#but in order for us to get a new one i have to confront lucys room | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starseneyes · 2 years

Text

Chenford - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 5 - Ep 11

"The Naked and the Dead" AKA "Chenford is SOOOO married"

SPOILER WARNING: I will spoil the entire episode, likely the entire show, and I am addicted to details. Please proceed with caution.

Everybody primed and ready to go? Let's dive in!

"Hey, let me do it."

Timelines are tricky on this show, so I really don't think this was after the "second" date, but later. We saw in the cold open that Nolan and Celina were on a case during the day, so I think Tim and Lucy have been sneaking in dates and we're MAYBE a few days or a week past the end of the last episode.

So, that cute little glance Lucy gives Tim before uttering "let me do it" made me squee. Yes, I squee like a little girl kicking in a too-tall chair. Let me flail. I'm good at it!

Tim steps back and lets his wife girlfriend get to work on the coffee machine.

We know he's into black coffee (and clearly she knows his order after all the years on the job together), and I bet if he has a machine at home, it's either a grind-and-brew to give him whole bean goodness in a more instant form, or it's that "one cup" model I gave my husband to keep at work. Insert coffee. Insert water. Brew.

"So, what'd you guys get up to last night." "Nothing!"

Tim. Oh, Tim. Remember last week when I said you should stop lying? Yeah... maybe time to take my advice because your "nothing" is louder than a lot of "somethings".

To be fair, Nolan did say, "You Guys", which might trigger Tim's Fight-or-Flight response. Fleeing the scene might have appeared less suspicious.

Lucy slips in with her well-practiced UC skills on full display. See, she's had time to prepare, this time, and she's not going to get caught in the early stages of her secret romance.

She rattles off her love of the new Chagall exhibit while Tim suddenly gets lost in the aroma of his coffee so he can't open his big mouth, again. He seriously can't even look at either of them.

Tim finds a spec of dust on the floor to admire, sips his coffee, and hopes nobody notices.

Also, can we talk about Lucy handing Tim his coffee!? I know she could have done it at any other time in their relationship. I mean, she was his Boot and then his Gofer. She's handed him MANY a cup of coffee over the years.

But there is something so bloody domestic about Lucy Chen handing her boyfriend a cup of coffee.

"Nothing? You had all morning to come up with a cover story and that's what you went with?"

First off, I love the tone change from Lucy sending Nolan off to confronting Tim.

Second, I love how Tim immediately has to right the wrong of him being perpendicular to her and set himself directly in front of her, feet pointing towards what he desires. (Any New Girl fans out there?)

"Woah, woah. He bought it, didn't he?" "Uhhh."

I love this teasing. Both Eric Winter and Melissa O'Neil excel at something I adore in actors... the Art of the HUM. It can be "uh" or "hm" or "mm".

I don't care which of the "H" "U" "M" s you use and in what combination, a great actor can use them to add layers to a scene and make it feel completely natural rather than written-in.

Chenford fans are blessed with both actors masterfully pulling it off. Think Matthew Goode in A Discovery of Witches. If there's a King of the HUM, it's him.

But these two are pretty high up there in terms of mastery.

"What if he had asked you a follow-up question about the exhibit?"

There's that competitive spirit coming out with these two. Tim wants to prove that his excuse is more fool-proof than hers.

And, Tim, while you may be the Master of Tests, Lucy is the Master of Cover Stories. Remember Dim and Juicy's meet-cute Lucy created that made you think naughty thoughts you tried to cover up with veiled barely-there compliments? Lucy's gonna school you, former TO.

"Let him. I read the catalogue to the exhibit cover to cover."

First off, how the hell does Melissa O'Neil make that line sound hot? The world may never know.

Secondly... BOOM, Tim Bradford! You've been schooled by the master! Lucy is the queen of preparation. For goodness sake, she read psych journals trying to prepare to break up with her ex-"Work In Progress".

Lucy has a pattern, and it's a good one when your SO becomes your SO and you don't want anyone to know... o.

"Mmhmm"

See? Master of the HUM.

"I hear you have Citizens Academy today." "I do. Do you have any tips?"

She trusts him completely, and I love that he immediately rattles off information to help her. At this point, he knows exactly what she needs to hear, and what will be useful to her.

Also, Tim's disdain for screenwriters is strong. Or someone in the writer's room is really tired of unsolicited screenplays in their inbox.

"So... um, what are you doing tonight." "Nothing... I hope."

Ooooh, Velvet Voiced Tim is back! Eric Winter puts this velvety quality into Tim's voice when he's in boyfriend-mode, and it's so bloody delicious.

I did VO for over 20 years, so I get SUPER excited about these little shifts in performance. Immediately, we know what he means. Yowza.

"Nothing sounds perfect."

Okay, I have to be upfront and honest, here. My original prediction was that they would not have sex for the first time off-screen and that they would not have sex this episode.

But when this scene dropped as a promo (and I love that they did widescreen with wings when it was too awkward for the crop), I second-guessed myself. Did they... do it off-screen!?

No. Now, I firmly believe, no. But this scene had me going for a minute!

Narratively, it makes more sense to drag it out. Yes, I know that in real life some people sleep with one another the moment they meet. But I believe for these characters in this moment... it makes sense to take their time.

But when I first heard they were doing "nothing" and they'd also done "nothing" the night before with only the morning to make up a cover story... I questioned my choices hard.

And now my mind's in the gutter.

Okay, readjusting. Let's get back to Tim's beautiful smirk as he watches his woman depart. "I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave", anyone? Our kitten is smitten.

Lucy On A Mission

Lucy works at the computer, lost in thought and using that big brain and compassionate heart of hers.

Aaron slides up, completely unaware of what's on her computer. He's ready to spill the tea, and the tea is standing right beside him.

"You'll never guess who's coaching Little League." "Nolan?" "No. Sergeant Friendly."

I love the glare Tim gives Aaron. Because it's his damn fault. But I also love Aaron poking fun at Tim. Their dynamic's been a lot of fun to watch this season.

"Whu- How did that happen? Can I watch?"

Ma'am. This is a PRECINCT. Please pick your panties up off the floor and resume normal operating function.

I mean, wow, Lucy! There was some heat in that question and Aaron is right there!

Lucy Materializes Out of Thin Air

I had to watch it twice to pinpoint where the hell she came from at the ball park. So, my initial surprise was akin to Tim's.

"Hey." Hi."

How. Is. This. HOT!? They're just saying "hi" and it's so charged with electricity the baseball field lights are about to turn themselves on. There is absolutely zero chill with these two since they started dating, let's be real.

"Um... who are you?" "What?" "I... the... a lot of heart? They're kind of a mess." "They're kids. It's supposed to be fun." "Yeah..."

I hear that edge in his voice on that line.

It's the same edge that gets into his voice anytime he discusses anything remotely connected to his father or childhood. So many of his choices are informed by the scars he still bears—physical and emotional.

Tim walks away, a little frustrated, because he can see Lucy doesn't get it. To be fair, he isn't explaining it. He's not communicating with her at all here.

But, also to be fair, he's never sought counseling or therapy for what he survived. There's a lot bottled up and it can be hard to pour it out in digestible bits if you've never learned how.

Genny fills in the gaps. That's all Lucy needs to process where Tim is and what he's going through.

I grew up with a lot of yelling, name-calling, and verbal and emotional abuse. Manipulation. Control.

One of my greatest joys is breaking those cycles with my own children—giving them a better childhood.

Tim watched the anger and the volatile nature of the last coaching situation here. He remembers his own father. He wants different for these kids, even if they aren't his own.

"He's trying not to be like him." "Yeah."

Lucy deflates a little, here. It was only silly puffery meant to tease, but now she gets it. Now she sees where this comes from, and she feels a little guilty. Of course, she didn't know, but now she does.

*Tim thumbs ups a kid dropping a ball* "Well, I mean, there is such a thing as over-correcting."

Here's where Lucy knowing Tim so well comes in. She doesn't try to talk to him about it. She doesn't try to tell him what to do.

Instead, she gets in there to help course-correct so Tim can keep being supportive, and she'll provide the structure so he doesn't have to have the anxiety of in any way resembling his father.

This is such a demonstration of love, to me. She knows he's not ready to deal with all of this. There will be a day—perhaps when his father dies—that he'll start to process through everything that happened. But, in the meantime, she'll help him through.

This is where Tim and Lucy live, now. It's a "we". It's an "us". It's something neither of them has ever had to this degree, before, even though Tim was married once-upon-a-time.

Lucy and Tim are a team, now, and this episode highlights why—they complement each other. They balance each other. They sharpen each other.

And in this way, Tim's very fortunate to be falling in love with someone with a pysch degree who can understand what's needed. She's the ideal partner to help with this because she knows him enough, now, not to push. But she also knows enough to provide a safe space for when he is ready to discuss.

"What are you doing?"

You never know what your girl is gonna do, do you, Tim?

To note, the last time he asked her this was when he was in the hospital recovering from spinal surgery. She was supporting him, then, too. She has a knack for it. (and I think the time before that was when he caught her putting boots in his locker... she also has a knack for pranks, of course)

"My name is Lucy. I am Coach Bradford's... friend."

Look. At. Tim's. FACE. Look at that bemused smile when she asserts she is his "friend". There was a time when he wouldn't even have accepted that moniker.

It wasn't until they were discussing her love life in the shop during the last 30 days of her training that she said, "we're friends" and instead of refuting it, he simply made a face.

And I love that she remains his friend even as they're transitioning into everything else. I often tell my children that my husband is my best friend—and I mean it. Nobody supports me like Matthew, lifts me up like Matthew, understands my trauma like Matthew, and makes me laugh like Matthew.

I love every layer of that man. And he loves every layer of me. And friendship goes a long way to getting to that point, I think.

Lucy rattles off instructions for how to throw a ball while Tim side-eye-fucks her and thinks of other things she can do with her hands as she's acting out the motions.

Come on, I'm not wrong here, people! Look at his face and tell me there aren't a few things happening in his mind that are not baseball-related but might involve running some bases.

Lucy disperses the kids, and Tim fires off a "You heard her" which is the Chenford Coaching Team equivalent of "Listen to your mother!"

He looks her up and down and smiles deliciously at Lucy, activating her praise kink in a delightful motion of her head.

Yes, Lucy Chen absolutely has a praise kink. And there's nothing wrong with that! But I love how Melissa O'Neil has been consistent with that little head swish Lucy does.

We've seen her do it throughout the years ("Maybe one day she'll be as good as you" comes to mind), and it never stopped. It only morphed.

Look at it at Lopez's wedding when he compliments her (in his way) and then asks her for a dance. Praise Kink Activated.

She does it at the end of 5x08 as we wait to fade to black, and there's a softer version of it when she's basking in Tim's adoration at the end of their first scene of 5x09 in the Watch Commander's office. Girl's got it bad for Tim Bradford.

He offers her the ball... but no he didn't. And I'm giggling like Lucy last episode because he's such a teenager around her, sometimes.

I've heard the expression all my life, "Love makes you young". I often think of Patrick Stewart wearing the Elf Song Hat while his wife recorded him (Google it... you'll die laughing).

With Tim, I feel like it resets him to before all the hurt and heartache in his love-life with Isabelle. He can be... free. Flirty. Fun.

But, seriously, Tim's the one who is going to get them found out for sure. Because, you know who had a front row seat to that eye-fuckery? Genny, that's who.

Y'ain't fooling anyone, Timothy.

"I think you two should co-coach. You were great together." "Oh, no, no. I'm ready to hand over the reins, entirely." "Not a chance."

I've thought about the layers in this little interaction quite a bit. Genny sees something here—whether it's the romance, the layered friendship, or the true partnership they've developed over the years.

But I feel like Tim's dealing with some self-doubt, here, and Lucy catches onto that.

I have a husband who deals with self-doubt. He's an incredible human, but I can tell when he's leaning into that and when I need to pull him back out and remind him how awesome he is.

I get that feeling here with Tim and Lucy. Maybe I'm projecting. But, I feel like he's saying, "She's better than me" and she's saying "No way, no how". Because he's not bad at this. Yes, he over-corrected a bit, but kids do need the support he offered. And Lucy brought the structure. They're better together.

I mean, just look at the way they're cleaning up together. Lucy's handing the bats to Tim and Tim's putting them away. They're doing it instinctively because helping one another and working together is completely natural, by now.

It's not something they have to discuss or consider—it's instinctual.

I've seen this in nature, before. A client of mine (yes, same client from last Meta) flew me out to Los Angeles a few times for work. I stayed with him and his wife, and I got to watch them work in the kitchen together.

After decades and decades of it being the two of them together, with no kids or anyone else in the way... it was like watching a dance.

That's Tim and Lucy. They move together rhythmically and naturally. May it be so in all aspects of their life—but I'm skipping to another episode that hasn't aired, yet, now!

"No, but seriously! I saw today why you work so well together."

And, Tim, poor, sweet Tim, opens his mouth. Tim can't get words out, and one look from his wife, and he knows to shut that mouth.

"We spend so much time together on, out on the job. It's so great that Tyler has been making friends so quickly after moving here."

Anyone else thinking Lucy's UC school was solely so she could cover up for her and her not-so-secretive secret boyfriend? Because, hello, it keeps coming in handy!

This is classic redirection. I use it with my children all the time. Just this morning my 5-year-old daughter was having an unusually hard time saying goodbye to go to school. Usually, she walks in without a glance back. Today, it was CLING city.

So, I went through the room until we finally finally found something to get her mind off of me so I could slip away.

Lucy's doing the same thing. She's pointing at something else in Genny's life to let that thought of "Tim and Lucy" slip away. It gives Genny something more personal to her to focus on, and shifts the conversation gently.

"We'll make sure he gets the best seat in the house."

Just thirty seconds ago, Tim was trying to get out of co-coaching, and they were both deflecting why they're great together, but now we're back to "we". Heck, we never left "we" for Tim and Lucy. They're a unit, now.

"What's wrong?" "There's something going on with my Domestic." "You want me to come? "No, it's okay. I got it."

Oh, how far we've come. In the past, if Tim said, "What's wrong?" to Lucy, it was surprising that he was taking interest. But, this is his girlfriend, and he knows her well. He looks to her phone for a clue as she approaches.

Then, he offers his help. This isn't TO Tim who wants to make sure his Boot doesn't mess things up. This isn't Sergeant Tim who is going to be backup for Officer Chen. This is Boyfriend Tim willing to be there for his woman, but asking what she wants because he knows she's more than capable of handling herself.

That's what hits me the hardest about this—he knows she's got it, but he's there if she wants him.

And I think that's why her "No" and the head-tilt comes off as intimately as it does... Lucy knows what Tim's offering and why. It's love he's demonstrating and she's sending a "message received" with that look.

And Tim's little "okay" downturn of his lip at the end of the clip even shows how he's not worried a bit. But he was going to offer. And I bloody love that.

Tim and Lucy and Wesley

I love this scene. It's so small and seemingly insignificant plot-wise, but it's the heart of the story, here. Okay, I'm tearing up a little.

PAUSE: TW Abuse CW Abuse

I don't want to give details, but I have people in my life who have been where these women are in the story. So, to me, I don't see the characters. I see my cousin. I see my friend. I see the girl when I was in college who was murdered by her boyfriend in the dorm.

In the case of the plot, this scene isn't necessary. But in terms of the context, it adds so bloody much. It's the message. It's the truth of what happens all too often. Gabby Petito is a recent case that made national headlines, but this happens all over, every day.

And what can we do? What options are there? How can we help? There is some heavy stuff in this episode. But, it's important for us to listen and learn.

END TW Abuse CW Abuse

I love that Tim has Lucy's back, here. She could have done this alone, but I bet she asked him along for his experience and for the weight of his strips in the discussion.

And I ADORE Shawn Ashmore (the sharp-eyed twin, as I've always thought of him), and there's something so irreverent about him sitting in that suit atop the desk that made me giggle a little the first time I saw it.

"Him and Bailey are just way too nice to be landlords." "Totally." *aggressive head-nodding Tim*

And like the Fool who took the stage immediately after the gruesome murder in the Royal Shakespeare Production of MacBeth (the Scottish play for my theatre siblings), there's the levity we need to help transition to what's next.

It's the rhythm of the scene and script where somehow this writer's room is tasked with heartache and hilarity in the same space. It takes skill to do well, and this scene does it well.

"Okay, hold on, you are a complete badass out on the streets-" *Tim question's wife's opinion aggressively* "Off hours, you're a little...." "Easy target."

Nolan's indignation combined with Celina's face make that moment. But it's all the rhythm of Tim and Lucy that gets us there. Tim and Lucy are still Tim and Lucy.

Lucy wants to try to find the compassionate angle, and Tim's going to tell it like it is.

Chenford Coach a Game

Tim and Lucy have me smiling ear-to-ear for so many reasons in this scene. Look at how sweet he is with the kids, making sure they have a good experience. Look how competitive she is. Miss "I like trophies" is coming out, and it's amazing.

"God, every time!" "Be encouraging." "Good. Good job. Good try." "We're gonna work on that."

Married. So married. Beyond married. This whole interaction is gold. And the matching hats and shirts!? Normally, I wouldn't think Prison Orange would be a good look on a cop, but these two pull it off!

Tim is coaching Lucy as much as he's coaching the kids. I see a little "teacher Tim" in that "Be encouraging", though far gentler than TO Tim. And his face right before he tells her, "We're gonna work on that" has me rolling. That little down-turned mouth cracks me up.

We're getting a sneak peek into their future with this one. And, as usual, Tim and Lucy are balancing one another out.

That's one of the things I really love about them. They're not the same person, like Lucy says his ex was. They're very different people who are on a parallel path and are willing to put in the work to make this work because they're worth it.

"I'm excited." "I know."

AHHHHHHH. I know it's a TINY, tiny thing, but the way that he so effortlessly leans into her, the way he cocks his head as he says, "I know." It's so married.

And I have to call out the camera work, here, and the directing. If we're paying attention, we see Nyla and Angela showing up as Blake goes to bat. From the other angle you might note Blake's father shooting to his feet as Blake's bat connects with the ball.

The director is allowing us to discover the story-line without dumping us in at that shot of Nyla and Angela surrounding Blake's father. And I bloody love it.

James Patterson (pre-ghost writers) took the same approach with his mystery books. If you were really paying attention, you always had the opportunity to discover the answer along with the detective. That was something the ghost writers just always missed.

It's fun to have the chance to be detectives yourself—and this director allowed us that chance.

And, I just looked it up. Robert Bella, again! That explains the composition of Tim and Lucy with the fence during the night scene at the ball-field—having Eric Winter take the two steps up so he'd be framed behind the fence instead of in the gap as Melissa O'Neil steps away for Lucy's call.

Anyway.... back to Blake's Criminal Dad...

I had hoped this was the way the story-line would go (with Blake's father being arrested at the end of the game), but I didn't call Nyla and Angela being involved.

So, that gives two more people front row seats to "Why the Hell are Tim and Lucy Coaching Together if They're Just Friends And Holy Crap Were They About to Kiss on the Sidelines?"

Also love the Genny is up there, and that she's positioned behind Blake's father. I don't know if she did it on purpose to help make him easier to find for Nyla and Angela, but that's my head-canon.

And LOOK at Tim and Lucy cheer Blake on! Married. So married.

Plus, that hi-five. I know we're all talking about what Tim has in his hand. Is it cash? We've seen him bet on things before (including that his Rookie would smoke everyone at firearm re-certification), but did Tim and Lucy bet on the game?

She definitely grabs on after the high five, and we see his fingers wiggling. Is he trying to get out of giving her the money? We might need Eric Winter and Melissa O'Neil to chime in on this one...

I have to say, I am loving domestic Chenford, and watching them find new layers to their relationship. I know a lot of people want snogging every week, but I am a huge fan of dolling it out in smaller dollops, much as the romantic aspects of this relationship have been leading up to "Do you want to go on a date?".

Yes, in real life, some people sleep together the moment they meet. Then, you have me and Matthew, who waited four years and until we were married. Lucy and Tim are somewhere between that, and I think they're doing what's right for these characters in this moment.

And I have to separate Chenford back into Tim and Lucy, for a moment, to acknowledge what might not be seen as "Chenford" to most, but totally is to me... Tim and Lucy had separate story-lines this episode.

Yes, Lucy came together on the baseball story-line. Yes, they converged at parts on the Domestic story-line. But, we got to also see them handle themselves without the other as backup. And I think that's so important for us to see as an audience—Tim and Lucy are still Tim and Lucy. They don't have to be together every second.

Tim was highly organized and communicative as a Sergeant in the shoot-out. We got to see his military-level calm and control on display.

For Lucy, we got to see her compassion, bad-assery, and conflict de-escalation without anyone having to back her up. She's a confident and competent cop.

Together, we love them. But I'm someone who also lovesTim and Lucy as Tim and Lucy—separate from Chenford.

I think it's important for the show to remind us who they are on their own so that we can appreciate them both, and not let "Chenford" become the only story-line for either. Both characters are rich and complex, and deserve the opportunity to shine separate from one another, not only when they share a scene.

PAUSE: CW Abuse TW Abuse

This story-line really broke my heart because I know those women. I've been the one in Lucy's position trying to help before one was nearly strangled to death by her husband. And she stayed... it was rough.

If you are in an unsafe situation, please reach out and get help. Here is the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233

I like to keep these Metas light and frothy, but I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge this plot line that isn't a story for two many people in this country and in this world.

Yes, we watch television often for entertainment, but there can be some truth in the messages we receive.

END CW Abuse TW Abuse

As always, thank you for reading and joining me on this ride. I can't wait to see what's next for Tim, Lucy, and Chenford.st

#CW Abuse #tw abuse #Chenford #Tim Bradford #Lucy Chen #Eric Winter #Melissa O'Neil #The Rookie #Lucy x Tim #Tim x Lucy #Meta #The Rookie Meta

130 notes · View notes

1lostsoul0fishbowl · 9 months

Text

annual writing self-evaluation 📝

Many thanks and muchas smooches to @justhere4thevibez for tagging me! 🥰

1. List of works published this year (in no particular order):

chapters 56-84 of With a Little Help From My Friends (completed 5/15/23)

Next Time I Fall (24 chapters, completed 12/19/23)

Lost and Found and Turned Around (7 chapters, completed 11/16/23)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

I’m incredibly proud of all my works, but I think probably I’m most proud of Next Time I Fall. I created a brand new rarepair, shaped a beautiful fluffy love story for them, and persevered through extreme personal difficulty to finish the fic despite the temptation to abandon it.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

There are a couple of chapters in Little Help that I feel aren’t as strong as they could’ve been. 64, 73, and 81 in particular. I don’t know what I should’ve done to make them better; I just know they needed more.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I’ll pick one little snippet from each fic…

Little Help:

Wayne waited until she’d finished her tiny blueberry slice and was debating over which to try next. “Actually, sugar,” he said quietly to Max, “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“About what?” she asked, puzzled. “About gaining weight? That was a joke.”

“No.” He watched Eddie let Lucy lick a tiny smear of pie filling from his finger, despite Chrissy’s protest that sugar wasn’t good for cats. “About staying with us.”

A chill ran through her. “It’s still okay, right?” she said hesitantly. “My mom’s getting out of the rehab next week, but Claudia said I could stay longer if I needed to. But if that’s changed…” She trailed off, swallowing hard.

Wayne patted her shoulder. “Naw, sugar, that ain’t changed. You can stay long as you like. Fact is”— he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly bashful— “fact is, what we really want is to keep you for good.”

~~~

Next Time I Fall:

Gareth couldn’t imagine having to grow up without his mom and dad. He thought of the way Janie held so tightly to his mom every time they hugged, and a lump formed in his throat.

“They never found your parents?” he whispered. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

Honestly, he hadn’t even thought before speaking, he’d just blurted that out. But somehow it had been the right thing to say; Eddie and Chrissy’s tense expressions melted into something that looked like relief, and Janie’s crushing grip on his hand finally relaxed a little. Gareth laced his fingers through hers, giving her hand a little squeeze, before gently turning it to examine the small number tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

“Is that where this came from?” He lifted her hand to his lips, softly kissing the tiny 011. “Did they do that to you in the Lab?”

She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “It was my name,” she murmured. “That is why everyone calls me El. El is short for Eleven.”

Fucking hell. Gareth felt tears running down his cheeks, too.

~~~

Lost and Found:

“Jane, you need to wake up!” Kali tried unsuccessfully not to shout. “You really are naive! They can always take you if they really want you. You need to face facts. Your policeman cannot protect you, you have to be able to protect yourself. Are your friends helping you with that? Is your boyfriend? No, they just want you to be ‘normal’. They want you to suppress your gifts instead of using them, and they want you to forget who you are and where you came from. And if I stay here they’ll do the same to me. Putting on their hypocritical smiles as long as I convert to their idea of normal. I don’t want to hide who I am, and neither should you, Jane. You can’t heal by hiding. The only way to heal is to face up to the truth, confront and conquer your past.”

“Stop calling me naive,” Jane snapped, “just because I am trying to accept my past instead of confronting it. I confronted Papa face to face, and then I let him die, and it did not change anything. All your revenge has not changed you either.” Just as quickly as her anger flared up, it dissipated again. Her voice softened, her entire demeanor settling into something more gentle. “You talk a lot about healing, but you are still so mad, Kali. I think I am more healed than you are. Maybe if you stayed here, as part of my family, maybe that can heal you like it did for me.”

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

I love every single comment I get, truly I do. But I think the ones that made me smile the most this year were the few on Next Time I Fall that basically said ‘I never would’ve considered El and Gareth together but your fic made me ship them’. Is there any greater compliment? 😄

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Basically the last eight weeks have been awful. I got covid, and had barely recovered from that when a family emergency happened and I was thrown into the role of caregiver, and since then just more and more stuff keeps going wrong. I’m exhausted and honestly in a pretty dark place, mentally and emotionally, right now.

And yet. In spite of that I finished both Next Time and Lost and Found. Neither of them seem to have made any great impact— I barely even got any comments on either finale— but it was a goal of mine to finish them both and I’m still proud I managed to achieve that.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Kali, in Lost and Found, was so much fun to explore! I rewatched “The Lost Sister” before I started writing this fic, and I realized that I still hated her obnoxious friends but Kali herself was a super interesting character with a lot of potential. I had a lot of fun digging into what might possibly make her want to reconnect with El, and what would make her feel drawn to Steve. Also it surprised me how much I ship Stali now!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I learned that my stories come out better when I write them the way I want them, instead of “taking requests” and pushing the characters in directions I wouldn’t have chosen if left to my own devices. I feel like certain parts of Little Help suffered because of this, so I resolved I’d stick to my own plans for Next Time and later Lost and Found, and I think those two fics came out better for it.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

Next year, if I write any more, I want to somehow learn not to be so obsessed with stats. Stop comparing my kudos/comments count to other fics and feeling sad and inadequate. I have no idea how to accomplish this, but it’s where I need to be if I’m going to keep writing.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Oh it’s 1000% @pearlypairings — she’s been all of the above for me and so much more! Lost and Found would never have happened without her, and Next Time would likely have been abandoned unfinished.

11. Anything in your real life show up in your writing this year:

Lots of things, yeah, I don’t think I can help adding little bits and pieces of myself to my stories. I write the kind of world I’d like to see, and populate it with characters I either want to be like or wish I’d had in my own life.

A very silly specific example, though, is that I made Eddie adopt a kitten because I lost my cat last year and I missed her so much.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Um. Not really? I don’t think I’m good enough yet to be passing on wisdom to others!!!

13. Any new projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I have a couple fun ideas jotted down in my Plot Bunnies folder, but no definite plans to start anything new right now. I gotta get out of this awful headspace before I can even think about new projects.

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read:

@sokkas-first-fangirl @bratanimus @slowandsteddie

#losty writes #annual writing self evaluation #writer games #dash games #ao3 writer

17 notes · View notes

emotionalcadaver · 1 year

Text

Part 13: Dance of Darkness

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Grace Burgess x OC

Summary: Disaster leads to an explosive confrontation between Lucy and one of the Shelbys.

Word Count: 3,568

Notes: Warnings for depictions of slut shaming (sort of) and references to violence and sexual assault. Apologies to Polly fans in advance for this one.

Previous Chapter • Series • Fic • Next Chapter

Chapter 10: Ride or Die

“Where did Lucy get to?” May asked as they walked the rest of the way back to the house from visiting the horse, stepping into the entryway. “I thought that she would come meet us at the stables after she was finished with those calls.”

Lucy had been informed by the maids that there was a call for her or Tommy just before they were about to leave for the stables. She’d told them to go on ahead and that she’d catch up with them. But she’d never turned up.

“Probably yelling at someone on the other line. Sometimes it happens. Drink?” he asked.

“Why not?”

He went to the alcohol shelf to pour them both glasses while May sat down to remove her boots.

“Madam, there is a telephone call,” one of the maids reported.

“I’ll take it in the drawing room,” May said, taking the glass Tommy offered her.

“It’s for Mr. Shelby,” the maid said. There was a boom as a door slammed, and then the clatter of shoes running along the floor, and Lucy appeared behind the maid, hair messy and eyes huge, face pale.

“Tommy. You need to come hear what’s happened. Now.”

∗ ∗ ∗

She had to jog to keep up with Tommy as he stormed towards the church.

“Shall I wait for you outside?” she asked. Campbell had ordered that he and Tommy have their meetings in private. He likely wouldn’t respond well to her presence when he had expressly forbid it.

“No,” Tommy said, already half up the stairs, though he paused until she climbed them to be back at his side. The look in his eyes told her enough. He wouldn’t be letting her out of his sight for a while. Not when his entire family was being targeted.

“We had a deal,” he shouted as he entered the church, stalking to where Campbell was sitting the pews. When Campbell didn’t respond, his voice rose. “Hey! We had a fucking deal!”

“I would thank you to moderate your language in a place of worship,” Campbell said. Tommy seized the paper out of his hands and threw it to the ground, getting directly into his face.

“Fuck your house of worship,” Lucy said. Campbell glanced back at where she was standing.

“She isn’t supposed to be here.”

Tommy leaned closer. “We had a fucking deal.”

Tommy paced back and forth as he and Campbell argued. The smug, patronizing tone in Campbell’s voice was almost enough to make Lucy lunge forward and mash his head into the wooden pew in front of him.

“So…let us review the new situation. I have your brother in a prison cell, charged with the murder of Billy Kitchen. The case against him is strong, and I have no doubt that his destiny is to hang. And then there is Polly’s son, Michael. He has already admitted to helping Arthur burn down the Marquis pub. Oh. He was a tough nut to crack, that boy, but crack he did. So, I have your brother facing the noose, I have your cousin facing five years for arson, and I have your entire organization in disarray in Birmingham and in London,” Campbell said, eyes shimmering with glee.

What a fucking disaster.

Tommy was trying to bargain with him. Even though he had already agreed to do the killing. But Campbell just smiled, and shook his head. It had never been about trying to strong arm them into doing more for him. It was about showing Tommy that, even if he himself was not afraid to die, Campbell could have his entire family killed, should he fail to follow through.

“I’ve been ahead of you every step of the way,” Campbell said. “And, as my father used to say…to make sure your dog obeys you, you have to show it the stick once in a while,” he raised his cane for emphasis. It clanged as he brought it back down to the floor, the sound turning rhythmic as he began to head towards the doors.

Lucy watched as Tommy’s hands flexed into fists, waiting until the doors had slammed shut behind Campbell.

“We’ll see how much he likes that stick when I shove it up his arse,” Lucy mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, shaking her hair out of her face. “What do you want to do?”

“We need to get to the office,” he began to walk towards the doors. Lucy rushed to remain at his side. “Now.”

∗ ∗ ∗

When he came into the office, the phone on his desk was ringing.

“Tommy, Arthur’s in solitary confinement. Michael’s in the remand wing–” Lizzie started frantically.

“Yeah. I already know. Get out, shut the doors,” he stalked into his office with Lucy still right behind him. Lizzie stopped speaking and did as she was told, the double doors to his office closing with a click. The phone continued to ring, even as he sank into his seat. With a great amount of foreboding, Tommy lifted it from its cradle and held it to his ear.

“Tommy?” he swore that his heart stopped, everything going still. “It’s me,” her voice was the same low, soothing Irish lilt that he remembered, that haunted him in his dreams. “Tommy, can you hear me?”

“Yes, Grace.”

Lucy nearly dropped the gloves she’d been tugging off, half running around the desk. He tilted the phone so that she could also hear.

“I think you called. I…I haven’t slept,” she sucked in a deep breath. “Is Lucy there?”

“Yes, she’s right here.”

“Hi, Grace,” Lucy whispered into the phone when he turned it to her.

“Hi, Lucy,” Grace’s voice was soft and longing.

“Grace, this is not a good time,” it physically hurt him to say it.

“I can call you back.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s all right,” the last thing he wanted was to stop hearing her voice.

“Can we meet?” Grace asked. Lucy looked at him with wide, hopeful, pleading eyes.

“Yes. We’ll meet.”

“When?”

He hesitated. “Grace, there are some things I have to do first.”

“That’s alright. That’s alright, just…whenever those things are done.”

“I’ll call you.”

“I’ll make sure that I’m the one who gets to the phone first, this time.”

“Good bye, Grace.”

“Bye, Tommy. Bye, Lucy.”

“Bye, Grace,” Lucy said, voice very quiet.

He took a deep breath, and hung up the phone. Lucy stared at it for a long moment, chin slightly trembling as she tried not to cry.

“Come here,” he pulled her gently into the circle of his arms, squeezing her to him as tight as he could without having to worry about hurting her, tucking his face into her neck and breathing in the scent and comfort of her perfume.

∗ ∗ ∗

When they entered the betting shop, John, Esme, Finn, and Polly were already gathered, waiting for them.

John began to report to Tommy. It wasn’t good.

“They’ve taken Michael,” Finn said, desperately.

“Business first,” Tommy ordered. Polly leapt from her seat, physically shoving Lucy out of the way in her haste to get at Tommy. Lucy caught herself against the wall with a yelp, head whirling to stare at her in shock.

“They took Michael.”

Tommy held up a hand. “I said business first. And don’t push Lucy, Polly.”

Polly continued to try to talk, but Tommy shouted over her.

“Polly, business first!” he barked. She went silent, glowering. Lucy moved so that she was on the other side of Tommy from her, putting him between them, just in case. A movement that wasn’t lost on Tommy, if the way that his eyes tracked her were any indication. He turned back to his brother. “John?” he said, encouraging him to continue with his report. All of their whiskey had been taken, vans impounded and warehouses locked. They’d lost the Eden Club back to Sabini. Alfie had framed Arthur for Billy Kitchen’s death, so their truce with the Black Country boys was over.

“I don’t give a fuck about whiskey,” Polly interrupted. “I don’t give a fuck about Billy Kitchen. I want my son out of prison, now!” she slammed her hand on a desk.

“Thomas, I spoke to Johnny Dogs–” Esme began.

“This meeting should just be family!” Polly raged.

“I can help–” Esme tried.

“Let her talk!” Lucy said.

“It’s family only, she’s not blood, Tommy!” Polly practically screeched.

“Let her speak,” Tommy ordered.

“Or is this a business–have you forgotten our family–” her eyes locked on Lucy, like she’d just realized that she was there, and her face turned bright red, all the hatred that she’d kept locked up towards her spilling out in one sudden, demented roar. “Get your soulless, disgusting, bitch of a slut out of here, now!”

Lucy recoiled like she’d been slapped, sinking into herself, her back hitting the wall behind her.

“Enough!” Tommy shouted.

But Polly wasn’t done. “We all know that you just keep her around as a hole to shove your cock into–”

“Enough!” Tommy roared, in a voice Lucy had never heard him use before. He sounded monstrous, terrifying in a way that wasn’t wholly human. Polly went silent, eyes widening, taking a step back, like she’d actually realized that she’d gone too far. Lucy stared at the floor, eyes blinking hard, feeling the rise of warmth in her cheeks from humiliation, unable to look at any of the other people in the room, though she could feel all of their eyes on her.

“Enough, Polly,” his voice was lower, but the dangerous growl was still there. “Esme?” he turned back to her, voice more gentle.

“I spoke to Johnny Dogs. The Lees are kin.”

“The bloody Lees!” Polly shouted.

“They can give us men,” Esme argued.

“We don’t need more fucking men! It’s men that have done the damage. It’s…it…” Polly stammered. “It is men fighting like cockerels that have put us here in the first place.”

“Esme, we’ll take up their offer. We need men,” Tommy said. Polly looked at him with the most hateful expression Lucy had ever seen.

“If Michael ever gets out of prison, I am taking him away from this family. For good. This life is bad,” she stalked around the table and grabbed Finn by the arm. “This life is all bad.”

“Aunt Pol, what are you doing?” Finn asked.

“Shut up and walk,” she half shoved him toward the door.

“Polly,” Tommy called after her, his voice a low and dangerous growl. She hesitated. “If you ever speak about Lucy like that again, I’ll have you thrown out onto the streets.”

Polly’s face twisted, and for a moment Lucy thought that she might actually lunge at him, but instead she just spat on the ground near his feet, and shoved Finn the rest of the way out the door.

Tommy leaned against a table with a sigh, convening with Esme and John for a few more minutes, sinking into a chair. Esme sent John away to get the car, and then leaned against the other side of the table from Tommy, face close. She began to mumble to him, about riding away. About getting lost.

Tommy moved slowly, leaning forward to tell her in a quiet voice to go with John. Then he reached out, and grabbed her by the face with one large hand, holding so tightly her cheeks squished. “If you ever talk about getting lost again, I’ll cut you from this family,” the threat was spoken in a soft whisper, and then he let her face go. Esme looked around, at the empty room, save for Lucy still leaned up against the wall watching them.

“What family?”

And then she walked out the door.

Lucy let her head fall back to thump against the wall, staring tearily up at the ceiling, swallowing hard. Polly’s furious outbursts regarding her presence really shouldn’t have bothered her, by now. She ought to be used to them at this point.

She had always figured that Polly knew about her and Tommy, at least in some fashion. Polly was observant. And she wasn’t stupid. Of course, she knew that the other family members all probably also had their suspicions, but…she had never expected Polly to just out them like that. Certainly not in such a horribly demeaning and humiliating way.

“Lucy,” Tommy cleared his throat, voice surprisingly close. She coughed, once, and opened eyes she hadn’t even realized that she’d closed. He was standing right in front of her. Tucking a curl behind her ear, she tried–and horribly failed–to give him a shaky smile. “Come here.”

He pulled her into his arms, hand cradling the back of her head, pressing it to his chest. She locked her arms around his ribs, leaning into him heavily as he began to carefully stroke her hair, the other arm wrapped around her, anchoring her to him.

“Sorry,” she whispered, sniffling. He shook his head, cheek resting against the top of her head. He smelled of smoke and whiskey and his cologne, his body impossibly warm as she cuddled closer into him. He kissed her forehead, and she relaxed.

“Don’t listen to a word she fucking says,” he said, sternly. “Eh?”

She nodded, movements still shaky, against him.

“And Lucy…hey,” he pulled back, tilting her chin up to look into his eyes. “It’s not true. None of it. I love you,” he kissed her between her brows. “You’re perfect.”

Sniffing, she nodded, squeezing him back to her with her cheek squished against his chest. “I love you too,” she sighed. “They all officially know, now.”

“Yeah. It’ll be alright,” he assured. He pulled back just enough to kiss her, making it slow and deep, hand cradling the back of her head while the other kept her close. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers. “Listen, I’m going to go call Grace. I’m going to set up a time and place for us to meet her, yeah?”

She sniffed, nodding, knowing that he was trying to distract her with the idea of something hopeful and exciting. “Yeah.”

He smiled gently, kissing her again before letting her settle back against his chest.

He let her hold onto him for as long as she needed, stroking her hair and pressing kisses to her head the entire time.

∗ ∗ ∗

She put down the phone, after listening silently to what Ada had just told her, resting her fingers against her lips, tapping them once, then buried her face in her hands, feeling as the muscles in her cheeks contracted, leaving her to shudder.

Even after all this time, the alleyway remained.

Not just the alleyway, narrow and terrible, as the men grinned gleefully down at her, but the hole. The hole that came after. Once she’d regained consciousness after she inevitably passed out. Probably from a combination of blood loss, pain, and shock.

It had been so dark, so cold��the soil dug deep under her fingernails when she clawed at it, lungs heaving for breath, frantic as she fought her way up, out from under the ground and back to the surface.

Back to life.

Raising her head up, away from the darkness of her palms, she breathed deeply, forcing down the memories of her own trauma that the report of the new one had drawn forth.

Poor Polly. Much as she and Polly may have hated each other, she never would have wished that upon her.

She was going to have to tell Tommy. That was why Ada had phoned her, after all. Probably because she knew that Lucy was the only one of them who would be able to have a chance at preventing Tommy from marching to Campbell’s lodgings and slaughtering the man then and there.

She made a second call, to a man that they had inside the prison, asking him a few pointed, careful questions, listening silently and unmoving to the responses, then hung up the phone.

Standing, she went to double doors to Tommy’s office, stepping out into the space that Lizzie occupied, where Tommy was giving her instructions for the next couple of days.

“Tommy,” she said, quietly. He looked up, saw the look on her face, and immediately hastened towards her. “We need to talk,” she half whispered, and he nodded, going into the office.

“Everything alright?” Lizzie asked, eyeing her curiously from her desk.

“Mhm. Everything’s fine, Lizzie, thank you,” Lucy went back into Tommy’s office, closing the door behind her. “Tommy,” she said, very quietly. He looked up from his desk.

“Yes?”

She sat down, the leather in the seat beneath her squeaking in complaint as she eased her weight into it. Reaching across the desk, she took his hands in hers. “I need you to listen to what I have to tell you, and I need you to promise me not to go flying off the handle.”

“What’s happened?”

“Tommy, promise me,” he never broke his promises to her. Not ever. He sighed, icy eyes narrowed.

“Fine. I promise. Now what’s wrong?”

“Ada called. She said that Polly…Polly went to the prison, to…I guess to try to get Michael out. She didn’t trust us to get it done, probably. Anyway, she went in, she saw Campbell, and,” Lucy gulped around the words. “Something happened. I talked with one of our men inside. He says that Polly made a trade of sorts, for Michael’s release. He’s been released, by the way. Ada says that night, after Polly went to the prison, she found her in the bath back at the house, drunk out of her mind, scrubbing harshly at her skin.”

As she’d spoken, Tommy’s face had gradually drained of all color, until he was so white Lucy was afraid that he would pass out. At that particular final detail, a muscle in his cheek twitched. It was a habit that Lucy had also developed, that still she sometimes found herself doing; scrubbing at her skin until it was red and raw. As if she could somehow scrub away the memory of their hands on her.

“Tommy?” she asked, hoarsely, unsure of what he was going to do. “Tommy?”

He wiped a hand over his face, grunting, brows pinching as if in pain.

“I know you would like to kill him,” she said. “I would like to kill him too,” she looked into those eyes, blue and whirling and furious. Though she knew not at her. “But I think that doing so now would do more harm than good.”

Tommy’s jaw twitched, lips pursing. And then, without a word, he rose up out of his seat, walked around the desk, and picked up his coat and hat.

“Tommy? Tommy!” Lucy jumped up, half running after him, barely having enough time to snag her own coat and hat from the hooks they were hanging on before following him out the door, and down the street. But he wasn’t headed in the direction of Campbell’s lodgings. “Tommy, where are you going?”

She grew quiet, as Charlie’s yard came into view, allowing the silence to just settle around them. Tommy pushed open the door to the stables, going to his black stallion, running a hand along his muscular flank, eyes tortured.

“Hullo, Sin,” Lucy said to her chestnut mare, stroking her nose, feeding her a few sugar cubes from her palm. “Good girl,” she pressed a kiss to the horse’s nose, closing her tired eyes and resting her forehead against her. When she opened her eyes, Tommy was no longer there. “Tommy?”

She found him with Curly, having shed his coat and hat, helping to shovel shit with sharp, quick movements. Curly was staring at him in bafflement.

“Why are you doing that, Tommy?”

“To remind myself of what I’d be if I wasn’t who I am.”

Leaning against the entrance to the shed, Lucy watched with a flutter of pride in her chest. He’d never allowed himself to forget where he had come from; the kinds of troubles which he’d used to suffer. That many more still suffered each and every day.

Curly began to help Tommy shovel, grinning to himself, clearly taking joy out of Tommy’s sudden decision to assist him. Lucy continued to just watch them work, eyeing the way that the muscles flexed in Tommy’s arms and back, his face creased with concentration.

Charlie came over to stand beside her, took one look at Tommy still shoveling and Curly beaming, and removed his cigarette from his mouth. “Tommy? What’s going on?”

“I think Tommy’s lost his mind, Charlie,” Curly said, ecstatic. Tommy ceased his movements, clearing his throat.

“Well, it’s honest work, Curly, but I don’t want to get used to it,” he stooped to scoop back up his hat and jacket. “So I’ll need six cans of petrol. Bring them to the garage, put them in the back of the car.”

“Six cans?” Charlie asked. Tommy just nodded, heading to the door, taking Lucy’s arm as he walked by, guiding her with him. “Tommy? If you ever want a job, I’ll get you your own shovel,” he shouted after them.

“Did shoveling shit make you feel better?” Lucy asked. Tommy washed a hand down his face, groaning.

“Not really.”

She rubbed at his arm. Then he looked at her, something almost like excitement entering his eyes.

“But I know of something that will.”

Previous Chapter • Series • Fic • Next Chapter

Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

#tommy shelby #tommy shelby x oc #peaky blinders #lucy winters #lucy winters x tommy shelby #my ocs #my fanfiction #fanfiction #dance of darkness #lucy winters x tommy shelby x grace burgess #tommy shelby x grace burgess #tommy shelby x grace burgess x oc #grace burgess x lucy winters #grace burgess x oc #grace burgess

15 notes · View notes

halos-top-alien-model · 11 months

Text

Sangheili Bracket Round 2 Match 11

More info below:

Meduu the Fierce:

Debuted in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition)

The daughter of the legendary Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, Meduu violently took control of her father's property holdings after his death.

Additional commentary: Did not realize how little info there was of her in the encyclopedia. Honestly, I imagine her to have inherited her father's genes of massive fucking height. So badass warrior woman who's huge. What more do you need than that?

Submitted propaganda: Xytan 'Jar Wattinree's daughter. We know basically nothing about her except that she took control of all her father's property holdings through force. She's probably extremely intelligent and badass and stupidly TALL, just like her old man. Meduu would be the coolest character ever if someone actually remembered she existed.

Asum 'Mdama / Bakar:

Debuted in Halo: Glasslands

Born Jan. 20th, 2542 as the second son of Jul and Raia 'Mdama and the younger brother of Dural. He was trained in combat by Naxan - the great-uncle of Raia. When he learned of his mother's death in March 2553, he went to nearby fields to mourn. Then, he began to be fostered by Kasha 'Hilot as he assumed the new name of Bakar. She would take him to Onyx - her new place of work - and he would attend the Pax Institute while there.

It was around September 2558 that Molly Patel would transfer to his school, leading to her, Kareem El-Hashem, and Unggoy Gudam Keschun to come across him being bullied by three human peers. He would at first avoid trying to defend himself, until one of the bullies hits Gudam hard enough to draw blood. However, just as a full-on fight ensues, an instructor named Dinok 'Acroli breaks it up. The next day, Molly would be forced to sit at the same table as Bakar, giving him the opportunity to chastise her for making him look weak, until the other two arrive. Their attempts to become friends with him causes him to leave. Later, he would be stuck in the same self defense lesson being taught by Spartans Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 with the same trio. During a field trip to the Repository, Bakar would open up to the trio a little and bond with them. Then, things took a turn when a beast called a rafakrit attacked. Kasha would go to distract the beast to save everyone else, only to get injured in the process, leading Bakar and his new friends to launch a risky plan to save her. After this, the Spartans and Director Mendez talk with them, which would then lead them to sharing with Bakar the identity of his father: Jul 'Mdama (due to Sangheili customs, he did not know this before). Even after learning the Covenant remnant leader was his father, Bakar would continue to feel hatred toward him. Also during this conversation, they would warn him that his brother had joined up with the Servants of Abiding Truth and had possibly infiltrated Onyx. However, much later, Cortana's message would be sent to all of the galaxy and Onyx's Guardian would awaken. Bakar was at school be it occurred, forcing him to join those hiding in the cafeteria. When Prone to Drift arrives, he and his friends concoct a plan to have Drift reach the Guardian and disrupt its communication with Cortana. Then, the Servants of the Abiding Truth attack the school, killing some people and taking Drift away to the Repository. Bakar and friends would pursue, using some creatures also chasing the Servants in their plan to stop them. After catching up, Bakar would confront his brother and beg him to stop, while Dural felt he had been dishonored and should kill himself. In order to keep the attacking creatures from hurting Bakar, Dural chose to whistle a distraction and sacrifice himself, being carried away. Another creature would remain, but Lucy would arrive and take care of it, getting injured in the process. The kids would take her and Prone to Drift away in the Pelican Lucy brought, then fly close enough to the Guardian so Drift could disable it. Now, Bakar is amongst those living in hiding from Cortana due to Onyx's slipspace bubble being reactivated.

#halo #halo sangheili #sangheili #halo aliens #halo elite #halo elites #halo fandom #halo tumblr #tumblr bracket #tumblr tournament #meduu the fierce #asum mdama #asum 'mdama #halo bakar #bakar #bakar halo

4 notes · View notes

newyorkchainsawmassacre · 7 months

Text

The new faces of GeneCo: The discovery of LJ and Luci Largo

Chapter 6

Luci sat in the cemetery with her face in her hands and knees to her chest in an attempt to offer herself comfort. Angry tears spilled out as she heard footsteps coming near her.

They seemed less ominous due to it being day time but she still tried to ignore them. She eventually did look over to see none other than Rotti Largo and his body guards walking her way.

As the little girl he now knew as Luci looked up at him he was able to take in what she looked like. She had dark brown shoulder length hair in tight curls. She also had big brown eyes that in this moment were filled with sadness.

"Hey Mr. Largo, you sure spend a lot of time in graveyard, don't you?". She said with a smile in an attempt to be comedic, even as tears continued to stain her face. Rotti laughed anyway. "I could say the same to you. May I ask what brings you here this time?". Rotti then asked.

Luci whipped the tears off her face before she spoke. "It's too much to bother you with". She said. "I have all the time the world". Rotti said before smiling. As stated before the more time away from his kids bickering the better.

They went to a diner and when they got there Luci immediately went on a rant. "Next thing I knew all my money was gone. And for what it's not like she needed the money, the government pays her to take care of us, if what she does even counts as taking care of us". Luci said as she attempted to shake ketchup out of its glass bottle onto her fries.

"I mean everyone just runs wild in that place. Most of us aren't even in school, the only ones that are in school are the ones who were enrolled before they got to the orphanage. They had to pretty much teach us everything. All she does is get surgery, drink and smoke. oh, and get high on street zydrate". Luci said as her frustration with Lorrel grew, alongside her frustration with the ketchup bottle.

Rotti then listened in more interest. "She buys illegal zydrate?". He asked. "Yup. She has this secret passage way in her room behind this obnoxiously big mirror that she thinks no one knows about and she meets up with grave robbers through it. You know, when I confronted her about taking my money she opened the door high out of her mind. Can you believe that! Using my money to get high then having the audacity to say she had every right to do such a thing because I live in her house so my money is her money!". She said taking a moment to stop shaking the ketchup bottle to gesture wildly.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this because you probably don't care and probably have much more super important things to do other than hear me complain and I'm sorry I'm taking up so much of your time but I'm just so frustrated and sad and WHY ISN'T THE KETCHUP COMING OUT!". Luci yelled in a level of anger Rotti had only seen from his eldest son Luigi.

Luci put the ketchup down and placed her head in her hands in order to calm herself down. She was pulsating with anger. "I'm sorry Mr.Largo, I don't know why I got so angry". She said apologetically. Rotti waved his hand dismissively. "It is fine, I'vle seen my fair share of outbursts. After all I have Luigi for a son". Rotti said in hopes of lighting up the mood.

Luci smiled a little at the joke. "How about we talk about something positive instead, what are some of the things you enjoy?". Rotti asked. "Okay, well I like Blind Mag, but then again who doesn't". Luci said, her face instantly lighting up. An idea then came to Rotti's mind.

"That is true, did you know she's performing tonight?". He then revealed. She nodded fast. "Yeah, I can't wait to watch it on the genetic opera". She said in excitement. Rotti smiled. "How would you like to watch her in person?". He said watching as she tried to process what he just asked her.

"What do you mean?". Luci asked hoping what she had heard was what she thought he was implying. "What I mean is, I am personally inviting you to watch Blind Mag's performance in person, if you would like to go". Rotti said as he saw the girls eyes light up in excitement and joy.

"Yes! Of course I would". She said quickly. "Great, I'll arrange to have my driver pick you up and bring you to the venue". Rotti said at her confirmation. "Oh, can I bring my brother as well, he loves Blind Mag too". Luci asked. "Of course, the more the merrier". Rotti allowed, the less kids near that woman the better in his opinion.

"Yay, I gotta go find my brother he's probably getting off work right now, bye Mr. Largo". She said flinging out of the booth and running towards the door before waving wilding. Rotti chuckled at the child's excitability.

LJ was greeted by the sight of Luci running towards him, seemimgly happy. "Oh my god, you won't believe what just happened. Something awesome just happened. This is officially the best day ever!". Luci said with a speed that was almost incomprehensible. "Woah, slow down a bit. What happened?". LJ asked before sitting on the bench.

LJ was then tasked with trying his hardest to keep up with what Luci was telling him as she continued to tell him the events of her day. They were both so enthralled that they hadn't noticed Rotti Largo watching them from the safety of his car.

Rotti inspected the boy that sat next to Luci. He looked almost identical except for the fact that his hair was short and straight and he had blue eyes instead of brown, this must be her brother. He also noticed that this boy did not look old enough to have even reached double digits let alone hold a job.

"So then after my minor mental breakdown, Rotti invited us to go see Blind Mag's live performance tonight! Can you believe it!". Luci exclaimed before grabbing her brothers shoulders and shaking him. "It is a shocking thing. Do you even think Lorrel will let us go?". LJ asked.

Luci rolled her eyes, "please, she probably so far gone on a zydrate binge she can barely remember her own name". Luci scoffed. LJ laughed a little. They then stood up from the bench holding each others shoulders. "It's ironic how the day could start off so awful but become so great". LJ added with a smile as they began to walk home.

The twins then arrived back at the orphanage. "You think Lorrel's in her room?". LJ asked, hoping Luci would pick up on his hint. "Probably not, wanna go check just in case?". Luci asked understanding clearly. LJ nodded and they began to trek up the stairs walking past the other kids.

Once they noticed no one else was upstairs they walked up to Lorrel's bedroom door. Luci reached for the handle and turned it open. The door opened easily, a clear sign she was not inside the room as she normally kept it locked. "You think she hid our money in here?". Luci questioned. "If she didn't spend it all maybe, let's look". LJ suggested.

He locked the door so that they couldn't get caught. They searched every corner of the room. Under the bed, in the closet, bathroom drawers, they even managed to move the gigantic mirror and revealed the passage way. They hadn't found their money, but they did find something else among the mess of clothes and empty alcohol bottles strewn across the floor.

"What's this thing?". LJ asked as he picked up a small velvet box. "Let's open it and see". Luci said. LJ opened the box that revealed a set of silver stud earrings. "Woah". LJ said. They heard the front door opening and looked around the room to make sure everything was in place before leaving the room going into their own, earrings in hand.

Before they closed their door however, they spotted Lorrel stumbling up the stairs and LJ could immediately smell cheap scotch, an immediate tell tale sign she had been out day drinking, most likely with their money. Once they heard Lorrel lock her door, with some struggle due to her impaired state, they in turn closed and locked their door.

"What do we do now?". LJ wondered aloud. "We could pawn the earrings, they might not be real diamonds but at least well get some money back". Luci suggested as she held the box in her hand. "I don't think they let 11 year old pawn things, maybe you could keep them and wear them to Mag's performance". LJ suggested cheerfully. "My ears aren't even pierced". Luci stated.

LJ then thought of something. "I can do it". He said walking across the room to where Luci kept her sewing kit. "I don't know". She said, uncertainty filling her voice. "It'll be fine, I've seen the people in the tattoo shops do it a million times, come on". LJ said retrieving a wash cloth from the bathroom and running it under the cold water.

Luci sat on the bed, watching as LJ pulled a needle from the sewing kit. She moved her hair from around her ears. LJ lined the needle up to her right earlobe and pushed in with no warning leaving no room for Luci to reconsider. Luci winced in pain and squeezed her eyes closed as the needle pierced through her ear, blood appeared as her brother pulled the needle out and replaced it with the earring.

She breathed a small sigh of relief as the cold rag hit her bloody ear. "See, that wasn't that bad now was it?". LJ teased a little to which Luci side eyed him. "Real funny, I'll ask you the same question when I'm sticking needles in your ears". She said with a begrudging smile. "Ha ha, lucky for you I only have to do one more ear". LJ reminded and Luci groaned in defeat.

After they were done piercing Luci's ears, LJ began to clean them with saltwater and a q-tip. "You gotta keep these in for a few days and clean around them so your ears don't get infected". He explained, remembering some of the things he heard from inside the tattoo shop.

"How do they look?". Luci asked proudly showing her ears. "Great, how long do you think it'll be until Lorrel notices they're gone?". LJ asked in turn. "With how much she's been drinking, I'll be sure surprised if she notices before dying of alcohol poisoning". Luci said.

#repo the genetic opera #rotti largo #Luci and LJ

1 note · View note

edactually · 2 years

Text

Stede POV - 9.1

Sam had given very good advice, and once Stede was sober enough to recall it, he tried to get in touch with Ed to no avail. Every call went unanswered, every text was left on read. He even tried Anne, he was just so desperate, but she was in no mood to deal with him.

When Lucius reminded him about their upcoming meeting he had to prepare for, it was a lightbulb moment. It was why Stede had asked for the tour plan from Ed. He’d been sure that one of the late October gigs was in the same city that Stede had to travel to for his meeting, and lo and behold there it was. Before the disastrous facetime call, Stede had been planning on surprising Ed while they were out there. The plan had fallen by the wayside in his anxiety over everything that had happened and his lack of response from Ed, but Anne had told him to get creative so the plan was back on.

Stede wanted to plan everything he would say to Ed when he saw him but even throughout the entire flight, he couldn’t come up with anything beyond‘I’m so sorry, I’m an idiot, but I would very much like to go out with you if you’ll have me?’ He hoped he’d have more time to think while they unpacked, but to his horror, the hotel they pulled up at was the same one he knew Ed was staying in. The tour schedule said he had today off, what if he was around?

Stede wasn’t ready, not yet.

Fortunately Lucius had a hankering for an iced coffee and Stede offered to get it while he checked them in. There was a line in the coffee shop so he had time to think. Was fate intervening again? For Stede to have a meeting in the same city as Ed was lucky enough, but Lucius booking the same hotel he was staying at without realising certainly seemed serendipitous. He mused on that while he waited for the barista to make his order.

Ok, a plan.

Ed had a day off, but he was probably out exploring the city, which meant Stede had time to settle into his room and come up with what he wanted to say. He knew Ed was in town until Wednesday, Stede had his meeting tomorrow but was free after four, and he knew Ed had a free evening tomorrow. Tomorrow night then. He knew the fake name Ed was using, he just needed to find out what room he was in and then…

And then what?

Show up at Ed’s room with a cheery wave and a smile like nothing had happened? Ed would think he was a crazed stalker and slam the door in his face. Ed hadn’t replied to him after all, that was hint enough that he didn’t want to see him. God, what had he been thinking? Was it too late to change hotels?

He was frantically googling other nearby hotels when he walked into the lobby of the one they’d been booked into. He could at least hide here once he was in his room and then check out in the morning to find somewhere else. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, and found himself colliding with another figure. The plastic lid popped off the iced coffee in his hand and sent it spilling over both of them. He gasped and lifted his gaze to apologise only to find familiar brown eyes staring at him in mirrored shock.

“Hello.” It was all he could think of to say. He hadn’t expected to be confronted with Ed so soon, much less to spill iced coffee all over the pair of them.

“Hi.” Ed said back, and damn it, his voice still had the power to make Stede’s insides go all gooey.

“Stede!” Anne appeared with her arm thrown over Lucius’ shoulder, and for once Stede was grateful for the interruption. “Luci says you’re in town for a meeting, what are the chances!”

“Small.” He said, and tried not to shoot a sideways glance at Ed’s reaction.

“Ah fate, she works in mysteeeeerious ways...” Anne had put a warble in her voice like she was voicing a halloween special for kids and Stede’s eyes narrowed.

“Some bad news, boss.” Lucius pushed Stede’s wheeled suitcase towards him. “The hotel lost our reservation.”

“Oh.” That was actually good news as far as he was concerned. It was an excuse to leave before he embarrassed himself any further. “That’s alright, we can find another.”

“Afraid not, the receptionist said everywhere is booked out for the Halloween weekend.” Lucius sighed dramatically and Stede caught Ed giving Lucius a suspicious look from the corner of his eye. “Anne, the angel that she is, has said I can crash in her room.”

“I’d offer it to you as well, Stede, but I don’t think there would be enough space.” And then Anne snapped her fingers, like she’d had a brilliant idea. “Wait a second! B, you’ve got a king sized bed in your room, don’t you? Stede can stay with you!”

“Oh, I really couldn’t–” Stede began.

“I’m not sure that’s the best–” Ed said at the same time.

“Settled then!” Lucius interrupted them both. “I’ll crash with Anne. Stede, you crash with Blackbeard. Problem solved!”

Stede glared at his assistant, but both he and Anne were pushing them towards the elevators. “We’ll get another key card sorted for you, Stede.” Anne grinned as the elevator doors slid open and he found himself shoved into the confined space with Ed. “You two head up and get yourselves cleaned up before those stains set in. We’ll meet you both down here for dinner at seven thirty!”

She reached in and plucked a stuffed unicorn from Ed’s hands that Stede had barely registered, but now he noticed the coffee stains sprinkled on the faux fur. “I’ll get this sent to the laundry for you. I think you can manage tonight without this particular cuddle buddy.” Anne winked and Stede assumed Ed knew what she meant because he sure as hell didn’t.

And before either of them could protest further, Lucius shoved Stede’s suitcase in and Anne reached inside the elevator to press the button for Ed’s floor then withdrew her arm to grin wickedly at both of them. Both she and Lucius gave them irritating little waves as the doors slid closed.

“Those little shits!” Stede snapped.

“How stupid do they think we are?” Ed rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, then winced as the action made the wet t-shirt stick to his skin. Stede pretended not to see. “We need to keep them separated, they’re clearly both world class meddlers.”

“I agree.” Stede tutted. “You’d think they’d keep their noses out of our business since we pay their salaries.”

Ed chuckled. It was brief, but it made Stede feel warm, despite the cold and wet fabric that was clinging to his chest.

And then they fell into silence, and Stede couldn’t help but think back on the last time they’d been alone in an elevator together. The desire was still there on his side at least. The urge to hit the emergency stop button and show Ed just how much he missed him. It hung heavy in the air, and Stede wondered if Ed could feel it too.

They didn’t speak as the doors opened on Ed’s floor, nor did they say anything as they walked to Ed’s room and he unlocked the door, but Stede remained in the hallway as Ed walked in. The door started to swing closed and Ed managed to catch it just before it did, peering back at Stede with raised eyebrows. “Are you coming in?”

“No.” Stede said, even as every part of him wanted to follow Ed. “Just because Anne and Lucius schemed for this to happen doesn’t mean we have to go through with it. I can find another hotel somewhere, I don’t want to trouble you.”

“Stede.”

He tried not to let on how hearing his name spoken in Ed’s low husky voice made him want to fall to his knees.

“At least come in and get yourself cleaned up.”

He looked down at the coffee stain that had sunk into his blazer and the shirt beneath. He could admit that the sticky, damp fabric was not exactly comfortable. “Ok.”

He followed Ed inside and admired the room. It was more a suite than a room, with the door opening up into a large living area with a huge television and plush corner sofa with enough space for an entire rugby team. He could see a set of double doors that must lead to the bedroom and he quickly averted his gaze. Unfortunately, it was those exact doors that Ed was heading for. “C’mon, the bathroom is through here.”

For the size of the room, the only bathroom was an impressive ensuite. It made sense but Stede still found it awkward as they both stood next to the bathroom door. “You go first.” Stede insisted.

“No, you’re my guest, you go first.” Ed was chewing on his lower lip. A nervous habit of his, Stede had noticed.

“Really, I insist. I’m the one who spilled the coffee.” Something that he hadn’t actually apologised for, he realised. “I am so sorry about that, by the way. Entirely my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going. You must send me the cleaning bill for your shirt!”

Ed plucked at said t-shirt, tugging the damp fabric away from his body and exposing a quick flash of midriff that Stede averted his eyes from. “Old shirt, don’t worry about it.”

“Well, at least use the bathroom yourself first.” Stede took a couple of steps back. “I need to go through my case and find something to change into anyway, so…”

“Right. ‘Course.” Ed mumbled, and started backing towards the bathroom. “I won’t be long.”

First Post

#edactuallysmau

0 notes

dream-of-ragtime · 2 years

Text

And I hope I can be everything for a while yet

*MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA”

Evidently, I have been haunted by THAT scene ever since I first saw it. This is my first attempt at writing Cobert fan fiction so any feedback is very welcome:)

There’s both original text by none other that our holy master Julian Fellowes and I wrote additionally what I imagined to be their thoughts and fears when they were faced with the possibility of losing each other.

“I know it’s late, but could we go for a walk?”

Although Cora had known for a long time that she would someday be obliged to discuss the matter with Robert, being confronted with that very situation made her feel nauseous. This was something she was used to by now, as it took her often all the willpower she had left to get down a few bites during dinner, but she knew that this time it was not predominantly the illness that made her feel this way. It was the thought of looking into Robert’s unknowing features that scared her the most.

The Marquis de Montmirail and Robert exchanged some final words, but Cora didn’t really understand much of any of it, as behind her still and smiling façade she was fighting an indecisive battle on how she should best deliver the words she was bound to pronounce.

Only after Robert had slipped his arms underneath her own did she once again notice the surroundings clearly. The villa was enlightened by the sparkling party that pulsated around the beautifully decorated walls and for a second, she caught a glimpse of Tom and Lucy swaying in each other’s arms. Another wave of grief suddenly struck her. Robert had also requested earlier that night to share a dance to the cheerful music, just like the two of them had done so many times.

Dancing together had always been one of their passions. Not only because Cora was convinced that she had earned Robert’s love during one of their most memorable dances, but because they would always forget everything and everyone surrounding them when the two of them whirled around the dance floor intertwined in each other’s arms.

However, this evening Cora had to decline. She knew all too well that her constant dizziness would never allow her to spin around. Her muscles, weak as they had become in the past months, could never muster the quick beats she would have to follow along.

Robert had glanced at her somewhat irritated, given the fact that it had not rarely been his wife who had urged him so desperately to share a dance with her. The decline did seem rather unusual.

Luckily, Robert slowly strayed away from the dazzling party, turning into a much calmer corner of the property. Only delicately could the two of them hear the band playing a slow and melancholic ballad.

Staring at the velvet fabric of her dress, Cora still had not made up her mind how she would deliver the news. She knew precisely that Robert was still so agitated due to the possibility that he may have never been the rightful heir to Downton that it felt harsh to confront him with another unsolvable problem. Because yes, it was indeed unsolvable.

Robert must have understood that Cora walked peculiarly silent next to him, as it felt odd to him that she didn’t carelessly start to talk. He had found himself often confused by the way Cora would always find a topic to discuss, no matter how irrelevant it may have appeared to him. Although their arms were tightly intertwined, Robert felt as if thousands of kilometers were in between his wife and himself. In order to break the uncomfortable silence, he asked the first question that came to his mind, even though he did not really care for the answer, as he was still so preoccupied with the unsuspected turn this journey down to the south of France had taken.

“Have you enjoyed our trip, dear?”

Oh, it was too much. The words instantly evoked a feeling of deep hopelessness and Cora felt the panic bubble up inside her chest. She felt as if all the blood inside her head had sacked down at once, leaving her with a strong lightheadedness. She could no longer rationally control her thoughts and so the words just spilled out surprisingly cold and unfiltered.

“I think I’ve got cancer, Robert”

She had stopped her steps and let go of his arm, just staring into the open night and the Mediterranean expanding into the unknown horizon in front of them.

There was a long and heavy silence.

Neither of them dared to breathe and it seemed as if the concept of time had been destroyed all together as they were standing still side by side.

“Cora, what are you saying? What do you mean?”

Robert knew very well what the concept of cancer signified but it was a sort of perplexed denial that tried to keep up his strength.

“I- I’ve had some…”

Cora’s voice cracked slightly as she tried to pronounce the words. She finally turned to face her husband, standing there with his fists tightly clenched together. His eyes sparkled dangerously, even though his mouth was pressed tightly together to keep up the image of a somewhat steady posture.

“I’ve had some- some symptoms for quite a while, you see, some very evident symptoms and there is no use in denying that”

Cora was once again surprised how rational she made all of this sound. Inside, she could barely keep herself from falling apart.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?!”

“I was going to and then suddenly we were coming here”

Robert’s heartbeat sped up and he as well fell victim of a panic rising inside him. To keep himself from succumbing to the overwhelming emotions, he chose a feeling he could handle much more easily. Anger.

“But you should never have come here! We have to get you to a proper doctor. And I don’t mean some cackling Marseilles!”

Now it was Cora’s turn to feel enraged. She didn’t particularly know why, but it made her feel safer and she liked the sensation of feeling more in control of her feelings, so she answered with a much steadier voice:

“Doctor Clarkson is more than capable of coming up with a diagnosis”

Robert on the other hand felt the panic leak through every fiber of his being. He felt hot and cold, his head throbbed and his hands started to sweat heavily. But didn’t he need to reassure his wife? He was the strong one, wasn’t he?

More to soothe himself than anything else, he said with a stutter:

“We’ll go to London. We’ll- We’ll go to America if we have to”

There was no question that he stumbled and fell down the slippery slope of a deep-rooted fear: He was going to lose Cora. The one person he could not live without.

Cora knew all too well that there was no use in all of this. The symptoms were evident. Gastric cancer. No doctor, whether in London or America, could alter that.

“We’ll discuss it when we know more”

Was there more to know, though? Beside an exact diagnosis, which didn’t leave much room for interpretation at this point, there was not much to discover. Nothing pleasant, anyway.

The tranquility in Cora’s voice triggered a sudden reaction in Robert and he could not help himself but shout.

“You should have told me!”

His face was bright read. The grass underneath his feet felt as if it had started to move and he could not recall having ever felt so lonely. His wife stood there opposite him, but it seemed as if he was trapped in an overwhelming loneliness.

Robert’s outburst started another reaction. This time it was Cora who lost control over her emotions.

“With the chance of a last treat before illness to cover our lives?!”

Her voice lost all of its strength and by the end of the sentence it had almost vanished completely.

“It can’t be as bad as that”

“Robert, I’ve run the hospital for years! Do you think I just sat there with my ears blocked?!”

Like a dam that had been opened abruptly, all that had been building up inside Robert’s chest suddenly burst out. He rarely was a man to openly display his emotions, but now no strength on earth could hold back his genuine fear.

Seeing him like that immediately made Cora feel guilty. This was exactly the reason why she had evaded the topic for so long. Nothing to her was more painful than to watch her loved ones suffer. To be herself the cause of such great sadness seemed unbearable and so she took on the role she had learned to play ever since her first daughter was born: The caring mother.

“Oh no, no no no. No. No”

She started towards her husband, embracing his shaking figure between her arms, trying to reassure him with her warmth and proximity. Although Robert was almost a head taller than his wife, he appeared to be much frailer beside her. Tears fell down the side of his cheeks and his head turned numerous directions in order to evade the face of his love. He could not bear to look at her.

“That’s not what I wanted at all”, she said. “We’re not sad people! My being ill now doesn’t make us sad!”

The words seemed completely ridiculous and she knew so as well, but she wanted to end this moment so desperately that she could not think of another way of reassuring her husband. While his head constantly turned away from her gaze, she tried to catch his glimpse. Looking into each other eyes had always been their biggest comfort after a disagreement and it appeared to her to be the most sensible thing to do now. How could she possibly ease his pain?

Robert chocked up some word fragments she could not quite understand as they were so heavily drenched with his sobs.

“To lose my mother, and my name. Must I lose you too?! I can’t bear it”

His fingers delicately traced her shoulders down her back. Never until know had it appeared to him how slender her frame had gotten. She always had been very slim, but know as he touched her, the narrow shoulders almost seemed to give in under the very subtle pressure of his hands.

Finally, their eyes met. Oh, his beautiful blue eyes. Him loosing her? She had never thought of it that way. She always felt as if she would be the one to lose him. It was her who had always wanted him. Always. So much so, that she had accepted the possibility to live in his company without reciprocated love when she married him. There was no one on this earth that she cared for more, ever since she had first laid eyes upon him in a stuffy London ballroom. If anyone had the harder burden to carry, it was her.

“If I can bear it, you can. Remember, I’ve loved you from the start! I loved you before you loved me!”

Those words hurt him deeply, but Robert knew they weren’t intended as an insult, but simply a mere stating of a fact.

How he hated himself for having been so blind. He had been fond of Cora from very early on, did recognize her kindness and her warm nature, but he was so caught up in the whole “Save-Downton-No-Matter-What-Business” that he didn’t pay enough attention to the actual soul behind the solution to his problem. The shameful feeling of having wasted almost an entire year beside the love of his life would haunt him to his grave.

“I’ve always been ashamed of that”

“Don’t be. I had money. You needed it”

There she was again, the pragmatic wife who, more often than not, had been the calming guide to Robert. Although society might have been convinced that an American heiress may never have control over her emotions, there was no doubt that the English Earl had been dependent on his wife’s matter-of-fact statements more than once.

Cora’s hand brushed over Robert shoulder, feeling his tensed muscles.

“And then love came. And we have been happy, haven’t we?”

In that moment, even though the sentence only lasted for a mere second, their whole life story flashed before their eyes.

The way Robert had awkwardly introduced himself the first time to her, while Cora couldn’t help but giggle.

The moment she had told him that she was pregnant for the first time and the way he didn’t let anyone get too close to her after that, in order to make sure she could not be hurt in any way.

The day Sybil spilled the whole pot of coffee in the library and although Carson had been furious, the two parents burst into laughter.

Their ups and downs. Their most cheerful memories and their most heart-wrenching moments. It was all there, hovering in between them.

“Oh Darling!”

In desperate need of each other they brought their faces together and exchanged a kiss. But it wasn’t just like any other goodnight kiss they had been sharing for more than thirty years of marriage. They clung onto each other as if it would mean they could never touch again were they to separate. Cora tasted the salt of Robert’s tears on her lips, which led her to initiate another kiss before the previous one came to an end. Even though their bodies were as close as they could possibly manage, Cora wanted to be even nearer to her husband, so she let her hands grasp the silvery strands of Robert’s hair and pulled herself even more into the passionate embrace.

After all, she didn’t know how many times life would allow her to feel her husband that way.

A slight sob escaped her lips as they separated once again.

Robert took in the beautiful features of his wife. The moonlight reflected on her pale skin, her eyes sparkling even more due to many tears that gathered on her long, dark lashes. How beautiful she was. How beautiful she always had been.

“You have been everything to me. Everything!”

Oh, and he was to her, indeed. He always had been. But Cora felt her heart relax at the statement. She knew her husband adored her, but it always brought a smile to her face when he reassured her with such a confirmation.

And so it did now, even though the two of them found themselves in such a desperate environment. Their life, laid out in front of them, in pieces. Nevertheless, her smile couldn’t have been more genuine.

“And I hope I can be everything for a while yet”

#cora crawley #robert crawley #downton abbey #downton abbey: a new era #elizabeth mcgovern #hugh bonneville #they are the death of me #cobert fanfiction #fanfiction

72 notes · View notes

shadowtarot · 3 years

Text

Shin Megami Tensei And Megami Ibunroku Theory: The Inescapable Cycle

The following theory contains spoilers for: Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers, Shin Megami Tensei V, SMT3, Persona 1 and the Persona 2 duology.

Minor Spoilers for: Persona 3 and Persona 4 along with 4′s spin offs.

Oh and spoilers for: Catharine Full Body

Strap in, this is going to be a long post.

So, I finished my long goal of beating SMTV yesterday, and...well a lot happened.

I went the path of the True Neutral Ending, which sees every character Aoi meets dying, only for Nuwa to insist we finish what she and her partner desired: To Create A World For Humans Alone. Doing this had us confront the trials and problems that the demons have caused for each other, and for humans. Surely by riding the world of demons entirely these issues won’t plague the new world right? Well, right before we say our farewells to Aoigami, we’re stopped by Lucifer, the demon who killed God. He invites us to go find him....basically in space. He had absorbed god’s power and as a result...knows a way to ensure that the wish of the Nahobino comes true...but his Magasushi had to be absorbed in order to do so. So yeah, in the True Ending of SMTV the final boss is Lucifer. Same as in SMT3. Fight is a lot easier but that’s not important. In order to get this ending, you must fight Shiva...who will...in all other endings...destroy the world. So True Neutral is the only way to get what you want. Lucifer in this game has KILLED YHVH and has ascended to a state HIGHER than Him as a result. By killing Lucifer...the Nahobino has gained that status plus MORE. But...the end credit narration dictates the fact that...the cycle that causes humans to give birth to Demons and Gods....can’t be halted. This Cycle has a name, told to us in SMTV by Ascended Lucifer: The Mandala System. This system is said to be the reason why a universe always exists where the world is over-run by demons. Basically being the end all be all explanation to why pretty much EVERY FUCKING THING HAPPENS IN EVERY SMT GAME! But we think we can break it with Lucifer’s help. And yet...during the ending scene:

A god persists, the Nahobino, who created the world. Keeping those golden eyes that...resemble a Shadow’s eyes. Granted, all Nahobino/Demons have those yellow eyes. Hell, Demi-Fiend has ‘em too. But that’s when I want to touch on SMT3 for a tiny bit. Ever notice how a lot of the beats of SMTV match in the opposite way then in SMT3? And how the transporter used by Bethel looks just like the one in SMT3 but just...more detailed? And how there’s a 20 year gap between 3 and 5 coming out? The same amount of time mentioned since Tokyo was destroyed in SMTV? Heck both games end their True Endings by fighting Lucifer! This links to SMT5 being a sequel of sorts for SMT3, and that’s pretty interesting. But...I want to put a pin in that until I finish SMT3 as this is all I’m aware of currently. Now I’ve been talking about SMT mostly so far, but I did say things here would tie into Persona. And to explain that, we need to talk about multiple universes. Let’s go back to where we talk to ol’ Lucy in SMTV. It’s a world between Heaven and Earth. Basically a realm beyond any world that exists. In space, in a pocket realm basically. Every SMT game, and every Megami Ibunroku game by extension, has a persisting presence of Demons. They exist because of The Mandala System, and it’s explained that it’s humans that will always give rise to them. Sounds like the concept of the Collective Unconscious correct? And Persona shows just how powerful the human mind is and how it’s will can cause all sorts of things: Persona 1 had a girl with psychic powers pretty much draw demons into the human realm, and the power of the human mind and soul allowed them to tap into their own demons, known as Persona. Persona 2′s Duology showed just how powerful word of mouth is, how strong bonds can defy a memory wipe, and just the fact that the end of these games saw the well known figures of Law and Chaos in those worlds just...nope out. And yet, despite that...issues still happen. Persona 3: Humanity’s own desire for death brings themselves to the apocalypse. Persona 4: Belief in rumors and denial of oneself leads to their falsehood manifesting Persona 5: The minds of people themselves become warped due to life of a given person has lead them to a distorted state. Have you noted something? The world of Persona has become unstable. Because unlike every SMT game taking place in a separate world, Persona’s games have been taking place in the same Earth that was recreated at the end of Persona 2 Part 1. Meaning that Persona’s world has only hit the reset button once. Following the events of Persona 2 Part 2, the shadows of Persona’s 3 and 4 look...just like random monsters. The demons that we’re all used to can mostly only be seen by them being used by Makoto Yuki or Yu Narukami. But as soon as Persona 5 starts, the shadows start looking like the demons we’re used to. Hell! Joker’s able to negotiate with the shadows like you would demons in Persona 1 and Persona 2′s duology and get them to join your side. By Persona 5′s logic, this is because the Metaverse is leaking information from the Collective Unconscious. But...the Collective Unconscious’s role has been mentioned a lot. The Door that Makoto Yuki is sealing Nyx inside resides on the edge of this place. It’s the bounds by which the Velvet Room operates. And we have groups of all forms in the Persona series trying to tap into it’s power.

Mitsuru’s Family, Shido’s Group, Dr. Maruki, EMMA, HELL even the villains from Persona 1 were trying to tap into it.

But it comes down to something interesting, and that’s how the idea of Persona was given to the party of Persona 1. It was from playing something called “The Persona Game” and by doing it, you could pretty much summon Philemon and he’d grant you a Persona. (I know there’s more to it but that’s the gist of it). Back during those older games, every time you’d fight a human character, they’d have a Persona. But the modern games make it a bigger deal that ANYONE has a Persona. And the reasoning is...no one knows of Persona. Most people that do either have one themselves, are studying one of the many branch offs that allow one to spawn a Persona. Or in Maruki’s case, both. The humans of SMTV have no idea about the demons and don’t even learn about them until the attack on the School. And even then, all the kids taken by said demons pretty much stay in the Fairy Village all the way until the end. And the world kind of gets re-created so yeah, no one’s gonna spill those beans. But...there’s a constant that goes through Persona, and that’s that the crisis that occurs is always because of Humans. They want to die, they want to escape the world they live in and hide in a lie, they want to control their own lives no matter what. And the solution in the end is always by doing the opposite: Accept death but choose to live, stay true to who you are and not what people want, rebel against controlling people. Climb that tower! Save the kidnapped people! Steal those Hearts! But are they going to be the solution? Nyx is sealed, and Eubruis can only be killed to buy time. The TV world doesn’t vanish and people can cause the Midnight Channel to appear again, and the Metaverse? It got tapped into again by EMMA. The Persona world doesn’t get a reset button, only a bandage. And even if it did, humans would just cause the world to recreate the issues they already got rid of. Demons and Shadows are born of The Collective Unconscious and will always exist because of The Mandala System. And other beings beyond Sophia, beyond Igor, know that this a cycle that will happen. Because... Jose never specified who he worked for. I don’t think the Nahobino broke the cycle like Lucifer hoped. But, he does now exist with the knowledge of what effects the Atlus Multi-Verse. Victor appears in Persona 3, and deals with Demons and Angels in his own game. It’s safe to assume the links there aren’t too out there, epically since Persona 5 DLC exists in Cathrine Full Body. Not to mention Trisha is revealed to be Ishtar, so uh...there’s that. Hell, let me put a time line out like this: After the events of Persona 2 Eternal Punishment, Philemon and Narthotep leave the world alone to just observe and not interfere. Their non-involvement causes the Collective Unconscious to not be as easily tapped into. But yet, Shadows still spawn as freakish monsters. The events caused in Persona 3 and 4 as well as their spinoffs cause the gates to be opened wide. Suddenly Demons are spilling out, but can’t make it out into the human world due to the existence of the Metaverse keeping them from getting far. BUT GOLLY GEE HUMANS JUST GOTTA ABUSE THAT SHIT HUH? During Persona 5′s events, Mementos gets fused with the human world, which doesn’t get enough time to heal as Maruki’s able to jack right into the slowly regressing state of the metaverse in Royal’s Third Semester. WHICH AGAIN DOESN’T GET ENOUGH TIME TO HEAL AS A FUCKING AI IS ABLE TO DO IT AGAIN AT THE END OF STRIKERS.

But let’s take a step back and talk about Jose. He states that he’s studying humans by exploring Mementos. He knows A LOT about mementos and his knowledge allows you to affect it. And as you open up more of Mementos via Persona 5′s plot, Jose’s able to explore more. After reaching the end of the new part of Mementos added on by Maruki and dealing with Plot stuff, you can find Jose there. Now, this small child is very vague about everything and never explains much about his task other than he ‘has to learn about humans’. So what made him come all the way to the end of Maruki’s Mementos? He stated that the flowers made in that portion tasted artificial and “static-y” which indicated that this was a sect of Mementos forced on by Maruki. Well...perhaps Jose’s master told him to study that final room while he had the chance. The only reason Jose fights you is to clear his head, nothing more. Maruki caused a huge shift in the world, one that Jose’s master must be intruged by. Jose is NOT a Velvet Room Attendant, Jose is NOT a demon. Jose....is artificial. He was made with a purpose, that being to observe what is happening in other universes. In other worlds. I think, in desperation to find a true solution into how to break The Mandala System, the Nahobino ...or whoever followed after him, created Jose and used their ascended power to send him into the unstable world of Persona. Somehow this world has managed to survive without a reset. At least, it has survived with only one reset to it’s name. It’s not the answer to a demon-free world...but something is going to happen starting with Persona 5′s next spin-off. And it’s going to affect not only Persona....but SMT as a whole. The Multi-Verse is at stake. No world is fully free from demons. Who will be the one to pull the switch? To free humanity from the pain it inflects on itself?

#smtv #smt3 #persona 3 #persona 4 #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #shad's theories

26 notes · View notes

secret-engima · 3 years

Note

I was thinking about what might lead to LC Birbs Ozpin to finally go 'Enough Is Enough' and break out his (hideously OP) magic, and - well. It's suitably ironic. (brace for long set of asks)

hamelin-born

said:

So - on the Roadtrip? The twins are collecting a new Royal Arm to drop at Ozpin's feet, as they do (Ozpin has long since resigned himself to this, even though he doesn't really *need* an Armiger). And everything is proceeding as 'normal' - except for one thing. It's the Blade of the Mystic. ghost!Somnus takes /one look/ at Ozpin, and reacts - poorly. Namely, he manifests himself in full-on ghost form and - not even /Somnus/ knows what he's going to do, but his initial reactions (cont)

hamelin-born

said:

(cont) are *very* threatening. Leading Qrow and Raven to pretty much *throw* themselves at the ancient ghost who is also-sort-of their many-times great grandfather - only to get faced with the wrath of a full-on Lucii, who, depending on how you like to characterize Somnus, is *not* taking it easy on them - and who is absolutely determined to go *through* them if needed to reach Ozpin. Faced with the specter of - well, a specter willing to strike at his own kin (cont)

hamelin-born

said:

(cont) Ozpin proceeds to lose his temper. Just a little. And unleashes Lucis Caelum Magic, Oracle Magic, and Ozma magic on the ancient ghost who *scorns* all concepts of friends and family. (The only thing that would make it better would be Ardyn *somehow* seeing video footage of *his son* blasting Somnus's ghost within an inch of his un-life. It's one of the most transcendent moments of his EXISTENCE).

Me: My word this would be AMAZING.

And yes, YES to the twins finding the Mystic blade and not realizing who’s it is. They just bring Ozpin new sword. Except when Ozpin touches the hilt to assimilate it into armiger, instead there’s a flash of magic and light and horror-outrage-disbelief-guilt-horror and a GHOST with a ghost armiger that nonetheless cuts is suddenly standing there, bellowing at Ozpin with his own ghostly blades spinning around, once clenched in his hand.

The twins naturally Throw Hands without thinking, and Somnus turns on them too. And who knows what Somnus thinks is happening, but we are never given evidence in canon that he reacts reasonably to stressful situations. Whether he thinks they are traitors to the line, or stains upon it as “illegitimate children bending the knee to a monster’s spawn” or what have you, he fights and he does not play nice.

Idk where Gilgamesh is in this, probably scouting a Nif base with Summer and Tai, but either way they aren’t here for the initial response-confrontation-battle. Their attention is definitely caught by the resulting magic pulses though.

And then Ozpin, who sees his Swords in danger from a ghost, a relative who spits venomous words and who Ozpin might already know a bit about? Depending on if he’s learned about Ardyn’s story and had it confirmed by a reliable (non-Ardyn) source. He hears all this verbal venom and sees the danger and just-

Lets go.

Lucii magic rises first, the newest of the lifetimes, then Oracle magic layers into it, healing any wounds before they can finish forming as he throws himself at the ghost with his own armiger and a shout. Then, as ghost blades clash and struggle with ghostly blades, Ozpin’s eyes burn eerie green and he orders Qrow and Raven to get down.

The following shockwave of green magic (his oldest, his STRONGEST, the one he knows most intimately how to use) can be felt for literal miles.

And you know what? For the Drama™, let’s say Gilgamesh, Summer, and Tai were scouting a Nif base and encountered ARDYN, who may or may not be stalking his son and his son’s Retinue from a safe distance out of a desperate desire to get to know Ozpin (without scaring him off, they are probably still on majorly thin ice because of all the Salem flashbacks he triggers). But Ardyn planned this confrontation because HOW DARE Gilgamesh go near his son, his CHILD. What is Gilgamesh planning hmmm? To stab Ozpin in the back like he did Ardyn?

And then in the middle of THAT whole drama, they feel first one spike of LC magic, then two, then SOMNUS’S magic roars and they are already whirling back in that direction in alarm.

Then Ozpin’s triple-layered magic howls and they are all running back toward it’s source, Ardyn outstripping them all in raw terror because his-son-his-son-Somnus-is-near-is-fightingHISSONNONONO.

But when he arrives on the fringes of the scene, it is to find Ozpin needs no one’s help. Ozpin looms over Somnus, magic of three colors swirling around him in a storm, eyes glowing green and cane sparking like lightning. He is forcing Somnus, The Mystic, The First King, Ardyn’s brother and betrayer-

to kneel.

#SE asks #hamelin-born asks #Secret Engima Rambles #LC Birds verse #Shadowed Wings verse #Ozpin vs Somnus #not even a contest #long post

76 notes · View notes

anarmorofwords · 3 years

Note

I kinda wanna write a better version of tlh where Tatiana is still insane but there's no Belial bc that makes zero sense to me

In this version there would be:

Kamanna done correctly with actual genderqueer rep and not toxic relationships

Barbra and Oliver bc fight me she didn't die

Genie and Filomena bc I love them and all the lightwoods are queer

The gracelet doesn't even happen bc I refuse to write that

Grace is pretty much still the same but she breaks off their(hers and james') relationship bc she notices that he loves Cordelia

No bad James. He's not a shitty person to Alastair, and he doesn't treat Cordelia like a sex object

Anna puts a stop to Kellington and Matthew's relationship before it gets serious. She also tries to get him to stop drinking all the time

Alastair apologizes around seeing them again for the first time. The merry thieves are a little reluctant because of some of the things he did but they don't actively try to keep him away from events that they're at

Matthew notices how Alastair looks at Thomas and locks them in the sanctuary with Genie and Cordelia's help

Grace gets badly injured due to a mistake in necromancy and Christopher helps her treat it without letting people know

Lucie meets Jesse, and falls in love ofc, so in order to bring him back successfully she asks Malcolm to train her in using her magic

Matthew opens up to his mom about the incident. She doesn't blame him at all and instead apologizes for often putting her work before him

Matthew finds out about Charles and Alastair because he found Alastairxs break up letter to Charles

Matthew, the mother hen he is, decided to attempt to murder his older brother, only being stopped by James who had been there at the right time

Kamala ends things with Charles and tells Anna that she still loves them and hopes that she will give her another chance

Anna told her that they needed time to think, and that she is worried how Kamala's reputation will be affected if anyone besides their friends and Anna's family finds out

Kamala respects her decision and doesn't contact her until Anna's ready to talk about things

The merry thieves don't ignore Christopher and they actively listen and help him

The merry thieves also aren't terrible to Grace bc they realize she's been isolated alone with Tatiana and 1) she might not understand what's saying/doing is wrong or 2) that sometimes she's trying to push them away so her abilities don't accidentally make them do something

Good tid parents

James and Alastair being respectful to each other despite personal differences

Matthew, Alastair, Kamala, Christopher, and Grace being besties, or as I call them, the neglected squad

No fetishizing mlm/wlw

Domestic cuddles and taking care of the other one when they're sick

Jesse/Lucie/Matthew pairing bc I love them and I refuse to pick between lucie/matthew and lucie/jesse

Christopher teaching Grace the elements(at the time) on the periodic table

Tatiana dies at the end yay

It's very unpolished and I'm open to b hearing any feedback and/or suggestions that anyone may have

The idea came to me and I decided it would be best if I told someone before I forgot

hi, I'm sorry it took so long,but I wanted to properly answer this and I keep having either internet connection issues or little time

DON'T BE SHY, WRITE THIS 👀

In all seriousness tho... THIS IS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION?!? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START I AM UTTERLY IN LOVE WITH THIS IDEA, I NEED IT

Look, I've been on the verge of rewriting ChoI, and I keep saying I want someone to write a TLH that will live up to its potential, but I've never actually came up with a proper idea for it, and you?!! YOUR BRAIN DARLING THIS IS GENIUS

ok hold up I'll just react to each and every single one so

yes please?!? I mean it started off so sweet in EEV?! Also actually genderqueer Anna and not dancing around the subject like CC is doing now?! That's what they deserve, and that's what we all deserve too

yesss please. also just,,,, Barbara, the feminine, not-wanting-to-fight-which-doesnt-make-her-less-badass queen that she is, getting the page space and appreciation she deserves

that's actually brilliant?!? it would be so great, just imagine the new girl arrives for her travel year and Genie is completely awestruck. I'm so invested in Joshwood it's difficult to imagine not having them, but this is actually the only valid alternative?!

ok that's fine. I think it could still happen and be done well, but tbh for now... the gracelet doesn't seem to have done anything relevant to the plot itself? I mean yeah it messed up James's life and Jordelia, but what did it give Belial? Tatiana? nothing. It makes no sense atm.

could be! maybe she's still encouraged by Tatiana to befriend/seduce him, but without the gracelet it doesn't work out? or maybe James somehow manages to realize that she's in danger and he actually like,,,, kidnaps her? idk idk

yes. YES. just,,,,z James is a sweet compassionate literature nerd who accidentally makes a good leader and he actually cares about people, and not just judges them from his high horse; he does still have hero syndrome, but he's kind and respectful and overall a good character

ANNA INTERVENES ABOUT KELLINGTON PLZ. PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICE MATTHEW'S STRUGGLES. JAMES DOES, TOO, BECAUSE THERE'S NO GRACELET.

ok yes, so what about: basically TMT don't harass Alastair and accept his apology, and realize they were also being stupid and mean at times at the Academy (especially Math). Matthew doesn't want to accept Alastair's apology, because of The Sin, but his behaviour alerts the rest of TMT and they inquire what's wrong and he tells them about the sin and that's how he later tells his parents (because his friends encourage him) and as you say, she just hugs him and reassures him it's not his fault; so after that Matthew slowly begins to heal and accepts it wasn't Alastair's fault, and also since they've kind of adopted/started including Alastair in things, he can't help but notice he's actually changed and he even starts to grow fond of him

then like you said, Matthew notices Thomas likes Alastair PLEASE HE SO WOULD. I'm not sure about the Sanctuary, if it actually happens (I'll get to why later on), but him and Lucie get really invested in the matchmaking schemes, they include Genie/Kamala because these two are friends with Alastair (both? Or at this point only Kamala?) but they also share some Moments during their scheming/talking about love 👀 (yes I'm a Fairdale shipper, I think it's time to expose myself lol)

Which leads me to (sorry I'm going off order rn) YES YES YES LUCIE AND MATH PLEASE. A FELLOW SHIPPER, HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU. But since we're actually fixing him then we can give Jesse a personality and I'm totally down for poly Math/Lucie/Jesse

Lucie seeking Malcolm's help in secret, morally gray heroine style?!? no, it's probably not legal. but also has there ever been a Shadowhunter like her? If the Law doesn't expect such situations, it can't really forbid them...

Plz Matthew ready to strangle the carrot when he learns about their relationship, YES. sure, maybe he's still not the biggest fan of Alastair, but he's seen how much the boy's been through and starts to develop an attachment to him, and besides, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE GROOMED AND TREATED LIKE THAT. He's SO MAD at Charles, and he confronts him about it - remembering Kellington as he does, and it makes him sick to think his brother would do the same thing to someone. Maybe he gets very emotional over this and later finally tells his friends about Kellington? Maybe they didn't know before, only Anna did? So when they all realize what was happening then they comfort him etc? Or maybe it's just Alastair that learns now, and the others knew before, and they share a bonding moment over that?

Injured Grace seeking Kit's help is a genius idea I didn't know I needed

Kamanna giving each other time and space and deciding they need to question their relationship and figure out if it actually makes sense would be great. Anna realising she's very privileged and Kamala doesn't have those same opportunities, and also in general realising coming out should never be pressured or forced. Just,,,, Anna being self-aware and respectful towards Kamala. Well-written Anna. Plz. Also Kamanna is actually developed and not just "in love" because,,,,, they're attracted to each other? Maybe even remaining friends while Anna makes up their mind?

yeah just TMT being more compassionate and less judgy because they're not written by Judith so her bias isn't projected onto them

It's not a want, it's a need. They adopt Alastair and Grace eventually. Like, maybe not literally - although, Grace? - but you know what I mean.

I think they all should just have various friendship dynamics and switch between them, because people need more than one friend group

no fetishizing, no watching your brother make out with his lover, yessss

yes domestic cuddles, affection, taking care of wounds, all those things. plz.

Gracetopher bonding over science yes

obviously. or maybe she's imprisoned?!

ok, now for some more notes/my ideas etc., if you don't mind:

I actually think Belial could still be featured? After all, I don't think Tatiana could do much on her own, and since she seeks help from demons, it makes sense to include a Greater Demon as well. But Belial would have to be a stronger villain, written better; I'll think more about this

if that was the case, the serial killer plot could still happen, but be done better. and it would allow for a scenario I talked about with @littlx-songbxrd to happen, where it's Alastair who's falsely accused of murder. It creates a great opportunity to explore some things, because we know Alastair is much more likely to be seriously suspected, considering all the prejudices and bad rep his family has and all that

...what do you say to well-written Jordelia? 👀 Cordelia hasn't been obsessively in love with James since childhood, she only had a crush then. And now that they meet again, she's fond of him but not in love, not straight away. They're both grown up, and different people, but as they spend more and more time together, they fall in love. What if Cordelia gets to flirt with some other boys first? What then. What if she ends up choosing James, instead of going for the only boy she's ever had feelings for and idealized since childhood. What if we even make it friends-to-lovers and have James be a little jealous at some point?! but not in a possessive awful way, just "oh damn oh no"

Now I won't know peace until this exists BUT THANK YOU

#ask answered #thank you this is brilliant #alt tlh #save for later #the last hours #tlh #anti cc #yes I'll be adding/thinking more about this I AM OBSESSED

28 notes · View notes

moon-brew · 4 years

Photo

A b o u t;

Hey I’m Bru/Brew (either or), twenty-seven, mom friend, virgo + cap moon, super addicted to sailor moon. - I’ve been writing for more than 10 years, with my primary medium being visual (screenplays), but also shorts, fics and novels. - Since I’ve been using Tumblr for just as long (if not longer), I thought this would be the perfect place for my stories and inspiration. -As a POC, all of my main characters in all of my stories are POC, unless stated otherwise or characters in any fanfiction - I’m extremely new to the community so please feel free to reach out. I’d love to get to know fellow writers and storytellers!

W I P S;

In Another Life -

Vampires have always been a threat to society in the dark, but the moonless are both a threat to the hunters and the hunted. Although they have sustained from feeding on mortals, Wesley Benoit and his family lived centuries on the run. Considering what he was as a curse, Wesley desired nothing more than to die. Only one person, Ava Moss, saw through the terror of what he and his family were. For a blip in time, Wesley was content in sharing life with his Best Friend, however, when he finds her murdered in cold blood, he makes a daring decision that could destroy his family. Wesley is intelligent and does everything in his power to keep their secret safe. What he didn't predict was for Ava's cousin, Olivia Campbell, to return to Vermont in order to solve her murder.

Sadie and Veronica Save the World -

Accepting the fact that she’s a ghost, Veronica lives a mundane afterlife in purgatory with her grandmother. When Lucy, the daughter of the devil, tears the thinning veil on halloween to travel to the real world, Veronica is violently transported with her and her grim reaper, Sadie. Together they must find a way back to their worlds in order to preserve the circle of life.

The Covenant -

Zeus knew that one day history would repeat itself and that his children would betray him. Instead of accepting this fate, he banished all of his children from Mt. Olympus removing their power and sentencing them to die. Upset with his choice, the moirai confronted the king and showed him the impending doom that would soon plague the world. He agreed to store these powers and place them in something called pandora’s box. When the right hero is deemed worthy, they will be the chosen one to wield all of the powers as written in The Covenant. (Modern Day Greek Mythology retelling)

T a g l i s t;

I don’t think I have anyone who is interested in my things as of yet so please send an ask if you’d like to be +/-

#wip intro #wip introduction #wip #writing community #writblr #writebrl #writeblr intro #writing introduction #writers on tumblr #writers intro

65 notes · View notes

cassandraclare · 5 years

Photo

A spooky Lucie flash fiction story for October! Early Halloween. ;)

LONDON, 1897

“There are many kinds of ghosts,” Jessamine said, “but they tend to fall into three categories. You have mostly known ghosts like me, who are kind and beautiful and have wonderful personalities.”

Lucie almost snorted, but luckily Jessamine didn’t seem to notice. They were in the courtyard of the Institute, where Lucie was playing, and avoiding her family. Woolsey Scott was coming over for tea, and they were busy straightening up and putting away the silver — like all werewolves, he was allergic. Lucie didn’t mind Woolsey Scott, except that like most of the adults who visited the Institute he was tremendously boring, and also when he looked at her she felt that he was judging her for her untidiness and her ink-stained fingers. She had snuck off to play in the garden, and when nobody had come to fetch her, she decided she was safe.

Perhaps they assumed the coming rain would drive her back inside. The sky was thick with leaden clouds, and while the rain held off for now, the air contained that particular scent that meant it was inevitable.

She had made up a game to go with a story she had been composing recently. It was about a well-brought up young girl who was forced to become a pirate queen to save her kidnapped parents, and discovered she had quite a knack for it. She ran around the garden, weaving between bushes, imagining the she was a pirate queen whose sailors had whipped up a mutiny. The key was to look deeply distressed, extremely tragic, then spin around fast, stabbing out with the stick she was using as a sword.

She had stopped to decide whether the pirate queen should sport a silver mask or a black one when Jessamine, the Institute’s resident ghost, came floating down from an upper window like a torn page falling in a breeze....

Lucie had known Jessamine her whole life, and understood that Jessamine had been friends with her parents when she was alive, though none of them had ever told her the full story. Lucie thought of Jessamine mostly as part of the furniture, a drifting presence that seemed content to wander through the halls of the Institute and occasionally criticize the place’s new modern décor and Lucie’s father’s choice of clothes.

“Hullo, Jessamine,” Lucie said now. She was disappointed; she had been enjoying her game. She hoped she would remember all the details of the pirate queen and the mutiny so she could write them down when she was back inside.

“Lucie,” Jessamine said, “I think it is time to speak with you about ghosts.”

“Now?” said Lucie in dismay.

Jessamine looked up at the sky. “It is the right weather for ghosts,” she said. “Now, listen.

“Some ghosts stay among the living because unfinished business holds them here. Some stay to protect those they love. And some stay because of hatred, malice, bitterness.” She ruffled Lucie’s hair; it felt like being brushed by a breeze. “You must learn to ignore that kind of ghost. Turn away from them. They feed off your fear. Without your fear they can do nothing to you.”

“I’ll remember,” Lucie murmured.

Jessamine cocked her head at Lucie. “Mind that you do,” she said, and vanished as suddenly as she’d appeared.

Lucie assumed that Jessamine had become a ghost in order to protect those she loved, but she was very strange regardless. A little more doubtful, she returned to her game. In the distance was a noise that might have been thunder or might have just been the bustle of London.

Her game took her out of the Institute’s courtyard and down the road a bit. The street was almost empty, but at one point Lucie whirled around to confront the boatswain who had pretended loyalty to her, while actually working for the mutinous first mate, and almost stabbed an actual person. She gasped, and took a step back. “I’m so sorry!” she cried. “I didn’t know you were there.”

The woman who stood before her wore a dark gray Victorian dress that gave her the look of an old-fashioned schoolteacher. In her gloved hand was a battered black valise. Her face was thin and pale and peaked, her hair straggling.

Lucie waited awkwardly, uncertain what to say. She should have remained on the Institute’s grounds, where glamour would have ensured no unexpected encounters with mundane humans. The woman considered her, and Lucie wondered if perhaps she wasn’t a mundane after all. But she had no runes, so she wasn’t a Shadowhunter. Could she be a Downworlder? She showed no outward signs of being a faerie or warlock or werewolf, and though she was pale, she was out in daylight, so she couldn’t be a vampire.

“I must ask something of you, little girl.” The woman’s voice was rough, as though she hadn’t spoken in a long time. “Are your parents looking for a governess? I am an excellent governess.”

She held out a paper—her credentials, perhaps, but Lucie’s attention was arrested by the woman’s hand.

It was no longer gloved. Now it was skeletal, the bone white as snow. Dark red blood was dripping from the ends of her fingers, soaking into the paper.

Lucie took a step back, breath catching in her throat. “You’re a ghost,” she said, almost without meaning to. But a ghost had never walked up to her on the street like this, certainly not one with skeletal hands. She looked back up at the ghost’s face. It was gaunt, slightly distorted, and it frightened her. “You can’t trick me,” Lucie said, trying to sound brave. “I can see you for what you are.”

“What a clever little girl,” The ghost’s raspy voice took on an unpleasant tone. “I don’t like clever little girls. I used to look after six of them. They played tricks on me and taunted me. One night I went up to their room and stabbed them, one at a time, all through their clever little hearts.”

Lucie’s blood ran cold. The ghost reached out, as if it were going to touch Lucie’s own heart, and she turned and ran full tilt in the direction of her home. She remembered what Jessamine had said, but how could she not be afraid? She could feel the presence of the ghost behind her, a prickling at the back of her neck. Lucie had just reached the gate when she stumbled over a loose stone and fell, scraping her knee on the path.

The ghost glided forward, reaching as though to help her up. “You could be my new pupil….”

Lucie scrambled away. “Stop! Get back!”

To her surprise, the ghost sprang away, looking startled. Perhaps little girls didn’t ordinarily yell at it. Lucie was about to scream for help, but help had already arrived.

Jessamine descended from the sky and stood between Lucie and the woman. But this was Jessamine as Lucie had never seen her: an avenging angel, looming above both Lucie and the ghost-woman, icy fury on her face. Lucie gasped in shock as Jessamine raised her hands, as if she were about to perform some terrifying incantation.

“No,” the ghost-woman moaned, her mouth yawning open horribly, showing a cavern of blackness. “I did not know this one was guarded. I did not know….”

“You will flee from here,” Jessamine commanded, and even her voice was different, deep and wild, like the crashing of waves. “You will leave this place, foul spirit!”

The ghost cowered for a moment, then vanished into nothingness.

Lucie lay on the garden path, staring up at Jessamine, who had shrunk down to her usual size. “Stop gaping, Lucie, it’ll give you wrinkles. Come on, up with you.” She had returned to her normal mien, pretty and dignified and distant.

“Thank you,” said Lucie faintly.

“Mind how you go,” Jessamine said sternly. “And heed what I’ve told you. There is more than one kind of ghost.” And she drifted up again and vanished.

The lesson stayed with Lucie for a long time. She never blamed Jessamine for not knowing there was a fourth kind of spirit. Even if Jessamine had known, she could not have prepared Lucie for the fact that meeting him would change her life forever.

#cog2 #chain of gold #cassandra jean #cassandra clare #the last hours #tlh #lucie herondale #Jessamine Lovelace

3K notes · View notes

petri808 · 4 years

Text

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30-Epilogue

Lucy POV. TW: Panic Attack, Mental trauma/coping, PTSD

The university and Lucy’s professors had been really wonderful about everything, even offering to convert her classes to an online option so she could continue. She wasn’t happy about the idea of taking a sabbatical from college, but there was no way she could manage. Not only was it difficult for her to leave the apartment because seeing anyone that remotely resembled Touka sent her into a panic attack, focusing on anything at all was a struggle. Night after night it haunted her dreams and spilled into her waking moments. She’d run scenarios through her mind, all the what if’s, should haves, could haves, often leading to horrifying outcomes. They’d survived, yes, but at what cost?

She didn’t feel the same anymore as if a part of her did die in that apartment or fled to a hidden part of her brain too scared to come back out. The once happy, positive person had become a nervous wreck unable to control her emotions or outbursts. Lucy’s bedroom became her safe zone from everyone, even those closest to her, ashamed and insecure of their judgement. In her heart she knew friends like Levy or Natsu wouldn’t judge... but tell that to her broken mind, because her brain was the one in control at the moment, and insisted they’d look down on her.

All the irrational thoughts. It was her fault for not being careful, her fault she was kidnapped. Lucy knew Touka was growing dangerous, yet walking alone, at night... utterly stupid. She should have been overzealous at protecting herself, but oh no, stupid girl didn’t want to believe anything would actually happen. Until it did. And now she was even more pathetic and weak for not getting a hold of her emotions, for not controlling it instead of it controlling her. The danger had passed. They were alive. Touka was in jail. It should be over, but it wasn’t. Lucy couldn’t move past that night, stuck in an endless loop of fear. So many nights she’d wake up in a panic covered in sweat, the fading images of red... blood... like dripping down a tv screen in a horror movie. It was Natsu’s blood she saw and his screams when the knife had sliced him open.

The first week after the event had been difficult, sitting through an interview with Gajeel, and reliving all the mental wounds. It took several hours to get through it all despite the man doing his best to go easy on her. Each time painful parts came up, Lucy felt the anxieties rise, the mental blurring, the shaking, literally a physical shaking of her body in an effort to dispel the rise of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Interviews are best done without any other potential witnesses in the room to avoid cross contamination, but after Lucy’s first two attempts to talk to investigators failed, Gajeel was forced to allow Natsu in with explicit instructions to sit quietly and say nothing while the woman talked. Of course, Natsu’d been fine with that, he’d do anything to help, even if it was just holding Lucy’s hand. But it only added to her embarrassment. Surely Natsu will eventually tire of having an unstable girlfriend.

Then there was the therapist Levy helped Lucy to find which she hoped would help her to quickly get over the events and move on. So, when the woman explained that such traumas take patience and time to process, Lucy was devastated. It almost felt like nothing was going her way anymore, falling dominoes with no end in sight. She felt so ashamed for having to see the woman in the first place, and now she’s told it would be a long journey towards recovery. Just great! What’s next?!

“Lu?” Levy knocked before opening the bedroom door. “Are you gonna eat your dinner in here again? It’s ready.”

With the curtains drawn, Lucy’s room was dark and the only light available was a small desk lamp next to the bed set to a low setting. She peeked out from under her blanket. “I-I’ll come out in a minute, thanks Lev.”

As soon as her friend closed the door, Lucy exhaled in relief. She knew Levy was worried about the amount of time she stayed holed up in the room, so to dispel some of those concerns, Lucy would join her roommate for meals. She quickly applied a gauze wrap, threw on her long sleeve hoodie, and left the room. It made her feel safer to be shrouded and covered up, so gone were her skirts and tank tops, and hello to long sleeves and pants. If she could cover her face from the world, it would make her happy. Even her overall hygiene suffered. Lucy would forget to bathe or wash her hair for days on end, and it took Levy or Natsu with gentle prodding to get her to do it. She would wear the same clothes for a week if it wasn’t for Levy who made sure she changed at least every couple of days. Hell, she’d starve if her roommate wasn’t feeding her. This was a frustrating cycle, not having the mental energy to take care of herself, then feeling bad because they had to help her with things, which made her feel even worse.

It tore at Lucy’s heart to watch Natsu going through this process with her. She knew he was going through his own struggles, not just mental, but physically healing from his wounds. And here she was, the basket case of instability. Bless him, he never gave up no matter how distant she grew, but after that night, Lucy really didn’t want to talk about anything out loud, not that night, and certainly not the true extent of her pain from it. Both Levy and Natsu knew only what she couldn’t hide from them. Like the panic attacks, and since she really didn’t want them to see her go through one or what she’d resorted to, to calm herself, so the safest solution was stay quiet and not trigger them in their presence.

To show his dedication, Natsu even went with her to her therapy sessions and waited outside the office. Lucy knew it was costing him money to do this, because she couldn’t ride a train which meant cab rides every single trip. It bothered her a lot, but she did her best to hide it, and besides there was one small measure of security in having him at her side when she needed to venture out into the public.

“So, the nightmares are still a problem?” the therapist questioned Lucy. “Are you sure you don’t want to try a medication? It would help to ease them until we can get things under control.”

Lucy gripped to the hem of her sweater. “I just don’t wanna become addicted to that stuff...”

“That’s understandable. But not all are addictive, and I’ll be here to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”

“I... I don’t think I’m ready.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” the woman smiled. “Remember I’m just here to help you, at your pace. I won’t force you take anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.”

“What about the breathing and relaxation techniques? When you feel the anxiety rising, are you trying out the steps?”

“I try... I don’t think I’m very successful at it.”

“Does it work sometimes?”

Lucy pauses for a few seconds in thought before nodding yes.

“See, that is progress!” The woman encouraged excitedly. “Two weeks ago, it didn’t help at all, and now it works sometimes. It’s a big step forward Lucy.”

“Doesn’t feel like it is...” Lucy mumbled.

“I know it’s hard to see it for yourself, and that’s okay. These things take time and practice. Do you remember what I said about these things?”

“Not really.” Which was true. During the first week when the therapist explained the processes, Lucy had stopped listening as soon as the woman said it would take time.

“Let me ask you a question. You like to write stories, right?”

“Yeah.”

“When you first started, were you able to just write perfect stories.”

“Pfft, no.”

“Then how did you get better at it?”

Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing where this was going. “Practice.”

“Yes! The PTSD requires learning new coping skills as well as unlearning irrational ones. To do both takes practice. The more we work at it, the easier it will get, I promise. One day you’ll be able to look back at this experience and feel stronger for it.”

She really wanted to believe the woman, but it was so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Tears well up in Lucy’s eyes, seconds before they start to flow down her cheeks. “Why is this so hard?! I just wanna get back to normal!” She could feel her anxieties rising. “I... I-I don’t wanna talk about it anymore! I just wanna forget it ever happened!”

The woman reached over and took Lucy’s hand, applying a strategic amount of pressure while rubbing her thumb over the webbing in a counter stimulus. She softened in tone. “I wish I could say that would work, but in order to get past it, you need to confront it. Together we’re gonna turn the boogieman into Casper the friendly ghost.”

It was such a weird way of putting things, it caused Lucy’s mind to snap out of the anxiety and snort a sniffling laugh in response. “Casper the friendly ghost?!”

“It was the first thing to pop into my mind,” the therapist laughed too. “The point is, we’re going to work together and slowly bring you to a place where this no longer scares you.”

“O-Okay...”

The rest of the session was tough, and Lucy had come close to a panic attack several times, but as a trained therapist, the woman stepped in at the right times to bring her levels down again using breaks and breathing routines. Sure, with a professional in front of you, it wasn’t as bad, but doing this on her own, the attacks were still winning. At the end of the session, the woman suggested a new technique to try out based on Lucy’s love of writing.

“You’ve heard of art therapy, so just think of this as a different form of creative therapy. Writing a diary is helpful to get out your feelings out in a healthy way. But let’s take it one step forward to use your skills in fiction writing. I want you to try before the next session, writing a story where you interject your emotions, feelings, whatever you want into the characters and story. Kind of like your character becomes you, but now you get to control what happens to them after the trauma they endure.”

“Wait, so you want me to write about a character that goes through what I went through?! Like torture my own character?!”

“Yes, to put it bluntly. Take your pain and unleash it onto the fictional character. It’s a much healthier way of releasing your anger or frustration in something that can’t really be hurt. Do whatever you want to them. But remember you also get to give them the ending you want to. It’s about utilizing a tool you’re already comfortable with and taking back some control. It’ll be normal if you cry, scream, and get upset through the process, but that’s okay, because instead of holding it all in, you’re getting your feelings out.”

Lucy slumped back in her seat. It sounded strange, yet at the same time made a bit of sense to her. Angst type stories were not really her forte, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it, especially since pain is all she was channeling at the moment. She sighed. “I’ll try.”

“And that’s totally okay. All I ask is that you give it a try.”

#nalu #nalu fan fic #nalu au #nalu fan fiction #Natsu dragneel #Lucy heartfilia #Natsu x lucy #nalu fanfiction #strangers on a train #ch 24 #angst #TW: panic attack #TW: PTSD

28 notes · View notes

nyodrite · 4 years

Text

@a-world-in-grey @illusorygardens @sparklecryptid @hamelin-born @secret-engima because each of you seemed interested in this idea

so.

the entire thing is 30% Nyx's fault and 70% Ramuh's fault. because a non-Lucis Caelum wielding the Ring of Lucii left it's mark and made things.... incorrect in terms of Nyx's death

the Ring kind of laid claim to Nyx's soul and, instead of going to the afterlife he was supposed to be at, was trying to drag him into the Crystal

which Ramuh decided nope, not going to happen and just pushes Nyx's soul into the reincarnation cycle somewhere outside of the Crystal's influence

so eventually Nyx Ulric is reborn in a galaxy far, far away as Jango Fett which, with Ramuh kind of... intertwining with the Manda/Force/whatever, means he'll be able to go where he's supposed when he dies this time

of course when people find out about Nyx being reborn elsewhere many decide that they have to follow him

and more were tossed into things as a kind of... rehabilitation program?

the Fetts

only Arla and Jango are reincarnations

Selene winds up reborn first because detangling Nyx from the Ring took a bit longer

she isn't born Knowing, none of them are, but when Jango is born and Arla holds her brother for the first time she Knows

Jango spends most of his childhood unaware. He finds it a bit odd why Arla seems to be both amused and oddly delighted each time he calls her ori'vod but his sister is weird so he just goes with it

then their parents are killed and, amidst blood and fire and death, he remembers

then Jaster is dragging him away and he fights because he just got his sister back, just remembered what it was like to lose her and have to live without her, he's not letting it happen again

and he warps

(Nyx doesn't have magic, not like a true Lucis Caelum, but the Ring - for all that Ramuh severed it's connection to him - left... echoes.

He can still warp, it's familiar and easy as breathing to him, and he can reach out and share magic with someone but he has no armiger, he can't make potions or elixirs, what shields and elemental magic he can do is limited

but it's enough)

Nyx tosses the blade - a kukri, like he used to have, like their mother owned and taught them to uses as children in Galahd - his sister got him and warps back into the burning house

Arla - Selene, he knows it in his bones, can see it in how she switches from shooting a blaster to using a kukri to dig into the gaps of the armor as easily as she breaths - is fighting two Death Watch, she's holding them off but more are coming they just have to wait

so Nyx doesn't

He darts in, wraps an arm around his sister - has a moment to see horror cross her face - before he is warping them both out the house

the - king - Mand'alor definitely has questions when they appear so suddenly but there are more pressing matters and Nyx has time to figure out an answer

(Nyx never has to answer those questions, the Mand'alor always has a special connect to the Manda and Ramuh makes use of this to explain enough to satisfy Jaster

and if Ramuh hints at Jaster adopting both Fetts, despite Arla being technically old enough to be considered an adult, well that not favoritism that's just logic)

Jango and Arla become bounty hunters, though it's less of a full time thing and more of a I'm done dealing with politics I'm gonna go hunt something thing, and because they've no need for subtly decide to "hide" who they are by going by Nyx and Selene Ulric when on a job

technically both of them are in line to be the next Mand'alor and there pretty much even in terms of who the people want to be the next one

however, neither of them want the responsibility - or the politics, or the paperwork - and so basically try to... talk up the other as the better candidate

Nyx neatly solves this by taking on a bounty that leads to him getting a job on Kamino. and sure, it sounds super shady but there's no way his sister will be able to find him in time to keep herself from being declared Mand'alor

this holds out until the Alphas are made and then Nyx has a moment of oh shit i am a dad of a hundred and counting now

there is much panic and flailing, the comm message is basically incoherent

Selene starts praying for Libertus to show up because she left her brother unsupervised for one job. ONE. and this happens? clearly he needs his proper braincell back

and on that topic, let's head to the other, non-Ulric reincarnations real quick

Libertus is either Obi-Wan or Feemor, it depends entirely on how much I want Obi-Wan to have a proper big brother and Libertus to fuss over Obi-Wan's self-care, self-esteem and just everything really

if Libertus is Obi-Wan then Titus is gonna be Feemor, if Libertus is Feemor then Titus is going to be Dooku

which, you know what. I like that. Libertus is now Feemor, Obi-Wan gets his big brother and Titus is Dooku

so when that mission to Galidraan comes up, Dooku goes and sees Jango for the first time and suddenly Titus comes rushing in. and he's confronted with what is clearly TWO Ulrics before him

he is a Sigh

on the upside the mission ends mostly peaceful, none of the True Mandalorians are killed by Jedi and Death Watch gets dealt with

and there is now a, kind of nebulous, alliance between the Jedi and Mando

Titus!Dooku returns to the Jedi Temple and decides to reconnect with his lineage instead of isolating himself because clearly that kind of stuff didn't work the first time

and then he meets, after much scolding of Qui-Gon, Feemor who he can already tell is Libertus just waiting to wake up

he promptly tells Feemor that he should pay a visit to Mandalore as soon as possible and meet the future - because Nyx definitely saved Jaster on Korda 6 - Mand'alor

and Feemor may have intended to do so, however begrudgingly, but then he found a padawan and didn't really have time for a side trip to Mandalore

(which is good because he definitely would have stopped the clones from happening)

as for the rest.... well Crowe is Asohka, of course. For some reason I really like the idea of Luche as Xanatos du Crion?

Sonitus is Mando, not sure if he's reincarnated as someone already, but he's the kid of an armorer. Tredd I'm thinking Pre Vizsla maybe?

Pelna I'm thinking him being over in Corellia, not sure if he's a Corellian Jedi or if he winds up as a senator. Axis... I have half a mind for him to be Maul — or maybe Feral?

anyway, everyone only remembers when they see Nyx, hence why Titus!Dooku is trying to get Feemor to meet Jango

Sonitus actually remembers before Titus does, he's the son of one of Jaster's armorers and runs into Jango when he's old enough to start helping his buir

after that, Luche is actually the next to remember — because if I recall, Jango is only three years younger then Xanatos and the year Xanatos became a padawan was the same year that a some kind of pandemic spread through the galaxy, starting with Mandalore. so that sounds like a good set up to a potential mission for Jango and Xanatos to meet

next would be Tredd, which happens because Tor Vizsla dies via two protective Ulrics and so the Maat Mando'ade take in most of Death Watch after killing a bunch of the higher ranked ones

and then the few of Death Watch who got away set up Galidraan to try and wipe out the Haat Mando'ade and Titus remembers

Pelna and Libertus actually run into each other and make friends before remembering then, shortly after Feemor leaves Corellia, Nyx arrives and then Pelna remembers

honestly, Libertus is one of the last to remember but with multiple instances of where he just almost runs into Nyx

Luche!Xanatos finds Axis!Maul, drags him to meet Nyx and remember, then promptly returns to the Jedi Temple declaring he has a new padawan

then the clones happen and Ramuh gives Selene a break and reveals that Feemor is Libertus so she goes marching up to the Jedi Order and lowkey kidnaps Feemor - and his padawan who is having the time of their life right now - to drag him to Kamino

and then Feemor meets Jango and seconds later Libertus is yelling at Nyx over dying - then he finds out about the clones and yells some more over that

Crowe is the last one to remember timeline-wise but that's just because she's born later, she basically remembers as soon as she's taken to the Temple because Libertus is on creché duty with Nyx and she sees them

thats all I remember so BACK TO THE CLONES

the clones are raised as both Mando and Galahadian, and they get to choose—

choose if they feel more Galahadian, or if the want to swear to Resol'nare and be a proper Mando'ade instead of a Mando-raised Galahadian

of course there are those who are both, who have their armor painted in clan colors and clan braids not only in their hair but on display - in braided leather strips hanging from their armor

the clones also get to choose on if their names - not just if they want to name themselves or if they want Nyx to do it (and if they'd want a Mando or Galahadian name) but also if they want to be a Fett, Ulric or any combination of the two, or even something else entirely

after Selene finds out, and drags Libertus into things, a plot is hatched to kidnap the clones

Titus gets dragged into things because he's an older and respected jedi, and might be on the council, and basically changes the "order"

so the four of them wind up taking all the clones, now into the thousands with the oldest - Alphas - being preteen age?, and just flying first to Mandalore then straight to the Jedi Temple

they head to Mandalore first so that Selene can officially declare them citizens, Jaster gets to learn he's a grandfather thousands of times over and Nyx gets yelled at again

then they take any clones that didn't decide to stay on Mandalore over to the jedi temple where they waltz up to the jedi council and inform them about the army ordered for them

eventually it winds up with the rest of the clones getting added to the creché, in their own clans though raised along the jedi younglings

things get restructured a bit since most of the clones are not Force-sensitive, though some ARE because that's cool, and there's no way Nyx is going to be kept from visiting his kids

so you got some retired Mandos now in the creche with entire clans of clones that they've adopted, doesn't matter if they're a Fett or Ulric

you also got clones that straight up adopt various jedi so there's that too

anyways, Luche!Xanatos is the one who figures out about the chips which ignites all the protective rage and an investigation over just who ordered the clones though that winds up a bit of a dead end for a while

misc.

I'm not entirely sure if the Clone Wars happen here? if it does occur then it's not gonna be Republic vs Separatists because there's no Dooku to be a puppet leader — instead I think that winds up with the Sith Empire actually being reformed?

(which, has many a reincarnations seething because they already dealt with an evil empire and now there's another)

if that happens then Dathomir gets raided at some point for Sidious and Plageuis to steal Nightbrothers to raise as acolytes to help with their war

which in turn leads to some Nightsisters to side with the Jedi/Mando side because that's their future being stolen — also so Crowe!Asohka can learn about their magic and stuff because that'd be amazing

ANYWAYS

the ffxv world, i think the planet is still called Eos in it?, does in fact exist. it's just a planet floating in wild space

it is also a very, very long time since the happenings of ffxv

not sure if there's still people on planet or not, but it's definitely wilder and less tamed, all overgrown and filled with creatures

not sure which reincarnation finds this... let's say Pelna because I barely even mentioned him

hhhhhhh

Anakin Skywalker... I am not sure — he's brought to the temple young because there's no way anyone is gonna let slavery slide and Ramuh might have noticed his birth and started poking at someone to go investigate

Shmi winds up free and adopted, Shmi Skywalker-Ulric maybe? she works with Selene and both take the Senate by storm whenever they have to visit

Anakin winds up and Ulric by virtue of being Shmi's son

Libertus, purely out of self-defense, promptly adopts Obi-Wan to braincell for the newest Ulric - or, well, Obi-Wan may already be adopted by then and Lib just yeets his baby brother at the little Ulric to braincell

.....i think that's all the thoughts i have right now

#star wars #ffxv #long post #which i am sorry for but i did this on moble and can't do the read more thing #but i tagged it so people can skip!!

45 notes · View notes