trembling, shaking her head.

It postponed the githyanki’s departure, possibly indefinitely.

The rest of the party didn’t voice their need to leave, or at least hid any such plans as to not upset Alina even further. After all, they had just barely saved the world and they had a celebration to attend to.

Despite its worn down status, the Elfsong was a sight for sore eyes and the innkeeper was more than happy to return to his everyday job serving food and drinks, instead of fending off against mindflayers and their minions.

The group settled within the tavern’s torn down walls, chose a table and began their celebration with a round of drinks.

“To Karlach and Wyll!” hailed Gale to honor their friends.

“To Karlach and Wyll!” the group repeated and toasted their drinks together.

Alina downed her pint in one go like a thirsty sailor, slamming the empty vessel back against the table, much to everyone’s surprise. She wiped away the foam clinging under her nose and hiccuped loudly. The group broke into laughter and toasted again. Alina giggled, hiccuping again, her small frame already swaying.

All drinks were on the house and the merry making escalated rapidly as the day progressed into the afternoon. Alina managed to down another pint almost immediately after the first one, prompting Shadowheart to ban her from drinking anything else for a while.

“It’s for Karlach and… Wyll… They would have wanted for us to… to… be happy and not sad after winning.” Alina was already partially slurring some of her words, surprising even herself.

“And they would want us to also not die of alcohol poisoning while doing so, I’m sure,” Shadowheart reminded Alina, patting her in the back while holding her own freshly poured cup of wine in the other.

This seemed to work and kept Alina from drinking for a good while, coming down to a comfortable buzz after Gale convinced her to eat something to soak up the alcohol. 

She wasn’t much of a drinker in her free time and thus didn’t have much experience when it came to drinking. She did a lot of taste testing and sampled each concoction carefully before deciding if she liked it, only finishing those she did. She got her samples by stealing from the cups of her friends, mostly from Gale.

She distracted him by hugging him first, then poked him on the shoulder from behind, duping him into turning towards the non existent person trying to get his attention, allowing her to take a loud slurp from the goblet in his hands.

Gale chuckled at Alina’s antics but loudly reprimanded her with a couple choice words after falling for her cheap trick for the third time, forcing Shadowheart to come and help put a stop to the blatant drink thievery, only to end up as the next victim.

She forced a giggling Alina to sit down with her around a lone table, closely monitoring the rogue with both of her arms crossed, a full wine goblet in front of her. Alina had her own goblet full of water in front of her, but when Shadowheart’s attention inevitably faltered, the rogue used the moment to swap their drinks.

Shadowheart turned to watch Alina gleefully down her supposed goblet of water and smiled approvingly, taking a victorious sip of her own, quickly finding out the trickery.

What followed was a full on pursuit with Shadowheart and Gale chasing after Alina while she went on a wild alcohol motivated crime spree, stealing as many sips from as many of her friend’s drinks as she could. Laughter rumbled from all over the tavern that had slowly filled up with more patrons as the day progressed.

After getting apprehended by none other than Halsin and told to slow down, Alina calmed down like a tamed feral kitten, already feeling the booze take effect. Shadowheart and Gale sighed of relief, settling into their own merry-making, knowing for certain that Halsin’s gentle authority would keep Alina in line, and it did.

She slowed down remarkably, most definitely due to her absolutely hammered state.

She was mostly a giddy drunk, happily singing and dancing around the tavern with everyone who would engage with her. However, her joy would take a brief, yet intense nosedive whenever she remembered their missing companions, oftentimes triggering the moodswing herself by trying to find either Karlach or Wyll. She would sink to a low, depressive slouch, ugly crying until comforted and reminded that despite being forced to leave, they were both still alive and well.

Hopefully.

But that was something nobody wanted to add.

After the fourth bout of crying, it was Jaheira’s turn to console Alina, - Gale, Shadowheart, and Halsin had each had their turns already. In a rare motherly fashion, the druid decided it was better for the rogue to take a break from drinking and sit down at the sidelines to separate her from all the wild partying of the others.She tutted at the young half-elf while guiding her under her arm away from the loud center of the tavern, soothing her with druidic words of wisdom about “rivers always finding the sea at the end” and “strong roots that joined trees that were distances apart.”

Alina sniffled and nodded at her, allowing herself to be seated in one of the quieter corners of the tavern, right next to Astarion. The vampire was lounging in one of the more comfortable seats the tavern had to offer, a leather armchair with a small foot rest.

He was swirling his wine in a goblet, one empty bottle next to him and another one halfway done on the table, terribly bored being his inability to get drunk in the traditional way.

He raised an eyebrow seeing Jaheira half carrying a clearly very drunk Alina to sit next to him.

“Keep an eye on her and don’t let her drink anymore.” Jaheira gestured towards Alina.

“...What? I’m not a-”

A loud crash sounded off from the other end of the tavern. Minsc had accidentally broken a table by drunkenly trying to demonstrate a handstand upon it, shattering a bunch of wine bottles, glasses and a couple pints on his way down towards the floor through it.

“Minsc is fine! No worries friends!” the ranger called from the floor while groaning, sounding remarkably sober but struggling to orient himself.

Boo squeaked something from the front counter, safely tucked inside a small, makeshift hanging swing with a biscuit in its paws.

“Ah, Boo! Your wisdom is truly boundless!” Minsc exclaimed, and supposedly tried to follow the hamster’s advice by rolling himself over, somehow failing.

Lae’zel, though nearby, was of no help, being absolutely smashed after winning a drinking contest against a couple dwarves that Shadowheart had goaded her into. The githyanki was muttering incomprehensible things in her native tongue, while clumsily offering the drunk ranger still struggling on the floor a chair to continue the handstand demonstration on, all the while barely staying on her own two feet.

A heavily wine-tipsy Shadowheart sat next to the two, too busy laughing at the fallen ranger and the fumbling githyanki to try to help. She laughed hard enough to double over and ended up falling on the floor herself.

Gale was unable to help as he had been passed out for more than an hour after enjoying one glass of wine too many. He laid on his front on the floor near the fireplace, half-naked, all limbs spread open like a starfish.

Halsin was nowhere to be seen at first glance, but one could spot a snoring bear surrounded by a pile of empty honey mead bottles under the table near the counter.

Minthara sat smirking at the chaos from the opposite end of the tavern. Legs crossed on top of a table, wine glass in hand, unwilling to meddle and ruin the wild entertainment her companions provided her, while Scratch laid sleeping under her chair.

Jaheira snapped her attention back towards Astarion and gestured towards the chaos that had unraveled before them, beckoning him to go sort out the mess in her stead. The vampire spawn wrinkled his nose at the wordless suggestion, leaned back on his chair, extended his arm towards Alina and gave her shoulder a couple small clumsy pats, content on his less burdensome task. Jaheira scoffed at him and went to sort out the drunken mess.

Astarion watched the druid leave and emptied his wine goblet before turning to look at Alina. She was slowly getting over her most recent crying fit while Jaheira began to put things and people in order in the background.

Astarion gave Alina the best smile he could muster, uncomfortable and unsure how to approach the situation. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Darling, you look awful.”

Alina just nodded at him.

“… I know,” she sniffled and rubbed her swollen eyes.

She raised her head to stare at nothing in particular and contemplated her words before speaking up again.

“Is just… I love them so much. Wyll and Karlach. The Emperor too… well. The Emperor… in a way, sort of. I think,” Alina babbled and blinked, her inebriated state giving her great difficulty in grasping her thoughts.“I miss them already.”

Astarion nodded and refilled his wine goblet.“Well, there’s nothing much we can do for any of them at the moment. What’s done is done. The Netherbrain is defeated and the tadpoles are gone. Hooray for victory,” he sighed bitterly while taking another useless gulp of wine.

Alina caught him off guard when she suddenly climbed into his lap, practically draping herself over him. He had to put down his goblet to use both of his arms to prevent her from falling off.

“...sorry,” Alina mumbled against his shoulder.

“Pardon?” Astarion asked blankly while securing her against himself.

“I’m sorry… you can’t walk under the sun… anymore, it must have been painful...” she lifted her face to speak clearer and hugged him tighter.

“Oh, darling, that…”

“I love you too, you know.”

Astarion froze and stopped breathing for a solid minute. He would have liked to see Alina’s face, but she had leaned it out of view over his shoulder. He turned his head slowly towards her, burying his nose into her brown locks. She smelled of fresh apples, vanilla, booze and saltwater. A strange combination that shouldn’t have smelled as nice as it did.

“It’s not fair… You deserve happiness, true happiness…after everything… you went through,” she continued, caressing his back up and down in comforting motions. “I’m sorry we didn’t find… a solution, and you got hurt.” Alina’s fingers dug into the back of his jacket, crumpling it in her sloppy grasp.

Astarion was speechless. He felt his head slump against Alina’s, his arms hesitantly holding her back. He nodded, barely moving his head as he swallowed dryly.

Jaheira, in the meantime, was almost done getting everyone back up, patiently reprimanding Minsc for causing destruction, helping Shadowheart up from the ground and commanding Lae’zel to sit on the chair she was still holding onto.

“Well darling, if it’s any consolation…”

Alina hiccuped loudly, interrupting him.

Astarion rubbed her back.

“...As I was saying, if it-”

Alina hiccuped loudly again.

She pulled her upper body away from Astarion and met his gaze, eyes wide.

“Uh-HIC-huh?”

Astarion sucked in his lips for a brief moment, trying to keep himself from laughing. Alina hiccuped again while waiting for him to finish.

“I’m going to hold my breath.” Alina stated, drunkenly confident.

“I don’t think it’s a…”

But Alina had already inhaled deeply and was puffing out her cheeks, trying to hold her breath. Astarion had trouble keeping his composure. Another hiccup made Alina jump in place and she frowned with annoyance before she stubbornly inhaled more air into her lungs. Astarion stopped breathing alongside her, like a strange show of camaraderie.

Her face began to turn red, but the hiccup didn’t let up.

“Unlike me, you will eventually suffocate if you do not breathe, sweetheart,” Astarion reminded helpfully.

Alina shook her head at him, eyes scrunched shut so tightly she could pass for a mummy.

She hiccuped again.

The fury in Alina’s eyes was comically over the top when she was forced to exhale and start breathing again, the hiccup undefeated.

Astarion burst into laughter.

The momentary disappointment in Alina’s face was taken over by confusion, then a curious humor.

“What? Is my -HIC- struggle -HIC- funny to -HIC- you?” Alina chuckled to herself, trying to feign anger at Astarion.

“Oh yes. Yes it is, my sweet.” Astarion grinned wide, all sharp fangs interrupting rows of perfect teeth.

Alina grinned with him, still hiccuping every now and then.

“I… love hearing you laugh,” Alina said, somehow managing to stifle the hiccup.

Astarion settled, searching through Alina’s joyful gaze with his own.

“And seeing you grin like that,” she paused, pressing a finger against Astarion’s upper lip, parting it slightly to show one of his fangs.

Her focus was intense enough to forget about the hiccups.

“I think... your fangs are cute. Makes me think of… kissing them. Sometimes.” Alina focused on his lips and went quiet.

Her hiccups stopped, but she didn’t notice.

Alina began forming useless shapes with her mouth, face reddening while clearly struggling to think. She blinked rapidly, as if it would somehow help her form more coherent thoughts. Her eyes began to flicker between Astarion’s eyes and mouth.

“I… think about... kissing you… a lot, actually.”

Alina’s gaze met Astarion’s again, this time maintaining eye contact. She licked her lips and giggled shyly. Astarion nodded silently and licked his own lips, eyes staring unblinkingly at Alina. He raised a hand to gently cup her cheek, brushing his thumb over her freckles.

“Then… why don’t you?”

Alina’s smile was gone in an instant. The rest of her face bloomed red, the blush creeping all the way down to her neck and up to the tips of her ears. She swallowed nervously and grew hesitant.

“W-would it… be alright…?” she asked as a strained whisper.

Astarion smirked and tilted his head, raising a curious brow at her. He watched as Alina breathed slowly in front of him, waiting for his answer. He could hear the way her heart hammered inside her chest, pumping heated, alcohol filled blood through her veins. Even wasted beyond reason, she was still adorably considerate.

“If you want to.”

“W-where… would it be… alright to?”

“Anywhere you want, sweet Alina…” he purred her name and drank in the way she practically melted on his lap.

Alina nodded, the unfocused look in her eyes telling him that his words barely registered. She gave him a shy smile, then turned serious before lifting a clumsy hand to map out his face.

Astarion watched as Alina trailed her fingers up along his cheek, over his temple and brushed through some of the unruly curls covering his pointy ears. Her eyes met his gaze again and she gave him another shy, earnest grin.

“…cute,” she said and leaned closer to his face.

Her expression turned thoughtful once again as her fingertips brushed along Astarion’s cool skin, feeling it over like delicate silk. She finally shut her eyes and pressed a soft kiss on the hollow of his cheek, just below his cheekbone.

She pulled away with her face lowered, giggling like crazy. Astarion couldn’t help but grin with her.

“Is that all?” he asked her.

Alina’s alcohol-hazed thoughts scattered even more upon his question. Her golden eyes gleamed with reserved interest and she bit on her lower lip, shaking her head slowly.

“Well, go ahead then, love.”

Some kind of suffocated sound escaped Alina’s lungs before she nodded and raised a shaky hand to cup his face again. She pressed a soft kiss on his other cheek this time, pulled back with an unsure look, then kissed his cheek slightly higher after he blinked in confirmation.

From there, she didn’t need more encouragement and showered Astarion with kisses all over his face, his temples, forehead, jawline and even the tip of his nose, tactfully avoiding the area near his lips.

Her breath smelled heavily of a variety of different kinds of booze and her lips left warm, slightly moist patches wherever she pressed them.

Alina pulled away and tried to blink away the delirium caused by the kissing, cheeks deliciously flushed, lips gleaming slightly. Astarion maintained a smile throughout the whole show of affection, finding himself humming when Alina kissed closer to his ears.

Alina brushed her thumb against his chin and pressed one final kiss inside the borders of his laugh lines.She pulled back heaving and grinned.

“I… I think I’m drunk.”

Astarion chuckled.

“You think so?”

Alina nodded, dead serious.

“What do you want to do now, miss drunk?”

“I want to…”

Alina squirmed on Astarion’s lap and nestled herself against his chest, head rested just under the side of his jaw, eyes gazing upwards at him adoringly.

“I want to stay here, if it’s… alright with you?”

“Hmm-mmh. Perfectly fine, sweetheart.”

Alina smiled and placed her open palm against his chest.

“I love you a lot, you know.”

“I… think I do, darling,” he smiled down at her, raised a hand, and hesitated briefly before brushing it through her hair.

“Hmmm,” Alina hummed and leaned into the touch.

For the rest of the evening, Alina sat comfortably in Astarion’s embrace, lounging with him on the leather armchair in their private little corner, slowly sobering up while trying to sneak sips from his wine goblet and being tricked into drinking water instead.

She would thank him later for it, suffering a milder hangover compared to everyone else who drank.

[beautifulmadnesss]

"Maybe I'm Better Off Dead" Part 2 Velaryon!Reader x Aemond Targaryen

Summary: Visenya is married to Aemond, who tries to keep her safe, but she is still a prisoner in a war just beginning.

Part 1

When I woke up, the sun was shining in brightly from the windows, which were now covered with bars. The bars were only a few inches apart, so there was no chance of slipping through the gaps.

"Are you hungry?" I turned to see Aemond sitting on the sofa where he slept last night.

"No." I replied, shifting in the bed slightly so I was sitting.

"It's not poisoned." He said, taking a bite of the bread on the tray in front of him. When I didn't respond, he took a bite of the porridge as well.

"Not all poison is immediate. You could just be waiting for an antidote while I suffer a slow death." I challenged.

He sighed, "very well. My mother brought some dresses for you if you wish to change while we wait."

"So you can take the antidote while I'm changing behind the screen?"

"You're quite impossible." He remarked. "Though, I never said you had to go behind the screen." He added with a smirk.

"It's not as if you need to ask anything of me."

His face hardened immediately, "I told you, I will never touch you without your permission."

"Aegon will not allow that. He will expect you to take my maidenhood."

"I already have a plan for that." He replied. I raised an eyebrow at him after he didn't elaborate. "Has your mother explained to you what happens?"

My cheeks flamed and all I could do was shake my head softly.

We were both spared the embarrassment of further conversation by the announcement of his mother at the door.

"You may enter." He said and moments later the doors opened to reveal the Queen Mother in a long velvet green dress.

"Aemond, your brother would like to discuss some things with you before the ceremony." He bowed to his mother before flashing a quick glance at me and leaving myself alone with Alicent. "Shall I help you dress for your wedding?" Her tone was not one of questioning, so I simply stood and followed her over to the pile of green dresses. "You needn't be afraid. Aemond has always been my gentle and kind boy." She said while selecting the most ornate of the dresses. One embroidered with countless tiny flowers and golden beads.

"He murdered my brother." I replied once again.

"The same brother who maimed him?" She challenged.

"We were children. Luke never meant to-" I paused realizing I had said exactly what she wanted.

"Just as Aemond never meant to kill Lucerys." She continued to speak as she helped me into the heavy dress. "Your grandsire was always terrified that his own family would go to war against each other. I think he was right and I'm sure your mother prepared you for that. You have the opportunity to prevent that by marrying Aemond and keeping peace. I know you don't want to and I know you're scared, just as I was, but I promise, no harm will come to you. You can still live a happy life with children you adore."

"You used to be my mother's closest friend." I said through teary eyes as she lead me over to a seat and began running a brush through the tangles in my hair.

"I did and I wish we would not have grown so far apart. Women follow the lead of men. I chose to follow Viserys and do my duty to my country. Your mother chose to follow her desires with your father rather than her husband."

"My mother chose to be happy, to find love and to allow Leanor to do the same. I understand that it was wrong, but it never had to become this. You could've chosen to be happy too." I caught her eye in the small mirror.

"You are a clever girl, but you are still young. You cannot break tradition that has lasted thousands of years. Thousands of men, women, and children will die in this war because your mother decided that her heart was more important than their lives. You can chose to follow the same fate or you can chose to find happiness in the life you have been given." She carefully pushed the last pin just a little too far and I felt it scrap my scalp. A threat that did not go unnoticed. She always hated me and that would not change as I married her son.

My stomach twisted into knots and my heart felt like it would explode out of my chest, but I forced my emotions down and held my head high. I would not cry in a room full of my enemies. The Usurper held my hand on his arm as he led me toward the man who murdered my brother. The blood pounded in my ears as we were married. I couldn't hear anything the Septon was saying. I wanted to scream and run, but I knew I would never be allowed to leave. I considered killing Aegon and ending this war, but I knew Ser Criston Cole, the man my mother had given a job to, would cut me down before I came within inches of victory. Aemond studied my face carefully as our hands were bound together. His eyes seemed to hold concern and pity. As much as I wanted to close myself off to him, I knew Alicent was right, if I did my duty, then perhaps the rest of my family could survive this. I couldn't let anyone else die. Aemond was gentle as he placed a hand on my cheek and slowly leaned forward to kiss me. My first. It seemed to last an eternity as he held our lips together before pulling away and taking my hand in his as we walked through the crowd of people out the front doors.

Once the doors shut behind us, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry." I looked up at him in confusion, he was my husband now, he could do as he pleased, why would he apologize for kissing me?

"Let us go feast and celebrate the end to this fighting!" Aegon announced as he marched through the doors. He seemed to be the only one under the impression this would end the fighting, but as the King, no one challenged him.

Aemond stayed by my side for the rest of the evening, though apart from dancing, he never touched me. I started to become slightly comforted by his presence as many men who would be generals in the war to come approached me with thinly veiled threats of what was to become of my family. I was comforted until Aegon proudly proclaimed that it was time the bedding ceremony.

"My King, as we discussed, I would like the privilege of bedding my wife in privacy, if it pleases you." Aemond replied.

"Ah, yes, of course. My brother wishes to conquer alone. Very well." He waved us off and as we walked closer to his, or I supposed as it was now, our chambers I began to feel more and more afraid. The moment I stepped inside the room and the doors closed, I completely froze and the tears I tried so hard to force back came tumbling down my cheeks.

I could see Aemond out of the corner of my eye begin to strip off his clothes and tossed them next to the bed. I turned away before he took off everything.

"Once you change into your night clothes you hand me your dress." I didn't respond, but simply took off my dress and handed it to him, sneaking a quick glance only to find that he was also wearing his night clothes. He took the dress and tugged hard, tearing the fabric around the neck of the dress and tossed it on top of his clothes. I still hadn't moved from the spot I was glued to. "Visenya." I snapped my head up to meet his gaze. "I truly meant it. I'm sorry for today and I will not tonight, nor ever, force you to lay with me."

He walked over to the couch without another word and laid down. I was unable to completely relax, but I made my way over to the bed and settled into the sheets. Perhaps, he was right, maybe I wouldn't be harmed here.

I woke up to someone gently shaking my shoulder and immediately shot up, slamming into someone. He grunted softly, but still was the one to apologize. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's okay."

"Aegon will be here soon, so you get dressed, while I take care of this." I noticed he was bleeding from a small cut on his torso. He noted my confusion. "When a maiden lays with a man for the first time, she bleeds. Aegon will expect to see that we consummated our marriage."

"Oh."

"It's alright. Toss your night dress over when you change, I'll need that too." He was quiet and also clearly uncomfortable. I nodded and climbed out of bed to go put on one of the green dresses from Alicent, tossing my night dress over as he asked.

I came out and saw that he was now dressed as well, but our clothes from last night and this morning were in a messy pile next to the bed. The sheets were all tangled together and I saw the blood on them.

"Thank you." I said softly, chancing a glance at him. He looked as though he was going to say something else before the doors burst open and the King entered.

"I trust you enjoyed your evening, brother." He said, coming in and walking toward the bed. His lips spread into a wide grin as he took in the scene before him. It turned to a smirk as his eyes found me. "and you, Princess. Did you enjoy yourself?" I wanted to remain brave, but something in his eyes caused me to shrink back, almost instantly bumping into Aemond, though I didn't remember seeing him move toward me.

"Can I help you with anything else, my King?" He said from behind me.

"Yes, I would like for you to fly to Storms End and inform Lord Baratheon that I require the presence of him and his men here to begin preparing for battle. Lord Hightower expects the bitch to attempt to rescue her little girl." He directed the last part at me.

"I did not expect to leave my wife so soon."

"When you return you will have plenty of time to make little lords and ladies. It will be a quick trip." His request was given as a King and therefore not one to be refused, so Aemond left. "I shall have your meals brought here until your husband returns tomorrow." Aegon added to me before he left the room.

It was a relief to finally be left alone and not feel constantly on guard, though as much as I was unsure at the beginning I was starting to feel even a little safe with Aemond. Perhaps he truly didn't mean to kill Luke and maybe he did regret it. I spent the day reading books that were left in the room, though I was not truly absorbing the words I consumed, it helped to pass the time until the evening.

The sheets were changed when the servants brought dinner, so they were clean as I settled into bed. I missed my family, but I now had some hope that I would see them one day.

Once again I awoke to the touch of someone and for a moment I thought it was Aemond until I remembered he was gone. I tried to sit up, but quickly realized I was pinned down. I screamed when I realized it was Aegon.

"Perhaps we will make some bastards of our own." He sneered as he roughly kissed down my neck and forced my dress up. I kept screaming and violently thrashed, trying everything in my power to get free, but it was no use. He was the King and as such, no one would be coming to my aid. The more I fought back, the harder he hit me until eventually I couldn't fight back anymore, all I could do was cry.

The next day no one came to bring me food or change the sheets. There was no bath and no new clothes. I didn't move, because everything hurt and I realized how stupid I had been to think I was ever safe here. Sleep came in short periods if terrible nightmares and the waking world was no different. I was terrified he would return, so when the doors opened again, I scrambled off the bed and shoved myself into the corner, ignoring the ripples of pain throughout my body.

I heard him inhale sharply before calling out my name, but I didn't move or make a single sound until he came around the side of the bed and saw me.

"Stay away from me." I croaked my throat raw.

"Who did this to you?" He growled.

"You know. That's why you left, so he could have his turn. You lied to me and tricked me so I would think I was safe, so I would trust you."

"I didn't I swear." He stopped "Did Aegon do this to you?"

I didn't bother to respond.

"I'm going to help you escape. Stay here. If you want to change clothes, you can. I'm going to figure out how to free your dragon and then tonight I'm getting you out of here." His voice held an uncharacteristic edge, but I wasn't naive enough to believe him again.

The only thing I did was take one of the new dresses and change out of the clothes I was wearing before sitting on the sofa. This time, I didn't get a book, I simply stared at the window, watching as night fell. When Aemond returned he didn't let the doors close behind him, but instead waited in the doorway and asked if I wanted to go for a stroll. The guards on either side of the doors reminded me that I did not have a choice, so I stood and made my way over to him. We walked in silence for a while before we rounded a corned and he pulled me into a secret passage.

"I know you have no reason to believe me anymore, but I had no idea. I am so sorry for what my family has done to you, for what I have done to you." He pulled a cloak over himself and handed one to me. "Some of the dragon pit handlers are loyal to your mother and when I told them what Aegon had done, they agreed to help you escape. It's this way." He held up a lamp and I followed behind him as we made our way through the passage before finally coming up just outside of the Dragonpit where my beautiful dragon was already waiting. "Go quickly." He said while looking around for other people.

"He's going to kill you when he finds out what you did." I said, causing him to turn to me.

"I know, but I'm going to do my best to stop this war from happening."

"Thank you, Aemond." I truly meant it. For the things he had done, I should hate him, but I could see that he hated himself just as much as I did. He was trying to be different and risking his own life to save mine.

"I am truly sorry." I wanted to hug him, but I was also still so scared, so I just gave him a smile before mounting my dragon and taking off. Aemond had given me enough of a head start that I knew I could make it home, but I still kept going as fast as we could until I landed in the courtyard at Dragonstone.

I must've looked as bad as I felt because the guards rushed me inside and several took off to wake my mother and Uncle, though it was Jace who found me first. As soon as I saw him, I collapsed into sobs. He held me gently as I cried.

"Visenya!" My mothers voice broke halfway through my name and I turned to see her sprinting towards me with my Uncle just behind her.

"I left him. I'm so sorry. I-" My words were incoherent, but she shushed me and pulled me into her arms.

"Oh my sweet girl, it isn't your fault. You're home now. You're safe." I was so exhausted after hugging each member of my family and after some time, my mother sent them off until only Daemon, Jace, Rhaenys, and Corlys remained.

"I know you're tired and hungry, but we have to ask you what happened. Can you tell us?" Daemon asked as I sat next to my mother who hadn't let go of me the entire time.

I nodded and told them everything starting from Luke's death at Storms End, all the way through Aemond helping me escape.

My mother wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I told her what Aegon had done. Jace's face hardened with anger, but Daemon only made on small movement as his hand reached for the hilt of Dark Sister.

"We will speak soon of what we will do, for now, you get some rest." Daemon said, only the slightest edge to his voice.

Corlys and Rhaenys left first. Daemon hugged me and then Jace, each one reminding me how happy they were to have me home. Then, my mother and I left, making our way to my room where a feast was already waiting. She helped me bathe and dress in my own clothes. As I ate, she brushed my hair, softly running a hand over it each time.

"I think Aemond truly was sorry. While I was there he protected me. Thats why Aegon sent him away, I think he knew, Aemond never would've let him hurt me." I said to her.

She sighed, "Aemond is a clever man."

"Alicent said the same of me." She paused for the slightest moment before continuing to brush my hair.

"Do you care for Aemond?" She asked, catching me off guard.

"No, of course not, I just-" I stopped. It was far too complicated to describe how I felt for Aemond. He killed my brother and took me hostage, but maybe a part of me did care for him.

"It isn't anything you need to decide for tonight. For now, you sleep for as long as you wish. You are safe at home." She tucked me into the bed and kissed the top of my head before walking toward the door.

"Wait!" I stopped, feeling too silly to speak my thoughts aloud. I was brave and strong. "Never mind."

My mother smiled knowingly and came back to the bed to lay next to me. She ran her fingers through my hair and softly sang songs of Old Valeryia until I fell asleep.

A/N: Thank you all so much for the support on Part 1. I had no idea so many people would enjoy it! I can continue it if people want that or this could be a good place to end it as well.

Taglist: @bellameshipper @malfoytargaryen @castellomargot @toodlesxcuddles @jennifer0305 @1950schick @minttea07 @bogwaterswamp @deadunicorn159 @shygardengalaxy @siriusdumblittlepuppy

[acotar-taylorsversion]

More Recent Thoughts and What Not

So, I've been thinking about Lucien a lot lately. I don't hate him, so don't come at me, but sometimes I just feel that there were a couple of reasons why Sarah made him Elain's mate. I'm an Elriel girly for life and nothing and no one but Sarah saying otherwise will convince me that they aren't endgame. That being said, I think that Sarah made him Elain's mate as 1) Elain and Az's "obstacle" and 2) a way for him to stay relevant so she could use him in the overall plot. I mean, think about it. Feysand and Nessian both had these "obstacles" that kept them from getting together right away and Elain's bond with Lucien is a big reason why Az hasn't pursued her or thought more about a future with Elain. Why would he get his hopes up if he doesn't know how Elain truly feels about Lucien? He said himself in the bonus chapter. Elain was more than willing to kiss and perhaps go further and Az said that they had never gone that far. AND HE NEVER ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT THEIR ALMOST KISS WAS A MISTAKE! HE FORCED HIMSELF TO SAY THAT BECAUSE RHYS WAS THERE AND WAS DEMANDING AZ TO STOP! Anyways, but yeah. And I know that Sarah orginally planned for Lucien and Nesta to get together but instead made Nesta end up with Cassian because of how perfect they were when she first wrote them in a scene together. But she needed a way for Lucien to be relevant to the plot, because let's be honest, I saw no place for Lucien after Feyre chose to stay in the night court. I actually forgot all about him until he showed and tried to take Feyre away. I think she always intended for Lucien to be involved with Vassa, but how would he have known about her if he didn't leave the Spring Court with Feyre because of Elain. Elain was the only reason he left with Feyre. Elain was the only reason Lucien didn't blow Feyre's cover the entire time she was back and I don't think that he would have been as close to her as he was if it weren't for the promise of offically meeting Elain. Even being Helion's son hasn't really done anything for the plot, yet. Do you guys see where I'm going with this? I don't know. LOL. The Eluciens might think I'm crazy!

And I want to say that Elain does not owe Lucien anything. Her silence is an answer in itself. I mean, she was about to kiss Az and do God knows what else with him in foyer of the river house while Lucien slept upstairs. She just doesn't care or doesn't care enough to consider him in moments like that. Clearly, time away from him does not affect her and he seems to be just fine away from her as well. Yes, he's being respectful by not pressuring her, but he can also take a hint. I don't think she'd be offended if he never got her a gift again until they both make the decision to accept the bond. And I don't see that happening. I just don't.

It's also suspicious how their bond was instantly recognized. Like feysand and nessian's bond took time to snap but Lucien instantly knew? And why can Az smell it and no one else can? Amren smelled feysand's but she's different and no body else could smell it until they accepted it. Elain and Lucien have not accepted it so what's going on there? Eluciens and gwynriels can call us crazy all they want to but we have legit questions. I still stand by my opinion about how Az acts more like Elain's mate than Lucien does.

Also, can I just say how much I hate all the hate the inner circle is getting on tik tok? Like, I'm sorry. I know we are all entitled to our own opinions but if you hate Feyre and Rhys so much that you create a 10 page slide show about how much they need to die and how horrible they are, then you don't deserve the series anymore. Why are you still reading it? Sarah has stated that Rhys is her favorite and feysand will always be the center of everything so they aren't going anywhere.

Same goes for all the Nesta and Cassian hate. Like wtf? NO. I will absolutely not put up with hate for either one of them for any reason. They are my favorite couple, like more than elriel and that's saying something. I waited years for their book and I am absolutely disgusted that people want her to break her bond and get with ERIS?! That is an insult to Cassian.

Let's see. What else? During my reread of Silver Flames, I realized that all the signs of Gwyn being a lightsinger or having some type of power are there from the moment we meet her. Both Nesta and Az and his shadows all react to her powers, which involve singing and music in some way. I noticed that she is always singing, too. I get the feeling that most of Gwyn's arc was not only proving to herself, but to everyone around her, that she's strong and capable. I think Az triggered something in her and she wanted to prove to him that she's not that girl that he saved anymore. You know? Also, when Nesta described her smile, it was said "Nesta couldn't explain the way she sensed that there was something else mixed into her. Some secret beneath that pretty face." This reminded me of the infamous quote of Az thinking of Gwyn's smile "a thing of secret, lovely beauty." Why are they associating secrets with Gwyn? I have so many questions and I need Sarah to explain ASAP. Like legit questions, someone explain it to me.

What do you guys think?

Now, I know that some gwynriels and eluciens might see this, and that's ok! I am open to discussions as long as they are civil, in the comment section or a message or an ask.

[arc-misadventures]

The Shortstack Nuisance

Yang: Hey lover boy how’s it…? Uhh…? Who’s the girl?

Blake: And, why is she rubbing against you like a cat? I’m a cat, I should be the one nuzzling you!

Jaune was currently sitting at the lunch table trying to enjoyhis meal while a multi-coloured girl, with pink, white, and brown hair clung to his arm nuzzling him.

Jaune: This? Oh this is, Neo.

Yang: Who is she exactly?

Blake: And, who said you can touch your majesty like that?!

Jaune: Oh well… I caught her after she tried to steal one of my precious.

Yang: She tried to kidnap, Pyrrha?!

Jaune: What?! No! She tried to steal one of my gems!

Yang: Oh… That makes more sense… But, why is she here, I thought you threatened to eviscerate anyone who took your gems?

Blake: And, why is she trying to imprint her scent on you?!

Jaune: Haa… Best start this from the beginning…

~~~

Neo smirk deviously to herself, she had just made the steal of the century; For she just managed to snag the, Dragon Eye’ the world largest fine cut sapphire ever found. And, all from right under his nose. This was going to make her rich, and probably help her, and Roman get away from that psycho, Cinder, and whatever crazy plan she was concocting.

Everything was looking up for, Neo.

Speaking of looking up. Neo just barely managed to dodge a vicious strike that sent dirt flying, creating a smokescreen that hid her attacker from sight.

She elegantly sidestepped her attacker’s swipe, and as the dust cleared her eyes widened in shock, and she saw the hunched over form of the, Dragon King glaring furiously at her. His teeth bare, showing his long fangs as he breathed fire through his clenched jaw. His talons were on full display as he tore up the ground beneath him.

She barely had time to dodge a vicious swing of, Jaune’s claws as he tried to gut her. She knew this boy was a rather kind, and gentle soul who rarely got angry, genuinely angry. But this, this was blind rage fuelled by absolute desire for blood. Her blood.

Neo had just realized how terrible of a mistake she made. She had stepped upon the dragons tail, and the dragon wanted her severed head.

Reason was gone in the eyes of one, Jaune Luna Arc, the desire for carnage, and bloodshed was all consuming, Neo barely had time to dodge as another furious swipe tore up the tree she was standing next to, gouging up deep grooves into the tree.

As, Neo jumped back,l she used her semblance to create several duplicates of herself to distract him, and hopefully allowing her a chance to escape. Instead all she saw was the monster that appears when a good man goes to war.

One of, Neo’s clones stabbed out at, Jaune dodged to the side of her thust, grabbed her sword arm by her writs, and pulled her in, biting her neck, and completely ‘killing’ her clone in seconds.

Neo’s eyes widened in horror as her clones did not have her aura, and if one landed a killing blow upon them would destroy her duplicates. But, to see how effortlessly he chose to ‘kill’ her sent shivers down her spine. It was like the thought never entered his mind, he was going to kill her, and it wasn’t going to be a pleasant death.

His blood thirsty eyes narrowed in on her second clone, and he swiped at her. ‘Neo’ managed to get her parasol up in time to block his talons. She didn’t expected how easy it would be for his talons to pierce the reinforced fabric of her clone. He ripped it aside, pulling it in, and with his other claw he gouged her throat out, killing her instantly.

Her other clone quickly went on the attack, but something was different this time. Instead of going on a bloody offensive, Jaune gave her one look, then he bathed her in fire, incinerating her close into a mist of burning glass dust that still burned upon the ground.

Neo’s eyes widened even further for she had heard of his ability to breath fire, but she didn’t know how powerful it was. She would die a painful death as that had so much as touched her. But, before she could process the extents of his fire any further, he was upon her.

Neo was a skilled assassin, but assassins are not know for their endurance. They’re job was to get in, kill their mark, and get out before anyone was the wiser. But, considering he found her within minutes of swiping his sapphire, she doubted she could escape from him. Least she be in an urn.

His moves were highly telegraphed, how couldn’t they be? His talons hands lashing out at her easily could give her, anyone skilled enough enough time to dodge his attacks, but the shear force, and ferocity behind his swings sent her reeling back in fear of the amount of damage he would cause upon her.

She wouldn’t have to worry about it for long, Jaune was surprisingly faster than she had rightfully expected, a quick thrust with his talon hands clipped her shoulder, she could feel a sizeable chunk of her aura being chipped away. She darted back, and pulled out her parasols hidden blade, and went on the offensive.

She managed to score multiple hits that he simply shrugged off as if she had pelted him with foam darts. She thrusted her blade towards his head when she saw he was seemingly preparing to bathe her in fire, it stopped him from breathing that deadly fire of his, but something unexpected happened.

Jaune quickly move his head to the side, and caught her blade in his mouth, and shattered the blade between his fangs. Neo, could only look at the broken remains of her precious sword in her hands, that few seconds she spent looking at his broken blade was all it took for her to lose.

Neo’s mind was quickly dragged away from her musing, literally, as Jaune’s hand wrapped around her throat, picked her up in the air, and then viciously slamming her into the ground, shattering her aura upon impact.

Neo stared up in fear as, Jaune leaned over her, she saw his mouth widen as his fangs came snapping down. Neo instinctively moved her head to the side to evade his fangs, only to feel heat above her face. She peaked with one eye to see his clenched teeth before her, ejecting fire from the sides of his mouth. He raised his head, and stared down at her before his free hand reached down between her cleavage causing her to blush furiously as he pulled out the, ‘Dragon eye’ from between them.

She could see the satisfied smirk upon his lips that appeared across his face as he inspected his property. But, just as fast as that pleased smile of his appeared across his face it faded away as that bloody thirsty rage relcaimed it place upon his face.

Jaune: This is MINE! You will not take what is MINE! If you DARE take one of precious’s again, I will leaved your charred remains on a pike in front of, Beacon for all to see what will happen to those who dare take what’s MINE. UNDERSTOOD?!

Neo’s head viciously nodded as fear coursed through her body as the sweet boy she pegged, Jaune for was swiftly, and effortlessly replaced with a blood crazed maniac willing to go to extreme lengths to obtain what he wanted.

Jaune: Good… If you have any thieving friends, do tell them that the same fate awaits them if they dare take what’s mine. Well, farewell then, it hasn’t been a pleasure…

Just as, Jaune was about to leave he felt, Neo’s hands on his wrist keeping him there. Jaune looked at her perplexed as she stared up at him, wanting to ask him something.

Jaune: What is it…?

Since, Neo was mute she made a sign appear with written text appear before, Jaune for him to read.

Neo: “You’ve already pinned me down…”

Neo: “How about you knock me up~?”

Jaune’s rage fled him as he look down at her with an utter perplexed expression etched across his face.

Jaune: Excuse me, whaaaaaaaaaaaaa…?

~~~

Jaune: So yeah… That happened…

Yang: You threatened to kill her… and, then she asked you to knock her up… The hell?!

Jaune: I expect she has a kink for being manhandled; short sized, and all that.

Neo: “Hell yeah I do~!”

Blake: And, the other part?

Jaune: I refuse to acknowledge that.

Blake: Okay. But, will you do that to me?

Jaune: So since then she’s been clinging to me like a bad rash. I just can’t get ride of her no matter how hard I try to…

Yang: Oh… Is there anything we can do to help you?

Blake: We will do whatever it is you command your majesty.

Jaune: You can get her to stop doing that.

Yang: We tried… I think she gets off to it…

Jaune: I’m worried about that too. Well, Neo’s a mute so she can’t cause me too much trouble, hopefully.

Juniper: Oh, Jauney~!

Jaune: Haa… and, why must I dare to dream…?

Juniper: You met, Neo right?

Before the group stood, Juniper Arc, Jaune’s mother, a Neo standing besides her.

Yang: Wait, what? I-Is she your twin.

Jaune: Semblance; leave it at that. Yes, I know, Neo the real one is currently clinging onto me right now. What about it?

Juniper: Well, we’ve come agreement…

Jaune: Oh no.

Juniper: She will become one of your mistresses, and give me loads of beautiful grandchildren, when you’re ready for children that is.

Jaune gave his mother than, Neo a blank stare as he processed this new information.

Jaune: I’m upset you went to my mother about this, but at least you’re not demanding I give you kids right now on the spot like everyone else… So… yay…

Velvet: WHO THE FUCK IS THAT HUSSY THAT’S ON THE, DRAGON KING?!

Faunas Student: Get her!

Jaune: Oh gods… not again…

[invinciblerodent]

Another case of the "I'm not done"-s seems to have possessed me, because the immortality and rebirth of elven souls and this fucking elf/vampire!elf romance I'm doing right now is kind of ruining me.

Because, well... look.

This shit is ripe for angst.

For so long, there is no real reason to think much about the passage of time. Death, it's but an abstract far in the future- a bridge to be burned when they get to it. It's easy enough to practically forget that mortality is a thing to account for: with both the endless stretch of centuries they have and her body as unchanging as his, that thought can be kicked further down the road for what feels like it might even be an indefinite amount of time. Their lives just inch along, endlessly, and twine together like the roots of an ancient forest, building around- and with one another. Friends come and go, live and die, and yet, every moment, every day, is permeated by the other's presence: even in their "sleep", they're reliving shared memories (there is scarcely another kind, by now) while holding one another.

Talking about which of their adventures they chose to remember in Reverie is one of his favorite parts of the night.

Until one evening, as she opens her eyes to greet both him and the nightfall with a smile, he catches... just the faintest opaque, silvery glint in her pupils. It's barely a flash, gone in an instant, as if it was merely a trick of the light, but the thought, like a pesky insect, begins buzzing in his head. It will not let him rest.

With this new thought gnawing at him, he can't not see that there's almost a... strange distance, to her now. Even with this hazy half-awareness, it would have slipped his note if he hadn't come to know her quite so intimately over the past half millenium, if he hadn't memorized her cadence and heard her every loving thought as if it was his own. But he's attuned to her: even as her fingers glide through his hair, and her lips speak her words of love like they have so many times before, the same words, they... ring slightly hollow, robotic, automatic in their sweetness now, and once the dreaded Sun begins inching over the horizon and he's forced back into the shadows once more, her kiss goodbye lingers just one second longer, she holds him just a touch tighter before she'd be out the door.

All day, he circles the darkened room like a trapped animal, mind flush with thoughts of robotic words, silver glints, and a creeping dread. Surely, it cannot be what he thinks. It cannot. It wasn't a half-moon, it's not the Transendence, it was merely a... a reflection off something, moonlight bouncing off a silvered picture frame, or the twinkle of a magelight lighting the street glancing through an improperly closed curtain, a... a stomach bug that she's toughing out and is too stubborn to say anything about, something. It cannot be what he thinks, fears that it was.

The day drags on, the hour he'd expect her back comes and then passes, and when she returns, it is closer to sundown than it normally would be. Usually when she must leave for the day, she tries to time her return so that they can rest together, and then emerge from their chambers at the exact moment of nightfall to maximize the amount of time shared, the time he can walk free with her on his arm, but today, she returns with darkness on her heels, and bittersweet sorrow marring her face.

"Arael, we need to talk," she says, and the beloved endearment in their shared native tongue, 'heart' and 'hearth', 'center' and 'lover' in a single word, turns to acid in his ears. Instantly, he knows what she's going to say.

"How long have you known." It's not a question in tone, only phrasing- the hiss of his own voice feels alien in his throat. "When were you planning on telling me."

"It's been... a few days."

A few days. A few days, she's been...! He can't bring himself to think the word 'dying'. He can't. His knees give way under the weight of her words, and he crumples onto the nearest chair.

"You.... should have told me right away." He wants so dearly to be furious. His hands itch to rip, to tear, to destroy everything, his tongue aches to spit bile that'd make her feel exactly the pain he does in this moment... Gods, it was so easy to grow complacent and start believing in forever, to stop counting the hours, the days, the years, and still, it's her godsdamned near-forgotten mortality that's come knocking-- now, that his life is inexorably intertwined with hers, that she's been the other half of his soul for long enough to see the birth and death of friends and enemies, the rise and fall of monarchs, nations. And yet, her life's thread is soon to be clipped, while his must stretch on, infinite.

He buries his face in itching palms and swallows the bile to make room for the flood of grief. "I could have prevented this," he whispers now, "We could have had the chance, at forever... forever, if I could have turned you, if only I had-- if I--"

A soft hand on his shoulder stills him now. "Arael," she repeats, and traces a line to his chin, gently urging him to look at her. "I could not have dreamed of a more blissful, blessed life, than the one I shared with you. But--"

"Don't say it!" She winces as he snaps, and his hand is now grasping her wrist, insistent, hard enough to almost hurt, as he presses her palm against his cheek. "Don't, it's not over yet-- she may be calling, but you don't have to answer, you can stay--"

"I can't, my love."

"But--!"

"Arvandor is calling my soul, Astarion. The Gate is open. Sehanine has shown me; I must answer."

"But not yet, there's still time, you--!"

Her thumb gliding feather-light over his lips cuts off his desperate shout. "I have time enough to get my affairs in order," she says, her voice barely above a whisper, "but I can delay it no longer than maybe another tenday. For now, please... simply be with me."

~

That night, they make love. Tender, aching love that leaves them both tearful in one another's arms- his whole body shakes, racked with heavy sobs as he buries his face in her chest, as if that way he could melt into her, to keep her here, keep her safe, keep her for himself, or... or follow her, anchor his soul to hers, stow away and smuggle himself into the afterlife that rejected him, so they can be reborn together, find one another again, have another six hundred years, and another, and another...

Hopeless. A fool's desperation, no more. There's no tricking the Seldarine: he had rejected rebirth in favor of this wretched, eternal half-life the moment Cazador's fangs sunk into his flesh so long ago now, and his soul was rent from Arvandor. There's no changing that now, no fighting it, and no putting it off longer either. So he kisses her through the sobs once more, makes love to her once more, and drinks deep from her once more, willing his tongue to carve this memory of her taste, her essence, her love as deep into his mind as it may.

She takes the promised tenday to get her affairs in order, and to set up all that may only be done during sunlit hours: she organizes herself a nighttime funeral, arranges for her assets to be dealt with as she may, and makes sure to hold him tight, to mourn with him as if she herself wasn't the one dying. And each night, she speaks sweet, reassuring nonsense of the permanence of memory, of rebirth, and the aching, heartrending beauty of gentle endings.

And once no more minutiae is left to handle, there is no more delaying the inevitable.

She is laid to rest in a modest ceremony, in a small circle of trusted friends, under the light of a waning moon.

~

He mourns, bitter and alone, for years- barely leaving his chambers out of necessity, flitting through the nights as a ghost not entirely unlike the one he was so long ago, until one evening he wakes to find the pain... bearable. There will quite possibly never not be a wound on his soul now, but even the deepest wounds, they scar over: there's new, tender flesh, pink and gnarled, stretching over the void of her absence now. And life, it continues as it does, relentless.

Decades pass. The new flesh, it toughens, thickens, until it can scarcely be seen, unless you know where to look for it: the loss now lives only in the absent-minded seeking of her warmth in his cold slumber, in the automatic gesture of taking two wine glasses from the cabinet only to set one back down; it lives behind the locked door of her untouched workshop and in the slip of parchment left between the yellowed pages of the book she had never finished reading.

Until one evening, shortly after nightfall, there is a knock, hard and insistent, on the door.

His body redies itself for a fight, as if a hunter might be so bold as to announce their arrival- but curiosity, it's too hard to resist, and he scarcely makes an effort.

It's... an elf. But not any elf- a woman, younger, taller, and fuller in figure than she was, and her hair, it's a tightly curled warm chestnut rather than her blood-red waves, but it's unmistakable: her features, they are exactly the same. The same fire amber eyes, the same freckles dotting her cheekbones, even the same raised mark at the edge of her jaw that sits there like an insect had folded its wings and chosen to make its home on her skin. And the stranger speaks, with her voice, before he could find his own.

"So you do live!" she says, equal parts disbelieving and relieved, "Or, well, something like that. I could tell that you were a vampire, from the-" she gestures vaguely to his face, "-fangs and all, but I still wasn't sure I'd ever actually find you."

There's... a prickle of understanding. It's her, but... not quite. Her soul. Her, but born anew. And she returned in a way, to reminisce, to meet him once more- and his mouth opens, but the words, wary and elated and tender at the same time, get lost on their way to his lips.

It's an imperfect replica of her laugh that leaves the woman's mouth. "Gods, don't gape at me like a beached carp like that! I've been seeing nothing but your damn face in my trance for decades now; I was looking for you, hoping you could answer some questions I have." The familiar stranger flashes her mischievous smile. "Can I come in? I feel we have a lot to talk about."

~

There is no love in this. But, there's nevertheless something... bolstering, in the unique opportunity he can present to the new owner of her soul: the opportunity to get to know, truly know, who she once was. Halting and strange as it may be, they do talk quite a long time, and when she leaves, it's with gratitude, and a short, awkward, one-armed hug that she bids her farewell.

And time stretches, infinite yet again.

As long as he may live, her soul, it continues seeking his across however many lifetimes, until one day, the strange elf finds the door in their hazy memories hanging off its hinges, and the home, collapsed and empty, maybe for decades now.

Occasionally, it is still said that in each generation, there may very well be an elf born whose soul feels an irresistible need to make a curious, solitary pilgrimage to the ruins of a city once known as Baldur's Gate, and hope against hope to find a pale man with red eyes wandering the empty streets.

And maybe, a woman who had once lived there so many centuries ago was right: there's an aching, heartrending kind of beauty in that.

[sinner-sunflower]

P.2 HH Lucifer-centric AU 14/?

STORY 1, PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14.5, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 18, PART 19, PART 20, PART 21, PART 22, PART 23, PART 24, PART 25, PART 26

You guys ever read They Both Die at the End cos this is looking a lot like that the more we go on.

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

Lucifer had begun to tell them of his trip to Heaven, from what had prompted Michael to almost destroy Hell with his holy weapon to the brewing civil war.

They listened intently to every word he said, not once interrupting him again until they got the full story.

And that's what he gave them.

Well... almost all of it.

He left out the part where the Fates had prophesied his imminent death in the war. Revealing that particular information would raise more questions that Lucifer wouldn't be able to answer.

Charlie: I still don't understand. Why would they involve you, Dad? If Heaven goes to war, how does that affect us?

Satan: Despite what most might think, Heaven and Hell are not two separate entities. After the creation of humanity, it's impossible for one to exist without the other.

Lucifer: He's right. Back then, before... everything. Hell hadn't been made yet because, while yes there was darkness, there were no lower beings to corrupt. Thus no use for a pit to contain them. But then Adam and Lilith happened. Then Eve...

Mammon: So what? We're screwed?

He shook his head.

Lucifer: No. Just me.

Satan: Huh? What do you mean, just you?

Shit. What is with his mouth today?

Lucifer: ..... Michael told me that he took a look at the Fates and saw me among those on the battlefield.

Beelzebub: Excuse me?!

Satan: What the hell??

Leviathan: So it will happen down here? Because there is no way we are letting you go back up there for anything.

Belphegor: Were you also planning on keeping that to yourself? Really, Lucifer?!

Asmodeus: I don't like this.

Charlie: The Fates?

He understood their reactions; after all, this was too big of a revelation to keep quiet for this long about.

Alastor had been awfully quiet beside him, but he can't dwell on that right now nor will he call out the look of disdain the guy is giving Levi.

'Do those two know each other?'

In the end, he chose to ignore Belphegor's accusation (is it really an accusation if it's true?) in favor of answering his daughter.

Lucifer: The threads of life. Pre-written destinies of every being in existence. It might be placed in Heaven, but no one, not even Father, can change what has already been woven.

Charlie: And Archangel Michael saw yours? How?

Lucifer: I-You'll have to ask him that. I fell before the duty of guarding the Fates was passed onto me. I have limited understanding as it is.

He's digging his own grave but it's not a total lie.

Charlie: And do you trust him?

Her question throws him in a loop. Because what?

Lucifer: What?

Charlie: I can tell you have resentment for him. Do you not trust his word? Is that why you were not in a hurry to tell any of us because you think it's a trap or something?

Lucifer: Regardless of what my feelings towards Michael, I believe his words. He is not one to involve Hell in anything that can be solved within Heaven. And I want to say that I'm sorry for not telling you all the moment I got back. The only thing I can say is that I was tired and with everything that just happened in Sloth, all I wanted was to sleep. I promise that I didn't know any of that stuff you saw would happen.

Charlie: But what was that, dad?

Lucifer: My appearance might not be the only thing the ritual affected.

Lies.

Lucifer: I'm handling it.

Lies.

Lucifer: I swear it's nothing to worry about.

LIES.

He gives her a smile that he hopes is comforting enough but based on her crunched up expression, it must have came off more strained.

Charlie: Dad...

Tense silence fills the room. Lucifer's well aware no one believes him but he knows they won't try to push further. They are well acquainted with his character, after all. Cowardly but stubborn.

Satan: We'll get our forces ready then.

Lucifer: Huh?

Satan: What? Did you think we'll just sit here and let our King fight alone?

Lucifer: Look, no one else needs to be involved. I am-

Satan: -the King of Hell, are you not? And whoever threatens our King is our enemy.

Everyone let out a chorus of agreement. The Sin of Pride crumples the bedsheets in his hold. There's tears threatening to fall from his eyes in his disbelief.

How did he find people who are all so willing to fight for him? He feels a pang of guilt for he knows that regardless of what they do, he will meet his end in that war.

But how could he tell them that? Tell his family, these demons he raised, that he'll be leaving them?

A Marigold being tucked behind his ear made him look at his silent pillar. Alastor grabs a hold of his hand and plants a kiss on top of it in a manner that makes his heart flutter like a lovesick teen.

Alastor: We will do everything in our power to keep you safe, my King.

.

.

Lucifer: I believe you.

He wishes he could stop with the lies.

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

Once the battlecries died down in favor of the Sins giving Alastor a weird version of a shovel talk, they hear shouts outside the room.

It kept getting closer and closer until the door bursts open revealing the rest of the hotel residents, all holding some form of weapons on them.

He would've thought they were under attack until Vaggie and Angel toss something, no someone, on the ground.

It was a face Lucifer never thought he'd be able to see again. Because he's dead. He should know because he burned the body in Hellfire himself.

On the floor, beaten and bruised, is a half-goat demon wearing a face of a dead man. It grunts and let's out an awkward laugh as it meets his eyes.

Adam: Haha..... Sup, bro.

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

Apologies if that last part is weirdly cut cos I wanted Luci to say that but then I also wanted Adam to appear now.

I'd appreciate any comments or DMs left on your thoughts about everything so far! Reblogs and likes are also much appreciated <3

Have a happy weekend everyone!

[i-heart-hxh]

Hey! Hope you’re doing well, I’m sorry I haven’t responded to that last question of mine you answered but I absolutely loved it! Your answers are always super insightful. Today though I want to ask about another scene that I believe has big Killugon implications, but I have yet to see a single person really cover so far. I noticed it as I was re-reading the manga and instantly I knew something was up (oh and apologies in advance for the image quality but I had to take them off of my physical manga copies with my phone lol):

Now for context this scene takes place in the direct lead up to the palace invasion, which each character having a short inner monologue about how they feel in the lead up to the fight. In the case of Shoot he chooses to focus on Killua and how he has changed since they’re fight, noting how Killua look very sad every “once in a while”.

Now when I first got to this panel I was a little caught off guard as I feel most readers would be, the reason being that prior to this scene we haven’t had any indication that Killua was sad at all. After all this is post-needle Killua after his big emotional fight with a Rammot, he hadn’t shown any signs of further sadness since then and, as Shoot says, was a lot more confident in himself and his abilities. So why would Togashi deliberately choose to draw attention to Killua’s feelings this way, and why now when there was no prior indication that he was feeling bad at all?

Well, I think the reason lies in a pair of scenes that happen prior to this revelation by Shoot, the first of which is this:

Again, this is in the lead up to the palace invasion where the gang is working out their final plan of attack, while Palm is already enacting her part of the plan in the palace by herself.

Now this scene is interesting to me for a few reasons:

1. Togashi is using all this space (almost two and a half pages of it) to convey to make it clear to us how worried Gon obviously is about Palm since there’s a high chance she could die or already has at this point.

2. Togashi chose Killua specifically to be the one to explain this part of the plan to Gon, even when the more obvious choice would have been Knuckle or Shoot since they were with Morel and Knov when the plan was first made.

3. Killua is very clearly annoyed/dismissive/generally just put off by Gon’s worry about Palm, and is so harsh to Gon in the way he handles it that BOTH Knuckle and Meleoron call him out on it. Clearly there’s something more going on with Killua that Togashi wishes to highlight here, to the point where a scene about Gon’s feelings and worries about Palm quickly turns into a scene about KILLUA’S feelings about Gon’s feelings and worries about Palm!

But that’s not all! There’s also this science which takes place directly before we get Shoot’s reflection on Killua’s feelings:

Again we see Gon ask about Palm the second he has the opportunity and is once more clearly upset by the fact that there is still no word from her.

So why do I bring these two scenes up? Well because when Shoot says that “once in a while” he sees Killua get very sad, we as readers have to then ask the question of when he would have the opportunity to be around Killua enough to gauge his emotions this way, as prior to this the gang has been very much speedster from one another for awhile.

In fact, some of the only scenes we see Killua and Shoot even in the same location are both instances where Gon asks about Palm, which would logically imply that it was some point during those interactions where Shoot came to this conclusion about Killua’s feelings. And considering how Killua’s reaction to Gon’s worries about Palm, it only makes sense that this is what Shoot saw. Killua getting visibly sad when Gon shows concern for Palm.

So essentially, I believe that what Togashi was trying to get the reader to understand in this scene was something like this: shoot comments on how sad Killua is. “Sad? Why would he be sad?” The reader thinks, “he didn’t seem sad at all prior to this, what is he sad about?” They then think back to how annoyed Killua was when Gon was talking about Palm and think “well he must be sad about that then, but he’s never liked Palm, why would he be sad that Gon cares about… OH, maybe he’s just jealous!”

And THAT I think is the point of this scene, or at the very least to keep Killua’s sadness in the back of the reader’s mind for later where it’ll come to fruition.

Now, obviously anyone who knows the story knows that Killua has his big emotional scene with Palm where he confesses that he thinks Gon cares more about her than him, and how heartbreaking that is for him to feel. When you first read that though it may seem to come a little bit out of nowhere and a bit delusional on Killua’s part if you take it on it’s own. However, in the context of this scene with shoot and Gon’s earlier vocal worry about Palm, it all starts to make sense. Killua sees this play out and gets jealous because he thinks Gon cares more about Palm, whom Killua still would think is Gon’s romantic partner because Gon never showed interest to him in stopping his date with her and they never officially called off their “relationship”. So to Killua Palm means more to Gon because she’s romantically involved with him (in his eyes) and he gets sad and… well… jealous honestly whenever he’s reminded of that fact. I don’t really see any other way to explain why Killua would think Palm is more important to Gon than him keeping the context of these scenes in mind.

It also doesn’t help that Gon basically confirmed it by pushing Killua away after he expressed so much outward worry for Palm so yeah. Oof. It makes sense why Killua thinks the way he does and this whole scene is Togashi hinting at that early on. That’s why he orders these scenes the way he does and why he brings Killua’s feelings to light there for the reader to notice.

But honestly what REALLY got to me about this scene, and what inspired me to write this whole long ass ramble on the first place, was one key detail. Togashi chose an objective character like Shoot (who’s about as objective as objective can be in this situation) to clearly highlight Killua’s deeper feelings for the reader in a way Killua himself can’t.

Sound familiar? Well it should because there is one other VERY important scene where Togashi does the exact same thing, and it happens a bit later on:

(I had to cut out the first page for the sake of image number limits, but we both know what scene this is lol)

Isn’t it funny that Togashi would parallel Shoot’s revelations about Killua’s feelings here in the most romantically coded scene in the entire manga, with an equally objective character in Meleoron pointing out the same thing?

It’s hard to articulate this part but I hope you see what I’m getting at here.

It’s a very curious choice by Togashi indeed, to frame those hidden feelings that Meleoron sees explicitly around romantically love, and parallel that with Shoot’s earlier revelation about Killua being very sad even prior to Gon pushing him away… very curious indeed.

Anyway, wow this went on for longer than I thought but I needed to get this out of my head. If you have any insight I’d love to hear about it because I haven’t heard anyone talk about this scene and I need to know I’m not just crazy with what I see lol. To me, it’s just another case of that subtle, genius storytelling g by Togashi, but let me know what you think. Thanks!

Wow, this is a wonderful piece of meta, thank you so much for writing it all up and submitting it to me!! I had noticed/considered how snappy Killua gets to Gon when Gon is worrying over Palm, but this is a very carefully considered argument that the jealousy over Palm is an important part of Killua's sadness and uncertainty about his place in Gon's life going into the palace invasion. I had mostly read Killua's sadness here as Gon being distant prior and Killua picking up on that, Killua just generally being worried about the outcome, plus being hurt that Gon wants to fight Pitou on his own. I think those are all factors, too, but it's true that Killua is very focused and worried specifically about whether Gon considers him just a teammate or a friend.

I've always thought this whole dilemma comes off as "odd" in the sense that it wasn't long ago that Gon openly stated that Killua is his best friend in the whole world, under no uncertain terms. Why would Killua doubt his friendship with Gon? Plus there's the whole theme of not having to "qualify" to be a friend (an attitude towards friendship that Killua later passes on to Ikalgo). It's worth noting he's worrying about this prior to Gon's breakdown in front of Pitou and the "It's none of your business" (essentially) line that breaks Killua's heart. This happens just a bit before they confront Pitou.

I'm having a hard time explaining this because it's more of a feeling I have about this scene than something I can concretely prove, but I feel like from a purely friendship standpoint, it's strange for Killua to be so fixated on whether they're friends or not when Gon has stated his friendship with Killua over and over again. Even if Gon has been more distant and insists on fighting Pitou alone (which is definitely part of the problem here), it's not as though there's some clear reason presented that shows Killua has been demoted and Gon no longer considers him a friend.

EXCEPT...Killua is so devoted to Gon that he has it in his mind that he and Gon might do a lovers' suicide if worst comes to worst. If Gon cares more about Palm than him, where does that put him? This whole struggle Killua is having of friendship vs teammates makes so much more sense when you consider Killua having romantic feelings for Gon, whether or not he's aware that that's what they are. And it especially makes sense tying in with the argument you're making, that the whole situation with Palm is a big piece of what's bothering and hurting Killua and causing him to doubt his standing with Gon. It is also a logical build up between the date with Palm and the ultimate climax of this subplot, where Palm assures Killua that he's the one means the most to Gon, and the only one who has any hope of saving him.

I think this whole friendship vs teammate thing is Togashi code for what Killua is really struggling with, which is the strong romantic feelings he has for Gon and his concern that they're not requited. Of course it's improbable Jump would allow Togashi to state this outright so of course he has to frame it differently, but as usual he makes it clear what he's really saying in a number of ways for those of us who look into it deeply, while also not alienating readers who aren't interested in viewing it in that light.

What you're pointing out here makes this whole subplot more clear and understandable, and also further cements the romantic reading of Killua in Chimera Ant Arc--bravo for pointing it out! I think you're totally right on your reading of this, it ties so much together, and it seems like carefully laid puzzle pieces all arranged in a meaningful order.

This is why I love discussing HxH with people--even after all the times I've watched and read the series, all the meta I've read through the years, there's always some new way to see things or something I hadn't considered yet. Togashi is truly a genius storyteller, and it's an absolute blast pulling apart his writing because it's so rich and filled with intention. Even tiny scenes and little snippets of dialogue that don't seem that important in the big picture can have so much meaning once you make connections like this.

Thanks again for sending this in, it was enlightening to me and I'm sure it will be for lots of other people as well! Feel free to send more observations any time!

[wisebeth]

LISTEN. im not a big fan of love triangles, mostly because they're usually pointless or there to stir up unnecessary drama but i will admit i genuinely liked the rachel-percy-annabeth love triangle.

but i personally think the rachel-annabeth represented something deeper than just two girls who like the main character. rachel and annabeth both symbolised two different aspects of percy's life. while annabeth represented his demigod life and godly heritage, rachel represented his mortal upbringing. percy is a bridge between these two worlds, while he is a demigod and it'll forever be a part of him, he also grew up as a mortal child and being a mortal gives him a sense of normalcy, and choosing one over the other is percy choosing which life he chose to identity himself with.

annabeth chase links him to his godly heritage

percy met annabeth and the whole chb when he was struggling as a mortal kid, he felt like an outcast in school, his stepdad was a shitty man, and then ultimately he lost his mom. his experience in the mortal world was not good at all. in fact the only thing which happened to him that time was becoming grover's friend, who once again, was a part of the demigod life.

finding chb was a blessing to him. he met kids who are just like him. he made friends who genuinely care for him. he found the love of his life there. he found a way to get rid of smelly gabe and get his mother back. he met his dad. the start of percy and sally's better life started after percy learned his demigod heritage. it gave him a second place to call home.

and annabeth was a part of all of it. annabeth was a demigod. she associates herself with the demigod world. she is proud of it. she was one of percy's first friends. she was also one of the major reasons why chb felt home to percy. she was an important of his whole demigod journey. she fought by his side. they risked their life for each other. they understood and felt home to each other. they were for each other at their lowest points and even happiest points.

“See, Annabeth wants to be an architect when she grows up, so she’s always visiting famous monuments and stuff. She’s weird that way. She’d e-mailed me the picture after spring break, and every once in a while I’d look at it just to remind myself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn’t just been my imagination.”

– percy jackson and the sea of monsters

rachel dare reminds him of his mortal upbringing

while chb gave him another home and true friends, being a demigod also had its cons, such as he constantly has to be on guard and watch out for monster attacks. his life is far from normal and stress-free, he rarely gets time to act like a teenager. on top of that, he has to watch his friends die, get betrayed by someone he looked upto and now there's a war coming up. no child deserves to go through that.

percy needed a break and a sense of normalcy, and that normalcy in this case was the life he could lead as a mortal. no monster attacks. no war. which means no stress and no further trauma. he can be a teenager for once. living his life as a normal highschool student is far better than this.

rachel was a mortal, and like percy she grew up as a mortal. she wasn't connected or involved to any of the demigod stuff. she was just percy's mortal friend who helped him when he needed. percy spent his entire summer right before the war with her. away from chb. because she provided him that normalcy at a time of war. she provided him the temporary break he needed.

“We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.”

– percy jackson and the last olympian

It's not a coincidence rick used similar words to describe how annabeth and rachel made him feel

percy ending up with annabeth also signifies how he ultimately chose his demigod life.

while rachel provided him a break from all this stress, and he enjoyed her company, his feelings and connection with annabeth was too deep for him to suddenly go out with rachel just because he and annabeth had a fight. even if he tried to go out with rachel instead, he wouldn't have been happy with her.

just like how the mortal world could give him a temporary normalcy, he could never truly escape from his demigod life. it will forever be a part of him. even with all its flaws and cons, camp half blood was his home and the only place he feels understood. he can never turn his back on it, even if he tried, he would fail.

[cosmicjoke]

if you could save any character in AOT from dying, who would you save? not in terms of changing the plot or anything like that, but because you really like the character

That's a really hard question to answer, haha. There's so many tragic deaths in AoT, and an argument could be made about why every character that died should have lived.

I think maybe the most tragic death, to me anyway, was Sasha's, because she didn't choose to die. Hange and Erwin, as heartbreaking as their deaths were, at least had some agency in it. They chose the path that lead to each of their deaths, or were otherwise accepting of their deaths. But with Sasha, she didn't choose to die, or accept it. She was shot while believing she was going home and in a celebratory mood, even, happy that she had made it to the end of the mission with all her friends.

Of course, with Erwin, you wish he could have gotten to discover the truth. But I always think, if Erwin HAD lived to see what was in Eren's basement, while he might have initially been happy at finally having proof that his father had been right, it ultimately would have left him feeling disappointed and bereft, and I think his feelings of guilt would only have intensified. To realize he'd charged ahead so relentlessly, only to find out that the world beyond the walls hated them and wanted them all dead. That indeed the discovery of the truth didn't improve their position, but only made it worse. I don't know if Erwin would have been able to deal with the knowledge that he'd sent all those soldiers to their deaths, under the belief they were fighting to free humanity, only to exchange their original struggle for any even greater one. So, in the end, I think it was better for Erwin to die without ever knowing the truth. I think it only would have further deteriorated his mental state. There was a genuine relief in Erwin when Levi told him to give up on his dream and die. He was happy to be relieved of making the decision himself, happy to be told what to do, happy that Levi had freed him from the burden of being torn between his dream and duty, and especially the guilt he felt at wanting to pursue his dream. If the decision had been left up to Erwin, and he'd chosen to live to see what was in Eren's basement, I think it would have tormented him for the rest of his life. Levi allowed him to die a good leader, and that was as good an ending for Erwin as there could be.

And then of course Hange's death was also incredibly tragic, and the realization that she won't ever get to experience any more of the world, when she was such a genuinely curious person, is heartbreaking. But there's also an element of guilt in Hange's decision to go against the wall Titans. This feeling that she was failing to live up to her role as Commander, that she was responsible for leading them to where they were, and needing to take responsibility for it in order to ease her guilt. Of course, Hange wasn't actually responsible. Eren was. He lied to Hange when he accused her of forcing him to do what he'd done because of her failure to come up with a better plan, and that exacerbated Hange's sense of guilt, which in itself is a huge tragedy. Maybe Hange wouldn't have felt so compelled to go to her death if Eren hadn't said what he did to her. But either way, I think Hange felt she needed to sacrifice herself in order to fulfill her role as Commander. It's why Levi's so distraught at her language before she makes her decision, because it's the same sort of language Erwin was using. This idea of needing to fulfill ones "duty" by sacrificing ones self. Levi knew in that moment what Hange was planning. He knew she meant to die.

Anyway, yeah, I guess this isn't really an answer to your question. I wish all three of them could have lived. I wish Petra and Marco and all of Levi's OG squad could have lived, and Mike, etc... I also thought Nile Dok's death was really sad.

But I guess if I had to choose one character who got to live out of those who died, it would probably be Sasha, just because, again, there was no agency in her death.