#i do think they cared for each other to some extent their whole lives

[muqingapologist]

rambling about fengqing

something about mu qing and feng xin seeing hua cheng and xie lian happy together and feeling as if they’re seeing their failure personified because they were never devoted enough in the end

something about mu qing’s lasting regret being not so much about the wrongs he’s done to xie lian (leaving him, not standing up for him, etc) so much as about the way he’s spent his whole life pushing everyone away

something about mu qing realizing that he has spent 800 years with so little to show for it beyond his achievements as a god…but personally, all was lost with the death of his mother…until xie lian ascends again, but well, though they can be friends now, xie lian has a life separate from him now

and then something about how feng xin begins to give mu qing the benefit of the doubt. at first for xie lian’s sake, he’ll try to be his friend. but this person actually isn’t so bad. in fact, isn’t this the person that can understand him best in this world.

feng xin showing mu qing kindness, allowing mq to realize that maybe he hasn’t ruined everything for himself. realizing that feng xin isn’t actually so much of an idiot. letting his defenses fall away bit by bit.

the realization that even after 800 years, people are capable of change. feng xin is capable of considering mu qing in a totally different light. mu qing is capable of forgiving himself and letting himself be vulnerable.

mu qing finding one day that he’s in love and it’s terrifying because feng xin hates him still, right? he’s just being nice for xie lian’s sake.

feng xin not having any qualms about loving mu qing. at first, he’s surprised himself, but he considers how happy he is these days with him.

feng xin and mu qing understanding each other better than anyone else and falling in love because of it!! growing independently and together at the same time!!

not instant love, not 800 years of pining, but slow, patient changes that lead to a deep trust and affection and understanding between the two that they both thought was impossible just a few years ago.

[naamahdarling]

.

[meo-eiru]

hi dear, I'm not sure if ur ask box is already open, sorry if it isn't, please take your time and stay healthy

soo I've been thinking about that whole concept of delulu elf babying us and BOY isn't that depressing?? like I'd have a whole ass existential crisis after some time

I mean in my perspective, it must be pretty humiliating for a grown person to be not be taken seriously to such extent. like our boy doesn't even trust us to leave the house and is convinced that his darling needs his absolute protection. no personal space, little to no social interactions except for him, etc.

ANND the worst part is that Silas doesn't even realize that he's doing something wrong, unlike classic yanderes. in his head, he's only doing what's best for darling, without any ill intentions (man's head is filled with unicorns and rainbows). in a way, he's the child here; one that accidentally breaks a kitten's paw because they hugged it too tight.

so can you really blame him? can you really bring yourself to hate him? even if you're upset at him for taking away your basic human rights, he's only trying his best for you!! even if his concept of that "best" is a bit twisted. it's a whole ass internal conflict for darling we have here!

and like, I'm a pretty empathetic person, so I'd hate to see him cry. I'd hate myself if I ever snapped at him (he should only cry from pleasure uh huh). so the only choice I have is to slowly convince Silas to change, but can that really work? what if I'd have to spend a millenia like this, slowly dying on the inside?

that's kind of a hilarious concept for me, like, he's the mama here, but you have to sit him down and patiently explain how your body works, to not die because of overfeeding or smth like that

you created a masterpiece, my brainworms are brainworming so hard rn. I also have some interesting thoughts abt Elias ^^

(DESPAIR!! SUFFERINGS!! ok I'm sorry I still want to squeeze his booba like a stress ball)

I love this ask a lot because that's exactly the vibe I was going for with him.

It's very contradicting. On one hand his mothering is appealing because someone taking care of you with such genuine love is... nice. No matter how you act, no matter what tricks you pull, Silas will forever and ever love you with all his heart. You are his precious flower and he has so much affection for you. He can heal you, he can keep you fed, he can give you the love no one else can.

But at the end of the day that love will be the thing that ruins you. The fundamental difference between you two's existence, how you two view life and each other is just too much. While Silas can take care of your basic needs and give you love, him being so unable to fully understand you and your capabilities can and will eventually break you.

Silas is nice but he isn't. Silas can keep you healthy but also can't. He thinks he's sufficient for you but he just isn't.

He's beautiful and lives in a bright world full of colors but will be the one who'll strip your world of color.

You'll slowly change as he continues to suffocate you with affection.

And he will do all of it with genuine love and good intent in his heart.

Which is what makes him so contradicting. He's like your doom wrapped in cute packaging and presented to you by someone who loves you. He's a poison turned into a warm homecooked meal.

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

the way that some people talk about jason and batman and the joker is so jarring to me because it relies on some unspoken assumptions that i will never buy into

1. the assumption that taking a life inevitably always makes the person who did it worse. killing someone isn’t always this earth shattering thing that harms the person who does it and fundamentally changes their outlook on things. i guess if you have never met a veteran or someone who survived an armed robbery or any number of other things you might make that mistake, but like some of the people who fought in wwii came home and were normal members of the community and the times that their bullets hit the mark were not necessarily the parts of the war that kept them up at night. these assumptions that once you kill you are wicked and have to feel bad and do this whole show of repentance are insidious. if you are gonna look at all this through the lens of christian morality you should at least be aware that that is what you are doing but you cant have just one character be wicked and unclean because of his actions when the bible says that everyone is wicked and unclean by our nature and all sins are equal. a lot of people object to that view but if thats how you see it batman and jason and the joker are all sinners and are all as bad as each other so at least be consistant about how you apply that moral framework.

2. the assumption that being robin or being taken in and trained by bruce means full agreement with and acceptance of every part of bruce’s personal philosophy on justice and morality. jason was a homeless child and even if all this was explicitly laid out for him he could not have agreed since he needed bruce as a matter of survival. bruce’s ideology is extremely important to him and he can teach it to his children all he wants but they are not beholden to it above all else the way he thinks they should be. jason has to live according to his own beliefs regardless of how unacceptable bruce finds it and it is unfair and hypocritical of bruce to get bent out of shape about it.

3. the assumption that killing is always bad. maybe i have listened to too many episodes of behind the bastards but some people will do significant and appalling damage to others no matter what unless they are dead. those people can’t be allowed to keep causing harm. it isn’t glorious and there is no honor about it but it is right and just that they be stopped. there is no reason to strive for purity or ideological high ground when you can provide a measure of safety and justice to victims and prevent future harm instead.

4. the assumption that bruce didn’t have to answer to jason. parents have a duty to their children and it is my opinion that that duty does not end when the child dies. bruce adopted jason and made himself responsible and accountable for everything that happened to jason under his care. that responsibility was ignored over many instances. i am not going to detail the things that led to jason’s death here but it was not good or effective parenting. after jason’s death the disrespect starts pretty immediately with bruce compromising evidence of his murder in order to preserve his ability to continue as batman and continues with bruce getting rid of pretty much all traces of jason’s presence in his life. he is only spoken of as a mistake, a lost cause, or a cautionary tale and is assigned blame for his own death, a death that batman never bothered to fully investigate since he was buried next to the woman who led him into the trap. a new kid is endangered and the joker and batman both continue doing whatever they want as if jason’s life only matters for the way it affects them. bruce needs to answer for all of this, as his son jason has a right to expect more from his father. now the extent to which that extends can be debated but it is clear to me that jason deserved better from bruce.

conclusion: killing is accepted in society in certain circumstances, you may or may not agree with this but self defense laws and even things like jury nullification exist because people knew there should be some wiggle room since no one could have the full context of every situation that would ever arise. ending a life is not normal or ideal but it is not an unfathomably rare experience and it does not always weigh on the person who does it. bruce has never to my knowledge killed someone so he has no idea how he would actually respond but that still isn’t even what jason was asking him to do. all he had to do was be present and not move and he would have been the only parental figure who didn’t let jason down.

[comicaurora]

Hey red, what's your opinion on some modern writing that's very lamp shady? And do you have any advice on how to avoid "Well that just happened" dialogue?

It's an interesting question!

The thing is, lampshading exists for a reason, but it's not the reason it gets used a lot of the time. Writers might lampshade a narrative choice they're insecure about, while characters lampshade because the things they go through in a typical story are kind of bonkers, and we might expect them to notice. If a character signs on for a simple mercenary expedition and ends up discovering they're the long-lost prince of a kingdom they've never heard of, that's weird and they probably feel weird about it. If an ally is determined to 1v1 their super overpowered nemesis with no help from their friends, those friends might have opinions about how dumb that is.

This is a form of lampshading that doesn't break immersion because it's entirely in-character and doesn't lean on the fourth wall. There's a difference between a character noticing how weird their life is and a character pointing out how cliched a recent experience was. In the latter case, the character is treating their life like a story, and while it IS a story, they shouldn't know that.

There's a spectrum here, with "complete sincerity and taking every turn of the plot at face value" defining the 0-point and "complete self-aware uninvestment" at the far end, but healthy levels of lampshading live somewhere in the middle. Characters at the 0-point accepting everything that happens without question can feel just as weird as characters that won't stop pointing out the TVTropes entry they're currently living. It's about what it makes sense for the character to find disruptive or noteworthy. A hardened badass probably won't see the need to point out how bonkers a recent fight scene was, but a newcomer to the Cool Bombastic Adventure scene might be really excited when they pull off a cool special move and want to point it out.

I think this is why the recent D&D movie worked for a lot of people, because while the main characters all lampshade their lives to varying degrees, the way they do so makes sense for all of them. Edgin is a bard and storyteller so he has a slightly meta perspective on a lot of things, purposefully avoids playing along with certain narrative conventions and sometimes responds to other people's dialogue by critiquing their dialogue instead of just responding normally; Holga doesn't really care to understand how the world works and so keeps pointing out that they should just use magic to solve their problems, which is probably the most popular lampshade in the whole genre; Doric and Simon don't get a ton of time to shine character-wise, but they'll both occasionally poke holes in the pretense of the story they're in. The thing that makes this all work is Xenk, who plays absolutely every moment completely 100% straight and is entirely immersed in the objectively ridiculous setting of D&D. Same goes for most of the villains, except for Forge, who's probably the wackiest and most self-aware character in the entire movie, but in a way that makes him feel callous and disregarding of the people around him, like he's uninvested in the world not because he knows he's a fictional character but because he has too much money and power to care about anything. The ways each character does or does not lampshade their surroundings make sense for who they are as people and reinforce their characterization and place in the world instead of undermining it.

I recently watched a couple episodes of Stargate Atlantis and noticed something similar - the main character and, to a lesser extent, the rest of his associates from Earth have a tendency to make wry observations about his objectively bizarre life and the eccentricities of the people around him, which helps contrast against the extremely serious and businesslike Cool Space Warriors they keep accumulating, which helps make them feel (a) distinct from each other and (b) relatable considering all the weird stuff that happens. And the protagonist switches off the quips as soon as things start looking perilous for his team, so you never get the impression that they aren't invested in the story they're living, and as a result the various quips and lampshades come across more as a habit or a coping mechanism than a disruption to the narrative itself.

So basically I think you can get away with a lot of lampshades as long as the character doesn't feel like they know they're in a story.

[lucysarah-c]

Hi, Lucy, Good evening! (our countries are neighbours, so I'm supposing it is evening for you too)

Feel free to don't answer if you don't want to, but, how do you think that would happen if Levi was head over heels for his girlfriend, like, he genuinely thinks she is the love of his life but she grew up in a house with very cheesy and affectionate parents so she just normalizes it as what romantic love means and well… Levi is Levi. She is also very affectionate and a bit clingy and Levi makes it very clear that he hates PDA and even in private he doesn’t act half of clingy as she does, so she starts to think he doesn't really love her and breaks up with him, but without telling him why because she doesn't want to hurt him, but she tells the reason of the breakup for a friend and Levi overhears it.

Do you think he would try to win her over again? Or he would feel offended because he tried his best to be a good partner and she still broke up with him without even communicating?

Thank you for reading anyway, love you!

Hi there! Good evening!

This is such an interesting scenario! If Levi were genuinely head over heels for his girlfriend, thinking she’s the love of his life, but she grew up in a very affectionate household and normalizes that as the standard for romantic love, I think there would definitely be some tension. Levi is, well, Levi—he’s not exactly the clingy type, and PDA would probably make him uncomfortable. But if his girlfriend is very affectionate and he’s not reciprocating in the way she’s used to, it’s easy to see how she might start to feel unloved.

If she broke up with him without telling him the reason, I think Levi would be deeply hurt. He’s not one to easily open up or express his feelings, so for him to have fallen in love to that extent would be huge. Hearing through a friend that the breakup happened because she felt he didn’t love her—when in reality, he was just expressing love in his own way—would probably frustrate him. Levi values honesty and straightforwardness, so the lack of communication would likely sting.

Also, and I do think this is important too… imagine how Levi feels? Imagine if someone told you basically that "how you love them its not enough" that your way of being isn't enough… I would honestly be extremely hurt. I can see Levi promising to do an effort of being more vocal about his affection to her but she should ALSO do an effort of understanding him. Imagine constandly living with someone who feels that what you do is not enough?

That being said, I don’t think Levi would feel offended in the sense of holding a grudge or thinking she was unreasonable. He might feel hurt and misunderstood, but I think his love for her would outweigh that. If he truly believed she was the love of his life, I can see him making an effort to win her back. He might not do it in a grand, romantic gesture—because, let’s be real, that’s not Levi—but in his own way, he’d want to make things right. Maybe he’d have a serious conversation with her, explaining his feelings and how he shows love differently. Levi isn’t someone who gives up easily, especially not on someone he cares about deeply.

So, yes, I do think he’d try to win her over again, but it would be in a very Levi way—direct, honest, and with the intention of understanding each other better.

(this is rather funny because it's a whole 4 chapters issue in Holy Ground, my main fic)

Thank you for question! Love you too!

[zykamiliah]

relationship status: crowley and the bookshop, aziraphale and the bentley

apparently it won't leave me alone unless i write it down so here it goes: the way aziraphale treats the bentley and the way crowley treats the bookshop are metaphors about the status of their relationship and, to an extent, how they relate to each other

i mean yeah that was kind of obvious at the moment i was watching episode 3, but i didn't realize the implications of this particular metaphor until much much later (bc i didn't binged the season), after i watched the end of the last episode.

so here it goes!

i have no idea of other people have already talked about this, in which case i won't apologize since writing down this is part of my post-s2 coping strategies

crowley and the bookshop

crowley doesn't live in the bookshop per se, he doesn't rest there, he doesn't put his plants there, but it is where he spend a good chunk of his time. he's comfortable enough to takes off his sunglasses , meaning he's comfortable being himself there (mostly); the bookshop his anchor, and his world revolves around it.

what's important here is that when tasked with taking care of it without supervision, guarding it and its contents, he changes nothing about it.

i mean he's a bit careless with some books (don't throw them around ahhh!!) but for the most part he does nothing but to keep things as they are. he doesn't try to sell the books, he doesn't rearrange or change the furniture. the one time he does is after the whole business with heaven and hell and gabriel and beelzebub going off together, and he just puts everything back as it was before the party.

crowley loves the bookshop as it is, the same way he loves humanity as it is, the same way he loves aziraphale as he is. he doesn't want aziraphale to change. he takes care of him, helps him with everything he asks of him, is very protective of him; however in the same way he doesn't technically live in the bookshop and isn't a bookseller ("not even at gunpoint"), he has never said how he really feels about aziraphale, despite what his actions indicate.

crowley's love steadfast, and quiet, and there, but never fully realized. same as their relationship. aziraphale has let him in, but not completely. and crowley hasn't dare to take more space than he is allowed, because he doesn't want to lose what they have.

aziraphale and the bentley

in a mirror of how he relates to crowley, aziraphale asks the bentley to do things for him in that kind, authoritative way of his, and they get along fantastically. however when getting unsupervised alone time with the bentley, aziraphale proceeds to change its color, the music it plays, and even adds things to its interior. in its essence, the bentley remains the same, but its make up gets swapped for what aziraphale would like to see, what he thinks it's nice.

the bentley indulges aziraphale, because just like its owner, it's head over heels with him. it'll play aziraphale's music of choice without complain, it'll change his own color and go as fast as aziraphale likes it (which is veeeery slow), and it'll follow him around like a puppy; that's how much the bentley loves aziraphale.

crowley has to scold and demand and threaten aziraphale to get him to change the bentley back. and aziraphale is forced to comply, not because crowley asked, but because his own books were on the line. mercifully, he doesn't try to change the bentley's appearance again, though he still asks it to play him music that isn't beepop.

in retrospective it's glaringly obvious what this is about, which is: aziraphale thinking that crowley should be an angel. more specifically, that since crowley is good, and knows right from wrong better than aziraphale, it must mean that deep down crowley is still an angel. aziraphale just needs to bring it out, to make it happen.

but thing is, i don't think aziraphale realizes that crowley (and the bentley) being good to him in particular doesn't mean they want to be Good in the way aziraphale thinks heaven should be. because there's nothing good about heaven, something that s2 pointed out in more than one occasion.

aziraphale still can't let go of heaven, or distance himself from angelhood the way crowley has let go of hell (and heaven) and demonhood. he was forced to give it up when confronted with the end of the world, but it wasn't by choice. so a part of him still wants to go back; so, when given the chance to do so, he accepts.

this is all part of his character's journey. no matter how many times crowley tells him heaven is toxic, or how many times aziraphale experiences it for himself, he needs to realize it and let go of heaven by choice.

but as for now, he is still trying to pull crowley to his side, back to heaven, because, from his point of view, that's how it should be, because crowley is good! crowley know when to do the right thing! crowley asks questions! so if aziraphale is going to be supreme archangel, he wants to restore crowley to his rightful place, which is high up in heaven, doing good things, inventing things, bringing galaxies to life.

aziraphale's love (presently) is about relying in and allowing crowley to do things for him, about letting him into his safe space, (to a certain limit), doing things with and spending time with crowley, and trying to do what he thinks it's best for crowley. he still can't admit to other people or crowley or himself that they are together even when he says things like "our car", "it's my shop but we both get plenty of use out of it", but that's because he feels shame, and because he still hasn't let go of heaven's ideals and expectations.

which brings us to-

Heaven and God as a metaphor of Home and Family

in a way, what's happened at the end of s2 is that metatron (mom's assistant...?) came back to say "hey so since your big brother (gabriel) has run off with the enemy, we want you to come back to take care of the family business(running things in heaven)." previously crowley had been kicked out for asking questions, has been resentful about the whole thing for millennia, but when asked if he'd want to go back, he is not tempted at all. there's not lost love between him and his the other angels. the two times he sneaked back home(heaven), it didn't look like he was attached, even he was still somewhat familiar with it.

now as for his relationship with mom (God) that's an entire different matter. because he was still cast out for being who he is, for questioning authority, and that's a trauma he still carries with him.

but if crowley was the one that got kicked out, aziraphale is the one that stayed and tried to be as was expected of him. he tried to fit in with his family, even if secretly he was doing things they would frown upon. he'd try not to question authority, he'd be in denial about heaven's cruelty even when it smacks him in the face, because he doesn't want to be kicked out. and when he does get kicked out, somewhat, it's because he had to make a hard choice. but same as crowley, it's not like he wanted to, and he's still an angel, despite his own humanity and all his earthly attachments.

so when given the opportunity to go back home, to take the reins and do things as he thinks they should be done, and consequently be in a good relationship with his family and mom, he says yes. because he thinks that's what he should do, he thinks that's what he wants. mom asked her assistant to tell him that he could come back to run the family business! how could aziraphale say no?

he'll realize he doesn't need heaven, eventually. and he'll make his choice, and once he realizes that Heaven=/=Good, that Love=/=Heaven, he'll be ready to accept crowley as he is, without ever trying to change anything about him. and he'll let crowley in fully.

and they'll finally live together.

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : zoro being annoyed at his captain and [name] (16)

one piece x male reader

maybe you're the same as me 

we see things they'll never see 

you and i,

we're gonna live forever 

『 prev 』

that night, no one really pressed [name] for answers of what ace and him talked about. they left him alone, except for luffy who had zero social cues. but it seemed like [name] didn’t mind his company.

he was grinning ear to ear as he talked with luffy about whatever luffy wanted to talk about. the crew was worried for [name] to an extent, but it was good to see their captain take some of that stress off of his shoulders. and just by being himself. luffy was attentive to [name], clinging onto him and pouting for attention every now and then. and since [name] was feeling rather sentimental, he gave every ounce of attention he could to luffy. 

[name] and luffy talked the whole rest of the night, falling asleep in each others’ arms. a whispered i love you was barely heard as it was carried away by the wind, but the tightening of luffy's arms around [name] let the man know he did hear it. to some extent, the setting reminded him of their treehouse. just using each other for body heat when the nights were cold. it made [name] only more grateful that he did end up finding luffy when he did.

but, despite how peaceful their night together was, the next day, [name] was filled with nothing but unbridled rage towards his captain. once more.

“you’re fucking with me,” [name] rasped, looking at their surroundings.

a couple hours prior — “alright, zoro, [name], it’s up to you then,” nami called out to the duo, making them immediately refuse the idea. seeing their reluctance, nami pulled her trump card, “do you want me to talk about your debt?”

luffy had gone and drank water from a suspicious cactus. it caused him to start hallucinating and essentially going feral. and no one else wanted to deal with him, zoro and [name] included. but when nami commanded them to, using their debt as a means of pushing them to act, they cursed under their breath. 

unfortunately, it worked and it got them stepping to work immediately.

“if you don’t end up in hell, i’ll kick you down there myself!”

“cursed navigator.”

“don’t talk so badly about me!” nami said in a sing song voice, “and zoro — i look forward to it!” she continued in the same tone, making zoro and [name] even more annoyed.

“b-but, nami, what if something bad happens?! we need [name] here to fight them!!”

“i’m stronger than both of those idiots combined, don’t panic, usopp,” sanji said in a relaxed tone, stuffing his hands into his robes pockets, “let’s just go on ahead, though, they’ll follow after us.

now, chopper was their only hope in getting luffy back to normal. but, of course, out of nowhere luffy began attacking zoro. [name] cursed in annoyance, allowing the first-mate to take care of this business. in the meantime, [name] was going to unbury chopper’s small body from the sand.

the two got right into throwing punches at each other and after a couple minutes in, chopper woke up.

“ah, thanks [name] for getting me out of the hot sand,”

“no problem, just do the same for me if i ever run into that problem,” [name] grinned, making chopper nod in compliance.

“oh, what are they doing though?”

“fighting it out, i think it’s the only way to get luffy out of that stupid state,” [name] sighed, leaning into the sand and watching the fight with not a single emotion on his face, “how stupid is luffy and why does he have to be the captain,” he rasped out.

chopper took his seat, waiting for something pivotal to happen so he could intervene. and when the two fighting finally struck each other in the face - properly - he ran down with his medicine bag to help.

he put some potion underneath zoro’s nose to wake him up and then soon, luffy followed after.

“where are the others?” zoro coughed.

“don’t know, was busy making sure you two didn’t actually kill each other,” [name] said with a shrug, “doesn’t matter, let’s just follow the footprints, can’t be too hard,”

“right, right,” zoro agreed, getting up from the sand and looking around.

at the same time chopper came to the same conclusion.

“right…the footprints,”

another breeze blew past them, sending their own previous footprints to be erased completely.

now — “don’t leave me behind!!” luffy shouted and [name] sighed, crouching down and offering his back.

“get on, before i change my mind,” [name] said. luffy took the chance with no hesitation, sighing in content at no longer walking in the hot sand.

“say, is it always like this?” chopper asked zoro and [name], seeing as luffy was quickly in a sleepy state the moment [name] started carrying him. “always climbing snowy mountains, crossing deserts…”

“ain’t that the truth? but, no, we’re a little out of the ordinary right now, then there’s our captain,” zoro sighed.

“i think i’ve gotten on board a not-so good pirate ship,” chopper groaned, feeling the heat attacking him once more.

“what a coincidence, i was just thinking the same thing to myself,” [name] grunted, adjusting the grip on luffy so that he wasn’t slipping off of his back, “why am i playing babysitter for this grown man?”

“ah, did you often have to watch out for luffy when you were younger, [name]?”

“yeah, plus the fact he’s younger than me too, doesn’t make the situation much better when he starts abusing his privilege,” [name] sighed, “he always knew i’d go in and save him, but i really hoped he’d grow out of that habit. especially now that he’s a real pirate!”

“so, it’s kind of like, you two are the most veteran people that have known luffy, right?” chopper asked, making zoro and [name] share a look with one another. “since zoro you’re the first mate and [name] you’ve known luffy since he was a kid…”

“no, you’re right,” [name] confirmed, nodding his head.

“but there’s not that much of a difference between us - all of us," zoro added.

“why did you join, zoro?”

“why do you ask?” zoro immediately countered, feeling an ulterior motive to the question.

“to me, since i just joined, it seems like everyone’s a maverick. especially you, zoro.”

“that’s true,” zoro said, a hint of a smile on his face, “in my case, things pretty much just turned out this way. i told [name] this story already, but me and luffy meeting just happened…not really something i sought after.

“but for everyone on board the ship, we’re just trying to get by. we differ in our goals with luffy, we’re trying to do what we want to do. on the outside, we have no teamwork at all. especially given our captain!”

“but…in the end, teamwork doesn’t matter at all,” [name] proudly grinned, “it’s just a mutual understanding and respect of each other,”

zoro glanced at [name] from his side view and subtly nodded his head, “it’s more so, giving something your all and turning to your crewmates and saying, “i did it! you’re up next! if you can’t do it, i’ll kill you!””

chopper and [name] sweat dropped at the explanation, but it seemed to make sense…at least a little bit, for both of them.

“but being by luffy’s side, it’s exhilirating, isn’t it?” [name] said, smiling so wide that his eyes were crinkling at the end, “for as troublesome, stupid, and reckless as he is, he makes things more interesting. and i’d rather live a stressful, adventure filled life than a boring, stale one!”

the reindeer blinked at [name]’s words, as did zoro, as the only word to describe what [name] said being: genuine. you could see it in the way he regarded luffy, the way he smiled whenever the captain was brought up, and just the way his demeanor turned generally more relaxed.

zoro grinned, familiar with that feeling and nodding in agreement.

“being by his side all the time’s given me another goal to strive for,” zoro said lightly.

“another goal?”

“sorry, dunno how to explain it,”

“and [name]? what’s your goal in being in luffy’s crew?”

[name] perked up at the question, opening his mouth to answer, if it weren’t for luffy’s head knocking into his own.

out of nowhere, luffy had woken up from his sleep and squinted off into the distance, “i see shade!!!”

he stayed attached to [name]’s back, thanks to his legs hugging [name]’s hips, and shot his arms forward. zoro and chopper paled, realizing what was about to happen.

“gum-gum…rocket!!!”

the four of them crashed into the cave — well, technically three since chopper landed more on the outskirts of the cave and face down in the sand.

[name] groaned, rubbing his head and standing upright. unfortunately, the moment he stood up, he began to fall through the sand below his feet.

“you’re fucking with me, right?” he rasped out, feeling the ground beneath him beginning to disappear. “luffy, i’ll kill you!!”

he fell through and was met with stone cold ground beneath him after his fall. he landed on his ass, cursing at the pain, before standing up.

“luffy! zoro! chopper!!” he shouted out, listening to the way his voice echoed off of the walls, “bastards!!”

and just like that, someone else came crashing down into the ruins.

“oh, i really did summon them,” [name] said in glee, running over and kicking the fallen figure, “zoro, get off your ass, come on!”

“don’t kick me!!” zoro said, swinging his sword every which way to try and cut up [name]. “of course your dumbass would be down here,”

“yeah and your idiotic self followed after me,” [name] exaggeratedly batted his eyelashes at zoro, making the swordsman move away, “say, are you that interested in me like that you’d really follow me to the ends of the earth, zoro?”

“shut the fuck up! what the fuck conclusion was that?!”

“wah, it’s so cold down here,” came luffy’s childish voice and it was only a second before they realized that he had followed them down into the hidden room.

“idiot! what are you doing here?! if you’re down here, then there’s a good chance we might lose chopper!” zoro shouted in frustration, his face glowing red from anger at his captain.

“well, we’re alright though because i saw him falling down here as well,” luffy easily explained, pointing at the direction of sand now falling into the space from a different entrance point, “see, he’s right there!”

“that’s a relief he’s fine,” [name] said, walking over and helping the reindeer up. with a quick tug, [name] got him standing on his two feet.  

“now, where exactly are we?” zoro said, scratching his eyes to get them to adjust to the darkness faster, “is it a dome?”

“seems like it,” [name] said, walking around and grunting when he stubbed his toe against some rock, “cunt!!” he shouted in pain, holding onto his foot.

he looked up and immediately punched the first thing he saw to let off some of the steam. his fist was stopped immediately by the rock, zero cracking forming on the surface.

and now he was just hopping around on one foot while his hand was caressing his knuckles.

“fucker!!” he said, helplessly hopping around in pain.

“idiot,” chopper and zoro said in a monotone voice.

“well, whatever, doesn’t matter where we are, let’s just stay here for a little longer,” luffy said, taking in the cold atmosphere with open arms.

“hold on, i recognize these picture letters,” chopper said, walking over to the stone that [name] had just stubbed his toe on and punched, “this is an ancient language,”

“i fucking hate history then,” [name] said, still blowing onto his knuckles to ease the pain.

“you can’t seriously be in that much pain from one punch!” zoro accused in a shout.

“no, zoro, you don’t understand, i’m nothing but a sensitive man,” [name] said in an exaggerated innocent tone, holding on his hand as he willed fake tears to spring to his eyes, “a man like me shouldn’t be so roughly handled!”

“wow, he’s a good actor,” chopper said, impressed with the show [name] was putting on.

“cheesy motherfucker,” zoro groaned, looking at [name] pathetically weep about his “injured” hand. “weren’t you the one to do that to yourself anyway?”

“details, details, details,” [name] said, shrugging, “won’t you kiss my pain away, zoro?”

“fuck off, for fucks’ sake!! get serious!!” zoro said, punching [name] down on the head, and then internally wondering what was he did in the past life to deserve a punishment as terrible as this.

“luffy, come on, get us out of here, the others are waiting for us, probably,” chopper said, deciding to be the one to collect their captain.

“what?! no, i don’t wanna leave, we just got here, i don’t wanna leave!” luffy whined, rolling back and forth on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.

after zoro and [name] physically knocked some sense into luffy, he was then determined to get them out of the weird dome. he missed the opening of the hole zoro had fallen from, though, and instead sent a portion of the ceiling crashing down on himself.

“what the hell was that…” [name] said as he gazed at his hopeless captain.

“i missed because it was too small, it’s alright, this time i’ll get it,” luffy said in determination. and he did seem to get it for a second, but then the ceiling came crashing down once more and burying him in rubble.

“what [name] said - what the hell was that?!” zoro shouted in annoyance, “just grab onto the boulder above the cave and shoot us up from there!!”

it seemed luffy refused to listen to reason, though, instead destroying the hole even larger. the ceiling came crashing down tenfold and [name] shielded his head in preparation for something to crush them all to their deaths.

surprisingly, nothing had immediately injured them. and luffy was left walking over to some pillar and wrapping his stretchy arm around it, at least two dozen times.

“chopper turn little,” luffy commanded, “and everyone grab on!!”

[name] sighed, walking over and taking his place as luffy’s backpack. zoro’s arm came around his back, to support him and made sure he wouldn’t fall, whilst also grabbing onto luffy’s robe. [name] had a tight grip around luffy’s neck and on chopper’s clothes too.

and then they were spinning around the pillar, over and over and over again until they were shot up into the air. it felt as if they were flying. with how fast they were soaring through the sky and the wind beating against their faces, it definitely felt like they were flying.

but unlike most things that could fly, they had no way of landing. chopper cried out for what they were going to do, but luffy just shouted how he had no idea either.

[name] winced, holding onto luffy and chopper tight as they braced for impact. he felt zoro’s arm flex behind him to make sure he was really secure. and then they all bounced against the sandy ground a couple of times.

[name] spat out sand from his mouth, kicking himself up out of the sand and tried very hard to not murder luffy in cold blood. he walked over to chopper, easily pulling his smaller form out from the sand with one hand and placing him on his head.

then he made his way over to zoro and tugged him onto his feet, earning a grunt of thanks from the swordsman. chopper still seemed out of it so he made sure to keep him steady on his head to make sure he wouldn’t fall.

“i think i really did get on the wrong ship,” chopper rasped, still catching his breath.

“we’re on the same wavelength today because i was thinking the exact same thing,” zoro echoed, breathing heavily as he shook sand out from his hair.

“i think i might really kill him this time around,” [name] said under his breath, trying to quell his anger and not let it get the best of him.

“hey!!! guys, what are you doing all the way back there!!! we need to catch up with vivi,” luffy shouted, jumping up and down and waving his arms for them to hurry up.

“idiot,” [name] murmured softly, taking ahold of zoro’s wrist and leading them to luffy. “let’s just go, so he can shut up,”

the four walked together for a long time before chopper finally caught a whiff of nami’s perfume.

“it’s the way of the sunset, come on, luffy!” [name] said, unknowingly sending his captain into an excited running frenzy.

“hey!! guys, we’re coming!!” luffy cheered as if the rest of the crew could hear him.

they came up over a tall sand hill and on the other side of it, nami, sanji, usopp, and vivi were walking in a straight line. luffy was jumping up and down in excitement of finding the rest of the crew while chopper, zoro, and [name] were breathing heavily in exhaustion.

now that the crew was all back together, they were able to continue on their trek to yuba without worries. [name] adjusted the headpiece around him to cover his mouth and nose seeing as the wind was starting to pick the sand up even more.

on his back, usopp was resting and sleep talking about defeating crocodile. [name] smiled at the murmurs and kept his head up to see ahead.

“did we make it to yuba? i can’t really see with all this sand,” luffy said, making everyone squint at the small glimmer of light that in front of them.

“the city doesn’t look right…” vivi said, blinking a couple of times before stiffening and jumping off of lashes the camel. “it’s a sandstorm!! yuba is being hit by a sandstorm!”

just as they were about to arrive, a terrible sandstorm had to hit their destination. with a new urgency, the crew began rushing forward to see the affects of the sandstorm.

[name] cursed under his breath, adjusting his hold on usopp when he was finished running, and looked at the city. it was almost completely buried in sand, it looked just like the city they had come across at first.

“wasn’t this supposed to be an oasis city, vivi-chan?” sanji asked, making [name] step forward and look at the terrain.

he squinted very hard, focussing in on any sign of an oasis being present. vivi spoke with a strained voice. “the sand has raised the ground, meaning the oasis has been swallowed up,”

“there’s…very little of it left,” [name] said under his breath. “it could be saved…but it’d be hard,”

just as he said that, there was a sound of someone digging with a metal shovel. the crew looked over a couple of feet and saw an old man, trying his best too dig a trench, it looked like.

“you travelers must have had a hard journey in the desert. although our oasis has completely dried out, we still have some of the best inns ever! they’re the pride of our town, you see,” he croaked, looking completely exhausted in digging as he spoke. [name] furrowed his eyebrows in concern for the old man.

“we’re here to see the rebel army, are they not located in this town?” [name] asked, although seeing from how desolate the town was, the answer was a given.

what they didn’t expect was for the old man to go on a miniature rampage on them. he began throwing things at him, which [name] slapped away if they got too close to him or vivi.

“those rebel scum!! they abandoned this town long ago,” he informed them after his throwing was finished. vivi looked shocked at the news and a sense of dread was filling the crew’s minds, “they relocated to katorea,”

“huh? katorea? vivi, is that close by?” luffy asked innocently, making [name] smack him on the head. when his captain turned to him in annoyance, [name] only put his finger to his lips and pointed at vivi, his eyes screaming, “you just exposed the princess, dumbass!”

but vivi didn’t even seem to notice the slip up, only answering, “katorea, is a town that was near nanohana…”

“you’re fucking with me, right?” [name] asked, blinking as he processed the information. if they were in nanohana when they first set anchor down in alabsta, that means the rebel army was only a town away from the beginning.

“nanohana? then we wasted our time coming all the way out here,” zoro said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“oh! i met lashes in katorea,” chopper said in surprise. lashes began to “speak” and chopper translated it. the camel offhandedly said, “i was transporting goods for the rebel army and they were stationed in katorea,”

[name] threateningly began to unsheathe his sword, “you asshole, you didn’t say anything and we were wasting time this entire journey?! i’ll cut you up!! sanji, are you ready to cook camel meat?!”

“more than ready! i’m itching to kill this bastard too!!” sanji shouted, kicking into the camel’s side.

“why didn’t you say anything earlier!?” luffy screamed in frustration.

“whatever,” chopper said, translating for the rest of the crew what exactly the camel said, which only sent them into a bigger fury.

“wait, did you say, vivi? are you princess vivi?” the old man spoke up, walking up the sand trench he was building and reaching for the princess. [name] stepped forward, in between the old man and vivi, not about to take chances with the guy’s intentions.

“slow down there, gramps,” he sad in a warning tone, “so what if she is?”

the sword that was resting on [name]’s hips was very slightly shining in the moonlight, making the old man gulp to ease his nerves.

”vivi-sama, do you remember me?” he asked quickly, seeing how eager [name] was to spill some blood, “i don’t blame you if you don’t, after all, i lost a lot of weight,”

[name] looked at the man, not taking his eyes off of him. suddenly, from behind his protective position, vivi shot out and brought the old man into her arms, “toto-ojisan?!”

“you do remember!”

“huh? who’s that?” luffy and [name] asked in unison.

“long story,” nami said simply, a haze in her eyes as she realized who the man was. her and vivi were exchanging stories while they were riding on the back of lashes and the man in front of them was a pretty pivotal person in vivi's stories.

“vivi-sama, please stop those fools!!” the old man screamed, tears rushing out of his eyes. [name] averted his eyes, feeling ever so slightly bad for intimidating him earlier.

“toto-ojisan, don’t worry. we will stop the rebellion,” vivi assured him, handing him her handkerchief to dry his tears.

the crew decided to take shelter at yuba for the rest of the night. [name] was thankful because it meant they could be shielded from the cold air outside. and just as he was about to get comfortable, he noticed that their captain was missing again.

“huh? [name]? you’re not going to bed?” vivi asked, already comfortable under her blankets near nami.

”i will, i’m just gonna check in with luffy,” [name] said, waving his hand, “he might be caused the old man out there some unneccesary trouble,”

“beat him up if he is,” nami called out over her shoulder casually.

“yes, yes,” [name] said softly, waving his hand. when he made it to the outside trench, he saw the old man throwing sand over his shoulder and working tireslessly.

“aren’t your bones aching, gramps?” [name] asked, announcing his presence to the man.

“not at all, this is normal work for me!” toto said stubbornly.

“where’d the idiot go?”

“oh…he was digging right behind me…”

[name] jumped down into the sand pit and hummed in thought when he saw luffy was sleeping in the hole he had dug. he murmured the word “idiot” under his breath before wordlessly lifting him up out of the hole.

toto watched in confusion as a simple wave of [name]’s hand had the boy’s body lifting off of the ground. in a couple of seconds, luffy was then resting on the sand next to [name]’s feet.

“how did you do that?” toto asked cautiously, looking at the stoic look on [name]’s face.

“i have magical powers,” [name] said childishly, wiggling his fingers around as if he were to cast a spell.

“not funny, young man,” toto said, unimpressed with the behavior coming from [name].

“hm, i’ll get him inside and then i’ll come out and help you look for water,” [name] said, picking luffy up with ease and holding him bridal style, “i think if you moved a little bit more to the left, though, you’ll be able to hit water sooner than you think,”

and with that being his last bit of advice to the old man, he walked back into the inn where everyone else was sleeping. dropping luffy onto a straw bed and covering him with a blanket was easy. he gently took of luffy’s hat, to not ruin it, and placed it close by for him to find in the morning.

when he came back out of the inn, he saw the old man did take his advice and was digging from the surface again.

“you don’t have to help me,” toto said, about to refuse the help, but [name] shook his head. the pirate held his hand out to the old man, urging toto to hand him the shovel.

“let me dig, i can do it better than you anyway,” he joked, enjoying the pissed off look on toto’s face. wordlessly, the old man handed him the shovel and took a seat on the side.

quickly, [name] got to work in finding water. it was deep, very, very, deep, but it was there. and he would hit it before the sun came up if he worked hard and with no breaks.

"has vivi always been so reckless?" [name] curiously asked, looking over his shoulder for a moment.

his company grinned at the question, "yes! she never cared about her status as princess as child and insisted to be friends with even the common folk. she would always get herself into trouble," there was a pause and then the man spoke again in a shaky tone, "but now that she's grown into a young woman - i can't help but worry for her and her safety!"

"well, there's no need to worry anymore ojisan!" [name] grinned, wiping away his sweat, "with the strawhats here vivi won't ever get hurt again. we're gonna help her save this country!"

the man looked at him with furrowed brows, "what makes you so confident? you travellers have just arrived in this country - we have been struggling for years."

"it's cause you guys didn't have us," [name] easily and cockily replied. this made the old man laugh to his heart's content - whether it be from amusement at his confidence or in mockery, [name] didn't know. nor did he need to. he'd keep his end of his promise and protect vivi as she saved this desert country.

toto wanted to stay up and keep [name] some sort of company, but eventually his eyes were beginning to droop in exhaustion. [name] laughed at the sleepy look on toto’s face.

with the motivation of making the man’s day when he woke up, [name] began working even harder.

sweat was dripping from every crevice of his body, his muscles were begging him to stop from how they ached, but he kept his main goal in mind. and when he finally hit some sort of watery sand, he felt himself almost begin to laugh.

he wiped his face, grimacing at the gritty feel of sand on his skin, and pushed his hair aside. his hair, which was usually tied in a neat, small ponytail, was completely unfurled and shadowing his face.

he sighed, continuing to dig to get deeper into the water supply. he pulled out a small cannister that was resting on his hip, collecting water for himself first, and then deciding to go back up for more cannisters to hold the water.

when he finally drained as much water as possible, he left the cannisters to rest near toto. he smiled as the man’s expressions were moving in time with whatever dreams he was having. [name] carried him inside the inn with ease before collapsing onto his own bed, which was near chopper.

he grabbed ahold of the reindeer and kept him close, holding him tight for some sense of warmth. chopper didn’t seem to mind, cuddling closer into [name]’s skin in his sleep.

and despite [name] only catching less than a handful hours of sleep, it was still pleasant.

-

[ .ᐟ ] DID U GUYS SEE THAT ZORO AND [name] MOMENT??? (zoro flexing his arm around [name] to make sure he was secure, so romantic right guys?!) WOOWWW I THINK THEYRE SO IN LOVE RIGHT NOW WOOWWWWW EVERYONE CHEER (its going to take so long for these two to even remotely progress im fucking DEAD) 

-

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next 』

-

taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 :

@skullr0se , @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool, @haratatsu, @sinmp, @3v37773, @taru-nami, @disc0dild0s

[mystar-girl57]

𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐔𝐌

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 || 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

Summary: widowed!jake sully x fem!reader

Warnings: injury, argument between reader and Jake, guns, violence

Notes: welcome babes to chapter 2!! Buckle up for some drama drama drama oh and quaritch. I think so far what I’ve figured out this story to be is reader accepting that they are the kids mother and Jake accepting it too because neither have accepted that Neytiri is gone. Idk- Im loving reader so far and I hope you guys love her too as this story devolopes. I will say the reason why there isn’t much “don’t” and “isn’t” and instead there is do not and since the reader doesn’t know English they wouldn’t know how to shorten words and say each word induvally

You opened your eyes to a different ceiling now, your body laying in a different hammock. It did not matter that after three years of being “mated” to JakeSuli you were still not used to waking up in the Sullys’ tent. You felt like an intruder in the home, like you were not supposed to be there. It was not supposed to be you helping Tuk with her bathes, or teach Kiri the proper ways to grind up the herbs to use for medicine. It was supposed to be Neytiri, there to comfort Lo’ak after getting another scolding from his father, there to tell Neteyam it was time to take a break and go to sleep. But no matter how many times you prayed that Neytiri would come back and relieve you of your duty and give you back your freedom, you knew that each morning would be the same.

Opening your eyes to the unfamiliar ceiling, Jake’s back to you as he snored and Tuk nestled into your arms.

No. This was your life now, for better or for worse, there was no getting out of it.

Now, you have managed to find some sort of joy in the loveless marriage you found yourself in. The Sully kids. Each one of them had found a special place in your heart and you knew they were there to stay. It was not too hard for the children to adjust to you suddenly being their “mother”, you had already been around often when Neytiri was alive and even when she died you stayed. Tuk was over the moon when she learned that was getting you as her new mother, (which you of course corrected saying that Neytiri would always be her mom, you were just here to help in her absence.) Kiri and Lo’ak were like Tuk with being happy to have a mother figure around the tent now, they did not express it like their baby sister did but you felt the love just the same. As for Neteyam it was a bit more difficult for him to warm up to you, still grieving the loss of his mother. He was like his father thinking that you were there to replace her! But as time went by the young warrior came to realize that was never your intention and he came to accept you.

You never made the kids call you mother or any parental title if they did not want to. You promised that just your name was fine. Like them, you were adjusting too. You had gone from the life of living alone having to only care for yourself to suddenly having a whole family to look after.

Jake though had never come around. He gave you as much respect as any other clan member but that was the extent. No names of affection were swapped between the two of you, no glances stolen. In fact, you had not even properly mated.

After you left Mo’at’s tent those years ago processing what you had agreed to, Jake made it very clear that he did not want to form tsaheylu let alone touch you. And you agreed. You did not wish to connect your queues and feel the loathing he had for you. If he did not truly want you, you would not let him touch your body, you had too much dignity for that, wanting to save your body for someone who truly loved you.

When you moved into the Sully Tent your plan had been for the two of you to sleep in separate hammocks but that instantly sparked questions among the kids, especially Tuk who wanted to cuddle with both you and Jake when she had a nightmare. So the one compromise you made was sharing a sleeping space with him but that did not change your relationship. Once the kids were asleep you would turn your backs to each other and sleep separately, not even your tails daring to brush.

But despite the fact there was no love between you and the Olo'eyktan you had learned to be good actors, appearing together in front of the clan with wide grins, sitting at feasts together, talking to clan members together, trying to pull off the persona that you were a happy mated pair. Never once though did the two of you dance together, even during the songs reserved for more intimate dances.

You had everyone fooled. Even Ewya you liked to think. No more rotting fruits and ashen dreams plagued your days and nights. Maybe you were free from her wrath! Or so you thought.

“They’re here! The War Party is back!” Tuk bounced through camp, watching with glee as her father and brothers returned to High Camp followed by the rest of the people who had gone on raid. As soon as Jake and his son’s landed and Tuk drew near she could sense something was wrong by the way that her big brothers’ heads were down and their tails were between their legs.

When Jake motioned for Neteyam to go so he could get patched up Tuk made her way to her brother. “Did something happen?” She asked, taking his wrist and moving his arm, inspecting him over. Out of all the cuts and bruises he had, the worse was the one on his back. “Lo’ak happened.” Neteyam huffed with a shake of his head, his beads clacking together. The youngest Sully frowned, she hated seeing Lo’ak get in trouble and she knew how you hated it too. “Let’s get you to Mama,” she urged with a tug of his wrist, “she’ll get you healed.”

When they arrived at the tent you were working busily to apply a healing paste to a warrior's shoulder which had a significantly deep cut. The warrior winced as you touched it. “Here Mom,” Kiri came and crouched beside you, “I know grandma says dapophet is the best but try this instead.” She handed you an amber colored ointment. “It’ll numb the pain, and be easier for the wound to heal.” You muttered a thank you, swapping out the dapophet for the concoction Kiri made and began applying it to the warrior's shoulder. Instantly his body relaxed and you were able to get him mended.

Watching him go, your eyes caught sight of Neteyam and you let out a small gasp at the state he was in. Rising to your feet you came over to where he stood in the corner and cupped his face gently. You tilted his head so you could see the cuts littering his jaw before turning around to see his back. “Your father said you and Lo’ak were going to be scouts.” You turned your son around, grasping his shoulders. “How did you get this hurt if you were just watching the battle?” Your voice was stern but Neteyam could easily depict the worry in your tone. “It was my fault,” he began and you instantly closed your eyes, your ears going down. “Lo’ak.” You finished with a sigh. Neteyam went to rebuke your words and take the blame but he could tell that you would rather not know what trouble the youngest sully boy had gotten into this time. “We’re both safe,” he whispered trying to soothe you in some way. “I got the worst of it, Lo’ak is fine.”

You nodded, pulling away from him, rubbing your temples as the tend flap fluttered and in walked Lo’ak trailed by Spider. “Man, that is awesome!” Spider’s eyes sparkled as they walked into the tent in the middle of the conversation. “I know! The gun was so huge-” Lo’ak started but when you cleared your throat he instantly froze and turned his head slightly to see you standing there in front of his brother. Your gaze instantly made him pipe down, not from fear, but from shame. He knew how you tried to defend him to his father whenever he would get in trouble.

You had told him one night after things got especially ugly that he reminded you a lot of yourself. The both of you had your own hopes and ambitions that you wanted to carry out but there was always some sort of power that was stopping you from reaching that goal, pushing you back to the starting line.

Lo’ak knew that you could not keep fighting for him and he had promised you the last time you came to his aid that it would be his last, that he would do better. And he could see in your eyes the pain you felt.

“Spider Tuk, I need you to both help Jake unload the weapons, Kiri tend to Neteyam and Lo’ak come sit.” You directed. Without any question the little na’vi and human boy scampered out of the tent and Kiri went to Neteyam. While no one said anything they could sense something was wrong. The eye bags under your eyes were growing noticeably and you sounded tired. So tired. The three sully siblings swapped worried glances but stayed quiet in the end.

By the time you had everyone doctored and the tent cleaned up, you left to go to your own tent. Making your way up the rocky slope your tail swayed tiredly behind you, your ears drooping slightly, you knew that you were not mentally ready for the conversation you were going to have with Jake but at this point they were inevitable.

When your tent came into view you could see him squatted down by his army green boxes with his gun in hand and cleaning supplies laid out. Hearing your footsteps crunching behind him Jake’s ears perked up and he looked over his shoulder. His body visibly relaxed when he realized that it was only you and not some intruder and without a word he went back to cleaning his weapon.

You made it to the tent entrance and stopped. That tired part of you that just wanted the day to end, told you to go inside and nibble on the dinner that Kiri had prepared and then climb into your hammock to drift off into a dreamless sleep. But that other part of you, the more resilient part told you to confront Jake. The latter won.

“What happened to Neteyam and Lo’ak just being scouts?” You asked. Your back still turned to him. You could hear the sharp sigh come from Jake as he paused cleaning out the gunpowder residue from the barrel before going right back to it.

“They were supposed to be scouts.” He responded gruffly and you shifted so you could see him. “But that knucklehead is just determined to be in the fight.” You watched Jake’s movement as he fed the bristled rod into the barrel, his movements quick and aggressive.

“He has a name.” You retorted and the Marine side eyed you while you continued. “Lo’ak just wants to prove himself to you Jake. He keeps on trying to be that perfect little soldier that you are molding him to be!” You knew your words were harsh as you came to stand in front of Jake. “But when you do not notice his efforts, that is when he takes drastic action to get you to notice him! He doesn't care if it is positive or negative! He has already lost a mother, do not make him lose a father.”

It was that there, that did the man in. Jake slammed the gun down causing the rest of the items on the boxes to tip and fall to the ground as he rose to his full height towering you. His ears were back as he pointed an accusatory finger at you. “You do not get to say that.” He growled, his voice dangerously low. “I only let the boys be scouts to deter them from fighting! I do not want them to have anything to do with this war but you know as well as I that if I tell Lo’ak, Neteyam even to stay here while I go out they are just going to follow.” Your faces were close now, your eyes narrowed as your tail lashed dangerously. “Watch yourself before you go spouting off shit that you don’t know.”

You held each other’s gazes for a few more moments before Jake turned away to gather the things that had fallen to the ground signaling that your conversation was done. You shot him one final glare wanting to have the final word but deciding that it was not worth it you shook your head with a tired sigh and made your way into the tent as a loud clap of thunder rang out in the sky and the rain came crashing down.

The next morning everything was wet from the torrential downpour that lasted throughout the night. Normally you welcomed the rain having always enjoyed storms but this one made you uneasy as you shielded Tuk from the thunder in your hammock that night.

The kids had left early that morning with Spider and Jake was gone before any of you were up leaving you and Neteyam to yourselves. Having no chores to do around camp and no one in need right away you looked to the fifteen year old who sat on the makeshift steps outside your tent. “Let’s go for a fly.” You called to him, your visor perched on your forehead and your mic choker on. Neteyam instantly perked up at this as he looked back at you and it was not long that you found yourself soaring through the skies.

You took a deep breath as you leaned back on your Ikran, Eylan. The name did not mean anything bold such as skull crusher or fire bolt as some Na’vi liked to name their Ikrans, yours was simply named Eylan: friend. Because in the moment you got her to be your companion you wanted her more for a friend than just a pair of wings to carry you.

Looking back you did find the idea to be silly but Eylan stuck for the graceful Ikran. Eylan was smaller than some Ikran but what she lacked in size she made up for in speed and stealth which when you used to go hunting you found to be beneficial.

You looked back at Neteyam who was turning his head to take in his surroundings, the quietness of the sky was calming for the both of you. It was just what you needed. But as you began to signal to Neteyam that it was time to head back after you had been flying for quite some time Lo’ak’s voice rang out in your ears.

You listened closely as he talked to his father reporting how there were maybe six or so na’vi looking people near the old shack but they were dressed in sky people clothes. Neteyam instantly caught on that something was wrong as the two of you circled around in the air. “Lo’ak who all is with you.” You commed in, your fingers pressing the buttons to turn on the mic.

There was a pause and Lo’aks voice came back. “Just Spider and I.” He lied and you instantly caught on. “Where are Kiri and Tuk?” You asked only to be given silence for a few more seconds. “With me ma’am.” Lo’ak responded and you refrained from hissing. Sometimes you yourself wanted to pop him on the back of the head. “Okay son, get out of there now, do not engage.” Jake’s voice cut in. “We’re on our way.”

You took your finger off the button on your choker and looked at Neteyam. “They are at the old shack.” You called and he nodded. “I know a shortcut!” He responded before sending his Ikran into a dive, you and Eylan in his wake.

By the time you arrived it was past eclipse and dark clouds blocked out any light that the stars provided. The rain started to fall as you and Neteyam landed. You were partially surprised to find Bob already resting there, Jake peeking around a tree. He turned around hearing the two of you land. In an instant you disconnected your braid from Eylan and dismounted, flicking your visor up. Reaching into your pouch connected to your saddle you went to pull out your barbed tipped whip but Jake shook his head.

“Too many trees,” he whispered, “Bring the axe, more subtle.”

“What do we do if we are pursued? Neither of us have a bow on us.” You whispered back, setting the whip back in its pouch and pulling your axe from its sleeve.

“We’ll see when the time comes.” Jake responded before looking at Neteyam. “Stay with the Ikrans, we’ll be back soon.” At his father’s words Neteyam wanted to ask to come but you gave him a gentle look that read “stay” and the boy sighed but backed down, staying back and watching the two of you disappear into the jungle.

With each step that you took, leading you deeper into the woods the worse that the rain got, thunder rumbling overhead blocking their scent. All you could smell was wet wood and mud as you skillfully made your way through without slipping.

When the shack came into view, you could see the kids standing stiffly, each of them in front of a soldier as their queues were held harshly in their grasps. You could hear Tuk’s sniffles and Kiri’s quiet prayers to Ewya. You and Jake swapped glances before nodding and splitting up, circling around the group. The two of you never got along, nor understood each other but when it came to the kids that was something you were willing to set aside your bitterness to protect them.

Keeping low you krept up on an avatar, his back turned to you. You jumped up, covered his mouth and buried the sharp side of your axe into his neck, holding him by the neck until you were sure he was dead, his head lolling to the side. You eyed his gun for a moment. You had seen Jake use his before, maybe you could use it? But you shook your head at the thought. Never did you want to use what the sky people made, especially one of their weapons.

Making your way over to another soldier you reached up to grab her but this one happened to turn around seeing you. And that was when the chaos broke loose. The avatar woman fired her gun and you managed to drop down to your belly in the mud just in time avoiding getting hit. At the sound of the gun fire the men got out their own weapons and started firing blind.

Had the kids not been in such danger you would have laughed at how uncoordinated they were, neither you or Jake having a single bullet come near you as you went to rescue the kids. Jerking the queue of the avatar that held Kiri they let out a grunt of pain and instinctively let the girl go. The avatar in turn though reached back and grabbed your queue long with a fist full of your hair causing you to yelp and snarl as he forced your head back. “Not so brave now are you mama?” He sneered. You tried to snap at him but it was a pathetic attempt at being fierce.

“Let her go!” A voice shouted and there came Lo’ak tackling the avatar causing him to let go of you. Once you were free you grabbed Lo’ak pulling him off the military man before the teen could do any real damage. “Go!” You hissed, “make sure that they get out!” Lo’ak hesitate and you snarled, causing the boy to run.

But you were not able to watch him for long when your attention was drawn away hearing Kiri’s screams coming from a different direction of where Lo’ak left. You found yourself running down the trail, dodging roots and using some branching to swing to get you up higher where you heard Kiri. When you finally got to her it looked like she was trying to get to someone who was down below but with the gunfire getting closer you knew there was not much time before you were under fire again.

“Kiri we have to go.” You said sternly taking her by the hand trying to pull along but Kiri pulled back. “No! I will not leave Spider!” Her voice cracked with a fearful sob and you then understood that it was Spider who had fallen. You were torn. Spider was technically safe seeing as he was human while you and Kiri were in danger, but Spider was also like family. You were not given much more time to think as another gunshot rant out, this one too close to you both.

“Kiri sweety I am sorry but we have to go.” You urged getting behind her and shoving her down the path forcing her to run. As you ran away from the spot you were just at you heard it be overcome with avatar and Kiri let out a sob knowing that was where Spider was laying helpless.

“I am sorry baby,” you whispered looking up at the sky as you both ran asking Ewya why she was showing her cruelty once more.

It was a quiet ride back home, Kiri’s arms around your waist while Tuk rode with her father and Lo’ak was with Neteyam. You felt that fear that you had three years ago when being forced to mate with Jake. That fear that backed you into a corner and suffocated you. You knew this was Ewya, you knew she was mad and that scared you.

Your home was no longer safe. No longer was it a sanctuary where you could let your guard down and live in peace. No. Ewya’s wrath had almost taken Jake’s children from him. You knew what needed to be done as you looked around at the glowing forest below, blurred out by the rain crashing down on you all.

When you landed back in high camp everyone still remained silent. Tired and wet was what you all were feeling, mixed in with your exshuastion. You let the kids go in first before turning to Jake.

He stood there, looking down at the dirt with his hands on his hips as he contemplated what to do. When he looked up at you, you nodded in agreement. Jake did not need to say anything to you, you knew.

You needed to leave.

© 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫-𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝟓𝟕 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬

🏷: @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi @newjeansbonnie @cleverzonkwombatsludge @atxara

[anonzentimes]

Except it's not actually a hierarchy he's created in his head. The thing that so many fans fail to get is that what is truly terrifying about Nagito Komaeda is the fact that there are lots of Nagito Komaedas out there in the world of Danganronpa. People who's sense of self-worth has been royally fucked by the culture that Hope's Peak (and later the Future Foundation) helped foster. Nagito is simply the one who says the quiet stuff out loud. Like something that's really telling in hindsight is before Episode 4, Hajime never actually calls Nagito out on his talk of talentless people being worthless. Because as the climax of the game makes clear, Hajime is one of those many other Nagito Komaedas out there.

Honestly, great point anon thank you! While he undoubtedly does have a hierarchy in his head I actually did forget to mention in my ramble that this specific trait is mostly a learned thing from the world that they live in (never let me cook at 3am again smh). It's commonly accepted and believed in, Hajime is the biggest example that we see. The "objective" fact everyone accepts that the talented are better than the talentless. Hajime only cares when he learns he's "worthless," and it takes a toll on his personal self esteem.

Nagito believes his talent is worthless because it harms everyone around him and only benefits himself, and when there's no one to harm it goes after him, so he considers himself on the same level as someone who isn't an ultimate. Just combining this with his unhealthy coping mechanism and obsession with Hope and we get some of the most important traits of his character. His self esteem may come from growing up with terrible experiences and blaming himself, or that he's on the same level as someone who isn't an ultimate.

I do think that it's upsetting they play into how he thinks he's worthless by never caring to give him reciprocation or just not at all being bothered by his absence when he's suspended it just really sucks.

The closet thing he gets to reciprocation is Chisa which her caring about him shocks him, and Chiaki a little bit because she's trying to help the whole class and he's included. In Dr2 he is drawn to Hajime and he attempts to get his attention and approval pretty often, they enjoy each other's company at least before things get crazy and Hajime shows reciprocation. Nagito's more of an actual threat in Dr2 and I can understand more their fear and negligence, I still think tying him up and not letting him go anywhere is a horrible thing to do to anyone. I understand it more but It still feels upsetting.

I'm happy for Nagito that Hajime is in his life though, he seems to genuinely love him/care for him quite a lot. Hajime seems to care for him too, even when he's afraid and upset. It's not to the same degree as Nagito, mostly because of Nagito's threatening presence once he loses his filter, but Hajime does care for him and has enjoyed time with him. Their relationship can and has been healed after the killing game and he can actually have one of the healthier, if not healthiest, relationships in his life with Hajime.

(Also I say love because saying like doesn't feel right it doesn't express enough emotion and relationship as general relationship I don't care what you ship lmao)

I really do enjoy seeing fan works and such where his classmates, even if not the to the extent of Hajime's reciprocation, they genuinely care for him and treat him a lot better.

Anyways!! Just wanted to say with this reply some extra stuff I didn't before, some restatements, and the fact yup you're completely right!! Sorry I forgot to mention it in my original ramble post thanks so much anon! :)

[dykedvonte]

what do you think Danse does to keep himself busy after blind betrayal, specifically if he's living in sanctuary? I just love your takes on him a lot haha

I think Danse is very lost in any settlement but especially Sanctuary. It was the first and very close-knit at that with the small group the Sole Survivor founded it with. Each time they would invite a new companion to live there it was like adding a pillar to the community and represented what the Minute Men stood for when it came ot uniting and protecting the commonwealth as one. I am not going to say it's cliquey, in fact I feel like SoSu and Preston/Sturges would go out of their way to make newcomers feel welcome but for Danse that is very different.

He (from my playthrough experience) is one of the later companions. I ran around a lot and got a good portion of the companions and their quest before act one was done. He is also one of the few companions who openly thinks lowly of life in the commonwealth and certain citizens (if not all citizens to an extent). He did not introduce himself to Sanctuary to make friends or roots. So when he gets stuck there under the SoSu's "orders" (not letting him rot in sorrow in some random bunker) he doesn't have any comfort or companionship, in fact, I think he has more tensions and beef tbh.

I imagine the first weeks or even a month or two were rough. I don't think it is stated enough that like Danse went to that bunker intending to follow Brotherhood protocols and kill himself. SoSu may have convinced him not to in the moment but with someone like Danse, so rigid and stuck in an ideology even after it spits in his face, it's not unlikely he has a weird guilt about being alive at first. It doesn't help that I know in my heart that a few of the more petty or insensitive companions or settlers would tease him about it (playful meanness) thinking he was adjusting well (or not caring) to the Sanctuary life and coming to terms with his identity. Sometimes they go too far and it's easy to tell he's gotten back into the headspace, looking at his reflection, trying to remember concrete dates for his memories, etc..

I have this head canon that SoSu recognized this pattern as they had to have immense survivor's guilt (especially after being in Kellogs brain) about surviving the vault. They had the same idea about making things "fair" for the other vault dwellers and Shaun was the only thing between them and those thoughts for a while. For the first weeks it was a lot of SoSu monitoring him and making sure he was adjusting and not falling back into that thinking, y'know the whole "I am a disgrace and abomination against the Brotherhood and humanity. The only thing I can do to no longer sully the honor of either is to kill mys-" Like stopping that with minor distractions.

It would be a lot of small work and building projects and patrols for lost scavengers or to make sure no one is stalking the place. It's nice for him for a while, he's getting social interaction and he's not dead in the eyes of at least one Brotherhood member, especially one of as high rank as the SoSu. But it's also really unhealthy. Danse was trained and raised in a militaristic pseudo-religious faction. As much as there seemed to be casualness towards comrades there was a strict structure and order. He shoves the SoSu into that role and probably gets nick-named as their shadow during this period.

They are his only goal as he has nothing else and it shows bad. The rest of the settlement notices he trails after them and only really does his own thing when it's part of a task he was doing for, with or assigned by the Sole survivor. It's not an obsession with them specifically but he has lost his entire understanding of life and this is the one thing that stayed concrete. He does what he's asked of because following the Sole survivor has at least kept him belonging somewhere and why mess that up?

I am sure SoSu is not oblivious and is actively trying to figure out how to get Danse to start socializing and trying to actually settle into the community but for the time being Danse would treat himself like the machine he perceives himself as; Overworking himself as he believes machines don't need the same amount of rest, isolating himself and mostly trying to not have a mental breakdown every time he get into the power armor that is very much not his issued Brotherhood of Steel tech. He openly does this in respect of the General who hates it and makes everyone else uncomfortable.

this was very long just to say I think Danse just works himself to the bone all day and purposely puts thoughts in his already fragile psyche that everyone hates him and only tolerates his presence to not seem Synth-phobic and the Sole survivor's favor.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

I think eventually Borros would have to step in and tell his son that he can’t just adopt random kids as it would fuck with the succession/bloodline and potential cause conflict within the house and it kind of devastates Himbo!Baratheon!Reader because he feels responsible for these kids although he knows his father is right so maybe he starts setting them up to have a better life in a similar manner Jon Arryn was doing for Robert’s bastards!

Like setting the boys up up for smithing apprenticeships or squires/pages because the minor lords or raising knights within the Stormland’s are jumping at the chance to earn House Baratheon’s favour or at least acknowledgment to build up their reputations. Having the girls be given jobs as handmaidens for the ruling ladies of minor houses or sending them to prestigious boarding houses all over the continent where they have the opportunity to work and live in a safe environment while he makes marriage arrangements with landed knights or merchant lords.

For a while Borros is still against this as he sees it as a waste of time but then there’s some sort of emergency and Himbo!Baratheon!Reader calls up someone and has it dealt with and Borros is like ??? before realizing that Himbo!Baratheon!Reader not only has spies in every corner of the Stormland’s with his little birds but he’s been fostering connections in other kingdoms as well as he’s regularly in contact with those he entrusted to take care of the kids.

He’s seen as more of a philanthropist for all of the “charity work” that he does but the dummy literally has an entire network of spies in the palm of his hand without even realizing it and he’s got a bunch of merchants, landed knights and minor lords kissing his ass.

I 100% don’t think Himbo!Baratheon!Reader would actually go about trying to legitimize any of his adopted bbys, he knows better to do that even though he so wishes he could. His main thing would be ensuring all of his kiddos are taken care of and happy, that’s what matters most to him and in him doing so he ends up with even more allies and people willing to do anything for him even if he doesn’t ask for it.

I love the thought of all the kids the Reader adopted or took in going out of their own ways to be spies and aid their father in whatever way they can simply because he’s been so unbelievably good to them of his own accord. Sure, he set them up with whatever lords, ladies, jobs, and whatever else to begin with but they went from there to make the most out of it if only to further their father’s reach and influence. Himbo!Baratheon!Reader is completely unaware of all of this but the pride and joy he shows for his kids in his letters and on the occasions when he visits them has his kids wanting to do nothing more than to continue in their endeavors, for him.

Also, given in this situation the dedication and commitment Himbo!Baratheon!Reader’s adopted kids have for him, imagine how they would be when they’re father actually gets married. Or even just the mere ongoings of a betrothal being put in place, no matter who it’s with. I can’t help but see all his kids being extremely overprotective and possessive of him to an extent. It’s one thing to share their father with each other and any new kids he adopts or takes in (and even that comes with it’s fair share of hostility, leading to plenty of fights), but it’s a whole nother thing having to give up their father to some stranger to take advantage of like that of a lover/spouse.

[plounce]

one thing about thancred and ryne is that i think they BOTH project onto the other to some extent. thancred's treatment of ryne is obviously very impacted by how he relates her to minfilia. but as evidenced by fatebreaker - "dread hope" - ryne's perception of thancred is also colored by her other father figure / protector. ryne had already grown up knowing about the other minfilias before her and being told she would never measure up and the best she could do was stay in her cell in the cavernous jail under eulmore. by the time thancred rescues her, she already fully believes she is an inferior version of the girls/women before her, and thancred's close relationship with the PEAK minfilia makes it very easy for her to perceive their relationship as thancred begrudgingly taking care of her because she's the closest thing to HIS minfilia. and while that's a little bit true, it isn't anywhere near the whole truth, i don't think. (and obviously none of this is "her fault" - she's an abused and traumatized child with an unimaginable burden on her tiny little shoulders. of course that's gonna effect how she sees the world and the people close to her)

i really wish we got to see/know more of ryne's "before" wrt her character arc - what was her life of captivity in eulmore like (thank you e11 for the crumbs)? what did she know how to do when thancred first got her out - how actually "helpless" was she, what skills did she lack, what basic knowledge of the world was she ignorant of? and (my favorite): what was her and thancred's relationship like before the WoL arrived on the first? because the WoL arriving on the first was the cause of her running away to go find them in an effort to Be The Original Minfilia, and i do think that that incident affected how thancred behaved for a lot of shadowbringers. the fear from her getting captured again by her abusers! the turmoil over that being a clanging alarm that she is getting close to Her Big Existential Choice!

and in the end, both of them meet with who the other saw in them. ryne chooses to continue to live, even if she doesn't totally feel like she deserves to, even if she isn't the strongest minfilia, even if it's difficult and painful. and the original minfilia embraces her and gives her a bottle of hairdye and is finally able to rest. and thancred basically dies to keep ran'jit from having control over ryne, and is reborn as A Better Dad. and then (because while ran'jit is thancred's foil, thancred also operates as one for emet-selch) he accepts and embraces ryne as an individual person who of COURSE deserves to live. who, while not his first sisterdaughter, is regardless beloved family to him. who he is glad did not sacrifice herself to bring back his mostly-dead glory-days loved one. and then he gives her a name that has nothing to do with their relative traumatic pasts - just their shared time together as a family unit (with urianger. but i don't need to go into That subtext with you)

literally mountaingoats_lovelovelove.mp3 love is gonna lead you by the hand into a white and soundless place. now we see things as in a mirror dimly. now we see each other face to face

[sweetestpopcorn]

Hi 🍿! I just realized how religious the post-dance targ family is. Like I know Maegelle joined the faith but it seems like she was the only one so into it. At least she was the only one in her generation. But the post-dance targ family had three! (Not to mention Bealor who is a little bit 🤨) Do you think this has to do with the greens? I mean like their line died out but their whole mindset went on and influenced the Targaryens. Or are there any other factors you think lead to this situation?

Hi there and sorry for this huge delay :)

Why are you even considering the Greens when neither Baela, Rhaena, Aegon III, or Viserys II were influenced by them or spent any time with them except Baela and Aegon III when they were captive? Yes, they influenced politics in Westeros... to the extent that they solidified something that was already a practice of House Targaryen and an established custom that was only interrupted by King Viserys.

Nonetheless, please let's not pretend that any of the Greens was the thing that turned House Targaryen religious or introduced the Seven to the Targaryens because that is a blatant lie if I ever saw one.

Cases in point:

Rhaenyra is shown to value the faith of the Seven. She makes Jace and Luke swear on the Seven-Pointed Star. Aegon II - a green - shows no such behaviour so you could make an argument that she was more religious than him. She also seemed to have a particular notion regarding marriage, and vows taken.

Rhaena (Daemon's daughter) was said to pray for her second dragon egg day and night hoping it would hatch.

Jaehaerys understood the importance of religion even making a septon his Hand. Furthermore, he was quite conservative and did not take it at all kindly to know his daughter Saera had lovers prior to being married referring to her as a wh0re.

Alysanne is also shown to be quite religious, wanting to bathe in the sacred waters of Jonquil's Pool, and saying that the Mother loved her children more than she did -> using it as explanation of why so many of her children had died.

Septon Eustace had once been Queen Aemma's confessor.

Both Maegelle and Rhaella (or Aerea depending on what you believe) became septas.

The Targaryens followed the Faith of the Seven post Conquest, and even before the Conquest there was a sept in Dragonstone.

I make no secret that I am not a person who cares about religion, I don't and am mainly against it. I can however, from an objective viewpoint understand why people at times cling to it, and it has much to do with hardship, with pain, and with a desire that the unfixable can be fixed. With faith.

The children of Aegon III and Viserys II were born in a time of great vulnerability of House Targaryen, to parents who had experienced war, significant loss, and deep trauma. Many of the siblings were said to cling to each other - e.g., Aemon and Naerys, Daena and Elaena; examining their lives it is quite clear to see why they sought after comfort in religion. Just consider Naerys, she was born sickly, her mother left when she was a baby, she was raised by a father more concerned with ruling a kingdom than caring for her, learned about the downfall of their House and their dragons, was forced to marry a brother who abus€d until she died and had many miscarriages... what else but her Faith and her love of her brother Aemon and her son would keep her going?

There is also a possibility that perhaps there was some hope or faith that the gods could intervene and help to bring their dragons back. Let's remember how Rhaena (Daemon's daughter) prayed that her egg would hatch as I mentioned above.

But we do see an example of clinging to something else, in Daeron, for instance, who thought that it was through conquest and military prowess that they would regain their power.

Baelor was a... special case I would say, and without a doubt he had some severe mental illness.

In any case in the AU where we get Fire&Blood 2 I am sure many of these issues will be further explored. And impossible as it may seem, it is still more likely to happen than redacted being good or giving justice to anything we saw in Fire and Blood.

Here's to hoping and to stop giving the Greens importance they don't have in 2024.

All the best!

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Okay massive ramble about Sonic code-switching with all of his friends in Frontiers because. It makes me big emotional. Under cut because it's a decently sized one

With each of his friends in Frontiers (Amy, Knuckles, and Tails in that order) Sonic presents a different version of himself, specifically the version that he thinks they need to see at that moment. Code-switching, at least with how it's used in psychology, is defined as when someone, subconsciously or consciously, adjusts their language, behavior, appearance, or any combination of those for whatever reason when talking with different people/groups of people. This can be as obvious as changing languages if you have different friend groups that speak different languages, or as subtle as changing one word when trying to relay the exact same idea to someone. In Frontiers I think Sonic demonstrates this behavior specifically with how he presents different sides of himself to his friends.

With Amy, before she gets out he is very openly worried about her and the situation they're all in, but as soon as she's out he starts presenting himself in a slightly calmer, more compassionate, more heroic way. He's trying to live up to the ideal of him Amy needs to see in that moment: the hero who will never stop trying to save everyone and can't be defeated.

With Knuckles, he's obviously much snarkier and more "free spirited" or so, but he still doesn't show how much he's worried or what his actual emotions are. Any emotional talk they have is instead focused on Knuckles and his emotions and what he wants to do in his future. I think he's presenting himself in a very snarky way because of Knuckles sees him caring a decent amount but not too much, and not showing a whole ton of worry, he's going to think the situation is serious but not as dire as it actually is. He's also trying to stop Knuckles from worrying.

With Tails there's the clearest example of it imo. He's the cool older brother who's always going to save the day. He deliberately hides the worst symptoms of cyber corruption from Tails and again, all their talks are focused on Tails and his future and emotions and all that. Sonic never focuses on himself in this game, it's all about other people. He's always encouraging Tails and trying to help him even in moments where, let's face it, Sonic could probably use some emotional support as well.

He's fucking code switching between his friends to both comfort them, stop them from worrying about a situation which they have very very little power over, and also to stop them from worrying about him.

Also, interestingly, he slowly gets less genuine as the game goes on. With Amy he openly shows worry about the situation to some extent even while deflecting from his own problems, with Knuckles he's fairly obviously putting on a snarky face but still isn't actively hiding anything from him, but with Tails he deliberately hides his own weakness both in conversation and when it comes to the very obvious cyber corruption.

This is all pretty upsetting but imo the worst part about it (emotionally speaking, writing wise this is all the good shit™) is that none of them ever see him at his worst and as such don't realize that he's been putting on a facade for them essentially. Only Sage sees him trying to struggle through the worst of cyber corruption, at that point basically knowing that freeing his friends will lead to himself being trapped in cyberspace. Personally I'd love to see a game in the future (Frontiers 2 please please please Sega) where this gets expanded upon more.

Additionally, there is at least one moment with each of his friends where he slips up in how he present himself: with Amy he shows frustration with the koco leading to her getting angry with him, with Knuckles he shows worry for Tails leading to Knuckles giving him a confused look, and with Tails he is unable to hide the effects of cyber corruption, leading to Tails getting extremely worried about him. But in each case he brushes their emotions off, slaps whatever face he has at the time back on, and just keeps going.

Anyway, that's the post. I would have slapped pictures in here but I am lazy and just relying on the fact that I have a borderline encyclopedic knowledge of basically every Sonic thing that I have consumed in full at this point. The autism is strong with this one

[tbgkaru-woh]

hi hi hi!!! since last time u asked for hcs or ideas, and i couldn't come up with any in the moment, I AM HERE TO SHARE (mine) AND ASK UR OPINIONS ON XIANXUAN (WWX X JZX) NOW... 😩

dont even get me started, personally for me, its HARD TO NOT ship two men who have punched each other for at least once in their life. AND WHEN THEY BOTH ACTUALLY HV CONSIDERATION FOR EO DEEP DOWN LIKE from hating each other's guts to punching each other's face to competing to an extent (over one girl literally) to actually having no hard feelings for each other to having consideration deep down for each other to believing in each other (to love the girl genuinely) to wwx accidentally and unintentionally killing jzx to mourning over his death and blaming himself for all of it to living again and taking care of his child...😩 i...ok half of the grief came bcs of shijie but ONE CAN IMAGINE AAAAH.

im sorry for making this long, help. (honestly ure the first ever acc i have found shipping them in one of ur arts so i HAVE to rant omg)

i love their dynamic sm, somehow i want wwx to top jzx at any fucking cost. WHY ?! because he wanna prove he's better and better and BETTER than this fucking peacock and he wanna crush his attitude so bad like...and jzx just tryna keep up with him and this fucker is back with new tricks to put him where he belongs. then ends up putting him under himself. oMG. help. im crazy. bye.

SJSHSKSK MY GOD. looks like im gonna go on a brainrot.

They were some of the most obvious to me too only to find no one talking about them, I guess the whole WangXian tunnel-vision and Jin Zixuan not having a fandom will do that to a dynamic.

I just hoped in canon they'd have...more. I wanted to see their arc, I wanted them to fight side by side, wanted to see Zixuan defend Wei Wuxian in front of the gossipy pricks and his word mattering to them, wanted to see Wei Wuxian punch someone for Jin Zixuan, instead of punching him for Yanli.

Straight Zixuan is also extremely boring to me and him secretly crushing on the brothers, maybe even popping a boner while wwx gets REAL CLOSE to him during a fight and needing to leave RIGHT NOW... He'll be a good bridge between the two, he's quiet, arrogant and loyal to duty as Jiang Cheng is, but wwx is what he wished he could be like in certain aspects, not to say that with their constant teasing and play-fights, some truths will come out sooner rather than later.

And when it comes to smut I love to imagine that something that starts as a hate fuck with neither backing down but both their inexperience starts showing but unlike jzx who's more honestly embarrassed about it, wwx has this fake confidence and "need-to-take-cate-of" impulse that turn it into something a bit clumsy but respectful and with a genuine goal of the other enjoying it. Maybe wwx can keep it as their secret,as jzx parades himself around like the straight guy people think he is afterwards.