#die hard series

[cannibalcoyote]

Simon Gruber Pt.1: A Stranger

Pt.2 Imagine being Hans Gruber's best friend, and him sending you back to Germany to stay with his brother before his death:

Losing Hans was one of the hardest things I've ever endured. I, of course, knew of his activities since I was his right hand man. We practically grew up together, staying best friends all the way through adulthood.

Most people assumed we would start dating as teenagers, but the love we felt for each other was much more of a brother-sister bond.

I was actually there with him at Nakatomi Plaza, but I had been shot in the abdomen by McClane. Blood was gushing from the wound, however I barely registered the pain, my focus remaining on the mission. Naturally, when Hans found out he had me rushed off to his private doctor, then having me immediately flown back to Germany where his brother awaited my arrival. I would have objected - fought even - to stay and finish the mission, but between blacking out and the pain medication, I was barely even conscious.

———————

Waking up in an unfamiliar room wasn't something I normally thought was unusual - after every mission, Hans and I would drink until we couldn't stand. I would always find myself waking up the next morning feeling groggy and uncomfortable, glancing around an empty and unfamiliar room until my eyes landed on Hans' figure slouched next to the bed. He would always be there, sometimes he would be asleep, but he was always there; having said that, today was the day that he wasn't.

The second thing I noticed was how expensive everything looked, which is something that I am used to seeing, as Hans does have expensive tastes. The curtains allowed a shallow light to filter into the room, painting the floor in a cold, pale yellow; the glare aggravating my sensitive eyes. My mind feels fuzzy, and my body numb, but I only focus on finding Hans.

Glancing around in a daze, I hastily push the covers away from me, not noticing the bandage, or the throbbing pain in my abdomen until I stand up. It hits all at once, nausea and lightheaded threatening my body, but the tearing pain forces me to stay conscious; stumbling slightly before falling against the frigid wall with an audible 'thump'.

My chest feels heavy, and I can't quite catch my breath. I'm practically gasping for air, but the weakness seems to beat my attempts to stay awake. The last thing I see is a blurry figure rushing through the wood door to my huddled form.

“…Hans..?”

———————

That was the first time I met Simon Gruber.

Hans had rarely talked about him, only mentioning the conflicts and arguments they had. From the description he gave, Simon was an overly-controlling older brother who never tried to understand or listen to anything Hans had to say. However, it is clear that Hans must hold some level of trust for him to entrust him with his dying best friend.

My first day was off to a very rocky start, I didn't even remember it the next time I awoke. But the second day was probably when I had the worst moment in my entire life.

Simon had taken to sitting by my bed, he wanted to ensure there wasn't a repeat of yesterday.

After he had found me, he immediately picked up my limp body and placed me back on the bed before calling for the doctor. I had managed to tear some of my stitches, which promptly started bleeding again, my blood pressure was already low, so this was quite worrisome. After a while though, the doctor had me stabilized again, giving Simon specific instructions for when I woke up. He wasn't to let me stand up again until I've rested a bit more, and he also needs to give me medication every 6 hours to fight infection and dull the pain.

When I awoke, I immediately noticed the figure to my right. My eyes were only partially open, vision distorted and blurry.

"Hans?" My voice felt broken, it pained me to talk because it didn't sound like me. The person was apparently asleep since they jumped in surprise when I spoke.

"Not quite my dear." His voice was different, the only sense of familiarity being that he was obviously German. He didn't sound like any of Hans' partners that I knew, and I know this definitely isn't Hans, so who is he?

I blinked my eyes a few times to readjust to my surroundings, attempting to sit up only to be gently pushed back down.

"I wouldn't recommend that." I couldn't help but feel a nagging sense of familiarity, but from where, I simply couldn't pinpoint.

I focused on his hand first as it was pushing me down, he has light skin, but not pale; and large hands. His arms are strong, strong enough that I feel more than uncomfortable being this defenseless and vulnerable around him. He's dressed in business casual, but comfortable, his short blond hair framing his face nicely. Lastly was his face itself, the expression looked permanently stern, but I can see the underlying glint of gentleness, and the smile he wore was wrought with mischief.

"Wer bist du?" I didn't even realize I'd switched from English to German until the man chuckled and exclaimed.

"Ah, are you the girl that Hans loved to talk about?" Though he said it as a question, it felt more like a statement, one which was immediately followed by a fond smirk. I don't know how to respond, I didn't really know Hans would talk about me.

"Who are you?" My voice is sharper this time, I'm done with his games, at this moment I just want to know who he is. His smirk lessened as a new emotion took over his features... grief. He looked sad, depressed even, but only a trained eye would notice the subtle micro-expressions.

"Call me Simon."

Pt.2

[horsemeatluvr23]

i had a dream where etho accidentally called bdubs 'john' on stream,, and in retaliation bdubs said 'yes horace'..... and that's how we found out etho's real name is freaking. Horace.

[bumblydumbly]

i think that if kabru saw that “laios meeting falin for the first time” strip he’d be sobbing uncontrollably

[liam-summers]

AtS 2.22 | BtVS 5.22

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

[kislurysuje]

Me? Making a Fate fanart in 2024? Impossible.

For real though, my friend got convinced to watch it with me and I felt the old brainworms wriggling in. Also I’d been thinking on redrawing some very old piece to see how far I’ve gotten. Diarmuid just so happened to be on my very first Fate fanart four years ago, so here he is! I don’t think it counts as a redraw however. More like a full blown remaster, since now I possess both skill and confidence to put a character in the exact scene I want. (here’s a 2020 old art jumpscare for your own comparison)

Might eventually also draw a Cu for old times sake…

[diamondsunbursts-and-marblehalls]

girls when the reckless blond boy they're falling in love with sacrifices himself to save their life, and they only just manage to keep him from dying

[grailknightmonty]

"the moon will sing a song of chaos"

She had leapt down onto the fortress gracefully like a meteor having mastered its landing, and ran past them way quicker than either of the two could have reacted. Eyes ablaze, as Pearl ran past Skizz she scooped up the wither skull at his feet which he had just leaned down to grab.

"Wh-HEY!"

"Sorry mate, tasks's a task!"

She threw the Ianitee a salute and a wink as she took off in the opposite, soon being followed by both Skizz and Impulse who spun around to start chasing her down the crimson brick bridge. She could hear Impulse shouting something, but she was far too focused to make out exactly what. As she came to the edge of the fortress, she paused for a moment to brandish her dual scythes, giving Impulse a chance to swing at her, only narrowly missing as she parried his axe and knocked him slightly backwards with the swing of her other weapon. She swiftly turned and dived off downwards towards the lava- fire resistance pot already downed well before she had even approached the duo- trails of flames coming off the diamond blades, and her singed crimson cloak billowing behind her.

Skizz ran past Impulse to rush to the edge, and as he watched her fall, he swore he could see the outline of the god of chaos appear in between the strikes of flame, eyes judging, but ever curious at the player below.

Heard that Pearl is a Mianite enjoyer and I haven't looked back 👀 She would make the perfect Dianitee

[kiiyuq]

pre-stage moments

[makeup artist! Chay x WIK! Kim AU]

[local-space-case]

edit: tagged this post as anti zutara because even though i personally don’t consider it to be an anti zutara thing, a couple people disagree so thank you to the one person who was nice enough to just ask me to do it anyway

prefacing this by saying you can like whatever ship you want so don’t come for me (edit someone immediately came for me). but one of the reasons i don’t like zutara and don’t like that it’s being alluded to in the live action is because i feel like it waters down a lot of scenes they had together that were meant to establish each others individual characters, or rather some viewers water it down. like rather than healing zuko’s scar out of the kindness of her heart, it’s because she found him attractive. rather than returning her mother’s necklace to show zuko is more honorable than he thinks, it’s because he has a crush on her. katara doesn’t save and comfort/thank zuko in the final agni kai because zuko has effectively lost most of his remaining family in one day, its because they’re deeply in love.

i’m not saying these instances and romance are mutually exclusive, but i PERSONALLY feel the scenes are more powerful without it.

it just really feels like it undermines the power of platonic love (and f/m friendships in general) and their separate journeys as characters to find their peace in order for it to be bad boy/feisty girl romance.

[blaithnne]

okok ive been thinking abt this and its actually very clever of the crew for hilda to like cucumber sandwiches. you'd expect an adventurous kid like her to always be trying new things, preferring unique and striking fillings. but she did say that she takes comfort in the mundane life she knows she can always return to with her mum. what's more reassuring than a little hub of plainness in the midst of a daring adventure? it's reliable. it's safe

You know what? This is the most compelling argument I’ve heard so far. We’ve veered off into discussing cucumber sandwiches in general, and have quite forgotten that the original question posed was why Hilda as a show latched onto them so hard.

[bicheetopuff]

I think she will feel angry that Izu practically almost told about OFA to Katsuki.

Omg I hadn’t even thought about that yet. Tbh I feel like she’ll be pissed at the idea of OFA in general cuz “oh wow a kid who had no power just getting offered one on a silver platter. How convenient?” She’s kinda cynical like that but I hope she decides to look past it.

But about him telling katsuki about it? Oh yeah she’s definitely gonna be mad cuz I remember how mad I was when I first watched it LMAO. Like, wdym you haven’t told your mom yet, and you’re telling the kid who told you to kill yourself? Bro stand up, your 🏳️‍🌈 is showing.

[delusionalblfan]

as i expected throughout the whole episode i was so tense and with teary eyes. the whole damn episode. but i literally bawled my eyes out in three moments. the three of them made me stop watching to catch a breath and to just think about life and choices and stuff. i was so into them i felt sick to my stomach

1. when Babe kissed Babe's forehead three times, it got to me more than the whole scene of Babe realising Charlie was dead. it was so tender, full of regret of untold words, it was what Babe regretted not doing to Charlie before the race. it was a goodbye. it was a 'i cannot live without you'. a 'i respect and love you so much for everything you've done for me', a 'i do not deserve you', a 'you do not deserve this'. i felt it all. it was a detail that made all the difference to me and of which i am very thankful for. it was what my emotions needed to really make me go 'no! this is happening' and make me crumble

2. Babe alone at home with Charlie's gloves while reminiscing their times together. he remembered their first meeting as expected. but then he remembered moments that Charlie made him feel special, told him he is special, irrevocably and unconditionally told him he is the reason he ever tried to stop Tony. Babe knows that what Charlie has been doing is not for his own self, but for Babe. this moment Babe is feeling so much pain and so much guilt and it's palpable. and it's as if he feels like the gloves are the only good thing he gave to Charlie and he wants to hold on to them. he needs a physical thing to hold on to, given he doesn't have Charlie. he wants to keep the thing he gave to Charlie and thinks he likes the most. he wants to keep what he saw in Charlie's eyes was what he was most proud of. (Babe, news to you: you are it. you are what Charlie most wanted, most loved and most wanted to show off. you are what makes Charlie happy. you)

3. Alan and Dean's scene (PHENOMENAL) what a moment. seeing Sailub and Lee's emotions so raw that they are physically feeling it. that's the feeling i got. the hurting in their voices made me go crazy. i lost myself there. and i got the whole moment. Dean always felt like the outsider, haven't found his place and used that to self-pity, never spoke about it until recently and only now is doing something to not live in the shadows, but unfortunately by doing wrong decisions. they are family (remembering these men have no blood relatives, they are each others family and that's as valid as blood relatives. it's Family) i am sure they would support him if he decided to find his place somewhere on the racing world. but he was so desperate he decided to do it by siding with the person that has done most harm to his family members, and by harming a family member (i know nothing about mechanics, but he said it, he did want to scare Charlie so he would give up racing, so Dean was willing to make Charlie get into an accident to scare him). and Alan was so hurt. and i bet i know some traits of him so he must be thinking 'this is happening again within my family, the family i started, the people i sworn to protect, i must not be monitoring their feelings well, where did i do wrong, i definitely did something wrong'. but at the same time he knew Dean did a very bad thing, the was so hurt with Dean and so disappointed. and to make the (right!) choice of calling the police on a family member must be so hard. they will not be family like before. the trust was broken. and realising that this is the end, the way they physically gave up and bended. Alan grabbing him like he wants to embrace him still! i believe they get each other's point of view, but Dean was already so hurt by all these years (this boy has a fucking inner saboteur!) and false accusations but shattered by the fact that Alan could in fact, but to his eyes only now, show love towards him and Alan was so hurt that a family member hurt another family member (again) and still very regretful for what he could have done… this is unequivocally a breakup and it was very real and hurtful to watch

[cadriox]

TTG fanart master post

(I said that but it’s all DracoEd hehehe)

Platinum vs gold

I really love their contrast aesthetic!!!

“What’s this? Have you a fucking attack dog now?”

(Sorcery & Sigils Ch.2)

I’d say Ed does have the strong protective side of him like Blaise was kinda right hahahaha

That was another thing about Elric, he was so like them sometimes. On the train, during meals, but then sometimes, he would get this look in his eye like he didn’t know what to do. He wondered if it had been different with the Flamel’s. The Flamel’s had guaranteed prestige, they could do something no one else in the world could, they didn’t need to work for their image. Perhaps things were different for them, perhaps Elric hadn’t been taught the same things. That caring was a weakness. Looking at someone like that, like you wanted to help was just asking to be taken advantage of. The world was not kind, and as such, kindness would get you nowhere power couldn’t get you with more security.

(Sorcery & Sigils Ch.7) The paragraph that made me go crazy

"I'm sorry- really, Ed, I am." Draco said straightening up, his face contorted in distress, "I wish- honestly I wish this could work. But it can't." He said seriously,  "it's too much of a risk, for both of us, for you Ed."

(Socery & Sigils Ch.15) I've been thinking about this scene twice a month for 4 years straight now. Literally on the dracoed hall of fame

He didn’t really know when it had started. He thought maybe it was that night, that night when they’d sat together on the floor of the Slytherin dormitory, just the two of them. He could still see in his mind's eye the expression on Draco’s face as he watched that transmutation. It had been almost childlike in its wonder- a far cry from the stress and tension caused by that year under The Dark Lord’s thumb. 

(Sorcery & Sigils Ch.23) (Time and Transmutation Ch.32)

Your honor they were IN LOVE.

Through the Gate by Preelikeswriting: https://archiveofourown.org/series/781794

[future-island-egghead]

Muse of Violence, Warrior of Science.

To the ordinary, everyday genius scientist-for-hire with a heart too big for her own good, we raise our sake cups.

You gave us food. You tried to protect us. You gave your life to ensure we'd all live on. Just lending a hand.

You knew it would end like this. We all knew it would end like this, and yet you still did it. And you did it to protect the friends you had made and the family you had left. And you did it all on your own terms, smiling all the way to the afterlife, knowing your will would be inherited by those you saved.

Clone or Machine or Satellite or Daughter. It matters not what you were. Because you went out like a true member of those who carry the will of D.

Thanks for everything, Atlas. For a satellite representing rage and violence, you had the biggest heart of any of them.

[potatobugz]

i feel as if im going mad so im going to just put this out here. real quick. movieunleashers starters ramble.

i cant stop thinking about how mudkip broke down in that one scene in "Typomaniac," when Chespin called him mean. for a second he lets his mask slip a little bit and to me he just... acts his age. he starts crying and calls chespin mean back. maybe im just hyperfocusing on this one detail but mudkip is about 12 years old.

and that just makes me wonder what happened in this guys life that brought him to where he is now. and it makes it all the more tragic how his whole world revolves around chespin, but he is the one bringing him the most pain. and how young he was when he died.

there is a large theme of growing up in "Rare Candy." the characters ages are emphasized in that particular episode, and one of the main conflicts is fennekin wanting to evolve faster.

the thing about characters in these stories is that they're not allowed to just be kids, to have a childhood. so many bad things happen to them. like. mudkips whole, Everything. fennekin when she was famous in typomaniac, or dealing with her own insecurities/pressure from society about her relationship w chespin. and chespin always having to shoulder his friends problems & always somehow managing to stay positive despite everything.

why cant they just. play video games. eat ice cream or something. go to the movies

at the end of the day, i think both mudkip and fennekin are characters who grew up too fast. by distancing himself from them, chespin refused to follow in their footsteps and just wanted to stay a kid.

good for him.

[purplespacekitty]

part 2

part 1