#but I don’t care about half these characters. I don’t care about dragon boy I don’t care about the old lady or her weird baby or her sister

[veeslug]

There is nothing more disappointing than finally checking out a movie that basically everyone says is really really good and gets tons of hype only for it to be the most mediocre thing you’ve ever seen.

[artist-issues]

I’m going to say it.

I don’t think How to Train Your Dragon 3 was good.

Not when you compare it to literally either of the other movies. Certainly not as a conclusion.

I mean, the first movie was about a boy who manages to understand a hostile dragon species and bring peace to two warring factions, which is a parallel for his relationship with his father. The second film was about how sometimes, peace has to be fought for, and Hiccup’s whole identity was in contrast with that—because while his mother ran from conflict and his father leapt at it too eagerly, he had always been the one to stop the fighting. Then he has to learn that the things we love are worth protecting. 

And after he learns that humans and dragons can learn to understand each other and coexist—after he learns that it isn’t enough to run and hide or fight out of fear, but instead you must protect the things you care about—

After those two natural, powerful progressions are clearly worked for in the first two movies—

How to Train Your Dragon 3 comes along and says “‘No actually, sometimes all it takes is one madman whom you defeated with no loss of life to convince you that the things you care about should just crawl into a very pretty hiding hole, because you don’t feel like spending the rest of your life fighting for them.”

And I can say more. Below the break. 

Because I’ve waited a long time to talk about this. Everybody around me was saying that the third HTTYD movie was sooo good, how could I not love it, what was my problem, they’re crying in the theater seats around me, they’re all moved, but nobody can tell me why. What makes HTTYD3 so good, STORY WISE? What makes the fact that Toothless, who is established as “Hiccup’s Other Half” and his character’s support, leaving, a good conclusion?

And it’s not just that my feelings were hurt at the idea of this iconic duo being split up in the finale. 

It just doesn’t make any sense. Because the main thing that the whole series was built around was the adversity Hiccup and Toothless were always going to come up against, because they shouldn’t be friends. The whole first movie is like “dragons and Vikings hate and kill each other, there’s no way to get over this fear, nobody can be around Night Furies without dying,” and Hiccup and Toothless literally fly in the face of that. Then the whole second movie is “dragons either have to be left completely alone to themselves and their ways in the wild apart from man, or they have to be brutally enslaved as war machines under man’s boot” and then Hiccup and Toothless fly in the face of that. They stick together as their own, unique partnership, and it changes the world in HTTYD and in HTTYD2.

And then in the third movie, boom, Toothless suddenly doesn’t belong with Hiccup anymore? Suddenly it’s essential that he live completely separate, alone with “his own kind?” Suddenly it’s too hard and too dangerous to protect this dragon-Viking way of life that the whole first and second movie worked for?

I mean. They even abandon Berk. They fought so hard for Berk throughout three television series and two excellent movies. 

And I get it. The idea is that, they left Berk because Berk is a people, so no matter where they go Berk is still alive, just like no matter where Toothless goes, his friendship with Hiccup is “still alive.” And that’s a fine theme, I guess, except it totally makes the first two movies seem worthless. It makes Hiccup’s mom seem right for abandoning her family and giving up on the idea that humans and dragons could ever live peacefully. According to HTTYD3, Hiccup and Toothless never should have interacted again after he cut Toothless free of the net. Because Toothless should’ve just…gone on to live with his own kind.

Oh except he couldn’t, because Hiccup knocked his tail fin off and Toothless needed Hiccup. Just like Hiccup was weird and innovative in a time of traditional brutish Vikings, and he, in his own way needed Toothless. So they couldn’t live among their own kind without one another. 

And I see that HTTYD3 is trying to say “‘yes, they needed each other, but now they’ve grown up and the only thing left to learn is how to let go and move on.” But you know what, if you were going to tell me that, you shouldn’t have made the driving motivation for these characters to leave one another: “too many bad guys keep inevitably attacking us.”

You also shouldn’t have made the secondary driving motivation: “Toothless likes a pretty girl dragon and he can’t be with her and be with Hiccup because she’s Too Wild.™” Because guess what? The other thing that all of the previous canon content set up was that Hiccup can basically tame and befriend any wild dragon.

There are very few dragons, even in the TV show, that he cannot make friends with and live side-by-side with, and the ones that existed were basically just big, angry killing machines who presented themselves as way more threatening in mannerisms than the Light Fury does in the third movie. The Red Death eats other dragons; the Light Fury warns other dragons of traps. The Skrill tries to lightning-fry every human around it; the Light Fury only ever plasma blasts at humans that surprise her while she’s actively snooping around their camp.

I am willing to buy a story where a dragon needs to be free of his human master if he wants to have a future with his own kind, but you can’t do that if the dragon in the story is Toothless and the master in the story is Hiccup. Because those characters’ relationship was established as the future of their kind. Viking’s way forward was dragons—dragons’ way forward was Vikings. 

And that brings up another bone of contention with me—the first reason for the finale split-up—what made Grimmel so terrifying that it convinced Hiccup to uproot his whole tribe from their ancestral home and eventually give up on fighting for his dragon/Viking way of life, and Toothless himself? Was it that Grimmel was a better strategist than Hiccup? Because Grimmel lost and died, so there’s no reason for that to remain the reason. Was it because Viggo had a whole army of people that were slapped together to hastily represent “the rest of the world” and a bunch of dragons—again, DRAGONS, Hiccup’s specialty—to attack them with? Because again, all of them lost. And Berk sacrificed nothing in the process, unless you count, like…stress.

And DON’T give me any crap about the epilogue. Don’t tell me “‘Oh, OP, you totally ignored the part at the end where Toothless and Hiccup’s new families visit each other, they’re not gone forever, they’re just Friends From Afar, living at peace, protecting the peace by staying apart.”

That is 1) a terrible cowardly step back from any emotional impact that the big goodbye and sense of sacrifice that living apart from each other should have given the audience, and 2) still doesn’t negate the fact that Hiccup and Toothless WERE fighting for their way of life, which was living together, since movie 1, and the fact is whether they visit each other or not they still don’t get to have that anymore. For no good reason. I could say more. I could talk about how silly I think a lot of the Light Fury plot is, how poorly set-up the Hidden World was as a conclusion piece, blah blah blah. But instead, I’ll just leave this quote from the end of How to Train Your Dragon 2, and you tell me how the logical conclusion to this quote was “let’s abandon our home and stuff our dragons in a hiding-hole because the enemies and armies that have never once actually defeated us are just too much hassle to keep fighting with.”

“This is Berk. A bit trampled and busted and covered in ice, but it's home. It's our home. Those who attacked us, are relentless, and crazy. But those who stopped them, oh, even more so! We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pin against us. We are the voice of peace, and bit by bit, we will change this world. You see, we have something they don't. Oh, sure, they have armies, and they have armadas. But we... we have... OUR DRAGONS!"

[sunnysideaeggs]

uuuuh okay thoughts about S2E1 (disclaimer: SPOILERS! and some unpopular opinions bc i WILL be criticizing alicent). most of these i had during my watch yesterday, and now i’m elaborating on them after more thinking about it. looooong post ahead

okay i liked the new intro. i will miss the blood pouring but i think the tapestries are a more visual way to convey targaryen history.

my favorite parts were the shot of vhagar and balerion in the field of fire(? idk they were eating men (green dragon black dragon !!!), the jaehaerys and alysanne portrait, alicent and rhaenyra and aegon and rhaenyra crowned side by side. beautiful.

also, the blood beneath the thread !!! targaryen history is written in blood. never forget this.

i dont particularly like jace being at the wall. it makes little sense to me, especially because the north is massive and i don’t think that cregan would like to make a procession to the wall just because a prince is there. i liked the tidbits though: jon going to the watch is a tradition he followed unknowingly :)

show me more political jace please, he’s cool.

‘surely torrhen would’ve rather died instead of bending the knee unless he believed aegon could bring unity to the 7K’ jace pls 💀

it’s funny that in one scene rhaenys and daemon had more tension and chemistry than all the scenes of daemon with adult rhaenyra. maybe what he needs is a GILF to put him in his place? lmao

LAENA MENTION LETS GOOOOO

‘make it a son for a son’ referring to aemond? alicent has no bone to pick here be fr i can smell bleach for the whitewashing a mile away

i also have issue with the writers’ choice of making rhaenyra ignore her physical needs and spend apparently days riding on dragon back and doing jumps and that when she just had a miscarriage. it’s canon that she was in bed rest for half a year because the loss of visenya took a toll on her body. it will be dumb and criticized if she’s fine to disappear for weeks but not to fight.

alyn velaryon? ok i’m mad bc corlys literally knows this dude is his son ???

i love how we all pretend that corlys and rhaenys were particularly interested in the strong boys. idk i can’t really care about that anymore

ow is helaena sewing alicent a dress? please tell me it’s not a shroud

AEGON APPEARED WOOO 🍳✨

‘where’s jaehaerys? where are his lessons?’ my man doesn’t know to what school his kids go lol

also he can recognize the twins apart with only seeing them :)✨ cute

aegon wanted jaehaerys in his council !!!! he’s making sure jae KNOWS he’s his heir and he’s on aegon’s mind

oh hel is comfortable enough with him to tell him about her prophecies, i’m just afraid that no one understand her

‘the rats’ NOOOOO

aegon is always like ‘😐❔’ around her lol

‘the queen is an enduring mystery’ he’s a poet i love him

alicole pussyeating but at what cost

why does criston has that empty look in his eyes, he had the same look in his scene with rhaenyra

where is all the raw emotion between them from last season? it’s giving cersei and lancel when it should be cersei and jaime. no deep gazes, no catholic guilt, something’s amiss

jaehaerys and egg </3 my feels they’re so cute

okay i have a bone to pick here because why is tyland being treated like a joke? i can get past jaehaerys toying with him because he’s a child, but aegon respected his allies (that’s a big part about him) and would never antagonize them in that way. it’s given rhaenyra and lady redwyne when we know both characters differ the most in the way they treat their subjects.

also, this is TYLAND LANNISTER, the most employed guy ever. he literally put his skin on the fire for his team, he’s loyal and he’s the best ally the greens could’ve asked for. if anyone is to thank for the death of the dragons, it’s him. put some respect on his name because this is the finance bro to end all finance bros.

also he’s always saying important things: the treasure in the green council, jason’s moves here. please listen to him!

another thing i dislike is the way important political moves are being brushed off. the treasure is a big big matter. it should be said explicitly what the council is doing about it being the focus of the scene. i’m sure most casual viewers didn’t catch that the comedic relief is making big money moves that will backfire later.

but anyways jaehaerys is so cute hehe

happy father’s day to aegon targaryen and aegon targaryen only

okay i’m rewatching the jaehaerys and tyland scene and i love tyland’s accent, and how polite he is to the little prince

go aemond in the council !!!

‘you do not have a seat in this council’ okay alicent please stfu. i disliked her demeanor since she was chastising aegon and tyland but this is too much. remember you do not have a seat either.

and no she doesn’t: she’s queen mother, not queen regent. aegon is an able adult and can rule without her help. i know the only council we had was with cersei but that’s because joffrey and tommen were under westeros’ age of majority. that alicent is there is out of aegon’s kindness and the council members’ respect.

also why would she be mad that the brothers are brothering ??? girl you wanted them to be on each other’s side

SUNFYRE MENTION LETS GOOOO

‘we must proceed cautiously’ i think all caution must be thrown overboard here. i know they want to portray A/R as the ‘voices of reason’ being pushed to war and all but sometimes violence is necessary to prevent more violence. what tywin said about murdering a dozen people in a dinner and a thousand in battle.

i’m tired of this aemond slander. he did it, but he’s innocent your grace

why larys kinda…

ok i love his voice

oh so now every move of alicent is seen by larys. she knows that he knows. neat.

why do the handmaidens wear green? they should wear gold ☀️

okay i initially thought syrax was sunfyre because of the pink of his wings. i hope sunfyre is golden smh

it’s neat that we remember than no matter what side we’re on, for the common people dragons are a source of fear and caution. the fishermen are loyal to rhaenyra yet they will run away from her when she’s on syrax because they don’t trust a dragon.

rhaenyra’s pain is so deep, i really empathized with her. absolutely devastating. her expression, her grabbing the cape, everything

emma is so fucking talented for real, making me feel for the death of a character i dislike

(oh how the mourning of a woman for her child will cause thousands of mothers mourning their children the same)

‘aegon the magnanimous’ when your homie gives you a ridiculous nickname

my boy sits and listens to his subjects, calls them by their names and tells them not to be afraid. hello jerard what can i do 4 u? :)

i love how egg is like ‘yea whatever take ur sheep jerard pls like me’

okay i dislike otto here. aegon is obviously into crowd pleasing (a secret tool that will be useful later) and for once it’s okay. jerard will go home with his sheep and be a diehard aegon supporter and raise his kids to be the same, tell his friends about the king’s generosity. i think otto should know better than to angry the population in time of war, even if you can’t make the flock whole, give the man grain or coin so he can feed his family and the effort of going to the king’s house.

hugh? like hugh hammer? ooooh

‘our victory depends on the efforts of the smallfolk’ close enough welcome back princess diana

another otto slander moment here. i don’t think it’s wise to chastise the king (an adult, mind you) and putting himself in between of aegon and the court like that. did we saw otto with viserys? he sat by his side and whispered his advice in a discreet manner. he didn’t try and strongarmed his king in front of dozens of people. that’s not a smart way of doing things. it’s called soft power for a reason

also, i think the directors were trying to make otto parallel tywin in that joffrey in the throne scene, but tywin was explicitly trying to get joffrey to be more involved in the council and the two were alone. give it to aegon, let him have his fun in public and manipulate him in private, that is the way. doing dumb shit like that only makes aegon look like a kid and otto like a shameless powergrabbing dude

one thing i appreciate is that aegon has his own court. he has his lads-in-waiting, he has a few ladies following behind, and that’s how a king should be. we always saw the royal kids isolated (joff, tommen, rhaenyra only had alicent) when in reality most important people will have a flock of people accompanying them every day.

now that’s what i’m talking about. larys is all about being subtle, honey trapping his way to power. that’s how the game of thrones is played. while aegon will not agree with him just like that (because larys gives him the oogies), i’m sure he will remember larys’ words.

‘as viserys wished’ oh don’t speak of him fuck what he wants

an ally would not sit there and cut her legs at the table of men? girl you do that yourself

alicent, the problem is not otto undermining you, is both of you yapping about shit aegon and aemond not care about and winning empty victories lol

aegon will probably forget about jerard next episode, but will not forget feeling his wings being cut by otto. aemond remained in the council room but will remember alicent wanting him gone.

i wish alicent and otto believed more on their kids/grandkids

mysaria apparition yay

‘you speak of highborn games, i am common born’ tell him girl

daemon don’t put your hands on women challenge: impossible

chemistry with mysaria? uuuuh

i love how everyone reminds erryk of arryk like ‘ayo where ur bro at?’ a matching set is not matching, it’s giving the parent trap

‘i want aemond targaryen’ okay at least she knows who to blame. i want to see more of vengeful rhaenyra, let women be mad

daemon going for aemond instead of for jaehaerys is such a cheap move smh, whitewashing at its finest

jaecarys and rhaenyra :(

is it too insensitive to say that jace’s hair looks great? you’re serving cunt? your brother just died and you’re serving cunt?

ow alerie florent :((((

FUCK VISERYS TARGARYEN

i really like the symbolic funeral. that shot of rhaena crying over the fire? chills

is it me or they changed joffrey’s actor? idk

uuuuh alicent idk if that’s empathy or weakness 🙃

once again i don’t think it’s neat that they show blood being a normal goldcloak. he was discharged dishonorably for femicide. be honest

cheese’s actor kinda looks like joaquin phoenix

‘i want aemond targaryen’ i hate this fucking show.

ROSBY AND STOKEWORTH MENTION LETS GOOO

criston agreeing with aemond in private but backing alicent in public is the medieval version of ‘yea kid ur right but i don’t wanna fight with your mom’

criston looks so tired :(

‘her grace speaks with two tongues’ SAY YOUR TRUTH AEMOND

it is vain to try and blame aemond for starting the war when the war was brewing since before he was born. rhaenyra wouldn’t give up her claim, daemon wouldn’t accept it. if rhaenyra ascended, the targtowers die. there’s not another version of this story

‘she holds love for our enemy, that makes her a fool’ that makes her a traitor. especially after the events of tonight. do we think rhaenyra has a designated green supporter that tries to get her to the green’s side? why would the greens have a rhaenyra cheerleader then?

gods forbid something happens and otto is not there 🙄 control freak

i like how they’re making aemond more rage-filled. careful ewan your book!aemond is showing

‘aegon the strong’ ‘my nephews have already taken that one’ but egg 💀💀💀

i really love how aegon has his court. he’s protected by the throne’s swords AND his homies got his back

the true king can sit however he likes. he lounges on the swords and they’re as soft as pillows to him. pretenders can’t relate.

in a deeper level, it shows how he’s comfortable both in the throne and surrounded by people. he has high trust. kinghood is a tool he doesn’t have any training on but he holds it like a natural

aegon truly trusts aemond. i love that for them. if they make aemond to be treacherous i’ll cry

AEGON THE DRAGONCOCK 🐲 rip leon estermont you would’ve loved shitposting

also why the ratcatchers are just walking around the keep? are they in the tunnels or in plain sight?

the kick to the doggie :( i really hope they didn’t really kick a dog for that

unrelated but i really need the rats around the red keep to mean something like larys skinchanging into them. they can’t be a red herring or just blood and cheese. they have too many shots

again, why are they out and about? isn’t it weird to see dudes in the middle of the night?

helaena’s maid looks like emma stone and she has really good eyebrows. i’m pretty sure she knows something (larys agent ofc)

how do we go from searching for aemond to threatening helaena? whyyyyyyy

oh right we had to blame the smallfolk for being soooo greedy and wicked and stupid that you tell them kill a great warrior and they kill a baby. because daemon can’t ever order a baby killed amiright?

the little beds noooooo :( baby jaehaerys

okay i was expecting more of helaena. in the books she’s described as pleading, begging, crying and so on. phia is killing it with the eye expressions but she looks stiff in comparison with only her necklace. even trying to bargain more (my husband can give you everything and more), some more tears, some stuttering would fit show!helaena’s too. that’s on the directors tho

i also dislike the choice that anyone can just barge in the room, literally they had to make the castle desert instead of blood and cheese waiting for hel in alicent’s rooms. i know someone is going to make the point of ‘why didn’t helaena scream or run?’ and yes partly. guess we had to slander alicent in another way right?

but alas, i am thankful that a prediction of the scene didn’t came true: no children being forcefully stripped. that would’ve sent me over the edge. they implied it but no child actors were harmed in this episode

omg the sounds of the head cutting and jaehaerys’ muffled sounds i wanna cry

helaena is so lost and the castle is a maze and nobody’s there and she’s lost lost lost and running with jaehaera i can’t

did she saw a vision there? when she stopped and went to alicent’s room

imagine going to comfort for your mom and she’s at it

‘return to your post lord commander’ why didn’t you criston? 🙃

also it didn’t pass me by that aegon has THREE kingsguards in addition to his four homies and his own sword. helaena had none. even if he was off duty and he’s sworn to alicent and not helaena, the lord commander is not commanding

THREE maids at the start of the episode doing absolutely nothing and none here? i’m so mad

‘they killed the boy’ :(((((

also why is helaena so disconnected? like why is she ‘able’ or is she in shock? i hope if they don’t make her go insane with pain like in the book she gets a revenge arc where she goes on dreamfyre, she deserves it.

i hope aegon kills them all.

[tojisbbg]

❈ 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 ❈

❝one day i will stop falling in love with you, some day, someone will like me like i like you.❞

♡ manjiro sano ♡

a/n: current mood - wanting to breaking people’s hearts 😈 (sorry mikey stans)

content: mikey x reader (y/n), very heavy angst, right person wrong time, you’re mikey’s childhood friend, he’s getting married (lolz), not grammatically checked/edited

...

you finished adding the final touches to your makeup, a heavy sigh leaving your lips as you checked in the mirror if your concealer hid your puffy eyes well. some would say that whatever you were going through was tragic, a scenario that you would read about in romance novels where the main character is destined to a miserable fate.

and perhaps that was right.

you’ve been feeling miserable, sad and pathetic for the last month and a half since you’ve received the invitation. a piece of paper that felt like a sharp knife slicing your heart in half.

what was worse was that you couldn’t even find it in your heart to throw away the card. it was beautifully decorated with happy pastel colors and confetti, printed on expensive card stock, pop-up designs and a photo of him with the girl that was supposed to be you.

it was your childhood friend’s wedding, except for the catch that you’ve been holding in a burdening crush on him for the last twenty years. he was your person and you were his, being there for each other through thick and thin.

you both created a world where it was just the two of you while everyone else became a blur, a bunch of white noise. he was the invincible mikey and you were his key.

you couldn’t help but wonder, when did things change so fast? how did the perfect world you both created become nothing but dust?

---

(17 years ago)

“how is she, doc?” the young boy with a dragon tatted on his skull asked curiously as he stared at his friend, well practically family, in concern. 

“it was just an upset stomach, little man. we gave your sister some antibiotics to fight off those nasty little germs that’s been bothering her. she’ll be good in a few days. you sure you don’t have a parent or older family member we can contact?” the doctor asked, cocking an eyebrow as he held the pen in his hand eagerly, hoping the blonde boy would say something to him. 

“we’re orphans and she’s not my real sister. we have someone that’s been taking care of us for all these years and he’ll come by shortly.” he murmured, shame painting his face as his gaze went down to the floor. 

the doctor looked at him with sorrow, patting his head. 

“hang tight, buddy. keep her company, but don’t make her laugh too much or else it might make her cry.” he tried to create humor and it successfully made the frowning by crack a crooked smile. 

“yes, sir!” the little boy playfully saluted as he watched the man in the white coat walk away with a chuckle. 

“ken?” his ears rang up when hearing your faint call of his name, a small whimper following after. 

“y/n! are you hurting anywhere? should i call the doctor back? uncle’s gonna be here soon with remi. i told them to bring your favorite chocolate pudding.” draken gave you a cheeky grin, his hand now holding yours tightly. 

“you know me so well, sometimes i forget that i’m an orphan.” you laughed quietly, trying to not put strain on your stomach. 

“you’re not an orphan, y/n. you got me, uncle, remi and the other girls too. we’re one big happy family.” he persisted, eyebrows furrowing as he tried his best to convince you to believe his point. 

“you told the doctor that i’m not your sister, ken.” you whispered, your throat becoming dry as the words left your mouth. draken fell silent for a few seconds before sighing, laying his head besides your hand. 

“i told him that you’re not my real sister, y/n. there’s a difference. i don’t care what the law says because my heart says otherwise. you’ll always be the sister that i’ve always dreamed of having.” his eyes twinkled, a hand coming up to ruffle your hair. 

“so i heard one of my little girls was sick? maybe some chocolate pudding will make those little bad guys in your stomach go away.” your uncle’s voice boomed in your ward, a small smile plastered on his face as he shook the white plastic bag.

your eyes glimmered in content before you were pulled into a bear hug by remi. the girl sobbed on your shoulder, wetting it with tears and snot as she roared by your ears. 

“y/nnnn!!!! i thought you were gonna die when kenny told uncle! i love you, y/n, don’t leave ever me. ever.” she hiccuped between every word as your uncle and draken tried to console her and calm her down. 

“it was a stomach bug, remi. i’ll be better in a few days.” you tried to cheer her up. she raised her head, looking at you in doubt. 

“promise?” remi sniffled. 

“promise, you know i’d never lie to you.” you wiped away her tears before hugging her once more. 

your uncle handed the three of you the small containers of chocolate pudding. 

“why don’t you three take a walk outside, i’ll have this really nice nurse walk you guys. it’s good to get some fresh air.” the doctor said, patting your back and you all agreed, soon leaving the room. 

you happily skipped through the hallway, one pudding container in your pocket, while the other one was tightly secured in your hand as you ate it. 

“let’s play hide and seek, you’re the seeker ken!” you quickly blurted out, not giving either of them a choice before running off to the other direction. you faintly heard draken groan in annoyance, being tired of always being the seeker but he’d always do it for you. 

you saw a pretty quiet hallway and decided to turn to that corner, only to find a small quiet room. you figured that it wouldn’t be too much of a trouble to hide in here for a few minutes

you opened the door, nearly having a heart attack from the sudden appearance of another person. it was a boy with short blonde hair, he was huddled up into a ball, quietly whimpering and crying. 

“hey, kid.” you called out to him, only to not receive a response. a heavy sigh left your lips as you walked over to him, sitting on the floor besides him. the boy looked up at you, eyes all puffy and his nose red. 

he’s pretty cute.

“look, i’m really bad at comforting people. but, when i’m super sad, i eat chocolate pudding to make me happy again.” you said with a grin, digging in your pocket to get your other container out. 

you grabbed his hand and opened his palm before placing the treat in it. he stared at it in momentary silence. 

“who are you?” he finally spoke, looking at you with slight confusion. 

“just a stranger who’s hiding from her siblings in an intense game of hide and seek. what about you?” you chuckled, scooping another bite into your mouth. 

“i’m.. i don’t know.” he said with a shaky breath, shaking his head. 

“that’s fine, we don’t always know the answer to everything. ken is really mean sometimes, he’s a year older than me and asked me what 345 times 82 is. i could bet you my whole stash of chocolate pudding that he doesn’t know himself. tch, smart my ass.” you scoffed, earning a small giggle from your side. you side eyed him, seeing him detach the small spoon from the plastic lid before opening it. 

“what’s your name?” he asked you, eyes anticipating for an answer. 

“y/n. you?” you continued to inhale your treat as you waited for him to respond. 

“mikey.” the blonde boy scooped in a hefty amount into his mouth as he consumed the sweet dessert. 

“why were you crying, mikey?” you asked, not realizing how insensitive you were being. 

“it’s personal.” mikey shortly dismissed, but you were a little slow to understand and continued to persist until he caved in. 

“it’s just me and you in here. think of it as a bubble with just us, nothing comes in or goes out of this bubble.” you assured him, patting his back. 

for some strange reason, mikey felt like he could tell you anything from how comfortable you made him feel. considering the fact that he didn’t want to show any kind of reaction or emotion towards his family, he decided to seek that comfort and release in you. 

“my mother just died, about an hour ago.” he bluntly dropped the bomb, placing a very awkward and tense atmosphere between you both. 

“you’ll get over it, mikey.” you calmly answered, making his brows furrow with annoyance and slight anger. 

“how could you say that to me? my mother just died.” mikey said in disbelief, his tone heightening a little. 

“i’m telling you the truth. i’m sorry that this happened to you, especially at such a young age, but it’ll all pass and soon, today will just be one of your many bad memories. you’ll find peace and love one day and heal, mikey. that’s life.” you defended your previous statement, looking into his eyes with a gentle look. 

“and how do you know that? you’re just some ten-year-old weirdo that walked in on me.” he mumbled under his breath, making you giggle. 

“i’m an orphan, mikey. i don’t even know what my parents look like or if i even have any to begin with. not even any knowledge on if i have sibling or not. ken and remi aren’t my real siblings, just people i grew up with.” you shrugged, making the blonde boy thin his lips. 

“i’m sorry.” he apologized, his gaze lowering to meet his shoes. 

“it’s not your fault. there’s too much love in this world to be consumed by regret or grief. i’m not saying that you shouldn’t grieve, but you have to pick yourself up and continue with the rest of your life eventually. it’s what your mom would’ve wanted, mikey.” you ruffled his hair as his eyes shimmered with hope. 

“thanks, i’ll try. also, promise me that you won’t tell anyone about me crying.” mikey gave you a embarrassed look, holding up his pinky. 

“i promise.” you intertwined yours with his.

suddenly, the door flew open, which startled the both of you. 

“found you!”

---

“i’m really sorry, sir.” the doctor heavily sighed, trying to pat your uncle’s back as the man sobbed in his palms. 

“how bad is it? please, tell me she has time! she’s only ten, i want to be able to walk her down the aisle one day.” your uncle begged, choking between every word and cry. 

“the tumor in right in the middle of her brain, wrapping around each and every blood vessel. it’s to aggressive for us to remove it, i’m sorry once again, but it’s inoperable. she’ll bleed out before we can even remove a centimeter of it. with proper treatment and medications, we’re looking at maybe ten more years.” the doctor replied, making your uncle rub his temples in worry. 

“uncle!! meet my new friend, mikey! they live on the next block from our house.” you vibrant voice broke the depressing atmosphere. your uncle quickly wiped away his tears, giving you all a smile. 

“hey, i remember you! you were in s.s motors with shinichiro.” your uncle patted mikey’s head. 

“he’s my big brother.” mikey answered. 

“i see, why don’t you come and have lunch with us. we’re going out for burgers, i’ll text your brother that you’re with us.” your uncle suggested, making the small blonde boy nod his head.

and just like that, the both of you became inseparable. 

---

high school came around and you were the only thing that was piecing manjiro sano, or rather the invincible mikey, together. he formed a gang and that included your brother in it as well. you all were a pretty tight group to say the least, yet no one could truly understand him better than you could.

not even his right-hand men such as draken or sanzu. 

“i think i’m gonna disband toman and move away for some time, you now escape life for a little.” he sighed, opening the lid of the chocolate pudding before handing it to you.

“where’s yours?” you asked, confused as to why he only got one. 

“didn’t want one.” he shrugged, digging in his pocket before pulling out a box of cigarettes. he plucked one of the cancer sticks out, planting it in between his lips before lighting it. 

you watched him in disappointment, as he inhaled the smoke before coughing it out, eyes becoming watery as you scoffed. 

“dumbass, give me that.” you grabbed the stick before throwing it on the ground, stepping on it. 

“and that.” you grabbed the pack out of his hands before tossing it into the trash. 

“y/n.” mikey called out. 

“no, i’m really mad at you. i can’t believe you, mikey. pull that type of shit again and i’ll bury you, i swear. no girl would ever want to kiss you with a mouth like that.” you scoffed, flicking his forehead as he winced in pain. 

“not even you?” he teased. 

“i’d rather kiss a roach.” you playfully punched his bicep, earning a small laugh from him. 

“they only had one pudding left, so i didn’t get one for myself.” he explained himself. 

“we could always share, idiot. say ah.” you ordered, scooping a hefty amount of pudding before placing the spoon near his lips. he opened his mouth, eating it with content. 

“see, much better than cigarettes. but i was being serious, mikey, i don’t wanna see those near your lips or reach ever again. swear on my life?” you glared at him, making him choke. 

“hey! why are you giving me such a harsh swear??” he cleared his throat. 

“so you’re saying you’ll lie and do it behind my back?!” you yelled, making him quickly shake his head. 

“no, no, no! that’s not what i meant. i’m just saying that isn’t it such a big swear for something so stupid?” mikey tried to reason. 

“your health is not stupid, mikey. don’t push my buttons and swear already.” you rolled your eyes, making him sigh. 

“fine, i swear.” he said in defeat, stealing the reamining of your pudding to eat. 

“hm, good. oh, going back to what you were saying earlier, why so suddenly?” you questioned, backtracking to the previous conversation before you both got out of topic. 

“i don’t know, i feel like i’m bringing in my toxic energy in and engulfing everyone. maybe i should just let it all go and step back, you know? even you need a break from me to be honest.” he bitterly laughed. you kissed your teeth before grabbing a hold of his face, turning it to face you as you stared sternly at him. 

“mikey, i’m not going anywhere. what i promised you seven years will never break, even after we die. our souls are one, and i can’t leave my other half. so, let me run away with you. wherever you want, i’ll follow right behind you.” you gave him a soft smile, caressing his cheeks lovingly. his expression grew softer, tears welling in his eyes as he buried his face in your chest. you wrapped your arms around him, kissing the top of his head. 

it’s been rough on him, especially after losing shinichiro too in an accident. mikey’s been in a really dark place for a few months, shit, even scary if you were honest. he was snappy, rude, all dark and twisty. yet, you never gave up on him. 

because you knew that at the end of the day, he was still the same small boy you found in that closet crying to himself. 

“y/n, promise me something.” mikey sniffled, pulling away as he looked up at you, eyes holding so much vulnerability. 

“i promised my entire life to you, what more should i promise?”you joked, wiping away his tears with the pads of your thumb. 

“if we don’t find someone by the age of thirty, let’s get married. i’d rather spend the rest of my life with you than all alone.” he offered, a boyish smile dancing on his lips as your heart fluttered. 

you could’ve sworn that it skipped a few beats, making it suddenly harder to breathe as your cheeks grew warm. 

“stop fucking around with me, sano. it’s not funny.” you warned him, but his expression remained the same. 

“you’re being deadass?” your eyes grew wide and he hummed in response. 

“so, are you in or not?” the blonde boy cocked an eyebrow as he held out his pinkie, making you chuckle. 

“jeez, it seems like you’re making a life or death contract with me. yes, i’m in.” you answered, intertwining your pinkie with his. 

and to think that what you’ve been dreaming of for years were to come true would become only a nightmare. 

it’s not until emma’s death where mikey completely disappeared, not answering anyones calls or even yours. you spent days trying to look for him all over the city and even begging koko to somehow track his number or something. 

but every effort went in vain. 

you cried for months, refusing to eat and giving up on the sweet treat that only reminded you of him. you had nightmares every night, and the only thought that circled your mind was that he was dead. 

he was really gone. 

until after nearly nine years, he came back. not alone, but accompanied with another person. 

a girl, his girl, to be precise. 

mikey went to the philippines for those years, returning with a completely new get up that would make it hard for anyone to guess that it was him. his beautiful blonde locks were now cut short with an undercut, dyed black. 

you remembered the first day where he showed up at your doorsteps, your knees turned into jelly as you almost collapsed to the group if he didn’t catch you in time. you cried in his arms for so long, cursing and punching him from pain and anger as he whispered thousands of apologies to you. 

you were happy, so fucking happy to see that he was alive. it put your mind and heart to peace, until you saw her walk out of the car.  

“this is my girlfriend, y/n. we met a few years back and she’s just amazing, you know. i wanted you to meet the most important person of my life first since you’re my best friend.” he mischievously giggled, snaking an arm around her waist. 

your throat became dry, heart shattering into a billion pieces as each word leaving his lips was like knives jabbing at your heart. it bled, threatening to leak out of your eyes. yet, you held back, trying your hardest to fake a realistic smile to keep your cool. 

“nice to meet you.” you shook her hand. 

“the pleasure’s all mine, mikey’s told me a lot about you.” she said, making you awkwardly laugh.

“oh, i see.” you dryly replied, clearing your throat. 

“these are for you by the way, it’s a recipe that’s really sacred to my family. i hope you enjoy.” she smiled, handing you a box of what seemed like cookies. 

fuck, i can’t even bring myself to hate her. 

“thank you, that’s really sweet of you. uh, you both should stay over for lunch.” you offered, secretly praying that they refuse. 

“sorry, y/n, i gotta get my bike inspected by ken-chin. next time, yeah?” he ruffled your hair, as you managed to let out a small hum. you waved them goodbye before entering your house, locking the door behind you. 

you fell on your knees, letting out all the tears that you’ve been holding in. your cry was ugly, gut-wrenching and painful as it stole all the oxygen from your lungs and made you gag and choke. 

it felt like someone died, well, it was sort of like that. 

mikey was no longer yours, he was somebody’s else’s. you were all alone now. 

you’re the other woman. 

you probably shed a gallon of tears by now, trying your best to turn off the water tap glued on your eyes. but, the image of him snaking his arm around her waist never left your mind. 

you glanced at the box of cookies on the floor, opening the lid to grab one and take a bite. 

“fuck, they taste delicious too.” you cried, throwing it back in the box as you decided that it’ll be best to call out of work sick for tomorrow. 

---

the day has finally come, where you have to let him go. he was no longer yours, those days will never come back, now only a happy memory that you can confide to for comfort. 

“y/n, you don’t have to do this.” draken sighed, placing a hand on your shoulder but you shook your head, determined to attend that damn wedding. 

“i have to, ken. he’s my best friend, i can do at least this much for him.” you answered, fixing up the green dress that you wore before putting on your earrings. 

“be selfish for once, y/n! i know that you love him, alright? i’ve been living with you since diapers, i know you like the back of my hand. you can lie to anyone but me, i know that you’re not okay. which is why i’m telling you that you don’t have to do this. i’ll tell him that you’re sick or something.” draken’s eyes softened, his expresison growing sad as he looked at your pained expression. you were smiling at him, yet he knew the thousands of thoughts and words that littered your mind. 

“ken, i know. the only way i could give myself closure is by seeing it happen, in front of my eyes. i want my last memory of him to be happy and clear, so that when i think of him, i don’t feel pain or misery. if he’s happy then i’m happy because we are each others halves and no one can take that spot. besides, his fiance is so nice, i can’t even bring myself to hate her. he’ll be fine, i know he will.” you explained, grabbing drakens hands as you gave it a tight squeeze, looking up at the tall man that stood before you. 

he bit his lips to contain himself from arguing back, caressing your cheeks before letting out a sigh. he nodded his head, deciding to butt-out of your business. 

“okay, whatever makes you happy.” he said and you hummed in response before getting up to slip on your heels. 

“let’s go, we have a wedding to go to.” you smiled at him, slipped your arm in his as you guys walked out of your house. 

the drive to the church was short as it was the same one where hina and takemichi got married. you entered the ladies room where all the bridesmaids were getting dressed up as they all waited for you since you were the maid of honor. 

“y/n, you’re here! god, you look gorgeous, maybe i should ditch mikey and marry you instead.” she joked, pulling you into a hug as you chuckled, patting her back. 

“you look even prettier. damn, mikey caught a good one i gotta say.” you answered looking at her with eyes full of nothing but adoration. 

she was sweet and understanding, a perfect wife for mikey. he deserved this, after being through hell and back, he deserved happiness and peace. 

and you were willing to do anything to give him that, even if it meant to go to the ends of the earth and come back. 

“it’s almost time! come on ladies, get in position.” one of the bridesmaids announced.

“i’ll see you at the aisle.” you rubbed her shoulder as she hummed, then taking your leave as you entered the wedding hall. you walked up where the priest stood, mikey standing right across you. 

his eyes widened when he saw you, walking up to you without hesitation. he pulled you into a tight hug before pulling away with a smile. 

“you look absolutely beautiful, y/n, as always. i’m so happy that you’re here, i was honestly so nervous, but after seeing you, i got my courage back.” he honestly said, making it hard for you to form words to respond to him. 

“better not chicken out sano, i raised you better than that.” you playfully scolded him. 

“yes ma’am!” he jokingly saluted, making you both laugh. 

“mr. sano, please stand in position, the bride will enter in a few minutes.” the priest interrupted. 

“sorry. i’ll talk to you after the ceremony, okay?” he held your hands, giving it a tight squeeze and you swore that if he was just a hair more closer, you would’ve broken down into tears. 

“yeah, yeah, of course. go get married, sano.” you teased, making him blush as he walked back to his original position. you stood with one ring while draken stood with the other, the taller glancing at you frequently to check if you’re okay and you’d discreetly try to nod and give him the signal that you’re fine.

the music began to play and the doors opened, revealing mikey’s soon to be wife, now walking in with her father. a huge smile or her face as you looked over at mikey, only to catch him staring at you before averting his gaze to his wife. 

she walked up the steps, now standing besides you as she turned to look at her soon to be husband. the priest began to read the wedding vows and it was soon time to exchange rings. the beautiful diamond ring glimmered under your eyes and you couldn’t help but wished it was for you. 

it fit perfectly, like it was made for you and you knew that because you accompanied mikey when he went ring shopping. it was unfortunate to know that his fiance’s ring size was the same as you, so you helped him pick and size it. you remember not being able to take your eyes off of it as soon as he slipped it onto your finger. you felt chills as his skin touched yours, but now, it was reality; only not yours but hers. 

“do you, _____, take manjiro sano as your wedded husband, to cherish in love and in friendship, in sickness and in health, in success and in disappointment, to love him faithfully, today, tomorrow, and for as long as the two of you shall live?” the priest asked, and without hesitation⸻

“i do.” she said with the brightest smile, giving him the most lovesick eyes known to mankind. 

“do you, manjiro sano, take _____ as your wedded wife, to cherish in love and in friendship, in sickness and in health, in success and in disappointment, to love him faithfully, today, tomorrow, and for as long as the two of you shall live?” he now asked the groom, and to your surpise, mikey’s eyes were only focused on you. 

please, say no, mikey. say no! you’re mine and i’m yours, it always been like that. please, say no.

your mind screamed and your heart bled, hoping for some miracle to change the events to bring it in your favors. but to your disappointment, none of that happened. he gave you a small smile before glancing at his bride. 

“i do.” mikey said and the priest suddenly glanced at everyone in the room. 

“any objections?” he loudly asked, as a moment of silence fell in the whole room. 

me! i object. this wedding shouldn’t be happening, not even in a million years. that should be me in that dress and ring, not her. i don’t want to be the other woman.

“that’s a no then. i now pronounce you husband and wife. you may kiss the bride.” and with that being said, you averted your gaze to the bouquet of flowers as the crowd roared with cheers while they both kissed. 

a few tears slipped from your eyes but you managed to quickly wipe them away, praying that nobody saw them. to which nobody did, except for draken as the man look at you with nothing but an aching heart to see you this heartbroken. 

the after party was great, from the table of stories and lunch too. the cake was amazing as well, coming from the bakery that you and mikey often went to for study dates during your teen years. 

“y/n! there you are, i’ve been looking for you everywhere. i just wanted to come here and thank you again for helping out with everything. you’re amazing and i’m so happy to know someone like you.” mikey’s wife came to you and pulled you into a hug, as you pat her back. 

“of course, i wish you both the best of luck and a lot of happiness. treat him good, okay? he’s been through so much and he really deserves this. he’s a little childish and stubborn at times but he’s so sweet. he’s great and it breaks my heart to give him away but he’ll be okay. i know he will, he’s mikey after all.” you laughed, making her break into one as well. 

“mhm, you got it!” she smiled at you once more before being whisked away by another relative for pictures. 

“looks like you’re busy.” you heard a familiar voice behind you, turning around to see mikey grinning at you. 

“yup, busy practicing how to spend the rest of my life alone without my other half.” you teased, making him chuckle. 

“i suppose if you’re not too busy then you can spare some time to have a dance with me?” mikey wiggled his eyebrows, making your lips curl as you took his hand, being pulled away to the dance floor. 

you wrap your arms around his neck as his arms snake around your waist. you both sway to the song and it felt like once again everyone else was just a blur and you both were now back in your own world, just the two of you. 

“thank you, y/n. for everything, from beginning to end. i’ll never be able to repay you for everything that you’ve done for me. without you, i don’t think i’d even be standing here. you’re my one and only, forever and always; my other half.” he genuinely spoke, eyes glimmering with love and adoration, turning your brain into a bunch of mush and heart becoming all fuzzy. 

“you just got married, mikey, don’t make your wife turn against me by saying those kind of things.” you chuckled, making him crack a smile. 

“i mean it, you’re very special to me, y/n.” mikey said, tucking in a piece of hair behind your ear. you felt suffocated, feeling your airways and chest tightening. you couldn’t tell if it was from all that food you stress-ate or the feelings that threatened to pour out right this moment.

“can we go somewhere private, i gotta tell you something.” you urgently ushered him, as he quickly nodded his head before being dragged away to the groom’s room. 

you quickly closed the door behind you, locking it before turning to face him. mikey grew concerned at your behavior and silence as he constantly asked if you were okay.

“if someone were to ask me what would be the best and worst day of my life, i would tell them that it was the day that i met you.” you breathed out, making mikey tilt his head to the side in confusion. 

“huh?” he managed to say. 

“it was the day where i found someone that understood me as a person deep from within, knew my every thought and feeling before i even had to say it or act on it. i found my other half, the person that made me, well, me. the person whom i’ve grown to not be able to live without as well. which also brings it to why it’s my worst day as well.” you grew silent, words feeling too heavy to spew out as tears gathered in your eyes. 

“the person that i can’t live without, mikey.” you choked out, tears now streaming down your face as mikey’s eyes widened. 

“y/n, i don’t under-”

“i love you, okay! not as a friend, but as someone more. i wanted to be the person that you spend the rest of your life with.” you cried, making him gulp harshly. 

“i wanted to be your bride.” you sadly laughed, looking up at him with a tear-stained face as your mascara and eyeliner was now smudged. 

“oh my god, y/n.” he whispered, trying to pull you into a hug but you quickly stopped him. 

“don’t! if you hug me right now, i’ll break and won’t be able to stop myself. please, just hear me out. when we went ring shopping, i never wanted to take it off of my finger and it felt so nice when you put it on me. that night, i went home and couldn’t stop envisioning a future where it was us instead. i’ve loved you ever since we were kids, mikey.” you confessed, making him break into tears as he pulled you into a hug, unable to contain himself. 

“then why the hell didn’t you say anything before? you even had the chance to object when the priest said the vows. why didn’t you say anything!” he sobbed, his embrace tightening as if he never wanted to let you go. 

“because she’s good, mikey. you need a wife who’s sweet, tender, gentle and understanding. she’s perfect for you, mikey. you’ll be okay, i know you will.” you gave him a sad smile, holding his face as you looked deep into his eyes. 

“but you’re also-”

“no, mikey. you need someone who can cherish you and spend many more happy years to come. i can’t give you that.” you sniffled, making him furrow his eyebrows. 

“i don’t understand, what’s going on?” mikey panicked.

“i’m dying, mikey. that day that i met you, i was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and it seems that i barely have a full month left to live. i was supposed to be long gone by last month but i guess i was lucky enough to see you get married.” you cried with a smile. 

“no, no, you’re lying to me. this can’t be! y/n, this isn’t time for jokes, please, i can’t lose you too. i’ll marry you, i’ll manage something, i promise. please, just don’t leave me.” he begged, holding onto you like you would disappear from his reach if he were to let go. 

“mikey, don’t make all of this go into vain. i worked so hard to come to terms with my feelings and get closure. which is why i waited until after the wedding to tell you because even if i do leave you, you’ll have her to be there with you. you need to live for me, and enjoy your life in happiness. okay?” you sobbed, trying to convince him but he kept shaking his head in denial. 

“no! please, y/n! i-i-”

“here, make sure to share with her, alright? don’t get too greedy.” you tried to joke to lighten the mood, as you opened his palm to give him the container of chocolate pudding. 

“y/n, please.” he cried, but you were stern with your decision. you felt yourself becoming light-headed and the familiar feeling of nausea. it almost felt like you were dying, ironically. 

“bye, mikey.” you gave him a soft kiss on his cheek before running out of the room. mikey yelled your name behind like a madman as he ran after you, but you were too ahead. the fresh air hit your skin, sending goosebumps everywhere and it felt like you could breathe again. 

you walked over to draken’s car and opened the door, sitting down as you were about to close the door. 

“i love you too, y/n! i always have and always will.” was the last thing you heard before slamming the door shut, breaking into tears. 

“start the car, ken.” you said in between your sobs, driving away from the church. 

“so, you gonna hide from him forever or what? you know, y/n, i never told you how much i love you. well, not like that. but, i’m grateful for having someone like you in my life. i’d do anything to make you smile, you’re the most selfless and kind person i’ve ever met. an angel is what you are.” draken rambled, making you softly chuckle.

“thanks ken, i love you too.” you tiredly slurred your words, draken glancing at you as he stopped at a light, a smile etching on his face.

“seems like you’re tired, let’s get takeout tonight and go to the movies with remi. you know, just like the old days. what do you say?” draken asked, only to be met with silence. he chuckled to himself as he decided to not bother you and let you sleep till you both got home. 

draken finished parking the car, calling your name a few times to try and wake you up, but you wouldn’t budge. 

“jeez, gonna make me carry your ass up those damn stairs.” he groaned while getting out of the car and opening the door to yours. 

“y/n-” he grew quiet, seeing your pale face made his blood run could. draken quickly bent down and put his ear on your heart, two fingers on your wrist. 

no beat, no pulse. 

“no, no⸻y/n, wake up! please, i need you to wake up!” draken cried, wrapping his arms around your cold and lifeless body to give you some of his warmth. 

but it was no use, you were already gone. 

[juniorfor2]

The amount of fans who say that they wanted the Team Black family, specifically the kids, to have more arguments in order to make them more interesting like Team Green are confusing.

First, saying that Team Black should be ‘complex and interesting’ in the same way Team Green is, is the least complex and interesting development ever. It would be repetitive, with absolutely nothing new. No characterization, just a useless parallel that would contribute nothing besides another both sides are bad argument. Which we’ve all heard a thousand times by now, we don’t need to hear it again.

Second, that’s just too easy. Team Black is a very messy family - it’s got an uncle/niece relationship that’s been separated for 10 years, illegitimate Velaryon siblings that look nothing like the rest of TB, two black twins that haven’t been raised in Westeros, who all have to juggle being both step-siblings to each other and betrothed pairs, two very new half-brothers, and absolutely none of them have a very similar personality, except perhaps for Daemon and Baela. That’s got to be one of the most confusing and chaotic families ever made.

So the expected development would be for them to break apart. To have arguments. To never get along. That’s the easy route, because writing it would come without thinking. Jace doesn’t like Daemon? Super easy. Daemon wants to kill the Velaryon boys for his own sons while being sexist towards his daughters and their prospects of becoming Queen/Lady of High Tide? Boring and easy, no effort required. None of the siblings have a relationship with each other unless forced to? Don’t even have to write a line for that.

It’s simply not complex by a writing standpoint, because all of it can be written without putting in effort. The lines will write themselves, without needing to think of how everything affects the characters. In fact, nothing would affect the characters, because none of them would make the effort to be with or interact with each other. Nothing could develop or characterize them in a new way.

The better development would be for them to all come together despite those differences. To care for one another after having their initial families torn apart. The development as they all try to get along can result in arguments, and it won’t be perfect. However, everything that could happen would come from a place of love, and trying one’s best even with an odd and imperfect situation.

Jace might be uncertain about Daemon’s feelings toward his illegitimacy, but couldn’t they both be dedicated towards protecting the family? Daemon might want his blood on the throne, but shouldn’t it be easy for him to pass it through his daughters - it’s not like Baela is about to be submissive and take orders she doesn’t like from Jace. Joffrey isn’t Daemon’s son, but he will be raised by him his whole life - what’s that dynamic like? Rhaena doesn’t have a dragon, but could she be willing enough to learn diplomacy and politics and fashion from her stepmother? How does Rhaenyra even take being a stepmother, after such a bad relationship with her own? How did Rhaenyra and Daemon fully get back together - what arguments did they have, how did they resolve them, what were the better times they had together before the war? How did everyone take Rhaenyra being pregnant with Aegon after Laena just died of childbirth?

Exploring development like that would be better, and it would also be new. Not just ‘oh I wish Team Black wouldn’t get along so well and it’s so uninteresting, look at what it does to Team Green.’ We don’t need the exact relationship repeated.

It would also be nice to see a family that shouldn’t work at all, make it come together because of how dedicated they are to protecting and loving each other. That would actually be complex and interesting.

[sheikah-simp]

Okay fuck it today I’m finally gonna talk about how cheap Zelda’s draconification was and how it robbed so much from not only the player but also undercut the entire premise of botw.

Long post below because boy do I have some THOUGHTS.

First, I do wanna say that I don’t completely hate totk. It absolutely hurt me at first and I despised it because it was a betrayal of botw in so many ways, but it does do some things well, and it’s grown on me. Despite the story being shit, the execution of it is done very well. Genuinely I cried multiple times through the game because they just made certain things so beautiful. Even during the draconification scene when I was pissed off beyond belief. And the ending fight is admittedly really cool. Some of the bosses are a bit too easy despite being really fucking cinematic (colgera) and I like how versatile the devices are. Link’s abilities also mesh with the game really, really well. As a “game,” I think totk supersedes botw. However, as a narrative, botw is far superior.

Alright. Let’s just rip the bandaid off. I absolutely despise Zelda’s transformation into the Light Dragon. It completely destroys her entire arc in botw and completely destroys botw itself. Not only have we CLEARLY split the timeline again (ugh) it just seemed so out of character and they helplessly damselfied a Zelda we had just watched grow so so strong. (Maybe how well Age of Calamity handled Zelda’s arc has also colored my perception of this but I digress).

In botw, we watch Zelda grapple with failure, duty, and selflessness. She is constantly faced with her feelings of failure and the looming threat of the Calamity and undue pressure from her father, trying to convince her to give up the one thing in her life that actually brings her joy (researching ancient sheikah tech). This pressure occasionally leads her to acting really bratty, especially towards Link. She is selfish not in a way that is arrogant, but rather is self-conscious because she is so consumed with her own thoughts of failure she can’t often see what other people are giving up or going through - it’s a very natural human reaction many people with low self esteem have. It is still, however, a self-centered outlook. She can’t get out of her own head and stop blaming herself for her problems.

But then!! Just when all hope is lost and the Champions are caught in the Divine Beasts, she and Link are cornered, she steps up and does one big selfless thing. She jumps in front of Link to protect him from the blast of a guardian, and this awakens her powers. This is significant to her story for a couple reasons:

#1) Zelda does something selfless for Link. Even in this situation that seems hopeless, and how in a scene before she’s shown blaming herself, she finally decides to take action in spite of the circumstances. She defies hopelessness even when all hope seems lost. She’s demonstrated not only does she deeply care for Link, but she isn’t going to let a hopeless situation stop her.

#2) This is the bigger one for me. Zelda deactivates a guardian. In that cutscene, her blast is shown to be so powerful that it actually deactivates most all the guardians at Fort Hateno, and maybe across all of Hyrule. All those decayed guardians you’ve been seeing throughout the game? Yeah. Half of them or more could be directly because of Zelda. Her connection to ancient Sheikah tech is ultimately what helps her save the kingdom. No, in that moment she didn’t sit there thinking “Aha! I know how these operate and therefore—“ but it really isn’t lost on me thematically here that Zelda’s major interaction with a major piece of Sheikah tech is what saves everyone. Her own talents are her strength. (This is even more pronounced in Age of Calamity but again. I digress).

So then Zelda buys them enough time to take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection. She drops the Master Sword off with the Deku Tree and then you know what she does? With her newfound power, she goes and fights Calamity Ganon in a cage match, herself, for 100 years. She is locked in that fucking egg with him holding him back one on one, and she is still able to communicate with Link while doing so. That is objectively badass. After overcoming hopelessness and failure she is so strong she can hold back a literal force of nature, herself, for a century. And it’s another selfless act. She’s been in there one hundred years keeping Hyrule safe until the Master Sword is restored and Link is better enough to finish the job.

And then when everything is done? The final shot in the completed ending of the game is Zelda setting out on her next adventure. She’s still talking about the Sheikah tech (Vah Rutah) and what to do about it. Her power is fading, but she’s ecstatic. And the final thing we see of her is her smiling and laughing (the first time she’s really done so!!) and then the camera pans out to this entire field of Silent Princess flowers - the flower that cannot thrive in a domesticated environment. A flower that can only thrive out free in the open - in the wild - and is such a clear metaphor for Zelda I feel like I don’t really have to get into it at this point. Zelda is free of all the chains that once held her back and now she is free to explore her actual interests and talents, out in the field, out in the wild. And it’s fucking beautiful I still cry thinking about the last shot of those flowers. It’s some of the most powerful imagery I’ve ever seen in media, let alone in a video game. It’s on the fucking cover art with the Master Sword. It’s about rising from the harsh, uninhabitable ground and thriving. You show me a silent princess flower and to this day I will weep.

So now this brings us to how totk betrays this (and uses the silent princess flower to slap me in the face I guess idfk).

Look. I get that they cannot keep Zelda in god mode. I get that her letting go of her power is actually an important part of her arc. But you’re telling me she has nothing? This awakened Zelda we already know who’s saved Hyrule doesn’t have any remnants of her light power? I guess they needed it all for Mary Sue- I mean Rauru jfc. And I get the time power thing is a callback to previous games but in the context of this incarnation of Zelda it seems really out of place. I’m glad she got a mother figure for a little bit though. Even if she was then murdered directly in front of her face.

So now we have this Zelda, who we KNOW is kind of a genius at all things ancient tech. And who we KNOW has already saved the world once. (Putting aside how this game can’t decide if it’s a sequel or not). And. Oh my god! She was sent to the past! She was sent to the past to interact with a highly technological race! This should be like a dream for her! She should clearly be able to demonstrate how knowledgeable and competent she is in these situations, right? Right? RIGHT!?!

No! She isn’t!! She is flopping around completely useless back there!!! Rauru and Sonia are shown doing everything while she just watches and kind of picks up her time power eventually. We get little tidbits more of her interactions in the Ring Ruins, but none of this is shown in game. The Zelda we get on screen is helpless, has no idea what she’s doing there, no idea how to get back, and sits having conversations with her mommy about how much she loves this boy back home. And maybe she needs that ok. She didn’t have a mom. But still. Come on. We see NONE of her old talents and capabilities showcased in an era where she was perfectly poised to do so. SHE IS OUT THERE FREE IN THE WILD. She regressed in personality and has less interesting traits than when she was being a selfish brat to Link. Come on. Look how they butchered my girl. She is a damsel. It’s really sad.

And so then!! Then!! They have the balls to sprinkle in this dragon stuff and SUDDENLY make it the big overarching thing of the game. I think the dragons are very cool and an awesome idea for a game, but I don’t think they’re integrated very well into botw, let alone totk, to justify what a suddenly massive role draconification plays late in the story. I wish they were. Because it’s a really good idea. But it is NOT well executed here and serves to undercut her arc and her personality further. The immortal dragon thing is like a side throwaway line in ONE CUTSCENE from Mineru. No one dwells on it. It is not presented in a way where it seems like it’s gonna become A Thing. But it’s made clear to us that OOOO IF U BECOME A DRAGON U BASICALLY DIE. U ARE NOT URSELF ANYMORE U DESTROY YOUR SPIRIT AND SOUL AND PERSONALITY AND DIE. Like oh god ok I get it. Swallowing ur secret stone is suicide by dragon. I get it. Okay.

And so then, instead of being competent in this situation and environment like she should be, we have a useless helpless Zelda floundering around in a hopeless situation where once again all of her friends die. This Zelda who has already overcome this hopelessness and all of her friends dying once and rose above it with god level power. And they are on the brink of failure and all her friends die and what does she do?

(bottoms up, and the devil laughs).

AND SO WE KILL OURSELVES???? KILL OURSELVES!!!???!!

On one hand I really don’t blame her. The devs gave her absolutely no power or agency in this situation and so this is the only option she has. Because she has no power, this is the only way she can get the Master Sword to Link. It’s forced and cheap, but also makes sense on her end given what she’s working with. But I cannot emphasize enough how much she does not know if this will even work or not and how from her POV and everything we have been given to know about this process in game, she is just killing herself over this sword. And that is not MY Zelda.

Not only is she killing herself over Link and the Master Sword, but it makes you feeling invested in the scale of her sacrifice in botw seem cheap and stupid in retrospect. Like, Oh?? You thought it was bad Zelda was locked in a fight with Ganon for 100 years?? WELL TRY ONE MILLION BAJILLION SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME AS A DRAGON WITH A SWORD STICKING OUT OF HER HEAD!!!!! Like god ok I get it!!! Sorry for caring!!!! Sorry for thinking her sacrifice in botw was really badass and cool and meant something!! you’re right this sacrifice is waaayy bigger and waaayy worse and scarier god im sorry!!!!!

Like. I'm kind of glad she doesn't remember any of it then. But then why the hell did you need to make this seem like a bigger scarier deal that took a shit on all of her choices in botw? 100 years with Ganon seems pointless and like nothing in comparison to that, and as a sequel, that's bad.

But like I'm sorry. I just can't get over Zelda killing herself in this environment she's supposed to be thriving in. She has NO options?? she can do NO research with Mineru? She can make NO PLANS to get herself OUT of draconification (we're returning to this is a second, don't worry) or find a different way to get the sword better?? My god. What have they done to you girl.

And then. Then these fuckers have the absolute GALL to slap down a ton of silent princess flowers at the end of that final scene. You fuckers didn't even make that a recurring symbol in this game. How dare you put the silent princess flower, the symbol of breath of the wild, the symbol of a girl who rises up out of hopelessness against all odds, who thrives her best out in the wild, tacked on to the end of a cutscene where she does exactly the opposite of all of that. Seriously after watching that entire sequence it felt like they spat in my face. I was pissed.

So then you do the rest of the game that's a wild goose chase except you know the goddamn answer the whole time. You know where Zelda is. She's up there in the sky. You don't need to find her. She's right there. And the ending fight sequence is cool, but as we've established, Zelda was not conscious during that, so really she had no part in the badassness at all. She didn't even actively choose to fly in and face Ganon. The dragon did that.

And THEN!! AND THEN!!!!!!! Rather than create some interesting postgame content (which could have involved the ring ruins!! which could have involved Purah or the forgotten temple!!! you know that room you have to walk through where you very clearly have to walk around this object that looks like a fucking lotus?? yeah?? that one?? that LOTUS that does FUCKING NOTHING????) we just get not even a deus-ex-machina, we get Rauru-ex-machina, yet again, stepping in and fixing Link's arm and turning Zelda back just because he can do that now or something. Because suddenly they can defy all established laws of the game and it means nothing. That big sacrifice we cheapened botw to make also meant nothing because Rauru can just. Reverse it lmao. There is no reason they should just be able to do that now. And if there is, why does the player not get ANY part of this? (Such as in Age of Calamity, where after the main storyline you can go back and put together Terrako and unlock the true ending. Age of Calamity was a better companion story for BOTW than TOTK ever was, in this essay I will--)

Anyways. Those are my thoughts. I was really excited for the Ring Ruins to have some sort of meaning in terms of turning Zelda back (especially because you know. they're a big ring. a circle. like the logo of the game. like. an ourobouros. like. yknow what nvm.) and the whole, Impa being a part of that. and the rest of the Sheikah. But instead I just got Mary Sue Rauru fixing everything and taking his arm back (because I guess he could have just fixed Link's arm regularly the entire time) and the Sheikah, descendants of the OTHER highly technological race, floundering around completely useless at the foot of these mysterious rocks that do nothing but get you an armor set that gets you to a skippable dungeon. Totk. Stamping all over my cool ideas and hopes and dreams once again.

I could go on about this. But I can't. I just can't go on anymore. They've broken me enough already.

[visionsofmagic]

⎯ one in nine realms [mini series]

[masterlist] & [taglist request]

[next chapter]

▸pairing: heimdall x f!reader [god of war: ragnarok version]

▸summary: after atreus’ sudden disappear you decide to bring him back to home. to bring him back, you visit the asgard and so many advantures at the door. however, the most unpredictable one is to fall for odin’s right hand man, heimdall. he is something else and eventually, you find yourself wanting him to be a good boy. maybe he will listen?

▸wc: 2.3k [for the chapter]

▸warnings & tags: in general; some mature scenes, heimdall is lapdog of odin, he is arrogant and cocky, not a certain relationship with kratos such as a dad figure (for now because I couldn’t make a certain thanks to my love for kratos), travelling in realms, y/n is a goddess and she has a great power, she is an original characters as her power/s are made by me, heimdall become sub (sometimes), pet names (like sunshine, pretty boy, good boy, honey) – for the chapter; pet names/nicknames, heimdall is being an asshole, y/n is confident, touching, exposed skin, travelling, mind reading

    “Where is Atreus?”

The question made the three of your visitors keep their silence. While your big smiled face was leaving its place to concern one, Mimir tried to break the silence, “He is gone, y/n. We are estimating that the boy gone to the Asgard, to meet Odin.”

It took for a second for you to reply because Kratos concern looking gazes towards the forest made you feel sad. Everyone knew how he cared for his little boy, Atreus and now, he was concerned about his safety. As you made your way to Kratos’ huge posture you tried to calm your own inner thoughts about Atreus’ safety.

“Kratos –“ You touched his shoulder, giving a light squeeze, “Don’t worry. He is a smart and strong. I know he is okay.” Even if you were worried about him, your words were true. In your past journeys with Kratos and Atreus who were the ones saved you from a dangerous dragon years ago, you witnessed how Atreus has grown as a strong and smart boy like his father. Because of the bond you have with them, you didn’t wait any longer to express your plan, knowing Odin very well thanks to your past events with All Father’s lies. “I will go and bring him back.”

Freya took a step further, “No, y/n, it is dangerous. You can’t go alone. Heimdall and Thor will be there.”

You tried to put a smile to Freya who was another person you liked most, alongside with his brother. “Thor? Oh, don’t worry about him. I will not step back to cut his face again, if this would be what he wish.”

“You fought with him?” Kratos asked curiously.

“Of course she did!” Mimir’s playful tone came from Kratos’ back, “She fought with more than half of the Asgard. I didn’t joke when I said she is a beast when we first found her, brother.”

You chuckled at Mimir’s compliments, “Thanks for genuine words my friend.”

“Ah, always young lady.”

“So,” You focused on Kratos, “Do you trust me?”

“Hmm.”

“Then, let me bring him back.”

“But –“ Yes, Kratos was fond of his son, Atreus, but he also has a bond with you. He didn’t want you to be in a risk that he put you.

To ensure him that you will be safe, you smiled, cupped his right cheek, “I will be fine. So do Atreus.”

After spending some time looking at his eyes, you made sure he was giving you approval. So, you picked up your gatherings and weapons, putting them on your back as they vanished from others’ eyes but kept remained for you, Freya spoke,

“Odin closed the gates. How will you go to there?”

You pointed the golden bird who was standing on a tree next to you, “If Odin has his own magic, so do I.”

Freya smiled, “Of course.”

The golden bird whose name was Trisc, landed on your shoulder, looking at the other three happily. “Now, Trisc,” You caressed her head, “You know where we are going.”

She nodded and began to whistle a song in a low tone. As the Midgard’s, your home’s vision become blur, Kratos said, “Be careful.”

You nodded, “Always.” And with that, your body vanished and a minute later, you were in front of the huge walls of the Asgard.

    “Oh c’mon!” Your golden colored blade cut the last remaining creature’s head off, giving you a time to relief. How many creatures were there? You thought Asgard will be safer than other realms but clearly, Odin just made his own palace safe and well. Others, who stayed Asgard, behind the walls, didn’t concern him.

‘Oh, he never changes.’ You thought while climbing the last part of the wall. He always thought about himself. He even didn’t pay attention to his family. Thor, who you fought deadly, was the saddest one for you. He just wanted to be in peace but Odin wanted him to do his dirty jobs. You really had so many nights thinking about how these people believed, respected and stayed right beside Odin. Their All Father was nothing but a liar.

After reaching the top of the wall, you came up on the wall with one last force. While taking fresh breaths, you took some time to relaxing your muscles. ‘It was easy peas' but boring’ you thought to yourself as the Asgard’s peaceful side came to your scene.

There were people who were forging weapons, having little chats, going to bar, and minding their own business. Valkyries were all over the place but none of them paid attention to your figure. You wanted to laugh at how they saw themselves as higher living things than others who couldn’t even see a woman who was standing the right in front of their eyes.

You guessed they believed Heimdall, the one who saw and hear all as Mimir said, without thinking twice. You didn’t meet with Heimdall, the one who so many people afraid of, in your previous years. You just heard his name and abilities. They said how he was the protector of Asgard and lapdog of Odin, as Mimir said again. He was able to see all but he wasn’t one that could be more powerful than you. However, your curious side really wanted to see him, meet him and you knew, with this journey, you would definitely meet with him.

As you made your way to the palace, as you thought it was a palace, some gossips began to audible from right and left sides. People were trying to guess who you were. They never saw any unknown woman in here most likely because they were really surprised. You didn’t pay attention to any of them. You were here just for Atreus. So, they were none of your concern but when someone said your name, you stopped on your trail.

“It’s Y/n!” One of them said, probably a dwarfs who was prison of Odin. “Who is Y/n you dumbass?” Other asked, keeping her gazes on your body. “You are the dumbass! She is a Goddess. She is far from our realms!” Other one laughed, “A goddess? With that delicate body, she only can be a human.”

You wanted to smile at their comments but kept moving instead. You were no longer a Goddess, as you wanted to not to be. You held your power still but you denied using it. Instead of your nature power, you just used magic and became sorcery after being a God meant nothing to you. You wanted to help people but you didn’t want them to see you as an outsider like these Gods and Goddesses. You wanted to be part of them. After using magic instead of your power, you really became friend of people.

So, without giving them any hint about who you were, you just went to the palace. Standing outside, you knocked the door, gently.

After waiting for some time, you knocked it again. When you were ready to knock for the third time, you heard a deep but playful voice behind you, “Well well well. Isn’t this my lucky week? Two strangers at once!”

You rolled your eyes and turned around to look at who were keeping you from your job, reaching Odin. The moment you saw him, you just thought how beautiful his eyes looked. Maybe it was because of the color of them but he certainly had wonderful eyes that made people look them without minding any other business they had. No, you hadn’t a favorite color but purple became looking so good to your eyes.

His lips stopped with a grin-like expression, looking proud of himself but you couldn’t tell why he felt so good suddenly. Instead of questioning who he was, you just asked, “I came here to see Odin.”

He rolled his eyes, “I really don’t understand how everyone thinks it is this much easy,” raising the thumb and forefinger, showing the short gap between them, he said, “to meet with All Father.” He took a step to your body, making you feel short because of his a bit taller size. “Are they giving something that makes your minds go dummy?”

You crossed your arms over your slightly exposed breasts, analyzed him from head to toe while realizing how his armor looked expensive and clean. He must be him.

You smiled, “From the attitude, I am guessing you are Heimdall.”

He smirked, “So, you are not that dummy after all, honey.”

Being a cocky person, having expensive and clean armor, treating you like a dummy and using pet names… You couldn’t expect much from the sons of Odin, could you?

Without introducing yourself, you just said, “I am here to meet with Odin. Where is he?”

He looked taking back from your question, “Didn’t you hear what I said?” He kept walking around you, looking at your body shamelessly, “All Father is not someone who you can meet anytime you want.”

He stopped right behind you. As he bent over your right soldier to look at your eyes, you felt his fresh breaths on your exposed shoulders because of your clothes which were a strapless black and golden colored armor top that covered your breasts and a black pant that completed with furry golden boots. His purple eyes were so close, and because of being taller than you, his nose were nearly touching your cheek effortlessly, making you want to get out of there because after all, he was Kratos’ enemy.

“Why are you here hon?” He looked angry for a moment before talking playfully again, “And how you crossed all the way to here without me seeing or hearing it?”

You took a step forward, saving you from his breath taking aura, “Well, this is the question you should ask to yourself, hon, not me.”

Even if you were trying to sound calm and confident, his effects on you were insignificantly effective. How come he took your breath away like that? This had to be some trick he used on you. Definitely. Nothing more.

“Oh, no, no-“ He began to speak but stopped for a second like he wasn’t sure to say it or not. “I don’t use tricks. I do not need them sunshine.”

Again with nicknames. And how stupid of you was this? You forgot that he was able to read minds, getting their real intentions. Did he read your mind when you first meet with his beautif – dumb eyes?

“Thanks for the compliment.” He said, smiling now. Oh, how you wanted to punch him in the face now. However, you reminded yourself your main purpose, taking Atreus back.

“If you read minds, then you know why I am here.” You looked at the Asgard’s view, “Where is he?”

“The half-breed boy is doing something for the All Father with Thor.” You both surprised how he suddenly became honest and Atreus doing a job for Odin with Thor. The whole situation was blowing your mind. If Kratos could be here –

You stopped thinking about them to prevent giving any unwanted information to this lapdog of Odin. So, you thought about Odin again.

“Then, I will wait here ‘till he comes back.” You smiled at him. If he wasn’t letting you meet with Odin, you would wait for Atreus to come back, then, you would return to home. Also, even if it was filled with the living things that you hated, the Asgard was beautiful. You would enjoy to travelling around it ‘till Atreus come back.

The moment you began to walk, curiously looking at the Asgard, trying to find an interesting thing to visit, Heimdall’s taller body stood right in front of you in a heartbeat, preventing you to take a further step. He waved his hands in front of his chest, “Oh, no, no, sunshine. You can’t wait here. Actually,” He showed the walls, “You have to go.”

You looked at the walls, then him. Every time you looked at his purple shining eyes, you couldn’t help but feel – good. How he had this personality with these beautiful eyes? It was sad.

You took a deep breath, “I will not leave ‘till Atreus is back. So,” You closed the gap between your faces, making him surprised and flushed a little bit because of your sudden confident move, not expecting it. “Either get out of my way or I will make you.”

Among the silence you two held, you studied his face better thanks to the closeness. Yes, you too flushed but this wasn’t something you wanted to hide. And how wise was it to try hiding something from a God who read minds without asking for permission?

You looked at how his eyes sparkled again and again. His face was clean, looking delicate but at the same time sharp. His braided golden hair made you want to touch and feel them because of its perfect and soft looking. The color of both his eyes and hair was something admirable. If he wasn’t acting like this, you could almost call him as one of the most lovely but also handsome Gods of the nine realms. But no, he was just the cocky son of Odin.

While thinking about these things, you saw how his face changed from self-righteous to resentful. Why he found your thoughts scathing? He didn’t need anyone’s acknowledgment expect Odin. Did he?

Suddenly, he moved from you, “Uhh –“ He tried to say, make a sentence, “I –“ He looked at you one last time like he was thinking about your last question. Maybe he was thinking how you made him feel? Wait, did you made him feel something?

As if he heard your thoughts again, he turned away. “Whatever.” Was the last thing you heard from him. You tried not to smile. Oh, this was going to be fun.

TO BE CONTINUED.

[sashi-ya]

𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 [+18] 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐱 𝐟! 𝐩𝐫𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 [chapter one] ʚ masterlist

ʚ synopsis ɞ reader enjoys cosplaying, slowly but surely she became more and more noticed by the community. However, from exposure also comes dangers. Thankfully, a modern knight will be there to protect a modern princess. Will they protegonize a cute fairy tale? or will be a tale full of dragons to defeat?

ʚ tw ɞ MDNI. not the sweetest story (yet). SEXUAL ABUSE INTENT (she is fine and safe). usage of drugs. medical terminology and treatment. I wanted to have the opportunity to spread some awarness about certain topics; being in danger is -unfortunatelly- something common nowadays when you are a woman or part of any minority, therefore having information to avoid those dangers seems absolutely necessary. So you will find some bits and pieces of information inside the story. If you need any type of support regarding these topics, please contact with someone who can help you. I am here to help you as a nurse and a woman.

ʚ masterlist: part 2, part 3 part 4; part 5; final

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧

He wasn’t very fond of conventions. Since Sora the Warrior of the Sea had ended, he didn’t enjoy the crowded space of geeky events. But his friends, did.

“You owe me one” Law grunts, as he clenches his tattooed hands to the steering wheel. They are absolutely stuck in traffic, the line to get to the convention centre parking seems endless.

“Captain!! Don’t get mad at us!” Penguin, one of his best friends, chime. The rest of the “crew” echoes him, giggling and full of good vibes.

“Do not call me captain, Pen… I- we were kids!” Law grunts feeling his cheeks turn red; he cringes every time he is called “captain”. Yet, deep inside his heart, the word reminds him of whenever there were no worries, and they would pass their free days playing “pirates”.

Half an hour later, and having listened to Uta’s song thrice, they finally find a spot to park. Soon, as they do, Bepo jumps off Law’s yellow SUV urging Shachi to help him fix his cosplay.

Bepo, the man of pristine white spiky hair and everlasting blushed cheeks, has taken a liking into dressing up as his favourite characters from books and anime. And so, his friends, are there to support him no matter what.

As they walk towards the entrance of the biggest hotel they ever been to, they hear some commotion approaching them. Like a violent gust of wind, a bunch of photographers and fans pass, pushing them to the side, completely unaware of their presence.

“What the fuck?” Law grunts, annoyed. -even more. “SHE- LOOK…!” Penguin and Shachi gawk at the beautiful angel walking through the entrance of the conference room. “It’s Princess Uta!!”

Law rolls his eyes. He seems to be over with those new idols, and, not to mention those who also cosplay. He considers that they are a bunch of “kids”, immature and annoying. Truth is, that deep inside of him, things weren’t like this that much.

“Come on, I don’t care who she is we should get going. Bepo, you will be missing the cosplayers alley… didn’t you tell us you wanted to meet someone in particular?”

The white-haired boy, with the cute expression of a polar bear, widens his eyes. His friend is right, he wanted to meet some beautiful cosplayers there.

The four friends begin to walk inside, avoiding a bunch of screaming teenagers -and not so young ones-. It’s hard to breathe, the place is packed with people buying stuff, taking pictures, or simply hanging out.

“Tch… all these people…” Law grunts; the more people around, the more he feels overstimulated. He hates loud noises, and the crowd around isn’t helping. However, despite his annoyed countenance, some merch catches his attention here and there. Deep inside, Law is still a nerd.

Many people pass by, scanning his façade that hides beneath a white dotted cap. His icy eyes couldn’t care a less; no woman receives a reciprocated smile, nor even a look. Law is above all things; he is not interested in finding love in a place like this.

In between many heads and fake swords made of cardboard, the banner that announces the start of the “cosplay alley” stands out. Law, who has noticed it before than anybody else, sighs. “Bepo… there” he points out, with his E inked index.

Desperate squeaks from Penguin and Shachi accompanies the excitement Bepo shows. The first two, run towards the place. Yet Bepo, stays right by Law’s side. They walk calmly; or at least that’s just Law, because his snowy haired friend seems to be consumed by the flame of anxiety.

“It’s just some guys dressed in weird clothes, Bepo. You are as great as them” Law spits, as if he didn’t understand the meaning of social anxiety.

“I know, Captain… but- you know…” Bepo fidgets his furred gloved hands; the character that he is cosplaying is some kind of hybrid in between a human and a polar bear.

Law looks at him, and reassures him with a soft smirk that’s barely noticeable for the rest of the world… but for his brother? It’s enough to feel encouraged.

The tables where many girls and boys are sitting, are all packed with people taking pictures with them, buying prints of their cosplay photos and some -like Penguin and Shachi- are simping. Some of the women are wearing pretty revealing costumes; other, show amazing props like their proudest treasures.

And the one that Bepo went to meet, was calmly taking some pictures with a red-haired little girl. She was dressed as a princess, or perhaps it was a warrior… no, she must be an angel…

“Captain, there she is! I wanted to take a picture with her since forever!” Bepo fans over the kind looking woman, smiling so sweetly to not so many people around like the rest of the cosplayers.

Law stands right there, getting pushed by many people as they pass and want to take pictures. He is just blinking slowly; never, in a million of years he has lost contact with reality just by looking at a woman… but it was happening, and soon the approaching rest of the “crew” noticed…

…

“Hi! A photo? Of course!” you chimed, happy to be reached by young kids willing to follow your steps in the cosplay career.

As you fleet goodbye the last kid, you notice some young men staring at you. One of them, particularly handsome, covered in tattoos, has a soft pinkish blush taking over his cheeks and seems to be frozen in time with no signs of even blinking whatsoever.

You think if he is ok. But soon you roll your eyes; surely he is watching at any other cosplayer looking bomb as all of them… he is probably another pervert.

Yet, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The white-haired guy by his side gets pushed to your booth by the other friends. He is wearing a cosplay that coincidentally share anime with yours. You smile, he is just timid.

“Hi… (Name). I’m- I am a fan of your work!” he shily says, when reaches your table. You smile, sweetly. This guy has never done anything wrong in his entire life.

You bow your head in gratefulness, standing up to get ready for yet another photo. “Thank you so much! What’s your name?” you ask, chiming and inspecting the amazing details of his costume. It seems made entirely by hand, and it couldn’t be more pretty.

“I’m Bepo!” he kinda screams, taking his hand to his forehead as if he was some kind of military or marine.

It makes you giggle, but soon the moment gets interrupted when the other two of them pull the frozen handsome guy with them to meet you.

“Hi! He is Penguin. And he is Law. Forgive him, I don’t know exactly what happened to his brain, but he wants to take a picture with you” a red-haired man with a funny looking hat says, pointing at the tattooed one.

That might have been the needed slap to wake him up. “NO!” he awkwardly screams, making you laugh.

He takes a look at you from the side, with sharp eyes that are pretty scary to look at. And it is enough to make you stop giggling. “I’m sorry ~” you whisper, looking down almost immediately.

“Captain!” the one that was introduced as Penguin scolds them, and the smile returns to your face. Why are they calling him captain?

“I’m sorry… I- I didn’t mean to scream at you” he stutters, looking now with that same hateful stare at his friend who takes two steps back.

You bite the insides of your mouth. He is way more handsome when he speaks, a raspier voice, low and sensual, that makes you kinda weak.

“Don’t worry. I get I look a little bit intimidating with this costume on!” you joke, taking a huge replica of a sword from the table and showing it to him. It’s almost as tall as he is, with a furry tsuba and golden details on its tsuka.

The man covered in tattoos look at the sword, and then at your eyes. You spend what feels like eternal seconds getting lost in them. He is something special.

Handing him the prop, your fingers delicately graze, and you discover how soft are his. He either never worked in his life or is some kind of surgeon.

He inspects the sword, amazed at the details. Bepo, while he does so, finally takes the picture he wanted to with you. And soon, the encounter has to inevitably come to an end.

All of them wave goodbye to you, but, you aren’t willing to let the man of frozen eyes go without learning his name.

“Bepo! If you post the picture we took together, please, tag me! I will love to follow your Instagram account” you chime, waving back at them. “You are an amazing cosplayer, we should team up someday!”

The white-haired boy has almost a stroke from your words; and you can only hope for his friend to also have an account…

You sit back for some minutes while more people come to your booth, and while you curl a lock of your wig you can stop thinking about him. “What a handsome guy…” you giggle, noticing your cheeks get hot as hell itself.

Sometimes, throughout the day, you take a look around. You wish you could see him again, but unfortunately you can’t get a glimpse of him.

Your thoughts, however, right an hour before the day of the con is over, get interrupted by a guy asking you something.

“Excuse me, I’m a photographer. You can see my portfolio if you scan my QR code. I would like to offer you a photoshoot for free” he kindly says, looking like the respectful man you’ve ever met. Besides, he has something attached to his cheek, something like a sweet? Did he seriously not noticed?

You aren’t fully trustful of him; you know some men, specially in your ambience aren’t exactly the best so you proceed with care.

“I… I really appreciate the offering. I would love to collab with you, but you see it’s been a long day” you try to decline, respectfully. It’s true that you are a little bit tired, but it was the fact that you had went alone to the event this time. Nobody could keep you company during the first day of the convention.

The man insists; he shows the pictures of his work, and they look awesome. “We wont go any further, I think right there will be enough for the pics to look amazing!” he chimes. You think twice, but since he didn’t request for you to go outside or far away you finally accept.

As you start packing up your staff, the photographer offers himself to help you. You are really happy someone is giving you a hand, and you kind of feel guilty for mistrusting him before.

When you crunch to pick up your bag you notice a little charm on the floor; a polar bear plushie lays almost forgotten under the table’s booth. “Oh… someone might have lost it! I will keep it and see if anyone comes back and asks for it” you think, clasping it to your bag.

 And soon when you are set to fleet, off both of you go.

Walking through the now almost empty halls, you get some chills running through your spine. Is not the first time you see the con’s alley deserted, but you usually end your day now and go back to your hotel. You shake the feeling and get distracted with the man by your side offering you a something.  

“(Name), bet you haven’t got anything to drink in many hours. Please, drink some water. You gotta stay hydrated” he says, with a smile that’s difficult to read. The bottle is closed, so you thankfully accept it.

Once you have finally reached the now solitaire photo set, specially adapted for the convention, you take a big gulp of water. It feels refreshing; you honestly needed it. You were taught to never accept anything edible nor drinkable from the people that come to see you at events, but since it the bottle was clearly new, you didn’t give much importance to the dangers.

When the camera is set, the man calls you to stand and pose in front of him. At first, things went smoothly. But then, everything changed…

“You should lower the cleavage a little” he suggested.

“I…” you stutter, fixing the collar of your dress. Perhaps it was too high and it wasn’t looking good.

“More, honey! You should show a little bit more skin. That will attract more followers!” he insists, pointing the camera towards your chest.

“No. I don’t feel comfortable!” you straightforwardly deny. You want to stop, but you begin to feel your ears buzzing, and the flashing lights of the camera become almost unbearable to look at. You try to look at your sides for help, discovering there is nobody around and the guy coming closer and closer.

The bastard laughs, grabbing your arms and whispering things you can barely understand. “Don’t get all worked up, honey… you shouldn’t drink stuff people give you… now, cooperate with me…”

You try to let go of him, scared of what he could do to you, unable to scream or even kick him away. Yet, there is always a glimpse of hope in everything...

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ“Get the fuck away from her!”

continues in ➡ chapter 2

[horizon-verizon]

Crying everyday and twice on a sunday about Elia’s Italian children yet cheering for the murder of Rhaego who is CANONICALLY BROWN is certainly a choice.

Throwing tantrums cause Daenerys living is supposedly an act of racism over Rhaenys Jasmine Targaryen Martell half Muslim and half Hindu kween of the Middle East and South Asia dying yet cheering for Rhaego’s death.

Cheering for Young Griff allegedly brown-skinned boy seeking justice for his mama (plot twist: he’s not Elia’s son and he doesn’t give a single fuck about her) killing white supremacist Daenerys and stealing her dragons yet cheering for the death of Rhaego.

The only people who cheer on the murder of Rhaego, a brown baby (since they want to emphasize race, we can do it too) are Martells stans & Starks stans (who will always gaslight you into believing that these white settler colonialists are a mix between Siberian indigenous peoples & descendants of Black chattel slavery). Very unserious and racist people. Which is why I don’t care about Elia and her children dying nor do I care about the Starks being slaughtered and losing the North. God bless 🙏

"Rhaenys Jasmine Targaryen Martell half Muslim and half Hindu kween of the Middle East and South Asia"

"these white settler colonialists are a mix between Siberian indigenous peoples & descendants of Black chattel slavery"

I just don't have any words for this masterpiece. Bless you, anon.

(I agree with all this, btw. yes, Elia's death, her kids' deaths, etc. was insanely tragic but they really pull this shit only when characters they see resemble parts of Dany or Dany herself "rock the boat"...plus female characters should not be valued in how their sons will avenge them).

[daeneryseastar]

“laena/rhaenyra wasn’t even a paragraph why are you so mad that they were scrapped for the show?”

oh i don’t know janice maybe because it being in a historical text written 200 years after the fact by ultra religious MEN who despise women and queerness all together IS noteworthy? ‘more than fond of’ is an allegory used multiple times in the asoiaf main timeline to describe romantic feelings and you’re mad that people read that phrase the way it was intended? not to mention it’s used in conjunction with ‘while the princess misliked her stepmother’ like COME ON at this point you’re being deliberately stupid. i’m sorry they weren’t scissoring each other for 200 pages but in actuality what did you expect? acting like rhaenyra and alicent were so so in love when we were only shown a couple scenes of them getting along max during a six month period. the only way that ship will ever be canon is through the actors. the show leaves crumbs for asshats like you because they know you’ll bend over backwards to defend them. apparently it’s still okay to queerbait in the year of our lord 2k24; along with sidelining a woman of color because diversity was important until it came to fleshing out a black woman and her canon sapphicness.

laena, for the limited time we had her character, was fiery, bold, and adventurous. she claimed the largest and oldest dragon alive at 12! the show choosing to racebend her only to mitigate her affect on the plot is gross! they did it to keep the ‘what if they were in love’ guessing game and gift it to a white woman. a white woman who vehemently HATED rhaenyra. we just wanted the story to have complex and multilayered characters rhaenyra has NO FRIENDS besides the first *two* episodes that is the definition of shitty storytelling. a targaryen princess at the height of her families power the literal protagonist of the dance and you all want her to be a lonely spinster boy mom who’s not like the other girls so bad when she was literally surrounded by women all of whom she cared about dearly. multiple relationships with others helps bring a story to life and would’ve helped tremendously with making the dumb as rocks audience understand rhaenyra’s character and how she was a girls girl in a time where you really couldn’t afford to be one which is why it’s so tragic when she starts turning on them during the dance but nooo the ONLY relationship that matters is a busted up friendship that the writers have in a chokehold for no good reason and fuck everyone else that these women might care about right? fuck rhaenyra fuck laena fuck alicent fuck their kids fuck their GRANDKIDS they’re all just mostly blank slates anyway what impact is their death going to have on the narrative? next to nothing because of these fuckass decisions. let’s just all agree to throw stones at glass houses THAT would be more fulfilling for the show than half of the shit they gave us.

[ceoofhelaegon]

Stealing traits from Daeron and destroying Aegon's character completely, all of these things have made me dislike Aemond so much. Someone remind these writers that Aemond is not the only character in team green.

Hey, Nonnie.

I’m not gonna lie, I used to love Aemond but after reading the books it made jaded about his character. Aegon is fascinating and actually has a character arc in the books, he’s the only one that redeems himself IMO.

I wouldn’t mind Aemond’s characterisation if it wasn’t at the expense of Aegon’s, I was on Reddit and someone said that in the show Aegon isn’t a character he’s a problem that everyone has to deal with.

Alicent has to deal with the fact that Aegon hurt someone, Otto has to deal with the fact that Aegon isn’t interested in being King at all and Aemond (for some reason) has to deal with the fact that Aegon is “unworthy” (see what they’re doing?) of being the firstborn son.

Aegon was a great fighter because he also trained with Ser Criston, but only Aemond is allowed to have a fighting scene and be badass. Aegon has a mystical bond with Sunfyre, he actually fights for Aegon until the bitter end, but only Aemond is allowed to have scenes with his dragon.

Aegon would never bully his brother, especially with the Strong boys, whom ALL of them hated, but no, Aemond is the bullied meow meow, his brother is a meanie and has to bully the poor Aemond because Aegon is rotten, didn’t you know?

In the books, when Viserys asks where Aemond heard the bastards rumours you can infer that the brothers are close and that Aegon will always be there for him and he was. In the show, to the general audience it was only Aemond taking revenge for the bullying.

In the books, Aegon never took his brother anywhere but in the show, he takes Aemond to brothel for some reason and traumatised Aemond. Why? Because Aegon is rotten, he has no redeeming qualities and Aemond is the poor meow meow.

When Viserys is dead, Aemond was actually training and what the first thing he says to the Kingsguard?

“Is Aegon King?”

In the show? Apparently he’s the one that should be King because he reads and has Vhagar? Apparently Aegon never touched a sword, only Aemond.

Even his brother being the spawn of Satan, he still goes out to find him, isn’t Aemond just the best? He’s so dutiful and loyal. Even though he hates Aegon and wished that he was far away, and Aegon wanted that too. Or Aemond wanted Aegon dead, whatever works best for him and getting him close to the crown. Sorry, Aemond is amazing he would never covet what his brother has.

Because instead of getting only Ser Criston and Aegon, we got that pathetic scene of Aemond fighting Aegon in the middle of the street. Because Criston convinced Aegon by saying that his half-sister would be a threat to his family we also got Aemond looking for him, why was he there? He was so unnecessary in that scene, Criston and Aegon needed that scene. Criston needed to show his intelligence and Aegon needed to show the care and love he has for his family.

I really hate what they did with Aegon, and now? I don’t care about Aemond, I don’t care about his story or his character. I simply wished that they cut Aegon entirely, like they wanted to do with Daeron. Have the star of the green side by himself, but sorry, he’s only allowed to shine when Aegon is the villain of his story.

Sara Hess and Ryan Condal are a fucking joke, I hope that they’re never hired for anything ever again. Their writing is ridiculous, I just know that TGC will shine with whatever shit they write for him and then HBO will try to claim that it was because of them and their script. It won’t be, it’s purely TGC’s talent.

[youngerfrankenstein]

So today I watched two movies where the deuteragonist goes kinda nuts and turns into a dragon thing, before the protagonist has to calm them down.

They were both a pretty fun time!

Promare is something I had been meaning to watch for quite a while but somehow never got around to. Glad I finally did!

Promare has quite possibly the Worst oppression allegory I have ever seen. A bunch of people are discriminated against because they burned half the world and killed billions (with a B!) of people. Also it’s not actually anything inherent to them it’s a bunch of alien parasites that will destroy the planet. However, since this is basically just an excuse for robots to fight other robots on fire… I can’t say I really care in the end. Promare is ENTIRELY style over substance, and I mean that in the best way.

The plot is breakneck and stupid. Most of the characters barely register as such. The dialogue is so dumb. And it FUCKING RULES! I’ve seen the film described as “Anime the Anime” and that does kind of sum it up. Everything feels like a ten year old boy smashing his action figures together and you can’t help but get swept up in the enthusiasm.

Helped by the absolutely (excuse the pun) FIRE soundtrack. The energy almost never lets up, and on-the-nose engrish lyrics just add to the experience. Even if you don’t watch the movie holy heck listen to the soundtrack.

The characters may be paper-thing but holy hell are they fun to watch. Our protagonist, Galo, himbo extraordinaire is as ridiculous as he is somehow charming. You can’t help but admire his drive to help people. And his foil, the ironically icy Lio, here to set fires and fight for his rights. Aina, a nice, spunky girl set up as a love interest for about five minutes before it turns out her character has more of a story based around her relationship with her sister. Which is a nice change! In fact the only romance in the story arguably involves CPR for plausible deniability. And our hero remembers to open the airway thank heck. Though whether intentional or just ship tease who knows? And who cares. You can guess who the villain is about ten seconds after he shows up and he is as much a blast to watch as the rest.

And really, this is a movie with a secret robot used to save the day called the Deus X Machina. A movie that ends with two shirtless guys setting the Earth on fire to stop the Earth from being set on fire. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and really neither should you. Let it sweep you away for almost two hours and you will feel much better afterwards.

-

I started reading Nimona around the time it was wrapping up as a webcomic. I have a copy of the graphic novel on my shelf. I was excited when I heard the movie had been greenlit (less so when I heard it was Blue Sky Studios), disappointed by the cancellation and, well, I’m happy it’s here now. While I’ve gotten grouchier over the years, it does make me smile to see these guys on my television, even if they’re not quite the same people either.

Because the movie is very different, and yet much of it feels similar as well. Certain scenes, like the board game, are almost directly from the comic, others are from the comic but not quite the same. The characters are different, Ballister is less jaded, Ambrosius less delusional and Nimona less, well, monstrous. She seems to more beat the snot out of people than commit mass murder. In the comic she’s every bit the monster people fear her to be, though a sympathetic one, and perhaps one who will heal someday. While the ending of the movie is far happier, it fits the new tone. And honestly? I need to stop making comparisons and judge the damn movie on its own merits. Of which it has many!

Our setup is fairly simple, Ballister BlackBoldheart is a new knight of the realm, who immediately gets framed for the murder of the queen and disarmed (heh) by his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, while on the lam he is approached by a shapeshifter called Nimona who is up for a little mayhem and hijinks. Together they try and clear his name.

My fist fear when I heard Blue Sky studios would be the ones releasing the movie was that a lot of the humour would be Quite Bad. And while there definitely is plenty of that, I think more gags hit than miss. Hell the movie got quite a few laughs out of my dad and he’s a fair bit less likely to chuckle than I am. It is quite a funny movie, which is good because it helps the harsher moments hit harder. Because there are also plenty of those, especially in the final act.

Speaking of, the film is somewhat surprisingly well paced. Scenes tend not to overstay their welcome and the movie flows well. What else flows well? The animation! (My segways not so much) Everything is very smooth, which is rather necessary for all the shapeshifting, and there’s quite an interesting scene made to look as if subway tiles are telling the story of Nimona’s origins (ish).

And the main trio really are quite fun to watch. Ballister, always the underdog, now a public enemy and trying to both clear his name and perhaps open his mind a bit. Ambrosius, golden boy, trying to do the right thing and not always doing a great job. And, of course, Nimona, who’s just here to break shit, though it is quickly clear there’s more underneath, also a pretty blatant trans allegory.

The relationships Ballister has with both the other two are sweet as heck, but also riddled with mistrust that they all have to work to overcome.

And while the movie does get a little preachy at times, it’s a kid’s movie. What do you expect? Rah rah fight the power, all that jazz. I may be too jaded for it but it certainly works.

—

Would recommend checking out both or either if they sound like something you’d enjoy!

[rynnthefangirl]

Hi, so actually not liking the strong boys doesn't make me less of a fan of Aegon and Viserys than you. Maybe I have my reasons for not liking three plot devices that it was pretty clear weren't going to live, maybe not liking a character doesn't affect my opinions on another character you know?

And seriously call out...how childish is that? I remind you and every strong boys stan that hating/ disliking/ not caring about them is allowed and perfectly legal.

And I'm not going to question your status as an Aegon and Viserys fan but saying that he is the worst of Rhaenyra's children?? Viserys? Wouldn't Rhaenyra hate you for saying that one of her babies is the worst? Or that only applies to Aegon and Viserys...I believe it applies to Aegon a little bit less since he saw his mother dying and the fandom can make his saddnes about her exclusively even though he was depressed and guilty since what he believed was Viserys' death (let's forget about his father dying too and stormcloud...and his half brothers because yes I don't like them but that doesn't make me blind to the things happening in the book) that was provoked by the great mastermind Jace...that sent two boys alone to another continent while the rest of the siblings could remain safely on westeros how curious is that, and of course the famous worshipped his elder half brothers (but let's forget everything it says after that very conveniently).

So next time feel free to not call anyone out on being a fake fan because the very same thing can be done to you with a lot more reasons than oh you hate the strong boys shame on you.

Oh and I'm sending this on anon because I've already seen a lot of strong boys fans defenders bully and harass people that don't like them because they are the holy cows that can't receive any criticism.

I mean the main point of my original post was to express my confusion as to why the Velaryon boys (that is their legal last name btw, not Strong) would receive such vitriol from anyone other than Team Greens stans who hate them for being Rhaenrya’s sons. You mentioned them being just plot devices, and sure I can see why someone would think that. But I feel that way about book!Helaena, that she is just a personality-less plot device whose only role is to be the “Team Green victim”, and yet I don’t actively hate her— I simply don’t care about her at all. And my post was especially targeted at people who don’t simply dislike the Velaryon boys, but viscerally despise them. Like I saw one post taking about the need to “cleanse the throne of bastard blood” from an Aegon III fan, and that’s just really weird to me. I see enough bigotry cosplay from TG stans, I don’t much care to see it in the Aegon III tag. Of course, people have the right to post what they want and I’m certainly not saying they can’t. But likewise I have the right to post about my dislike of the takes that I see.

But you are right, disliking the Velaryon boys doesn’t automatically make you less of an Aegon and Viserys fan. I was more just being dramatic because of how I’m unable to wrap my head around why Aegon and Viserys fans would hate them so much. Like who you like though, dislike who you dislike, none of this is that serious.

I do what to expand on what I said about Viserys II though. It’s interesting because the quote you pulled was from a long and passionate post I wrote defending Viserys. I said Viserys was the worst of Rhaenyra’s sons, and my main reasoning for that is that none of them ever did anything so bad as doom their daughter to a marriage to a psychopathic r*pist who ultimately kills her. BUT, I would also say that Viserys II is the BEST of Rhaenyra’s sons. None of them ever did anything so great as rebuild the realm in the wake of the Dance of Dragons, devoting their life to bringing peace and prosperity and stability to the people of Westeros. My whole point it’s ridiculous to compare a man who lived nearly 50 years, had three kids, and ran the realm for decades to three teenagers who died before they ever got a chance to rule anything. Of course Viserys has done both more great and more bad things than his half brothers. He’s the best and the worst of them, and that’s what makes him interesting. I don’t need to whitewash his flaws because I’m not interested in comparing him to anyone. It’s not a competition on who is better or worse— I’d rather leave that attitude in the TB vs TG discourse. Even me saying that he’s the “best” or the “worst” isn’t really accurate to what I’ve trying to convey because again the whole point is that there is no comparison to be had.

[peachysunrize]

THANK YOU for answering my ask about Aemond being a villain or not, and I completely agree with you; the amount of people I see criticizing him out there is unreal and I can't help but feel like they choose not to understand him, they choose to literally ignore half the things that are happening I swear. Because just as you said he's only fighting for his family's survival, and yeah he shouldn't have grabbed Helaena like that but I don't take away his reason for wanting her to fight alongside him at all, she has a big and older dragon, I'd be asking her the same in his place.

And just, his scene with her on the balcony breaks my heart in a million pieces. The tears in his eye? The way he reaches out to hold her but then pulls away because of how guilty he feels? It's just so heartbreaking. I genuinely don't understand why or how are people saying that he's evil/doesn't care about his family, when it's literally so clear how much he does. :')

LEAKS!!!!!!!! BEWARE!!!!!!

Oh my baby boy he loves his family but in his own way YET his family can’t care less about him. And I don’t think he grabbed Helaena like that because he wanted to hurt but more like he was stressed and worried because THEIR LIVES ARE IN DANGER!!!!!!!

This is the course these people want to take: women good vs men bad. Like COME ON I know Helaena is different, her grief, her love, her understanding but she is a grown woman!!! The writers and this fandom need to stop infantilizing her!

I totally agree Aemond grabbing her like that wasn’t okay at all!!! All I’m saying is she is such a shallow character at this point. She didn’t mourn her son’s death because she thinks commoners have it worse, she made everything about her mother, and now she can’t care less about their lives either.

I don’t want her to turn into a girlboss because she isn’t one but Aemond is right for asking for her help!

[juniorfor2]

HotD, everything could be so much better if people just started MOVING! Why are all the characters so stationary, almost nothing is happening in the Seven Kingdoms. How is a full fledged civil war going on, yet all the houses are acting as if it were a regular day of life!?

Condal said that the scope of the show got a lot bigger, but D&D did a better job of showing the Seven Kingdoms in the 1st episode of S1 than he did with an entire season.

The Riverlands are quite literally just going, “hold, pls hold, yeah sorry about that but we’re going through a random succession crisis right now, and we can’t do anything without a 15 year old boy in charge that we don’t even respect yet. Yeah, I know, I know, we’re supposed to have gone through 2-3 battles by now, but can you just be satisfied with us showing up the last episode of the season? We need to butcher the Blackwoods’ characterization before we get started.”

As for the Reach, well who knows with them. I guess they’re just randomly “rebelling” against the Hightowers, but we barely even know who they are. Beesbury aaaaannnnndddd who else again? No one? So somehow they constitute “half the Reach” breaking out into war, wow that must be a really large house. Lord Beesbury, I had no idea your house was so prestigious and immense, why didn’t you tell anyone before you got your head bashed in? Is the Reach only fighting because of a lord’s death as well? It has absolutely nothing to do with the big civil war going on? Nothing at all?

Not even going to go into detail on the Arryns and how useless the writers made them. Do we even know if Jeyne will send any soldiers now that she sent away the Targaryens/dragons to Pentos? Not an important question I guess. The question of succession certainly doesn’t affect anything for Jeyne either.

The North? No importance whatsoever. They need to harvest food right now, who cares about everything else. Is there a civil war going on and the Starks have never broken an oath? Sure, but I guess if they just get there too late it’s not really breaking anything, right?

Absolutely none of the Seven Kingdoms have done a single thing. The only action we got was in the Crownlands, and most of that was passed over too. How did D&D manage to show action in Winterfell, King’s Landing, and Essos while C&H couldn’t get a single kingdom to make any sort of difference in 8 episodes?

Nothing. Is. Happening.

Why. Are. The. Characters. So. Stationary? I know part of it is that the writers don’t want to show men fighting for a woman’s claim to the throne, because that would be contradictory to their all men are misogynistic theme, but is there really NOTHING else to make them do?

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Endure I: Dolls

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

Chapter Synopsis: You befriend the doctor’s son, Eren Jaeger.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Female Reader, Armin Arlert x

Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 6.1k

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

A/N: I caved. Despite the length, despite the way it makes me cringe because I wrote it two and a half years ago…endure is coming to tumblr. It may take me a bit to get the whole thing up so please be patient!!

Your first memory was that of the doctor’s son saying your name. He had tugged at your hair and yanked at your clothes, crawling around you as you sat, waiting for him to stop. He did not stop, but he laughed in childish delight at the fact that you didn’t complain, not once.

“Y/N!” he chortled, poking you in the arm repeatedly. You watched him curiously, and when he began to tickle you in the side, you squealed in protest.

“Eren!”

You don’t remember what happened after that. According to your parents, Dr. Jaeger had come and rescued you from Eren’s clutches, having finished his check up on your then-pregnant mother. Apparently, the small boy had cried the entire way home. Nobody ever told you if you cried. You probably hadn’t.

The doctor and his son had continued to visit you for many months to come. You and Eren became friends of a sort, though it was mostly because you were often kicked out of the room while the adults talked.

“I’m turning three soon,” Eren informed you proudly as you sat on the floor of your bedroom, playing with dolls. He was always happy to play dolls with you.

“Three?” you said, your eyes wide with wonder. “That’s really old!”

“I know. I’m going to have a big birthday party. You can come if you want. My mom is going to make cake, and it’s going to be chocolate, and there’s going to be so many people, but don’t worry! I’ll make sure to sit with you, too,” he assured you.

“Yay! Can I bring my dolls?” you said. He thought about this for a moment before frowning.

“Well, I guess so...but don’t expect everyone to want to play with you. Big kids don’t play with dolls. It’s not mat-ure. That means grown up,” he said, pronouncing the adult word meticulously.

“That’s a really cool word, Eren! Where’d you learn it?” you said.

“My dad taught me! He has this ginormous book that’s like this big with all of these words in it,” he said, holding his arms out to show you how big the book was. You gasped.

“That’s huge! And I guess I’ll bring my dolls, but we don’t have to play if they're not grown up. What do big kids do?” you said, furrowing your brow and staring forlornly at your dolls. Eren shrugged.

“Dunno. We can play with dolls for now, since you like them,” he said.

“Okay! Ready, Sir Eren? You have to come rescue me from the evil dragon!” you said, pointing at your princess doll, which was sitting next to your dog. Merry, the small black poodle, did not even flinch, taking the role of ‘evil dragon’ with grace.

“I’m coming! Out of the way, evil beast! I have to save Princess Y/N!” Eren declared, making his doll fly over to yours. Merry paused in licking his paw to give the boy a disdainful look. Eren made sword fighting noises as he chased Merry away before picking up your doll and giving it to you.

“Princess Y/N, I have defeated the evil dragon and saved you,” he said. You clutched the doll to your chest and gazed up at him with a bright grin.

“Thanks, Sir Eren! I think we should have a party now,” you said.

“With cake?” he said.

“I don’t think we have cake,” you said sadly.

“Let’s go outside and make some!” he said excitedly, dragging you after him before you could protest, not that you would have. Eren was dynamic and impulsive, lighting up the very air around him with electricity, sweeping you up in the current. What could you do but follow?

“With what?” you said. He narrowed his eyes, searching for something and then clapping when he found it.

“Mud pies! We can’t eat them, but they’ll be good for a doll party,” he said, marching over to a puddle and sitting next to it. You did the same, looking at him in confusion.

“How do you make mud pies?” you said, crossing your legs and leaning over slightly to watch his hands as he packed mud into round shapes before handing one to you.

“It’s really easy. You just pick up the mud and roll it around in your hands until it makes a solid shape, and ta-da! It’s a mud pie!” he said. You inspected the mud pie he had given to you before gingerly placing it next to you and replicating his motions.

“Is this good?” you said, showing him one. He held it up to his face and scrutinized it before nodding.

“Nice job! It’s almost as good as mine. But mine are better,” he bragged.

“Oh,” you said, crestfallen, “Sorry.”

“Yours are good too,” he offered when he saw that you were sad, “I just have a lot of practice.”

“Really? You think they’re good?” you said, smiling. He smiled back.

“Yeah! You’re in second place for goodness!” he said. You thought about this for a moment.

“But first is the worst and second is the best. So am I the best?” you said. Eren was perplexed for a minute, mulling this over.

“Let’s just have our party,” he said.

“I forgot about that! Good idea,” you said, bringing out your dolls and arranging them so they were sitting next to each other. Eren began to set up the mud pies, making sure each doll had its own.

“It’s because I’m older than you. It means I’m smarter and know better,” he informed you seriously.

“Will I ever be older than you?” you asked. He scowled.

“No! I’ll always be older forever and ever!” he said, crossing his arms.

“But I wanna be older!” you said. “My papa said we have to take turns doing things, so that means I have to get a turn being older!”

“You can’t. I’m almost three years old, remember? So I’m automatically older than you until you’re three, but then I’ll already be three, see? That means I’ll always be older, so we can’t take turns,” he explained. That was just about the wisest thing you had ever heard in your two years of living, from your nearly-three year old friend, so you begrudgingly accepted it.

“Okay,” you said, dragging out the last syllable of the word, “Can we have our celebration party now?”

“It’s all ready. Let’s have a toast!” Eren said.

“Toast? I like toast. My mamma makes it for breakfast sometimes,” you said.

“No, not that kind of toast,” he said.

“There’s another kind of toast?” you said cluelessly. No wonder Eren was older than you. He knew so much about everything.

“My parents do it with their friends during their fancy big people parties! They like raise their glasses and make a speech to ded-i-cate the party to someone,” he said. That sounded really official, and you knew you had to try it.

“Eren, we don’t have glasses,” you said.

“We can pretend! Okay, I want to make a toast to Princess Y/N!” he said, lifting his imaginary glass in the air and then tilting it back to drink it.

“Why?” you said. He held up a finger to indicate that he was still swallowing before nodding.

“Because! What kind of knight would I be without a princess to rescue?” he said.

“That’s true. Yeah, I guess you’re right! I want to make toast —”

“Make a toast,” Eren corrected you. You pouted.

“Sorry. I want to make a toast to Sir Eren for rescuing me from the evil dragon!” you said, miming the act of drinking the way your friend had.

“Cheers!” he said, and you knocked your invisible glasses together before taking another sip each. Then you burst into laughter, your dolls sitting quietly with their rapidly-crumbling mud pies. The air smelled like flowers and the scorching sun, and the grass would surely stain your clothes, but at the present moment, neither of you cared much, wrapped up in your own world.

“Ready to go, Eren?” Dr. Jaeger said as the adults rejoined you, watching your tea party fondly. You paused to look up at them, and Eren’s face fell when he realized he had to leave in the middle of your celebration.

“Dad, we were having a party because I saved Princess Y/N from the dragon! Can’t we leave in five minutes?” he whined. Dr. Jaeger seemed amused but shook his head.

“Sorry, kiddo, but I’ve got other patients to look at. Why don’t you invite Y/N to your birthday party this weekend? Then you can see each other and finish your party with actual cake instead of mud pies,” he said, patting Eren on the head.

“I already invited her and she said yes!” Eren said.

“Did her parents say yes?” Dr. Jaeger said. You and Eren exchanged looks of horror. The thought of your parents refusing had not even crossed either of your minds, and you immediately turned to your father and mother, who were watching you with soft smiles on their faces.

“Please please please can I go?” you begged them. They looked at each other before nodding.

“Sure, as long as you help with the chores this week,” your father said.

“Yay! Did you hear, Eren, I’m coming to your birthday party?” you said in excitement. He smiled at you, a genuine, wide, bright smile.

“I can’t wait! Bye-bye Y/N! I’ll see you soon!” he said as his father picked him up and carried him off to their carriage. You waved frantically as they faded from view, and from his spot hanging upside down off of his father’s shoulder, Eren did the same, his lopsided grin visible until the moment he disappeared from your sight.

“Seems like you and the Jaeger boy have become friends,” your mother said as you gathered your dolls and flounced inside the house.

“Eren?” you checked.

“That’s right. Do you like him?” your father said, ruffling your hair affectionately. Merry, who had returned from wherever Eren had chased him off to, wagged his tail at you, probably hoping that you had some scraps of food to share. You showed him your empty hands, and he sniffed them before sighing and leaving again.

“Yeah, Eren’s really nice! He’s so smart, he knows these really super big huge words like mature and toast, but not breakfast toast, fancy party toast. I can’t wait until I’m three so I can be like him!” you said.

“Well, you only have to wait a few more months, and then you’ll both be three! And you’ll have a little baby brother, too,” your mother said, rubbing her belly idly. You peered at her stomach.

“Is my baby brother in there?” you said. She nodded.

“He is,” she said gently. You furrowed your brow.

“Hi, baby brother! How are you doing? BABY BROTHER!” you shouted when he didn’t answer. You had the feeling you weren’t going to like this ‘baby brother’ of yours. He was rather rude.

“He’s too little, Y/N. He can’t hear you yet,” your father said, stopping you from banging on your mother’s stomach to get your baby brother’s attention. You froze and gazed up at him.

“Should I be louder?” you said. Your father laughed and shook his head.

“No, I don’t think that’ll help. You have to be gentle and talk quietly to him. You’re his older sister, so you have to take care of him. Does that make sense?” he said. Older. You were older than your baby brother, just like Eren was older than you. That meant you were smarter and knew better than him, forever and ever. Okay, maybe this whole baby brother concept wouldn’t be too bad.

“Do you think he’ll play dolls with me and Eren?” you said. Having a third person meant you could have even more complicated stories. If your baby brother played, you and Eren might even finally be able to act out your ‘three little pigs’ storyline. You had done your best, but it was really hard for Eren to be both the big bad wolf and all three pigs.

“Not for a little bit, but maybe eventually. You’ll have to ask him,” your mother said, sitting down laboriously. Your father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she let out a deep sigh.

“Does he have a name yet?” you said.

“We aren’t really sure yet. What are your thoughts?” your father said. You sat on the floor to think about this. Merry crawled into your lap and began licking your face. You pushed him away in disgust before giving in.

“Umm...dunno!” you said, realizing you really didn’t care what your baby brother was named. Merry continued to lick you.

“Oh, don’t let him do that. Merry, off,” your mother said, whistling sharply. Merry got off of you and obediently joined your mother on the couch, thankfully leaving you alone.

“Let’s get you in the bath. You’re covered in mud and dog spit,” your father said, a smile on his face showing that he was not at all angry. You did not whine much, trudging up the stairs to the bathroom to get washed up.

Once you were clean and tucked into bed, Merry rejoined you, curling up at the foot of your bed as was his custom.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” your father whispered, blowing out the candle and closing the door after him. You did not respond, already fast asleep.

The entire rest of the week, you did your best to help your parents with the chores around the house, doing whatever you could to ensure that you would be able to go to Eren’s birthday party. Finally, it was the day of the celebration, but instead of being excited, you were horrified. You had no idea what to get the boy as a present.

“I’m sure he won’t even notice that you didn’t get him anything,” your mother consoled you as you bawled into Merry’s fur about your lack of a gift for your friend.

“B-but it’s his birthday! I have to get him something!” you wailed. Your father wordlessly handed you a tissue, and you noisily blew your nose before handing the paper back to him.

“Don’t worry too much. You and Eren are friends, right? He’ll like whatever you give him, don’t worry,” he said.

Your father had a point, actually. Eren seemed pretty happy-go-lucky. Maybe you shouldn’t focus so much on getting him something that you weren’t sure he’d like and instead give him something of your own that you already liked. That way he would be certain to like it.

Yes, this was a course of action that you were perfectly pleased to follow. Abruptly stopping your tantrum, you shot upstairs, digging through your closet until you could find something of yours he might like.

You didn’t think he would like any of your dresses or skirts, and you doubted they would fit him anyways. Your shoes wouldn’t go on his feet, either, so all of your clothes were out. What, then? What did you own that Eren might want to keep as a present?

Your dolls! You frowned, for you didn’t want to part with them, but it would make your friend happy. They were the perfect gift! You gathered them into a bag and, with one final, sad look at them, closed it and rejoined your parents in the living room.

“What have you got there?” your mother said.

“My dolls! They’re going to be Eren’s birthday present,” you explained.

“All of them?” your father checked. You nodded slowly.

“Yup! He’s three years old, papa, that’s really big! He needs a big present. I think he will let me keep playing with them anyways, so it’s okay,” you said with a shrug. Your parents exchanged amused looks before smiling at each other, a secret smile that meant they were hiding something from you.

“If you’re sure, dear. You had best be off now, or you’ll be late,” your mother said, straightening your navy skirt for you so you looked nice for your visit to the Jaegers’. You beamed at her.

“Thanks! See you soon, mamma!” you said, waving at her as you and your father began to walk down the cobblestone road. You and Eren lived fairly close to each other, it seemed; his house was only a ten minute walk from your own. You skipped ahead the whole way. It was a beautiful day to have a birthday, with the sun shining and a soft breeze threading its fingers through your hair.

“Ay, lassie, now where are you off to?” a Garrison officer you recognized to be Mr. Hannes said jovially when you passed by him.

“It’s Eren’s birthday party! He’s three now, can you believe it?” you said.

“Is that so? Tell the little bugger I said happy birthday, then, won’t you?” Mr. Hannes said.

“Sure, Mr. Hannes! Did y’know I’m going to be three in a few months and then I’ll have a baby brother?” you said. Mr. Hannes put his cup down and squatted so that your faces were level and you could have a proper conversation.

“Little Y/N’s going to be a big sister? This I’ve gotta see!” he said.

“That’s right! I’m going to be older and smarter than your baby brother, just like Eren is older and smarter than me,” you said seriously. Mr. Hannes let out a booming laugh.

“Ah, lassie, I’d wager you’re quite a bit smarter than that crazy boy,” he said.

“But Eren knows so many big words,” you said, unsure of how it was even possible for you to be smarter than your slightly older friend.

“Yeah? He sure has big opinions, I’ll give him that. I swear, everything about that kid is too big for these walls. If one thing’s for certain, it’s that he’s going to change things around here, mark my words. Now, will it be for the better? Well, I just don’t know,” Mr. Hannes said, shaking his head.

“Huh?” you said.

“By the Walls, Hannes, what have you been putting in your drinks? They’re making you all philosophical! Let poor little Y/N go to her party,” a Garrison captain named Mr. Orion said.

“Right! Have fun, lassie!” Mr. Hannes said, patting you on the head affectionately. Your mind was already racing with thoughts of Eren’s birthday celebration and the promised chocolate cake, so you did not pay much attention to the two men, leaving them behind without pause.

“Are you going to knock?” your father said as you stood, petrified, in front of the Jaeger house’s door. What if Eren didn’t want to see you? What if it wasn’t actually his birthday? What if it was his birthday, but he had forgotten? There were so many ways this could go wrong that you were beginning to regret coming.

Thankfully, it seemed that somebody had heard your approach, as the door was opened by a woman with long dark hair in a loose ponytail and warm, light brown eyes. She seemed surprised to see you standing in your nicest clothes, your hair tied back with a white ribbon and a bag in your tiny hands.

“Hello, darling. Is something the matter?” she said, her soft and lovely voice soothing. You blushed lightly.

“Isn’t today Eren’s birthday party?” you said shyly. Her face cleared, and she nodded.

“Oh, yes, it is, but you’re the only one that’s come. I’m afraid Eren’s in his room, a little bit upset. You can go talk to him if you want,” she said, waving at your father, who had begun to make his way back home with a promise to come get you after dinner.

“Which room is his?” you said, looking around at all of the doors, not wanting to walk in on something you shouldn’t see.

“That one, all the way at the end of the hallway. Tell me if he’s being rude, okay? Being upset isn’t a free pass to be a jerk,” Mrs. Jaeger said.

“Okay, Mrs. Jaeger, but Eren is really nice! He won’t be rude!” you said confidently, trotting down the hall to knock on the door.

“Go away,” a muffled grumble came through the thick wood. Well, never mind. You used your free hand to knock again.

“I said go away, mom! I don’t want to talk about it!” he shouted.

“Your mom said you’re not allowed to be mean to me!” you shouted back. There was a thump, and then the door opened, revealing a sullen looking Eren.

“I thought you were my mom,” he muttered.

“But I’m not your mom. I’m Y/N,” you said.

“Yeah, obviously. What are you doing here?” he said. You presented him with the bag of dolls.

“It’s your birthday! Happy birthday!” you said. He looked in the bag before scoffing.

“Dolls? Really?” he said, tossing the bag haphazardly backwards. You felt tears well up in your eyes. How could he have treated your beloved dolls so carelessly?

“They were my favorites. I thought you would like them,” you sniffed. Eren seemed alarmed at your sudden crying fit, and he darted back into his room, neatly organizing the dolls at record speed.

“Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry, I really really like them!” he assured you. Your tears instantly dried as you gave him a wavering smile.

“Really?” you said.

“Uh-huh. They’re really cool, but now you won’t have any,” he said.

“Oh. I guess not,” you said. Eren crossed his arms and scowled as he attempted to puzzle out a solution to the now-evident problem. Finally, he smiled as he arrived upon the answer.

“I’ll let you borrow them! That way you can still use them!” he said. You gasped. Eren was, without a doubt, a genius.

“Thank you so much! But why were you angry earlier?” you said, remembering his angry mood when he had opened the door. Eren frowned, a storm cloud settling on his features again.

“Nobody came to my party,” he said.

“I came,” you said.

“Oh yeah,” he said. You both were silent for a second, digesting this latest development. You were here. He was here. It might not have been what he had had in mind, but it was enough.

Leaning over to grab a piece of your hair, Eren pulled on it to get your attention. “Let’s go ask my mom for cake. I’ll bet she’ll give us the entire thing if we ask really nicely.”

“Is it chocolate?” you said.

“Think so. It smelled like chocolate in the house earlier, anyways, so I hope it is,” Eren said as the two of you joined his mother in the kitchen, where she was fussing about some pots and pans. Noticing you, she smiled.

“Hey, you guys! I see you got Eren to leave his room, Y/N. Thank you for that. Now, I heard you were promised cake,” Mrs. Jaeger said. Eren began bouncing up and down in place, and you nodded.

“Yeah, Eren said it was chocolate,” you said.

“Is it? Is it is it is it? Mom! I gotta know!” Eren whined. You were only marginally more composed. In truth, you were as eager as he was to have cake, but you were well aware of the fact that you were a guest in the Jaeger house; what’s more, this was your first visit there. It would not do for you to act spoiled and ruin your chances of being invited back.

“Yes, Eren, it is. Here you go. Make a wish!” she said, lighting the candles on top of the cake. Eren screwed his eyes shut before blowing out all of the candles in one breath.

“What did you wish for?” you said curiously.

“For us to always be friends and never be apart!” Eren declared.

“You’re not supposed to tell me! That ruins it!” you said, scandalized at the fact that he had fallen for it so easily. The worst part was that you wanted his wish to come true, too, but it couldn’t when he had said it out loud.

“Then why’d you ask?” he said, equally outraged.

“It seemed like the right thing to do!” you said.

“I’m sure you can make your wish come true even though you said it aloud,” Mrs. Jaeger intervened before you could continue to fight.

“I guess so. Okay, Eren, pinky swear that we’ll be friends forever?” you said, reaching your arm over the cake to interlock your pinky fingers.

“Yeah, okay, pinky swear,” he said as you shook your hands up and down to seal the deal.

“You guys got covered in icing!” Mrs. Jaeger cried out in dismay. You and Eren looked down at the now-ruined cake sheepishly.

“Sorry, mom,” he said.

“I’m really sorry,” you said.

“I’m sorrier!” Eren said.

“I’m the sorriest!” you shot back.

“Well I’m — I'm — I don’t know! More sorry than you!” he said.

“I’m the most sorry in the entire world!” you said.

“I’m the most sorry in the entire universe, times infinity!” he said. This made you stop.

“Wait, Eren, what’s infinity?” you said. Mrs. Jaeger had given up on admonishing you, taking a rag and wiping down your arms and attempting to salvage the cake.

“The biggest number ever!” he said, accepting a slightly squashed piece of cake from his mother gratefully. You did the same, keeping your eyes on Eren, fascinated with this new concept of infinity.

“Like bigger than one hundred?” you said. He nodded.

“Yeah, bigger than a hundred.”

“Bigger than a thousand?”

“Mhm, yeah.”

“Bigger than a million?”

“Yes!”

“What? That’s impossible!” you said. Eren frowned at you.

“Ask my mom. Mom, isn’t infinity the biggest number ever, even more than a million?” he said. Mrs. Jaeger hummed noncommittally.

“Yes, dear, it is. Now eat your cake,” she said, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek, “I can’t believe you’re three! My little baby’s growing up so much.”

“Soon I’ll be a grown up and I’ll live in a house far away, all by myself. Well, Y/N, you can come too because you came to my party and gave me your dolls,” he said magnanimously.

“Okay!” you agreed, trying to lick the icing off of your nose but failing miserably. Giving Mrs. Jaeger a doleful stare, you reached for the napkin she held in her hand. She laughed and cleaned your face for you.

“There you go. Was the cake good?” she said.

“It was the best. Will you make it for my birthday?” you said.

“If you want. Are you guys done?” she said, collecting your dirty dishes and putting them in the sink. You and Eren exchanged glances before nodding determinedly.

“Let’s go to my room and play!” Eren said, grabbing your hand and pulling you after him. You stumbled but followed as he slammed the door behind you, sitting criss-cross on the floor and giving you an expectant look. You sat across from him, cocking your head.

“What do you wanna do?” you said.

“Dunno. What do you wanna do?” he said. You shrugged.

“It’s your birthday, so you get to pick,” you said.

“Let’s play kickball,” he said.

“In your room?” you said, looking around in alarm. What if you knocked something over and it broke? Then you’d be in trouble. Eren clicked his tongue in irritation.

“No, silly Y/N, outside. But the ball is in my room so that nobody steals it, so we have to bring it outside,” he said, reaching up and grabbing a ball from his shelf and handing it to you. You looked it over before deeming it worthy to play with.

When you got outside, you were faced with two problems. One, there was not a field large enough to play a proper game of kickball nearby. Two, even if there was, you did not have enough people to make teams.

“Now what?” Eren groaned.

“We can just pass the ball back and forth,” you offered, kicking it towards him. He trapped it with his foot and kicked it forwards a few steps. You ran to catch up with him and accept his pass.

“Don’t you find this boring?” Eren said a few minutes later. You shook your head.

“No, not really. Why, are you bored?” you said.

“Maybe a little bit. How aren’t you? We’re just doing the same thing over and over, like animals or something,” he scoffed.

“I don’t mind. I like spending time with you! Even if it’s not particularly exciting sometimes. You’re really exciting all on your own,” you said. Eren kicked the ball at you particularly hard, and it far overshot you, hitting a different kid about your age straight in the back of the head. When he turned, you recognized him to be the son of one of your neighbors, Oskar Zimmerman.

“Hey, Oskar! Can you give us our ball back?” you said. He looked surprised to see you standing with Eren.

“Y/N?” he called. You gave him a thumbs up.

“Yeah, it’s me! Our mothers sometimes have tea together, remember? Now can you pass us our ball or not?” you said.

“This ball? Like the one that hit me in the head?” he said.

“I guess so? Sorry about that,” you said. He looked conflicted before tossing it gently towards you.

“There you go. See you around, Y/N and, uh...what’s your name again?” he said to Eren.

“This is —” you began to introduce Eren, who scoffed and yanked you away by the arm, leaving poor Oskar confused.

“Forget about it,” he muttered.

“You aren’t going to make more friends by not meeting people, you know,” you said, holding the ball under your arm and marching behind Eren.

“I don’t want to be friends with Oskar. He’s a stupid meanie,” he said.

“Eren! Those are bad words!” you reproached. You had been told to never use words like ‘stupid’ or ‘mean’ when talking about people. It wasn’t nice.

“I don’t care. It’s true,” he said. You were torn. After all, Oskar had never been anything but nice to you, yet at the same time, Eren was your friend.

“Wait. Eren, are we friends?” you said, realizing it had never been made official. All thoughts of Oskar were forgotten as you were preoccupied with this bigger problem.

“Yeah, ’course we are,” he said as you placed the ball back on the ground and began to idly dribble it back and forth. Eren smiled cheekily and stole the ball from you.

“...best friends?” you said. You had never had a best friend before, but if anybody deserved the designation, it was Eren. He did not even have to think about it.

“Best friends, times infinity!” he said, offering you the ball again. You accepted it with a firm nod.

“Good. You won’t, like, forget about me, right? When you’re older than me?” you said.

“Duh, I’m already older than you, and I haven’t forgotten about you yet, have I?”

“Oh, yeah. Wanna go play with our dolls?”

“Sure. I’ll race you back home.”

“Hey! You have to wait and say start if you’re going to race, cheater!” you shouted as he ran away, snickering.

Being around Eren was like staring at the sun. Everything about him, his presence and personality and the way he smiled, was burned into your retinas, so that when you closed your eyes, all you could see was him. He was blinding and bright, and yet for all his radiance, he never made you seem any dimmer. His warmth only illuminated you further, his golden glow bringing out the pink in your cheeks and the subtle hues in your irises.

Your birthday came and went. You were three now, the same as Eren. He had not been able to come to your party, disappointing both of you immensely. Oskar had been there, as well as a little blond boy named Armin whose grandfather worked with your father. Armin didn’t like you, or at least you didn’t think he did. He kept to himself, flinching whenever someone came near, so you and the other children left him mostly alone, besides the five minutes you spoke to him to give him some cake.

It had only been a week since you had turned three when your mother went into labor. It was late at night, and you were supposed to be asleep, but your father was running around the house frantically, and the doctor was there, his even tone doing nothing to calm anybody. So you sat in your dark room on your bed, hugging your knees to your chest, wishing it would all be over soon.

The door opened a crack, a beam of brilliant light shining, revealing the doctor’s son standing there, his jade eyes shimmering with childish wisdom.

“What’s going on, Eren?” you said quietly, for if anybody knew what was happening, it was him. He crept into your room and sat beside you on your bed, staring out the window at the moon.

“Your baby brother is being born,” he said.

“Is it cool?” you said. He wrinkled his nose.

“Nah, it’s pretty gross,” he said.

“Yucky,” you said.

“Super yucky,” he affirmed, “The moon is really pretty though.”

“I like the sun more,” you said.

“But it’s so hot. The moon is better,” he said.

“I guess you’re right, but I still like the sun more. That’s okay though! We can still be best friends, right?” you said. Eren laughed.

“Yeah, we can. Oh, hey, I made you something. For your birthday. Since I missed it,” he said, fishing around in his pocket before pulling something out and handing it to you. It was a tiny origami puppy, with a face drawn clumsily on it in black marker. You accepted it gingerly and placed it on your nightstand, taking care not to damage it in any way. Then you turned back and hugged him tightly.

“It’s so cute! It looks like Merry!” you said. Eren delightedly hugged you back.

“That’s what I was basing it off of!” he said.

“It’s so good! I love it! Thank you! I’m glad we’re best friends,” you said. You were interrupted by a scream from downstairs, and you gave Eren a wide eyed look. He seemed unaffected.

“It’s okay. Giving birth is really painful. Your mom’s fine,” he assured you, allowing you to find refuge in his embrace.

“Are you sure?” you said.

“Yup. My dad’s a really good doctor. She’ll be okay, and then you’ll have a baby brother...and then I won’t have to come visit you anymore,” he said, his tone dropping when he realized that once your mother wasn’t pregnant, his father wouldn’t have an excuse to come to your house, thereby ending your friendship.

“Yes you will! You promised to let me borrow your dolls to play, so we have to still visit each other all of the time. You can meet my baby brother, too!” you said.

“That’s true,” he said with a yawn. You mirrored his actions, and he immediately stopped to glare at you.

“Stop copying me!” he whined.

“I’m not!” you said.

“You are! I yawned and then you yawned! You’re copying!” he said.

“’M just tired!” you said, yawning again.

“Then go to sleep,” he said.

“You can sleep with me! Like a sleepover!” you said, taken with your own brilliance and immediately burrowing under your covers.

“I guess dad will take a while...so sure! Okay, goodnight!” he said, diving in next to you and pulling the blankets up over your shoulders.

Your mother’s cries of pain continued through the night until your brother was finally, blessedly brought into this world, though her shouts were quickly replaced with the baby’s wailing. Your parents and Dr. Jaeger were all exhausted as they began to take care of the small child, but upstairs, you and Eren slept soundly. Eren was far too used to his father’s line of work to even care, and you were convinced that your best friend, in all of his seemingly omnipotent glory, would somehow ensure that your mother and baby brother would be okay.

They were both fine. Eren had been right. Well, of course he had been right. He was older and smarter than you. You could trust him. You did trust him.

You shouldn’t have trusted him, but that was something you would not find out for many years to come.