#i respect her and get why she took the bullet for her baby and kingdom

[silyabeeodess]

Malenoa: Do you bite your thumb at me, child? Yuu: I do bite my thumb, ma'am. Malenoa: Do you bite your thumb at me, child? Yuu: [Aside to SILVER and SEBEK] Is the law of our side, if I say ay? Silver and Sebek: No. Yuu: No, ma'am, I do not bite my thumb at you, ma'am, but I bite my thumb, ma'am.

[thebadboyfanclub]

You Can Do Better (Rio x Reader)

Requested by anon, i’ve posted this for the third time and tumblr is being a fucking asshole to the point were i’m thinking of quitting this since every week I get a new way of them hiding my works. Enjoy it while it lasts

T.W. mentioning of attempted rape

(Y/n) had been Micks neighbor for a few months before the incident happened, this absolute dumpster was the only thing she could afford at the time, fresh out of college, in a foreign country without any family, but she was hoping to moving quickly. However, when Mick was coming home, he heard her screams and cries for help from the bottom of the stairs, he had seen her once or twice, even baked him cookies when he first moved in, she was nice and a quiet neighbor. 

He found (y/n) being held down by two men in masks and one of them try to rape her, she was begging and screaming, he almost acted on instict when he shot the guy in the back, the other tried to attack him and he also ended up with a bullet in between his eyes. (Y/n) thanked him and Mick had to stop her from calling the police. Instead they called Rio. He was met with two dead bodies, A girl in her torn pajamas shaking and crying and Mick trying to calm her down.

“Those motherfuckers”

Was all he said, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had gone down, Rio was a criminal and balls deep in despicable things, yet he was proud to say he had never laid hands on a woman nor a child. He kneeled in front of her, took a good look at her eyes, her entire body shaking as she looked at him, you could sense the trauma she had been through.

Rio had heard of her when Mick told him about this little girl next door that baked him cookies as a welcoming gift, he recalled how his friend laughed when he mentioned that the girl asked him his opinion about the next tattoo she wanted to get. Now this happy light hearted girl was replaced because two men thought they are superior.

“Hi sweetheart, I understand this is hard, we will take care of everything alright? You trust us?”

“I had locked the door, I was sleeping”

“I know sweetheart, it wasn’t your fault. We’ll take care of you ok?”

“Thank you”

-

Since Mick had vouched for her and Rio had seen her at her worst they felt obligated to take her under their wings, maybe even help her earn a little more money, get a good car, pay her bills comfortably, that sort of stuff. Until one day she asked to do more, get initiated

“Mama this isn’t the playground, we ain’t playing cops and robbers”

“I know, but you said I am learning quickly, why not teach me more?”

“Why you wanna do this? All of a sudden you feel like being a gangster? You were shaking in your shoes a few months ago”

“I’m done being your little child Rio, I want to hold my own. I will do this with or without you”

Rio looked at her with a serious face. She was growing, becoming fearless, ruthless, he had seen it coming, she was picking up more slack, asking more questions, she wanted to prove herself.

“You’re threating me mama?”

“And what if I am?”

She quickly not only proved herself, she became one of his most valuable members, she was his secret weapon, nobody would suspect a young little hotel receptionist being linked to them. She worked twice as hard and smarter than most if not all his men, advised him wisely and was always cool, calm and collected, she worked best under pressure. Scared little (y/n) felt like had never even happened, she was his soldier now, she had Micks status and Mick couldn’t be more proud, he had a soft spot for her.

“Hey mister policeman, Have some room for another criminal?”

She joked as she leaned at the door of her car, waiting for the new little boy toy to get out of the police station. Now the normal question is why is (y/n) around a police man, there is a two part answer to that. Great lover and also great cover, she was his little thing, so nobody would dare blame you for any crime, the girl of the police man being a gangster? it sounded like a joke.

“Depends on what crime we are talking about miss”

“I can think of a few, we can put those handcuffs to use”

As he approached her she smiled and took off her sunglasses. She looked amazing in her blue loose ripped jeans and a simple oversized white t shirt, a chain necklace around her neck and some nice rings on her fingers as her hair fell  in front of her breasts, wearing a pair of high heels to style it up.

How you doing gorgeous?”

“Oh you know, thriving and surviving. How about you, I thought you had a day off today”

“Yes but I got assigned to a new case”

“Ohhhh should I be concerned? any criminal on the loose?”

“Not really, we are trying to find a link for this Rio guy”

Jackpot, this couldn’t have gone better. She tried to contain her smile and leaned back on the door, acting like nothing had happened.

“Oh I think you’ve mentioned him before, what did he do now?”

“Lots of things but motherfucker always slips away, chief thinks he has someone on the inside”

“Like a dirty cop?”

“Yes, so he wants me to look into it”

“Look at you, leading a case... Sexy”

The guy smiled at her, he was completely fooled and hooked. She hadn’t told anyone about her plan of seducing him to get information, she didn’t need to up until this point, yet what she did not calculate was Rio seeing her outside the police station talking to a fucking cop, the outmost enemy and being all close and cozy to him, acting all buddy buddy in broad daylight.

“I’m glad you like it miss”

“There’s a lot of things I like about you baby, anyway I have to go, I have a shift to clock in to”

“I’ll see ya later?”

“Maybe. Bye handsome”

At that (Y/n) got in her car and drove away. Rio was pissed, the girl he trusted and the girl he wanted was flirting with a policeman, how could she? He trusted her, taught her everything he knew, gave her everything with generosity and she was becoming a cops whore? Of course it wasn’t just about flirting with a cop, it was flirting with someone that wasn’t him.(Y/n) was a charming woman, he found her extremely attractive and she was even better now with the confidence she had gained over time, she was a woman he craved, the woman he wanted to have on his side, a queen that could hold the keys to his kingdom. Now all this was slowly shattering, no there had to be an explanation and he couldn’t wait to hear it.

Of course he could not just appear at her workplace, she was gracious enough to arrange a room for him incognito when Beth shot him, yet they had to act like strangers so all he could do was wait for her. 

“Hey boss, sorry I’m late I had to take care of a few things”

“Like that cop friend of yours?”

She had barely closed the door of his office before he blurred it out, he had this whole plan of making her confess by herself, except when he saw her he lost control. Betrayal and confusion clouded his mind, as she stood there a bit dumbfounded for a quick moment before smirking at him.

“Stalking much?”

“I like to make sure my people are in line”

“Really? Is that why Beth is still walking around unharmed?”

He knew how much that had shook her up, (Y/n) took care of him almost as good as the doctor, she stayed with him until he fell asleep, helped him renew his bandages and anything else he needed, even though she never said it he was aware she was extremely concerned for him and he was grateful for her care, which made it even more complicated considering the fact that he was slowly becoming more addicted to her, needing and wanting more than she gave him.

“Let’s just cut to the shit, what were you doing there?”

“Talking”

“Talking? to a cop? what is this (y/n) huh?”

She sat in the chair calmly, any normal person would have either shit their pants or told him what they were planning right away. (Y/n) on the other hand found this amusing, she had grown tired of him doing things without considering the danger he was putting himself, especially when it came to Beth and the others, if it was anyone else they would have been six feet under the second Rio opened his eyes, now he had cut them in once again and had almost gotten Boss status.

 “Yes, one of your little ladies is married to a cop, what’s the issue with me talking then?”

“Last time I check you ain’t never flapped your gums to a fed”

“I don’t flap my gums Rio, I have conversations and if you really want to know he is my new boy toy. He also was the one that told me about your case, how the fuck do you think I got the information? By holding interviews?”

Rio didn’t know how to feel, she was still working for him, had used her privilege to get information for him that had saved him a lot of money, however the whole “boy toy” thing did not sit well, she liked him, she gave him her time and even though she was stringing him along, she still had him in her life.

“You did what you were supposed to do and you got rewarded, so why you still talking to him”

“Don’t start the bullshit Rio, I’m not your daughter nor your girl so why do you care who am i fucking with”

“Where’s your fucking respect to your boss (y/n)?”

“Respect? how about where’s the respect for yourself? You let the suburban moms do whatever the fuck they are doing and I’m getting shit for having sex and getting you info from the feds?”

He was pushing it, he knew that and he didn’t care, it was time to reveal his cards and she was going to do the same, whether she liked it or not. Rio leaned back on his chair, his hand rubbing his chin as he looked at her, sitting there and looking right back at him, she wasn’t lying he knew that, she had a point for the suburban moms and she had expressed her disapproval for the little thing that was going on between him and Beth. What he did not understand was if she didn’t like it cause she was a tad bit jealous or because it fucked with their money and reputation?

“You are something else you know that?”

“Yet you still question my methods, if I remember correctly I wasn’t the one that planted three bullets in you”

“You are scared of losing me mama?”

She did not respond, she just turned and looked away from him. Of course (y/n) had picked up his little flirty remarks from time to time, she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit she had thought of how he would be in bed, how his embrace would feel, his raspy voice was enough to start fantasies enough to make a book.

“Let’s say I am, what are you scared of Rio? Why do you care who I’m sleeping with?”

“He is a cop”

“A handsome cop, I’m sure you noticed how nicely that uniform was on him, let me tell you it’s even better when he sweats”

“I don’t need to hear it”

“Why? Does it bother you Christopher?”

She raised herself from the seat and placed her hands on the desk, leaning closer to him and making her breasts show just enough as her back curved in a perfect little S, she focused in his eyes as her tongue went over her upper lip. Rio got closer to her, his hand reached her face, as he held on to the side of her head and his thumb went over the lower lip.

“You’re not for him mama”

“Why not?”

“A woman like you is not for no goody two shoes, you can do better”

“Really? like who?”

They could feel each others breaths, their faces were almost touching as they both spoke in whispers, this conversation was not meant for no one else, they didn’t even have to speak as their body language was saying everything it needed to be said. She felt her breath become more swallow, his scent was getting her a tad bit flustered and so was hers to him.

 He wanted to take her right here and then, just the idea of her naked body was enough to drive him wild, her hair was so soft he could only imagine them stuck on her face from the sweat, the most amazing part was her lips, soft and full that made his mind go wild with the need to feel them in his lips and his body, the doors to her moans.

“I can show you better than I can tell you”

“Let’s get it then boss”

[feralphoenix]

BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE NOT PREPARED TO TRY

if you’re following my blog or if you read my fanfiction, you may have seen me talking in tags or comments about how the radiance hollowknight was a pacifist. “feral, wtf?” you may have thought. “she’s the freaking final boss and tries really, really hard to kill you and all her attacks do 2 entire masks damage. where on earth do you get pacifism out of that???”

to you specifically i say, that’s an understandable reaction! the short version of how i got here was that i started thinking about the story implications of radi not inflicting contact damage and took a deep dive into game mechanics and lore. when i came up for air i had made myself Very Sad.

if this intrigues you and you would like to know more, come along with me, i am happy to point out the things i noticed and share the Big Sad around.

this essay is also available on dreamwidth for accessibility purposes, since my layout’s text may be too small for folks on pc with high-res screens.

CONTENT WARNING: This essay discusses pseudo-zombie plagues and associated body horror, colonialism and genocide, horrible things that happened in real life Australian history... you know, the usual topics that come up when I’m talking about Hollow Knight.

ADDITIONAL NOTICE: TPK fans of the “TPK meant well/was working for the greater good”/“TPK and Radi are equally bad”/“TPK is bad but Radi is worse” variety please give this one a pass, it ain’t for you.

finally if youre from a christian cultural upbringing (whether currently practicing, agnostic/secular, or atheist now), understand that some of what i’m discussing here may challenge you. if thinking thru the implications of this particular part of hollow knight worldbuilding/lore is distressing for you, PLEASE only approach this essay when youre in a safe mindset & open to listening, and ask the help of a therapist or anti-racism teacher/mentor to help you process your thoughts & feelings. just like keep in mind that youre listening to an ethnoreligiously marginalized person and please be respectful here or wherever else youre discussing this dang essay

BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE NOT PREPARED TO TRY: The Radiance Doesn’t Deal Contact Damage And That’s Kind Of Fucked Up And Sad

The vast majority of hostile creatures in Hollow Knight deal contact damage: This is to say, if the Wandering Knight (who I’ll probably spend most of this essay calling by their affectionate fan name Ghost) touches a hostile creature, this harms them.

There are exceptions to this rule. The most notable and most oft-memed example is the game’s literal actual true final boss, the Radiance. Not only will Ghost not be harmed by running into any part of her body, but during her stagger animation, where she drops to the boss arena floor on her front with her whole body splayed out, Ghost still isn’t harmed if she lands on top of them! What’s more, this holds true for her full-power form Absolute Radiance, the secret final boss of the Godmaster quest/endings.

A lot of people find this amusing, because it’s a little absurd that a game’s final boss is an exception to such a consistent element of gameplay! Hence all the “haha moth too soft and fluffy for contact damage” jokes. It is objective facts that Radi is very soft and very fluffy, so it’s very easy to understand why people don’t overthink this too much.

Thinking about things I like in gross detail is unfortunately my hobby. When it comes to Hollow Knight this usually leads to me making myself really sad. I’d like to share the fruits of my theorizing with the class, so other people can be sad with me.

Now, from a game design perspective I can think of a lot of reasons why Team Cherry chose for Radiance not to inflict contact damage. Her hitbox only covers the central part of her body. Her limbs are large, so because of the way she floats, if she did contact damage she would be protected from nail strikes from below and to either side. This would give a player who prefers nail combat a punishingly small margin through which they could inflict damage without also taking a hit, potentially forcing them to adapt to a new and unfamiliar play style at the very end of the game. That’s not fun for anybody and tends to make players feel very frustrated.

In addition to this, Radiance’s attacks are all bullet hell-style spells. All of them except the floor hazards inflict two masks of damage, meaning if you want to stay alive and identify points where it’s possible to heal, you need to learn the spell patterns and dodge a lot. Radi is a large boss. If running into her hurt you this would make the bullet hell elements of her fight extra punishing.

So, I think the purely game mechanics reason for Moth Too Soft And Fluffy is in interest of keeping her boss fight fair, and helping players feel like they have a chance of actually defeating her.

Part of why we all love Hollow Knight, though, is that there’s not much in the game that only exists for purely mechanical reasons. There’s always some form of story or lore integration.

So what on earth is the story reason behind why Radiance doesn’t deal contact damage?

OTHER ENEMIES THAT DON’T DEAL CONTACT DAMAGE

Radi isn’t the only enemy (here defined as fightable/killable creature) in Hollow Knight who doesn't inflict contact damage, so let’s take a look at her fellow exceptions to the rule to see what we can learn.

Broadly speaking there are two categories of Enemies That Don’t Deal Contact Damage. The first is enemies or bosses who used to be hostile, but have become friendly to the player. For instance, when characters like Ogrim and Hornet are not being fought in boss battles, touching them won’t cause damage to Ghost. These story characters who Ghost has more or less reconciled with can’t be damaged by the player out of combat either.

In terms of generic enemies who used to be hostile but have become friendly to the player, we have the mantises of the Fungal Wastes and the Siblings/Ghost’s Shade. We learn from the game’s lore that the mantises Did Not Like The Pale King and were hostile to Hallownest, but that they established a ceasefire conditional on their keeping the people of Deepnest (who were also hostile to Hallownest) from leaving through the area’s main entrance/exit in the Fungal Wastes - essentially the two native kingdoms were pitted against one another by the Pale King.

Now, just because there was a ceasefire, that doesn’t mean the mantises take kindly to Hallownest bugs brazenly trespassing into their dang house; they will get in your face and try to kill you unless you have permission to be there. But once you’ve defeated the Mantis Lords in combat and proven yourself worthy of the mantises’ respect, they’ll let you pass through their turf unmolested. They are no longer actively hostile and don't deal contact damage.

(You're still able to attack them, though - maybe because you’d be locked out of receiving the Hunter’s Mark if you complete the Respect quest/achievement before you’ve successfully killed enough mantises? - and if you attack them, or if your pet charm familiars attack them, any mantises you aggroed will fight back and deal contact damage again.)

The Siblings, as well as Ghost’s Shade, are initially indiscriminately hostile. Our window into Shade psychology is limited, but we know that the Shade died violently and the Siblings probably did too; they may be lashing out. They’re also Void creatures, and Ghost looks a lot like the Pale King, whom we can guess from context clues pissed the Void off significantly by using it as his personal play-doh to make tools and toys with and also using its house as his personal garbage dump for baby corpses.

However, once Ghost recalls their past and breaks the mask of the Kingsoul charm to reveal the Void Heart at its core, the Void recognizes them as a part of it, and Ghost becomes able to direct/lead the Void to some extent. As an extension of this, the Siblings and Ghost’s shade become docile and can now be killed by any weapon in one hit instead of just the Dream Nail (which is made of Radiance’s Light and is the Void’s natural weakness). They don’t deal contact damage anymore either.

That’s it for “enemies that inflict contact damage at one point, but stop inflicting it after becoming friendly or neutral to Ghost”.

The generic enemies which don't inflict contact damage include shrumelings, maggots, maskflies, and lightseeds/lifeseeds. These enemies are incapable of inflicting any damage on Ghost whatsoever, because by themselves they are completely helpless entities with no natural defenses.

Shrumelings are infant members of the mushroom clan who are usually protected by adult fungi like shrumal warriors and ogres. Lightseeds and lifeseeds are harmless single-celled organisms. Maskflies are similarly harmless. Maggots, we glean from the Hunter’s Journal and dialogue from False Knight/Failed Champion, are the bottom rung of Hallownest’s society because they are weak and helpless, and are forced into menial and slave labor by other Hallownest bugs because they cannot defend themselves. The maggots’ plight is the whole reason why False Knight/Failed Champion stole Hegemol's armor in the first place, as he wanted to protect his people.

All of these enemies flee when Ghost approaches them. (Some maskfly groups’ flight triggers are set to specific areas on a map and won’t flee if you can avoid stepping on/passing through those areas, but this is clearly due to a programming oversight because their whole Thing is running away.)

But, there’s something interesting to be observed in the case of lightseeds and maggots: They can fight back against and harm Ghost if they use tools. The little flock of lightseeds you chase around the Ancient Basin eventually get sick of Ghost’s shit and take over Broken Vessel/Lost Kin’s corpse, which they puppet around to try to murder you. By doing so they gain access to Broken Vessel/Lost Kin’s considerable combat prowess and become very dangerous, contact damage included in the bargain. (The lightseeds’ doing this seems to evoke the vessel’s spirit, since they reach for Ghost when defeated. That’s not a gesture the lightseeds have any reason to make. The Lost Kin fight, by which the spirit seems to gain some form of closure, becomes available here too.)

False Knight/Failed Champion’s fights work on the same general principle. Now that he has a weapon he can attack Ghost, and his armor deals contact damage. The maggot inside the armor does not inflict contact damage; essentially both his boss fights consist of your whacking the armor until he’s stunned and pops out of the armor for a moment so you can hit his vulnerable real body, which is the only part of him that yields Soul when you smack him. In fact, his boss fights will last forever if you let him recover from being stunned on his own.

Between these two groups, Radiance very obviously doesn’t fit in the first, as she’s the final boss and is very vigorously trying to kill Ghost with various magic spells. You can tell from her Dream Nail dialogue that she’s furious about what the Pale King did to her and her people, and is afraid for her life. She is willing to use everything at her disposal to try to destroy Ghost so she can survive, go free, and get revenge for the Pale King’s crimes. If she could do contact damage to Ghost she would.

So, the only logical conclusion to make is that Radi falls into the second group of enemies that don’t inflict contact damage. She is physically incapable of causing any harm to anyone with only her body. Her magic is deadly as all get out and the 2 masks damage explosion noise probably haunts the nightmares of anyone who’s struggled fighting her, but without it she is helpless.

WHY CAN’T RADIANCE DO CONTACT DAMAGE?

It might be pretty hard to reconcile the fact that a character with Audre Lorde energy as potent as Radi Hollowknight’s is has a whopping 0 ATK. The biggest clues we get in terms of story context for her inability to inflict physical harm of any kind can be found within the culture of the moth tribe, who were her people.

Thistlewind, the backer-designed moth ghost who can be found in the Resting Grounds, tells you that the majority of moths were pacifists, and that individuals like them and like Markoth who learned to wield a nail were in the minority. Thistlewind appears to have learned to fight as a means of self-defense while they explored the crater area, and describes Markoth as having done so in order to “[brave] the edges of this world, hoping to uncover a truth long forgotten”. It sounds to me like Markoth was trying to recover parts of moth culture that were lost when their tribe was assimilated into Hallownest, or maybe even searching for Radiance or trying to learn what happened to her. (Judging that his corpse is hidden behind one of the Pale King’s shade gates it seems this didn’t go well. Thanks TPK.)

As far as fighting moths go there’s Marmu too, but she seems to be a special case, possibly raised in Hallownest's culture instead of with her tribe. We don’t actually get any sort of canon explanation for how a baby moth wound up as a child soldier who died defending the Queen’s Gardens, but given the overall tone of Hollow Knight as a game and all the colonization/Australian history parallel subtext, some horrifying possibilities come to mind.

So, if Thistlewind, Markoth, and Marmu are Outliers Lepidoptera and should not be counted, how did the majority of moths spend their time? According to Seer, who knows more about the tribe’s history than most (and to Quirrel, who points you to her if you defeat Uumuu before picking up the Dream Nail), the moths’ main prerogative was cultivating and developing dream magic. From the way the Seer describes dreams as a living history as you collect Essence, dream magic seems to be a parallel to the Dreaming (or Dreamtime), a spiritual concept in Indigenous Australian religion related to both history and myth.

To translate this into simple terms, the moths were by and large pacifists whose culture celebrated art, history, and spirituality.

Team Cherry tends to adapt at least some aspects of real-life bug behavior and biology into their sad cartoon bugs, so moths-as-pacifists tracks: Real moths do not really have any way to fight. They defend themselves from predators via their mobility and their markings, which tend towards either camouflage that helps them hide or bright markings intended to scare predators off by indicating they’re poisonous (therefore not good to eat) or look like the face of something much bigger and more dangerous than they are.

There's not that much we can glean about the moths in pre-Hallownest society aside from Seer’s dialogue, because Hallownest destroyed their civilization so thoroughly: Except in the Dream Realm (which is filled with Essence spirographs and the wisteria charms that decorate Seer’s room), their architecture can only be found anymore in hidden parts of the Resting Grounds and at the very top of the Crystal Peak where Radi’s statue and a fuckton of lore tablets Ghost doesn’t know how to read are located.

But, we know that the crater pre-Hallownest was home to a ton of diverse bug nations - the mosskin, the mushroom tribe, the mantises, Deepnest, the Hive, the flukes - and every SINGLE one of those had some kind of warrior tradition, as well as their own unique cultures. In the midst of all that it was only the moths who were pacifists, so from there we can tentatively assume that they were on good enough terms with their neighbors for there not to be any fighting. The mosskin in particular also had and still have a Higher Being on their side, though in the modern day Unn seems to be rather conflict avoidant to say the least.

And we know from Hallownest’s past dealings with the mantises and Deepnest that even having Two (2) Higher Beings isn’t enough to keep rival civilizations off your nuts if they hate you, so it’s improbable that Radiance just did all the moths’ fighting for them.

The only hint that the moths ever had beef with anyone at all is one of Radiance’s Dream Nail lines, “ancient enemy” - this is popularly theorized to refer to the Void and might be corroborated by the Void’s willingness to follow Ghost into Radi’s boss fights and fight alongside them. As the Void seems to be some sort of Higher Being/god of darkness and nothingness, and the Dream Nail’s only offensive ability is to kill Void creatures, the Void and creatures of Light appear to be in a position of mutual vulnerability. Some of the Pale King’s writings in his workshop, which identify the Void as a power in direct opposition to his, support this too.

It’s unclear whether the Void civilization and Radiance ever directly came to blows or whether they were just giving each other the stink eye over being natural enemies - personally I think the latter is more likely because the two civilizations existed on opposite sides of the crater*, and again, the moths were pacifists; plus when Ghost brings the Void along to Radi’s boss fight she is quickly and gruesomely overwhelmed by it.

What I am saying here is that if pacifism was such an integral aspect of moth culture, and Radiance epitomized her people’s culture, and she is 100% incapable of inflicting physical harm, she was probably a pacifist too.

DEEP DOWN YOU KNOW YOU WEREN'T BUILT FOR FIGHTING

Hallownest flourished for a long, long time between the Pale King and White Lady first establishing it and the initial outbreak of the Infection.

There’s no conclusive information in-game as to why this is. We can only guess: Maybe Radiance was so badly hurt or weakened by the moths’ assimilation that it simply took her That Long to become capable of the mass dream broadcast to Literally Everyone In Hallownest that would eventually become the Infection when Hallownest’s people tried to suppress it. Or, maybe it just took a long time for her to come up with a way to fight back. It’s possible that it took her a while to find the resolve to actually fight back, too, with her principles of pacifism in conflict with the necessity of defending herself and taking her people back. Maybe there was a change in the moths’ situation in Hallownest somewhere down the line that compelled her to step in - all the moths are super extremely dead at the time Hollow Knight starts, after all. Even Seer is eventually revealed to be a revenant like Ze’mer the Grey Mourner, only lingering in the world to pass on the Dream Nail and tell Radiance’s story. Maybe it was a combination of all those factors. Barring Team Cherry dropping in to explain this bit of Sekret Deep Lore, we are never going to know.

All we DO know for sure is that when we mosey into Hollow’s brain (and/or Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny our way to the top of Hallownest’s Pantheon) and challenge the literal actual sun to a fight, Radi takes the challenge with extreme prejudice and comes in swinging.

Something interesting I noticed while comparing the Radiance boss fights with the Pure Vessel fight is that some of their attacks are vaguely similar. Where warrior-mage characters like Xero and Markoth have physical weapons that they summon and manipulate with magic, Radiance and Pure Vessel both create nails and daggers out of Essence and Soul respectively. Both characters’ magical weapon attacks are similar in nature too: Some are used to create hazards that must be dodged or avoided, and some are fired directly at Ghost in radial patterns.

This begs a very sad chicken-and-egg question. Did Radi and Hollow develop these battle techniques independently of each other, has Hollow in their prime form somehow absorbed similar techniques to Radi through osmosis since they’re currently chained together by the brain... or is Radi mimicking and innovating on these attacks she knows Hollow can do?

All her other attacks seem very obvious for a light-themed character, after all: Beam attacks and blobs of light. A flash of bright light is also how she shakes off the Void the first time it tries to grab her, too, making for a strong argument that that’s the original natural defense she possessed, and that’s what she based most of her attack magic off of.

Making sword’s and knive’s from Essence when most of her people didn’t even handle these sorts of tools even at the height of her power and influence, though... that seems less like something that would come naturally to her. i don’t really know i don’t have a definitive answer or theory for this one it just Seems Possible and it’s fucking me up guys

Even the Infection - which began life as Radiance’s attempt to communicate, let’s remember, before it progressed to “The End Of Eva Disease Will Continue Until Someone Actually Listens To Me” and then finally Radi screaming “FUCK U LET ME OUT, GET THAT NEW SUNNY D BOTTLE THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, HALLOWNEST EAT SHIT” during canon - does not appear to be fatal to living bugs until the tumorous growths grow so large they impede bodily functions, like real cancer. We can observe this phenomenon via a number of NPCs and enemies that are rediscovered as tumorous corpses after the whole Crossroads area becomes infected.

At least to me, all of this points to Radiance being a character to whom violence and causing harm doesn't come naturally, and who has resorted to these methods in desperation.

It actually reminds me a lot of False Knight/Failed Champion. It’s a very common theory among fans that when he stole Hegemol’s armor he killed Hegemol - this is a reasonable thing to believe, since Hegemol is the only one of the Five Great Knights of Hallownest who never appears at all in-game, not even as a corpse like Dryya and Isma. Like Radi, False Knight/Failed Champion is a character who rose up and turned to violence in order to protect his people, despite the maggots not being a belligerent species.

False Knight is one of the game’s first major bosses, sometimes the first boss that players encounter at all. And so Hollow Knight’s story bookends with two separate victims of a predatory system, one who lived within and was cannibalized by it, one outside of it who was deliberately targeted by the Pale King. Neither of them started out as a fighter, but both of them still adopted violence as a tool to protect themselves and their people. Radiance is as doomed as False Knight by the Pale King’s genocide, but just like False Knight, she has no intention of going quietly, and will rage against the dying of the light as only the literal actual sun can.

Cue Deedee Magno Hall voice clip. You all know the one.

*A footnote: There’s no conclusive evidence to tell us whether the Void civilization was contemporaneous with the other pre-Hallownest indigenous bug nations or whether it predated them. Mask Maker has a line suggesting that the Void civilization tried to expand throughout the crater in its heyday and that maybe this was linked to its collapse, but in general the Void lore is just too darn thin to draw firm conclusions - it’s like trying to speculate on the ancient stone age cultures of the Americas that came before pre-settler Indigenous countries when the only sources you can easily access are elementary school level US history textbooks. (To non-Americans: We mostly teach kids propaganda until they hit college-level courses and it sucks so much ass.) This is very realistic worldbuilding, but also please Team Cherry I want to know more about these ancient bugs who apparently got lost in the sauce

[camillemontespan]

a kingdom divided [part twenty five: crossfire]

Part Twenty Four here if you want to catch up.

This chapter is shorter than the rest, but I think I’ve written all I need to for this part. I’ve taken a slightly different approach for the POVs (you’ll see what I mean).

@jovialyouthmusic @pug-bitch @sirbeepsalot @moonlightgem7 @notoriouscs @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @iplaydrake @be-still-my-aching-heart @carabeth

***************************************************************************************

Camille woke up to the morning sun filtering in through the white curtains. Rolling over, she found herself looking at Drake.

He was still asleep. Camille smiled with relief. Let him sleep. She was just glad he was home safe. Her eyes explored him; the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed softly, his arms which were corded with muscle, his big hands which held onto the pillow. Camille snuggled into him, inhaling him. Was that creepy? She didn’t think so; she had nearly lost him last night. 

‘You’re sniffing me again.’

Camille jumped at the sound of his voice. ‘You’re awake!’

‘Yeah, I woke up from the sound of you sniffing me,’ he mumbled. He stretched out and opened his eyes slowly. His face softened when he saw her looking at him. ‘Hey beautiful,’ he whispered.

She leaned closer and kissed him gently. ‘I’m so glad you’re home safe.’

Drake blinked. ‘Oh god. That wasn’t a nightmare, was it? Escaping the palace actually happened?’

Camille nodded. Drake sat up and ran a hand over his face. His contentment was now replaced with worry. ‘I really hoped I had dreamt it all.. fuck. Fuck.’

Camille sat up with him and took his hands. ‘Drake, it’s going to be okay.’

Drake bit his lip. ‘Camille... you saw the news with the riots. Everyone has gone crazy. Liam and Leo locked themselves in the study. I was threatened at gun point. I honestly struggle to see how it’s going to be okay.’

******************************************************************************************

The palace was destroyed inside. Windows were smashed, curtains ripped down, blood covered the white marble. The bodies of servants and nobles were taken away in the early hours of the morning. 

Liam stood in the ballroom. The large ornate chandelier had somehow been pulled down from its place and now lay in the centre of the room, shattered. The crystals had scattered across the floor and Liam saw his reflection in one of the crystal shards; he looked devastated. 

Leo was slumped down on a chair with his head in his hands. He had a cut lip and bruises on his cheeks after being involved in an altercation with a servant. The servant had tried to attack him with a knife; Leo had acted on instinct and shot a bullet through the servant’s chest. The act itself had horrified Leo to his core. 

Neville had been with the two brothers but they had told him to go his own way; they didn’t want him to be seen helping them. If he was,  they were sure he would have been executed outside for betraying his fellow nobles. As a result, Neville had gone to fight alone.

‘Liam..’ Leo whispered. ‘What are you going to do?’

Liam slowly walked a circuit around the ballroom, taking in the broken fixtures and bloodstained walls. ‘I’m going to be the King.’

*******************************************************************************************

Maxwell had jumped on Drake when he saw him come downstairs. ‘Drake! You’re safe!’ he had screamed. Hana came running through in her pyjamas, hearing the commotion. Tears had filled her eyes and she grabbed Drake into a bear hug, holding onto him tightly. 

‘I knew you would be okay!’ she said, wiping away her tears. Drake chuckled. ‘Thanks Hana. Thanks Maxwell.’

‘I think a hero’s breakfast is needed for you!’ Bertrand called out as he entered the living area. He and Drake hugged, Bertrand clapping him on the back. ‘I knew you wouldn’t leave Camille,’ he said quietly. Drake nodded, not wanting to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t made it home. 

‘Morning everyone.’

They all looked up to see Camille descending the staircase wearing one of Drake’s shirts. Hana rushed forward and gave her a tight hug. Camille squeezed her back and her eyes met Drakes. She padded her way towards him and wrapped her arms around him. He placed a kiss on top of her head, relieved that this was his reality. 

Bertrand turned on the news to see the updates from the palace. 

‘The King has issued an order that every noble in Cordonia, along with every servant, attend the palace today at 1pm for a conference. Citizens are advised to stay at home but to watch the news channels which will be broadcasting the palace. After the uprising yesterday, the king wants to issue a statement; attending this conference is compulsory.’ 

The group watched with bated breath. When the newsreader began to repeat herself, Drake broke the silence. ‘To the palace today, then.’ 

Dread filled each of their hearts. ‘For Liam,’ Camille said after a silence. ‘We have to be there for Liam.’

*****************************************************************************************

The servants in the manor bustled around, getting themselves ready. Magda, the head maid, made sure that she had picked out her best, pressed uniform. She was a proper servant, she felt; not a traitor to the crown. Magda’s family had served past Duke and Duchesses of Valtoria for generations and she was not going to ruin that now. She really liked Drake and Camille; they were the first nobles to actually ask her to call them by their first names and they always made a point of asking how Magda’s day had been going. That, to her, was the mark of a true Duke and Duchess. 

She had watched them try their hardest to be the best Duke and Duchess they could be. She knew that the title wasn’t what they wanted and that they just wanted to be a normal couple, but Magda felt that they had done well with it. 

The servants in the manor were really excited for the baby. The household was small so it felt like the child would be theirs too; Magda, Sarah, Toby and Hector liked to read the baby name post its that were stuck up all over the kitchen and bet on which name would be the winner. 

‘Do you think the king will heal the kingdom?’ Sarah asked quietly as she brushed her hair. Magda nodded briskly. ‘Of course he will. He is the King. He has to.’ 

Sarah smiled weakly. Since Liam had released her from being a spy for him, she had felt much more at peace working in Valtoria. The job paid well enough that she could send money home to her mom and still have enough left over for things like clothes and even drinks with her friends.  She still idolised Camille; even more so now that she could see the Duchess. 

Sarah had been disappointed when she had first arrived and found that Drake and Camille had gone to Texas, but she understood why. She didn’t blame them for wanting to leave. But they were back now, very briefly, but still; Sarah got to see the Duke and Duchess up close.

Sarah followed Magda downstairs to wait by the front door. The chauffeured cars were waiting outside for Drake and Camille. Sarah giggled when the Duke of Ramsford passed her and tilted his top hat at her in greeting.  He was dressed very.. eccentrically today. He had a pocket watch for Gods sake. 

The other servants lined up beside Magda and Sarah. ‘So, are we wearing our bullet proof vests?’ Toby said wryly. Magda elbowed him and Toby let out an ‘oof!’ Sarah sniggered. 

They bowed their heads when Drake and Camille entered the foyer. Drake was wearing a dark grey suit and tie. Sarah blushed when she saw him; the Duke always looked handsome and rugged, even when he was in a suit. 

Camille was wearing a brocade dress embroidered with gold and her hair was pulled up in her signature chignon. She placed a hand over her baby bump and the servants heard her whisper to Drake, ‘Baby Girl’s kicking again..’

‘20 euro they just call it Baby Girl,’ Toby said dryly.  Magda shushed him. ‘I’ll take up that bet!’ Hector joined in. The two men shook on it and Magda groaned. ‘You both are the bane of my existence.’

‘You love us really, Mags!’ Toby grinned. He shot Sarah a wink and she blushed from the gesture. 

‘Right, let’s go people!’ Hector announced. They made their way down to the car and clambered inside, following the Duke and Duchess. The cars left the manor and drove towards the palace where the bodies of their servant counterparts had been taken away just six hours earlier.

*****************************************************************************************

There was a stage set up in front of the steps to the palace. Out of respect for the dead, the Cordonian flag was at full mast and it waved gently in the breeze. The palace security team were assembled and were indicating where nobles and servants were to go. 

They were split down the side; nobles on the left, servants on the right. The security team stood in the middle of them, working as a barrier. 

Drake took Camille’s hand, squeezing it, and guided her to the noble side. ‘Drake, I’m nervous..’ she whispered. 

‘I know, honey. Me too.’

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and Drake wished he could just take her back to Texas. He swore that once they were back in Texas, they weren’t leaving until this had died down completely.

Hana, Maxwell and Bertrand stood beside Drake. Bertrand saw Camille and gently moved so he could be beside her, so she was now in between him and her husband. ‘You’re doing really well, Camille,’ he told her quietly. Camille looked at him and smiled sadly. ‘So are you.’

The crowd quietened down when they saw the King enter the stage and face the microphone. Camera crews were stationed in front, filming his every action. Behind him, Leo stood, his back ram rod straight, looking out into the crowd. 

The King cleared his throat.

‘Cordonia,’ he began.

‘In the early hours of this morning, the bodies of 30 servants were taken away to the morgue. 50 bodies of nobles followed.’

Silence. 

‘I spent last night holding a gun, hiding and running through the palace. My brother did the same. I spent last night hearing servants screaming, nobles screaming. I spent last night hearing gun shots and breaking glass. For the rest of my life, I will hear those noises in my sleep.’

He looked down at the stand and then back to the crowd.

‘I am sorry. I have tried so hard to not follow in my father’s footsteps that I ended up pushing this kingdom to its breaking point. No, scratch that; my kingdom is broken. I have broken it. I placed my allies in the highest offices and gave them the most noble of titles. I left everyone else in the dust, fighting for scraps. For that, I am sorry. I am so very sorry.’

*******************************************************************************************

The servants listened in rapture, their mouths agape. The King was apologising. He was not acting like his father would have done; everyone had been expecting Liam to drag the rebels out in front of this crowd and execute them right there. 

Sarah was glad that he wasn’t doing that. 

They listened as the King continued. 

‘Cordonia has become Hell on earth. Servants shot their colleagues. Nobles shot their friends. Nobles shot their servants. I did not want this destruction. I did not want this horror. I did not want this rampage to tear apart my kingdom. I saw a kitchen boy shoot a maid in the chest,’ he spat. 

The crowd murmured in shock. Sarah let out a gasp and Toby took her hand, squeezing it gently. 

‘I saw complete and utter horror last night and it will haunt me forever. Hear me now; I will fight until the end. If that end involves me losing the crown, so be it. But I refuse to sit back and watch my people be murdered again. I refuse to watch Hell be unleashed in my kingdom for the second time.  Listen to me; I do not have to be absolute. At this point now, I don’t care about having full power. You could argue I have too much of it.  But I want to fight for my kingdom and make sure that no citizen, be they a servant or a noble, be under threat again. You can raise up and join me, unite with me and we can restore Cordonia to its former glory. We can heal this wound and work together, as we should have been doing before. Or we can continue to rip each other to shreds until even houses are divided; brothers against brothers; generations against generations.  It is your choice. I am not going to decide for you.’ 

The King looked back at his brother and Leo nodded, his face serious. The king turned back to the crowd. ‘For Cordonia.’ 

‘For Cordonia!’ someone screamed. 

The King stepped back in surprise.

‘Cordonia!’

People began to cheer the King and he looked relieved; Sarah saw that a smile passed his features. What he thought had been a rebel cry had actually been a cry of support. He hadn’t been expecting anyone to agree with him, clearly. 

‘Cordonia! Cordonia! Cordonia!’

Everyone was cheering. Magda and Toby joined in, waving at the King. The King nodded gracefully. ‘Thank you.’

‘Republic!’ 

The crowd’s cheering died down. The servants next to Sarah looked around, trying to find the rebel. 

‘Republic!’

Another one. 

Dread filled Sarah’s heart as the chanting for a Republic increased. ‘Toby, what’s going on?’

‘It’s okay, Sarah, just some traitors, they’ll be taken away-’

‘Republic!’

Sarah saw Camille look around, her face set with anguish. Her heart tugged for the Duchess. Camille said something to Drake, who wrapped his arm around her and was starting to lead her away. The Duke of Ramsford followed, including his brother and Hana Lee, who Sarah also idolised. 

‘Republic! Republic! Republic!’

The King looked defeated now, all past relief faded. Sarah felt Toby’s arms go around her, keeping her protected. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ he said. 

The crowd was beginning to break out of its sections. The security team in the middle were in action now, moving to keep the crowd at bay. One servant pushed a guard. ‘Stop keeping us penned in like animals!’ he shouted.

Everyone began to push against the armed guards who were trying their best to keep them contained. 

‘Let us go!’

‘Republic!’

The armed guards were pushed back and some nobles broke free. ‘Republic!’ one noble screamed, his eyes wild. 

Sarah could feel everyone pushing and shoving; in the middle of it all, she lost her grip on Toby’s hand and she was lost at sea. Around her, people screamed and shouted. Panicking, Sarah tried to find the exit. She was quite short; she couldn’t see above many people. Twisting and turning, she managed to get away from her spot but she couldn’t find Toby or Magda or Hector. She couldn’t find her friends.

‘Toby!’ she called out. ‘Toby!’ 

‘Republic! Republic!’ their cries drowned her out. She was jostled up against more people and pushed from behind. The crowd had broken out of their sections and the guards were now ordering each other to take positions. 

‘Toby!’ Sarah screamed, her voice going hoarse. 

She bumped into a nobleman and a guard who were fighting. ‘We want a republic!’ the nobleman shouted at the guard. 

‘Fuck off to France then!’ the guard shouted back. 

The nobleman  suddenly pulled a gun out of his jacket and pulled the trigger. The guard jumped out of the way, leaving Sarah out in the open.

She felt pain rip through her chest, searing pain. Her vision went white and everyone around her blurred. 

‘Sarah? Sarah!’

It was Toby. He had found her. Sarah let out a low moan and fell to her knees; Toby was beside her now and he scooped her up against him, his hand placed over her chest, trying to contain the blood that was now pouring out of her. 

‘Oh god, oh god..’ he whispered, his face white. ‘We need an ambulance!’ he screamed. 

There was now complete silence.  The pushing had stopped, broken by the sound of the gun shot. The only gun that had sounded was the one that had pierced its bullet into Sarah’s chest. 

‘Someone’s been shot!’ a noble shouted. 

‘It’s a servant girl!’ 

‘Someone call a fucking ambulance!’ Toby screamed out, tears falling from his eyes. Sarah saw through her blurred vision that Magda had found them.

‘Oh god, Sarah!’ she screamed.

Sarah could hear the crowd muttering. She heard someone say that an ambulance had been called. She heard Magda cry that Sarah was only seventeen. 

‘Sarah, please..’ Toby whispered, holding her close. His heart hammered against his chest, against her weakening one.

*******************************************************************************************

Drake, Camille, Bertrand, Maxwell and Hana sat on the sofa, staring at the TV. They had gotten back to Valtora quickly after the shouting had begun; Drake wasn’t taking any chances. As soon as he had heard the beginnings of a revolt, he had taken Camille’s hand and lead her away. 

They watched the news which was showing the ambulance outside the palace. ‘A servant for the Duke and Duchess of Valtoria has been killed. We cannot disclose her name for legal reasons but we can reveal that she is seventeen years old and is the only victim of the sudden riot at the palace which broke out after the king’s speech. She worked for the Duke and Duchess of Valtoria.  Her family has been notified.’

The group sat in silence as they watched the news story unfold. There was nothing they could say to make this right. 

[fallen-imagine-angel]

Through Thick and Thin (Owen Grady x Reader)

Notes: Here you go, @ashann7 ! It ended up a bit longer than I originally intended for it to be, but that’s only because I got carried away in the story, haha. Anyway, I hope you and everyone else enjoys reading this as much as I loved writing it! And requests for Owen Grady (and others) are still open!

Summary: Read the Request! :)

Through Thick and Thin

Owen Grady x Reader

Requested?: Yes, “Owen Grady x Reader. she also used to work at the park as a trainer for a dino of your choosing. She and Owen had hooked up in the past but she always said it was just sex as the dino was enough commitment. When Owen lands on the island to try and save the dinosaurs, he sees her already there, working to help as many as possible. then all the movie drama unfolds and they finally get together. Shes totally brave and badass, maybe with a scar from the Indominous Rex incident, but extremely caring”

Word Count: 3,670

Warnings: MAJOR Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom spoilers!!

“Zahra, c’mere baby girl!” You coo, walking into the Carnotaurus habitat. She’s the only dinosaur you take care of, considering how much of a handful she could be at times.

A few moments later, your baby Carnotaurus bounds out of the vast forest she’s allowed in her habitat. She quickly goes to your side and nuzzles your leg. Unlike any other Carnotaurus the park had ever seen, Zahra seemed to exhibit many of the traits Blue does. Affection, emotion, care. She wasn’t ruthless like most of the dinosaurs, especially the carnivores could be. That’s why you love her.

Making a guttural noise at the back of her throat, she nudges your leg lightly, asking for food. You quickly laugh and grab the bucket on your other side, throwing a piece of raw meat into the forest. She runs after it and returns to you minutes later. You smile and feed her the rest of the bucket before starting her training, your favorite part.

~+~

After her training, you give her a quick goodbye and head over to the Velociraptor paddock. You had a meeting with Owen Grady soon about the behaviorisms of Blue and Zahra, who are close to the same age.

“(Y/n).” Owen nods curtly in your direction.

“Owen.” You greet him, looking over at the raptors who are looking at you curiously through their containment. You walk over to Blue and stroke her head, enjoying the happy clicking noises she makes when you do so.

“She seems to like you, and so do the others, considering none of them have lunged at your arm yet. That’s dangerous, you know that, right? They’re still carnivorous animals, even though they’re my babies.” Owen murmurs and you laugh.

“I’m very aware of that, Mr. Grady. However, I trust these animals just like I trust Zahra, and they know that. There’s a level of respect there.” You sigh, smiling at Blue and retracting your hand from the cage, earning a click of disappointment from her.

“Mr. Grady? Really, (Y/n)? I thought we were past the formalities by now. After all, we do have quite the...relationship...going.” Owen winks at you, but you just roll your eyes.

“As far as I’m concerned, Owen, our ‘relationship’ you speak of has been nothing more than the occasional hookup. That is all.” You scoff, crossing your arms at the raptor trainer. He gives you his signature smirk, mimicking your arms and crossing his.

“Really, darling? Because I swear...there was something more last time.” He grins devilishly at you, leaning in slightly.

“Then you’re imagining things because there wasn’t. I have enough on my hands already, since I’m taking care of a possibly dangerous carnivorous dinosaur. You should focus on your work, too.” You narrow your eyes at him and spin around on your heel, not giving him the satisfaction of getting to your head. No, Owen Grady meant nothing to you besides a co-worker. At least, that’s what you thought.

~+~

It had been three agonizing years since you had seen Owen Grady the day you had reached the states again. After the Indominus Rex incident, you had cut off contact from everything that linked you to the dinosaurs. Owen tried contacting you, sure, but you were determined not to see him again. Or any of them, for that matter. You wanted to leave your past behind you and focus on a new life. One without flesh-eating dinosaurs or any other remotely harmful animal.

No matter how much you hated that life, though, the thought of Zahra dying kept popping into your head whenever you saw the island on the brink of being destroyed. It always made you think of how you had nurtured her when she was a baby, trained her when she was no more than a kid, and ultimately had to leave her when she was an adult. She had never made a move to attack you, no matter how vulnerable you had tried making yourself to her. She trusted you, and you trusted her. And now you had that bond with no one anymore. No human or animal ever imprinted on you like that since Zahra did. Perhaps none ever would.

You feel your back pocket vibrate and you take out your phone to see an unknown number calling you.

“Hello?” You answer your phone, confused.

“Is this Miss (Y/l/n)?” The man on the other end asks.

“It is. May I ask who you are?” You hum, trying to figure out why this man is calling you.

“My name is Eli Mills, I’m from the Lockwood Estate, and I’m calling you concerning the...situation on Isla Nublar. We want...no, we need your help.” The man tells you.

“Help with what?” You hiss. You immediately wanted nothing to do with this, yet you still remained on the phone.

“Taking care of the dinosaurs, patching them up, and of course, helping capture the only living Carnotaurus left. Zahra. The one you trained and took care of. She’s alive and we want to bring her to a safe haven and let her live a happy life. Please, we need you to be there as soon as possible.” Mills informs you. You think it over quickly.

“I’ll do it. Anything for my Zahra.” You whisper that last part to yourself. You can’t just let her die on that island. Not if you can do anything about it.

“Great! We’ll have a plane ready in an hour. I’ll text you the address. See you then!” And with that, he hangs up. You sigh.

What had you just gotten yourself into?

~+~

An hour later, just as promised, you got a text with coordinates to where the plane is located. You grab your bags and make your way there, boarding the plane, and getting out of the states.

A few hours after that, you’re landing on Isla Nublar. You see multiple dinosaurs around getting treated to their burn wounds or bullet wounds, as some of the idiotic men with guns had shot a couple of them.

As soon as your foot touched land, though, you were whisked away to an armored car where more idiotic men with guns were waiting for you.

“Can I help you?” You ask, feigning boredom. In reality, this situation was far from boring, but you don’t really want to talk to them that much. You just want to see Zahra.

“Yes, actually, you can. We’re going to see the Carnotaurus right now and we need your help to capture her. She seems insistent on eating any of our men that we send to get her.” A man fills you in. You nod curtly and stay silent the entire ride to Zahra.

When you arrive, you quickly hop out of the doors and run to the large chunk of forest. You whistle sharply and replay the words you had said so many years ago.

“Zahra, c’mere baby girl!” You coo as you hear large footsteps echo and trees shake. There your Zahra, in her full glory, emerges from the forest and lets out a roar. You smile as you see her, but get ready to run just in case.

“Zahra, it’s me girl. You know me. It’s momma.” You use your tongue to click, holding out your arm to her. She looks you over quickly before completely bypassing your hand, nuzzling her snout against your body. You smile and pet her snout, nodding. You had missed her, as much as you hate saying it. She’s your girl. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Get her!” You hear a shout behind you, and you whirl around, eyes blazing like a fire.

“Stand down!” You scream, and all attention snaps to you. The men don’t know what to do but ultimately listen to you, because no one makes a move to hurt Zahra.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” The man in charge snarls at you. He’s more of an animal than Zahra is, you think to yourself.

“Saving Zahra from harm. Hand me a couple of sedatives, she trusts me and I don’t want to break that trust. I can sedate her myself. I gave her shots when she was younger, this isn’t much different.” You hiss at him, grabbing a couple of the sedatives from him and walking over to Zahra. You murmur sweet things to her as you jab one into her thick skin and she grunts in mild discomfort.

“It’s okay, baby.” You mutter, giving the second one to her. She falls asleep, large head in your lap. You chuckle.

“Get the dinosaur out of here.” The man grunts and you smile sweetly at him.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” You grin mockingly at him.

“Whatever. Let’s get back to camp.” He rolls his eyes and you follow him back to camp.

~+~

Once you’re back at camp, you tend to Zahra as she’s sleeping, making sure she’s in good health. She is.

Although, after a few hours of being in the camp, you get called out again. To capture another dinosaur.

“Why do you need me this time?” You groan, walking out of your tent and coming face to face with the man from earlier, two people you don’t recognize, and two people you never thought you’d ever see again.

“(Y/n).” Your name leaves Owen’s lips, and you’re pulled out of your stare by the man in charge barking orders at some of his men. You clear your throat and look down.

“Owen. Claire.” You nod and look anywhere but them.

“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls? My texts? Any form of communication I tried?” Owen questions you, stepping towards you. You take a step back.

“Because I wanted nothing to do with dinosaurs anymore.” You tell him the truth.

“Then what are you doing back here?” Claire asks, also shocked to see you. You give her a sheepish smile.

“They told me Zahra is still alive and I couldn’t turn down saving her.” You shrug.

“You four, come with me. We’re going to get that velociraptor.” The man grunts and you glare at him.

“Blue.” You and Owen correct the man at the same time. You share a glance with him but immediately look at the ground again. Why are you acting this way? You have no idea. Perhaps it’s because you’ve had unknown, denied feelings for him this entire time and you didn’t realize it until now, three years after not seeing him? Yeah, that’s probably it.

You, Claire, Owen, and the two new people (whose names you learned were Zia and Franklin) get into another armored car and take off towards Blue. The truck stops and you and Owen get out, walking the rest of the way on foot. You don’t say anything to each other while it’s just the two of you, probably because you know it’s not really just the two of you. The others were probably listening in somehow.

Once you reach a small enclosure, you see the rustling of bushes in one of the old Jurassic Park cars. You tap Owen’s shoulder, pointing at it. He nods and gets closer to it, holding his hand slightly outward from his body. You notice that he can’t help but move protectively in front of you, but you don’t fight it. You knew Blue a long time ago, but there’s no telling how she’ll react to you now. Not after three years.

A few small dinosaurs leap from the bushes, running off to who knows where in the forest. You press a hand over your heart, not knowing whether it’s being close to Owen again or possibly getting eaten alive soon. Maybe both, now that you think about it.

Then, suddenly, Blue has jumped on the old car and is roaring in your faces. You square your shoulders behind Owen, hoping that Blue sees Owen and recognizes him as her alpha instead of her food. Otherwise, you knew she’d eat you, too. But you didn’t let that deter you. Blue is a beautiful creature and deserves to be treated as such.

“Being brave back there, (Y/n)?” Owen glances back at you and gives you a smirk. He’s always tried to make you smile in even the darkest of situations.

“Like always.” You give him a small smile back, then turn your eyes to focus on Blue again. She eyes the two of you warily as you stand.

“Hey, girl, you miss me?” Owen asks Blue, raising his hand in front of him like he used to. Blue jumps off the car and slowly stalks toward the two of you, making Owen back up.

“Easy, hey! Hey...” Owen snaps at her, gaining her attention.

“She’s going to kill us.” You whisper, and Owen sighs at you.

“She’s not going to kill us,” he shakes his head and reaches into his pocket, redirecting his attention to Blue again, “I brought you something…That’s right...” He pulls out a piece of meat and tosses it to her. It bounces off her snout and falls to the ground. She growls in the back of her throat.

“Okay..” You roll your eyes, stepping to the side of Owen instead of being behind him. Blue’s eyes dart to you for a split second but you keep your composure, showing her your authority.

“You know me. Eyes on me.” Owen commands her, using his clicker that you didn’t even know he still had.

Blue’s about to nuzzle into his hand when there’s a sudden movement and something hits her neck. She screeches and thrashes around, causing her tail to trip both you and Owen. You land on top of him, faces inches apart.

“Hey there, (Y/n). Never knew you still liked me like that.” Owen winks from under you and you feel the heat rise to your cheeks. You scramble to get off of him.

“Oh, shut up, Grady. That was an accident and you know it.” You huff, crossing your arms.

Multiple men with guns come out from the forest and Owen gets upset.

“I told you to wait for my signal! Back your men up right now!” He shouts at them, and you set a calming hand on his shoulder. You were upset, too, but you had a far better way of controlling it.

“Owen…” You murmur comfortingly, keeping your hand on his shoulder. He glances at you and his anger melts away, but you can tell he’s still upset at the men.

Suddenly, Blue lunges at something behind you and Owen pulls you out of her line of fire. You see Blue tackle a man that was holding a gun to her and you see blood. Lots of it. Then, there’s another sedative shot at Blue, and you start to get upset just like Owen. You see the man being attacked draw his gun.

“No, no, no! Don’t shoot her!” The man in charge shouts at his man. You gasp as the man completely disobeys, shooting Blue. You run over to her, taking off your jacket as quickly as you can and pressing it down on the wound, applying a steady amount of pressure. You feel the fresh air hit your back and expose your scar. A scar from three years ago that would never let you forget its presence.

You hear Owen say something behind you, causing you to look back, only to see him get shot with a sedative, too. You scream, accidentally leaving Blue’s side in the process and going to Owen. You see Zia return to the position you were in, pressing down on the bullet wound Blue had gotten.

You feel a prick in your arm and you look to see a blue dart sticking out. The world goes dark around you as you fall to the ground next to Owen.

~+~

You wake up to something wet on your face, looking up to see a Sinoceratops above you and Owen, licking your faces. You groan and move your fingers, seeing that Owen had not yet woken up. As the Sinoceratops starts to walk away, you start to feel movement in your extremities again. You see Owen open his eyes and move his fingers as you realize something else, too. There was lava approaching the two of you, and quickly.

You stand up, hooking your arms around Owen’s and dragging him until he can stand. You must have gotten a lesser dose of the sedative. He’s about to thank you when he sees the lava. Instead, he grabs your hand and the two of you start to run.

Once you break out of the forest, you see Claire and Franklin standing there.

“Run!” You scream at them. They look over at the two of you, confused.

“Run!” Owen reiterates, shooing them away. They seem to get the message as they take off down the hill, you and Owen not far behind.

Things go so quickly as the dinosaurs run off the cliff, and eventually, so do you and the rest of the team.

You watch as the water approaches quickly, grabbing Owen’s hand as he pulls you to his chest, bracing for impact. If these were your last moments, at least you’d spend them in his arms.

~+~

Later that night, it’s you, Claire, Owen, and a little girl named Maisie trying to outrun some hybrid monster that had been created specifically to kill. Just your luck, right? Right. Luckily, you had only gotten a few minor cuts along the way. Oh, and a hole in your thigh from the nail of the monster. But you’re fine. For now.

“Owen, you better not be stupid about this!” You grit your teeth as Claire aims the laser onto Owen’s torso, hitting the acoustic button and making the Indoraptor lunge at him. He rolls to the side and the animal breaks through the glass of the roof but doesn’t fall. Instead, it pulls itself up and makes you its main target.

“(Y/n)...stay still,” Owen tells you. You remain rigid, determined not to freak out and only make things worse.

Then, suddenly, Blue is tackling the Indoraptor and the two of them go tumbling into the room below. You watch as they flip through the air until, ultimately, the Indoraptor is impaled by the large Triceratops head being displayed below. You let out a breath of relief you didn’t know you were holding.

“We did it...we did it!” Claire shouts, pumping her fists in victory.

“Not quite yet but...I’ll allow the celebration.” Owen laughs and pulls you into his chest. You savor his embrace, not noticing that Claire had taken Maisie off the rooftop to “let you two have some well-deserved alone time.”

“So…” He starts, looking down at you.

“So…” You agree, not knowing what to say. You chuckle and cup his face, rubbing his cheek with your thumb.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that scar on your back...I saw it when we were back on the island after you took your jacket off to help Blue, but I couldn’t find a time to bring it up since we were mostly running for our lives.” Owen laughs, and you see a sparkle in his eye.

“I...I got it when the Indominus Rex escaped and ruined Isla Nublar. I was with Claire’s nephews when we were jumping off the waterfall and it...it caught me, scraping its claws through my back.” You relive the memory, shuddering at the mere thought of the Indominus Rex’s claws tearing through you.

“How come I’ve never seen it before?” He asks soothingly, tracing his fingers up and down your arms.

“Because I ran away from you. From Zahra. From my life as a dinosaur trainer.” You laugh quietly to yourself, and you see Owen crack a smile.

“I just want you to know...I missed you.” He murmurs, and your breath hitches in your throat.

“For three years? You missed me?” You ask. He nods.

“I did. A lot. I’ve been thinking about you non-stop ever since that conversation we had outside the raptor paddock so long ago. I think…(Y/n), I think I’m in love with you.” Owen mutters, staring deep into your eyes, hoping that you don’t walk away from him this time.

“Owen, I think I’m in love with you, too.” You grin up at him. He seems so relieved, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug before meeting your lips with his feverishly. You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss back just as intensely.

Even though you had to deal with a blood-thirsty carnivorous dinosaur again, if it meant getting through this and finding Owen again, you would do it again. Heck, you’d do this a million times over if you always got to come back to Owen in the end. The two of you had been through thick and thin together, twice, and there was no way anyone could break that bond. Not even yourselves.

~+~+~

BONUS:

“Oh my gosh, Zahra!” You squeal with excitement as you hear a roar from below. You look down to see your Carnotaurus, quite literally, roaring with excitement as you and Owen kiss.

“I guess even she knew it was finally time.” Owen laughs.

“She’s pretty smart.” You smile down at her like a proud mother.

“She probably saw me as a possible mate three years ago, so now that she finally sees us together, she’s almost as happy as we are.” He thinks about it.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t doubt it. Now, will you just kiss me again? I’ve gone three years without even seeing you and I’ve had to survive this entire time while seeing you without getting to touch you like...well, in a romantic way.” You start to babble, but Owen just chuckles and leans down, kissing you again. This time it was softer, more passionate, but still held the same feelings as the last one did. Now you know that no matter what you do from now on, it will always be by Owen’s side.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Winner’s Curse Ch. 6

Thanks to @edream93 for her awesome playlists for WLTF. Even though she never intended for it, the songs for those CJ-centric chapters really inspired me to get into CJ’s confident mood for this ch. 

CJ clapped her hands triumphantly as she crawled out of the disgusting bag of trash she had hidden herself in and looked around.

Though she smelled nauseating and was covered with a foot of dirt and grime she felt as accomplished as she had when she set sail on the Auradon seas with her very own boat.

Too bad she couldn’t have used her boat to travel back to the Isle. She would have totally impressed everyone with her stylish ride that she had tricked out with ferocious skull sails and images of impalement and other pirate crimes decorating the walls of the Captain stern. She had wanted to but then she remembered that it would be impossible to get her ship past the Magical Barrier.

So she went with the less fabulous, but still deceptive disguise as a goblin to take trash from Auradon to the Isle.

Unfortunately her lack of green skin or any sort of ugly exterior appearance made the goblins suspicious of her presence among them so her last ditch effort was to hide among the trash.

And it worked!

CJ shook the moldy banana peel from her wavy hair and wiped off the sludge from her red pirate coat and laughed to herself. It was almost funny, after years of trying to get out of this forsaken place she had spent the last month sailing her way from Camelot to Auradon Prep in order to catch the last trash run to the Isle.

It hadn’t been part of her life plan. She had been having a grand old time on the high seas, looting and plundering from the too trusting goody goody tourists, getting riches and drinking life as well as beer when she had gotten spotted a letter in a bottle.

CJ loved letters in bottles, ever since she was a kid and her dad had told her that pirate used to put letters in bottles so that people may never find the directions to their treasure or put threatening notes to scare whoever found the bottle next.

Not that she had the chance to see many bottles near the Isle or send any out. Resources like paper were scarce and Dad tend to reuse bottles to fill them up with his beer.

So she took the bottle out of the sea and opened it up. She had expected a good chuckle over whatever vile threat the note had but was shocked to see it was actually addressed to her.

Hey CJ,

I know this is probably won’t get to you, but I gotta try, you know.

I guess yer dad hadn’t told you that he screwed with me and that I am your mother but I am. It had been bad night and instead of using his hook to slit my throat, it slipped down his pants and things kinda went from there.

Anyway I hear ya pilliging Auradon so that’s awesome. Give those Auradonians something to scream about, stab every last one of them and take all their fancies. Especially silver, silver sells well on the black market.

I’m writing because even though you probably don’t want to go back to this stupid place, I’m planning a raid on your da’s Jolly Roger. If you help me, it can be yours after I die or get murdered. You deserve it, you’re more of a pirate than your siblings will ever be.

Fine sailing matey,

Lady Caine

Lady Caine was her mother. 

At first she had been skeptical but then she realized why would Lady Caine have to gain from lying that she was her mother. No one on the Isle really knew who both their parents were and those who may have fathered r mothered them never said so because they didn’t care. So why would Lady Caine lie about being CJ’s mom? It wasn’t like she would have anything to gain from it. It wasn’t like CJ was going to blindly follow her or want a tearfully reunion from the women. She must have thought that now CJ was all grown up, she was capable enough to be a worthy ally. 

Besides having Lady Caine to be her bio mom wasn’t exactly disappointing.

Lady Caine was the self-proclaimed, “Queen of Thieves” and the only female pirate that was on the Isle so CJ secretly admired her despite dad’s deep hatred.

She was everything CJ ever wanted to be when she grew up, manipulative, self-centered, ruthless, and a “devil may care” attitude towards the few authorities that were present on the Isle.

And it turned out she was her mother.

And she was offering her a chance to inherit the Jolly Roger!

Though CJ loved the boat she currently had, the boat she had bought with her own stolen money, she wanted the Jolly Roger even more.

The Jolly Roger would be a sure sign of who was the finest and scariest pirate in the kingdom.

Not her siblings who had tried to use her as their own first mates instead of recognizing her fearsomeness. Not her dad who was far past his glory days.

Her.

She had always thought that Harriet would end up taking over dad’s ship being the oldest and the one who spent so much of her teenage years to maintaining it when Dad was too drunk or hungover to do it himself. She was the one who handled the members of Dad’s crew when they got out of line and was the one who made the dock the place not be at nighttime.

Harriet deserved the Jolly Roger, she had put so much effort.

But that would be doing the right thing and being a good person was never CJ’s priority.

That ship was going to be hers so she hiked the first current out of Camelot and now she was here. She had kept that letter safe in her coat pocket along with her trusty compass so she could get both at any time.

CJ decided to head to her old room first in order to pick up some of her belongings that she had left behind.

The streets were dark and empty which was usually the first sign that you were going to get jumped but minutes passed and CJ walked by, unassulted.

Now that she really looked around, it seemed no one was about. Lights were off and shutters binded. The place had become a real ghost town.

Maybe it was fight night at Gaston’s bar, that usually drew a large crowd.

Even though it was a dark tar black with no extra lights on, CJ was able to find her way to the Jolly Roger. She could find that place in her sleep. It was a point of pride for a pirate captain to find their ship wherever they went and the Jolly Rogers would be hers.

The old idiot, Smee was sleeping on guard duty. It was tempting for CJ to hit him around a little as her father would do if he saw Smee sleeping on the job like this but refrained, she would do it when she left.

The ship creaked and groaned under her weight but no one came to the upper dock to shout intruder so CJ continued below deck to her room.

The last room on the stern was hers as it was because she was the last and therefore insignificant as Harriet told her. The quarters were tight and now that she had grown a few inches she kept banging her head against the ceiling.

The place looked like it had been ransacked. The pirate maps she had drew when she was younger, the ones that showed the route she believed to go to Neverland were all torn up. Her few thin blankets were shredded to threads. Her small chest was splintered apart as if someone brought a mallet to it and the items she had stolen, one of Ursula’s shell necklaces, bullets from Rourke, fancy hats from Anastasia among others laid scattered on the floor.

“Ugh. No respect. No one has respect.” CJ muttered as she got on her hands and knees to search for what she really wanted, her telescope. She would need it in order to plan attacks on enemies from afar.

“Whose here?” A voice growled from behind her and CJ whirled around, fists ready to battle.

“CJ?” Harry stared at her slack-jawed as if he was seeing Davy Jones in the flesh and CJ relaxed her fists.

From the dim candle lantern in Harry’s hand, CJ could see that her brother hadn’t changed a bit. His face was smeared with grease paint and too much eyeshadow with his messy hair sometimes flopping over his eyes. Though he was sporting a new scar above his eyebrow. His clothes were still raggedy and torn but it also looked like they were hanging on his frame rather than highlighting his intimidating muscles. 

Before CJ could wonder about whether he was eating less, Harry thrust a hook under nose and demanded, “What are ye doing here?”

CJ decided to go for sass, pushing his hook away she snorted, “This is my room.”

“Not anymore.” Harry kicked her, “You live in Auradon now, brat.”

CJ bit her lip to keep from groaning as Harry’s foot connected with her gut and punched at his nuts causing him to jump back and slam himself against the door. She took the moment to grope under her bed for the feel of her telescope when at last she felt the cool glass.

She pulled it out from under her bed, slid it down her boot and casually stretched out her muscles as if Harry’s hostility didn’t faze her one bit. And it didn’t. She had dealt with his mood swings for years and though he usually didn’t get so physically rough, she was quite capable of holding on her own.

When she cocked her head to crack her neck bones, CJ was startled by the hatred in his glare for her and was even more startled by this strange feeling of pain tugging her heart.

Harry never looked at her that way before. Usually he looked at her with anger and annoyance, not hatred. After all, she was his baby sister, it was her job to compete with and annoy him to death.

Then again, she had been forgetting what his face looked like since she left, maybe her memory was just fuzzy. It wasn’t like their relationship was a solid, trusting one. Ha! None of her relationships were. Especially with her siblings.

CJ swore they hated each other from day one. Harriet despised that she was on “mom” duty at twelve years, having to clean and change their dirty diapers and they didn’t even pay her back by becoming her loyal first mate. Instead they were her worst enemy when it came to competing for control of the dock. 

Harry was a disgrace since he chose not to lead and follow Captain Hook’s fierce reputation but chose to be subservient to another Vk and be a loyal member of a crew. 

CJ hated them both for always underestimating her and taking away her attention and resources so no one on the Isle feared her, they saw her as the overdramatic, neurotic, controlling youngest child of Hook. Not a evil pirate on her own.

“Why are ya-“ Harry was about to ask again but CJ shoved past him and walked up to the deck.

“CJ!” Harry yelled, stomping up the stairs.

“Shut up with the hissy fit, Hawthorne! Save your dramatics for Shrimpy!” CJ yelled back using her brother’s hated full name and hated nickname for his captain, “I won’t be in your hair for long. I’ve just come for what’s rightfully mine.”

“DON’T call Uma, Shrimpy and nothing here is for you.” Harry snarled catching the tail end of CJ’s coat.

“SHUT UP, I’M TRYING TO SLEEP!” Their dad’s booming voice shocked the two into silence for a moment before they heard him resume his snoring.

“The Jolly Ranger is mine.” CJ glanced down at the lovely old ship and lovingly caressed the railing. “Mom said it should be. And we’re going to make sure it will.”

“We don’t have a mom.” Harry snorted derisively but CJ took out her letter and waved it tauntingly in his face.

“I do. It’s Lady Caine.” CJ smirked triumphantly as Harry read the words himself and his eyes darted between her and the letter in disbelief.

He tore the letter from her hand and crumpled into a little ball to throw in the ocean but CJ didn’t care. She didn’t need it anymore.

Harry stared at her as if she was a total stranger which was another look that seemed to pain her heart for some reason but CJ ignored it. She may have been living in Auradon but it had not made her soft. She did not care for her brother one bit.

CJ turned to loop one of the ropes used for keeping the sail open to her wrist, “Ta ta, Harry!”

With one practiced launch, she leapt off the boat and swung her way to the dock while knocking Harry’s hat to the water.

“CJAAAAY!”

With that ferocious shout and swears of vengeance, and Smee’s startled gasp, CJ smiled and nodded to herself confidently.

Calista Jane Hook was back everybody.

[bbwoulfc]

We Meet Again

Pirate Au with Ladybug!Adrien and ChatNoir!Marinette.

Haven’t seen anyone attempt a role switch pirate au, so I thought I’d have some fun and give it a try.

They say the foolish would never succeed in their goals. Never to make a difference in my life or the lives of others.  How wrong they were.  The foolishness in me is what made a difference in my life and the lives of others. I gave the people close to me a purpose, an outlet to the wonders of the world. A life of freedom.   A life of adventure.  A life of treasures and riches beyond one’s imagination and dreams.  Shame on those who say dreams are for fools.  If it weren’t for my foolishness and dreams, I would never experience my greatest adventure of my life, nor meet my beloved again.

                                                          *****

The night wanes on the small town of Port Royal.

For such a busy port and town, it was rather calm and serene for an evening.  Families safe beyond their stone and bricked homes, while others more troublesome and outgoing members of the town, gather at the largest pub located near the center of the inland.  All the rum and varies of alcohol should contain the drunkers for the time being.

As the guards of Port Royal walk around the streets of the town, enforcing the peace and laws of the governor and the king; a prisoner lays awake in the Port Royal jail.

The lonely prisoner stands in the cell as she listens to the calming waves of the ocean and march of the two guards pacing back and forth in front of the jail’s entrance.  She couldn’t complain too much.  The prison was cool in temperature due to the underground structure.

Pacing towards one of the prison cell’s barred window, she glances out as the moonlight casts amongst her shadow appearance.

She’s a young woman, no more than twenty.  Her short cut, blue tinted black hair glows in highlight, her sapphire eyes blazing with an internal blue flame from the heat of the moonlight.  The woman’s body cloaked in hematite black and smoke grey pirate attire, and a hint of beryl green formed in a cat paw print located on her black as night earrings.  The fire from the torches along the stone walls casting a red hue behind her as in blends with the blue of the moon, igniting the she-pirate in a glow of warm and cool colors.

For a free spirit that she be, no prison will obtain a pirate in the likes of her.  Port Royal are in for a rude awaking.

Like the warmth of bed sheet, the town becomes cloaked in a bed of silence.  The wind coming to a quick halt as all sound refrains except the movements of the two guards.

The she-pirate’s lip form into a smirk.  The calm before the storm.

Like a signal, a boom emits in the distance as the sound rockets through the once quiet town.  In seconds, an explosion makes contact with the town as an impact nearby vibrates through ground.  The once quiet atmosphere now filled with the sounds of bells chiming, alerting the guards of Port Royal of an attack from canon fire.

The sounds of rushing boots scattering along the town towards the harbor as more explosions make impact to the town.  The glows of red lighting like fireworks from the small prison cell window.

What was once excitement on her face now morphed into confusion and frustration as another boom from a canon is heard from the harbor.

“Those are not the sounds of my canons.  What the hell?”  She grunts through clench teeth as she tries to get a glimpse of the harbor and ocean.

“Halt!”

She could hear one of the prison guards shouting to an unknown intruder.  Turning her head slightly, she angles her head, attention towards the main door hidden around the corner and up the stairs.

Within the second of a breath, the sound of two gun shots echo from the outside of the prison door.  Who in the hell could this intruder be?

Hearing the bodies of the two guards slide against the stone cold walls, she heard the iron door creak open.  With the poorly lit prison as it already was, she could see the rays of the moonlight highlighting angelic beams in the location of the stairway from its location around the corner.  Even with the rays of the moonlight, the corner of the arc way to the main area of the cells remain cloaked in shadows.

Whoever it may be, she wouldn’t show fear.  She won’t show vulnerability.    

The sounds of heavy booted footsteps begin descending the iron stairs towards the prison cell where she’s held.  What surprises her most is how calm the footsteps radiate as they make their way down.

Reaching the bottom, a thickly cloaked and dressed figure stands and faces her from the shadowed cloaked arch way.  

Even in the shadows, she can make out the small highlights and silhouettes of another pirate.  The only appearance to show was the bright emerald orbs of his eyes, highlighted by the faint cast of the moon.

“My, my; they were right.  Their captain caged like an animal.  I don’t know about you, but I think those gents deserved death to cage such a beauty as yourself.  Wouldn’t you agree?” Came the figure’s thick voice.

Stepping forward, the pirate blends away from the shadows to show a young man with messed styled blond hair, and placed as the same age as her.  His attire assorted by the colors of melanite black and blood red.

As her gaze roamed the pirates attire, she saw a glimpse of the silver ring surrounding his right ring finger.  With a closer inspection, she could see the faint carving of a ladybug.

Of course.

With a smile, the blue haired pirate looks up at the blond pirate in front of her, sapphire eyes staring into emerald eyes. “Cardinalis.” She greeted.

“Panthera.” He greeted in return, a smile blooming on his face.

Moving forward, Cardinalis stops once he reaches the metal prison cell.

“How on earth did you get yourself in here, Panthera?”

A chuckle escapes through her lips as she paces the cell, only to stop back in front of her fellow pirate.  “It was supposed to be a distraction of sorts. My crew were to raid a certain treasury while I distracted some of the guards and lured them away.  Apparently the guards weren’t as stupid as they appeared. Making a good head way from the guards chasing me, I had the unfortunate luck of running into another group of guards. Figures.  Though I’m not sure where they could have gone.  Betrayal results in death.  As I’m sure will happen once I ever find them.”

“Oh, my lady.  I’ve heard many tales about you, but this is a first about the great Panthera.”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head lightly. Exhaling a deep amount of air, Panthera looks back at Cardinalis.  “What are you doing here, my lord?  Never once have we meet in person until know.”

He looks at her with the most respect that a pirate can give a fellow pirate.

“Just because we haven’t met out in the open seas doesn’t mean I don’t know you…princess.  Marinette.”

Panthera’s body stiffens from the use of her civilian’s name.  It’s been a few years since she’s gone by that name.  How on earth does he know her name.  More so her status as a princess?”

“How do you know my name?”  Panthera looks Cardinalis dead in the eyes as she awaits his answer.

With a smile, eyes gleaming with a hint of mystery, Cardinalis provides what she seeks.

“I know you, rather well, princess.  You are the only daughter of the once feared pirate, Jaguaron.  One of the legends to tame the seas.  And as far as legends go, love took hold of the heart.  He fell for a princess and gave up the life of a pirate.  Erased the hidden past of life not welcomed by most and married to only become king alongside the now present queen.  A mighty kingdom of Cheng, now known has the Kingdom of Dupain-Cheng.  Then, a year later, they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl who bared a heart of bravery and kindness.  And always quenched for a thirst for adventure.”  Cardinalis gives Panthera a toothy grin as he stares at the princess.

“How in Davey Jones do you know so much about me?” There is no way anyone knew of her background.  There was no one, except for one.  But that was impossible.  

She wasn’t sure how or what to feel.

Reaching through the bars of the cell, Cardinalis grasp the necklace around her neck, fingers grazing over the detailed marks and curves of the intricate design.

Panthera lowers her head as she gazes at his lingering fingers, her own gaze glancing at the one belonging she cherished most.

Cardinalis was silent as he eyed the piece of jewelry as if it held everything he cared about most.

“Why are you hear, Cardinalis?  I know there’s a reason.”

Her words bring him back from his silent reminiscence that trailed through his eyes as he shifts his gaze back to her.

“I’ve search far for you, princess.  I came to rescue you and offer a proposition.”

She remained silent as she nodded her head to acknowledge him to continue.

“I’d like you to be my partner.  We can search for the sacred miraculouses before that tyrant, Hawk Moth can find them, and use them against our homes.”  He places his leathered glove against her cheek, “And we could be whole again.”

Panthera closes her eyes as she leans against the cool of the glove and the warmth of his touch.  She takes a deep breath as she opens her eyes and looks Cardinalis face to face.  There was no doubt who this young man was in front of her.  It’s been so long.  Who’d ever think fate was so kind.

“Never once had I thought I’d ever see my prince again.”

Another sound of multiple canon fire echoes though the chaos engulfing the town.

“So, what do you, Panthera?  Are you willing to partner with me and sail the seven seas together?”  A smirk taking over.

With confidence gleaming in her eyes, she smirks in return looking straight into his eyes.  “You got yourself a deal, my lord.  Now get me out of her.”

“Then you better stand back, ma cheri.” Cardinalis pulls out his pistol and aims it at the cell’s lock.

Moving to the end of the cell, Panthera waits and watches as Cardinalis pulls the trigger.  A few sparks ignite from the contact of the bullet, but the damage was done as he pulls the door open for his partner.

Stepping out of the prison cell, both smile each other and make their way towards the only entrance of the prison.  

Once reaching close to the top, Panthera halts. Cardinalis stopping behind her.

Turning around, she comes face to face to her new partner, the steps providing ease from the height different.

Moving her gaze to his lips, she leans forward, closing her eyes, and places her lips against his.  Feeling her lips on his, Cardinalis close his eyes and returns the kiss.

It wasn’t meant to be long as she pulls herself away, opening her eyes to look back at him.

“Thank you.”  Her voice soft and filled with admiration.  “Thank you for finding me, Adrien.”

“I’d search for you near and far.  No sea, ocean, or land can keep me from you.”

A loving smile takes form on her face.  “Then let’s get started and make up once we’re in the safety of your ship.  And begin preparations of becoming the king and queen of the seven seas.”

Excitement gleams and sparkle through Cardinalis’s eyes as he offers cat like smirk.  “Then lead the way, my lady.”      

[dancesontheedge]

An age and a half ago, @tavsancuk tagged me in a 10 characters in 10 fandoms meme.  I am finally filling it.  I have laid myself some ground rules.  I will choose and present to you, in no particular order, my ten favorite male characters.  I will also include explanations for my picks.  I am strongly considering doing a mirror post with my ten favorite female characters with explanations.  Also, some of them are coming with fic recs.  Sorry not sorry.  Most of those recs will route you to FFN.  That, I am a little sorry about.  Since this is explanation heavy, I’ll put it under a read more.

Finn (Star Wars) This fabulous man turns his back on everything he has ever been taught because he realized it was wrong.  He broke more than a decade’s worth of programming to free Poe Dameron, and then he went back for Rey despite his fear of the First Order.  That takes serious guts, and I have so much respect for his character.

have you heard by peradi Finn sparks a stormtrooper revolution.

Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls) Jess grew so much over the course of the series.  We did not get to see most of it happening, but he went from a really messed up, angry at the world teenager to a well-adjusted and very successful adult (based on what we’ve seen).  Also, though he and Rory had their issues as a couple, he was the only one of her boyfriends who she did not feel the need to change for.

Of Books and Music by once-was-serendipity.  Instead of cutting off all contact with Rory when he left in season 3, Jess sent books with his margin-notes to Rory.  We see him deal with all of his shit. Pay the Piper by Iscah McKrae.  Immediately after Rory’s disastrous visit to Philadelphia, Shane contacts Jess to tell him they have a daughter who she wants not part of.  Jess winds up taking full custody.  Incomplete. Truths Universally Acknowledged by 12cubed.  A Jane Austen report assigned by Mr. Medina spirals out of control as Taylor announces a Jane Austen festival.  Season 2 style Rory/Jess pining. Tide and Moon by once-was-serendipity.  Jess and Rory’s relationship over seasons 2 and 3 plays out a bit differently.  Mostly, Jess get’s his shit together earlier.  Incomplete.

Zuko (Avatar the Last Airbender) Over the course of the series, Zuko realized that his father was evil and everything he had been taught (by someone not-Uncle-Iroh) was either a lie or immoral.  Once he finished being in denial about it, he took action, ultimately changing sides and working to atone for the wrong he had done when he still believed in his father.

Embers by Vathara.  At the beginning of season 2, Zuko discovers the secret of healing fire, and then things get super AU, super fast.  Lots of worldbuilding, and I swear to god this author’s a goddess.  Has been described as “Atla in the style of Game of Thrones, minus the sex” Mismatched by Kimberly T. In season 1, Zuko discovers an Earth Kingdom baby with mismatched eyes.  Because local superstition claims the baby is a witch-child and bad luck because of it, Zuko adopts him.  This speeds his realization that everything he knows is wrong by quite a bit. Incomplete. Second Nature by lazyartisan.  At the end of season 1, Zuko is captured at the North Pole.  Angst ensues.  Essentially, the author upped the stakes and ignored the “kids show” genre.  Incomplete-ish.  The author told the story she wanted to tell, but ends the story at the end of season 2 rather than resolving everything.  She may eventually update again, she may not. Another Brother by AvocadoLove.  Zuko was scarred much younger than in canon and is found by Chief Hakoda almost dead on a Fire Navy ship.  Hakoda takes him in, and he is raised in the Southern Water Tribe alongside Sokka and Katara.

Steve Rogers (MCU) Steve Rogers’ moral compass is so on point it’s honestly terrifying.  His entire morality basically boils down to “I don’t like bullies or trust the people in power not to be bullies,” and honestly that’s the kind of role model we all could use.  He is uncompromising, but he’s right with an alarming consistency.  And he’s genuine, which warms the cockles of my own way-too-honest heart.  (It should, perhaps, be noted that this is why Benjamin Tallmadge is my favorite Turn character and that these traits are reflected in one of my most formative female characters, Keladry of Mindelen.)

Serenade by CSI Clue. Happy fic.  Steve gets a girlfriend and everything is adorable. Choice is Not a Word a Bullet Knows series by bomberqueen17.  Winter Soldier followup, so much poly capfam, at least one really awesome OC. A Pretty Boy with a Bird Tattoo by Kryptaria and rayvanfox.  Steve/Bucky/Nat OT3, punk college AU.  My favorite of their collaborative works (because Nat), but their other stuff (stucky, all of it) is super awesome too.  Source Code by Closer.  Steve is tired of everyone thinking he’s a robot clone or whatever the conspiracy theory of the week is. Freezer Burn series by Domenika Marzione.  Comics/MCU mashup that follows a different Avenger in each of the major stories. Freezer Burn follows Steve, Thaw follows Clint, Revenant follows Nat.

Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) Spencer Reid gets put through such shit by the Criminal Minds writers (and the fandom, honestly.  We love to watch him suffer), but he continues to be dedicated to justice and peaceful solutions.  In addition, he is one of the biggest nerds and genius’ on TV, and is generally way less obnoxious and improbable about it than others of his type.  It should be noted that I am not up to date on this show, having missed almost every episode that aired while I was at University, and that I am refusing to watch the current Reid-in-prison-without-his-memory arc.  Because that was a bridge too far.

Foxtrot Whiskey Bravo by Kuria Dalmatia.  Reid and Elle have a friends with benefits relationship.  Very unangsty for my possible Reid picks. The Comstock King’s Daughter by TheKnittingLady.  Reid/OC.  Reid and his date get kidnapped by an Unsub, things go better than they could.  The least depressing/angsty story by this author, the story by this author requiring the fewest content/trigger warnings.  This author is *very* good, but her work is pretty messed up.  Writes almost exclusively Reid-centrics, usually Reid/OC. Liar by Addicted Archangel.  Reid is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.  Somehow not as angsty/whumpy as the current canon storyline.  Begins with his conviction, ends with his release.

Gilbert Blythe (Anne of Green Gables) Honestly, who doesn’t love Gilbert?  Pining away for Anne and being generally adorable.  No long winded explanation here, but can we all just take a second, think of Gilbert Blythe, and smile?

Blythe Spirit and Unromantic Ideal by Morte Rouge.  The first three books of the Anne of Green Gables Series from Gilbert’s POV.  I promise it’s not repetitive.  Some grammar issues.

Christopher Perry/Halliwell (Charmed) This tortured soul happens to fall right in the middle of one of my favorite tropes: Time Travel.  Chris travels back in time to prevent his older brother, the most powerful witch to ever live, from turning evil and taking over the world.  He lost literally everyone, led the resistance, watched his brother kill his fiance, and when he went back in time was hated by the younger versions of his family for being so driven and not letting them have a life and also for breaking up his mother and father (they, of course, did not know who he was). Also, he’s a sarcastic little shit.  It’s like he’s the definition of my preferred angst-button.

A Pair of Ragged Claws by cunneware.  Wyatt’s most deadly assassin arrives from the future.  It is revealed that she has been magically enslaved by Wyatt, and when that magic is lifted, she decides to aid Chris in his mission to prevent Wyatt from turning evil.  Ultimately, it is revealed that Chris is the sisters’ son/nephew. The Last Horcrux by Stonage Woman.  Crossover with Harry Potter, AU from book 6.  Taking place in the original future where Wyatt is evil, with all the accompanying super-depressing things that come along with that.  Harry is in his 40s, still fighting Voldemort, and essentially adopts Chris.  If you would like to know where my angst-o-meter sits, this one registers at like an 8 of 10.

Edmund Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia) Edmund is generally a shit in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Nobody will argue that point with you.  What’s important to me is how he grows.  He decides to become worthy of Aslan’s sacrifice.  He decides to live up to his sobriquet “The Just.”  He acts to atone for his selfishness and live a life of service.

Harold and Morgan: Not a Romance by rthstewart.  This is super a romance.  Edmund got married in Narnia to a banker from the Lone Islands.  It’s adorable, and I’m quite convinced she’s on the autism spectrum. The Stone Gryphon ‘verse by rthstewart.  The Pevensies deal with being back in WWII England, mostly by being ridiculously badass. Not a whole ton of Edmund yet, but it’s awesome, I love everything about it, and could hardly write Narnia recs and not include it. Letting Go by Lirenel.  Prince Caspian AU in which Edmund arrives separately from and substantially before his siblings because he wasn’t holding their hands at the train station. The Ledbury Run by Maddy Carr. Back in England, Edmund and Peter participate in a cross-country race and find in their path a downed German paratrooper.

Simon Tam (Firefly) Simon had it all.  He had money, he had his dream career, he had parents who were pleased as punch to have him as their son.  He gave it all up to rescue his sister from government experimentation and subsequently became a fugitive.  He has some trouble adjusting, as you can imagine, from golden child to desperate man on the edges of society, but he never considers going back.  Not once.  Because his sister was more important to him than all the accolades he could earn.

Alec Hardison (Leverage) Hardison is a hardened criminal.  Ish.  He takes immense pride in his hacking ability and would be offended if I said he was one of the best in the business.  Because he’s the best. But really, Hardison’s a soft touch.  He was the one most easily convinced to join the Leverage team and use his crime powers for good.  His first heist? Hacking into the Bank of Iceland to pay his Nana’s medical bills.  He decided that the Leverage crew was his family, and promptly adopted them all.  He’s the team-builder, the block they all built on.  He provided the space, he provided the nurturing eye, he paid attention to what his team members wanted and gave it to them.  Though he’s a criminal, he’s the moral center of the Leverage crew.  Also he’s a giant nerd and completely hilarious.

The Justice League Job by Eatsscissors.  Casefic about a stolen comic book. Hardison/Parker.