#being actively left to suffer alone is worse than choosing to be alone and in more pain

[nope-body]

.

[vigilskeep]

do you have any opinions/speculations about the potential for a succession crisis in ferelden? ik depending on worldstate there may have already been a mac tir and/or cousland holding the throne without incident for the past 10+ years w the last living theirin dead/frolicking through a field of flowers, but breaking hundreds of years of precedent like that does seem like it could kick up some instability, even if it was offscreen? and obviously even if alistair is king his womb is barren, so like, what gives.

oh i mean we’re definitely extremely fucked and there are no good options!

the theirin line is done for, for a start. even if the sole remaining one does become king, he’s a bastard with bad chances of having a child at all. his two known possible queens are a fellow warden—making the chances of conceiving even worse! near impossible, in his own words—and anora mac tir, who never managed it with her non-warden husband, and regardless of whether or not she is actually infertile as is rumoured, seems to be actively avoiding even trying, based on loghain dialogue if she marries cousland and her unwillingness to marry at all if she becomes sole queen

since anora and alistair are both unlikely to have children either alone or together, and a cousland spouse only lessens the chances for both of them, and those are... all our options... yes we will see a succession crisis in ferelden. it’s not a maybe. if anora and/or alistair clearly declare a chosen heir before their deaths we might be able to avoid it being an open conflict but whoever they choose will definitely suffer for lack of legitimacy

assuming no royal children, the only obvious contenders for the throne are teagan guerrin and fergus cousland, and any heirs thereof. both are alive in any worldstate

the guerrins are closely related to the royal family—cailan’s mother was the elder sister of eamon and teagan—and widely respected. alistair actually suggests passing the throne to eamon in dao, and he usually has a pretty good read for what’s reasonable. i don’t think this is a bad idea. on the other hand, teagan spent his youth in the free marches, and is headstrong and not particularly politically gifted. there’s also the question of his own marriage and heirs; since the epilogue slides aren’t canon, there’s no need to accept the one where he inexplicably marries what very much seemed in game to be an underage girl, but he definitely can lose his heart to a warden of any origin in like two conversations, and all in all you’d want him settled with an acceptable queen before we could take this seriously. otherwise we’ll just have another crisis about that. i mean, one hopes he’s married and a father already by dai for this to be anything. his free marcher connections might be a boon here bc i’d like ferelden to marry into them more

the couslands are second only to the royal family, and it was suggested by some even back during ferelden’s rebellion against orlais that bryce cousland should take the throne instead of the theirins. his son would certainly be an acceptable contender. fergus may not have any living children, but he has at least proved he’s capable of having children, which is somehow as good as it gets around here. he is trained as a capable leader and ruler, is very fereldan, and maintains good diplomatic relations with factions like the inquisition. the downside to this is that it alters the political makeup of ferelden quite a bit, in that the couslands have kind of survived as the only remaining family of such power by not trying for the throne. their rule would be even more absolute than the theirins because there would be no teyrns left at all to contend with it. someone like anora in particular would be very aware of this and also simply of how dangerous it is to promise ferelden’s future to him before her death. suddenly everyone would look to the couslands as the future and not to her

there aren’t many other options that we know of at this time. there’s alistair’s kieran, but i don’t take that seriously, morrigan would never allow it and a bastard’s apostate bastard raised half in the orlesian royal court is several steps too far. if connor guerrin lives and leliana is divine, assuming the ending of the circle of magi means that mages can hold titles now, he could be a possibility

it isn’t completely impossible for anora or alistair to have children, of course. if sole king alistair actually got around to marrying at some point, that’s probably the best chance for it out of the landsmeet options?

[animebw]

I've seen Kimi ni Todoke get pigeonholed a lot as a sweet, fluffy series that's nothing but good vibes. And to be sure, this show is sugary sweet to a truly dangerous level. Every second I spend with Sawako and Kazehaya feels like I'm putting myself at risk of some yet undiscovered Type 3 Diabetes. But reducing Kimi ni Todoke to its fluffiness leaves out just how wrenching it can be. It may not be as raw an emotional wound as Fruits Basket's exploration of abuse, but there is a deep, aching agony at the heart of this show just as palpable as its sweeter moments. And it comes from understanding one very basic fact: the greatest sources of happiness in our lives are able to cause us even greater pain.

Throughout this story, Sawako's most painful moments don't come as a result of bullies or tragic strokes of fate. They come because she cares about someone so deeply that the thought of losing them- or worse, hurting them with her mistakes- becomes impossible to bear. Not just with Kazehaya, but with Chizu and Ayane in the first arc when their budding friendship is almost shattered and they realize how much they've come to love each other that the thought of losing each other hurts this much. Same for Kurumi's feelings for Kazehaya, or Chizu's feelings for Ryu's brother, and all the other crushes that go unspoken for so long. To love someone in Kimi ni Todoke means to leave yourself vulnerable, to accept the possibility that things will go wrong and this thing that's so special to you will shatter like glass in your hands. To love is to open yourself to agony; to agonize is proof that it's love at all. It's a pain the characters risk again and again, because the connections they've forged are too precious to give up on.

And nowhere is that idea more strongly expressed than Ryu and Chizu's backstory. Seeing how deeply entwined their lives have been, how tragedy and suffering have shaped them, how they've both actively chosen again and again to be there for each other through thick and thin... god, I don't think this show's ever made me cry this hard before. Just the image of Chizu making rice balls for Ryu over and over again to try and replace the hole his mother's death left was enough to make me lose my shit. Never mind seeing Ryu actually cry for the first time. Time and again, the only option they have is hurt with each other, to sink into suffering together and carry each other to the other side. But they make that choice regardless, because they will be fucked if they leave the other to drown alone. Their bond is more than a childhood friendship, or even a burgeoning romantic relationship. It's a connection as essential a part of their lives as eating and breathing, a fundamental truth of their shared existence that they willed into being.

And it's no wonder that Chizu is terrified of losing that after Ryu confesses. How dare he stab a spike through everything they've been through? How dare he shatter their status quo and leave them unable to return to that part of their lives? But once again, all that is just Ryu choosing, once again, to face the pain that comes with loving someone head first, accepting the risk that things will never be the same... in hopes that something entirety new can still be born from its ashes. It's him putting his faith in what he and Chizu have together, trusting that no matter what, they are too important to each other to let go even in waters this stormy. It is, quite frankly, as powerful and honorable an expression of love as I've seen in a very long time.

This show is really fucking good, you guys.

[friesian]

my father is dead and i couldn't be happier.

the following is a sort of. reconciliation/vent post since i just got the news a few hours ago that my father died, and i finally feel like i can sort of talk about everything that happened to me as a child. for the first time. without the threat of potential violence. so. tw for neglect, abuse, parental death and honestly just. a lot. if you don't like the most stereotypical 'bad dad' shit, don't read this post.

my father was a cruel man. it was only until recently i was informed that my father used to actually shake me as a baby, no more than a few days old. when i was a few months old, he used to do the same to watch my 'funny reactions' and had to be actively reprimanded by aunt and mother in order to get him to stop lest i die a very sudden death.

when i was a little kid, my father i guess got this idea in his head that i was a little innocent flower and that if anything touched me, that'd be it. i'd be sullied. i'd be dirtied. somehow 'impure'. mind you, my father wasn't a religious man. really, honestly, the opposite. i wasn't allowed to talk about religion or god, explore spirituality, really have 'faith'. this would earn me hostile looks, a loud scolding, or called stupid. this also might displace onto my mom, who received it much worse than me.

when i was 7, my father made the move to go somewhere out into the deep west virginia mountains where i would never be in danger. except by him. we moved to a place where the closest store was 45 minutes by car, getting home from school was 35 minutes-- not counting school bus routes, that was up to 2-3 hours-- and there was not a single neighbor that could see the house nor talk to us. we were alone. for good. for over 11 years of my life i was alone in a house with a man who grew actively more and more hostile to being in that house. as i aged, tried to be a teenager, explore my gender, sexuality, ect. it was all shut down. my computer-- my only lifeline-- was bugged with spyware that allowed him to look at my screen and take control of anything i was doing. a vivid memory of mine is when i used to write fanfiction of innocent teenager things. kissing, holding hands, professions of love, the usual-- nothing explicit. at some point i was caught and had my computer thrown and i was screamed it. i could only run to my room and cry, and hope i wasn't chased. this left me with no sense of privacy, as any computer or technology i ever got passed through him, and as he was a engineer for networking, most things were bugged by him first as much as i tried to remove them. my mom suffered similarly to i, both of us being called slurs and having things thrown at us for existing in his radius. we walked on eggshells. we had no room to breathe. if we weren't in his general space, we were yelled at for avoiding him. if we were actually there, we were yelled at for laughing or even breathing too loud. there was no right answer. my friends never wanted to visit because of him, or he would often get mad at their parents for being 'flakes' or 'untimely', leading for me to be berated about my choice of friend. i wasn't allowed to go out unless it was with 'other girls', and i didn't have many friends to begin with due to the many social problems i faced due to his neglect. i grew up in that house, with many other issues i can't even begin to list, but i grew up and left as soon as i could, and didn't really do much. mostly just coasted by after dropping out of college that he pressured me to be in, lest i end up homeless. my mom divorced him shortly after i left due to being threatened with a gun, and at that point i was pretty sure he was officially off the deep end. this is sort of my 'getting it off my chest' moment as i was never able to speak out about what i faced in any regard due to him consistently monitoring my online presence. for all i know, he could've known about this blog-- choosing to hold onto it for some sort of legal proceeding as he had done to my mother. he tracked her car, recorded her calls, did everything he could to fuck her over. his father did something similar to him back in the 90s, and i needed to avoid it at all costs.

he never got the chance now. i never felt like i had a father, more like an angry dragon that guarded a tower with someone who didn't wanna be there. some sort of 'king' that transformed into a dragon, i suppose. but, i remember relating a lot to the imagery of people trapped in towers by beasts. i wanted to make a comic about it at one point. 11 years of solidarity does a lot to a motherfucker.

to this hour, i haven't shed a tear. i cheered and celebrated, put on my mask as i'm talking to the funeral home people, family, his friends, whatever it is. i've just been blaise and calm. i have to go back to my 'tower' this weekend and see it for the first time in years, now with the memory of my father dead seeped in those walls.

it's been a relief i didn't know i needed, but that house haunts me with the horrors that went on in it. i guess this is sort of my testimony to his life. i refuse to have a funeral. i refuse to have a memorial. he's being cremated and disposed of as soon as i can. i can already tell what little remains of his side of the family has an issue with it, but i don't care. they didn't live the life me and my mom had, and they never will now. for what it's worth, somehow, even though i was forged in fires that i don't think any man should go through-- it made me a more hardened and aware person. you get time to think when you're alone for 11 years. a lot of time to see emotions, patterns, understand, and just pick things apart. he never knew me, elf, he knew my dead name. and i'm thankful for that. i came out a good man all things considered, i have my flaws and issues, but who doesn't. but at least i never was like him. here's to getting out of the tower.

[pinkseas]

Yoooooo! Okay so in one of your posts you mentioned that you thought that the eggpire members had differing levels of ‘freedom’ in terms of how far they could stray from the Egg (ex: Hannah and Skeppy needing to be very close by). What are your thoughts on that for each eggpire member?

okay SO!!!!!!!!

skeppy, i think, needed to stay the closest. by far. being even too far from it while still within the egg room would lead to irritation and frustration, would have him burning and freezing and shivering, feverish with the need to be back by its side. he’s safe within a few feet of it, and best when left completely alone and by its side. any sort of interruption to the time he spends with it has the same effects, leading to his bad moods when bbh tries to speak to him or lead him away. physically and mentally there’s a need to stay as close to it as possible, to do nothing but stay by its side.

hannah is probably the second most effected. her connection to the roses especially makes her vulnerable, as the egg honestly functions very similarly to the way a flower would- with the egg itself as the bulb, and the bloodvines themselves being, well, vines. that combined with how close she was forced to it (the same way skeppy forced Himself to be that close, for the others sake) leaves her ill when she strays too far or goes without seeing it for too long. whereas skeppy is irritated and feverish, hannah becomes very foggy, unable to think straight or clear her head. there’s a nausea and a tug in her chest and a fuzziness in her brain that rapidly gets worse, the weakness she feels turning to strength and her mind clearing the closer she gets. 

and then bad !! bad is honestly probably right in the middle. he’s given more freedom, as he needs it in order to spread the egg’s word and influence across the land, but still closely tethered. i think that doing something the egg dislikes or trying to stray for too long would lead to sharp stabs and aches of otherwise unexplained physical pain, headaches and muscle cramps and aching bones. and i think bad, honestly, could and would suffer through that if not for skeppy. skeppy is what keeps him close above all else, and the physical pain isn’t nearly to the degree it was before skeppy’s sacrifice freed bad from the egg’s control. the egg never fully got that control back, bad chooses to stay for skeppy’s sake. but by not belonging fully to the egg, the actual effects of being away from it are lessened, as much as it tries to keep him closer.

ponk doesn’t feel much, but then, he also doesn’t have much desire to stray. i think the vines making up his arm would start to grow loose and unravel if he were to go too far, a reminder that he’s bound, but because he’s fairly happy under the egg’s control and doesn’t necessarily care for freeing himself, the egg has less reason to try and keep him close. he does that on his own.

and punz !!! punz has the most freedom, easily, because no matter how far he goes, bloodshed follows. and the egg loves that. it grants him both strength and freedom and he uses that, knowingly or not, to make it stronger. should he have tried to leave things would’ve been different, but he liked the strength and power that the egg granted, actively wanted to keep it. since his possession it played a part in every bit of blood he shed, and therefore gained power from every bit, too. should punz ever think himself beyond needing it, well. rather than simply take away the power it granted, it could take away much of his own power, too, leave him far weaker than ever before and tell him he was free. leave him to come crawling back just to feel any bit like himself again, just to avoid that awful helplessness.

i am, honestly, not certain about antfrost. i think his near blind loyalty to the egg would’ve kept him close enough that the egg never worried about him straying, or there’s always the possibility that, if he thought the egg could bring velvet back (i can’t remember if that was canon or not LMAO), he himself never risked going far anyways. ant has always felt somewhat like the most steady member of the eggpire to me, so i think he’d be the only one to truly experience no consequence, or more accurately to never do anything requiring consequence in the egg’s eyes.

[vitos-ordination-song]

Ian just became too much the focus of the story I feel. I wanted it to be Jeremy’s story—I would have been happier had it gone the FWWM route and Jeremy had suffered and died alone. Seriously. Bc then at least it would have been on his own terms. Maybe this sounds bad but I think it would have been better if he’d been left alone in Boston. When Ian first went after him it felt like a relief. I really believed that Ian was trying to care and reach out. But no.

It’s not just that Ian is selfish I think—it’s also that he had no idea what the fuck he was doing and he was not qualified to help someone like Jeremy. He made things worse over and over.

If I was in Jeremy’s position, I would have self-destructed out of spite, and honestly he did do that at times. Like, not only can you say that Ian doesn’t get it, but the man also hits Jeremy and sleeps with him and pays him like he’s a prostitute. I don’t care if Jeremy was seductive or if he asked for it or anything else—Ian was capable of not engaging or walking away or hell, giving up on Jeremy. You can’t force these things. I feel like Dr. Olsen was the only character in the entire work who got that.

And like, I don’t really see the Ian/Jeremy dynamic as equal, where both parties are just as manipulative and toxic and abusive. Jeremy never wanted to be hit; he often wasn’t in the right state of mind to be kissing; he was clearly using the relationship as a way to punish himself. On the other hand Ian entered a cycle of abusive/controlling behavior, self-justification, possessiveness, etc., and then he’d feel bad and try to help Jeremy, but he never STOPPED til the very end. I can’t feel glad this character has decided to take off his father’s mask when he’s just gonna put it on again.

I don’t like the mixing of care and abuse. It frightens me even more than the pure sadism of Greg. And my question is, am I supposed to see Ian as a better option? Are Jeremy and Ian less of a dirty secret? Why is Jeremy looked at as if he’s always doing something Just As Bad by being a prostitute and drug user. I mean, Gilbert was a very complicated character who actively did harm others—but because Jeremy’s life was founded on love and sacrifice, he imploded inward, choosing to harm himself and not others as much as possible.

The end of the work didn’t give me the impression that the story was about how a boy ended up in a bad relationship with the son of the man who sadistically abused him. It gave me the impression I was supposed to be glad these ~two broken people~ still hang out and do romantic stuff even if they probably won’t fuck anymore. I might have been okay with that. I think a story about two boys who end up in an unhealthy quasi-incestuous relationship but chose to stop their sexual contact as they mature could be interesting. But I never felt like Ian crossed the threshold of actual love for Jeremy—unselfish concern for his well-being. It was always about what Ian wanted.

I strongly disliked The Kite Runner, which I read in high school, for similar reasons. In that book, a privileged boy turns a blind eye to his childhood friend’s rape and even takes part in the other boy’s torment. I found the writing gripping and read it all in one day, only to be left disappointed. I related to the main character, but the work ultimately rendered him unlikable. He learns that that other boy was his half brother who his father shafted bc he was illegitimate; he’s told that his friend and brother had forgiven him before dying; and he’s told that he’s been given a perfect chance to redeem himself—save his nephew from abuse. As a teenager with regrets, I was immediately like, of course you would want to take that chance! But the main character had to be bitched into it, did it reluctantly, complained, but because he sorta tried I’m supposed to find him a good guy at the end??? (Also the plot is very stupid.)

With Ian, it’s personal for me lol. For one thing I was a favorite child of my father and had many an opportunity to turn a blind eye to that. I was the little princess as a small child, loved while others were abused. I have adopted siblings. I’ve seen some really fucked up stuff happen to other people. I’ve had to decide between abusive parents and siblings. I’ve had to decide whose narrative I accept. I’ve had to try to help someone when it is not easy at all. I’ve been tempted to do the wrong thing, including sexual harm to others. And I decided from age 13 that I would kill myself before I touched a child or anyone against their will. It was something I was so terrified of doing because it was a reality I was hyper aware of before I even developed a sex drive. And I’ve done things to people that I can’t take back, but I have to the best of my abilities apologized for things and tried to change my ways and reduced contact with people who will harm me or people I may harm, while still trying to mend gaps when I can. I can’t forgive people like Ian. I can’t forgive the weakness and the selfishness. I don’t care if he did anything good.

Another comparison point is Koe no Katachi. That story is a romance between a bullying victim and their former bully. The bully character suffers and bears the full responsibility for his past actions, even if he wasn’t the only one at fault at the time. The way he makes up to the girl he used to bully is by actually being there for her! Him no longer abusing her is treated as the bear minimum and he actually has to prove himself and love her as an equal! I know that Jeremy is a really messed up person and is not easy to help, but if Ian couldn’t handle it, he has money. If you want to say that Jeremy would have died on his own, and so Ian was justified in forcing things, okay, but why not just pay for Jeremy to have a decent life? If he actually cared why would he let himself be provoked? Why does he never deescalate?

It’s making me think of this one documentary called Healing Homes which looked at a therapy program where troubled individuals were placed w a farm family and had a therapist in tandem. A family interviewed had a girl who would get violent and flipped a table. You can’t just ignore someone in a state like that. It’s possible for someone going thru distress to be a threat to themselves or others. What the mother of the family did was grab the girl and forcibly hold her down til she stopped struggling, told her to stop in a commanding but not hurtful way, and then tried to get through to her emotionally, with care. You know what Ian did half the time? Start treating Jeremy the exact way his father did!! That’s fine as a storytelling choice but don’t tell me it’s love! And it’s so crazy in a story which is otherwise v astute on these issues! What happened there?

[girl-innovators2022]

Post 6 

1. What are your thoughts about Darnella Frazier's role as a bystander who chose to document a crime and became a brave citizen journalist in the process? What would you do in a similar situation?

Darnella Frazier is an incredibly brave girl who’s quick decision to film the murder of George Floyd brought on arguably one of the largest Black Lives Matter protests around the world. Though many had happened in the past, this specific instance of police brutality and murder outraged the world more so than before. For more than 8 minutes, the world watched as Derek Chauvin callously snuffed out the life of George Floyd despite his pleas and the screams from bystanders. This video made many confront, head on, the injustices many black people face on a daily basis across the United States. The video is not only heartbreaking but incredibly aggravating. Watching the video is painful because there is nothing you can do. These disgusting police officers didn’t even care that they were being filmed. It shows how little they cared for the life of George Floyd, and how secure they felt in the fact that they believed they wouldn’t suffer any consequences. 

 Many people outside of the US who didn’t know the extent of the racism here, were shocked to see how vicious the police truly can be towards black individuals. Frazier, at only 17, could not have prevented the murder of George Floyd, but she did help put away his killers. Time and time again, we see how police officers are able to kill and get away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and some paid time off.Thanks to Darnella Frazier, we actually got to see justice for once. 

If I was in a similar situation, I believe I would have done the same as Darnella. As much as we want to help and stop someone from losing their life, there isn’t much we can do. If we attempt to interfere with what the police are doing, it’s more likely we would either be detained or end up in a very similar situation. I’m sure many of us would want to pull them off, but that could make the situation much worse or get someone else killed as well. Documenting the situation is one of the best, if not only, things we as civilians can actually do. Since the police have a habit of lying, we can help bring the truth. 

2. Have you participated in Black Lives Matter marches and protests? Please share your experiences and your photographs in your post and in the thread below.

I’ve attended a fair number of Black Lives Matter marches and protests since around 2014 when I first moved to NYC. While most were fairly easy and peaceful, there were some instances in which the police escalated the situation and many got hurt or arrested. Back in 2015, myself and some friends from Pace University joined a march that went over the Brooklyn Bridge. We were met by many police who ended up arresting a good number of protestors, including friends of mine. Having looked up the articles from then, I found it quite disgusting how they referred to us as a mob who attacked the police. We were peaceful, we did not attack. My first ever march in 2014 began in the Financial District and ended in Times Square. Apart from a few annoyed drivers, most were on our side and the police left us mostly alone. Over the last 8 years I’ve lived in NYC, I’ve seen the transformation of protesting. Police have gotten much more violent towards us. They believe we are incapable of being peaceful and will set up in riot gear even before a march will start. 

3. Choose one of the following young women BLM leaders who began their activism as teenagers and write a one-paragraph bio about them. Post a one-line summary in the thread: Zee Thomas, Shayla Turner, Brianna Chandler, Tiana Day.

15 year old Zee Thomas was so moved by the massive protests around the United States in response to the murder of George Floyd that she herself wondered why Nashville wasn’t doing the same. Instead of waiting for her city to join in, she reached out to other young students online (14-16 years old), and decided they themselves would make one happen. Launching Teens 4 Equality, this group of 6 girls helped spearhead the largest BLM protest in Nashville. Zee Thomas gave a speech that began the protest which moved through Nashville, with upwards of 10,000 people joining in support of Black Lives Matter and denouncing the horrendous murder of George Floyd. 

4. What is your assessment of Amy Sherald's portrait of Breonna Taylor and the ensuing exhibition held at the Speed Museum? Does it do her justice? (see video clip)

I personally think the portrait is not only beautifully made, but also quite powerful. It showcases Breonna Taylor alone, front and center. You have to focus on her and her story. You cannot hide from what happened to her. The pose is striking, as it gives off power and knowing. She knows, and you should too. The exhibition takes themes of violence and injustice and makes you confront them head on. It uses art to begin a dialogue that desperately needs to be had. Working together with Breonna’s mother shows that the museum truly cares about her story. They wanted to do her justice in the proper way, and use her story to educate people. Having her portrait as a focal point of the exhibit forces you to remember, not only her, but what has happened to many before and after. 

[itsclydebitches]

Punch a hole through her chest.

"Clyde wtf that's so dark."

Just to add onto this, that's literally what happened to Clover just last volume.

If Jaune had been there for that fight, I'd have no trouble believing that Clover was too wounded for him to save in time. He had a hole punched through his chest with a broadsword. RWBY could've done the same thing here--have Cinder shove her entire fist through Penny's heart. The only reason she doesn't die almost immediately is Jaune there trying to heal her, but she's cogent enough to realize she's dead in a few minutes no matter what. And instead of having Jaune kill her, since Weiss is keeping Cinder busy, just beg him to stop prolonging her death. She's suffering and in extreme pain and she knows he's not gonna be able to actually heal her--"Let me go. Let me pass on the powers to someone else so Cinder doesn't get them."

Idk, it's just one option, but like. They have had an entire broadsword shoved through a man's chest in gruesome detail on screen. No one can tell me they couldn't have made Penny's injury excruciating, severe, and lethal enough that even an accomplished healer couldn't save her.

Coming back to this conversation now that I've finished my review!

Excellent point. Yes. This exactly. And as you say, this is just one option of many. Give us a Clover-esque injury that makes it abundantly clear she's not surviving this (RWBY can even continue the visual trend we've gotten with him and Yang's arm). Have Jaune's aura break so he can't heal at all. Have Cinder actively attacking Penny. Let Jaune try to pull her through the portal, but fails. Something else—preferably a couple of somethings else—to sell this "She has to die" moment. Especially for a character that has a) already died once before and b) spent the last two volumes all but begging the group to let her sacrifice herself (let me go to Salem, let me burn up to hold Amity, just kill me so I never open the vault). Many fans are uncomfortable with Penny's death because that self-sacrificial characterization, combined with these ambiguous details of the scene, equals a moment that can easily look like Penny choosing to die—Jaune choosing to kill her— when, in reality, that never actually needed to happen. Every time this conversation comes up, the disagreements stem from how each fan approaches RWBY. Some fans take whatever is said at face value: if Penny says it's hopeless, it's hopeless. No reason to doubt her word. Others (like me) prioritize what we see over what we're told: is Penny a reliable source when it comes to her own self-worth? No. Should she have any knowledge of what's actually lethal to a human body? No. Has Jaune healed life-threatening injuries before? Yes. Does he still have his aura? Yes. Do they have time? Arguably yes, given that Cinder isn't paying any attention to them and they have a whole conversation about this. So...

Change a single detail, like the severity of Penny's injury, and all that goes away. Add in a couple of details, really thinking about how you can sell this moment to the audience, and you'll craft something poignant and heart-breaking... not confusing and frustrating.

Also, just as a sidenote... I personally still don't buy transferring the powers as a justification here. Simply because, like the construction of this scene, RWBY has been iffy and somewhat contradictory about how this transfer works. If I'm meant to believe that the powers transferred to Penny from Fria because Penny was holding her hand and kneeling at her side when she died... then why didn't the powers transfer to Jaune when he's kneeling at Penny's side, killing her? Obviously they can't, he's a guy, so why not go to the closest woman (Weiss), the closest woman connected to Maidens (Cinder), or someone random? Well, it's supposedly because Penny was thinking about Winter. It's easy for Fria to think about Penny, she's right there, but Penny manages to think about Winter despite her still being in the vault. Despite Jaune having her attention. Despite not even knowing if Winter is still alive.

So if Penny has the mental fortitude to think about Winter despite all this, but specifically while Jaune is killing her, I fail to see why she can't think about Winter while Cinder is killing her instead. From there, Penny's entire justification falls apart. She wants to die now so Cinder won't get the powers... but Cinder shouldn't get the powers so long as Penny keeps her thoughts on Winter! And so long as they keep Cinder's power stealing arm away from her. Given the supposed justification the show sets up, the answer here isn't for Penny to die by Jaune's hand (him killing her is a distraction), but to survive—because surviving is good—and keep her thoughts on Winter at all costs, in case she doesn't. Thus, it makes way more sense for Jaune to try and get Penny through a portal. Give her a chance to survive by getting her to relative safety/to a place where he can focus on healing. Get her away from Cinder so she can't snag Penny again with her arm. Get her away from Cinder so she can more easily focus on Winter, should the worse happen and she perishes in the next few minutes as she thinks she might. If Penny had been left alone to die from her injuries, I'd more easily buy her focusing on Winter with no one else there to distract her. But by introducing this concept that Jaune killing her somehow helps the transfer, but Cinder killing her would mean the powers are lost, just muddies the waters further. A kill is a kill. Sorry, but whoever is murdering/mercy killing me is going to be the one at the forefront of my thoughts.

Which, you know, could have been a consequence of Penny and Jaune buying into this foolish idea. The powers go to someone random because, oddly enough, it's hard to focus on a successor when another friend is killing you. Rather than Winter receiving the powers when she could have just gotten them at the end of Volume 7, they're lost to someone the group doesn't know about yet.

[riathedreamer]

Zero is Null

A discussion of Zero’s love-hate-relationship with RvB and struggling independence; including a hotdog too big for the bun, tragic backstories, a single bow-chicka-bow-wow, and a cookie at the very end.

Welcome to what will be a lot of text. Basically, it will explore why Zero fails as an RvB (with emphasis on RvB) season. I will not be the first one to bring forth some of the points, and I promise to be fair and civil and fun. This isn’t supposed to be a piece of hate – in fact, I’m writing this because I love Red vs. Blue.

Okay, first of all, to increase your fun – take a guess on just how much of Zero is spent on fight scenes. You see, I’ve calculated the exact amount, and I will reveal it later, but for now, take a guess and remember the number. Maybe you are the winner!

Alright, time to share my thoughts. Wait! Since I suffer from anxiety and have this one annoying voice pretending to be all those critical statements my opinion could be met with, let’s give it an actual voice and address the points throughout this review.

“Why would I care about your opinion, Ria?” – I don’t know, you’re the one who clicked Read More.

“Your opinion doesn’t matter!” – Of course, it doesn’t! Geez. Do you think your opinion matters, though? Listen, we’re on Tumblr, the actual equivalent of screaming into the void. And it’s fun, too!

“If you don’t like it, don’t watch!” - *activates Uno Reverse Card* “You can’t talk about something you haven’t watched!”

“You’re just a Hater” – Actually, this is a point I’ll come back to. Like a cliffhanger. Also, at the end of this, there’ll be a cookie. But this will also include me talking about the stuff I like, because, surprise, Zero is not without talent!

“You just don’t like it because the Reds and Blues aren’t in it!” – Actually, that’s a good point, so instead, this review will start with a sole focus on Zero and discuss the problem that lies within that story. Then we can address why the lack of OG cast is understandable and problematic and weird.

But first! Backstory.

When the first 5 second teaser dropped back in spring (you know, when we were young and innocent and the world didn’t feel like an apocalyptic movie yet), I held onto that one image of what I thought (hoped) to be Grif and Simmons in the sunset, hopefully addressing Grif’s hateglue arc, but boy was I wrong because a) that’s not Simmons, that’s Sarge, and b) the image was from a PSA since the Reds are not in Zero.

Actual face-reveal of me below:

Admittedly, when I heard that the Reds and Blues were not going to be the main characters (or even show up), it felt like a gut punch. However, I actually found myself getting excited due to the creators’ hype. I want to praise them for this. It’s been a while since an RvB season was talked so much ABOUT before its release; it had advertisements, it had creators and voice-actors talking about it. Please. More of that in the future. Their passion rubbed off on me, and that deserves recognition. So it pains me that this was clearly a passion-project, and then when I gave it a try, I didn’t want to touch it again for weeks.

Here’s the thing. I cannot whole-heartedly say that Zero is bad. It’s not gonna melt your eyes. It’s not even so-bad-it’s-good. For me, it’s meh. It’s a Saturday-morning-cartoon aimed for a younger audience with a rushed plot and clichéd characters. The problem is that it calls itself RvB, and with that title comes something to live up to – but more importantly, something to continue.

My main issue is that Zero forces its story into existence by ignoring established content rather than adjusting to it. Let’s call this for the hotdog-too-big-for-the-bun syndrome solely for the sake of the bow-chicka-bow-wow that’s coming now. Bow-chicka-bow-wow. Many of the separate issues I will dive into all add to this hotdog-issue, so I will scream “Hotdog!” whenever this is the case so we can all keep track of my argument.

You can continue the story of Red vs. Blue without the Reds and Blues. While that would personally crush my heart, it can be done. There’s a story of Red vs. Blue that can be continued. The world can be expanded, the previous actions of the Reds and Blues can be explored from another angle.

So.

How does Zero do this? It doesn’t.

I just want to make it clear that new elements can definitely be added when it comes to worldbuilding. That’s literally the point of sequels. But Zero’s settings are presented with so little grace and with no connection to previously established worldbuilding. We get Alliance of Defense and GLASS thrown in our face as very big important organizations – yet we’ve never heard of them before. A big central plot point of RvB is the UNSC and Project Freelancers, and those were introduced naturally with the plot. We already have big established intergalactic organizations. What is AOD’s connection with those? We aren’t told. We are just told they exist and expected to accept it, no questions asked. If this was a whole new world and story – fine. But when you need to build on an already established worldbuilding, you need more grace than this. Chorus was a whole new setting, but it was explained, and it was connected to the previous plot. Same with Iris. Same with Desert Gulch. In Zero, it feels lazy. It feels forced. These organizations are just there because the story is built around them (HOTDOG).

This vagueness when it comes to wordbuilding is also reflected in the settings - we have a desert, a training base, a lab, temples, Tucker’s workplace, and we do not know if all those are set place on the same planet. If that is the case, what is this planet’s relationship with Chorus? Is it Earth? And most importantly, what is the deal with the temples? Why are they connected to Tucker’s sword if it isn’t the same planet. Are they made by the same aliens? Are people okay with this? Why haven’t these temples been explored before? Chorus makes sure to establish this, while Zero doesn’t, adding to a growing amount of confusion.

Okay, so no connection with previous worldbuilding. What about characters? I mean, we got Wash and Carolina and Tucker! So we have RvB characters, it gotta be RvB! Technically – yeah. But it feels dirty. These three characters are not here to be characters. They are here to be props to the new cast. They are not given any development. Their presence isn’t even that important, and if this was a whole new show, they could easily have been replaced with an unknown face. Worst of all, they feel miswritten.

Carolina and Wash are working at a new military organization? Leaving the Reds and Blues behind? To help people? First of all, fucking bad idea, Carolina, the last time you left the Reds and Blues alone, they changed the timeline. But most importantly – Carolina and Wash just joined this new super elite military organization? After being mistreated and manipulated by such an organization in the past?

Carolina is there to introduce the characters. That’s it. We are force-fed their personality by having her literally read out loud their personality. There is no gentle introduction to the new cast. We are not allowed to get to know them naturally. Why show when you can tell, huh? That’s Carolina’s role. That’s why she is there. To introduce the cast and explain their story. That’s it. (HOTDOG).

How about Wash? He is there to get beat up and be a damsel in distress so that the new cast has a reason to explore the plot. Oh, and that brain damage that was the consequence of previous seasons – gone now. The guy who literally has trauma from having an AI explode inside his head is fine with having a computer inserted into it instead. Because that’s needed. To explore his brain damage wouldn’t work now when his role is to be a prop to lure the new cast for one episode and then be put onto the bench for the rest of the runtime (HOTDOG).

And Tucker – he is there to die for a second and have his sword taken from him. That’s literally it. And for the few moments he is there, he feels like old super flirty Tucker, which erases the character development he went through in previous seasons. Okay, so Tucker dies, and then not dies, and then he is put on the bench with Wash where they can sit and talk or whatever (‘cause holy shit, the new cast is not allowed to that), because he isn’t important. The sword is. Tucker is just a prop, even more than his sword is (HOTDOG).

Damn. Wash gets beat up. Tucker gets beat up. Dies. Gets his sword taken away. Almost seems like a Red’s wet dream. Sorry not sorry, Blues, you were done dirty.

So there are miswritten old characters. Even worse is the retconning. The plot needs a “normal” Wash, so, bam, magic computer solution. Never mind Wash’s trauma and character traits. Never mind the logic of the new worldbuilding which also includes a character suffering for years to heal an illness. But the brain damage that was such a big consequence that it became the main part of the plot of the last two seasons – gone. I mean, a gunshot to the head can be healed by CPR. That’s canon. But no one gave Wash CPR so it’s a big thing, okay. It was canonically a big thing, and Zero erased that. This is not me saying that a Cerebral Enhancer couldn’t work in the RvB universe. Imagine it being done right. Wash struggling with the choice of getting used to his disability or accepting the possibility of help - at the cost of reliving his trauma. The struggle between what to choose - what should he choose when he wants to help as many as possible, the sacrifices he thinks he has to make, the way it could have been used as a part of his character growth. But in Zero, the enhancer isn’t a part of Wash’s character. It’s there so the story can work without having to deal with the previous plot’s consequence (HOTDOG).

Same with the sword thing. They sorta explain it by having Tucker flatline, but it’s weak. Honestly, I find it sorta offensive. What about Locus’ sword as well? It’s twisting previous lore to make the new plot work (HOTDOG). (Also, are we not gonna talk about the ultimate power being Spencer Porkensenson’s helmet? Have the writers forgotten Spencer Porkensenson? Have we as a community forgotten Spencer Porkensenson?)

If you have Red vs. Blue in your title, you cannot ignore what you inherit from it. You need to respect the worldbuilding, the established characters, and the previous plot. Zero does not do this.

Let’s talk about the Triplets. No, really, let’s do it. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about them before, because season 14 was a mixed bag for me (that I have now learned to appreciate. Thank you, Zero.) because I have heart at the size of the Grinch and can only love a few characters at a time, and that did not include the Triplets. Can’t even remember their names. Well, I can, but I can’t for the love of me remember which state is which, and my tongue is twisted every time I try to say Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho, and I know it’s on purpose. I know it is. And it got me good. That being said, the fandom actually embraced them really, really well! Seriously, I’ve seen more content for the Triplets than for Zero as a whole.

Why talk about the Triplets? (Was Iowa the lesbian? Or was it Ohio? Fuck.) Because like Zero, they introduced new characters with a story of their own. The Reds and Blues didn’t play a role. But here’s what I feel like the Triplets got right. They didn’t change the settings to force their narrative. They used stuff already established (Project Freelancer), added their own story as a continuation of that. They even included old characters in the beginning (Wash and some other Freelancers) but it felt natural and it didn’t feel like it happened at the expense of the old characters. Wash’s writing felt natural, and his presence wasn’t needed to tell these new character’s stories. He wasn’t a prop to them. He was there to establish the setting and to establish the relationship with these new characters, and then he and the other familiar faces (helmets??) left, and we as the viewers were left with these new characters. And the new characters told their own story by themselves. It felt like, hey, here’s something you know – remember Mother of Invention, and remember Wash’ lower rank, but now, try to imagine being even lower rank than him, aren’t you curious about those fates? Now let’s hear their story! It was new, it was something else, but it didn’t wreck what came before it, and it stayed true to the classic vibes of RvB.

As I said before, the hotdog-issue is my biggest problem with Zero. It infuriates me. I will return to this. But there are more issues, even if we try to look past the title-related problems.

If we try to imagine Zero as its own story and universe (as it should be, in my opinion), it still earns the meh review from me.

These isolated issues include awkwardness, the writing, lack of self-awareness, and pacing. First of all, holy shit, this is a tell, don’t show. Nothing is subtle, nothing is allowed to develop. It’s like the show thinks you are six years old with an attention span of a goldfish. You are not just led by the hand – they have literally pulled off your arm by the end of the show. We are force-fed every bit of information, every bit of personality from these new characters.

The voice-acting is a mixed bag for me. Sometimes it’s pretty good, sometimes it’s not. Some of the problems can definitely be blamed on the dialogue that you can only do so much with. It’s not good. I can’t remember any good jokes (the one joke I really appreciate was the cast on armor, and that was freaking visual humor. That was so RvB. Kudos to that. It was fun. More of that, please.), and RvB is known for having memorably good lines. This is a show built on good, clever, funny dialogue. Zero does not deliver. You have to sit through clichéd lines – “You’re not my dad”, “I trusted you”, “Come with me”, “It can’t be!”, “She’s way too powerful”, and “We have to do this together” – performed unironically. I cringed more than I laughed. Worst thing is that Zero could be a good parody. Sometimes, it feels like it is. One-dimensional characters, a villain wanting ‘the ultimate power’, very overpowered characters, bad one-liners, etc. But Zero takes itself seriously, and I was one of the people rooting for Jax to show up at the end and yell “Cut”. That would have been a funny-as-fuck twist. A spin-off parody. If I can’t have “Sarge the Movie”, I would have taken that and loved it. I would have forgiven everything. “We put so much info into finding that power, but we had no idea what it was” is really a line in the finale, and I cannot believe this is real in a show that somehow still tries to present itself as serious. What a plot.

We have to talk about pacing. God, first of all it should be stated that RvB is a mess when it comes to pacing. I honestly get what they were going for. Sometimes, RvB has come across as a bit boring when you get three episodes stretched over three weeks without much going on. I know season 11 did not have the warmest welcome because it was seen as boring until the finale. But when you see season 11 as a whole, as a movie, as a part of a trilogy, it works so well. Zero is more focused on being episodic. They want something to happen all the time so we will stay tuned. The thing that will happen – a fight. Oh god. The fight scenes.

I have done the math. I have run the numbers. I deserve a freaking cookie for this. Are you ready?

If you put all the episodes together, you have a runtime of 106 minutes. HOWEVER, with the introduction of credits in every episode, you gotta account for this. Removing the credits, this gives us 94 minutes of actual runtime. Out of that, 45 minutes are dedicated to fight scenes. That means 48% of the show is fight scenes.

If I wanted that many fight scenes, I’d watch Death Battle. Except the actual RvB Death Battle episode has a runtime of 20 minutes, and out of that, 5 minutes is dedicated to the actual battle. For the people who hate math – that’s 25% of the actual runtime.

RvB Zero has more fight scenes than a show called Death Battle. Take that in.

The pace suffers from this. Where’s the time to explore the characters? Where’s the time for good dialogue? All I can think of is this:

I get that RvB is a show that’s literally making fun of itself by acknowledging all their characters do is stand around and talk. I get that you want characters to do more than that. But for the love of Church, would it kill the new characters to stand around and talk? For just a minute? Stop fighting, I am begging you, stop fighting! Am I a pacifist now? Am I purple? Have I joined Doc’s team? What has Zero done to me?!

The good thing though is that fight scenes are very good. They’re entertaining. However, they seem to deconstruct themselves when we need to get a fight scene in every episode. Usually, the few fight scenes in an RvB season were in some of the most climatic episodes. In Zero, I can hardly keep up with the pace because they won’t stop moving. Fight scenes aren’t plot. They aren’t character development. You need more than just fight scenes. They entertain, but there’s a limit to that.

Noël Wiggins, the co-writer, stated the inspiration was a Saturday-morning cartoon. They nailed that vibe. If that was their goal, hurray, they have accomplished something! Because of the poor plot and constant fight scenes, it feels like you could just switch on the TV and drop in at any moment and let yourself be entertained by the cool and colorful soldiers punching and kicking each other. I will admit that the fight scenes entertained me. But they don’t make it a good season.

If I were the six-year-old with the attention span of a goldfish that the show believes I am, I honestly would enjoy it. The stiff dialogue and the constant tell-don’t-show makes you feel like an audience that’s not supposed to do anything else but admire the flashy fight scenes. I miss the cleverness of RvB. I miss the characters I get to connect with as I see them grow.

I miss the tone of RvB. Because this isn’t RvB to me.

It’s not that RvB hasn’t changed its tone before. Holy shit, I sorta do want to experience the absolute shock the RvB fandom went through when s6 aired and they were given new characters and serious plot. I would have loved to experience that, but I was too busy being ten years old. The Freelancers seasons also introduced a new tone and more fight scenes with very talented fighters compared to the Blood Gulch gang, but a balance was kept by having half of the season still revolving around the Reds and Blues. But Zero – Zero is so much change. And it’s on purpose. At least this has been made very clear from the beginning.

They constantly seem to appeal to new fans, rather than be directed towards older fans of the show. If you want an entirely new audience with a season with a new cast, new worldbuilding, and new tone, I’m confused as to why they don’t just make a new show. The hotdog-problem begs for this solution. This story and environment and characters feel so out of touch with the original RvB, that with a few rewrites and lack of Halo-armor, it could just be a new show. Problem solved.

If not this, then present it as a spin-off. In all ways, it feels like a spin-off (again, see everything marked HOTDOG). But the creators refuse to do this, and I don’t understand why. I could forgive many of these issues, had they officially separated themselves from canon.

Ah, what’s the idiom? You can’t both swallow and blow? (You can hear the Bow-chicka-bow-wow in the distance). Something about eating cake and having it. Forgive me, English isn’t my native language. POINT IS why are you calling yourself RvB while actively fighting against the core essence of RvB? In my humble opinion, you can’t be both. Marketing it as a spin-off would have granted it some defense when changing, well, literally everything, and I just, would someone please properly describe why it isn’t a spin-off? Isn’t this season marked by its association with the plot of RvB rather than a continuation of it? Zero presenting itself as not a spinoff feels like a toddler clinging to the hem of its mother’s dress while forcefully running away from her, ripping the dress in the process.

When they do connect with the original RvB, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. When they let Carolina, Wash, and Tucker appear for a moment, it feels like luring viewers in with the RvB title. Look at me. Look at me! I’m not saying this is the case. I say that it gives me the annoying vibes of being lured, rather than letting the characters be a part of the show for their own development, rather than having RvB in the title to continue its story. I should not be getting these vibes at all. But I am.

If you want to use RvB in the title, something from the core of RvB needs to be embraced. Things can be changed. They should. Something new should be brought in. But there’s a limit to how much you can change and replace and twist until it would have been better with an original show. As a season of RvB, it should tell the story of Red vs. Blue.

From my perspective, Zero fails to do so.

It pains me that the old cast has been replaced, but as stated earlier, a season could have worked without them. However, I do not like the take that one should be excited about all the new characters. That it isn’t a big thing that the OG cast got replaced. That we should just deal with it. Just, try to imagine another show suddenly replacing the main characters with characters we’ve never met before. Imagine RWBY suddenly only focusing on a new team of huntresses with the previous main characters reduced to an Easter Egg presence, or Camp Camp suddenly being about a new team of campers, no warning given. Can you imagine the outcry? So maybe let’s agree that a replacement of the main cast is a big thing and should be addressed and it’s valid to be upset about this change.

Could Zero have worked? It’s hard to answer this. How can I accept something as RvB if the season actively pushes away the core of RvB aside for an isolated story that could have been told in any other media? As a spinoff, I could have ignored it. To enjoy Zero, I have to fully separate it from RvB in my mind, and then it’s alright. S’not good. But it’s not bad. It’s entertaining enough. I really ended up liking Raymond and Tiny, and there were a few good jokes, and the fight scenes were admirable (but too much) and I love the creators’ passion. But it’s not RvB. I also wish that the new characters had been attached to previous worldbuilding, for example soldiers on Chorus or agents from Project Freelancer. That way we could build on familiar lore which would have decreased the confusion and added a much needed connection with the previous seasons of RvB.

God, the anxious voice is back (by the way, it sounds like Tutter from “Bear in the Blue House”).

“You’re racist” – I hope not. Literally, I do not want to be. Tell me if I’ve ever crossed some lines, because I swear, that is not my intention, I will apologize and most of all, change and do better. I included this because I’ve seen this take thrown around in the big ugly mess that is the fandom clashes regarding Zero. And racism is problem within RT community (this includes AH and RvB, sorry, I just use RT as an umbrella term for the latter), and I’m not saying it hasn’t been a problem with this season. Writers should never be harassed, and never-fucking-ever because of their skin color, and voice actors shouldn’t be treated like they are responsible for the choices of the show. But I was legit nervous to post this review, and I hope it’s been factual without feeling like personal attacks on the creators because that has never been my intention. I was delighted to hear about the diversity behind this project, and Torrian’s passion legit blew me away because it’s been a while since I’ve seen that for an RvB project. I’d hoped for it to be good, and when I feel disappointed, it’s for the reasons stated in this analysis. That said, Zero is made by a diverse cast and it’s made with love, and both of those things are so, so great, but it does not mean that Zero cannot be criticized. It can, and it should. It’s a product, just like all the other seasons, and fans are allowed to discuss it – both what they loved, and both what they found troublesome. And to repeat previous points, and be respectful, always, fuck racists, and never-fucking-ever harass the staff behind a season, what the fuck is wrong with you if you do this.

“Don’t you get it, it’s different because it’s trying something new!” – Hey, remember the philosophical question: if you replace all the parts of a ship one-by-one, is it still the same ship when you’re done? If it doesn’t include the Reds and Blues, if it ignores previous plot, if the old characters feel miswritten, if it values animation over dialogue, if it values fight scenes over comedy, if it wants to be Fast and Furious instead of Red vs. Blue – is it still Red vs. Blue? Because it doesn’t feel like it to me.

“It's been 17 seasons, it’s time to let the Reds and Blues go so someone else can shine!” – I simply do not understand us having been with the Reds and Blues for 17 seasons should be an argument to let them go, rather than be an argument as to why their absence hurt like hell.

“The Reds and Blues ran out of things to do!” – Did- did they, though? I mean, if we were discussing pretty much any other show, I’d probably agree that they were running out of content. But for the Reds and Blues… I think the PSAs nailed it this year! I’m not kidding, I had more fun watching the Reds and Blues discuss how to do laundry than watching Zero. You could literally give me an hour of the Reds and Blues trying to bake a cake or clear a gutter or simply settling down with an ordinary life, and I would trust them to make it worth the watch.

“The flaws were due to the fact it’s only 8 episodes long!” – Look, I can only judge a product the way it’s presented to me. I cannot come up with excuses for it. If they had 8 episodes to work with, they need to come up with a plot that works with this runtime. Seriously, this excuse cannot work when 48% of the season is spent on fight scenes. They could have used more runtime, sure, but the show needs to be able to pace itself and be planned accordingly.

“The OG cast couldn’t be a part of this year, hence Zero!” – That might be true. But. Would one year without RvB kill it? Is Zero necessary? Again, I just can’t judge excuses for the show. But trouble with the cast has been an issue before. Season 15 solves Geoff’s sabbatical by actually making Grif’s absence a part of the plot. Zero’s lack of Reds and Blues just feels like this excuse to tell a story that needn’t be a part of RvB.

Am I a hater? I guess? I greatly dislike Zero for the critique stated above. I do, however, not harass the creators and no one should ever do that. However, I have to admit that I feel there’s been this weird rejection of any critique of Zero where everything’s been brushed off as haters gonna hate, including the critique stated above. And I think that’s a problem because critique, as hard as it can be to hear (and I know this. I’m an author of original works. Weird flex, I know), is valid and necessary and shouldn’t just be shrugged away. As always, both sides of the fandom should always be respectful, but my own opinion is that addressing the flaws of Zero should not be controversial.

Does this super long rant/critique/whatever mean you cannot enjoy Zero? Gods no! I almost envy you if you enjoy this season, but holy shit, feel free to love it and tell the creators that you love it! Me pointing out the issues I have with the season shouldn’t be stopping you. I loved (and still love) s15 when it came out, and it was majorly rejected by the fandom. There were many, many critical posts, people were going on about how RvB should have ended with s13, and it evolved into the writer receiving death threats (me, once again: never ever harass the creators, assholes). But I didn’t tell people to stop being negative. I actually agreed with many of the flaws that were pointed out, and I enjoyed the season despite this, because that is possible. We, as RvB fans, should agree that RvB, is... I mean, it’s not the greatest, most flawless of shows, but we love it nonetheless. So go ahead and love Zero. This is not a stop sign. This is my opinion that you chose to read.

Wait, I promised you a cookie, didn’t I? Well, you’re not getting one. Why? Because I’m a Red and this is my chance to piss off a Blue. As Caboose wisely said: “Well, at least I don't go around... knocking on people's non-doors... and promising them cookies... and then NOT. GIVING. THEM. COOKIES!”

Blue Team sucks.

End speech.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

Some thoughts on Jack and Tommy’s character’s relationship.

Hey guys, some thoughts on Jack and Tommy’s character’s relationship.

They’re just so tragic, you know? They could be such good friends - and they have been in the past. But instead one wants to kill the other and they can’t seem to really see each other. And I think it’s because they’re so similar. They really are.

They have so much in common. They love to hang out with others and both enjoy cause a certain level of chaos for fun. They have a similar sense of humour. They were both part of L’Manburg and miss being a part of it. Neither are able to live a peaceful life despite wanting closure. They’ve both experienced hurt/betrayal from the people they trusted. They’ve both lost everything many times.  They’ve both died and come back. They’re both currently plotting to kill their enemy in order to finally experience peace. 

And yet the biggest difference is perhaps how Tommy gets way too much attention while Jack doesn’t get enough. Jack feels overlooked and his plot over Season 2 was him trying to do things but each time his scheme would get foiled before it even went anywhere and no one even noticed. He got so tired of never being noticed and that fed into his anger. Tommy meanwhile was being targeted throughout season 2, Dream was actively trying to destroy his life and  every single action he took was being harshly judged. He wanted nothing more than to just chill and have a nice time but he kept being forced to take a stand and choose between his friends and get challenged on everything he did. If Jack’s character is fed up with being seen as a side character than Tommy’s character is equally tired of being seen as a main character.

This issue was so apparent in their fight at the hotel. Jack was furious as Tommy was overlooking him yet again while Tommy did not want to deal with anything, just wanting to feel normal again after his ordeal. 

These two just can’t seem to see each other! Tommy doesn’t know that Jacks still caught up on that time he killed him - he’s unaware that it was a canon death and that he hadn’t resolved it after his apology afterwards and letting Jack steal Hotter Girl. He’s unaware that Jack felt abandoned in Schlatt’s Manburg. Unaware that Jack died in the Doomsday war fighting in defence of Tommy’s L’Manburg and then came back from the dead. When Jack shouts at him, he can’t see that Jack’s been suffering as well and needs him to actually listen and pay attention to him. Tommy looks at Jack and says, ‘nothing ever happens to you. You’re Jack Manifold.’

Meanwhile Jack is seeing Tommy as a monster, the shadow of his once friend who died a long time ago. He thinks Tommy is the source of all conflict on the server and can only create problems and that’s not really who Tommy is. Like Tommy was in no way responsible for Doomsday - it was Tubbo and Quackity for the Butcher’s army, and Techno and Dream for the actual attack. Tommy griefing George lead to Dream building those walls and attacking Manifoldland yes, but Dream was targeting Tommy anyway and likely would have found some other reason to have him exiled if he hadn’t done that (rather minor) grief. (Not that he hasn’t done anything wrong, just nothing that really means the server would have actually been better without him.) Tommy is instead another victim trying his best to recover and be more peaceful. He was trying to move on when they argued in that hotel, not because he didn’t care about Jack at all, but because he was overwhelmed and couldn’t deal with discussing how he’d died or Jack’s feelings about it. 

Both characters are rather lonely right now. When Tommy died, Jack admitted he didn’t feel like he had anyone and that Tommy had been giving him a purpose. He missed belonging to something, missed the good days of L’Manburg when he had real friends. The first time he felt betrayed was being left behind in Manburg. Meanwhile, while Tommy was in prison, he expressed how there being trapped alone in isolation was a fate worse than death to him, and much of his exile had been marked by his great feelings of loneliness. Getting out had him seeing some of his friends seeming to be moving on and it hurt him to feel so left out and unwanted once more.

Both of them want Dream gone. They both recognised him as the biggest threat, even as Jack sees Tommy on the same level while thinking Dream is taken care of and Tommy is afraid that Dream will escape and bring more terror to the server. Jack wants to become Prison Warden while Tommy wants the prison to be reformed and Sam to be removed from his position. These two both want the hotel to thrive, they both consider it theirs. 

Their goals align so much, they have so much to offer each other, they are such natural friends and yet they are at odds. I want them to resolve their issues. They’ll have to both learn to see each other properly and both learn to listen to each other. They’ve both had development - after his reaction to Tommy death, I don’t think Jack will be able to go through with killing him. He’s not a cruel person, just an angry one. And Tommy has been trying to be less self-centred and he’s been expressing his issues better lately. I feel like he should be able to actually listen and try and mend things when he’s ready. He does have the capacity to apologise and admit fault once he’s realised.

All in all, it is my hope that they could be friends again and become close. The potential is there!

--Thanks for reading. I don’t know Jack’s character quite as well as Tommy’s - though I do watch and love them both - so please, please tell me if I got anything wrong about him or you’d like to offer any extra insight that I may have overlooked. I adore their dynamic and really enjoy discussing it, tragic though it is. Hopefully I haven’t seemed too harsh on either character, they both have flaws and reasons for them and they’re both sympathetic!

[hopelesshawks]

History of Us Part 35- The Storm

Summary: Once upon a time Todoroki and (y/n) were best friends. Now they haven’t spoken in years. When (y/n) is forced to transfer to UA, will she and Shoto reconnect or will their troubled past keep them apart? A childhood friends to enemies to lovers hybrid fic.

If you don’t want to see History of Us content blacklist #hopelesshou

Masterlist Kofi

The plan, both that of the reunion squad and that of the pro heroes, goes to shit almost immediately. Your father is a smart man and the compound reflects that. Almost immediately upon breaching the entrance, the pros realized that the information they had on the building’s floor plan was incorrect. They were also wrong about the compound solely being occupied by you, Dabi, and your father. Several lower level villains have been kept on retainer precisely in case of a situation like this. Not only had Shoto and the others not been able to sneak past the pros to try and find you but the pros had actively requested their help as things rapidly devolved.

Then your father finally made his appearance in dramatic fashion, and that’s when things really went downhill. Literally half the compound was blown sky high as your father released a massive flurry of shadows racing out to push back the heroes. Several of the pros on scene are immediately knocked out of commission, leaving the smaller villains to run into the city and cause trouble. Tamaki is one of the first to recover, quickly organizing some of the remaining heroes and sidekicks into squads to track down the villains now racing towards the more densely populated commercial area nearby. “I’m trusting you to handle Black Storm,” he tells Endeavor. The older man only gives him a nod before Tamaki is off to try and minimize the damage being done.

Shoto starts to worry as he realizes he still hasn’t seen you but before he can begin searching properly a familiar voice stops him in his tracks. “There you are little brother, I was worried you might not show,” Touya grins. Shoto’s eyes narrow at his brother, his quirk itching to be released as he stares him down. “Where’s (y/n)?” Shoto all but growls. “You sure she even wants you to find her?” Dabi teases, his amusement at the situation palpable. “Absolutely,” Shoto replies without even a hint of hesitation or doubt. “Tell you what, prove you really are dad’s perfect little experiment and beat me. If you can do that much I’ll lead you right to her. I’d hurry if I were you too, her daddy dearest didn’t take too kindly to finding heroes at our door and poor (y/n) is his favorite punching bag,” Dabi grins. “With pleasure,” Shoto growls before lunging forward.

This is a disaster. You’ve managed to only bump into one sidekick who’d made it deeper into the remains of the compound but even that small fight had been enough to aggravate your injuries. Your vision swims as you rush towards the sound of the fighting. You know your dad’s been using quirk enhancing drugs lately and the pros aren’t prepared for that kind of firepower. You want nothing more than to just sit down, close your eyes, and try to heal yourself, maybe even take a nap, but there’s no time. You’re the only one who can stop your dad now. You know it in your gut. So you push through the pain and the slight dizziness to keep moving. You’re nearly knocked off your feet as a series of explosions shakes the compound, followed by an all too familiar battle cry of “DIE!” Fear surges through your veins like ice. You’d recognize Bakugo’s voice anywhere and even if you couldn’t there’s not exactly a ton of explosive heroes who threaten to murder villains out there. Bakugo would never come alone, which means more of your friends are surely in the fray and in danger. You grit your teeth, focusing on them and your determination to save them, and start running towards the commotion glowing only faintly but enough to hold you together.

Shoto has never fought this hard his entire life. He lands hard on his side but quickly rolls to recover and get back on his feet. He throws up a wall of ice, partly to slow Dabi’s progress as he comes surging towards him, but partially to stave off the after effects from using his left side so much. Sweat pours off his forehead as he desperately tries to hold off from overheating. As Dabi burns through his ice, Shoto launches himself forward to meet his brother halfway. He’ll be damned if he loses this fight. He has to get to you, especially if what Dabi said about your condition is the truth. For a single moment Shoto manages to pin Touya down but before he can do anything more he notices Dabi’s gaze is focused not on him but something off to the side. “Your girlfriend finally joined the fray,” Dabi grins, causing Shoto to immediately snap his head that direction to find you. Relief floods him at seeing you alive but he’s snapped back into the moment as Dabi suddenly engulfs the two of them in flames, causing Shoto to rear back with a curse. “Don’t get distracted baby brother, this fight isn’t over,” Dabi taunts as he uses Shoto’s momentary distraction to get the upper hand. Fire and ice both emerge as Shoto is filled with another wave of determination. He’s so close to getting you back, he won’t let you slip through his fingers again.

The chaos is even worse than you thought when you finally get to where all the fighting is. All around you your friends and various pros are battling villains. Buildings further down the street are burning where Tamaki is trying to keep the villains contained to a smaller area. To your right Shoto is locked in combat with Dabi and frankly it takes your breath away. Shoto is magnificent. You’ve never seen him look so resolute before and you distantly wonder if that’s the real reason Dabi exposed your location: to see this side of his younger brother. You probably could have stood there just watching the two of them forever but a loud crashing noise to your left jerks your attention away as you watch Endeavor hit the ground hard after your father had thrown him. Your stomach sinks when you notice what rough shape he’s in. You knew this would happen the moment you found out your father was using quirk enhancers but it’s still unnerving to see the number one hero struggle so much. You look up to see your father grinning like a mad man, clearly delighting in the pain of a man he once claimed to love like family. More importantly, however, you also can see the characteristic black veins crawling up the side of his neck. Steroids or not, your quirk still comes with a price. Your father is just about to deal what looks suspiciously like a fatal blow as he gathers a large mass of shadows into both hands but before they can reach Endeavor you jump in front of the fallen hero and unleash your own blast of shadows to dissipate your father’s.

You think you hear Endeavor say something behind you but the words fall on deaf ears as you watch your father’s face twist into a grimace of betrayal and rage. “I should’ve known you’d choose them,” he spits before unleashing another torrent of inky blackness shooting towards you. You widen your stance to brace yourself and then unleash your own torrent back with your right hand, using your free hand to brace it. “After all I did for you, this is how you repay me? You traitorous bitch,” he accuses, his voice roaring over the sounds of battle around you. Rage burns through you at his words and you embrace it wholeheartedly as you continue to push back against him. “All you did was abuse and traumatize me,” you bite out. Your head is throbbing but you can’t let up, not now, not when you’re so close to ridding yourself of your father for good. “I did it to make you stronger! You could’ve been the most powerful person in all of Japan, we could’ve built an empire together!” he responds, as if somehow that justifies how he’s treated you; as if that empire wouldn’t be built atop the corpses of innocents. “I am strong. Stronger than you. In spite of you, not because of you,” you shout.

After that final declaration, you’re done talking. Instead you close your eyes, grit your teeth, and you think of every single time your father abused you, every time you lashed out at those you loved because of the trauma he ingrained in you, every time you suffered because of his crimes. You think of your poor mother who works double and triple shifts so she can provide for you. You think of that fateful day your father brought you into work and traumatized you out of his own selfish desire to mold you into what he wanted you to be. You think of all of the pain and hurt and anger and you pour it into your quirk even as black veins start to crawl up on your own skin, even as they climb up your forearm, then your shoulder, then your neck, and onto the right side of your face. Your entire right side feels like it’s on fire but you push and push through until you finally start to feel the resistance from your father giving way as his quirk overwhelms him. You hear yelling and it takes a minute to realize that the raw, pained sound is coming from you as you push and push and push until finally you feel the resistance fade completely and the shadows you’d sent out connect with your father. You gasp as you finally release your quirk although you notice the right side of your body is still on fire. Your head feels fuzzy and your vision is definitely swimming but you push through it. You have to make sure it’s over. Your father sways on his feet, eyes empty and black veins completely marring his face. After a moment his body collapses to the ground completely limp and relief floods through you.

It’s over.

It’s finally fucking over.

As the adrenaline slowly starts to drain out of you, you hear someone call out your name. They sound panicked. Why do they sound panicked? You turn to the source of the voice slowly as the world starts to spin around you. You vaguely recognize Shoto’s alarmed face as he sprints towards you before everything goes black and you collapse.

A/N: This took me literally all of yesterday to write and was difficult to start but holy shit am I happy with how it turned out. We’re entering the home stretch ladies and gentlemen.

Taglist: @sorrythatspussynal @miss-bakugo-writes @pixelwisp @larkspyrr @sokkaandzukosimp @akkaso @sunaispretty @shot0stea @todoplusultra @oliviasslut @lapysllazuly @immah0e4fictionalmen @cinnamonruts

(Bold means I couldn’t tag you)

[nolaimagines]

Forgotten

Hey can you do another neglect Mikaelson but different one like the she is the first born child Of Klaus and powerful witch who’s the Mikaelson enemy. And the Mikaelson don’t give her attention or anything basically focus on hope she leaves them and years later their looking for her only to see her married and has kids and is pregnant. The Mikaelson tries to earn her trust but one day hope tries to talk to her and end ups getting. Hurt and the readers husband yells them to stay away from her

I am going to attempt to write this from your point of view (hope that’s okay)

I totally got carried away with this...it is a bit long

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

“Hello?” You shouted out as you stepped into the home.

“Your dad has gone out, Elijah is god knows where, Rebekah…again no idea. And well I’m here…tired from the baby and bored.” Hayley explained as she walked down the stairs.

You groaned, “I’ve been calling them all day and it’s like I don’t exist…” you threw yourself on the sofa but quickly regretted it as you winced.

“What’s wrong?” Hayley sat beside you.

“Oh, nothing. It doesn’t matter.” You breathed through the pain, as you got comfortable.

Hayley rolled her eyes, “Fine, have it your way.” She sat on the couch opposite you and threw the control your way.

You sighed, switching on the tv before silently chanting a spell to heal your wound before your family could pretend as if they care.

Your father was the great original hybrid, Niklaus Mikaelson, son of Esther and her love but Mikael was left with the burden of raising him. Your mother was a powerful witch who Klaus had close relation with and soon came along you. Your mother’s bloodline was part of the greatest witch bloodline there was beside Esther’s. You were powerful and everyone knew better than to mess with you, and to make it worse, you were a Mikaelson. When you were young, your parents fought constantly, becoming quick enemies, fighting over you. But it led to you watching your mother die at the hands of Klaus Mikaelson. He didn’t kill her, but it was his actions that lead to her death. Yet you still stayed by your father’s side. He didn’t care much for you; you were a living and breathing reminder of your mother, and he hated it. He didn’t care if you lived or died. The only reason you are with them is because your Uncle Elijah comes up with some poetic speech that family is power. You didn’t feel like family. You were used for your magic and power. Whether you were caught in the crossfire, injured or nearly dead, it was your own problem to save yourself. No one cared much for you.

“Y/N!” your dad yelled your name through the house.

You rolled your eyes, and continued to watch the tv, pretending it was interesting.

“Y/N, why is it you choose to ignore me? I am your father, you dare to ignore me!”

“What could you possibly need from me? Go ask one of your witchy friends to perform a spell.” You groaned, sitting up and walking out.

Klaus grabbed your arm, pulling you back, “You will do as I say. You live under my roof, you will go by my rules.”

You shook your head, “Well I guess It’s time for me to move out then isn’t it. I won’t be such a burden to any of you anymore.”

“Y/N…” Hayley started but you cut her off.

“Hayley, I suggest you get out of here while you can. Take the baby and start somewhere new.” You pulled your arm out of Klaus’ grip and walked upstairs. Klaus rushed to you, pinning you to the wall.

“You dare threaten me.”

You snickered, “I haven’t threatened you…yet. I said I am moving out. I won’t be in the way.” You motioned your hand, sending Klaus flying across to the other side of the house, “Ooops.”

You grabbed a bag, packing the essentials before hopping into your car and driving off.

--

“Gracie, you be careful on those swings! Mind you don’t kick anyone!” You called out to your 6-year-old daughter as she ran to the swings with her sister.

You sat down on the bench, and sighed in tiredness, rubbing your pregnant belly.

“Okay mummy!” You daughter shouted back, taking her sister’s hand helping her onto the swing.

You watched your daughters on the swing, before something, or someone rather caught your eye behind her. Klaus. Your dad. You frowned, and blinked. He was gone. Were you seeing things or had your father found you? You shivered. Is this how it was when Mikael was hunting your Dad?

You shook your head, before sipping your water, and taking out the snack bags for the kids, “Gracie! Hannah! Come and eat your snacks and drink some juice please!” Thank god the park was quiet. It was so much easier to keep an eye on your daughters.  

It had been 8 years since you had left your so called ‘family’ behind and found a new one. Your new family, who loved you and cared for you. You missed your real family, but what was there to miss? You met your Husband, Harry, 6 months after you left New Orleans and things moved pretty quickly after. He was already aware of the supernatural world, despite being human himself. He accepted who you were with open arms and loved you all the same. He made you feel new, and beautiful, and loved. You weren’t alone, and he made sure you knew that. Two years later, here you were married, with 6-year-old twin daughters, and pregnant again with a boy. You unfortunately suffered a miscarriage due to a bad fall a few years ago and struggled to get pregnant after, so this was a miracle, but you were happy. Really happy.

Gracie and Hannah sat either side of you, thanking you for the snacks as they sat and ate quietly.

“Mommy, can me and Hannah watch a movie tonight?” Gracie looked up at you, her brown eyes shining.

“Of course you can. Are the snacks okay? Would you like anything else?”

Both girls shook their heads, “Right then, shall we head home then? Hold each others hands, and stay close to me please darlings.”

Hannah and Grace held hands, as Grace took your hand as you walked to the car to make your way home.

--

Back home, Harry had dinner ready on the table, “I assumed you’d be back around this time, so I had dinner ready.” He kissed you softly, but deepened it, “I missed you today. How are you?”

You returned the kiss, smiling before tucking the kids in for their dinner, “I missed you too. I’m okay. Feeling more tired than usual.” You rubbed your belly, “He’s a little more active today.”

Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around you from behind, softly rubbing your belly, “I can’t wait to meet our little boy.” Your husband kissed your neck before whispering, “Now please hurry up and be born so that your Mummy and I can do more baby making.”

You laughed softly and turned around and kissed your husband deeply. He groaned into the kiss before pulling away and smiling, “Now why don’t you sit down and rest. I’ll bring our dinners.”

You could feel your heart melt. What did you do to deserve such a loving husband? You held your tears back as you sat yourself down, “Thank you, my love.”

You tucked Gracie and Hannah in their beds, before closing the door softly and going to your shared bedroom. You changed into your pyjamas.

“Do I look fat?” You joked, as you looked in the mirror at your pregnant tummy.

Harry looked up, and scrunched up his nose, “In all honesty…you have put on a few pounds…”

You gasped, picking up a pillow and throwing it at him, “I thought you loved me!”

He laughed, catching the pillow and throwing it back on the floor, “I do, very much my darling. You could put on a thousand pounds, and I will still love you.”

You sat down beside him covering your legs with the duvet, “I…I have something to tell you. I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy but something weird happened today…”

Harry sat up and looked at you concerned, “What is it? Are you hurt?”

“No, no. When I took the girls to the park today…they were on the swings playing…I thought I saw my Dad…Klaus at the park.” Your voice was shaky. You didn’t know how you really felt about the possibility of seeing your Dad again after all these years.

Harry sat in silence for a second, “Did he say anything? What happened?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “I saw him standing there at the park, alone. I blinked, he was gone.”

Harry sighed, “If he does come back, and he does want to talk then that is up to you whether you give him that chance. If he dares lay a hand on you, I won’t hesitate to hurt him.”

You smiled softly. Harry was trained as a vampire hunter so he could defend himself…to a certain extent, “I just don’t want him hurting you or the girls…family isn’t his strongest point.” You sigh, “I don’t know how I feel about seeing him again.”

Harry nodded, “I can’t imagine how you feel, Y/N. I wish there was something I could do. But either way? You have me, and you have a family here. We aren’t leaving your side.”

You nodded and laid down, “I love you, so much.”

Harry kissed your forehead, wrapping his arm around you, “Now sleep, my love.”

--

*doorbell rings continuously*

You groaned, throwing off the covers, and making your way downstairs. The smell of pancakes filled your nose, and you hummed to yourself. Who is ruining your morning of pancakes?

“Hello…” Harry’s voice faded out.

“Hello Harry. I think you may be able to help me and my family. I’m looking for Y/N.” A British accent echoed through the house.

You gripped the bannister of the stairs before taking a deep breath and joining Harry at the door, “I’m sorry, but the person you’re looking for isn’t here.” You replied, before noticing that not only had Klaus turned up, the rest of the family came with him including Hayley and some random girl. You squinted at the girl…much to your surprise the miracle baby survived. She looked about…what 16?

Klaus’ eyes turned toward you, eyebrows raising in shock as he scanned your body and saw your baby bump.

“Y/N…we need to talk.” Your Dad’s expression was almost human.

“Mommy! Who is at the door?” Grace called for you as she ran towards you with her sister behind her.

“Who are you?” Hannah looked up at your dad, wrapping her arms around Harry’s leg.

“Um…girls go to your room please.” You kneeled down to your daughters, “Mommy has to do something.”

The girls glanced at Klaus again before going upstairs, calmly.

You sighed and stood up, “What do you want exactly?”

“Who said we want anything? Am I not allowed to visit my daughter?” Klaus replied.

You rolled your eyes and opened your mouth to speak. The amount of emotions running through you right now was uncontrollable, and to top it off you were pregnant.

“Well you better come inside before you cause a scene. One wrong move and I throw you all out.” You sighed, moving to the side and nodding slightly to Harry.

Harry looked back at you before glaring at Klaus, “You may come in.”

You set down the tray with drinks and sat beside Harry.

“So why are you here? How did you find me?” You asked.

“A few witchy spells and well easy as pie.” Elijah replied, taking a sip of his tea.

“I assume that was you, Hope? You’d need to be a powerful witch and well a New Orleans witch is not powerful enough to break my protection spells.” You looked at Hope, “Glad to see you inherited your mother’s brains.

“Yes, that was Hope, who don’t forget, is your younger sister. Have you told your husband about her? About us?” Klaus looked at you.

“Yes, unfortunately I did. Again, I ask, why are you here?” You were becoming fed up with repeating yourself.

“We need your help.” Hope spoke up, “We need help defeating the Hallow. We…I accidently awoke this Hallow and well it’s sort of buried itself inside me.” Hope explained.

You felt your breathing increase, your heart rate shot up, “The hallow? Have you any idea what you’ve done? And you dare bring it here? To my home? Why do you expect me to help you? Any of you?” You glared at your father, “You hate me because I remind you of my mother. You’ve ignored me since the day she died. All of you have. You don’t bother to talk to me for 8 years. And here you are, in my home asking me for help.”

Hayley stood up, “Listen, we are all at fault here. We are all in the wrong here, but all our lives are at stake here. This thing, this hallow will consume my daughter whole, your sister. She hasn’t done anything wrong so please don’t use your anger that you have against us, against her.”

You sighed, knowing Hayley had a valid point. You looked at your ‘family’.

“Y/N, I can only apologise for how I have been since your mother died. What I did is unforgivable, but I would like to made amends if it is possible, if you will give me that chance.” Klaus got up and walked over to you.

You stayed silent, a thousand thoughts whizzing through your head. What were you supposed to do? Saying yes to helping them meant putting your family in danger, saying no meant putting your long lost sister in unreasonable danger.

You sighed, “I’ll help. But I swear, if any of my family get hurt…you will regret it.”

“Thank you, love.” Klaus gave you a small smile.

Hayley smiled, “Thank you, Y/N, you have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

You nodded, “Well, don’t thank me yet, we haven’t destroyed the Hallow just yet.”

“So when are you due?” She motioned towards your bump.

“I’m currently 7 months so not long to go.” You smiled at your bump.

“And you have twin girls?” She asked, smiling.

You nodded, “Yes, Hannah and Grace.”

“May I ask, why the long age gap?” Elijah set his glass down, sitting back in the chair now the serious talk was over.

“Uh…” You sighed, looking at Harry for some comfort.

Harry cleared his throat, “Y/N suffered a miscarriage a few years back from a bad fall and since then we’ve struggled so this baby…is our miracle.”

The room fell silent.

“I am so sorry. I can’t imagine how you felt…that must have been awful.” Hayley wiped her eyes before the tears fell.

You nodded, “It’s okay.”

--

You sat on your knees and flipped through the pages of your mother’s grimoire. You sighed, rubbing your belly.

“Come on little guy, not today.” You spoke to your unborn son.

“Do you need my help?” Hope came and sat beside you.

You shrugged, “I don’t know. This isn’t something that get’s written down. It was locked away and now it’s out. The only chance we have is someone who has encountered it before…and what are the chances of that.” You smirked as you came across the page full of details on the Hallow, “Thank you mother.”

You sighed, scanning the pages looking for a way to destroy the Hallow, “So it needs somewhere to live…with nothing to feed off, no energy, no other living thing with it…” you trailed off.

Hope sighed, “So why did you leave?”

You looked up, “Why did I leave? Our dad ignored me for years. My mother died as a consequence of his actions and he didn’t care. Since that day, he’s pretended as if I don’t exist. Really, I should have left earlier but I didn’t. Our Uncle Elijah has a way with words, you’ll find. But one day, I had enough. Klaus kept using me for my magic and didn’t care if I lived or died. So I left. But your mum is right, my anger isn’t towards you-“

“Exactly, it isn’t towards me, yet you left me alone. I had no one for so long. And all of a sudden I find out I have an older sister somewhere in this world!” Hope stood up, pacing around the room.

You got up, “Hope, calm down. Don’t you see? You weren’t even bought up knowing about me! You found out later in your life. I was completely irrelevant.”

“Oh, so this is about you now? I have this thing inside of me and it’s still about you!” Hope raised her voice, breathing heavily.

“Hope, control yourself.” Klaus appeared at the door with Harry behind him. Harry’s face was full of fear.

You studied hope, it was almost as if she had a blue glow around her, “Hope, breath. You have the Hallow inside of you. You can’t let it control you.”

Hope growled, “Don’t tell me what to do!” She drew her hands in the hair, throwing you across the room – thank god you landed on the sofa. You groaned, feeling something sharp in your leg.

“Y/N!” Harry ran over to you. He minded your hair out your face before standing up, raging with anger.

“Y/N…Harry…I’m so sorry…” Hope teared up, looking at her hands, “I didn’t meant to…I…it took control…”

“Get out. I want you all to get out of my house.” It was rare to see Harry angry, this was probably the third time you’ve seen him angry, “You turn up here with no explanation, demanding Y/N’s help. You ignore her for 8 years, not to mention before then. She deserves better and not a single one of you have any right asking my wife for help!” He was shouting, most likely scaring your daughters upstairs.

Klaus lowered his head, “I apologise…I can heal you if you let me-“

“I don’t want your blood.” You groaned as you got up, bearly standing on your leg. You took your grimoire, and took a photo of it on your phone, sending it across to Hope, “I’ve sent you something that might help. Now all of you, get out before I make you.” You turned to Klaus, “Leave.”

Within seconds your old family had left and didn’t make an appearance after that.

“My darling…are you okay? Should we get you to a hospital?” He helped you sit on the sofa.

You shook your head, “I can heal it, but can you tidy up before the girls come downstairs?”

Harry nodded, “Of course my love.”

“Harry…thank you for being here with me.” You gave a small smile, feeling all the regret of letting your old family back into your life.

“Of course,” Harry smiled finishing up making the room like home again, “I would never let you go through something like that alone.”

“I love you.” You smiled and pulled him in for a kiss.

[radiosandrecordings]

Ace fic request if ya feel: Jmart taking a bath together at Upton, w some nonsexual nudity/intimacy? Thank u!!

“Ahaha, I’ll ask for some ace fic prompts and do drabbles for it!” I said, naively. 3K words later. Thank you Gwyn for reading over this and fixing my typos because it is. now coming up to 5am because I decided to write 3K in one sitting

CWs for talk of nudity but no one ever gets full nakey. Jon also has a brief panic about not being able to protect Martin without the Eye.

Ao3 version too 

They’d probably been awake for an hour or so by the time the feeling of grime coating his skin became intolerable. 

It felt wrong, really, the juxtaposition of the soft, clean cotton under his head and the greasy knots his hair had woven itself into over the course of their journey. Like it was insulting to the pillow, the case of which, Jon guessed absently, was worth more than his entire bed back in his flat, if it was still standing.

And wasn’t that something? To have to guess that and not just be aware. As it normally was, the Beholding would inform him that that wasn’t quite true, as while the sheets on this bed were certainly nice they were more chosen for display purposes than with the intent of anyone truly sleeping in them. The house was a museum. The curators had not supposed upon the current scenario. 

The current scenario being that there were two men lying in it, half asleep, lying still and just staring at each other with an eye-watering fondness. They had spoken, when they first awoke. Got out all the words they wanted to say. The “Where are we” and the “How long were we asleep?” and the “Is it finally safe to rest?” and the “I love you so, so much.” 

Now the thing to break the silence was the sound of Martin’s stomach making its discontent known. This, of course, sent them both into peals of laughter, because when was the last time they’d felt mundane hunger? 

“Do you think they even have food here?” Martin asks, still buried up to his neck in duvet. 

“Perhaps? Salesa surely has to eat, if we do.” 

“Yeah, but Annabelle though,” Martin chews his lip in mock contemplation. “What if we go downstairs and open up all the cupboards and it’s just… Flies as far as the eye can see, all wrapped up for eating. There’s one in the fridge all done up on a platter like a Christmas ham. Cloves spiked into it and all.” 

Jon winces. “I’d really rather not picture that right now, if you don’t mind.”

“Ah, course,” Martin says, looking slightly sheepish as they lapse into silence again. “Should probably go check though. Don’t exactly want to have gotten through all that just to starve. Though I’d happily let this be my death bed, honestly. Don’t think I’ve slept that well in… Ever.” 

“Mmh, now that you mention it, I’m quite peckish as well… Odd, that. Had almost forgotten what it felt like.” Jon heaves himself into a sitting position, and takes stock of the door to his left. “Probably the bathroom. Ensuite. Very nice.” 

“You want to get cleaned up before we go scavenging?” Martin asks, prying the duvet away like he’s pulling teeth. Jon feels bad that they can’t just stay in bed all day. He hadn’t been able to sleep, in the safe house, but Martin had chosen to dream. He might be biased, but Jon figures that that was probably worse. Martin seemed now to be relishing the opportunity to relax.

“I think we rather need it. Not keen to embarrass ourselves in front of our hosts a second time, so I’d rather not appear downstairs looking like something the cat dragged in.” Jon shoves the duvet away and gets, somewhat shakily, to his feet. Damn. No Beholding means the pain from- Where- The wound… His leg hurts. It means his leg hurts something fierce. He hopes he can stand in the shower. 

When he makes his way over to the door and swings it open, it turns out not to be a concern. The bathroom, in the fashion of the rest of the house, has no shower. Instead, a comically beautiful bathtub sits against the opposing wall. It’s a clawfoot, gold varnish painted over its feet where porcelain turns to antique wood. 

“You want to go first then?” Martin asks, slowly pulling the duvet around himself again. 

Jon rolls his eyes. “Yes, I’ll go on ahead. You enjoy the extra time.” 

Martin gives him a smug look and burrows down again. God, Jon really, really loves him. Which is why, when he puts his hand on the door handle to close it behind him, he freezes. 

Statement readings aside, this will be the first time Martin has been out of his sight in… However you choose to categorize the indefinite amount of time they spent roaming the hellscape. And even then, Jon had his powers. If anything threatened Martin he’d be there to help him. To save him. The Eye offers no such comfort now. Jon doesn’t want to close the door. He doesn’t want Martin out of his line of sight. Not with Annabelle here. He won't leave him alone, not now. 

“... Jon? You okay?”

Jon realises he’s been standing in the doorway for at least a minute now, hand frozen in indecision. He blinks a few times, trying to bring his eyes back into focus. He opens his mouth, and finds himself gaping slightly, looking for the words. 

Martin shifts, sitting back up again. “Jon, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

It comes out like a croak. “I- I don’t Know.”

Martin’s tone is gentle, placating, two hands gently offered out in Jon’s direction. “You don’t know what’s wrong?”

“No, I don’t Know,” he can feel tears beading at the corners of his eyes and tries to push down the lump in his throat. He’s gone this long without crying, why does he have to go and do it now, ruin the peaceful moment that he’d watch Martin lapse into like a drowning man with air. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Martin hushes, sliding out of bed and walking round from his side. He brings his arms around Jon and just lets them stay there, not pulling him against his chest in a restrictive grasp, but just laying his hands against his back, letting him know he’s there. 

Despite his best attempts, Jon lets out a hiccup. “And- And that should be a good thing. It should. I don’t want to Know. But it’s… I’ve spent so long with this constant presence at the back of my skull and now it feels… It’s raw and it’s vulnerable. Annabelle Cane could be a wall away and I’m vulnerable and that means you are too. If I’m in another room, I can’t Know if something is wrong, and more importantly, if something does go wrong I can’t save you.”

The right wrapped around to hold Jon’s left hip, Martin’s free hand has been tracing soothing patterns into his back through his shirt. It stills when Jon finishes. He takes a moment, before breathing out heavily through his nose. He leans back slightly so he can look down and match eye levels. 

“Jon,” he says, and his voice is as soft as that duvet felt. “I can’t imagine what that’s like. I’m so sorry. I thought being free of the Eye would be a good thing, I didn’t even consider how it would feel for you. I can’t promise nothing will go wrong, because… Well, our track record speaks for itself. But I can try and ease your fears.” He brushes Jon’s fringe out of the way, and presses a quick kiss to his forehead. “Tub seems pretty big. How do you feel about taking a bath together?” 

Jon feels his face, flushed from tears, pale. And oh what a relief, to feel a fear so comparatively… Mundane. To not be afraid of the cosmic monstrosity in the back of your brain, or the spiders with motives that scuttle across the ceiling, or the fact that you are responsible for the suffering of billions. Oh to be afraid of… Intimacy. 

Martin must feel him tense, because the hand on his back drops away, and the one at his hip loosens its grip. “I’m sorry, if that’s too much, we can just-”

“No,” Jon cuts him off, and is surprised at his own voice. “No, I… I would like that. That sounds nice.”

He knows it’s from his earlier anxieties, but Martin must still be able to feel Jon trembling slightly under his hand, because he continues to give Jon a sceptical look. 

“Forgive me for being blunt, but you really don’t seem up for that. If that’s not in your… Intimacy wheelhouse, I get it.” 

“I’m just a little shaken, is all,” Jon says, but he knows there’s a truth to Martin’s words. He knows Martin respects him and his orientation, they’d had long discussions about it in the safe house, about boundaries and desires and how Jon wanted to spend his days glued to Martin’s side but he under no circumstances wished to have sex with him. He knows that this isn’t what that is, that Martin means it in the most innocent fashion imaginable, but there’s still something about the idea of close, physical proximity while naked that makes the hairs on his arm stand on end and his stomach churn. 

It’s not that he was bashful about it. He’d seen Martin naked before, gotten changed in the same room most mornings and evenings in the safe house, but that was just a symptom of existing in the same space, never something actively done with the intent to exhibit. It had, predictably, stirred no feelings in him. The idea of them so close while not clothed… No, that wouldn’t be happening. 

“I- Can I make one request, though?” Jon asks, tilting his no longer watery eyes up to meet Martin’s. 

“Anything,” Martin replies, no hesitation to be found. 

Jon feels his face flush again, and the rapid pooling and draining of blood from his face must be doing terrible things to his circulation. “Can- Can we keep our underwear on? Please? God, sorry, that must sound horribly childish-” 

“No, no that’s okay. Whatever you need to feel comfortable,” Martin says and his voice is not so much laced with sincerity as built from bricks of it. 

They break apart and Martin ambles through the doorway and over to the bath, turning the water on. It sputters, clearly struggling after years of disuse, but after a few seconds it flows clear. Martin waits for the brackish residue to be cleaned away before popping the plug into place.

Jon preoccupies himself with looking over the shelves. They were well stocked, likely by Salesa, as Jon has a hard time believing that plastic bottles full of opalescent purple liquid were considered period appropriate set dressing. He pops the lid open on one and is met by a strong whiff of lavender. He tucks it under his arm before swiping a shampoo and matching conditioner. 

“Find something you like?” Martin asks, leaning against the edge of the tub. Jon hums a response before joining him. The tub was filling up quickly now, almost half way full and the water is pleasantly warm when he drags his fingers through it. Jon deposits two of the bottles where they can be grabbed when needed, before taking the lavender body wash and drawing swirls into the water until a layer of foam and bubbles begin to build on the surface. 

When Jon turns back to face Martin, his fingers are twitching at the hem of his t-shirt. Whoever was responsible for transferring them from cold marble floor to warm bed had also seen to it that their shoes were removed, as well as their bags and coats, which Jon had seen folded and placed over a chair in the corner of the bedroom. They were both down to their now ripped, muddied and bloodied trousers, and two v-neck t-shirts from the same set, Jon’s of which was tucked into his jeans to disguise the fact that it was several sizes too large. What possible conclusion could be drawn from that?

Martin cleared his throat. “Do you mind, then, if I…?”

“Yes, of course, go ahead.” 

Martin pulled his shirt over his head. 

It’s not that Jon didn’t find him attractive. He did, very much so, just in the romantic sense. So seeing Martin shirtless was similar to seeing him in a particularly flattering outfit. It didn’t change the way he felt about him, just intensified it. He was very handsome and Jon enjoyed getting to look at him. 

He pulls his own shirt over his head, before turning back to trail his hands through the water again, trying to gage the temperature and encourage more bubbles. When he turns back to face Martin again, he’s fiddling with his belt, eventually getting it undone and letting his trousers drop. Jon does the same. And then nothing more happens, and Jon breathes a sigh of relief. It’s not that he hadn’t trusted Martin to keep his word and not fully strip on him, it was just.. It was a relief. 

“Shall we?” Martin asks, gesturing towards the water. 

“Let’s,” Jon responds, hooking one leg over the edge before stepping fully into the bath, and letting himself sink below the water. 

He’s just about acclimated when suddenly the water is rising slightly as Martin joins him, placing himself at the other end of the tub. There’s not enough room for his legs, so he ends up with his knees close to his chest, sticking out of the water. Jon’s just about fit, stretching down to the other end of the bath and bracketing each side of Martin’s hips. 

If the bed was heaven, this is absolutely blissful. The warm water surrounds his aching joints, slowly massaging them as it laps around him. The water, just seconds earlier clean and pure, is already starting to take on a stale quality as the dirt begins to slough off of the two of them, but Jon can’t bring himself to care for relief that it’s no longer coating his skin. He thinks the lavender may have been a bad choice, because between it and the warmth he’s finding it hard not to fall asleep again. 

“This okay?” Martin asks, because he’s still worried about Jon and his comfort and that makes his heart ache with affection, that someone would care that much about him and his boundaries. 

“Far more than okay,” he responds, dragging one hand down the other arm in an attempt to get some stubborn filth off. Martin is doing the same, except he’s wisely taken a sponge from somewhere and is scrubbing at a spot on his ankle where his trouser and boot hadn’t quite met and the Buried had decided to leave a crusted circle in its wake. 

They sit in silence for quite a while, each taking care of their own needs before Jon reaches one arm out of the bath to make a swipe at the bottle of shampoo. 

“Here, let me,” Martin says, breaking the quiet. He shifts forward slightly, on instinct, before pausing and rocking back slightly. “If you want, that is. Do you?” 

“Do I what?” 

“Do you want me to do your hair? It’s just- It’s probably easier, y’know, than you trying to do it yourself.” 

“And far more romantic,” Jon adds, smiling as he leans over to press a kiss to Martin’s freshly cleaned cheek. 

“That too. Do you want to turn around?” 

Jon answers wordlessly by shifting until he’s facing away from Martin. He’s surprised, but not unpleasantly so, when Martin’s arms wrap around him and gently pull him backwards until his back is just shy of flush with Martin’s chest. It’s very intimate. It’s very nice. 

“That okay?” Martin asks again, and more than ‘I love you’, that’s a phrase Jon will never grow tired of hearing because it means Martin truly cares for his comfort. 

“Absolutely.” 

“Good,” Martin says, as he uncaps the shampoo and pours a small puddle of it into his hands. Even turned away, Jon can smell the wafts of artificial apple scenting in the stuff. 

When Martin starts to gently drag his fingers against Jon’s scalp, he can feel himself almost melt under the touch. His spine loses all tension and he lets himself fall back entirely against Martin’s chest, and it’s only the knowledge that he needs to keep still for Martin to actually do his job that stops him from turning and burrowing his face there. 

“I really hope that was a positive thing and you haven’t just fainted on me. Like, literally on me,” Martin says from behind him and this close, pressed up against him Jon can feel it reverberating in Martin’s chest. 

“Still conscious, don’t worry. That’s just… Very nice.” 

“Oh! Well… Good.” 

This continues for a few minutes, Martin slowly making his way from the scalp down to the roots of Jon’s hair, untangling it with his fingers and then repeating the process with the conditioner until his hair ran smooth under Martin’s hands. Even when Jon knows he’s long finished any actual hair care, Martin continues to run his fingers through the hair, just because. Jon loved him for it.

Eventually, both of Martin’s hands come to rest against Jon’s torso. “This okay?” 

“Yes. I don’t mind any of the touching, as long as it’s… Nowhere previously established to be out of bounds.” 

“Gotcha,” Martin says, pressing a kiss to Jon’s shoulder that makes his brain fizzle like fireworks. 

It takes Jon a minute to fully realise what Martin is doing. Two hands trace lines along his ribcage, one on each side, thumbs gently drawing and redrawing a pattern. His scars. 

Then, the hands travel upwards. Again, two lines along his chest, traced with as much tender care, and Jon’s brain has gone a little fuzzy. He’s unused to such casual touching. There is nothing hurried about it, no urgency, no purpose other than to make him feel good. To make him feel loved and cherished, and if he’s being honest, it’s working. No ulterior motive. This isn’t the lead up to anything. It just exists on it’s own as an experience he gets to have without worrying about what comes after, because he knows the answer is nothing. 

After, Martin shifts slightly, leaning forward. One hand cups Jon’s elbow, raising that arm out of the water as one by one, from shoulder to palm, Martin makes his way down pressing a soft kiss to each and every circular scar. He repeats the process with the other arm. As if to finish it off, he presses a slow, soft, close mouthed kiss to the line that stretches across the front of Jon’s neck.

He’s perfect. Martin Blackwood is perfect and Jon doesn’t know what he did to deserve… This. This quiet barrage of love, the consideration and care poured into it something Jon never thought he would be worthy of, let alone have become a reality.

Jon twists to lie sideways, pressed against Martin with his head tucked under Martin’s chin. Martin’s knees bracket his shoulders on either side and he feels safe. He is in the eye of the storm, a brief respite from the dreadful horrors that ravage the world outside their bubble, but with Martin Blackwood he is safe.

[aria-i-adagio]

Suntrap - Dragon Age Fanfiction

Chapter 42 of Where the Elfroot Grows. It's short and can stand alone, so I'm cross-posting the entirety to Tumblr.

Meanwhile...

Skyhold.

It has taken weeks to get here. Weeks of impossible terrain, and freezing temperatures, and thin air. Weeks of gorgeous blue sky, and dazzling white snow, and mountain views that stole the breath from Rhys’s lungs. But Solas’s promise kept a good number of the survivors from Haven going, and Mother Giselle rallied the rest. And they’ve arrived. Skyhold. A fortress that shouldn't exist because how could one build a castle in the sky?

Rhys has been scolded so many times for wasting his time building castles in the sky.

The place holds its breath waiting for them to enter through the gates that long ago fell open. Cullen orders the soldiers to spread out and search, but Rhys can't convince himself to hold back and wait for caution, not after the weeks of anticipation. He spins around with his chin tilted up and his hands held slightly out to his sides, surveying the high, mostly intact walls, the domineering circular keep, the long basilica married to its side, and then - with a laugh and a shout - he bolts up the sloping ground toward the second level of the courtyard, ignoring Dorian’s dismayed shout about unholy fools and how they’ll be the death of him.

Rhys for pauses a moment, enjoying the crunchy sounds of grass beneath his feet; he shouldn’t take his boots and socks off, but it’s an act of will not to. He waits for Solas and Dorian catch up with him before picking his way up the stairs to the basilica, exercising a little more restraint in case the old stones start to crumble beneath his feet. Falling into Haven’s forgotten catacombs had been an unpleasant experience. One he does not care to repeat.

Rhys pauses at the threshold of the basilica. “So, this is Skyhold.”

“Yes.” Solas stands to the side with his hands folded behind his back. “Abandoned and waiting for centuries now.”

“Is this one of the places you sought out to dream in?”

Solas’s smile is enigmatic. “Certainly it is a place where I will dream now. Go on.”

Vines hang over the doorway at the top of the narrow, crooked stairs. Rhys pushes them aside - Arbor Grace, he thinks, although it’s a bit hard to tell when the leaves are dead, dry, and crumbling in the cold. Behind them, an empty door frame opens into a long hall. Dorian catches the vines and holds them back, gesturing elegantly for Rhys to be the first to step inside.

Rhys holds his breath as he enters. Stone vaults support a soaring ceiling. The remnants of a carpet sprawl across the floor, rotted by time and scattered by animals. Colored light scatters through the room, flowing through a miraculously intact rose window opposite the door.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I thought you might appreciate it.” Solas lays a hand on the doorframe and strokes the stone with his thumb like one might the hand of an old friend.

Dorian follows them inside, claps his hands together, and blows on them. “And it’s out of the blighted wind.” He’s been despairing that he would suffer frostbite and lose an unsymmetric number of fingers since before they ran from Haven. In all fairness, it hadn’t been entirely theatrics on Dorian’s part. Rhys still wasn’t entirely sure how the rest had managed to evacuate with as many supplies as they did; he suspects it had something to do with Josie’s preternatural organizational skills. There had been sufficient heavy coats and blankets to go around, and if there weren’t technically enough tents for the group, no one complained much about sleeping piled close together in the few tents that they did have because it was too damned cold at night for anyone to sleep alone. Rhys can think of several fates worse than sharing space with a cranky not-actually-a-magister.

Solas chuckles. “I would not call the wind blighted, but yes, it is out of the wind. Go explore, Herald. I suggest the first door on your left.”

Rhys hops up and down, trying to get some feeling back in his toes before running off to see what else Skyhold contains. Not the defenses. Cassandra and Cullen are already inspecting the battlements, and it isn’t as if he would know anything about whether the keep could be fortified. But there are so many other aspects of any new place. Secrets. History. Rhys can feel the ghosts of years and years breathing around him, heavy and portentous. Curious. Apprehensive. Welcoming.

“Do you feel them too?”

“Yes.” Dorian looks around the echoing space and shivers again. “Some are old. Older than the stones of this place.”

Rhys hooks his arm through Dorian’s elbow. “Come on. Let’s see what else there is.”

Unoiled hinges protest loudly when they shove open the door Solas suggested. A tunnel passes through the thick stone wall and out onto a gallery running around three sides of an open yard. The space is entirely overgrown -a riot of unpruned trees and aggressive vines - but Rhys recognizes it for what it is immediately.

“A suntrap!” He lets go of Dorian and springs over a collapsed balustrade to land in the overgrownth. The temperature of the air in the yard is several degrees warmer than anything Rhys has experienced in weeks. Warm enough for plant life to remain active within this nook. Bits of greenery poke through dead grasses. Blackberries are taking over and creeping into the galleries - as one expects from an ornery vine. Hardy shrubs long ago abandoned whatever order they might have first been planted in and dot the space at disorganized intervals, and closer to the walls, where the heat will be best retained through the nights, Rhys can make out the shapes of fruit trees, gnarly with age.

He stomps down brambles as he makes his way back to the trees: apple and pears, cold-tolerant varieties, though he doesn’t recognize precisely which ones - or they may all be seedling after so much time untended - but they’re still bearing even in the cold of this altitude. He pulls the glove off his right hand and reaches up, gently touching the neck of a pear. It’s not quite ripe yet, but very, very close.

The weeds rustle behind him as Dorian picks his way over, stepping carefully to avoid catching his clothes on the thorny blackberries. “I don’t know what a suntrap is, but if it’s always this much warmer, I like it.”

“Look at how the walls are built. It’s open to the northwest to catch the sun during the day.” Rhys indicates the stones surrounding them, gesticulating with both hands. “All the stones warm up during the day and keep the plants from freezing at night. Other than a greenhouse, it’s the only way I know of to grow much of anything at this altitude.”

“Clever.”

“Yes!” Rhys had worked in suntraps before. The Circle in Ostwick used one to grow tenderer herbs and fruits from higher latitudes - Tevinter, mostly, even a few from Par Vollen. Nothing that heat-loving will grow here, of course, but the suntrap is a promising challenge. Rhys never tried to coax anything into life in a place so cold. “Once the ground is cleared, I think I can get all sorts of things to grow here. Add a cold frame or two, and...”

If nothing else he’ll be able to get root vegetables and greens going. The presence of healthy fruit trees suggests that at least some summer vegetables will make it - not at this time of year, of course, but there’s always next spring to experiment. He’ll need to choose the location well, possibly add some warming glyphs he wants anything semi-tropical like tomatoes. Tomatoes would be lovely.

Dorian catches at Rhys’s arm just below his elbow. “Hold on there. Let’s get a bit more settled before you go finding another way to get entirely covered in dirt.” He picks a stray leaf out of Rhys’s hair and tuts. “Look you’ve already gotten started.”

Rhys holds Dorian’s gaze as long as he can manage before there’s too much blood rushing to his cheeks to be passed off as an effect of the chill. He dips his chin and looks away, still smiling and probably looking like an absolute fool.

“I wonder if there’s a well in here. There has to be a water source - or several - in a fortress this size.” Rhys wanders toward the middle of the garden kicking aside the blackberry brambles. It’s a little late for berries - even this high up - but Rhys would still place a fairly high stake on his ability to find something edible in all this mess. He thinks he can see something that was once a domesticated brassica of some sort. It’s run wild over multiple generations of going to seed, but no one would be too picky at this point about cooked greens being a bit on the bitter side. They’re running low on food. Game had gotten scarcer as the altitude grew higher.

“I’m sure anyone who engineered something that’s lasted this long thought about water.”

Dorian's gloved hand finds his again, and Rhys turns into the contact. An indulgent smile crinkles Dorian’s eyes and turns up the corners of his currently-less-than-perfectly sharp mustache. Rhys reaches out his bare fingers and touches the stubble on Dorian's face, not even the frigid temperatures and weeks of travel on foot had convinced him to let a full beard grow in. Two days seems to be the maximum amount of time he could tolerate going without shaving. Rhys lets his thumb rest at the corner of Dorian's lips, half expecting him to pull away.

A shout echoes through the suntrap, bouncing off the stone walls. “Hey, Sparkles, Lucky - what did you find out here?”

Dorian tenses and turns, but into Rhys's hand, lips brushing across his palm before stepping aside and picking his way back to where Varric stands on the gallery. “The Herald has discovered some plants. Possibly dinner.”

Dammit.

Rhys huffs with annoyance. Then grins when his breath doesn’t immediately turn to frost.

[kristal-dawn-art]

Jujutsu Kaisen OC Reika

I couldn’t resist, so here’s my OC for JJK. 

Name: Kougetsu Reika (紅月霊花) Alias: Rei Species: Human; sorcerer Birthday: August 30 Zodiac sign: Virgo Age: 16 Gender: Female Height/Weight: 163cm/ (5’4” Hair/Eye Color: Deep auburn/dark gold Status: Alive Relatives: Kougetsu Toshihiro (father); Kougetsu Mika (mother); Gojou Satoru (distant relative); Okkotsu Yuta (distant relative)  Occupation: Student/Jujutsu Sorcerer Affiliation: Kougetsu Clan; later Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School

More info under the cut XD; 

Appearance: Reika has fair skin, dark golden eyes, and deep auburn hair that she wears in a side ponytail with a 3-part fringe. She favors comfortable clothing that is easy to move in, with a typical outfit consisting of a purple shirt paired with a gray-and-pink jacket, denim skirt, dark leggings and running shoes. Her school uniform consists of a purple tank top tucked into a short pleated uniform skirt. Leggings, running shoes, and a short-sleeve uniform jacket complete the look.

Personality: Reika enjoys observing others as much as she loves interacting with them - well, as much as she can observe given her situation - and because of how sheltered she’d been before enrolling at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School (aka Jujutsu Tech), she jumps at the chance to befriend someone. She’s fairly straightforward in her words and actions, whichever is more appropriate in a given situation. While not too much of a conversationalist, she’s happy to keep someone company, if she feels they need it. 

For the most part, she wears her emotions on her sleeve, and her tone of voice is a very good indicator of how she’s feeling. Rarely does she feel the need to hide her emotions, but when she does, she does it fairly well. Being a studious sort, she dislikes it when someone interrupts another person while they’re explaining something, and will often clap a hand over the offending party’s mouth.

She’s not that good at picking up on tension in a room, so to speak, but she can make a good guess at how people are feeling, and if they’re feeling down, she’ll try to help them feel better. Overall, she likes knowing she can help others, and is happy to play the support role whenever on assignment. She also hates ‘seeing’ someone get hurt, whether or not they show they’re in pain. Even while worrying for someone, she’s able to keep a cool head, and will choose her next actions in such a way that she’ll have time to tend to the injured person if necessary.

ABILITIES AND POWERS

Overall skill level: At present, Reika is a strong Grade 2 sorcerer, though her precise control of and sensitivity to cursed energy, plus the speed at which she masters different forms and applications of her inherited technique makes it possible for her to move on to being at least a semi-Grade 1. 

Extreme sensitivity and energy control: Because she is both deaf and blind, Reika’s other senses plus her ability to sense cursed energy are all highly enhanced. She can feel movement through minute changes in air pressure and thanks to her Curse Sensing, and reading the flow of another’s cursed energy tells her also how much was expended. Training also helped her get a feel for how much energy she has to use to get a certain effect.

Enhanced mobility: Reika’s training to use cursed energy to fuel her movements has improved her speed and reflexes. So while not as fast as individuals like Yuuji or Maki who have innate physical talent, Reika is still able to move very well in combat, with little to no wasted movement. 

Competent combatant: Even though her training and her personal preference had her focus on defensive applications of her technique, she can still do a reasonable amount of damage when necessary and thus can hold her own reasonably well.

JUJUTSU Cursed Energy Manipulation Great Cursed Energy: Reika’s inherited technique, overall, takes much cursed energy to use, even if the individual techniques don’t use a lot. Training further helped Reika learn to conserve her energy and use the appropriate technique for a situation. This, combined with the overall effect of the Kougetsu clan’s inherited technique, means that Reika has a high amount of cursed energy to work with at any given time. Drawn-out fights are challenging for her, but alternating between manipulating her opponent’s energy and her own can help her last longer, though not without taking a toll on her body.

Inherited Technique Hands of Tsukuyomi. Believed to be an offshoot of Limitless, this technique hinges on users being able to manipulate both their own cursed energy and an opponent’s to achieve a variety of effects. At its most basic and on the surface level, Hands of Tsukuyomi can disguise or suppress the user’s cursed energy, allowing them to pass as civilians. Users may also gain enhanced speed and mobility by fueling their movements with cursed energy, and increasing the impact of any physical attacks they may employ. The technique’s more advanced forms let users divert cursed energy, absorb it, and amplify the effects of an ally’s technique. Extremely advanced applications of the technique see users manipulating light to distort what opponents see, and even unleashing a barrage of compressed light over a desired area.

All forms fall under one of four phases, each one focusing on a particular general effect. Full Moon focuses on amplification, Waning Moon covers absorption, Crescent Moon deals with redirection, and New Moon focuses on negation. Regardless of form, the user needs precise control to achieve the desired effect. Only a handful of users are able to use more than 2 phases, and while they can and do master at least one, true Hands of Tsukuyomi masters are able to use forms from all four, flowing from one to another depending on the situation. Reika herself is regarded by her family to be a highly gifted user as she is only one of three Kougetsu sorcerers so far who have learned to use Hands of Tsukuyomi to heal themselves and others. 

In most cases, activating a technique requires a specific series of hand seals from a fixed set of 12, based on the lunar zodiac, and the user concentrating on the desired effect, including range (if any) and the target. The only techniques so far that don’t require these seals are Reika’s Curse Sensing, Tidal Flow, and Shroud.

Benefits: 

Users being able to reflect an opponent’s cursed energy and any effects of these back at the original user (e.g. a user would be able to deflect Mahito’s “Idle Transformation” and possibly cause him to transform instead into a form he wasn’t planning) along with the precise control of their own cursed energy allows them to last longer in combat, compared to if they were to rely on their cursed energy alone. 

Users are also able to increase the effectiveness, strength, range, or duration of techniques when using more energy than typically required. For instance, users can move twice as fast when fueling their movements, or reflect more than one cursed technique simultaneously.  

Drawbacks:

The stronger the opponent, the more difficult it is to make their technique rebound completely; the user will either have to use more cursed energy, or deal with the technique in a different way (absorb or negate it). 

The more powerful forms take longer to master and use up a lot of cursed energy, so if they’re countered or don’t work out as well, the user may be worse off than if they hadn’t used said forms.

Overuse causes users to suffer from paralysis in one or two limbs, an inability to speak, blurred vision, muscle pain, or a combination of any of those. The more powerful the form that was last used, the bigger the toll it takes on the body. In the worst-case scenario, a user may pass out from the physical and mental strain.

Techniques:

Full Moon: Zenith (満月: 天頂 ; Mangetsu: Tenchou) After activating the technique, Reika lays a hand on an ally and channels some of her cursed energy into them the moment they deploy a technique of their own, thereby strengthening it (e.g. Fushiguro’s shikigami will be harder to destroy) or amplifying the effect (e.g. Inumaki’s cursed speech won’t create as much of a backlash).

Full Moon: Moonbeam (満月: 月光; Mangetsu: Gekkou) Reika compresses light and unleashes it in a barrage of beams that she can direct freely, and even redirect if they haven’t made contact yet. The bigger the area of effect, the fewer the projectiles launched.

Waning Moon: Afterimage (下弦の月: 残像 ; Kagen no Tsuki: Zanzou) -description to be added-

Waning Moon: Kaleidoscope (下弦の月: 万華鏡; Kagen no Tsuki: Mangekyou) Reika alters the surroundings to conceal her and her allies’ location while also setting up a protective barrier. While active, the barrier absorbs the energy from cursed techniques targeting her or her ally, creating a well for Reika to tap into later. This takes a lot of concentration, so if she’s distracted, the barrier fails to absorb the energy, thus exposing the illusion.

Crescent Moon: Mirror (三日月: 鏡; Mikazuki: Kagami) Reika controls the trajectory (?) of another individual’s cursed energy, turning it back on them or onto a different target. The effect is usually instantaneous and she doesn’t have to keep the technique activated, unless the user is of a higher grade. When that happens, she needs to keep it active until the redirected energy hits the new target. This technique doesn’t work against special-grade opponents, though, and is tricky to use when there are more than two opponents.

Crescent Moon: Haze (三日月: 朧; Mikazuki: Oboro) A more advanced form that Reika is still trying to master. In theory, she would be able to arrest the flow of cursed energy from multiple targets, making it appear as if their techniques were deactivated. Then, she’d redirect the trajectory of each one (e.g have Kamo’s arrows target someone else, or make Hanami’s plants grow in a different direction) before letting the attacks go through to their new targets. Reika left Jujutsu Tech not long after enrolling to learn this technique from a relative.

New Moon: Disruption (新月: 破壊; Shingetsu: Hakai) This technique enables Reika to negate or forcibly deactivate a technique deployed by someone else. However, both her feet need to be planted - similar to the Simple Domain - and the user whose technique she wishes to deactivate must be within 10 meters of her. 

New Moon: Umbra (新月: 本影; Shingetsu: Honei) An advanced version of Disruption that Reika is still trying to master, it functions similarly to a Simple Domain, but instead of requiring the feet to stay set at the point the technique was deployed, it calls for Reika to keep her hands in the necessary seal and concentrating on keeping the flow of energy around her constant. Its range is just 3 meters, but Reika doesn’t need to stay grounded, so it’s more versatile and can be activated even in the air. This is another technique that Reika had to learn from a relative.

Others: 

Energy Sensing. Reika’s energy grid that she uses primarily for navigation, but can be used in combat and to sense approaching cursed spirits. Reika can quickly react to whatever information she gets from it. 

Tidal Flow. Reika uses cursed energy to enhance her actions in combat. 

Tidal Strike. Reika channels cursed energy into her hands or feet and compresses it for precise strikes; the effect is more slicing or piercing compared to the blunt force from, say, Itadori’s.

Shroud. A reversed curse technique involving Reika surrounding herself or others with negative cursed energy to heal injuries.

Barrier Techniques Eclipsing Light (食の光; Shoku no Hikari) Reika creates a protective barrier of compressed light around her and the target. While active, the barrier steadily absorbs the target’s cursed energy, preventing them from using any techniques. She then reverses the flow of the energy, releasing it in either a barrage of multiple projectiles from above or as a single, focused beam originating from her outstretched palms. The domain is still incomplete. 

Story: The only child of the current head of the Kougetsu Family, Reika was born both blind and deaf, which made both her parents reluctant to have her train as a sorcerer, even if she later proved to inherit their clan’s Cursed Technique.

As time passed, it became obvious that the little girl’s other senses were enhanced. Using vibrations in the ground and in the air, she was able to tell when someone nearby was talking or when something was being moved. She proved herself capable of using and controlling cursed energy earlier than other young sorcerers, soon figuring out how to lay strings of energy out in a grid pattern and using that to ‘see’ her surroundings. 

Because of her clan’s stance on sorcerer society and her parents’ protectiveness, she lived a sheltered life, rarely leaving the family compound and interacting only with family members and teachers brought in to tutor her. Eventually, however, Reika asked that she train in both hand-to-hand combat and the use of her Inherited Technique, arguing that she needed to be able to rely on herself as well, not just on family members, to keep herself safe. Toshihiro and Mika agreed, making sure she learned to suppress her cursed energy so she’d appear as a civilian to any sorcerers and cursed spirits, even when using her energy grid to navigate. The last thing they wanted was for their only child to be endangered, or to draw the attention of other sorcerers.

As her skills improved, Reika took to going out on her own to explore the city, eventually encountering cursed spirits. The harmless ones she left alone, but not the more threatening ones. She often led these back to the Kougetsu family compound for more experienced sorcerers to exorcise. At some point, however, she grew confident enough in her abilities and began exorcising spirits herself when she perceived they had less energy than she did and she could do so without endangering civilians. 

During one such outing, Gojou witnessed her luring a cursed spirit into an alley before exorcising it, and became intrigued when he learned the younger one could neither see nor hear - likely a result of a Heavenly Restriction. When his superiors learned of Reika, they called for her enrollment at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, reasoning that she’d need field training her family might be unable to provide. Reika’s parents were reluctant to let her go, but the young teen was eager to leave. For her, it was a chance to live away from her protective family members, to test her abilities as much as possible while keeping others safe - civilian or sorcerer - and to learn more about her role as a sorcerer. She entered Jujutsu Tech soon after the Kyoto Sister School Goodwill Event.

Trivia

Reika has to touch someone’s face or throat to be able to tell what they’re saying, using the vibrations to interpret the words. Otherwise, someone needs to sign into her palm to give her information directly. 

The Kougetsu Clan doesn’t condone the way sorcerers in Japan are treated, or how the society functions as a whole. Because of this, Kougetsu sorcerers went largely unregistered for 5 generations, their technique relatively unknown. Reika enrolling at Jujutsu Tech broke this pattern.

Reika aspires to be like Maki when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. 

When meeting someone for the first time, she asks if she can touch their face. To her, Gojou has a lively face, Fushiguro and Itadori both have kind faces, while Kugisaki’s is determined. Panda’s is friendly, Maki’s is strong, and Inumaki’s is gentle.

Reika says that different colors feel different to her, and she picks out clothing based on that. 

Seiyuu/VA: Nitta Emi (JPN)/Cherami Leigh (ENG)

[fe-semi-decent-scenarios]

Heya if its ok could you do headcanons for slyvain, felix and Calude with an s/o that's constantly getting compared to there older siblings by they parents and they feel like there not good enough. Also I really like your work

{Hi! Sorry this took so long. It’s been a wild few weeks. thanks for the compliment and here ya go!}

Sylvain:

  I think Sylvain would be at a loss and that his reaction would heavily rely on how he’d learn of your insecurities. This is because sibling rivalry is not something uncommon among nobility 

 It tears families apart, literally. Just look at how things turned out between him and Miklan. Status and competition ripped his family to shreds 

He wants to be angry for you, but a part of him refuses. He basically feels as if he’s lost the right. It’s sad considering that his childhood wasn’t the greatest, but Sylvain feels that compared to the treatment Miklan received he got the better end of the bargain. He hates his crest, and how it pitted him against his brother. Yet he knows deep down that while Miklan was a jerk to him, the entire family treated his brother like garbage.

  Sylvain also knows that what happened with Miklan wasn’t his fault, and that nothing excuses how his elder brother treated him while they grew up. Yet...he doesn’t know what being on the short end of sibling comparison feels like. All his life he’s always been the one with the crest, the one to inherit the title, the one viewed as worthy, and while he hates the ‘crest privilege,’ Sylvain knows that life could have been different. Worse. 

He can’t have a heart-to-heart with his brother to talk it over either. Sylvain is aware he will never truly understand what Miklan was feeling. 

He doesn’t want that for you. Sylvain doesn’t want your fate to match his brother’s and depending on your relationship with them he might encourage you to reach out to your sibling. He is involved and actively trying to find a peaceful solution that will get you away from the negativity.

He’s there for you and sets aside his personal feelings on the topic to be a support pillar. This knowledge won’t avidly change how you two interact, but he does make it clear that you can always come to him when you’re feeling inadequate. You may feel many emotions, ones that he might not fully understand. Yet you will never be alone.

Felix:

 Your personal matters are not something Felix involves himself in often. He’s a firm believer of ‘privacy,’ and never pokes around in other peoples’ affairs. It’s unnecessary drama.

In other words: he views your relationship as two interlocked rings, sort of like a Venn diagram. You have your life, he has his, and whatever falls in the middle is what you two share.  

Except for serious issues. If you are ever in danger, suffering, frightened, anxious, ill, etc. he bypasses the rule of personal segregation and forces his way in. He has a protective streak that clouds his sense of judgement from time to time, so be prepared. His personal feelings might come across strong.

If it were a simple sibling squabble Felix would tell you to get over it, but if you confide in him whole heartedly the situation will escalate. He does not like seeing you broken. Not over something that could be avoided.

 You see, like Sylvain, this is a sore spot for Felix. His entire childhood he fought to break free from Glenn’s shadow and keep up with his friends. It left him emotionally tattooed with a failure complex, and his father’s behavior after Glenn’s death did not help. The difference is that it was himself doing the comparison, not his family. While Felix won’t openly say so, Rodrigue treated him with as much care as his brother. He was pushed to the best of his capabilities and the only one setting the expectations was himself.

He can’t comprehend why a parent would compare their children. To be so naive and insulting; he thinks they don’t deserve to have kids at all. Said thought filters into his solution to the problem.

He’s very direct with his involvement. If your family wants to behave like irresponsible twats then he will encourage you to separate from them. He’ll point out that family goes beyond blood, and that you don’t need negativity squandering your true potential. He’s certain that his father wouldn’t mind taking you in considering your relationship.

 (No, he’s not proposing. We all know that Rodrigue would bend over backwards if Felix actually reached out for a favor. And while it kills Felix on the inside to ask, you’re worth it)

I know, it’s irrational and not something one would expect from Felix. He’s not the type to go out of his way to help like this. If anything, people would assume that he’d push you to go make a life of your own or ignore your family and move on.

He does this because you’re the one in trouble, not anyone else. He wants you to focus on being your best self and knows bland words of encouragement won’t have anything beyond a temporary effect. Removing the source of the issue is the best solution and reaching out to his Father is a small price to pay for it.

Claude:

Claude handles the situation more from an observational standpoint in the beginning. He most likely can tell something is off with your home life long before you mention it. With the amount of time you both spend together he picked up on subtle hints easily. Shortly after your meeting he had also gathered information on your family, which sealed the deal.

Now he couldn’t just sit idly and watch you self-destruct. No, he needed to act somehow. Claude could never leave someone in such an unhealthy environment, let alone that person being his s/o. It’s just that family matters are a delicate situation that require as much tactical planning as the battlefield.

 He also is aware that information brokers can only tell him so much. Claude needs to hear the full story from you yourself, and to get that is much harder than it looks.

So, he waits. Eventually you’ll mention something that he can inquire further about. His pressing may upset you, possibly start an argument, but Claude knows it’s necessary. He doesn’t want you to feel as if he’s manipulating your every move, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Your mental health is no joke.

Claude will listen to you with full attention. No jokes, snide comments, interjections, etc. He just lets you pour everything out and absorbs it.

Then comes the contradictions. Anything negative you have to say about yourself will be shut down immediately. He knows that emotional scars like these cannot be healed with flattery, but that’s not what his goal is. His aim is temporary relief to stimulate critical questioning

He wants you to choose what to do next. Amidst the compliments he’ll ask questions like “‘why do you agree with them?” and “What do you want to do?”. Suddenly multiple resources are at your disposal and you have a smooth-talking golden boi ready to fly you off into the sunset. It’s all up to you. He just assures that no matter what your family says or does, you have the choice to move on and a herd of deer backing you up