#and now some party members think shes a traitor

[raviollies]

Your character and your art are breathtaking! I don't think that cos community minds the memes, so bring it in! Have you met the bbe-stalker? How was it? I hope your party survives in these cursed lands!

Thank you very much! I'll keep that in mind if I share some more memes :~)

As for the Barovia Boyboss...

We certainly did meet him (in fact we summoned him like Beetlejuice because our DM just had us roll for an encounter without telling us what it was)

It wasn't a super lengthy exchange (though it did have the dialogue reversal trope, my beloved)

TLDR: He came in, was a little saucy, failed charming Ireena & then couldn't retry because Blythe SUCESSFULLY (poggers) charmed Ireena, took the L and left.

[shitouttabuck]

this could be the year for the real thing

buck/eddie | 1.7k | 7x06 coda(ish)

Eddie can count on one hand the number of times he’s been this horrifically hungover. His pre-teenage-pregnancy body bounced back blessedly quickly from tailgate parties and keg stands and beer pong tournaments, but after that? His cousins threw his bachelor party before he married Shannon, which involved a lot of mixed liquor, and then there were a couple miserable nights out after she left him, and now, last night, him and Buck the sole bachelor party members standing after Chim didn’t show up.

This is his worst hangover, because at least all the other times he wasn’t seized with worry about one of his closest friends and regret that he and Buck hadn’t noticed the empty hotel bed the night before. The nausea from hell doesn’t help, either.

Chim’s safe now, under the careful monitor of Cedars hospital staff and Maddie no more than three feet away from him at all times. The relief is a palpable thing, and Buck offering him a steaming paper cup of green tea soothes the churning in his gut a little bit, too.

He takes a sip and sighs gratefully, slumping against Buck in the hospital waiting room chairs when he takes the seat beside Eddie.

“Still queasy?” Buck asks, voice a rumble.

“Mm,” Eddie says, “back-to-back shots of tequila and sambuca are not it.”

Buck shudders beside him. “Don’t,” he begs, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. “I’m still very much in range of hurling.”

“Have you eaten anything today?” Eddie’d only managed half a banana when he went home to shower and change, but he knows Buck’s been with Maddie most of the day, and when it comes to taking care of other people, he sometimes forgets about himself.

“Had a granola bar,” Buck says, eyes still closed. “Can’t—don’t wanna think about food yet.”

His stomach chooses then to grumble audibly, with traitorously comedic timing, and Eddie snorts. Buck opens one eye to grin at him.

“Don’t listen to her,” he says, patting his belly. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“She doesn’t, huh? Then I guess she’s not interested in stopping by the juice bar on Sunset on the way home? Some sweet, sweet smoothies, all that fresh fruit and hydration, don’t even have to chew…”

Buck’s stomach rumbles interestedly and they both laugh.

“That sounds—so good, actually,” Buck admits. “We can pick up the peanut butter one for Chris, he’s always hankering—”

He breaks off as Hen appears at the end of the hallway, looking around and hurrying over as soon as she spots them. Eddie doesn’t think anything’s wrong—she’s beaming—but he and Buck sit up quickly in their seats anyway.

“Ugh,” Buck says, and Eddie’s dizziness at the sudden movement wholeheartedly agrees.

“We’re having a motherfucking wedding,” Hen grins, tugging them both to their feet, uncaring of their delicate dispositions. “Right here, right now.”

“Hospital wedding?” Buck asks, eyes wide. “Holy shit, okay, what do we need—who do we call—fuck—”

“Calm down, Buckaroo,” Hen smiles. “Just get friends and family over here, Karen’s gonna pick up Maddie’s dress, I’m gonna call Bobby, and we’re having a wedding.”

Buck’s already pulling up a copy of the guest list on his phone, squinting at it and muttering names under his breath.

“You boys got this?” Hen asks while dialling Bobby.

“Yep,” Eddie gives her a mock salute. “We’ll split the list and make some calls.”

He types out half the names Buck reads off to him in his notes app, and the two of them work through them methodically, calling Chim and Maddie’s nearest and dearest for this impromptu ceremony.

“Chris will kill us if he misses it,” he says suddenly, and Buck looks up at him, mid-text.

“He’s with Isabel, right? Pepa’s place is only a ten minute drive from here.”

Eddie nods. “I don’t have my car, though. You drove me.”

Buck tosses him the Jeep keys. “I’ll finish calling people, you go get them.”

“Cool,” Eddie says, and nearly bodies himself with the instinctive urge to lean over and kiss Buck on the cheek as he stands. It’s surprising, even though it shouldn’t be, because it’s an urge he fought and failed about thirty times last night, Buck’s sweaty skin pressed to his, salty under his mouth every time he dropped an innocuous, friendly kiss to his face with nothing but alcohol in his veins.

It hadn’t seemed out of place then, everything shiny and bright, Buck leaning right back into him.

Now, under the fluorescents of the hospital, organising a makeshift wedding for their family? Eddie doesn’t think it would land quite the same.

“Back in twenty,” he tells Buck instead, and has to physically tear himself away from the smile Buck turns his way, warm and golden under the harsh lights.

Chris and Abuela are delighted to be included, and, true to his word, they’re back at the hospital as the rest of the guests begin arriving, too.

Eddie’s—okay, he’s not going to say he’s not a crier, it’s just that his best friend is Buck, who cries at anything remotely tearjerky, so in comparison, Eddie’s not a crier. Now, though, they’re both very much damp-cheeked, much like everyone else crowded into this hospital room, watching Maddie and Chim exchange rings and vows with little Jee between them.

They’re a family, have been and would still be even if they never got hitched, but the fact that Chim refused to wait another few weeks, another few days, another minute before marrying Maddie? Eddie’s chest aches in the best way, and he slings an arm around Chris, and, before he knows he’s doing it, he looks for Buck.

The ceremony’s over, and Buck’s grinning at his phone, and Eddie pats for his own automatically, anticipating a goofy text.

But Buck’s edging backward, slipping out of the room, still grinning at his phone, and the ache inside Eddie spreads like an inkstain, blotting his insides.

And then Buck reappears with Tommy, which Eddie knew he was going to do, because who else would have Buck smiling at his phone like that, leaving his sister’s wedding even for a minute. Not me, Eddie doesn’t think. He doesn’t.

He’s not ready to make sense of the churning inside him—he doesn’t think he can blame the hangover for this one—when he clocks Tommy’s soot-stained everything and the way Buck’s own smudgy face matches like a puzzle piece.

He sees the way Chim notices, and Hen and Karen, Bobby’s eyes going wide and then soft. He sees the way Margaret Buckley doesn’t even attempt to school her face into anything but distaste and he hates her, but Buck’s not even looking at her. He’s looking at Bobby, and then he’s looking at Chim, and he’s smiling, this wide, guileless spread of happiness across his face.

Eddie’s helpless to smile too, the churning too complicated to parse beyond easy joy at every step of Buck’s sexuality journey, and this second-hand relief he’s not sure he’s got any entitlement to—he doesn’t, does he? Sure, he can be relieved that Buck doesn’t feel like he has to stay closeted, that everyone who matters loves him just the same, but he doesn’t get to feel like any of the relief belongs to him. Not now.

Not—yet.

Tommy’s made his way to Chim’s bedside to congratulate them properly, and Buck’s squeezing through the guests to get to the Diazes.

“Hey, bud,” he says to Chris. “Hi, Isabel.”

His face is still a smear of soot, and Chris giggles. “Buck. Your face.”

Buck frowns in confusion and Eddie steps over to him, hand already reaching to wipe the soot off his face, just like he has a hundred times at work. Except Tommy’s already there, licking his thumb and rubbing firmly at Buck’s chin, a gesture so familiar to Eddie that watching it happen separate from him feels like getting punched in the throat.

And beside the joy and the second-hand relief, there’s—this sense of profound loss. This emptiness, a space inside him he didn’t realise Buck had been occupying all this time. And now it’s like Eddie’s entered the room, finally, but the door is swinging shut on the far wall and Buck’s footsteps are echoing softer and softer as he leaves. Eddie’s late, he’s missed something he didn’t know was waiting, much less had a timeline on it.

The room empties out slowly, everyone giving the Buckley-Hans some space to rest, and Buck disappears down the hall hand-in-hand with Tommy.

“Y’all ready to go home?” Eddie asks Abuela and Chris. “We can get take-out.”

“Is Buck coming?” Chris asks.

“Uh, I don’t think so, mijo,” Eddie glances down the hall. “Although—” he pats his pocket, retrieving the Jeep keys, and startles when Buck appears by his shoulder.

“You have my keys,” he informs Eddie, stretching his hand out for them. Eddie drops them in his palm dutifully. “Juice bar? The fancy one on Sunset.”

Chris whoops excitedly, and Eddie smiles, even as his brow furrows.

“You’ve not got a hot date?” he asks Buck quietly as they walk to the exit.

“I drove you,” Buck shrugs.

Eddie rolls his eyes, stopping Buck with a hand at his elbow. “I think we can manage getting a cab.”

“I seem to recall you promising me a ‘sweet, sweet smoothie,’” Buck says, raising an eyebrow at Eddie. “You tryna stiff me, Eds?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Eddie lifts his hands in surrender. “Uh—do you wanna ask Tommy along?”

“Nah,” Buck says easily. “Maybe another time. He’s just gotten off shift. I’m seeing him tomorrow, anyway.”

“Okay,” Eddie nods slowly, ache bittersweet. “Just us, then.”

Buck beams. “Me and my boys,” he crows, wrapping an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and tugging him forward so he can wrap the other one around Chris. Isabel makes a noise of offense, and Buck hastily amends, “Me and my boys and Abuela. Dream team!”

Christopher groans at the very public embarrassment and Abuela smiles indulgently at Buck and Eddie lets himself get pulled along, safe in this room in his heart that won’t ever be empty, even if Buck’s not filling it in the same capacity as Eddie’s getting ready to allow himself to want.

It doesn’t matter. The door on the far wall’s not quite swung shut after all; it sits ajar, crack of light and Buck’s love spilling through. Maybe one day he’ll come back through it. Maybe one day Eddie’ll follow after him enough to ask.

[remidyal]

Outstanding antagonists after Junior Year

This post is as much for myself for fanfic purposes as it is for any speculation regarding a Senior Year that may never happen and even if it does would be I think at an absolute minimum three years and more likely 4-5 down the road, but I wanted to round up the known potential antagonists remaining out in the world, roughly ranked in order of known hostility:

Chungledown Bim. Certainly the MOST hostile of opponents, we know he's not dead post-Boy's Night (whenever Boy's Night is supposed to fit into the Quangle) because he's on Fabian's nemesis alert.

Arianwen Abernant. Evidently she has recovered her magic, probably while Cassandra was corrupted into a more Nightmare King-ish state. She was pretty pissed at Aelwyn and Adaine the last time we saw her over the whole death of Angwyn thing; I somehow don't think being chased around Sylvaire by the vand will have improved her mood.

Bobby Dawn. The full extent of his involvement in the Junior Year plot is uncertain, but he sure as hell wasn't helping things. Also some real potential hate between him and the party over the Sandra Lynn thing; while Fig might be gone in a Senior Year I'm going to ignore that for these rankings and in any case Sandra Lynn still lives with Kristen and Adaine regardless, so I think that conflict would be born out. I also think there's a strong case for a clash of pantheons style story going on in the background, and Bobby here would be front and center on the Sol-Helio-maybe Galicaea side.

Kalina. I don't necessarily think Kalina actually IS a traitor to Cassandra the way that Kristen thinks and Ankarna thinks; I almost believe that her turning up at the end of Junior Year was a reaction to them deciding to hunt her, in fact. That being said, while I think Kalina is fully team Cassandra, I also think (and even understand!) that she is most definitely NOT team Kristen, who did let Cassandra kind-of-die and now is splitting her attention. So what's Kalina's play now? I think she's going to try to push for Bobby Dawn to add Cassandra back to the Sol-Helio-Galicaea pantheon, which would be to her a much more stable foundation to keep Cassandra alive on than Kristen.

The Automatons that are going to be hunting Fig. Yes, these are self-evidently a way to excuse that Fig won't be around to help out if there's a senior year and Emily chooses to not play Fig. They're also kind of hilarious, especially since they open up all kinds of questions like 'wait did Sandra Lynn spend her first year of adventuring fighting off killer statues of Arthur Aguefort?' They'd be higher except they're only hostile to 1/6th of the Bad Kids.

Gertie Bladeshield. Also only hostile to 1/6th of the Bad Kids at present, though Cassandra knows if any of them speak up in Kristen's defense she'll probably swear a vow of emnity to them too. Could probably be made up with via a sincere apology, or at least by setting her up with someone.

The Court of Stars and Princess Nara. Now we're into the dubiously hostile territory, because this might not lead to actual conflict, but if there IS a clash of pantheons between the Sol one and the Ankarna-Cass one then the most obvious fight other than Cassandra is over where Galicaea ends up. The members of the Court of Stars we met this season seemed much more, um, I'll use the word chilled out than Angwyn and Kir of last year, but it still feels like a mercurial thing.

Arthur Aguefort. I've been saying for a very long time that the only boss fight that makes sense for a Senior Year IS to have to fight Arthur Aguefort himself; it doesn't even necessarily have to be a 'he's evil' sort of thing, but could just be a 'you're the best party we've had in centuries and I wanna throw down'. He dropped some hints at it in the finale, of course, too!

[wilcze-kudly]

Kuvira's unsustainable empire.

Stalin is here too. For some reason

I do often find myself wondering just how sustainable the Earth Empire Kuvira created was. Outside of the whole ethnostate thing, I have seen plenty of people argue that what Kuvira was doing was good for the Earth Kingdom and its people.

Kuvira: Growing up in Zaofu, with Suyin Beifong, I learned that the idea of a royal family passing a title from one generation to the next was archaic, and that technology and innovation should be what drives a nation forward. [...] It's taken me three years to get it back on track, and there is no way I will allow it to slip back into the dark ages. [...]

I find myself both tentaively agreeing with and vehemently against these opinions.

It's true that Kuvira helped stabilise the crime problem of the Earth Kingdom post the death of the Earth Queen. She also seemed to have greatly modernised and industrialised the Kingsom as well.

Of course, this actually makes perfect sense when looking at the real life inspirations behind Kuvira and her empire.

A lot of people compare Kuvira's rule over the Earth Empire to the Nazi party. And there is good reason to. But there are also huge ties between her and the rise and rule of Stalinism over the Eastern Bloc.

I think the main reason people compare Kuvira to the Nazis (other than the comparison seeming easier) is the ethnic clensing, concentration camps, etc.

But the thing is, the USSR also did that. The NKVD targeted many ethnic minorities, often accused for secretly plotting against the country.

Now, we never really are given a good reason for why Kuvira went through with an ethnic clensing in her empire. Which honestly kinda fits because from most testimonies I've read, a lot of people who were detained by the NKVD weren't told what they were being detained for either.

Bolin: So how did a bunch of water and firebenders end up in one of Kuvira's reeducation camps?

Ahnah: [Angrily.] Call it what it is: a prison.

Baraz: Kuvira's been purging states of anyone who's not of Earth Kingdom origin and locking them up.

Now the use of the term 'purging' immediately brings to mind the aptly named Great Purge (also known as the Great Terror.), which was essentially Stalin killing a lot of people in order to consolidate his power and remove influence of his political opponent. (A lot of people is apparently from 700,000 to 1.2 million)

Utilising violence in order to remove political rivals is also a pattern for Kuvira.

Of course tlok is stil a kid's show, so no oke is getting shot in the back of the head, but Kuvira uses implicit threats of violence to bend others to her will.

Kuvira was quite alright allowing the people of the state of Yi to starve and die purely because they refused to completely submit to her. (the idea of starvation is a surprise tool thay will help us later!) She also sends men after Wu, due to him posing no immediate threat to her. This is a very smart tactic of methodically stripping away anything that can question the legitimacy of her rule.

The branding of people who disagree with her, even people who were never allied with her, as traitor is also a very smart tactic.

Kuvira: Bring the citizens of Zaofu to kneel before the Great Uniter! All who pledge their loyalty to me will keep their freedom and will be dealt with fairly as full citizens of the Earth Empire. The rest will be imprisoned as traitors, like Su Beifong and her sons. Now bow!

Whoever is against Kuvira, is against the nation... questioning the leader equals treason... got it.

However, Kuvira's... strong punishments don't exactly extend to the very outlaws she was meant to weed out.

Kuvira: Stop groveling as if this is the worst day of your life. This ... is a good day. I'm going to give you all the opportunity to rehabilitate yourselves, and become productive members of your nation. Right now, you're lost, but pledge your loyalty to me, and I'll give you a new purpose in your lives. Of course, if you don't want to join, you could always stay right here.

As you watch the show, you can clearly see that Kuvira valued her Empire's militaristic power more than anything, including her people's actual well-being.

This actually gives us a little insignt on Kuvira herself. Kuvira, ever since she was a child, has dealt with a lot of pain. And the way she dealt with it was by reacting with violence and by pushing others away, keeping her defences up, so to say. This is most seen in her relationship with the Beifongs, and how she would rather push them away and convince herself they never cared for her, than open up.

We also see that Kuvira projects her trauma onto the Earth Kingdom which is an.... interesting way of coping to be sure.

Kuvira: [...] I was cast aside by my own parents like I meant nothing to them. How could I just stand by and watch the same thing happen to my nation, when it needed someone to guide it?

And that's where we get into the unsustainability of Kuvira's empire. She prioritises what she percives as safety. However, she seems to be pouring an astronomical amount of resources into her military.

I mean, how much money do you think was dumped just into this thing alone:

FUCKING LOOK AT ITS GOOFY ASS

To give Kuvira the benefit of the doubt, we don't really get to see what really goes on in the areas she's conquered. (which kinda sucks like did we really need all those episodes in Republic City)

We do however have Opal's testimony, and while she is biased against Kuvira, I don't really think she has any incentive to lie here.

Opal : They might have been happy when you first arrived, but I've seen what happens after you leave. Citizens are forced to work as slave labor, dissenters are sent off to who-knows-where!

I wouldn't be completely surprised if it were revealed that Kuvira introduced some manner of collectivisation in the Empire. Since this would also mirror the USSR's collectivisation of agriculture in real life. Plus, it would allow Kuvira to handle more respurces she could funnel into the army. This is also kinda supported by Varrick telling Bolin this:

Varrick: Relax, kid, what can they do? Kuvira controls the whole nation now, and Republic City is begging for the metal that we're mining. This train has left the station, and we own the track!

This implies that Kuvira excudes at least some amount of control over all the aspects of the country's economy.

More proof of this lies in Kuvira's words about literally seizing and redistributing Zaofu's resources as she sees fit.

Kuvira: [...] Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself. They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long. I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation. This is about equality.

How much do you want to bet that 99% of those riches and technology went to the invention of Avatarverse's equivalent of nuclear warfare?

How much money was spent on Kuvira's military. More important question, how much food would it take to keep this military alive. Especially that you must also count other batalions and forces stationed around the country, so this isn't even all of it.

So we have a country where the citizens are forced into slave labour and most likely are poorly fed, in order to bolster and uphold a military (that probably consists of at least a few criminals). This is... not really good nor sustainable.

But it is in character for Kuvira, someone who prioritises her percieved 'safety' over everything, even her own other needs. Such as her very obvious desire for relationships.

Sadly Kuvira projecting her poor coping mechanisms onto an entire country isn't the best idea lol.

"But, Quill!", I hear you say, "If Kuvira ran the country so poorly, why did she have so many fans and supporters? "

That's where we get into ye ole cult of personality. Propaganda can be a shockingly effective tool, one that was used a lot by Stalin.

Similarly, we see tons of propaganda surrounding Kuvira. Even her title, The Great Uniter reeks of it. There's a lot of spectacle and performance in how Kuvira intracts with her people.

There's many examples of Kuvira twisting the narrative to make herself look better/more reliable, especially to her subordinates. Her lying about Bolin and Varrick still being with her, her portraying herself as a peaceful negotiator at Zaofu, despite threatening the Beifongs with an attack (her ignoring Wei's question of "you call bringing an army to threaten our city peaceful?" also feels very poignat because there really is no good way to answer that question lmao)

Her speech to her men before her fight with Korra is also a good example.

Kuvira: Fine. I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. So, rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one.

Yes, perhaps to some extent she wanted to keep her soldiers safe, but this was also calculated. I'm quite sure Kuvira was able to tell Korra was weakened, she comments on it a few times. Kuvira has hostages, Zaofu's forces are diminished by her taking a lot of them with her. She clearly has no care for civilian lives, she attacked Republic City, a place full of civilians earlier than expected, it was guaranteed the place wouldn't be evacuated in time.

Kuvir holds all the cards here, but she still puts on this spectacle, because what better way to convince your followers about your power than kicking the Avatar's ass?

Kuvira's rule is built upon by the cult of personality surrounding her. She is, to some extent the figurehead that brought the army together.

There's fucking merch of her, she signs autographs, like she's a celebrity. This is deliberate. This is what keeps people blind and excusing her shortcomings and cruelty as a leader.

This may also be why Kuvira's right hand man, Baatar Jr seemed to have gotten scott free off for the crimes he also partook in. He may have helped Kuvira commit them, but he wasn't "the face of the empire" , so to speak.

Also no one gives a fuck about him for some reason despite him being a really interating character. I also want to make a longer post about Baatar, Kuvira and the consequences they faced for their actions.

In the end, I think that Kuvira is a very troubled young woman, who gained a good deal of power very quickly. And used that power the only way she knew how. To control and protect by pushing away any percieved threats.

You can see the Earth Empire as an extension of Kuvira herself, in a way. Kuvira has been through pain, and built up very prickly painful walls, while also maintaining a tight grip on her vulnerability.

The cult of personality thing would also be a more self indulgent aspect of Kuvira's trauma bleeding into her rule. Kuvira wants to build relationships, but doesn't want the vulnerability that comes from true relationships (most likely one of the main reasons she distanced herself from the Beifongs). This makes sense, as she did experience the cruelest rejection one can go through, being rejected by one's own parents.

However, facilitating connections where she has all the power would allow her to reap the benefits of relationships, without having the vulnerability she fears so much. (The exception to this rule is Baatar Jr. And I do wanna talk more about him and his relationship to Kuvira one day).

Kuvira is a really complex person, who really shouldn't have been placed in any position of power. But Raiko and Tenzin really needed someone to do the dirty work so they could place Wu on the throne (and probably puppet him) so uh. Yay.

Also I'm really not sure what this rant even is at this point. It was gonna be me complaining about Kuvira running the Earth Empire. Then it became me vomiting the contents of my history textbooks onto you.

Tbh I feel like I've been stating the obvious so uh. Yay. But enjoy my rambles lol

[redundantharpoons]

larian plz

Apparently Minthara's VA has been in the studio again for some after-release recording, so I'm just going to go ahead and drop the headcanon I came up with during EA for "good playthrough but you get to keep Minthara" here just in case . . .

I feel like if you side with the tieflings during the grove event but toggle on non-lethal damage to knock Minthara out rather than kill her, the after-battle scenes should include one where you find that they have captured Minthara and she's basically bedraggled in a cage, fully restrained with shackles and such. In just a really pitiable, pathetic situation but she keeps her chin up and her jaw clenched, too proud to be broken even in this situation. And perhaps, just perhaps, her faith gives her confidence that The Absolute has planned this.

When she sees you walk through the camp and everyone thanking and cheering you, maybe she pushes into your mind with the worm, maybe not. I think only if you're drow or depending on dialogue choices before to make her think if you can be easily turned back or not. But I think for most people she's written you off as an infidel and traitor to the absolute and other than a glare she doesn't acknowledge you at all.

While talking to Halsin, or Zevlor, or someone "in charge," you are being thanked for all you did for the grove and tieflings, and they express that they are in your debt, ask if there's anything they can do for you despite having so little, etc. And you should be able to choose "I'll take the drow prisoner off your hands."

Depending on who is with you, most of your party members are going to be disapproving/wary, but you can (and this is true, it should be an option later in the game) say you will use her as leverage or a bargaining chip in Moonrise or otherwise when dealing with the Absolute, or acknowledge that her insider knowledge of what's going on would make her a valuable prisoner to keep nearby.

If she overhears you asking for her as your "reward," she might push in now, but I still don't think she does, she just watches, appraisingly. (Or, perhaps depending on your dialogue choices this was all her orchestration via the mind worm; that she reached out to you when she saw you and assured you that The Absolute is not done with you, and that she brought you together and spared you both for a greater purpose, and you must free her so you can return to Moonrise together, as The Absolute clearly intends!)

The druids and tieflings are clearly uncomfortable with the idea of letting such a dangerous prisoner out of their hands; odds are they intended to kill her after a while (they were letting people throw food and stuff at her through the cage for a while as catharsis :( ) and so the idea of her possibly escaping or being set free by you later doesn't feel good. But you can convince/intimidate them over how much you've done for them, how you are clearly the more capable group to look over her since you had to look over them too, etc. Eventually they acquiesce, and there's a prisoner handoff scene, some banter with the party members about how you better know what you're doing.

And in my headcanon there's tons more content that gets very sexy in the times after that once you have Minthara in your camp as somewhat of a prisoner-in-tow (lots of her pushing into your brain and . . . showing you things, making you feel things 👀 with you second-guessing if she's actually into you or just manipulating you for her freedom), but suffice it to say from there the various game experiences maybe allow her to warm up to your party or your party to warm up to her . . . or maybe not and you just trade her away to slavers or kill her or whatever. But I always felt that was a pretty simple way to allow you to spare the tieflings and recruit Minthara, and I'm sad it's not in the game.

[daidonzo]

I guess any thrill will do

You felt like a fish out of the water since you arrived at The Beach.

Granted, it was much better than being on your own playing those deathly games every four to five days, struggling to find food and warmth and not sleeping more than one hour at a time because you had to keep one eye open, never feeling completely safe.

Here, at least there was electricity. Potable water, enough food for everybody.

And people. And parties. And alcohol, and drugs.

The place, however, felt artificial, staged. For some reason, if you allowed yourself to have fun, you thought it would feel as if you were lying. Denying the reality you were in.

That was the reason why you had yet to socialize with anyone, sitting sideways awkwardly in a stool in the bar area by the pool in a very tiny bikini and a knitted see-through dress that left nothing to the imagination. You had finished the fancy cocktail you were served some ago, now playing with the straw, biting its end while you observed those around you.

You were thinking what the best way to approach a group of people would be when a girl, in a blue bikini and dreadlocks appeared next to you, ordering a drink for herself. She sat down, her knees bumping into yours as she did.

‘Oh, sorry! Mind if I sit here?’

‘Not at all.’ You tried to smile at her, but it was all teeth. How long had it been?

‘New to The Beach?’

‘Yep. I just arrived a few days ago. Is it written all over my face?’

‘A little.’ She giggled, grabbing her drink and taking a little sip. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Lucky for you I’m here now.’ She extended her hand. ‘My name’s Kuina.’

You told her yours, shaking it firmly. You had a lopsided grin, and this time it was for real. Eyes included.

───⋆☆─────────────

The next day you woke up late in the afternoon, extremely tired, but you felt better than ever since arriving at this wasteland. You had made a friend, Kuina.

You had always been a people’s person and a party goer, and yesterday had found out that maybe temporarily pretending you were in an extravagant club in Tokyo where the dress code was beachwear was not that bad. Especially if you had no more days in your visa and you needed to play a game today.

You brushed your hair and teeth, put on a different bikini and the same dress and went to the lobby of the resort, where your new-friend said she could most likely be found. And there she was, in all her shining glory, accompanied by a blonde man in a white hoodie.

She seemed as pleased to see you as you were to see her. Your savior.

You were finally starting to feel like yourself again.

She introduced you to the man, whose name was Chishiya. He was… nowhere near as nice as Kuina, had an air of superiority about him that in any other situation would have made you raise an eyebrow, but now you didn’t particularly mind.

You talked for a bit, about the events of last night, Chishiya only intervening to make sarcastic remarks here and there.

Then, Kuina switched to explaining how The Beach worked.

‘There’s the Hatter, he is the leader.’ You nodded, giving her your full attention. You had met the Hatter when you had been accepted – he had only asked for whatever cards you had up until that point. He had mentioned there were three rules: always wearing a bathing suit, living your life exactly as you wished (you hadn’t been complying with that one up until yesterday night but you hoped things would change) and death to the traitors, meaning you had to give all of your cards to the resident with the highest number. In this case, the Hatter. ‘But there’s a lot of tension with another group, the militants, the ones with the weapons. The three main members are a scary-looking man who was actually part of the army in the real world, another with shoulder-length dark hair and piercings and a creep with a katana and tattoos. Have you seen them yet?’

You thought for a second, then shook your head.

‘No. I think I would know it if I had encountered them. Specially the creep wielding the sword.’

‘Yeah, I agree. Lucky you, then! Best to try and avoid them, if you want to live peacefully.’

You made a mental note. You didn’t want any trouble, not when things were starting to finally look up.

───⋆☆─────────────

It was time for the game.

You were waiting by the car with some others players – two young girls and a man about your age, wearing a cap. All of you were nervous, some more than others. You shifted your weight from one leg to the other, that being the only thing to actually betray how you were feeling, because you were smiling, trying to ease things up a bit for your teammates.

‘So…’ You clapped, attracting their attention. ‘We are going to play today, on the same team! What are your names?’

They introduced themselves and you were about to do the same thing when one of the best-looking guys you had ever seen approached the car. He was tall, very muscular, wearing a set of camo trousers and a black sleeveless shirt. He had a military haircut and a scar over his eye, which in your opinion just made him even more attractive.

You blinked a few times, trying to focus, and then turned to the newcomer. You were so invested in ogling at him that you didn’t notice the others looking frightened all of a sudden, the girls even taking a step back to try and make themselves seem smaller so as not to draw any attention.

‘Hi!’ You flashed him a half smile. He looked serious, but almost all guys that looked like him did and then they were all big sweethearts. You knew the type. It was your type after all. ‘We are telling each other our names to ease the tension and get to know each other a bit before the game.’ You mentioned yours, realizing just then you hadn’t said it, quickly adding some nicknames they could call you by since you didn’t really like your own name very much. ‘What’s yours?’ You finally asked.

He just stared at you, not saying anything nor showing any emotion. Without responding, he moved towards the driver’s seat, opening the door and nodding towards the vehicle so that the rest of you would do the same.

Turns out you were wrong about there being a little teddy bear below that façade.

‘Well, fuck you then.’ You raised an eyebrow, focusing your eyes directly on his.

He looked… surprised? You didn’t give him time to answer, because you opened the door of the back seat and smiled at the others, who were looking at you as if you were some sort of religious apparition, with a kind of newfound reverence. ‘Come on guys, get in! We are going to do great.’ You sat on the front seat, turning so that you could keep speaking with the others.

You were good at calming people down. You were good with kids, and animals, and the principles applied to them could be easily applied to adults too.

But the hot (and rude) man was running all your efforts. You finally had realized how his presence affected the others, but you couldn’t really understand why, and you were stubborn enough to keep trying.

You saw that he was looking at you from the corner of his eyes a couple of times while he drove the five of you to the game arena, but you had decided you wouldn’t even give him the time of the day, no matter how handsome you found him.

───⋆☆─────────────

Kuina was waiting for you when you arrived.

‘I am so happy that you are fine!’ She threw her arms around you, in a massive bear hug that almost made you trip and fall to the ground. You hugged her back, smiling.

‘Yes! It went well, it was an easy game. No deaths, and five more days to live. So, not bad. Only…’

‘What?’

‘There was this man who was just really… rude. He had a gun with him, I realized later on, so he must be part of that militant group you talked about. Anyway, he didn’t speak, he just looked at me weirdly after I told him to fuck himself. Probably shouldn’t have but I was trying to calm the others down and he just wasn’t helping.’

‘No, not really. But if he was just a low-ranking member it’s pretty much whatever… Who was he, do you know?’

You looked around you, trying to find the man who had played the game with you. It was not hard, he towered over the others, and he was… again, extremely good-looking.

‘That one.’ You pointed with an index finger.

Kuina’s face went pale, as if she had seen a ghost. She looked at the man, then at you. Then at the man again. She opened her mouth, and closed it, and opened it.

‘That’s Aguni.’

‘Well, glad to know his name now, since he refused to tell me when I asked…’

‘No, no. He’s Aguni. The leader of the militants.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Nuh-uh.’

‘You told me he was a scary-looking man!’

‘And he isn’t?’

‘Honestly? I found him quite hot.’

Kuina exploded with laughter, bent over, a hand on your shoulder to stabilize herself. Her outburst attracted the attention of Aguni, who looked over at the two of you, and found you staring back.

‘Now he clearly knows we have been talking about him, look what you have done!’ You scolded the woman, but a smile danced on your lips. The situation, you had to admit, was quite funny.

‘Let’s get out of here before he decides to shoot us.’ The woman with dreadlocks said, wiping a tear from her eye, grabbing your hand and taking you both somewhere else.

───⋆☆─────────────

You were sitting by the pool with Kuina and with the new friend you had made in the game, Tatta, who was telling her the story of what you had said to Aguni for the third time that night. The three of you had had a couple of drinks to simply celebrate you were alive, and Tatta and you had even taken two or three shots, to celebrate having escaped death.

‘Stop, it’s not funny. I wanted to try and get to know him because he is my type and we could have died at any moment, so why not act accordingly?’ You had given the same explanation about twelve times, using different words. The other two still found it funny.

‘Look, there comes your boyfriend.’ Kuina pointed out, looking behind you, suffocating a laugh. Aguni was there, followed by the two guys she had described – the one with the piercings and the spine-chilling one with the tattoos.

You had promised to yourself you would never ever tried to speak to him again, because he was very impolite and he had annoyed you. But the you who had said that had been sober and clear-minded and before you even realized, you were standing up and walking towards him, ignoring Kuina’s and Tatta’s warning and futile attempts to keep you seated and away from danger.

‘I know your name already.’ You said to Aguni once you were in front of him, his eyes opening up in surprise, if only just for a second. ‘A little bird told me.’

The man with the piercings, who now you could see had a big, scary gun resting on his shoulder, opened his mouth to say something, but Aguni lifted a hand, ordering him to remain silent.

‘So?’ He was, again, as expressionless as ever.

‘Nothing. I just wanted to let you know.’ Suddenly coming up to talk to him was not such a good idea. ‘And, just so you know, the only reason why I wanted to speak to you is because I think you are hot as fuck.’ You said, chin held up high, with as much dignity as possible, before turning back.

You felt his hand grabbing your wrist before you could start walking.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit.

‘What’s your name?’

‘I said my name before we left for the game. If you didn’t catch it, not my fault. Good night, Aguni.’

You kept your voice as stable as possible, but there was a slight tremor in it by the time you pronounced his name. You shook his hand off and went back to your friends. You wished you had a way to take a picture of them – their faces were worthy of framing.

───⋆☆───────────── You opened the door to your room the next morning to find the leader of the militants starring at you.

‘Oh God!’ You screamed, jumping on place, clearly startled. ‘You could have knocked! How long have you been standing there?’

‘Not long. I didn’t know if you were sleeping.’

Thank you, still weird, you thought to yourself. ‘And what the hell are you doing here?’

‘The little bird, your friend with dreadlocks told me your name.’

‘So?’

Oh, how the tables had turned. You would have to apologize to Kuina later on. She probably was scared to death now.

‘It is… refreshing to find someone who is not scared of me.’

You were a little bit after the events of last night, but you were not going to tell him.

You frowned. So that was it? You crossed your arms over your chest, examining the guy while leaning on your doorframe.

‘The other one, the one with the big sword. He is much scarier.’

‘You mean Last Boss?’ Aguni had the littlest smile on his face. It suited him. You couldn’t help but grin back.

‘Oh, you have to be kidding me, that’s not how you call him.’

‘It is.’ His smile grew wider.

‘Well, you see? Point made.’

You stood there, in surprisingly comfortable silence, just looking at each other for a minute or so.

‘Do you want to come in or are you comfortable in the corridor?’ You finally asked, earning another one of those smiles.

You hoped it wouldn’t be the last.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Endure IV: Fall

Series Synopsis: You and Eren Jaeger have been best friends since the age of two, but the two of you are destined for an inevitable tragedy. The world you have been born into is cruel; it is one where friends are traitors and enemies are allies, one where you find yourself doubting everything you've ever known. In this life, mistakes are fatal, and you must be careful, lest you make one too many.

Chapter Synopsis: You and Eren get into a fight, but you soon come to regret it when everything goes wrong.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Female Reader, Armin Arlert x Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 4.9k

Content Warnings: swearing, canon-typical violence, sexual abuse (non-explicit), major character death, angst, original characters included

“Eren, wake up,” you said, shaking the boy, who had been napping underneath his favorite tree for the past few hours. He blinked sleepily, furrowing his brow at you and reaching out to take a piece of hair in between his fingers.

“Y/N, did you cut your hair again?” he murmured, tugging on the curl and watching it spring up. You gave him a confused look, helping him stand.

“No, I haven’t cut it in a few weeks. Were you asleep for so long that your brain turned to mush?” you said, beginning to walk back towards the town of Shiganshina itself.

“Well, I just had a really long dream...but I can’t seem to remember what it was about,” he said. You turned back and looked at him before cocking your head.

“Why were you crying?” you said, reaching out to wipe the traces of his tears from his cheeks. He seemed as surprised as you were at the fact.

“I...don’t know. I didn’t even realize I was crying,” he said.

“You should ask your dad to look at that. What if you have a problem?” you said in worry as he collected his meager stack of firewood. He snorted in amusement at that.

“I don’t have a problem. It was probably just a sad dream or something,” he said.

“Oh, that’s true, it could be. But there’s nothing to be sad about in real life, so cheer up!” you said.

“Nothing to be sad about? We’re trapped in these walls like cattle in a pen! I’d say that’s something to be sad about!” he said.

“If you choose to look at it that way, sure, but what can you do? We can’t enlist in the military until we’re twelve, and besides, you know Mikasa and our parents will never let us,” you said. The Ackerman girl had latched on quite fiercely to both you and Eren in the year after her rescue, and wherever you went, it was almost certain that either she or Eren himself would be watching over you, like some sort of guardian angels.

“Whatever. And Mikasa can’t tell me what to do! She’s not the boss of me,” he said, “As for you, maybe you shouldn’t become a Scout. It’s dangerous.”

“Eren, wherever you go, I will follow, because we’re friends, and that’s what friends do,” you said, “You can’t convince me otherwise if you try, so don’t even think about it. I’m going to see that damn sea with you, and that’s final.”

“We’ll see. Mr. Hannes, are you drunk again?” Eren shouted as you passed the gates to see the members of the Garrison partying as usual. Mr. Orion was noticeably absent; he had mentioned that his cousin, who was in the Cadet Corps, was visiting him for the week, so he had taken off to spend time with her.

“EREN!” Mr. Hannes said in glee, ruffling the boy’s hair before frowning when he noticed the dried tear tracks still present on his face. The blond man glanced between the two of you rapidly, drawing some conclusion as you stared at him patiently.

“What?” Eren said.

“You were crying? Did Y/N reject you or something?” he said. Eren turned bright red and shook his head vehemently.

“No! I wasn’t crying! It was just raining earlier!” he said.

“I didn’t feel any rain,” Mr. Max, another Garrison captain and a friend of Mr. Orion’s, said.

“I don’t think it rained earlier,” Mr. Hannes agreed.

“It was where we were gathering firewood,” you said smoothly, to save Eren from further embarrassment, “Now come on, Eren. You have to get the wood to your parents, and I need to go babysit my brother.”

“Hold on a second! Why the hell are you guys drunk? You need to be prepared in case of a titan attack!” Eren said, his hands on his hips. You gave Mr. Hannes an apologetic look.

‘Sorry,’ you mouthed, grabbing Eren by the arm and dragging him away. He sputtered in protest, but you ignored him, continuing to gently lead him towards your house.

“What was that for? They deserve to be called out for what they’re doing!” he said, stopping abruptly. You looked up at Eren sadly, and the fire in his eyes dimmed.

“Do you think it does any good to yell at them? It’s probably a good thing they can sit around and be lazy, anyways. That means the world is safe and things are fine,” you said.

“It’s stupid! They’re soldiers, they should be vigilant and ready to fight at all times! I don’t care if the titans haven’t broken through yet, they have to be sober, at least while they’re on duty!” he said.

“Not everyone thinks like you and I, unfortunately. That’s just how the world works, and we have to deal with it. Do you think it’ll be any better when we’re Scouts?” you said.

“Huh? What do you mean?” he said. You were interrupted by the tolling of the bell that signified the Scouts’ return. Eren lit up and raced off to see the returning heroes. You ran after him, doing your best not to lose him in the crowd.

Reaching a stack of crates, Eren clambered up before helping you to stand beside him so that you could see over the crowds of people.

“These are real soldiers,” he whispered as the gates opened and the Scouts began to file in.

If these were real soldiers, then you never wanted to join their ranks. They looked utterly broken and defeated, the weights of their fallen comrades sitting on their shoulders and chaining their feet. Their eyes were hollow with loss, their cheeks gaunt with grief. From beside you, Eren gave them a delighted smile. A man locked eyes with him before looking away, and Eren looked put out at this.

“Can we go, please? I don’t like watching them,” you murmured, reaching for Eren’s hand. He swatted you away.

“Come on, Y/N, two more minutes, it’s almost over. Although, if you don’t like watching them, how will you feel when you have to join them?” he said, a knowing expression on his face. You gaped at him before pouting and shifting your gaze to your feet.

“Yeah, guess so. Okay, we can stay,” you said, though you made sure to keep your eyes firmly on your friend and not the excuses for humans that had returned from the other side of the walls. They were nothing more than shells, now, any semblance of spirit or soul long vanished. They may have survived the titans, but would they survive the guilt and grief that came with watching their friends die?

“Moses! Where is my Moses?” a lady shouted, breaking out of the crowd to kneel in front of the Commander, who seemed shocked at her boldness. You squeezed your eyes shut. You knew what had happened to her Moses. There was only one possibility.

“Open your eyes. This is what you want to follow me into,” Eren said, and you marvelled at his duality. Nothing could dissuade him from the dangers and perils of Scout life, yet he was perfectly willing to try and convince you to stay a civilian. You obeyed his command, though, cracking your eyes open and watching the grieving woman as she begged for her son.

You could not bear it, and so you turned to Eren, admiring his side profile, his sharp nose and long lashes. This was how it was, wasn’t it? The death and destruction were an afterthought. You had no grand and heroic ideas of the outside world. You only saw that it made Eren happy, and didn’t you owe him as much? You watched Eren as he took in the Scouts’ return, watched as that strange light of wonder and borderline madness danced in his jade eyes, and you drank it in, allowing it to sustain you.

Because Eren had never been normal. He was born into this world as something other, something greater than all of you as a whole and yet no more than any of you individually. He was not strong like Mikasa or smart like Armin or kind like you. He was just Eren, and yet he was special in spite of that, or was it because of his averageness that he always pushed forward, determined to prove himself as someone worthy of the attention of the extraordinary people he was surrounded by?

It didn’t matter to you. He was who he was, and whether he was a god or a boy made no difference in the way you saw him. First and foremost, he was Eren Jaeger, the one who played with dolls and had tea parties and killed people for you.

“All that’s left of him was his hand?” Eren muttered, and you were broken out of your reverie to see the woman crumple to the ground, sobbing, as the remains of her son were procured. As Eren had said, the only part they had managed to salvage was his left hand. You winced at the gory sight.

“Eren, please. I don’t wanna stay,” you whispered, tugging at his hand. He scoffed at you, his eyes boring holes into your soul.

“This is why I told you you shouldn’t join the Scouts! Seriously, Y/N, you faint when you see a mouse or a particularly large spider. How do you think you can fight titans?” he said. Your eyes filled with tears as you stared up at him, but for once, he did not soften, continuing to glare at you.

“This is the reality of it all, okay? I’m ready to face it, but obviously you’re not. Just do us all a favor and stay in the walls where you belong,” he said, the words particularly venomous.

“Where I...belong?” you said. He despised the walls. He called the people that lived in and accepted them ‘cattle.’ He was calling you cattle.

“You heard me. Come on, let’s go. It’s too scary, right?” he said, hopping off of the crate and pulling you down with him, heading towards your homes.

“Why aren’t you scared?” you said, following after him like a kicked puppy, your proverbial tail between your legs.

“Because I’m brave, and I know that there needs to be sacrifices made for humanity to leave the walls. You can’t run from death. You have to accept it; only then will you be able to truly be a soldier. But the truth is...I don’t want you to have to do that. I want you to live in the walls with our parents and be at home, waiting for me when I come home from fighting,” he said.

“And what if I end up like poor Moses’s mother? What if all that is left of you one day is your left hand? How would I be able to live with myself, knowing that I might have been able to help you had I been there?” you shot back.

“You helping me? The idea is laughable! I’m always the one saving you, don’t forget!” he said.

“Because you said you would! But if you don’t want to, then fine! I don’t want your help anymore! I don’t want you to ever protect me ever again!” you said, immediately regretting the words, though your fury tided you over, pushing back the guilt you felt.

“Good, because I’m done trying to save you! You’re just stupid anyways, you keep getting in trouble and thinking I’ll always be there to fix things! Surprise, I won’t, alright?” he said.

“Fine!” you said.

“Fine! I’m going to go hang out with Mikasa and Armin!” he said.

“Whatever! I’m going to go hang out with Merry!” you said, storming off.

How could he have said such things to you? True, you were not completely innocent in this, but in the end, he had been the one to push you, the one to insult you, the one to crush every semblance of a dream you had ever had.

“Stupid Eren,” you muttered, slamming the door behind you and angrily wiping away the tears that had stubbornly fallen from your eyes. Merry did not even come to greet you, so you began to look for him, ignoring the way your vision still blurred.

“Y/N! You’re back!” your brother exclaimed in excitement. He was seven now; not nearly as clingy as he was when he was small, but still enough so that he got on your nerves quite severely. You were not at all in the mood to deal with him, and you told him as much.

“Leave me alone, I don’t feel like talking to you. Where’s Merry?” you said. Your brother, who was used to your frequent rejections of his offers to be friends, shrugged.

“Upstairs, probably. Sleeping in your room,” he said.

“Okay,” you said, shoving past him and heading up the stairs.

But Merry was not in his usual spot on the foot of your bed. Determining that he was probably outside, you sighed and left to go find him.

On the way, you ran into Oskar, who was running away from something, though what it was, you could not be sure. When he saw you, he skidded to a stop and ran his hand through his hair.

“Hey, Y/N,” he said, attempting to lean on the wall of his house, though he missed and nearly fell. Catching himself and scrambling to his feet, he winked at you.

“What do you want, Oskar?” you sighed. His crush from when you were seven had never really gone away, though he had matured in how he expressed it. Now, instead of teasing and torturing you, he tried to be suave and flirt with you. He was, for the most part, unsuccessful, a fact that Eren never hesitated to point out.

“I was just running from Mikasa...I mean, I was leaving from a fight with Mikasa, Armin, and Eren! Surprised you’re not with them, the four of you are usually inseparable,” he said.

“Eren and I got into an argument. Nothing major, but I don’t really feel like hanging out with him right now. I’m looking for Merry,” you informed him. Oskar grinned.

“Yeah, is that so? Let me help,” he said.

“If you want,” you said. You didn’t really like the blond boy, but a second pair of eyes would be helpful in trying to locate your dog.

To his credit, Oskar was quiet as you scoured all of Shiganshina for your black poodle. If you could look past his merciless bullying of Armin and the cruel way he had treated you when you were younger, he would almost be someone you could have a crush on, but unfortunately for him, those were two fairly major offenses.

“Is that him?” Oskar said, pointing at a black figure in excitement. You squinted at it before shaking your head, disappointed at the false alarm.

“No, that was a random cat. Let’s just go home, he’ll show up for dinner, probably,” you said. You were tired; fighting with Eren earlier had taken a lot out of you, and searching the entire district for your dog had not helped any.

“I had fun hanging out with you. You’re actually pretty cool when you’re not with Eren and the others,” Oskar said as you reached your front door. You gave him an impassive look.

“‘Eren and the others’ are my best friends. You really shouldn’t insult them if you want this to be a regular occurrence,” you said, motioning in between you. Oskar’s eyes widened in surprise before he beamed.

“This could be a regular occurrence?” he said.

“Goodbye, Oskar,” you said, slamming the door shut on his face. There was a warm sensation on your leg, and you looked down to see Merry licking your calf and wagging his tail.

“Merry? You were at home this whole time? Naughty boy, why didn’t you come when I called you?” you said, picking him and admonishing him. He tilted his head in confusion, and you shook your head before kissing him on the nose.

“I feel kind of bad about yelling at Eren, but I was justified...I think,” you confessed to your dog, who did not do anything beyond twist into a more comfortable position in your arms.

“Thanks, buddy, you're a great advice giver. Well, I guess I shouldn’t have expected much more from a dog. It’s like Eren said: I’m just stupid,” you said. Merry licked you on the face before his ears perked up and he let out a loud whine.

“What’s the matter?” you said. He wriggled out of your arms and raced outside, pausing at the front door. You followed after and scooped him up again before looking at what had caught his attention and freezing.

The biggest titan probably in existence, larger than even the walls themselves, peered over the gate to Shiganshina. Its enormous face was skinless, with red muscles and tendons fitting neatly together in an intricate puzzle that matched the drawings of the human muscular system that Dr. Jaeger had shown you when you were younger.

You heard more than saw when the wall was breached. The skinless Colossal Titan must have drawn its leg back before kicking through the stone in one swift blow. And in that moment, all of humanity was reminded of the horror of being at the titans’ mercy as the large, ghastly things began to stream into Shiganshina.

It has been said that there are only two base reactions that humans can have when faced with fear-inducing situations: fight or flight. Eren always chose fight. Armin always chose flight. But Dr. Jaeger had confessed to you that he believed there to be a third reaction: freezing. And freezing was what you did best. As Shiganshina fell around you, you stood, motionless, hugging Merry to your chest and watching as the beasts devoured and destroyed as they pleased.

Your parents came rushing out to meet you, your brother being carried by your father. When they saw you, your mother let out a sob of relief.

“Y/N! Oh, Y/N, you’re okay! We have to get out of here, you understand? Come on, let’s go!” she cried.

“Eren, Mikasa, Armin...will they be okay?” you said in a daze.

“Your friends are probably dead by now. They were out playing when the wall fell, which means they were closer to where the breach is. We can’t worry about them. I’m sorry, I know it feels cruel, but that’s how this world works,” your father said.

Dead. Mikasa would never sit and let you braid her hair for hours again. Armin would never tell you about the sea again. And Eren. Why, why had you let your last conversation ever be a fight? He had most likely died thinking you did not want him around anymore. It seemed that in some horrible way, you had gotten your wish indeed. He would never be able to protect you again. The universe had a sadistic sense of humor.

You did not cry. You stared at your parents, the grief more of an overwhelming fog that blanketed your mind in a comfortable haze than a sharp pain. That would come later.

They were urging you to run as far as you could. They were trying to get you to come, but when you tried to follow, they paused in horror before your mother shoved you aside, behind a building you recognized to have once been the Zimmermans’ house. The entire thing was crushed, and you noted that Oskar’s body was there, destroyed by a rock. It seemed he had not even made it to see the titans entering the district. How funny that only minutes ago, he had been flirting with you and helping you look for Merry.

Caught up in your thoughts about Oskar, you almost missed seeing your family get eaten by titans, but the piercing scream your brother let out was not the type to be missed by anyone. Your father had dropped him as he was raised to a ten meter titan’s mouth, and the small boy had most certainly broken a leg upon impact with the ground. Well, better off a broken leg than in a titan’s mouth, the way your father was now.

You buried your face in Merry’s fur to avoid screaming out loud and drawing the attention of any nearby titans as your father was devoured within seconds.

“Help! Please, anybody, help us!” your mother shrieked before a different titan leaned down and squeezed her in its large, pale fist. Tilting its head back, it tossed her into its mouth almost casually, graceful in a terrible way.

Your brother looked around desperately, searching for some measure of aid. He locked eyes with you, and an expression of shock passed over his face. He reached out in your general direction, but he was too far.

“Y/N —” he began before the titan that was now finished with your father swept him up and smashed his tiny form into a wall, silencing him forever before eating him. You squeaked in terror, knowing that you were next, knowing that there was no way you could hide forever, no way you could outrun the two titans.

“Hey! Uglies!” a girl shouted from the rooftop beside the two titans. She caught your gaze and nodded reassuringly at you, though you had no clue what she planned to do. She seemed to be about fifteen years old, with short, strawberry blonde hair and bright hazel eyes that glimmered with determination as she glared at the two titans, who had turned to regard her hungrily. She had no ODM gear or weapons, but she was fearless in her stance, staring down humanity’s biggest enemies without even flinching.

As they reached towards her, she jumped onto one’s hand and ran up its arm before using a piece of wood to strike it on the nape. It crashed to the ground, stunned by the hit to its sensitive spot, though you doubted it was down forever. The girl leapt in the air and performed the same move to the second titan, with similar results. Pleased with herself, she raced over to you.

“Oh, gosh, I can’t believe I just did that! Are you okay?” she said.

“My family,” you said in horror, “I think they’re dead.”

“You think? So there’s a chance they’re still alive?” she said.

“No,” you said, shaking your head to clear it, “I saw them get eaten. They are dead. Oh, oh, they’re dead, they’re dead.” You began to cry. Everyone you loved was dead. You were all alone now, and most of them had died thinking you didn’t even like them. Why hadn’t you been nicer to your brother? Why hadn’t you told your parents you loved them more? Why had you fought with Eren? Now, you would never even get the chance to make right the wrongs of your past.

“I’m really sorry, but those titans aren’t going to stay knocked out forever. We can deal with your grief later, but for now, we have to get out of here. I’m Petra Ral, by the way. Once I graduate, I’m going to be a Scout, but I’m still a cadet at the moment. I was visiting my cousin Orion, that’s why I’m in Shiganshina, but I’m not a fully trained soldier yet. I doubt I’ll be able to take on any more of those stupid things if they come near,” she said, helping you to your feet. You yelped as there was a sharp tug at your scalp.

“My hair is caught!” you said in alarm as the titans began to stir. Petra gave them a wary glance before scrutinizing your ponytail.

“Here, I got it,” she said, undoing the white ribbon that held your hair in its ponytail. With that, your hair was freed from the wreckage it had gotten tangled in, and as the ribbon fluttered to the ground, Petra picked you up in her arms and began to run towards the evacuation ships.

“You can stay with my family! I have a little sister your age!” she shouted as she sprinted, though her pace was slow, burdened as she was by your weight. Right. You didn’t have a family anymore. You were going to have to rely on the Rals’ hospitality. Tears welled in your eyes again, and you pressed your face against Petra’s shoulder. Everything about her was warm, from the shade of her hair to the temperature of her pale skin to the comforting scent of caramel apples that wafted off of her.

Petra hugged you tightly as you boarded the last ship leaving Shiganshina, Merry sitting on your lap solemnly, as if he recognized the gravity of the situation — and perhaps he did, for he had realized something was wrong when the walls were breached before even you had.

Being on the last boat to leave, you and Petra were given the privilege of seeing a large being that you could only describe as the Armored Titan running through the gate to Wall Maria, destroying it completely. He turned, and for a brief moment, you locked eyes with him. The glowing gold was piercing, and you felt trapped staring at it. Would he come destroy the ship now? You stared at him in fear, but he only turned and ran back the way he came.

He and the Colossal Titan were anomalies, never before seen in the history of humanity, but in one single day, they had completely and utterly changed the future. Wall Maria was gone, deemed uninhabitable as thousands upon thousands of titans streamed into the once-occupied territory. Most people managed to escape into Wall Rose. Other villages were not so lucky, for news did not always travel that fast, and that was where the devastation was the worst.

The Rals were decently wealthy; not enough that they could avoid sending their eldest daughter to war, but enough that they were not impacted by the Culling, as it was so affectionately known. It was during this Culling that 20% of humanity was wiped out; for the resources in Walls Rose and Sina alone were not enough to support the entire population. On King Fritz’s orders, all able-bodied adult refugees were sent out to reclaim Wall Maria’s territory, though from what Petra told you, it was more of a wholesale bloodbath. She had become a Scout, just as she had told you she would, and she was good at what she did, somehow managing to endure the worst of what humanity had had to face and always coming out the victor.

Living with the Rals was nice. Petra’s little sister Tullia was a lovely girl, with dark blonde hair that she kept in two braids and pear green eyes. She was sweet and supportive and she took care of Merry for you when you didn’t feel up to it. You wished you could be her friend the way she deserved, but for the first few months, all you could see when you looked at her was Armin and Eren and Mikasa and how they were dead.

Still, eventually you began to open up in small ways. You let Tullia braid your hair, even though you immediately undid it, preferring to keep it loose nowadays. You listened to Petra gossip about her crush on a man named Levi without complaint, even chiming in with soft-spoken questions about the color of his eyes (the most burningly brilliant shade of mercury) and the way his hair fell (in a neat, perfectly parted dark curtain).

One day, you worked up the courage to ask Petra if she could inquire about the fates of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. She had frowned and said she would do her best.

That night, when she returned with a biscuit for you, a rare luxury now that Wall Maria had fallen, you knew that the news was nothing good. You had not told her or Tullia about your friends quite yet, for it felt like poking at the edges of a wound, but they could both sense that the trio had been important to you.

So when Petra sat you down and said that there was no sign of a girl named Mikasa or any boys named Eren or Armin, you had been expecting it. Why, then, did it feel like they had died all over again?

The Ral sisters did not push or inquire. They just sat with you, Merry faithfully in Petra’s lap, not moving a muscle. You fell asleep like that, all four of you curled up together on the couch until dawn, when Mr. Ral woke you all up gently for breakfast.

It was on that day that you finally began to heal. Eren, your best friend, was gone forever, but you knew he would not want you to wallow in your misery and sadness. You had to be happy. You had survived, but now you had to live.

As your friend’s beloved moon rose in the velvet night sky, you opened the window and whispered to it a promise.

“The outside world, right? You’ll never get to join the Scouts, so I’ll do it. I’ll find the sea for you...Eren.”

[totentnz]

GOOD MORNING (now evening)

today i awoke and chose violence. i wanna talk a bit about the AU @bishicat and I have. ~inspired~ by the 5 songs, 3 outfits taggame!

EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD

Welcome to your life There's no turning back Even while we sleep [...] We will find you It's my own design It's my own remorse Help me to decide Help me make the Most of freedom and of pleasure Nothing ever lasts forever Everybody wants to rule the world [...] There's a room where the light won't find you Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down When they do, I'll be right behind you I'm so glad we've almost made it So sad they had to fade it Everybody wants to rule the world [...] I can't stand this indecision Married with a lack of vision Everybody wants to rule the— Say that you'll never, never, never, never need it

name of the AU, basically it's about change, within oneself, within a friend group, within the world. and about accepting that change - or fighting against it. each member of the trio (or V³ as we like to call em) thinks their way of living is the right one. V(alerie) is hellbent on not backing down and staying right where she is V(incent) thinks getting away from the city and the people who hurt him is the best choice V(ivienne) wants more from life, money, fancy clothes and power

TOWNIE

There's a party and we're all going And we're all growing up Somebody's driving and he will be drinking And no one's going back 'Cause we've tried hungry and we've tried full and Nothing seems enough [...] I'm holding my breath with a baseball bat Though I don't know what I'm waiting for I am not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be

name of the pairing for V³ - the song is about growing up and changing. (AGAIN) bishi actually picked that one and i was on board right away, it was important to me that we pick a song we both like (the more rock-y feel of that song also helped lmao)

RYAN & DAVE

Ryan and Dave are rabble rousin', teenage cousins Difference is Dave has an off switch, and Ryan doesn't 20 years later now Dave behaves rank and file And Ryan's a burnt out adult, last gasp, wild child

guess what this one is about! CHANGE! (are you tired of it yet?) mostly it is about viv picking a different path than v though - one stayed exactly where she has always been while the other chose to change. ALSO in the music video they are DOGS and we love a dog motif

6:26 in the morning, didn't need alarm I couldn't sleep a wink, I'm betting my whole farm Left Dave's place at eight, just drove, didn't really talk I shook his hand and popped the door to make the walk Applied for admission at the detox shop Got to the door it said open, ten o'clock It's freezing out, no way that I can make it to ten Look back at my truck at my only real friend

some time ago we talked about viv helping v on her healing journey (girlie cannot catch a break from being a babysitter even after she got johnny a body LMAO) and even though v never ends up at rehab (maybe that will change) it still fits pretty well.

NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN

I'm taking a ride with my best friend I hope he never lets me down again He knows where he's taking me Taking me where I want to be I'm taking a ride with my best friend [...] We're flying high We're watching the world pass us by Never want to come down Never want to put my feet back down on the ground [...] See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down) Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)

V³ had a pretty big fight at one point. viv was always going to leave for arasaka but v never understood or accepted it. they argued for hours and when vincent didn't chose her side, v stormed off to go on a weeklong bender. when she returned the flat was empty, both her siblings had left -and betrayed her. naturally, viv also felt betrayed by her childhood friend, all she asked for was support but instead she got called a traitor. i like to imagine this song plays on the radio one day after their reunion

THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT

When we were young, the future was so bright The old neighborhood was so alive And every kid on the whole damn street Was gonna make it big and not be beat

Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn The kids are grown up, but their lives are worn How can one little street swallow so many lives?

TO ME this is THE streetkid song but it hits hard especially in this universe. as i mentioned before V³ thinks they picked the right path, they aren't gonna be beat (and honestly vincent is the only one who succeeded). viv had a good run but then she got kicked from the corp, lost her newest best friend, DIED and now has a whole other person stuck in her skull. v was stubborn, was homeless for a bit and is overall in a bad way (but then again, that's the only way she knows how to live so it's not as bad TO HER)

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

THIS IS A BIG ONE SO BUCKLE IN FOLKS bishi and i had been talking about a personal quest for v and we ended up on this: one day they are driving somewhere while listening to the radio when a host teases a special treat! they have exclusive rights to the music of NC born and bred band Rotten! (yeah you guessed it! V's band) naturally this fills her with pure rage and viv knows this isn't going to end well (babysitting time!) v knows exactly who did this and is hellbent on rectifying this (there is more but yall are gonna have to wait for the day i decide to write it lmao) As Above, So Below is the name of the job! it is a song that v wrote but only she knows about it. while viv wasn't a band member she was there for it's founding and a few first concerts, she filmed a lot of it and even ran the merch stand a bit

I won't lie, it's quite temptin' Your handouts and your bones I won't lie, they're quite empty Your promises and your stones

If you sell, they'll buy Don't feel, just sign If you sell, they'll buy Don't think, stay blind

Give me the control Just sign on the dotted line Give me the control He whispered softly Give me the control You're crawling inside my mind Give me the control Don't you fight me?

As above, so below What you reap is what you sow What you give comes back three fold As above, so below

YES the song is about v not wanting to sign with a label and it is her final fuck you to the world of music. in reality that song is incredibly underproduced since by the time it was recorded the band had already broken up. v did ALL of it: singing, instruments, songwriting. editing magic made it come to life. depending on how it ends (yes there are multiple outcomes) viv will receive a shard with ALL of rotten's music, including THIS unreleased song and even some backstage footage from way back in the day when viv was still around.

See I've danced with the enemy We have secrets, no one knows Yeah, I've danced with my enemy I wore her skin and her clothes

honourable mention because this part is very viv coded

instead of outfits i present you! some soul crushing quotes! i hope you enjoy! :3c

[tonberry-yoda]

Betrayal - Ashe x Cassidy

notes: yeah... i ship them. SHUT UP THEY'RE CUTE! they hate each other with so much love, so yeah. I loved writing for this and have wanted to write it FORVER, so here you all go! Have a great day and stay extra hydrated <33333

word count: 1,140

"Ashe!!!" One of the members of the Deadlock gang ran into Ashe's office, the wooden door slamming against the wall. "Ashe I have some bad news."

Ashe picked up her viper, filling it with bullets. "Well this better be good then," she woke up BOB by slamming her fist on her chest and led the Omnic butler out of her office. "So what is it then?" She asked the shaking member of the gang.

He moved his bandana down from his mouth and followed after Ashe and Bob. "Uh... he's back, Ashe."

She scoffed and spit on the ground. "Is he alone?"

"We didn't see anyone else."

"Where is he?"

"Well," the boy stepped in front of Ashe, stopping her. "He was actually knocking on the front door, asking to come inside."

Ashe froze and tilted her head. "What do you mean he was asking to come inside?"

"He's just standing at the door. That's why I figured we'd get you."

"What about the guards?"

"They're fine and still at their posts."

"Fine then," Ashe stepped around the boy and led BOB and herself to the front door. "Leave me with him. I need to see what this pathetic son of a gun wants."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" The boy ran off, asking others to come with him, but stay on the lookout for their boss.

"BOB," Ashe looked at her butler with narrow eyes and pointed to a corner of the room. "Stay there and don't make a move until I signal for it, okay?"

BOB nodded and rushed to the corner. Ashe held her gun close, but she wasn't scared. Not of him.

She opened the door and found Cassidy standing like a sad puppy. He lit up when he saw Ashe though, a smile spreading across his face. "Liz, I-"

She slammed the door shut on his face and reopened the door. "Try again, boy," she told him, her gun at the ready, clicking it.

"A-Ashe, I just wanted to talk."

"Then talk." Her viper was still pointed at his face, her dynamite ready if need be. "And make it snappy."

"I'm sorry."

Ashe cackled and moved her gun down, taking a step forward. "Did you come all this way to tell me jokes, or were you really wantin' to talk?!"

"Ashe, I'm serious."

"Is that so?" She asked, mockingly. "Cuz I don't think you are. You made yer decision back then and you stuck with it, didn't you?!"

"I-"

"Blackwatch treatin' you well? You know, you still have one hell of a bounty on yer head that I wouldn't mind takin for myself."

"I'm not in Blackwatch anymore."

"Damn boy, you really desertin' everyone, aintcha?!"

"Ashe, I-"

"Nice arm you got there." She smiled slyly looking down at his prosthetic arm. BOB had taken that from him the day Cassidy decided to leave, now a traitor to the Deadlock Gang and Ashe herself.

"Am I allowed to speak now?" Cassidy lit a cigar and narrowed his eyes at Ashe.

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Can I come in?"

"What, you want some coffee too?! Maybe a bubble bath and a party? Hell no. You can stay in the desert sand where you belong."

"I didn't mean to break your heart, Ashe."

She laughed, but Cassidy didn't even smile.

"You didn't break shit, Cassidy. I feel fine."

"The picture on your bike doesn't say so."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashe said through clenched teeth, anger forming in her red eyes.

"I've missed you, Ashe."

"Tell it to the canyon, Cassidy," she went to slam the door, but Cassidy caught it in his prosthetic hand.

"You still mad?"

"Am I still mad?! Whaddya think, boy?!"

Cassidy giggled and his eyes met Ashe's. He was one of her first real friends. She ran away from a rich family that didn't care and was seen as nothing but a failure and an outlaw who got into trouble. But when she found a partner who thought she was crazy and smart and more than she was ever told in her life, she felt free. But she hated being betrayed, hated the idea of being alone again, hated the idea of losing her found family. But there he was betraying her. And that's why he doesn't have an arm anymore. He doesn't deserve it.

"I didn't mean to make you mad. I just wanted to help other people out." Cassidy's voice was soft and he stepped close to Ashe.

"I hate you," Ashe whispered.

"I know." Cassidy opened his arms and Ashe fell right in, wrapping her arms around his big torso. He smelled like cheap cologne and sweat and she hated that she thought it was comforting.

"You're not allowed back in the deadlock gang, Cole, you know that, right?" Her voice was muffled in his chest and she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck.

"I know. I didn't come to join your gang. I don't wanna make you all mad by joining again. I got other plans. I just wanted to apologize." Cassidy's hands found a place on Ashe's hips, resting peacefully as they embraced.

They stayed like that for a little while and Ashe got on her tippy toes to pull Cassidy closer, playing with the back of his soft brown locks.

Finally, Ashe pulled away from the hug, her eyes stuck on Cassidy. "I'll kill you next time I see you here, you know that, right, Cole?"

"I assumed," he stretched and spotted BOB in the back of the room. He winked at him and turned back to Ashe. "Well, in that case, I won't be back here for a while. It was good to see you, Elizabeth."

"Shut up, Cole." She couldn't help but let out a little giggle.

Cassidy leaned down, his nose inches away from hers. "It'll be a long time before we see each other."

"I sure hope so, I'd be pretty pissed if I saw you back here tomorrow cryin' at my door." She made the first move and pressed her lips to Cole's. He cupped her face in his big callused hands and pulled her closer. She smiled into the kiss, immediately regretting it when she heard a little giggle from Cassidy. It was a mocking giggle, but she didn't really care because for once, she was actually enjoying herself with Cassidy.

Cole pulled away and smiled at Ashe's flushed lips and cheeks. "You're cute."

"Get out." She pulled up her viper with a giggle and Cassidy started running, the spurs of his boots jingling.

"Catch you one day, Ashe!" He waved and she waved back, leaning on her gun.

She let out a little happy sigh and turned to BOB, who, if he could, would give her a little smirk.

"Quit it BOB, you have work to do."

~~~~~

overwatch masterlist | pinned post @tonberry-yoda

[padfootastic]

I have now decided that I’m fully adopting the hc that the entire Black family knew Sirius hadn’t betrayed the Potters but 100% thought he’d killed Peter and those Muggles. I’m also choosing to imagine that there’s a later Order meeting when someone asks Sirius how he’s able to forgive Andromeda for thinking he was a murderer when he’s still slightly icy with the Order for thinking he was the traitor, everyone is eagerly listening in to hear his explanation, only to get hit with “because she at least knew me well enough to know I’d never betray James. She’d met James only once or twice, but she still knew I’d never betray him.” Sirius can get past the murderer belief, especially since he was in fact planning on murdering Peter in POA so it’s not like they were wrong to believe him capable of murder and also he looked bad when he got arrested, but misunderstanding him so badly as to think he’d hand the Potters over to Voldemort? Not so forgivable. Tonks is the only Order member who knew him before he actually likes now (he’s fine with the others that he didn’t know personally as well and of course the kids) since Andy told Tonks what she believed and Tonks, after hearing why her mother thought so, agreed.

I also like to think that the Death Eaters, especially those close to the Blacks, taunt Remus (and some of the other Order members but mostly Remus as Sirius’s old best friend) about this; Remus is dueling Macnair and as Rodolphus fights Kingsley next to him, Rodolphus shouts out something insulting about Remus believing Sirius was the traitor and how Remus clearly never knew Sirius at all, real interesting loyalty Remus has. Bella is “dueling” Sirius (they’re mostly trading non-lethal spells back and forth and talking about what appears to be “darling Cissy’s” 16th birthday party; Kingsley is very confused about what the “Hippogriff incident” is and how it involves the Atlantic Ocean, but Rodolphus emphatically shakes his head and mouths “don’t ask, do not ask” at him so he stifles his curiosity if it can intimidate even a man who endured over a decade in Azkaban) and immediately starts insulting Remus as well, she has literally never gotten past him for believing her cousin to be a traitor, how dare he insult a Black like that. Sirius heaves a long-suffering sigh as he says “Bella, please, calm down” and she doesn’t even look as she waves her hand, stalking toward Remus the entire time like she’s about to tear his head off with one manicured hand, and says “Don’t be silly. Siri, it is my duty as your oldest cousin to defend you, even if you won’t defend yourself. Actually, maybe especially then.” Remus is having a terrible time, and it’s not until about 20 minutes into Bella’s rant about how awful he is that he realizes Macnair has left the room (he also glances around in desperate search of an exit and spots Rabastan in the corner, having not realized what he was walking into and Rodolphus saw him before he could leave again. Sirius is next to him and they’re furiously whispering about something Remus can’t catch. They’re debating about if Bella and Rodolphus would notice if they left, but both tragically believe the answer is yes (they’re right)) (also, Bella’s nails are glittery, similar to Morgan Taylor’s Fame Game shade, only even more sparkly. It is important to me for you to know that. Either she did a spell, she had a House Elf paint her nails, or she found someone willing to give a manicure to an escaped convict, but her nails are painted. It contributes to her intimidation rather than takes away from it. Sirius complimented her on it when they started “fighting” and the Order is really planning on having a talk with him about priorities. Bella thanked him very sincerely) (Bella also immediately called to Rodolphus about “see, my cousin noticed my nails, yet somehow my husband did not.” Kingsley was surprised Rodolphus didn’t give himself a migraine with how hard he rolled his eyes and cautiously went “you good buddy?” Rodolphus quietly said “Freaking Blacks man, the whole family is like this too.” Kingsley nodded but refuses to ask any more questions, he’s heard the stories. Tragically for Kingsley, Rodolphus decided he kind of likes him and passed on that he seems to be a good person to fight when the Blacks are being menaces again, so Kingsley regularly has Death Eaters coming up to fight him and just launching into a rant straight away. Kingsley laments every day that Rodolphus chose him to duel and wishes he’d fought like Jugson or someone)

friend, i want u to know this is my favorite part in this.

Tragically for Kingsley, Rodolphus decided he kind of likes him and passed on that he seems to be a good person to fight when the Blacks are being menaces again, so Kingsley regularly has Death Eaters coming up to fight him and just launching into a rant straight away.

absolutely fucking hysterical

[thefoxtrot008]

The Readers Blog

Here is part 4 of the dialogue prompts! Just had a bit of inspiration for a new story, so there are a LOT OF THEM. Enjoy! :)

"So, who do we have then, if they're dead?"

"I've heard that expression before."

"Is that a threat?"

"These concerned parties need to have themselves heard otherwise I can't give you clearance."

"How uncomfortable are we talking?"

"He's a nice kid, love. Not too bright though."

"It was easy. Almost too easy."

"I'm a very busy woman. Okay? Next time, make an appointment."

"Get straight to the point detective."

"This is quite an establishment that you've got going here."

"Well, we both know that's bullshit."

"Give me one good reason as to why I should do that."

"You should let them go because it's the right thing to do, but I doubt that means anything to you."

"And that's how you did it."

"You come into my facility, you lie to me, you make threats and you low ball me? Please, I've got better things to do than to waste my time with you. Get out. Get out now!"

"You don't get it do you?"

"How could we have messed this up this badly?"

"Do I look like a person that would do that sort of thing?"

"We got away with it!"

"They don't have any evidence? No fingerprints? Nothing?"

"We don't even know why they were attacked."

"And no one is asking that question!"

"I mean, I'm being framed here, but it's not like anyone cares."

"And yet, I'm not allowed to see my client."

"This is a wrong accusation."

"You have a witness?" "I do."

"Did you see that video?"

"And there's always that one family member that shows up late for everything."

"Not to worry. I have a backup plan."

"I'm going to keep asking, until you give me a good answer."

"It's because it seems like this whole universe is against me!"

"You ain't even from here are you?" "All you've done is lie to these good people."

"You can't tell me who I can and can't sleep with. You are not my mother!" "I might as well be."

"We're not taking any visitors at the moment."

"Let me see what I can do. The full works. Make some phone calls, talk to people. You know, stuff that you don't do."

"I saved your skin here, let's not forget."

"You know, maybe we should run. Pack up our things and go."

"It's not against you or anything."

"It was too late. They had gotten to me first after you left."

"Now, they're after me. Not you darling."

"I'll go!" (everyone: "NO!")

"Oh, I'm not ignoring what happened between us earlier. I'm using it to my advantage here."

"You do understand that if they catch you, they will kill you."

"I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

"You won't do any of that."

"Go after her. GO!"

"I hate seeing you like this... so, we're going to do you a solid mate."

"Those traitors! I'll get you back for this!"

"You still remember how I take my tea?" "Of course, I do. It's you."

"Why'd you disappear on me, all of those years ago?" "It's not that simple. If it's any consolation, it didn't have anything to do with you." "That makes me feel loads better. But it's still not an explanation!"

"This calls for a celebration!"

"It'll be an in and out job, love. I'll be back before you know it."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she doesn't want to be found?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Oh shit, I grabbed the wrong one." "It better be a damn good funeral."

"I am... a freaking genius! LETS GO!!!"

"What kind of organization are you running here?!"

"I am asking you, because I know that you can handle it."

"I want to read the card."

"You didn't have to make a big deal out of it."

"Give me the keys, I'm leaving."

"You know what?! Maybe I should take the transfer!"

"Can I say something?!" "NO!!"

"Waste of time, huh? Guess who got these documents, from him? Oh, wait. It was me. All me! You're freaking welcome."

"Cancel everything! I have an important announcement to make!"

"I want to do it on my terms." "I was thinking about this earlier."

"We're considering all options." "Like what? Like handing over the kid?" "I told you. We're considering every avenue."

"This is where it all starts." "I haven't told them yet."

"We did give you a bit of a warning."

"You knew?! All of you knew? How come she didn't tell me about it?!"

"Because we'd knew you'd react like this, that's why!" "Fine then. Let's go the extra mile, shall we? I forbid you from seeing him!" "You can't do that!" "I believe I just did!"

"Don't you have anything to say about this?" "I think he's got a point."

"Oh, sure! Way to side with him."

"I should be able to make that decision, I'm older than you!" "Not by much though."

"I can have it reversed if I need to."

"And that's a major if okay? All of this isn't going to be enough. We need hard evidence! Not something that you stole!"

"Way to piss her off man."

"You really have to tell that story again?"

"That was so rude of me. I do apologize."

"She's listening to that song again! It's been nonstop for hours! Make it stop!" "Go talk to her!" "What do you expect me to say, huh?"

"I think you're making too much of this. You do have a tendency to overthink." "I do not. Okay, fine, maybe I do."

"Hopefully it gets a little bit better for you."

"I know. I'm just teasing." "Welcome to my world."

"Yea, but I didn't want to see that." "He didn't seem to have a problem with it."

____________________________________________________________

And... that's a wrap! :) For now at least!

[fontasticcrablettes]

Thoughts on Anise? It's fine if you don't ship her with anyone, but I'm curious about the rest.

Ooo interesting, I don't think about Anise very often but she's super cool. How I feel about this character: Well like I said, I don't think about her very often, but I do like her. I suppose she's technically my least favourite party member, but only because I like everybody else so much. There aren't any Abyss party members I actually dislike. She can be pretty funny, and I like how her "comedic gold digger" trait turns into a pretty serious part of her backstory which then of course leads to some major plot beats. What used to be comic relief is now a serious issue, similar to Guy's phobia. All the people I ship romantically with this character: No one! I don't have any romantic ships in Abyss. My non-romantic OTP for this character: I really like her relationship with Jade, and her evolving relationship with Luke. She goes from being the "nicest" to him (in an obviously fake way), to being furious at him, and then back to being friendly again but for real this time. It's a fun back and forth. My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't pay attention to the larger Abyss fandom so I don't know what counts as unpopular. Is it unpopular to not think she's terrible for causing Ion's death? I'm there's a subset of fandom that hates her for that. In terms of Tales Traitors, I find her among the easiest to forgive, and honestly a big part of it is her age. She's still a child, and I can't hold her to the same standards as an adult put into a similar situation. She didn't know what her spying would lead to, and she was just a kid trying to save her parents and lost control of things. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Continuing from above, this is a general gripe about JRPGs but Abyss is pretty bad about this, but I wish the story addressed more that she is a child. And addressed the fact the multiple high ranking officers in the Order of Lorelei are children. Yes, yes, target audience of the game and all that, but I played Abyss the first time when I was 17 and I still thought it was weird that Tear was a sergeant and Anise was the fantasy pope's number one protector. Why does the Order of Lorelei keep recruiting children? I wish she had a chance to be a kid instead of being forced to get employed and take care of her parents. Poor kid. my OTP: Like I said, I don't ship her with anyone. my cross over ship: Hm... thinking through the other kids in Tales, I think Anise/Genis could have potential a headcanon fact: If Tales of Abyss wasn't rated T, Anise would swear like a sailor as long as someone she's trying to impress isn't around. "I'LL KILL YOU BASTARDS" is just the tip of the iceberg

[rybonucleic-ket]

my byclair brainrot has returned and i did this blurb

wip when I'm about to board a plane wsunday

--

Being back in Hawkins gave Will mixed feelings. For one, being back with the party, his friends, was a relief, and Will was overjoyed to see them again. He was somewhat scared of Hawkins High, though. Much like in Lenora, he did his best to keep a low profile, to blend in. He got by, for the most part. People largely overlooked him, and even when Mike or Dustin, known for their place in Hellfire, sat with him, he flew under the radar of most douchebags. They were too busy condemning Hellfire as a "satanist cult" to take any notice of Will, and that was more than fine by him.

He never thought of Lucas as a "traitor" for joining basketball, and was surprised and disappointed to find he was the only one who didn't resent Lucas. Lucas was his friend. He's allowed to have other interests, and Will definitely understood wanting to blend in.

After Will arrived in Hawkins, he managed to drag the whole party to a handful of basketball games. Eventually, though, the number of party members started dwindling, despite Will's best efforts. Dustin and Mike stopped coming (he's gone to the dark side, Will), then Max (why do you give a shit about a stupid game?), and eventually even El opted to hang out with Max (Will, I am sorry, I do not understand why they throw the ball in baskets). And so there was one.

Will never missed Lucas' games. He somewhat disliked Eddie as a DM, and didn't see much point in playing if they were ditching Lucas. He only went to Hellfire if he was asked to and all four of them would be there. Will was on the bleachers at every game, and often watched basketball practice, too.

He had a sketchbook full of Lucas playing basketball, not that he would tell anyone. Lucas was.... pretty hard not to look at. Will's eyes were always on number eight. Even when said player was on the bench for the whole game.

Lucas could not express how glad he was Will showed up to his games. He didn't just go to the games, either, Will actually cared. He was enthusiastic, even, to see what Lucas was interested in. With their other friends, even if they showed up, they were bored the whole time. Mike only ever went to games begrudgingly, Dustin was usually not even watching, Max was extremely unenthusiastic, and El was often confused about the purpose of any of it.

But Will? Will showed up smiling. Will stood up to clap when they ran on the court, beaming at Lucas. Will asked him questions about basketball. Will showed up to practices to support Lucas. He made Lucas feel like his interests mattered. His other friends' indifference, while still somewhat hurtful, was overwritten by Will's enthusiasm. Will was the first person he looked for on the bleachers. Will asked his mom how she made the patches on his old Halloween costumes; he now has a patch on his backpack, a little gold and green '8', and call him presumptuous, but Lucas likes to think it's because of him.

Some of Lucas' favorite moments are when Will stands up, excited, as Lucas comes out of the locker room post-game, telling him he was incredible as they walk out of the school together.

Yeah. You could say he's pretty happy Will comes to his games.

[e17omm]

Have you considered writing your own version of Elysia that dodges her late game writing issues? 🤔

Not for like, a story or something I'd post on AO3, but I have a few points. Cant say they would be good but its better than the scrap at the bottom of the barrel that the writers came up with.

Remove everything that forces her into being a "perfect" human - because humans are beings with flaws. So let her have some. It makes her more human.

Give her a time of discouragement between leaving the orphanage and joining MOTH. She can still come back and fight to make a paradise by the end, but she cant grow up and never change.

Flame Chasers: I am fine with having everyone generally like her or accept her. She's a good, cheerful, quirky member of the Flame Chasers ir whatev. But when it gets revealed that she's a Herrscher, there is a good like, almost half of the Flame Chasers gets torn on her. Some feel anger because they trusted her, some cover up their feelings of betrayal with spitefulness, and some keeps the others away from Elysia because, just like the 12th Herrscher, it was fine as long as she was alive. This is especially the case when they learn that Elysia has always been a Herrscher.

During that time where the Flame Chasers are actually you know, considering that if Elysia might possibly be a danger to the last few surviving humans, Elysia could be, idk, basically going into some sort of depression because most of her friends are now, to some degree, distrustful about her. Even Eden who she was good friends with is like "yeah I trust you Ellie, but you know, would have been great if you could have told us this." or something.

This still would be during the time where humanity needs some form of motivational boost to face the Final Herrscher, so while the Flame Chasers are still arguing over what to do with Elysia, she goes "i am willing to sacrifice myself so that humanity can have defeated a 13th Herrscher." which will have a few of them pointing out that death was what triggered the 12th Herrscher, to which Elysia goes "so take me somewhere isolated incase that happens. You dont all have to come, just enough so youre confident you can kill a Herrscher." and this is where those against her kinda start to think that maybe Elysia actually is on humanity's side because shes willing stepping up to die and take steps to minimize any possible casualties.

The end result is still the same, the same people can even go to her farewell party. Just, cut down on the lovey dovey wedding party thing. It does NOT fit in with the rest of the Previous Era. Elysia can thank them for coming and say goodbye and all that, and she still has to fight them to make it believable that they killed the 13th Herrscher, but remove the party games, regardless if Elysia just added them for funsies with Mei - whatver the case, dont make them have a bright pink wedding play party when 99% of humanity is dead and they are about to face extinction

Basically: make her actually feel negative emotions. Dont have all the Flame Chasers practically unanimously agree that shes the perfect human. Have them actually consider her as a possible threat, which would hurt her because theyre all her dear friends, but she still steps up and gives herself up for humanity to defeat.

This would let those who didnt like that Elysia turned out a Herrscher to still accept her due to the sacrifice she herself made, while still feeling betrayed enough to call her a traitor, which was how she was originally depicted as: respected but still branded a traitor.

Kinda rambly and unclear, this was answered at midnight.

It doesnt take much to make Elysia a better character, because "perfect" characters are at the bottom of the barrel already. Just give her a moment of "oh shit this Era actually sucks can I really do this [make it a paradise]?" and have some of the Flame Chasers actually see her as a traitor, but a traitor that kept the respect she had earned.

That's just two things and shes already better from what Elysium Everlasting did to her.

Anyways, gonna stop before I go ranting again and just repeat myself.

[lake-archive]

Track 6

If you think I can write lyrics... Think again...

Fandom: Hypnosis Mic

Series: Three CATZ In The Bag

Characters: Ole (OC), Ann Wolff (OC)

AO3 Link

Track 5 - Track List - Track 7

It had been so sudden that Ann took a minute to realize what had just happened. Eli had dashed out, much to their surprise, and had made a run for it. It was obvious why, given he had looked at the mic pretty much right away and was all silent. And Ole had brought it along too… It was clearly on purpose and no one had to tell them twice. After all, they had taken care of the cat for a good while now, this was nothing which had surprised them at all. 

“You can’t just go through someone’s stuff…” They scolded the cat, sure that he would understand every single word. And yet he had rolled Eli’s microphone in between his paws, almost playing with it. And when they had headed out the old cat followed close behind, microphone in his mouth. 

Was he that serious about Eli picking it up or something? Because Ann had theirs… Well, two, the pair of mics Ole had snatched some time ago, a convenient situation since they had theirs stripped away after being kicked out of the Chouhku. Then again, who was really surprised? They let Ann live but attempted to strip them from the power, in case they would try something probably. So even if they knew they had no proof about anything and are all alone. If they spoke up, no one would even believe them. Not really threatening but more like an insect no one should really worry about… And they wouldn’t… Especially assuming their ability was now completely useless… They wouldn’t attack… Right?

Anyway, all of that aside, Ann and Ole were just running through the rain, across the streets. Even after having just been sheltered the duo ran out right away, Ann even screaming the respective name. They were panicking. What if it had caused something beyond belief? Something irreversible? Eli never seemed to be… Well… It was hard to put into words but they sensed that there was more trouble than he lets on. Others would claim this was nothing but it was not their impression, at all. And this situation just now has proven it. So of course they would just run, even with their legs and knees hurting like hell! There was no second to waste! It all counted! Though it was hard to deduct where he usually would be at a time like this. They had never seen him so distressed, at least not enough. Step after step, starting to speed up solely because—

“Miss? What are you doing over there?” They were suddenly interrupted, their legs freezing. There it was again, that one word they did not want to hear… That one dreaded word… To hell with it! But… Ugh, fine. 

They turned, feeling the need for a correction, merely because their own stomach had turned. “I’m not a Miss.” They even responded, trying not to scoff while turning… And yet, they went almost pale when seeing a rather familiar face, or at least somewhat. 

They had forgotten the name, only having seen the woman once. However, what they were certain about was that she was an officer within the Party Of Words. She wore the uniform so there was no doubt about it. And that was what alerted Ann… Because you could never know with any of them. 

Sure, they had made the assumption that they were insignificant and at least Tohoten does not see them as someone to get rid of. However, any of the higher ranked members could act within a certain authority… And the leader might overlook it. Because who cares honestly? They were a goner. Plus, some of the members… Well… 

All they saw next however was a head tilt, almost uncomfortably tilting to the side while staring blankly at Ann, devoid of any emotion. Not like there had been any to begin with. “Ah, so it is you. What a lovely surprise…” The officer responded, a sudden grin on her face. “Miss Wolff’s traitor of a daughter~”

This encounter already was uncomfortable… But hey, they had other things to worry about. “Don’t use that word on me.” They responded before being close to turning away and running off. “Whatever. I have other—”

“Not so fast. You’re not going unpunished.” The officer interrupted and in one swoop had been blocking their path, including Ole’s. A quick glance down and Ann could already see their cat on his paws, fur going up and the tail standing straight up, as if a stick. He wasn’t hissing at least yet there was no need for that to get the message across. “Tch, I don’t even get why you are allowed to walk. If it was my decision, you’d rot in that cell with every other criminal.”

Their gaze went back up to the woman, nearly rolling their pupils. “So what?”

“Overlooking obvious crimes, not following orders… I mean, there’s proof right next to you.” She pointed down at Ole, this one suddenly starting to hiss, as if he had held it in. “Shouldn’t you have gotten rid of that thing by now? That was the order, wasn’t it?”

“What did Ole even do!? He didn’t ask for—”

“Confiscate all of her experiments and get rid of what is deemed useless. And yet that furball—”

“For the last time, Ole did nothing wrong! He’s just a cat!” They interrupted, starting to raise their voice as their teeth grinded against one another. Talking shit about them was one thing, dragging Ole into this though… As if he had asked for anything which had been done for him. As if he wanted to be some experiment and turned into a weapon to overthrow society… After all, who would suspect a cat? Or so the reports had said. That didn’t change anything though. “I’m not disposing of an animal!” 

“Tch… Whatever. I’m gonna take my chance before it slips and arrest you myself. Mommy doesn’t have your back anymore after all.”

“Ex—”

Yet before they could even answer anything they were cut off by a loud sound all of a sudden and next thing they knew was the microphone in the officer’s hand, grinning widely. And the next thing they heard— 

“Look look look, what do we have here? A little girl on the loose.

Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Just an insect to crush.

Hey why don’t you run home? Oh right, heard you have none.

Mommy left, you’re stuck. 

The brat’s on the loose, ready to be picked up.

How about you’ll be a good girl and get into your cell? Sure you’ll love it.

And your brute? You better say goodbye, because it won’t see another day~”

It had been a sudden blast, shoving them a little backwards while trying to find shelter in behind their arms. They could even feel Ole having snuck behind their legs, right under the skirt and attempting to hide as well. His ears must have rolled themselves closed, just to not having to hear that. But they were still standing, both of them.

“Guh… So that’s how it is…” Ann mumbled, grabbing into a pocket of their own and—

“Hah!? How do you still have a—”

“None of your business!” They interrupted, nearly growling. “ ‘sides, ain’t attacking civilians against the law!?”

“Pff, you’re clearly a criminal now. An illegal microphone. You know—”

“I give a flying fuck you bitch!”

Yeah, enough talk. 

“Right on the clock and has enough time to mock.

Too scared for someone your size? Or do you enjoy tramblin’ on mice?

Be bitchin’ ‘round, that’s all you can say.

‘If it were me you’d be dead’ – Yeah ok.

Ya wanna get fucked up? Then come right at.

I’ll hit ya gut and get ya locked right up! 

Your luck’s run out so give up or me and Ole are gonna fuck you up!”

They may as well have been screaming from the top of their lungs. Coming up with something quickly… Ugh, always a pain. And yet they could not let this pass. This bitch needs slapping! Then again… Officers are officers for a reason.

Because despite their words supposed to be cutting like a sharp sword they may as well have been a tiny cut at most. 

Ah— Were they that panicked that they couldn’t even focus!? Ugh, why does this have to happen now!?

Track 5 - Track List - Track 7

[snvxiii]

hii i was wondering, do you have any more info you could share about estelle? i don't think i've seen anyone make xiii ocs and i can tell you've put a lot of thought and love into her so now i'm really curious to learn more lol esp how she and her relationship with snow/serah develops through everything that happens in the xiii saga (esp in xiii-2, poor girl must have been going Through It 😭) - i understand if you don't want to type out a big wall of text though, just whatever you feel comfortable w/sharing!

OMG I would LOVE to overshare about Estelle! I actually have an entire canon list in my drafts that I haven't posted yet, since the bottom half is pretty bare.

Just to establish some basic info on the changes I made re:XIII-trilogy canon:

XIII: Serah is the seventh party member. Aside from Serah’s inclusion, the events during XIII stay, largely, the same. Lightning and Serah are separated early-on.

XIII-2: Follows the events of XIII-2 closely. Estelle is an antagonist, working with Caius* to find a way to keep Serah from dying.

*working together in the sense they both want to stop her from succeeding. Estelle is aware of Caius’ end goal, but has no intention of intervening.

LR: Follows the events of LR closely. Estelle, officially, leads Snow’s guards; however, she’s been leaving more and more, desperate to find out a way to fulfill his Focus.

Post-LR: Serah is busy wrapping up her final year at university. Snow, Estelle, as well as the NORA gang, live together in a quiet beachside town.

–

Some general summary about Estelle:

Estelle has trouble forming meaningful bonds. She finds it hard to take an interest in others and tends to act in an antagonistic way. She is afraid of vulnerability, and thus often acts independently.

Estelle tends to view relationships in a transactional way. Most of her adult relationships fall under this category (coworkers, failed romantic relationships she pursued out of loneliness, peers she considers acquaintances at best).

Her main paradigms are Medic, Synergist, and Commando. You can read more about her battle stats here.

She is a Cocoon l'Cie.

–

Background:

Early age: Estelle is one of many children raised by the Church of Gabriel* located in Palumpolum. She's very shy and has trouble making friends. One of the youth volunteers–a 15 year-old girl named Thea–notices and pays a lot of attention to her.

Estelle, who is 6 years old at this point, latches on. She later considers Thea to be her sister and role model.

*Gabriel is a fal'Cie who is linked to conception, pregnancies, births–essentially, its main function is to ensure Cocoon's population continues to grow and it also acts as a massive database that logs every single birth on Cocoon. A church is built in its name, because why wouldn't the Sanctum use religion to build their own image and take advantage of humanity's belief in the greater unknown? Gabriel is depicted as a kind mother who loves humans.

15 years old: Estelle enrolls into a program to become a part of the church's guard*, hoping to work alongside/under Thea eventually. However, that are rumors of traitors among the guard...

*like the other military groups, they're tasked with protecting Cocoon against Pulse invasion. However, higher members are tasked with exposing and taking out suspected anti-Sanctum rebel groups; as well as, cover-ups.

Thea works under one of the top members; both of whom are later revealed to have conspired with anti-Sanctum groups. On paper, they're both KIA.

One day, Estelle is brought into questioning–nothing official: a small room with someone she considered like-family as well. Given her close relationship with Thea–who has often brought her along to meetings when young–she, unwittingly, ends up giving away the location of their hideout.

After learning the truth, Estelle is confused, feels betrayed (both by the person she told and by Thea's actions), and feels immensely guilty.

The next few years, she continues to train under the program and rises through the ranks; however, her faith is fractured as she learns more about the corruption within the church and the Sanctum.

(Gonna end this part here, because I could actually go on forever.)

–

Her relationship with Snow and Serah (and, really, the others) in XIII:

Early-game, when the group is separated, she ends up being paired with Serah. At this point, Serah still show some hesitation–which pisses Estelle off and causes her to lash out at (she sees a lot of her own fears and weaknesses mirrored in her). Their early dynamic involves a lot of Serah wanting to prove Estelle wrong.

Estelle hates Snow's idealism and, from her POV, blind belief in others. She wants to tear him down so badly. She's, especially, antagonistic towards him.

On Gran Pulse: she ends up leaving the group from a mix of being burnt-out, feeling hopeless, and a massive inferiority from being unable to share in their camaraderie. Of course, she gets herself into trouble by picking a fight with some massive beast to prove something she doesn't need to prove. Thankfully, they find her before she dies (hahahaha).

She loses the emblem she took from Thea's old uniform (she wore it instead of her own issued emblem and often messed with it). She's so depressed and quiet (hahaha).

Vanille notices that she keeps reaching for the spot the emblem used to be. And because Snow can't keep to his own business–he's determined to find it.

When they do find it–it was a long back trek and hours of digging through mud–Estelle is so, genuinely, surprised and touched that she bursts into tears (she needed a good cry for, like, five years). This is when she starts opening up.

Since Estelle is still awful and awkward (she's trying really hard NOT to be an asshole); she approaches Snow and Serah the most (partly out of familiarity; mostly because she feels guilty for how she acted).

Eventually, she starts getting... comfortable and often follows one or both of them around (she's clingy hahahaha).

At the end, she "confesses" in a "let's keep being good friends" (LOL) sort of way, but more heartfelt and awkward.

Gap between XIII > XIII-2:

Estelle chose to help settle New Bodhum. She tries hard to be proactive and helpful, but ends up just... hanging around Snow and Serah again. It's... endearing?

After spending, like, a year together, Estelle just. Realizes she's crushing hard and this is a Disaster. And it's obvious when she realizes, because she starts acting like a jerk again.

Her confession was... it was embarrassing.

XIII-2:

At this point, they're dating for... two years? Estelle's tied a lot of her identity to their relationship, so she is attached to both of them in an unhealthy way. It's not exactly a problem, because they're all still young and haven't recognized the red flags yet (lol).

Estelle has a dream of Serah dying... it's realistic and terrifying and fills her with this massive sense of dread and she just can't lose anyone again. When Snow suggests finding Lightning, she is pissed. She lets him leave unhappily (and when they meet again, she is so fucking angry that he got branded again).

When she learns Serah really IS dying... god, she almost loses it. She accepts to aid Caius in stopping Serah and Noel. Her paradox ending is trapping Serah in a dream-like state.

They have one last date on her request.

When Serah dies, Estelle is truly heartbroken. And thus starts her obsession with keeping Snow alive in LR.

XIII-2 > LR:

Estelle spends many years blaming Lightning for Serah's death.

LR:

Estelle spends five centuries driving herself and Snow mad, trying to find a way to "fulfill" his Focus. She gets worse as times goes by and often leaves for long and longer periods of time.

Eventually, it hits a point where she realizes she's only making Snow miserable and adding to his stress (and contributing to a faster death). So, she leaves. No, she doesn't tell him; she writes a letter (and he does not read it).

Despite leaving, Estelle still continues her pointless hunt. It's only when she meets Lightning that she finally accepts that she can't save Snow and she begs Lightning to save him.

They do reunite, however, and choose to spend their last few days being together and remembering Serah. Happy ending, I guess?

Post-LR:

Lots of therapy. Estelle is learning to be okay with being alone and finding ways to enjoy herself that doesn't revolve around her relationships.

They don't get back together immediately. Though Snow and Serah still care and are open to the idea, it's hard to just... pretend what happened didn't happen. Their first few months is spent learning and being comfortable again.

And that's about it so far!