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#i went through the 5 stages of grief during that week
mizi-sua · 2 years
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i just went through my drafts and wow im seeing all the posts from back when i was waiting for lycorecos final episode to air and looking at them now really shows me how miserable i was like hello?!?!?!?#&#*@*@
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wildestdreamcatcher · 4 months
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The 5 Stages
Summary: Jude goes through the 5 stages of grief after Mindy's death
TW: Death, mentions of being suicidal, grief, mentions of vomiting/feeling nauseous, mentions of overdoses, panic attacks, breakdowns
January 3rd, 1984: that was the day Mindy died. The doctors said she overdosed on a mix of drugs and alcohol. I should’ve been there, I was going to be there. I was going to sneak out to the party she was at until my mom caught me, I was going to take the same drugs, I was going to drink the same shit, and be around the same people she was. I could’ve and should’ve died along with her. 
She died during winter break and I was supposed to go back 2 days later, but 2 days turned into 2 weeks and today was supposed to be the day I went back to school. I was so fucking pissed when my dad walked in to wake me up from school. He almost had to drag me out of school, he drove me to school to make sure I actually went. I wanted to fucking scream at him, I spent the whole morning begging my parents to not send me but he did anyway. I didn’t even make it to 2nd period.
I felt so nauseous and uncomfortable during class but what made it worse was the fact I could hear people whispering rumors about her, people always bullied her anyway so I guess it didn’t matter to them if she was dead or not. I either got very judgmental, gossipy glares or sympathetic glances: both annoyed me to no end. I fucking snapped: I had something between a panic attack and a mental breakdown during class and they sent me to guidance. 
I sat in the office with one of the guidance counselors as she tried to get ahold of my parents while they were at work, she gave me a trashcan since I vomited 3 times already in the bathroom: everything about this situation made me feel like fucking dying. I could barely make out anything I heard on the phone: I could see the counselor giving me sympathetic glances and half-smiles as she spoke to my parents. I felt even worse when my parents walked into the room. 
I was zoned out for a lot of the conversation. I noticed how my parents' voices switched when they were trying to sound professional: my dad’s voice got deeper but more gentle and my mom’s accent came out more, I guess the “Southern charm” works on people. I only started paying attention when I noticed that both my parents and the guidance counselor were looking at me, worryingly. 
“We understand what you’re going through, Jude but you can’t have meltdowns like this during class. It would help us to understand better if you talked about with us.” The guidance counselor said. I was so fucking pissed about the way she said it.
 “No, none of you fucking understand!! I wouldn't have broken down if I people didn’t keep talking shit about her or if people weren’t fucking staring at me the entire time! I don’t want pity or sympathy, I just want Mindy!” I figured that my parents would say something but they just kind of looked at me. I was so tired of people pretending they knew how I felt. A lot of people didn’t even care about Mindy when she was alive so why start caring now? 
I started to zone out during the rest of the conversation, I only heard bits and pieces. I heard the counselor say “I don’t think the school environment is good for him right now. Maybe it would be good for him if he went homebound for the rest of the school year. There’s only 4 months left of the school year, so he could go on homebound for the rest of the year if he wants to.” I watched as my parents signed the papers agreeing to it. The car ride home was awkward, no one said anything and I spent the ride trying to stifle my sobs. 
I was sitting in my bedroom when my dad came in. I barely got along with him but something told me to let him stay. He was very patient and calm when he walked in. 
“I can’t pretend I know what you’re going through. I don’t know what it’s like but I won’t to be here for you. I love you more than anything, Jude.” He said. I let him hug me as I cried.                                                           
@sadlonelyyogurt @vommitgirl @blowflygrls
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jinxed-lemon · 7 months
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I’ve seen a lot of peoples characterization about Future!Leo meeting Present!Leo and while I am a sucker for the whole “Future!Leo giving Present!Leo a hard time bc of angst” trope let me also present: F!Leo being kind and understanding to P!Leo:
However you wanna headcanon why F!Leo is suddenly back in the past, he somehow is and it’s after the the whole Krang situation has been dealt with and of course everyone is freaking out bc “oh god did something else bad happen that another time branch opened up just to warn us about something?”. Skip ahead and everyone is welcoming him in bc of course they would and we pan over to P!Leo and the kid is obviously freaking out and going through the 5 stages of grief.
He spends the next week absolutely avoiding future him- ducking corners, making excuses to be out of the lair, straight up just pretending that F!Leo isn’t there. Everyone is confused bc they thought ‘Leo would have LOVED to meet a cooler, older more experienced version of him from the future’ but apparently not. F!Leo is kinda fed up with it cause he really wanted to meet the younger version of him and ask about how they defeated the Krang so he finally corners him one day.
It’s totally awkward at first but F!Leo just sighs and decides that there’s no beating around the bush and directly asks P!Leo if there was a problem. He thinks that the younger version of him must hold some type of anger or animosity for how the future went- and he’s fully expecting to ease the tension if true but before he can continue P!Leo just starts sobbing his eyes out and F!Leo is standing there like 🧍 thinking ‘holy shit did I scare him??’.
P!Leo: I thought that you would hate me for what I did. I’m so sorry that I’m like this- I’ll be better, I swear.”
F!Leo: …Kid what are you talking about…?😨”
F!Leo is just absolutely stunned when P!Leo starts explaining about how he thought he’d hate him. About how he was fully expecting his future self to absolutely loath and despise him for getting their world destroyed in another life and before he can finish his rant F!Leo is putting an arm around him and going ‘Kid what are you saying??? I would never hate you? Why would you think that?? :(‘
P!Leo: I thought you’d be mad at me? I messed up everything and-
F!Leo: But you didn’t though? That was me from another timeline, not you. Sure you messed up a little but everyone does- you still saved the world.
F!Leo- the same guy who raised Casey in war and raised him with love despite the battle and loss? The one who made Casey feel appreciated and trusted enough to help change the future for the better?? I’m sorry, but I can’t see him looking down at self-sacrificial, sad version of himself with a newly born martyr complex and not immediately imagine another kid like Casey that needs to be protected.
Like yeah, of course he has regrets, had those moments during the war where he was at an all time low of depression and doubt. But that was him, not P!Leo. F!Leo is the adult and more than aware that there’s nothing he can do to change what happened to him in his timeline. What happened- happened, you know? Why would he be mad that the younger version of him still had the opportunity to grow up and be a kid without worrying about the death and destruction of his world?
P!Leo: ..Are you sure you’re not even a little angry with me?? You don’t have to lie you can hit me if it’ll make you feel better-
F!Leo: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING IM NOT GONNA HIT YOU YOU’RE JUST A KID- 😟
Give me F!Leo always reassuring P!Leo. P!Leo messing up a move during training and expecting to be berated but instead hears ‘You almost had it! Here let me show you how to do it-‘. F!Leo insisting that P!Leo keep his little childish hobbies and to treasure them while he still can.
P!Leo: *Talking about his collection* I should really stop reading these. It’s kind of babyish for a leader to have Jupiter Jim comics-
F!Leo: Jupiter Jim will never be babyish!!1!/j 😡
I want F!Leo begging P!Leo about the newest editions- the movies and lore and merch he missed out on. I want him to still have the same, corny humor and the wide shit-eating grin he gets when people dramatically sigh at his jokes. I want him to put a comforting shoulder on P!Leo’s shoulder and assuring him that he made the same mistakes. I need P!Leo feeling comfortable enough to individually seek out F!Leo and feeling confident to ask him for help first.
P!Leo: I feel bad
F!Leo: How come?
P!Leo: Bc you lost an arm and I didn’t. Maybe if I lost a limb during the battle then we could be matching and-
F!Leo: Kid I cannot express enough how glad I am that you didn’t become an amputee ☠️
I need them to be a weird father/son duo
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formula-fun · 1 year
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Em, do u happen to have a snippet/deleted scene for us today? 🥺🥺
Hi hi hi!! I do not have any from if i had words! Still working on writing everything I want to get down so that I can start cutting stuff later. I do however have this very long snippet from a fic i will probably never finish wherein Max announces his retirement and Charles goes through the 5 stages of grief.
“So,” Charles says on the phone that night, “when are you back in Monaco?”
“In a few more days,” Max answers, distracted. He has an airpod in one ear, the ancient pair of Beats that Daniel gave him while they were still teammates perched on the top of his head just close enough to the other ear that he can hear the sounds of the engine revs from the sim. It’s a completely convoluted setup, but it at least allows him to talk to Charles as he drives. “How’s Maranello?”
“About the same as always,” Charles replies. He sounds happy, and Max wonders distantly if he means it in a good way or a bad one. His tone sounds almost fond, and Max nearly bins it into a wall as he focuses on the sound of each syllable. “I went to visit the academy drivers, and they are staying in the same house I used to live in. It is strange to go back. Nothing really has changed.”
“Yeah?” Max asks him. “Are they any good?”
He hums. “Maybe in a few years,” he answers.
Not yet, then. Not good enough to replace Charles, should he decide to switch teams next year. Max wonders at that; wonders if that’s what was on Charles’ mind during his visit. Surely it’s early to be thinking about such things. Maybe it’s right on schedule. He doesn’t know.
“The food has not gotten better,” Charles continues. Through the line, water starts running. It sounds like he’s doing dishes. “A new restaurant has opened, but it's very controversial because it is not the regional cuisine. The team are very angry. We are not supposed to go, but the only other restaurant near the factory is a Michelin star…bar thing. I do not know how to call it. It is like a pub, but very fancy and with no beer.”
Max grunts. He doesn’t either.
“I cannot eat foam and cheese crisps all day,” Charles continues, giggling. “Andrea hates it. He says it is all air. I cannot build muscle eating this.”
“The food in Milton Keynes isn’t better. You would be eating Pizza Express up here,” Max replies, perhaps a bit cruelly. This isn’t the time to bring up Charles’ flirting with a Red Bull contract—not flippantly.
Charles doesn’t seem to notice. “Mate, we should get dinner when you are back,” he says instead. “When do you come in? I am back on Thursday.”
“Thursday for me too,” Max answers.
“Alright, let’s go. I will call that place on your street so they save us a table.”
The place on Max’s street happens to be the only restaurant in Monaco that serves anything remotely resembling Dutch food. It’s where Max always ends up after a bad week, and Max thought they were highly discreet until he’d brought Charles in and watched the owner practically fawn over him in what Max assumed was Monegasque while Charles flushed pink all the way down to the collar of his shirt. He’s fairly certain for that reason that the owners have absolutely no idea who Max is, which he loves. He’s also fairly certain he’ll never have to make a reservation as long as Charles is with him, not that he points that out.
“Sounds perfect,” he says. “Text me the details.”
“Alright, will do,” Charles replies. The water flicks off. “Are you sure you’re alright? You sound a little…”
“What?”
“Different. I don’t know.”
“I’m fine, Charles. I’m on the sim.”
“Ah, I see,” Charles teases. “You don’t even have time for a full conversation anymore, you’re so busy. The life of a champion.”
“You’ll know all about it soon enough,” Max answers. “I’ll see you.”
“Alright. Ciao.”
It’s only after he’s hung up that he registers what he implied; the way it could be construed. He hadn’t meant Charles would be a champion soon with Red Bull. Would Charles take it to mean that? Does he know what Max knows?
Max had meant Ferrari, of course.
Charles probably knows. After all, he can now apparently tell how Max is feeling just based on his voice. Max isn’t sure he has anything left to hide from him.
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umichenginabroad · 2 months
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Let the games begin: The Last Hurrah :(
Week 10
It’s our last full week here! Time really flew by and I can’t believe that I’ll be back in Michigan soon. To make the most of it, we stayed booked and busy to cross things off our San Sebastián bucket list. For the remaining days of our research, we also had a lot to finish up for final presentations. No more afternoon naps, we had to make this final rally count!
My week technically started on Tuesday due to the unfortunate bus situation from over the weekend (read last week’s post for that experience). I went to the beach to soak up some rays and then Jayashree and I went to this restaurant called The Yellow Deli. Maybe this is a hot take but I would say that this became one of my favorite spots to eat in all of San Sebastián, even though it doesn’t specialize in pintxos. It was mainly the vibe of the place that we enjoyed the most since it was like a funky woodland medieval tavern. The cheesecake and hot cider were a perfect combo of pure delish. Mateo always raves about the cheesecakes he eats everywhere he goes but I think he’s really missing out on this one.
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On Wednesday we went to La Mamma, our favorite pasta place, since Izzy hadn’t been yet. This time, Deidra decided to try a new dish and I’ve honestly never seen someone experience that much anguish over food before. At first, she said it had a little bit of a kick to it but that didn’t seem to phase her yet. As time went on, poor Deidra started to crumble and it was obvious that the spice was winning. Sweat, tears, and hopefully not blood went into Deidra persevering like a champ through her pasta. Very proud of her for that effort, and I would show a pic of the aftermath but she’d probably kill me if I did so here’s us before Deidra’s five stages of grief:
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Bataplán Thursday! At long last we got Izzy and Diego to go to the club with us for one last night out. The funny thing is that Diego kept trying to convince himself to not go but this guy ended up being the life of the party. The club life in Spain starts late and goes on into the wee hours of the morning which is definitely not for the weak. Even though we had work Friday, it was worth it to have fun with the group and do round two of arm wrestling yet again in Bataplán. Later on in the day, we got ready for one last trip which is special because of the…
Olympics!
Friday afternoon we boarded the bus to Bordeaux, about four-ish hours away to go see an Olympic soccer match. I’ve never watched an actual match in person before, so I was really excited to see all the hype and wear my San Fermín fit again in support for the one and only ESPAÑA! We did a lot of exploring the city before the game and found that it was super cute with highlights being castle gateways, a ferris wheel, mini arc de triomphe (nearly every european city has one for some reason??), and a reflection pool. To fuel for the game, we had an energizing lunch courtesy of the huge carrefour market in the city center. You can get a rotisserie chicken, roasted potatoes, and a dessert for like €5?? We then made our way to the stadium on the crazy packed and sweaty tram, then finally made it in and got our dream picture with the mascot of the olympic games: Phryge the French Hat. 
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Our seats were in a good spot pretty much right in front of the goal. Earlier in the day, I had bought a spanish flag to wear like a cape and to wave around during the game. As honorary spaniards, all of us had to represent and we. didn’t. disappoint. After every goal we were putting in the WORK to do the chants like our lives depended on it. Spain won 3-1 against the Dominican Republic and I like to think that we were a tiny part of causing that win to happen. I feel like before this game I didn’t really understand what made people so crazy about soccer, but being in the stands in person changed that perspective for me and I had a fun time! At the end of the day after having the sun blast down on us in the stands, we were collapsing. Refueled at a Canadian restaurant where I tried poutine for the first time and it was pretty tasty. Then, ended up back at the reflection pool where Izzy and I went on a rampage of splashing each other to the point where our pants were beyond soaked and I had to wear my flag around me like a skirt. ‘Twas a good end to a good day!
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Next week will be my final reflection post, so come back for my last blog ever, tears already! :(
Olé, olé, olé!
Emily Dobao
Biomedical Engineering
IPE San Sebastian, Spain
August 2nd, 2024
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mikroaaurora · 2 years
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confused
_____________________
 Woooow what a handful of a start to 2023. I think I’ve gone through the 5 stages of grief about 10 times during this month and a half. I’ve defiantly also experience a LOT within the shortest time although January felt like three months compiled into just one.
The BIG, big one was that I actually met someone, well this was December of 2022 but after about a month things were going well for us, actually things were going really well. I really liked this guy and I’m pretty sure he was reciprocating the same feelings back, and for me this was quite big because I had never been in a real relationship before, I mean I had dated a girl but she was my best friend so eh, and I had also dated long-out-of-the-country distance before, but I had never actually had a real relationship, and mind you this was with a boy.
I was nervous meeting him for the first date, hell I was shitting myself, honestly I think I almost considered driving back home, but I didn’t and we had a really great night.
Fast forward we would spend hours at night talking and watching movies (especially watching movies), staying up till 6am until one of us would doze off for a bit and then laughing at the fact we can both see the sun through our blinds. It was really really good, and it became quite a consistent habit to the point where I was wishing I just had one night to myself to play games haha.
I could also see my mood changing and I felt more happier, my family noticed me feeling happier.
A few weeks later after I saw him again things started to change, I mean he had his reasons that were completely reasonable so we talked a little less, took a little longer to reply to each other but it was okay, I had to understand. I just think that it was a little hard for me since we were talking so much constantly, I think I got a bit attached and clingy so I had to pull myself out of that mindset which wasn’t as easy but it got there.
Before I knew it we were not really talking at all and I was missing him constantly, at one point I think I got a little depressed for a few days because of it, since I was thinking… was it something I did? Did I do something wrong?? Whats happening???? But no matter what I could think of nothing has me pointing the finger at myself because we had just been like normal before we stopped talking so much. I struggled quite a bit through those probably 4 days, I didn’t do anything, wake up, watch tv all day, check tiktok a few times go to sleep, that’s all I did for about 4 days straight.
Honestly I would like to say a big fuck you to tiktok for also showing me so many relationship advice tiktoks on my fyp that fed into my anxiety and stress which didn’t help at all.
That was until I got sick of being sad.
One thing that I always admire about myself and pride myself on is how I can change my mood very quickly, and instantly motivate myself to be more positive. So I did. I was more positive and productive than I had been in the last 6 months. I was finally getting around to doing things I had put off for the longest time, I was waking up early, cooking myself new recipes and it made me feel really good!
Something that also helped was that I tend to get hyperfixated on something, in this case it was a movie/ movie characters, so tiktok I take that back thank you for feeding my hyperfixation.
Eventually I decided to text him after about 2 weeks of not talking, even though I was waiting for a response from him I said fuck it.
We talked for a few days but things just went back to normal and it felt like he was detaching himself a bit. But I kept gaslighting myself saying he’s busy, and tired because he was busy, he had a lot going on, but I don’t know things told me otherwise.
Now I think the worst part of this was he never established what we are, he did mention that we were in a relationship and god we acted like it but I just need that verbal confirmation.
I am still waiting for that confirmation and sometimes he’ll do things that will make me think okay we’re all fine, but then he’ll forget things that we had planned to do and I just get sad and confused all over again.
Confused that is the big word, constantly being confused.
Now I actually want to text him and ask him about what we are because I feel like it will be too hard to meet up and idk about calling, and I would like to know sooner or later before I become more confused with myself. But I told myself I would wait until valentines day is done just encase he decides to make a move, and wait until my trip this week is done since I don’t want to make myself stressed or sad.
But as for now the ball is in his court and I’m hoping he makes a move soon.
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I'm not sure if I'm too late but can I get headcanons for how jacob black would react to imprinting on a male vampire
Jacob Black imprinting on a male vampire
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Edited - 23/06/24
(Set in my own made up timeline renegade was never born, belle and Edward are not married yet but they are dating and the pack's are on okay terms with the Cullen's)
Denial for weeks about it, not only did he imprint on a guy (talk about a surprise) but he just had to be a dirty blood sucker.
He basically went through all 5 stages of Grief 
The Cullen's find it hilarious Especially because it had only happened because you had come to visit them.
It had been during one of visits that you had a run in with the pack when they had come to the Cullen's to tissue something with Carlisle. You and Emmett had stumbled outside the house laughing and messing with each other ( fighting). Carlisle had made you stop and introduced to the pack and Jacob's worst nightmare came true. Edward was the first one to know since he had seen it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“ What ?” 
“ The mutt imprinted on Y/n” 
Emmett pretty much lot it he would not stop laughing every time he nearly stopped he looked at how pissed off Jacob was and started again 
Even Carlisle found it a little amusing.
After the pack had explained what hell an imprint was you understood it a little better so you and Jacob had come to an agreement you would try as friends and see where it lead since you didn't want him to be in pain.
It took awhile  before you found your footing in the relationship but you did find it eventually.
After a while you decided to try as a romantic relationship and it still worked but Jacob still was going through it from the park and the Cullen's
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multifandom-worlds · 2 years
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Hellooo~ can I request an angst story about young Victor's last days with his mother and the day she dies? I want to cry ಥ▽ಥ
I hope I did this justice and made you cry like you wanted. I made myself cry while writing it. I was having a hard time trying to figure out how I wanted to do this but this is what came of it. I hope you enjoy!
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When She Died
Genre: Angst
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 988
Warnings: death, depression, grief, suicidal thoughts
Author's Note: This loosely follows the plot. I also tried something new with how I wrote this one. Let me know if you like it ☺️
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Losing a parent at any age is hard, but especially hard when you're young. Victor was young when he lost his mother - a mere 14 years old. 
The doctor's couldn't find out what was wrong with her, some "mystery illness" they said. Something they couldn't name was what took Victor's best friend, his biggest supporter, his mother away from him. 
If you asked Victor, he would tell you everything he felt those last couple days leading up to her inevitable death. He could tell you the colours of the flowers that surrounded her bed in his childhood home, the way he would wake up every morning and go right to her room, hoping for another day with her, even if she could hardly speak to him, could barely keep her eyes open, he would sit there. Day in and day out, he was by her side. 
He could tell you the amount of books and other materials he read to his mother every day and the nightmares he had that night when he went to bed.
He would tell you about how his grades slipped from straight A's to low C's during this time, how his father was disappointed in him but never voiced his disapproval of his son's grades. He would tell you how his teachers were sympathetic but still expected his homework to be done to the standards of the school he was enrolled in. He would also tell you that he was removed from that school after his mother passed because he was unable to attend for weeks after her death. 
If you asked, he would tell you that that was the time in his life his relationship with his father soured. At 14, he didn't understand why his father seemed to care so little about her sickness and eventual death. He didn't understand why his father wouldn't visit her during the day like he does, sit with them as a family, comfort his son and help him through one of the most tragic events in his life to date. 
He would tell you how he'd pick fights with his father, accusing him of not trying hard enough, for not loving her enough to find a cure for her, for purposely letting the only person who Victor ever loved die. He had so much resentment towards his father, all his anger about the situation was directed towards the only person he could rationalize being the cause of everything.
He would tell you about the funeral, how he would be standing by his mother's casket, watching all the people come in to give their condolences to his father. Hundreds of people he's never met, never seen would walk through, paying him little to no mind as he held back tears, praying to whatever God would hear him that he was the next one. 
Although he wishes you didn't ask, he would tell you all the feelings he was trying to process all by himself. He could tell you the amount of times he cursed the universe for taking her, how many times he wished it was him that died, not her. She was beautiful, loved and had so much more she could have done in her life. The world could have done without him, but when she died, the world lost an angel. He would tell you how there were times he tried to join her in the afterlife. The answer is 10 over 2 years. In the same breath he would tell you thank he's thankful they weren't successful because he met you. 
Victor would tell you how many nights he cried himself to sleep, how the world seemed to forget he even existed, how he didn't mind that. How he went through the 5 stages of grief over and over and over again. He thought he finally accepted her death, only to be reminded about the person he lost, about the feeling of love that died within him when she died. He'd go back to school, get perfect on a test he was really struggling with, he'd come home, call for his mother to share the good news, only to be reminded by the housekeeper, in no uncertain terms, that his mother was dead and he should move on. He held the tears back until he got to his bedroom, slammed the door and cried into his pillow for hours on end until he fell asleep from the exhaustion. 
All his usual interests - soccer, cooking, reading - none of that interested him for years. He lost touch with all his childhood friends because he got himself locked in his own mind, unable to respond to their inquiries about him. He would sleep for hours a day, rarely leaving his room for anything, food included. 
At his lowest, Victor confessed that he believed it was his fault. He didn't try hard enough. He didn't listen to her and it caused her stress and that is what killed her. He spent months playing back every mistake he ever made, every single time he disobeyed his mother in his head, further proving to himself that he was the cause of it. 
There was only 1 person who was able to break through to him in the years that followed his mother's death - Aunt Grace, his father's sister. 
Aunt Grace saw what was happening with her nephew and it pained her. She couldn't imagine the pain and anguish the poor kid was going through, believing the world turned its back on him. It was slow - it took her until Victor was 16 to finally get through to him but he'll tell you, he's forever thankful for Aunt Grace's persistence. 
He'll tell you all this if you ask. Sure it'll hurt like a bitch for him to relive those moments over again but he knows he'll be okay, especially now that you're beside him. Life is worth living again and he's grateful. 
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hockeyboysimagines · 3 years
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Ashes and Wine
Chapter 6
Warnings: Some angst, language, implied sexual talk, and Kaitlin being a total bitch.
A double update whaaaaaaat? Enjoy! Let me know what you think!!!
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Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
5 stages of grief and Leighton had gone through them all. First she didn’t believe it, it had been a bad dream or a joke of course. Then she was angry, how could he do this? He still loved her. Then she bargained. If she just had more time, she could change his mind. Then the sadness set in, lots tears and memories flooding back to her. And finally she realized there was nothing she could do about it, and she just had to accept that her chapter with Mat had ended.
But that didn’t mean she was happy or nice about it. Ginny and Beau held her hand every step of the way, but instead of feeling at peace with the situation since she had accepted it, she returned to anger.
She had avoided Mat the rest of the week, but it was unrealistic to think she could avoid him forever.
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The wedding it turned out, could not be pulled off in 3 weeks but would take 5. After Kaitlin had thrown a small temper tantrum, even though it was her fault for wanting something so extravagant that took too much time, she resumed planning. Mat stayed out of it mostly, allowing her to do her thing. He sat through hours of wedding stuff in between games and practices. It was rather annoying.
He hadn’t heard from Leighton since he broke the news, Ginny was giving him radio silence, and Beau had shot a puck at him during practice the previous day. The absence of all three in his life left a large gaping hole, and the wound on his heart opened up again, bleeding all over. He sighed as Kaitlin and her bridesmaids were chattering away in the kitchen.
Leighton squealed when she felt a pair of hands grab at her waist and spin her around, pushing her against her locker. Mat leaned forward and pressed his lips sweetly against hers. If a teacher rounded the corner they would get in trouble but she didn’t care.
When they finally broke apart he smiled at her “Are you coming to my game tonight?”
“Of course. Ginny too, and my parents wanted to come.”
Leighton’s parents loved Mat almost instantly. They were kind, and welcomed him in. And his parents loved Leighton. His mom gushed about how perfect they were together , and how sweet and beautiful she was. Everything in his life was pretty perfect at that moment. All except for one small thing.
It had been 3 months and every time they tried to be alone to…you know, someone got in the way. It was especially frustrating.
“Awesome. I have to go.” He said making a small noise of disgust. Usually he had study hall at the end of the day, but once a month his free period was filled with a mandatory health class by Mr.Davis. He leaned forward to give her a quick kiss and a smile before turning to walk down the hall. He slouched into health class taking a seat saved for him between Cody and Josh. This was so stupid. All they did in this class was discuss stuff he didn’t really want or need to know.
“Good morning!” Mr.Davis said brightly “Today I expect the highest level of maturity you have. Because today isn’t about health. It’s about Sexual Education.”
Whispers went up around the room, girls giggling and looking around at the boys in the room.
“Are you serious? Ugh.” Josh said lowly.
“What are you complaining about virgin boy?” Cody said smiling.
“Shut the fuck up.” Josh threw a wad of paper at him.
“I need you all to pay close attention. I’m not naive to think that most of you are not, in some way sexually active. But you should know about basic safety and ways to prevent things that shouldn’t happen to happen. Now shall we?”
Mat and his friends spent most of the period holding back laughter while Mr. Davis broke out charts and diagrams, and the girls in the front giggled away. He stopped paying attention after a while, thinking about Leighton and his game until he heard his name.
“I-what?”
Mr. Davis eyed him over his glasses with a small smile “I would think you of all people would be paying attention Mr.Barzal, with that girlfriend your always kissing around school. You must learn to control yourself son.”
“That’s gonna be hard Sir. Have you seen my girl?” The room erupted into laughter, the teacher included, who shook his head and pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Just pay attention.”
Mat smiled to himself at the memory, and checked the time. He had practice. He stood, grabbing what he needed and said goodbye to Kaitlin and her friends. There was a few guys already there, Beau included. He pointedly ignored Mat when he sat next to him.
“Are you going to ignore me forever?”
Beau turned to him, meeting his eye for the first time in a week. “I’m mad at you.”
“Obviously.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Marrying Kaitlin. You know you don’t love her.”
“Dude don’t -“
Beau held up a hand stopping him “I don’t wanna hear it. I’ve spent the week helping the girl you really love, and who loves you, pick herself back up.”
“If she loves me then why did she say no.”
The other guys had quieted down as they went back and forth.
“Because she was 18 and 18 year olds do dumb things, like spring marriage on their girlfriends.” He said with a scowl “Life isn’t a movie you moron. And she never said no, she said not right now. It doesn’t mean she didn’t love you.”
Mat scowled at him, anger bubbling up “You don’t know anything about it.”
“I think I know enough. I know that your doing this to push her away, and guess what it worked. Happy now?” Beau stood and stormed away, slamming the locker room door behind him, leaving Mat sitting there.
“What was that about?” Marty asked sitting down next to him. Mat sighed and told him everything.
“Sounds like your in a situation buddy. But are you sure you want to get married?” Marty said, running the toe of his shoe along the floor before he spoke again “I mean it’s a big commitment, so…are you sure?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean a few months ago I thought you really loved Kaitlin, but since the other one showed up here I’m not so sure.”
Mat looked at his feet. He wasn’t wrong. He hadn’t been acting like an engaged guy since Leighton came to town. And everyone had noticed, which is why the guys were confused when they received the ‘Save the Date’.
“I love Kaitlin. I do. But I feel like I’m hurting Leighton by doing this, and I don’t want that.”
“I think you should talk to her. If you want to keep both of them in your life you have to fix this.”
********
“I don’t think she’s ready to see you yet.” Ginny said glancing over her shoulder. She wasn’t surprised to see Mat at their front door but she also wasn’t ready to unleash the argument she was sure was going to happen.
“I didn’t come here to fight Ginny. I came to talk to her and to give you both this.” He handed her a card, which contained a wedding invitation.
“I really want you both to be there.”
“I can’t promise that. I’ll head out to give you guys some privacy.”
Leighton was in the kitchen. She could hear him at the door but she was so numb to the world it didn’t make any difference to her. When she finally turned he was standing in the middle of the room staring at her.
“Do you need something?” She asked flatly, arms crossed.
“How are you doing?”
“Don’t you have a wedding to be planning?”
“I wanted to-“
“What do you want Mat?” She snapped.
“I came to formally invite you and Ginny to my wedding.”
She scoffed, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat “I’m gonna pass on that one, but thanks.”
He sighed. She was looking at him with an expression he had never seen before. Anger, disgust, and like he had stomped all over her heart.
“Look I know your upset with me, but can we just talk about this. We used to be able to talk about anything.”
“That’s over now. It was over the minute you decided to move your wedding date to hurt me, and then kissed me right there.” She pointed to the spot in her living room.
“I didn’t do it to hurt you. I did it cuz I love her.”
“You used to love me, guess that means nothing now.”
“Yeah I did, and you said no Leighton.” He said quietly, arms crossed. He was getting angry she could tell. Maybe she was being unreasonable , but the pain she had felt the last week was pouring out now and she couldn’t stop it.
“Stop it with that lie. I NEVER said no Mat! I said not right now. I just wasn’t ready! You gave up on us!”
He looked up, angry and took a step towards her “I gave up on us? You left! You didn’t even give it a chance!”
“You didn’t follow me!” Her eyes burned with tears and her hands were clenched into fists at her side. She looked almost childlike as she glared at him, stomping one foot.
“How the hell was I supposed to know that’s what you wanted. You took off so fast after I proposed I didn’t even know where you went.”
Tears had now streamed down her face and she couldn’t hold them back anymore.
“You didn’t even try! You said we would be together forever! You said I was the love of your life! You said it to everyone, you said it to me and I wish you hadn’t ever said it at all because you never meant it!”
“I never meant it? You never meant it. The minute things got real you backed out.”
“Then how come every time one of your stupid games is on tv I watch it?! How come I carry that stupid picture around with me everywhere I go?! And how come I’ve put myself through all this pain just to have you in my life again if I don’t care?”
“If you cared you would have come to that autograph signing I told Ginny about 2 years ago.”
“ I didn’t want to text her, but it would be really great to see you both.”
Ginny sighed and drummed her fingers on the table “I’ll see what I can do.” She said goodbye and hung up.
“Who was that?” Leighton asked from the sofa. The apartment was small, which left very little privacy so she knew she had heard her on the phone. Ginny sat down, and turned the tv off.
“That was Mat. He has an autograph signing in Seattle, and asked if we would come.” Leighton swallowed and felt sick. It had been 2 years, 2 years on the run from him. She hadn’t spoken to him or heard from him in 2 years, since she left Seattle.
“You don’t have to go….but he did ask for you. Maybe it’s time to talk about this.”
“I was there Mat.” He froze and turned to her. “At that autograph signing 3 years ago. And I was so proud of you.” She was smiling sadly and his heart fell to his stomach.
“Why- Why didn’t you say anything?”
She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair and wiped under eyes “ Well I was going to but then I saw you with Kaitlin and I figured she was your girlfriend, which is obviously true. I was just glad you were happy.”
He didn’t really know what to say. He had always assumed she didn’t want to see him, so that was the last time he’d made an attempt to reach out to her. But he was wrong.
“Leighton I-“
“I think you should go Mat. Go home to Kaitlin.” She swiped at the tears in her cheek and turned away from him.
He took one last look at her before he sighed sadly and turned to walk out the door.
********
“So you actually invited them?”
Kaitlin flipped her hair back over her shoulder, and took a sip of her wine “Of course I did. She doesn’t get to come back and try to take him from me and then not have to watch him marry me.”
“You are so evil!” The others giggled.
“She gets what she gets. And once we’re married, he will NEVER see her again. Ever.”
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thisisarcanereverie · 3 years
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Should’ve Known  Chapter 2
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Ok so this is going to be a mini series probably going to be from 5 to 10 chapters long MAYBE. 
This is going to transition from a Steve Rodgers x Reader to a Wanda Maximoff x Reader. 
in case you missed the last chapter
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Steve Rodgers or Wanda Maximoff, Marvel owns them. 
WARNINGS: Angst, Swearing, the stages of grief, loss, dark themes, 18 + from here on out. 
WORDS:2,572
SUMMARY: After you and Steve parted ways you find comfort in the one person who might have an idea of what you were going through. 
(A/N) Let’s just pretend that Wanda found Vision like a month or so afterwards. Not because she didn’t think about looking for him but because she had to do paperwork and had to call people in order to find out where he was.  
After an hour or so of listening to the radio with Wanda you finally find enough strength to say your farewells to Pepper and the rest. 
It was only natural that people were going to ask questions. Pepper had asked you where Steve was and it took most of your self restraint not to tell her the whole story. You knew she didn’t need that, she was mourning her husband and you didn’t want to take that away from her with your own grief so the only thing you said was. 
“He’s watching the sunset.” 
Wanda was there for you through all the questions until finally Sam and Bucky showed back up. Sam held Steve’s shield. 
Steve was nowhere to be found. 
You knew at that moment that he did it. He spent his life with her. 
Peggy Carter. 
You felt like your heart had been stabbed with a hot blade and the only thing keeping you upright was Wanda. 
“Let me drive you home,” She whispered in your ear as her hands ran up and down your arms in a comforting manner. “you’re in no condition to drive.” 
You almost laughed, “I don’t think you’re in a better condition than I am to drive either.” you whispered. 
Finally saying your final condolences and goodbyes to Pepper and Morgan, you and Wanda went back into your car, you in the passenger's seat while she was driving. 
That was a few weeks ago. Wanda had immediately driven you to her apartment having agreed that you both needed someone right now. That you both needed each other right now. 
The last thing you both needed was to be alone. 
You had all but officially moved into Wanda’s apartment. It was small but quaint. It was the best she could do in the short time between coming back from the Blip and Tony’s funeral. Thanks to her magic and her lack of personal items she moved in rather quickly. 
You knew eventually you would have to go back to the apartment you had once shared with Steve. To pack his belongings in a bag and do 1 of a few things to it. Like lighting it on fire or selling it on ebay for money or maybe just giving it to a donation center. 
This past week felt like it blurred, minutes became hours and hours became days. 
You kept busy however you could, working yourself in a frenzy to avoid the sinking and dark feelings and thoughts that occured the moment you stopped working. 
During the day you cleaned and cooked and baked and sketched and basically bullshitted the day away. 
You avoided sleeping at night. Steve usually comforted you during your nightmares, without him you suffered alone. You would wake, paralyzed in your own bed shaking and drenched in sweat, alone. You would try to take one shaky breath after another but the constant thought of “what’s the point” kept echoing louder and louder until you finally managed to calm yourself down when the first rays of sunlight hit the walls of your bedroom. 
You don’t sleep most nights because of that, instead you find something else to do like watching a movie and stuff like that. The stuff you did before Steve. 
You weren’t the only one who suffered from nightmares. Wanda suffered a great deal from them. You discovered this on the second night of you staying with her. 
You were going to grab some soda when you heard crashing coming from her room. Immediately you stopped what you were doing and knocked on her door. When she didn’t answer you went in, prepared to apologize in case she wasn’t decent. 
What you saw were some items being flown across the room and her thrashing in her sheets. You had carefully made your way to her and gently set yourself at the edge of the bed. You weren’t good at the comforting thing but you did the best you could. 
You gently took her small hand in yours and you firmly set your hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. 
“Wands wake up.” You said gently, still gently shaking her awake. 
Finally her green eyes snapped open, at first she didn’t see you, instead her eyes darted around the room and her breathing became erratic. You moved your hands to both sides of her face gently and silently shushed her telling her she’s okay telling her she has nothing to be afraid of and that she just had a nightmare. 
When the redhead had settled down, Wanda sat up straight and looked over you trying to see if she had hurt you. You assured her that she didn’t before you snaked your arms around her and held Wanda. You knew that what she needed most right then was someone to hold her and just be there until she fell back asleep. and that is what you did. You held her until she finally went back to sleep and stayed with her after for a while, just to make sure that she wouldn’t have another nightmare. 
Wanda had called out to Vision in her sleep a few times but other than that she was silent. 
Ever since then your nights have consisted of comforting Wanda during her nightmares. 
Now after a few weeks and some drinks. You thought it was finally time that you went and cleaned out your apartment. 
Wanda had come with you to help both physically and emotionally. 
The ride there seemed to last hours when in reality Wanda’s apartment wasn’t too far from where you and Steve had lived. Once you had arrived it took you a few minutes before you felt Wanda’s hand reach for your own. 
“We don’t have to do this today, “ she said, “we could always come back at a different time.” 
You shook your head, “I can’t avoid this forever.” and with that you unbuckled yourself from the car and stepped out with Wanda in tow. 
You opened the trunk to grab the cardboard boxes you and Wanda had stuffed into her trunk and proceeded to walk to the elevator of the building. 
After pressing the floor number Wanda turned to you. 
“Has Sam or Bucky tried contacting you?” She asked curiously. 
It was shortly after you had left the funeral that the calls came rushing in. Sam and Bucky must have told everyone what had happened and suddenly everyone was trying to call you. At the time you weren’t ready to answer the calls. You only texted to say that you were with Wanda and that you needed some time to process what happened. 
Pepper was the first one you called back, She offered for you to stay with her and Morgan and have movers move your things for you from the apartment. You had politely declined, you assured her that Wanda was okay with keeping you for a while until you got back on your feet and that you needed to be there for each other at the moment and that you didn’t want to be a burden on them during this time. 
Sam was next, he told you that Steve had given the shield himself and that he was sorry for what Steve did. Even telling you that he felt like he didn’t deserve the shield. You had told him you could think there was no one better than him to have the Shield. 
Bucky had apologized, saying he would’ve stopped Steve if he had known what his best friend was about to do. You had told him that there was no stopping Steve at that moment and he shouldn’t put the blame on himself. 
One by one you answered back the calls.
Except one. 
You didn’t recognize the number, but you had a feeling of who it was.  
You immediately deleted it from your phone. 
You had nothing more to say to him. 
You needed to move on. 
You had no other choice. 
You turned to Wanda seeing her waiting for your answer. 
“Yeah they called and told me that they would’ve stopped him if they had known. Apparently Steve gave Sam the shield.” You saw her eyes widen in surprise before finally returning to normal. 
“He’ll do right by it,” she said before settling back into silence. Finally the elevator had reached your floor. Once you had reached the door your hands were shaking slightly. 
You pulled the keys out of your coat pocket and opened the door. The urge to cry and burn everything became overwhelming. 
You almost turned around and went back to the car, you almost didn’t care if you left the door wide open and someone stole it all, but then you looked at Wanda. 
Her green eyes must have been on you the entire time and when she saw the look on your face she immediately grabbed your hand and squeezed. You blinked back the tears and thanked every star in the sky that Wanda was there with you right now, otherwise you probably would have just let the place get robbed.
It wasn’t a fancy place, but for a while it was the home you shared with him. 
As you went inside and one by one you placed items into the boxes. Carefully packing plates and cups into bubble wrap and newspaper. You already had buyers for the furniture and they would be there in an hour or so to collect it. All you and Wanda had to do was wrap the small stuff like dishes and blankets and clothes. 
And pictures.
The urge to throw the picture of you and Steve at your first baseball game was strong, instead you decided to keep it. Carefully wrap it in newspaper. 
One by one you went through pictures and the thoughts came rushing in. You wondered which picture it was, you wondered which of these pictures were taken when it all went to hell.
Maybe it was all temporary for him in the first place. 
Finally you and Wanda had cleared most of the apartment. Except for one room. 
Your bedroom. 
Wanda had offered to do it alone, but you insisted, you needed to finish it. 
You and Steve were minimalistic, there was not much besides the bed and clothes in the room. It still hurt nonetheless. 
You were tempted to keep some of his clothes, to breathe in his scent one last time but you knew better. You knew that all the progress you made would crumble the moment you did so. 
So instead you packed, barely breathing as you did so, you stuffed them in a bag to go into donation and set them to the side. 
It was late afternoon by the time you and Wanda had cleared the apartment. 
The buyers came and left with the furniture, you almost cried when the buyer for the bed left. But you held it in. 
By the end of it Wanda had pulled you in for an almost bone crushing hug. 
“I’m proud of you Солнечный свет” she whispered. You finally felt the dam inside you burst. You had tried to be strong, you had wanted to get through this without breaking down. 
It was inevitable. 
You had left the keys with the building manager, and walked away. You were going to miss that apartment and the memories that were made there. However, that’s all that was there now. 
Memories. 
You wanted to tell Wanda, about you and about your past. She had a right to know, but every time you tried the words got stuck in your throat. You were afraid to tell her. Tony, Nat, and Steve were the only ones who knew (besides Fury but he knows everything about everyone so that didn’t really count.) Each one of them either died or left you. 
You couldn’t lose Wanda too. 
When you got back home you and Wanda thought it best to unpack tomorrow and that tonight you and her would have an indoor girls night. 
Wanda had stashed some alcohol in the kitchen and while she prepared drinks you were in charge of snacks and picking out something to watch. 
Wanda handed you your drink as you continued to scroll through the tv. 
“How do you feel about sitcoms?” You asked, you loved sitcoms but Steve had always found them annoying so you only really watched them when he was away. You felt her tense beside you, you tore your eyes away and looked at the redhead. You immediately felt terrible as you saw tears littering her green eyes. She shook her head and laughed silently. 
“Vision and I used to watch sitcoms back at the compound.” She said, you turned fully to her and gave her your full attention. Wanda smiled a bittersweet smile before her eyes landed on you. 
“Tell me more.” You encouraged, you never pried into her life with Vision but you knew how much she had loved him and he with her. 
Wanda then started from the beginning, how she had watched sitcoms with her family to practice their english before she and Pietro were orphaned. How after her brother's death Vision used to sit with her and watch sitcoms with her at the compound every night. 
 “I remember the first night, he wanted to comfort me and I had almost turned him away. He told me something that has stuck with me since that day.” She told you, at this point you both had repositioned yourself on her couch so that way you both could face each other, her back at one end of the couch and you on the other. You both shared a blanket and had almost completely forgotten about the tv. 
“What did he say if you don’t mind me asking.” You asked, worried you had crossed a line. Her green eyes had found yours and you could see something in her stir, it wasn’t anger you saw, but grief. 
“What is grief, if not love persevering.” 
That line hung there in the air for a while. The weight of that sentence filled silence as you and her merely sipped from your respective drinks. 
Vision still had all the answers, even now. 
You had loved Steve with every fiber of your being. It took time for it to get to that point and it took even more time for you to trust him with your heart. You thought he had hung the stars and the moon. 
You knew a part of you would always love him. 
But you could never forgive him. 
You wanted to, you wanted to be happy for him and forgive him because all he did was follow his heart. 
You were just upset that his heart hadn’t led him to you. 
“We don’t have to watch a sitcom if you don’t want to.” you offered, breaking the silence. Her eyes landed on you and the intensity of her gaze amazed you. She wasn’t angry or upset that you had brought it up, but it was the astonishment that you had cared. 
“No, I want to.” She replied, “besides I missed 5 years worth of Modern Family and Brooklyn 99. I need to catch up before I see any spoilers.” 
You both laugh as you try to decide to watch either Modern Family or Brooklyn 99 first. 
For the first time in what seemed like a long time. You had stopped thinking about Steve Rodgers.
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evienyx · 3 years
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DSMP Citizens POV 5: The L'Manburg Captain
DSMPsona created by anon
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Bones was, to say it simply, sick of fighting.
The Guard had been fighting other people’s battles for as long as he could remember. Being raised by two guards on Hypixel, he grew up around fighting. He would be there as his parents broke up violent fights in lobbies, as they enforced the server rules when the admins couldn’t, and he watched as they slowly turned to him to teach him to do the same.
He had become a guard himself, but he grew weary of the fast-paced life of Hypixel. The server was always updating, always changing, and with the highest and fastest-growing population of any server, it was hard to keep track of what was going on.
So, eventually, Bones picked up his things, went to the server hub, and left.
He bounced from one smaller survival server to another, eventually hearing about something called the ‘Dream SMP’ server. Knowing that he had nothing better to do, the Guard decided to join it.
He spawned in a spruce forest, walled in on every side. There were others around the server portal that he had just emerged from, all milling around.
“What’s going on?” Bones asked someone nearby.
The woman he had addressed sighed, and she sounded exhausted. “We’re all just waiting to be greeted.”
After another hour, Dream, a man famous for both his parkour and combat skills, appeared and greeted the newest members of the server. He hadn’t realized that the Dream was the Admin of this world.
Two others stood next to the Admin. One, dressed in regal apparel, wore dark sunglasses over their eyes, a crown resting over their brow. The other wore what looked to be a war uniform. His hands folded behind his back, his gaze steady as it swept over the crowd, he had a firm smile on his face.
The first introduced herself as King Eret, leader of the Greater SMP, while the second called himself President Wilbur Soot, the head of a newly-formed country known as L’Manburg.
The Guard, who considered himself to always be on the side of the people, heard that L’Manburg had recently gained independence after fighting a Revolution in order to “free themselves from tyranny.” The Guard moved into L’Manburg the next day.
He was given a free place to live for a month, giving him time to acclimate to the server, as well as get a job to be able to actually get his own place. Not knowing what else to do, Bones joined the L’Manburg army. He didn’t care for fighting, but it was the only thing that he was good at.
His reputation from Hypixel preceded him, apparently. Being a guard on the biggest server was a very respected career, and Bones found it easy to move up the ranks rather quickly. It probably helped that the L’Manburg forces were rather lacking in terms of officers with actual experience. Guard training on Hypixel was often more intense than many servers’ military training programs, as well, so Bones had no trouble dominating in L’Manburg’s program.
When the elections occurred, the Soldier proudly cast his vote for President Soot and VP Tommy. Bones voted for the people, and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit were for the people.
The election results, then, were upsetting, to say the least. Bones refused to listen as the new President Schlatt exiled the previous administration and called on the forces of L’Manburg to kill them. He stood in place, nails digging into his palm and screaming profanities as President Soot was bowed down and VP Tommy managed to just barely slip away.
That evening, while on patrol (which he had been demoted to for a month after his show during the inauguration), Bones spotted someone in the treeline.
“Who’s there?” The Soldier called. There was nothing for a moment and Bones aimed his crossbow at the forest. The bushes rustled and then TommyInnit stepped out, his hands raised above his head.
“Vice President?” Bones asked, lowering the crossbow. The leaves shifted again and another emerged. The Soldier blinked, shock holding him in place. “Technoblade?”
Technoblade raised an eyebrow and glanced down at VP Tommy. “Do I need to kill this guy?”
VP Tommy shook his head emphatically. “I don’t think so.” He turned back to Bones. “Do we need to kill you?”
“Are you starting a rebellion?” Bones asked, ignoring the question. A nod was given in response, and his shoulders sagged in relief. “Can I join?”
VP Tommy grinned up at Technoblade. “Told you!” The teenager looked back at the Soldier. “Go ask Niki! Wil said she’s making a rebellion inside Manburg, he sent her the Pogtopia coordinates!”
Bones nodded. “You best be going. I’m meant to be on patrol.”
VP Tommy lazily saluted and bolted off into the woods. Technoblade stared at Bones, gave him a curt nod, and then was gone as well.
The next day, after getting the location of the rebellionfrom Niki Nihachu, Bones gathered his valuables, his beloved dog Rosa, and ran. As he wove through the trees, following the beeping of the communicator to reach the correct coordinates, the Soldier wondered if he would be demoted for this.
He knocked on the rock wall the way that he had been shown to at the bakery, and it slid open to reveal an exhausted-looking President Soot.
The man’s eyes lit up when they landed on him.
“Captain Bones!” President Soot exclaimed, reaching out a hand to shake it firmly. Bones ignored how shaky the other’s fingers were. “What brings you here?” He paused. “Are you here to capture us? Because we’re not on L’Manburg land.”
Bones shook his head. “I heard you’re starting a rebellion?”
Soot’s eyes widened, and then he grinned and ushered the Captain inside.
Pogtopia was a ravine with grayed stones that reflected the mood of all who lived there. Bones started teaching a combat course for those who didn’t know how to fight, and the determination that shone in the eyes of teenagers who were just now choosing to pick up a weapon made him wonder when it had all come to this.
The Captain’s days in Pogtopia were not particularly memorable. He watched as President Soot slowly delved deeper and deeper in paranoia, to the point where he started accusing people like Bones, who had been in the rebellion since the beginning, of being spies all along.
Bones would dig his fingers in the fur of his dog on days like these and remember the inspiring leader that President Soot had once been.
Then, they won against Manburg on November 16th, and President Soot blew up the country before dying himself, and the Captain watched as President Tubbo stood in front of the people of L’Manburg and made promises of a brighter future.
And for a bit of time, it seemed like that could be true.
Then, though, as all good things do, the happiness came to an abrupt end as it was announced that VP Tommy had griefed the vacation home of GeorgeNotFound, the recently-crowned king of the Greater SMP. Dream, the Admin of the server himself, offered President Tubbo a choice: Exile TommyInnit, or their two factions would go to war.
The people of L’Manburg were all generally on the same page, screaming in the streets about how they were ready to fight again. TommyInnit was one of the founding members of the country, he had been there since the beginning. For Bones, though, above all else, it was about the fact that VP Tommy was a teenager. The Captain took to the streets with the others, calling out their readiness to go to war.
When VP Tommy was exiled, then, and sent off to some far-off island, Bones was back in the streets again, yelling at the top of his lungs about the injustice done against a child, thanks to the work of a foreign power.
“L’Manburg has never bowed down at the will of Dream before!” He exclaimed. “We aren’t going to start now!” His call was echoed by those around him, as the people called for justice to be served.
Weeks passed with the people of L’Manburg being tense and angry, the air stewing with conflict. On the eve of January 5th, the people were gathered and listened as President Tubbo, with VP Tommy somehow by his side, explained that the next day, their country would be destroyed.
That night, Bones moved Rosa and all the things that he actually cared about to his assigned tent at the campsite offered up to the L’Manburg residents. As people trickled into the camp, the Captain took anyone who wanted to try and fight the next day and continued the training sessions he’d led back in Pogtopia. There was a greater level of melancholy that had fallen over the people, but they listened nonetheless, and Bones taught and taught until his eyes were stinging from unshed tears and his muscles burned all through his body.
“Get some sleep,” President Tubbo said, joining Bones on the makeshift stage he had taken so that the whole crowd that he was training could see him. “You all are going to need it. Thank you for working so hard to fight for our country.” The teenager wiped at his eyes, and Bones realized through his exhaustion that the president was crying, too. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” President Tubbo nodded to the Captain, stepped off the stage, and was gone.
Doomsday was, to say the least, a disaster. L’Manburg was blown down to bedrock, there was nothing anyone could do, and by the end of it, Bones stood with the people of a ruined country and looked down at what remained of their home: A hole, one so deep and wide that nothing would ever be built there again.
King Eret stood next to President Tubbo and VP Tommy, overlooking the destruction.
“L’Manburg is gone,” President Tubbo finally said, addressing the crowd. “There will be no rebuilding from this. I’m so sorry, everyone.” Tears were streaming down his face. “L’Manburg was meant to be a safe place, somewhere that people could come to be happy and free. Maybe that was how it was in the beginning, but we lost our way. Maybe in another world, things could have been different.” The teenager laughed wetly, his eyes red as he turned to look at the people. “We did it wrong, but, hey, at least we tried.” He sniffed. “Maybe next time, we’ll do it better.” President Tubbo stopped talking, and everyone was silent for a moment. Then, King Eret began speaking.
“The campsite will remain set up for three more months. You may stay there while you search for a new place to live, whether that be somewhere on this server or on a different one entirely,” King Eret explained, her hands folded neatly behind her back. They glanced back at the crater, and Bones swore he saw a single tear trickle down their face. “L’Manburg was an inspiration to all of the server,” King Eret said. “It will be mourned for centuries.”
Bones, now a veteran of a fallen nation, stayed on the server. He found a piece of land, outside of the borders of the Greater SMP, and settled down there. He learned to farm from a family that lived within the Greater SMP’s territory, and purchased livestock and seeds so he could begin a new life.
The Veteran, with Rosa at his side, settled down for a quieter life. Maybe things would be better now, he supposed. Maybe here, in land that belonged to no one but himself, with no elections to worry about or wars to fight, Bones would be all right. Maybe now, finally, the server could begin to heal, to eventually rise up and fight against the tyranny of their Admin so that peace could finally reign.
(When the news came in on the communicators, then, that Dream had been captured and imprisoned within the maximum security cell of Pandora’s Vault, Bones joined the people in the street, cheering until his voice gave out and drinking until he passed out from happiness.
Then, he buried his face in Rosa’s fur and let out a genuine laugh for the first time in months.
Finally, finally, things could get better.)
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nashvilledreams · 4 years
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My Naya, my Snixxx, my Bee. I legitimately can not imagine this world without you.
7 years ago today, she and I were together in London when we found out about Cory. We were so far away, but I was so thankful that we had each other. A week ago today we were talking about running away to Hawaii. This doesn’t make sense. And I know it probably never will.
She was so independent and strong and the idea of her not being here is something I cannot comprehend. She was the single most quick-witted person I’ve ever met, with a steel-trap memory that could recall the most forgettable conversations from a decade ago verbatim. The amount of times she would memorize all of those crazy monologues on Glee the morning of and would never ever mess up during the scene… I mean, she was clearly more talented than the rest of us. She was the most talented person I’ve ever known. There is nothing she couldn’t do and I’m furious we won’t get to see more.
I’m thankful for all the ways in which she made me a better person. She taught me how to advocate for myself and to speak up for the things and people that were important to me, always. I’m thankful for the times I grew an ab muscle from laughing so hard at something she said. I’m thankful she became like family. I’m thankful that my dad happened to have met her weeks before I did and when I got Glee, he told me to “look out for a girl named Naya because she seemed nice.” Well dad, she was nice and she became one of my favorite people ever.
If you were fortunate enough to have known her, you’ll know that her most natural talent of all was being a mother. The way that she loved her boy, it was truly Naya at her most peaceful. I’m thankful that Naya got that beautiful little boy back on that boat. I’m thankful he will have a strong family around him to protect him and tell him about his incredible mom.
I just hope more than anything that her family is given the space and time to come to terms with this. For having such tiny body, Naya had such a gigantic presence, a void that will now be felt by all of us - those of us who knew her personally and the millions of you who loved her through your TVs. I love you, Bee.
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My favorite duet partner. I love you. I miss you. I don’t have words right now, just lots of feelings. Rest In Peace Angel, and know that your family will never have to worry about anything.
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We started out as the closest friends and then like all new things, we went through a bit of a rocky phase. However, we stuck by each other’s side and created the most beautiful friendship built out of love and understanding. The last I had the chance to see you in person, I had left oranges outside our home for you to take. I wanted to say hi through the window but my phone didn’t ring when you called (which it never does, f*cking T-Mobile), so instead you and Josey left two succulents on our doorstep as a thank you. I planted those succulents and I look at them everyday and think of you. I still listen to your EP on repeat because from the moment I heard it, it struck me and I always wished the world knew more of your voice. You sent me over 5 dozen SnapChat videos when you and Josey woke up in the morning and I kick myself that I didn’t save one of them. You always shared recipes and I admired your love for food. We vowed to spend every Easter together, even though Covid stole this last one from us. You are and always will be the strongest and most resilient human being I know, and I vowed to carry that with me as I continue to live my life. 
You constantly taught me lessons about grief, about beauty and poise, about being strong, resilient and about not giving a fuck (but still somehow respectful). Yet, the utmost important lesson I learned most of all from you was being a consistent and loving friend. You were the first to check in, the first to ask questions, the first to listen..you cherished our friendship and I never took that for granted. 
We never took photos together because we mutually hated taking pictures...our relationship meant more than proof. I have countless pictures of our babies playing, because we shared that kind of pride and joy. So I’m showing the world a photo of our little goof balls for you, because I know that meant more than anything and they remind me of you and I. I speak to you everyday because I know you’re still with me and even though I’m feeling greedy that we don’t get more time together, I cherish every moment we had and hold it close to my heart.
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There are no words and yet so many things I want to say, I don't believe I'll ever be able to articulate exactly what I feel but... Naya, you were a ⚡️ force and everyone who got to be around you knew it and felt the light and joy you exuded when you walked into a room. You shined on stage and screen and radiated with love behind closed doors. 
I was lucky enough to share so many laughs, martinis and secrets with you. I can not believe I took for granted that you'd always be here. Our friendship went in waves as life happens and we grow, so I will not look back and regret but know I love you and promise to help the legacy of your talent, humor, light and loyalty live on. 
You are so loved. You deserved the world and we will make sure Josey and your family feel that everyday. I miss you already.
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She was bold. She was outrageous. She was a LOT of fun.⁣
Naya made me laugh like no one else on that set. I always said it while we were working together and I’ve maintained it ever since. Her playful, wicked sense of humor never ceased to bring a smile to my face.⁣
She played by her own rules and was in a class of her own. She had a brashness about her that I couldn’t help but be enchanted by. I also always loved her voice, and savored every chance I got to hear her sing. I think she had more talent than we would have ever been able to see.⁣
I was constantly moved by the degree to which she took care of her family, and how she looked out for her friends. She showed up for me on numerous occasions where she didn’t have to, and I was always so grateful for her friendship then, as I certainly am now.⁣
And even as I sit here, struggling to comprehend, gutted beyond description- the very thought of her cracks me up and still brings a smile to my face. That was Naya’s gift. And it's a gift that will never go away. ⁣
Rest in peace you wild, hilarious, beautiful angel.
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How can you convey all your love and respect for someone in one post? How can you summarize a decade of friendship and laughter with words alone? If you were friends with Naya Rivera, you simply can’t. Her brilliance and humor were unmatched. Her beauty and talent were otherworldly. She spoke truth to power with poise and fearlessness. She could turn a bad day into a great day with a single remark. She inspired and uplifted people without even trying. Being close to her was both a badge of honor and a suit of armor. Naya was truly one of a kind, and she always will be. 💔 Sending all my love to her wonderful family and her beautiful son.
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Dear Naya, 
I’m failing miserably to process this news. I always imagined old future senior moments where we would hear your infectious laughter down the hall knowing that our funny bone was in for a treat. To many people, myself included, you were the life of the party. Not only able to rock when fun was to be had after a long day but that shining friend that was always willing to listen, offer sympathy, perspective and at times, give much needed levity to any situation. 
You were a beast on the show. I admired you as I watched you nail multi page monologues that you learned moments before and pour your heart into every performance with an energy that had that snicks special written all over it. Our deep conversations about life inbetween scenes are some of my favorite moments with you. Getting to hear about your hopes and dreams for the future and with Josey’s arrival, ‘Your greatest success’ I was so happy to see your dream turn into reality. 
You deserved more. I’m so sorry but you deserved more. You gave life your all and I hope all the good that you have given to the world will be returned in abundance when you reunite with our brother in the heavenly skies. I’m so grateful for our memories. We will make sure to keep your legacy and spirit alive so Josey will grow up to know the incredible woman you were. Love you, Naya. You are already missed. Eternally. 
-HSJ
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Naya and I fell into stride with such ease, she was my first friend and ally on our show. In the pilot, our characters came and went with such swiftness. Our enthusiasm brimmed with all of the unknown. We tried to grasp what the other cast members must be feeling as we were working in such separate manners. We dared to dream. What if this show worked? Wouldn’t that be something? Something was brimming, it was palpable. And thank god it worked. Naya’s magnetic talent was going to be unleashed, we just didn’t know it yet. ⁣⁣
I’ve been revisiting Naya’s performances on our show and it has brought me great joy. To work with her was a gift. There was a great deal to absorb - her work ethic, her fearlessness, her talent - supreme. Naya had a laugh that would envelop you and hold you captive. She was mesmerizing. That twinkle in her eye, her luminous smile. Naya lead with truth, humor, wit. I loved her for all of these reasons. ⁣⁣
I loved her sense of curiosity and wanderlust. I was lucky enough to be her travel partner for some of my most favorite adventures. As I write this, I’m grinning with swelling memories of a spontenaous 36 hour excursion - one might even say diversion - to Paris. With Naya, everything was possible and would often simply unfold before us, almost magically.⁣⁣
On this particular jaunt, within ten minutes of checking into our hotel, we found ourselves strolling the halls of L'École des Beaux-Arts, sipping wine from paper cups with students showcasing their latest work. It was fantastic. We were united in our commitment to discovery. And there was always a list of cleverly curated ideas in Naya’s back pocket, should we need it. ⁣⁣
I cannot make sense of this tremendous loss. I will hold onto her and these memories for the rest of time, alongside our Glee family. Please hold space for her, her family, her beautiful boy. ⁣⁣
In absolute, loving memory.
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Naya The world is at such a loss and I am truly heartbroken. I still remember the day I met you. You Walked straight up to me, grabbed me by the face and drug me around until I met every single person on set, introducing me as “new booty”. You were one of the first people who made me feel like family when others saw me as an outsider. I didn’t know then that you would become my family and that’s just who you were to everyone.. A Mother, Sister, Daughter and most of all a friend. Your massive heart and bright spark is what carried our entire show, when at times we all felt like giving up. 
You always showed up for me when I needed some wisdom or was down and just needed someone to talk to. You took care of everyone around you in a way that was so warm and comforting and you sure knew how to throw a hell of a party! 
I always admired your bravery and passion to fight for what’s right even when it seemed like you were up against the world. Your spirit is contagious and you continue to make everyone you have touched a better and stronger person by knowing you. 
My favorite part of glee was getting to watch you perform and shine up close every day. You really were the pulse of that show. Anyone who was blessed enough to see and experience your raw talent knows it to be true. You’re one of the smartest and most gifted people I have ever met. There is no one like you and there never will be.
You have changed peoples lives all around the world and you continue to change mine forever. I will never forget your love and kindness. Thank you for sharing your spirit Angel.
I will miss you always. I Love you Naya
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For the last 7 years the 13th of July has shattered our hearts beyond repair. There aren’t enough words to describe the pain we are feeling, we are truly heartbroken at the loss of @nayarivera .
Naya, Cory loved you so so much. He cherished your friendship more than you will ever know. From the laughs you shared, to the strength you gave him when he needed it the most. Cory truly adored you. He was in awe of your incredible talent, the way you gave everything you had to each performance; the slap in the auditorium was one of his favourite stories to share. You once said Cory was like a member of your family; you will always be a part of ours. We’ll carry you in our hearts forever. We miss you. Friends reunited for eternity.
We send all our love and strength to your beautiful boy, your family, friends and fans 💔🐻💔
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purple-goo-writes · 4 years
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Young and Beautiful Part 2
Taglist: @clumsy-owl-4178 @myazael @woe-is-me0 @midnightmode @t1dwarrior-of-earth @stainedglassm
@catthhay @dorkus-minimus @maskedpainter @waffleyunsure @marinettepotterandplagg @demonicbusiness @mystery-5-5
@justafanwarrior
I've seen the world, lit it up As my stage now Channeling angels in a new age now Hot summer days, rock and roll The way you play for me at your show And all the ways, I got to know Your pretty face and electric soul
Will you still love me When I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I've got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?
He didn’t see her again until three years later after he took in his first ward, Richard Grayson. 
He didn’t know how she knew that he needed her support or how she was aware of his new ward, soon to be adopted son. All Bruce was aware of was of the fact that his shoulders finally released the tension he had not been aware that he was carrying when he came up from the Batcave after Dick’s first patrol and felt her familiar and welcoming calm aura. Even Richard noticed the distinct change in his guardian’s demeanor once they exited the Cave and entered the manor. And though the young Robin didn’t necessarily feel the new aura of calm permeating the Manor, he certainly does relax the moment he steps out of the Cave and feels the tension he had carried since his parent’s murder leave his own body.
It felt as if he was finally coming home and not just coming back to the house he inhabited with his guardian and the butler. 
Bruce could only watch in awe as Marinette breaks through all of Dick’s walls and within a week he walks in on Marinette holding a crying 12 year old boy as he finally griefs for his parents. Not long after that Marinette joins them on patrol as PopinJay using the fixed Peacock Miraculous.
Her suit looked like an odd mix of leather and spandex, a deep dark blue with black accents with some dark green detailing here and there; black gloves with blue fingers, black boots with blue heels and a dark blue domino mask with green detailing that mimicked feathers. Attached to her waist was a partial skirt that mimicked peafowl tail feathers with an ombre effect- starting black before fading to dark blue then green at the tips. Her hair was put up in an elegant bun pinned in place by two golden peafowl quils and held in a holster around her waist were two steel fans tipped in gold that when spread resembled two beautiful yet deadly fans of peacock feathers.
“Why the Peacock?” Batman enquired with a raised eyebrow while Robin squealed happily as the preteen danced around PopinJay taking in her suit.
The masked woman snickered softly, her lips tugging into a small smirk, “I figured it would match well with your theme.”
Bruce should not have been surprised about how flawlessly she joins into their routine and patrols. Marinette had always been able to adapt to any situation easily after all. It was something that the Guardian was still trying to teach him how to do.
She would pop in randomly over the years that followed, always seeming to know when Bruce and Dick needed her the most. She was a part of their small family after all and Bruce’s oldest friend. It was why he did not protest when Marinette whisked Dick away to the Temple to train after he and Bruce have a fight again when Robin talks about heading out on his own and becoming his own hero, outside of the Young Justice. After all he was turning 18 soon and was outgrowing the Robin mantle.
“Just because he is growing up, doesn’t mean he no longer needs his father, Bruce.” Were Marinette’s parting words before she left with Dick for Tibet.
When they returned a year later, it was to a relieved, if sheepish, Bruce who had just returned from patrol with a very angry preteen in tow dressed in a new Robin suit. Instead of feeling threatened, Dick grinned, causing Bruce to sigh in relief, “So does this mean I have a little brother now?”
“How did you end up adopting this one, ma nuit noire?”
“He stole the wheels off the BatMobile.”
“Only you, Bruce, only you.”
A month later, Dick became Nightwing after a conversation with Superman when the young man asked the super if his culture ever had vigilantes after Dick moved to Bludhaven. With the alien’s permission, he took up the mantle of Nightwing and officially passed on the Robin mantle down to his younger brother, Jason. Bludhaven gained a vigilante and Jason gained a new confidence with his older brother’s approval, not that the angry teen would admit it.
PopinJay made return to Gotham to help train the new Robin. Bruce was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been, at how fast Jason took to Marinette. The former street kid would even slip and call her Ma now and then, especially when the peacock heroine was being extra motherly. That Bruce wasn’t surprised about as Dick would, and still did, call Marinette Mama Bird. He tried not to dwell on how much his heart warmed at the thought of Marinette as the boys’ mother figure. Especially not when he was currently dancing around Catwoman and their odd relationship or his thing with Talia Al Ghul, who he knew disliked PopinJay greatly. Though his relationship with Talia ended when she drug him.
It was after a routine patrol when PopinJay came sauntering back into the Batcave carrying a confused, if exited, little nine-year-old boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes dressed only in his pajamas and holding a camera. The dark blue haired woman was smiling motherly down at the little scamp in her arms as Tim babbled excitedly about meeting one of his favorite heroes and how he couldn’t believe that MDC was PopinJay.
“PopinJay, what is the meaning of this?” Bruce growled in confusion as he turned from the BatComputer to address his partner, who simply giggled at his attempt to intimidate her. 
“Bruce, come meet your biggest fan.”
 “PopinJay!” 
“Oh, don’t be a stick in the mud. He already figured out our identities from Dick’s quadruple somersault.”
“He what? But, how?” This had Bruce intrigued as he stalked close to the woman, who was practically the mother of his sons, taking in the sight of little Tim, “He is the Drake heir...what is he doing out so late?” The fact that he was still in his pajamas without shoes on brought the father in Bruce to the forefront went without saying. 
Jason watched all this with a sigh and grumbled, “I’ll go tell Alfred to get a room ready for him.” Looks like he would be sharing his Ma with another brother...He best tell Dick about Tim, Jason just knew their parents (Marinette was their Mom no matter how oblivious Bruce was to his feelings) would be adopting the boy.
And wouldn’t you know he was right, somehow not even three months later Tim was now Tim Drake-Wayne due to his parents being found neglectful in a hush-hush trail. Dick was ecstatic about having another little brother to dote on and even Jason was happy to have a little brother, having grown fond of Tim during all the times the youngest Drake stayed at the Manor or BatCave when his parents went out of town on one of their frequent business trips. 
If Bruce wasn’t already thankful for Marinette’s presence in his life, he would have been after Jason ran off to track down his birth mother after finding out that Catherine was not his mom. He understood that Jason simply had questions he thought only his birth mom could answer, but it still broke Bruce’s heart that his middle son thought he would not help him find the woman. If it wasn’t for the multiple trackers he had placed on Jason, he would not have known that the young Robin was in Ethiopia of all places. Batman wouldn’t make it in time to save Robin, but he knew one person who could. 
It was the only time his composure had came so close to breaking as he called Marinette and begged her to save their son. Batman arrived just as the building went up in flames and would have broken down if not for PopinJay informing over the comm that she had Jason and that they were at the Cave. Unfortunately, Jason was in critical condition and had slipped into a coma by the time Bruce made it back to the Manor. After a long talk, it was decided that Marinette would take him to the Temple to heal and recover. Tim would be taking over as Robin in his absence, though the 12 year old wished it was under different circumstances.
Marinette kept Bruce updated on his status using the communicator he had given her. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he cried when she called him and informed him that Jason had woken up. Jason and Bruce had a long discussion when he was fully coherent, thankfully Jason understood why Bruce gave Tim the mantle and even asked him to inform Tim that he had his blessing to be Robin. This talk was also the first time one of his sons’ called him Dad.
“Dad, I don’t think I can be Robin anymore, anyway...I think it’s time I branched out.”
“Will you be using a Miraculous?”
“No, Ma asked, even said I would be a good fit for the Eagle, but I turned her down. I want to make my own way without fancy powers.”
“You know we will support any decision you make.”
It was two years after that that Jason fully recovered and returned to Gotham as the vigilante, Red Hood. Thankfully, Marinette talked him out of that outrageous helmet and helped him design his new costume, his suit he wore had a red hood attached to it and he wore a red metal face mask with a black domino mask. He still managed to keep the leather jacket though. Even if Bruce frowned at his use of guns, at least the rounds were mainly tranquilizers, the Bat was proud of his son.
Tim made an amazing Robin and detective. Though Bruce was suspicious when Marinette would disappear with Tim to train him in secret or take him to the Temple. But, it was Tim’s choice and if he choose to join the Order, Bruce would support him. Marinette loved their sons equally, but Bruce knew she was closer to Tim.
He was thankful for Marinette being there for him when Barbara joined the team as Batgirl. Even more thankful for when Stephanie joined and then Cassandra was adopted. He was not sure how to handle daughters and the girls having a positive female role model relieved him greatly. Even if he did get a few grey hairs now and then from some of their more interesting purchases.
Talia dropped Damian on Bruce when Tim was 16 and had just become co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises, after both his older brothers refused the position. (Dick was now a Cop in Bludhaven and Jason had taken over Security for the WE.) Bruce was still reeling from the shock of finding out he had a blood son and Talia just dumping the ten year old on him without so much of a by-your-leave. Bruce had finally put his past with Talia and Selina behind him and finally moved on when this happened. He was unsure how to process this new situation. Though after stopping Damian from killing/attacking Tim once again, he knew what he had to do.
He called Marinette.
Bruce isn’t sure what she did or said to his youngest son. But after whisking Damian away for a few months at the Temple, the child that came back was changed. Still the same arrogant cold ex-assassin, but he had started to open up to his family and follow his father’s code of honor. Though, things were still shaky between him and Tim, the older boys were all amused when Damian bluntly asked them why Father hadn’t proposed to Marinette, or Mère as he called her in French, yet.
“Because Dad is really, really oblivious to his own feelings.”
“He’s a fucking idiot.” 
“Jaybird!” 
“What? You know it’s true!” 
“Little ears, Jay!”
Damian turned to his only intelligent sibling, and most dangerous outside of Cain, "Drake, I presume you have plans ready to set in motion?"
There was a reason he considered Drake his highest threat to his position as blood son. Ra's had stated time and time again that he wished to induct Tim into the fold, one way or another. Many times his grandfather had stated this when he found Damian's own performance lacking, making comments on how the young Detective would have done things. Drake had plans within plans, a mind like a steel trap mixed with a twisted maze and a tenacity most assassin's would envy. It was why Damian grudgingly respected the teen, even if he would rather bit his tongue off then admit it.
Tim gave his youngest sibling a rather maniacal grin, some of his Red Robin persona (A mantle he took up recently) shining through, "Oh do I."
Unfortunately, their plans to trick their parental figures into realizing their feelings would have to wait.
Because Darkseid came and Bruce was gone...
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astormyjet · 3 years
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Winter of 2018 - Summer of 2021 TIME FILES WHEN YOU’RE IN YOUR 20s!!!!
OH BOY. It’s been three years (or more) since I updated this. “Time is a weird soup!” to quote a fave. I guess I quit tumblr around the time there was a purge of content and creators and a smack down on a lot of the fandom communities. Tumblr has always been something of a crapshow though so I’ve been more productive with my time than I was in some ways, but I’ve also found other ways to waste my time. *cough twitter/netflix/youtube/MTGArena cough*.
General Life Achievements since 2018 -JLPT N3 GET in 2019! -Blackbelt GET in 2018! -TESOL 120 Hour and BE 50 Hour Cert from online provider GET in 2021 -STUDENT LOAN BANISHED (Thank you grandparents) -Survived Apartment flooding in early 2020. -Mystery anxiety related illness and chronic pain in my left leg from early 2020 - Present. -A mythical 6th and 7th year on the JET Programme. -Started posting on Instagram a lot more about my wanderings around Matsuyama/Uwajima. Mainly old buildings and stray cats. @astormyknight -Surviving so far in Japan with old rona-chan.
2018 was rough. I was given an additional school in the first semester (March to July) as we had someone find a better job. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit of a rough go especially when I was transferred that August after three fantastic years at Tsubaki JHS and ES and only a semester there. I legit went through the five stages of grief - which I think is another reason I stopped blogging. I was given my current base school along with four other schools. Going from 2(3) to 5 schools was a bit of an adjustment. I still feel a bit spread out.
That said, I keep running into teachers and students who were at the Tsubaki’s. The teachers shuffle around every April, so it's always a lottery with which new faces are going to be old friends (or enemies…). A couple of kids moved and transferred into my current schools from Tsubaki too. So I have one kid I can say I've been teaching for 6 out of the 7 years I've been here!
One of the kids who was in JHS 3rd grade when I first got here (in 2015!) hangs out around one of my favorite cafes, so I got chatting with him recently. He's in his second year of nursing school - his class nearly broke me in the first year, it was really a trial by fire with those kids. I was 22 then, and he’s 20 now, so it was interesting chatting to him about that first year of teaching. His younger sister was one of my favorite students too, she was in the group of kids that graduated in the March of 2018, the year group that went through Tsubaki JHS with me - they’re newly minted University students now!
This Thursday morning when I was cycling in to work, a kid who was 2nd year JHS when I left  (so 2nd or 3rd year JHS now) pulled up with their Mum in a van and got their mamachari out of the back to bike to school. The franticness of it all was hilarious. Their Mum legit sat on the horn until I pulled over. I was so happy to run into this kid, even at social distance and both of us late to work/school - because we both remembered each other and as they were going around the corners they were yelling each time they turned and humming the old elementary school directions chant and pelting me with questions about what I’ve been up to.
I've had so many students and schools now, that everything is kind of running into a blur. I remember flashes of kids faces and voices, random memories of in class or out of class shenanigans out of the blue. Also, I now, more than ever, have issues remembering kids' names, but I still know their faces (even with their masks), whose homeroom class they were in, who their friends were and which club they were in. I get random flashbacks to past conversations with them when I see them on the street or we run into each other. I feel bad because the first thing former students ask is ‘Do you remember my name?’ and I always have to be like, ‘Honestly, no, but I remember you did this on x day, x month in x classroom’.
Socially in 2018 -2019 - a few of our friends went home and things shook up a little. Our DnD group changed a bit - one of our players stepped into the role forever DM (THANK YOU RALPH). From memory the newbies were great - some of them just went home at the start of last month and it’s weird not seeing them around (JESS DO YOUR BEST!). I think we only have one or two people left from that rotation. There’s no 6th year ALTs, and only two 5th years.
Aug 2018 - Aug 2019 was the year of Hiura - my mountain school. Dang man, they were so cool. The students of the JHS and the ES combined barely hit 30, so each class was between 3-10 students depending on the grade. It was easier to get to know the kids, their abilities and their goals than it has been for me at other schools. I miss it so bad, being in nature once a week did my country-kid heart so good! The bugs! The frogs! The river! The mountain! The monkeys! The lizards! The dilapidated houses and hidden shrines!!!! The random crabs in the English room...I forgot that there was such a thing as freshwater crabs, and being right next to a river, the invasion wasn’t as out of place as I first thought...  
The area is so picturesque and calming. Every week up there was a small adventure (after getting over my motion sickness from the bus ride up). The kids were constantly pranking either myself or the main English teacher. There was always some new weird bug or lizard in a tank to be educated about. There were chickens on the way to the JHS that used to escape from their cardboard box prisons to run riot on the gardens. There were old people to freak out with my youth and foreignness! The kids also got to do a lot of extra classes, sumiyakai (making charcoal the traditional way), planting and maintaining rice paddies, setting up vegetable gardens, raising fireflies, conserving a special breed of fire lily (only found in this particular mountain valley) and another rare flower, wilderness training ect.
I wish I could have stayed there a lot longer but SOMEONE (read...the BoE) decided that schools had to be shuffled again(thank goodness the dude who has it now was able to keep it from the 2021 shuffle, he's the best fit for the school). I had so many good memories from there, I wish I had been more consistent in writing it down. I do have a bunch of photos and videos from there though, so that's nice. The only thing I don’t miss is the bus trip up and down - not only was it motion sickness, there was a healthy dose of fear each ride as the driver brought us perilously close to the edge of the mountain drop…
2019 - 2020 was interesting. With the school I got given instead of the Hirua’s I was roped into more demonstration lessons which was a lot of pressure because I was also involved quite heavily with the JHS observation and training lessons too. They were somewhat rewarding, the third graders are now super smart 5th graders, but the teachers  who need to embrace the new curriculum and ways of teaching really haven’t taken on anything from the lessons....
Outside of work as well, I was given the chance, thanks to an ALT buddy of mine, to join in with the local festival. It's been one of the biggest highlights of my time here, and I am gutted it’s been cancelled for the last two years, but I understand the reason…. I was able to travel to Okinawa too during that summer for an international Karate seminar with the Dojo I train with. I met the head of the style I currently practice and a bunch of people from around the world. I also got to see Shuri castle before it burned down. So that was a stroke of luck. One of the places I want to go when/if we get out of this pandemic is Okinawa. I want to see more of those Islands so bad. Just before the whole pandemic thing too - I managed to see the Rugby World Cup, a Canada vs NZ match, I even ran into Tana Umanga in Oita city!!!
2019 - 2020 was supposed to be my last year on JET, so I was frantically Job hunting. I went to the Career Fair in Osaka in early Feb/Late January 2020. I applied and got interviewed for a position in Sendai in early Jan 2020. In the end though - the Rona hit. We started hearing whispers of it around the end of 2019, then the cruise boats happened, and then Japan refused to cancel the Olympics...every holiday season there is a new wave of infections, my nurse friends in Tokyo are struggling....my teacher friends in more populous areas of Japan are struggling…
JET couldn't get new ALTs for 2020-2021, I took the extra year when it was eventually offered, as the one job I had managed to get a serious offer for was hesitating because with the rona setting in, things were uncertain. There was a lot of time spent adjusting to the new rules surrounding what we could do in class with the kids as well as textbook change. Schools shut on and off during the spring months. 
I also got a reminder of my mortality mid May with an unrelated illness which is still smacking me around a bit - stress/age, it does things to the human body it has no right to. It's only been in the last three months I’ve been able to exercise like I used to, I’ve put on a bunch of weight I can't shrug off (one part medication, another part diet) My relationship with food needs to change, and I really need a kitchen that allows me for more than one pan meals. I also need to figure out what to do with a left leg that is in constant pain from the knee down and a heart that misses beats when stressed out (mentally and physically…). 
My apartment also got flooded by the guy upstairs at one point, I spent most of late February/early March living in a hotel while my walls and floor got redone - I think this was one of the things that really stressed me out and kicked my anxiety right up a notch, it was right when things were getting REALLY bad with rona-chan in Hokkaido and schools were shutting down here as it was filtering into the prefecture and so Japan closed schools for the first time…
Classes in covid times have been weird. We’ve been wearing facemasks full time since the early stages of the pandemic (March 2020) - so I admit that I get a bit pissed off seeing both Americans and New Zealanders back home bitching about just having to start wearing them full time in public. I have asthma and have been suffering with the things on during the 30*C plus with high 90s humidity summers. Teachers were offered vaccines late July 2021, just days before the Olympics were open - and I finished my two shots in the middle of August. But the overall distribution and take up of the jab has been slow.  As mentioned above, we can't play a lot of the games we used to play with kids in classes anymore, and a lot of the activities outlined in the textbook curriculum need to be adjusted too, so we’ve had to be creative. We use hand sanitizer a lot more too. One of the things I miss the most though, is eating lunch with the kids.
Socially from summer 2020 - now 2021 we played a lot of DnD and board games, both online and in person when we could. There were no new ALTs again for the 2021-2022 JET year, and those of us who were in 6th year were offered a 7th. Four out of six of us took it. As a whole we’re down from a peak of 38 ALTs for Junior High and Elementary school to 22 for now. We hopefully will get a new person at the end of September, and 4 more in November. Which will bring us to 27. This has led to ANOTHER round of school shuffles.
Summer vacation has been weird the last two years. With rona-chan, we haven’t really been able to travel. All the summer festivals (all the Autumn and Winter ones too!) have been cancelled, so the changing of seasons just feels, wrong. I dunno. There is so much we all miss from pre-rona-chan, and so much that doesn’t happen that makes this just feel like one long long unending year of sadness, coldness, raininess, unbearable heat and repeat. I’m tired. Time is going so fast, but so.dang.slow.
I lost my favorite school (AGAIN GDI!!!) and gained the school I taught a semester at in 2019....I had my first day there on Wednesday. Schools actually started back on September 1st so there was some drama as the BoE didn’t communicate fast enough about our school changes. We legit got told on the 27th of August (on a Friday) our schools were changing effective September 1st, but somehow some of our schools found out on the Monday 30th August. In July we were told we would be changing schools at the end of September, so.a lot of ALTs and schools were left short changed, not having opportunities to say goodbye to co-workers or students/having their planning for the semester more or less thrown out the window too. I love my job. I really dislike the way the BoE treats us, the Japanese assistant language teachers and our schools.
The new school I have is used to having an ALT there twice a week, who plans all the lessons and executes them. I’m at three elementary schools. I'm only at each once a week, I want to plan, but being that I miss an entire lesson in between visits, it's going to be difficult to do so. Not impossible, but being that I'm already doing it for two other schools, who are at two different places in the textbook ah…….. From what I have talked to my new supervisor about though, it sounds like the teachers have taken on more of the lesson planning and I'll be able to contribute ideas when I'm there. I just want to and wish I could do more without being confused all the time. (This is all usually done in my second language too, not in English so extra levels of confusion and miscommunication abound).
 I feel like this at my JHS too a lot of the time. I want to contribute more, but even with constant communication with my main in school supervisor (who is a badass and pretty much on the same page about everything with me) I still feel about as useful as tits on a bull. Especially now that classes have been cancelled and or shortened, there's less time to do stuff. Any game or activity I plan is usually cut in favor of making up time in the textbook. When I'm in class, I'm back to being a tape recorder, the fun police and general nuisance. 
Also in the last week...my two of my schools were  shut due to students testing positive for the rona. This is the second time my schools have had a scare in the last 8 months. And by shut, I mean the students were all at home, but the teachers  all had to come into the office. Because why not I guess….. I mean,  the cases increasing is really not unexpected with the amount of people who were travelling over obon and the increase of cases due to the Olympics/Japan being slow on vaccinating/delta being the dominant strain/Japan's leaders doing relatively little except asking shops and restaurants to limit people coming in at one time and closing before 8pm. I know my schools weren't the only one shut either - but still High Schools were having their sports days this week. I kept on seeing groups of kids hanging in the park after, so that was a little bit nerve wracking.
It's just frustrating - we’ve been on half days to “minimize the risk of infection” for kids and teachers, as if only being at school from 8am through to 1pm is going to reduce the risk.  My schools have only just started testing out Microsoft teams and Zoom lesson equipment. Thankfully our school’s run in this time was contained real quick, the family was super good about informing us when they got their results back, and the fact they needed to be tested. The homeroom teacher and the students from the same class were the only ones tested, and they all came back clear, which was nice. But the information came back so SLOW. 
I’m a little irritated because I found out on Wednesday night what was going on, and even if I am vaccinated, I am super worried that I will end up being the covid monkey due to being at different schools three days out of five. I think other than being worried that I will catch it myself and get real sick, my biggest fear is that I will be protected from bad symptoms from the vaccine, but still be able to pass it onto some of my more vulnerable friends and students. The whole thing is a mess.  
Other than Covid and BoE drama, life is good. I’ve had a couple of other big changes - both fantastic and not so great, but yeah.  I have my health (and health insurance!) for now. I have a job, for now. I have a sense of existential dread for the next 12 months, but we’ll see where we end up. Life post JET is going to be way less cushy and I am TERRIFIED. I mean, I have a BA in Eng/Ling and no idea what to do with it…..because I am NOT suited for academia.
TLDR: Love my job. Don’t like the system. What is life? Future scary. 
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jeongyunhoed · 3 years
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Past-Present-Future Black Dahlia
Two major tragedies bring Lee Mirae closer to the edge as she goes through the stages of grief in a more violent manner that would affect not only her relationships with her boyfriend Jeong Yunho and her half-brother Choi San, but also has her becoming closer with the immortal mutant Kang Yeosang. Fueled by rage, grief, and pain, along with a very rude awakening that has Mirae spiraling out of control and questioning everything she holds dear.
Group: ATEEZ Member: Yunho Pairing: Jeong Yunho / OC Genre: Action, adventure, angst, fantasy
Watch Out! : Violence, blood, death, grief and loss, major character deaths, use of weapons, some jealousy (but no cheating ofc), implied smut (not sure if there is any but i’m putting it out there nonetheless), mental illness (probably?), gambling and alcohol
Anything else? : Mentions of other idols of course as well as other characters. SuperM, Dean, Chanyeol, Zelo, soloist Park Jihoon to name a few.
Author’s Note: First chapter is here! Compared to the previous stories from the AU, this might have very long chapters, like more than 10 pages in google docs long. But anyway, tag list is open, and yeah. Enjoy the first of a rollercoaster of emotions.
This whole first chapter also, is me giving brief backstories of what happened before/backstories of many characters here. Basic plot is mine, characters are not. This is all for fun/entertainment/emotional anguish. 
Masterlist
Chapter 1
When one is at their breaking point, everything begins to change.  The lines between right and wrong are blurred, and one’s moral compass begins to spin into oblivion. 
9:00 p.m. 
Laughter filled the almost empty space of Viva Polo, having closed for the night except for a table occupied by Lee Mirae, Park Chanyeol, and Kwon Hyuk. The rest of the tables had already been overturned, marking the end of another day at work, at least for Chanyeol. The three of them had a tradition of meeting up every week, something they started doing after the previous adventures they had. 
The three of them were mutants, and to their knowledge, they were the last surviving members of the group that saved the country, if not the world during the Seoul attack. A year after that, the three of them found each other again, reuniting to save the country once again from an evil cult bent on achieving utopia through taking control of its citizens. Two adventures that had major consequences on the three of them, and events that they will forever remember. 
Two of them, Mirae and Hyuk, were classified as omega-level or level 5 mutants, with powers that were impossible to surpass by any other mutant thus far. Mirae was not only gifted in a mastery of hand-to-hand combat, both armed and unarmed, but she had the gift of manipulating potential energy into kinetic energy. She could turn virtually any object into an explosive and if channeled to an extreme extent, was able to level a skyscraper. 
With her abilities came the secondary gift of a healing factor that made her almost immortal and slowed down her aging immensely. Because of her ability to manipulate energy, she was also able to generate static that resulted in a very strong psychic block that was only made stronger by another omega-level mutant, Jang Ino. From the adventures she had on her own and even after the Utopian cult, another ability manifested itself in her; taking souls and trapping them into objects, usually her deck of cards. 
Meanwhile, Kwon Hyuk, a well-known music producer and songwriter, was a level 5 telekinetic and could move anything with his mind. His psychic abilities also gave him the gift of producing shields that were almost impenetrable. 
 In their adventure into the Utopian cult, Hyuk developed his telepathic abilities, which he used to extract memories or read into memories of others. Hyuk was nearly captured by the goons from the Utopian cult when they met again, and has since tried to use his powers as discreetly as possible with some difficulty. 
Hyuk didn’t formally join Mirae and Chanyeol until the later days of the Seoul attack, having laid low, undiscovered by Ino who was at the time, serving his father Professor Inhwan Jang. Hyuk had openly used his powers in front of the group during a time when Mirae and one of her other colleagues, a telekinetic named Luhan, were affected by the goblin king’s inducement of traumatic memories that caused their powers to manifest for the first time. 
It was there that Hyuk realized that he could do so much more with his mutant gifts, rather than use them solely for trivial purposes.
Hyuk had a cousin, the singer Lee Midam, who was under his entertainment agency, in the 10-member group called Silver. Midam was, like him, a psychic, but of a different kind. Midam was a psychic that could make the worst fears or strongest desires of another person come to life before them. Midam also had the ability to sense when a person will die in the near future. 
Park Chanyeol was a level 4 pyrokinetic, also known as an alpha-level mutant. He created and manipulated fire in all its aspects, from turning into a fire being to being able to put out and set fire onto virtually anything. In his fire form, he was granted the ability to fly and heal and even out of his fire form, Chanyeol could withstand extreme heat. 
He worked with Mirae in the Center for Paranormal Research upon his discovery by Ino, leaving his work in his mother’s Italian restaurant behind to find purpose for his abilities. For some time after the Seoul attack, Chanyeol thought he was the only one left, until he was seen by another survivor, their tech guy Choi Junhong, looking over the remains of what used to be the Center, the epicenter of the entire attack. 
From the adventures they had, the three of them still managed to continue with their lives. Hyuk stayed in his agency to work on music, Chanyeol helped around his parents’ restaurant and live club, while Mirae ran the music store that she took ownership in after the passing of her adoptive parents. Hyuk and Chanyeol also helped other mutants like them, Mirae’s old colleagues from her days as an assassin under a sanitarium, practice controlling their powers. 
With the way the events of the past years shaped them, their lives would forever be intertwined and they knew it. Even with the disagreements that occurred in the final days of the Seoul attack, with the three of them being the only survivors from that group that acted, they were like family to each other. 
“One of these days, we’ll go on a mission, do something, just the three of us again,” Chanyeol said fondly, finishing the last slice of pizza from his place. 
“Even if we don’t go on something like that, we should still do something, just the three of us,” Mirae repeated with a grin. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 
“Yeah, someone needs to watch your back this time, you nearly got your powers taken away,” Hyuk pointed out, taking a sip of his iced tea. 
The last adventure Mirae went on involved a demon and their followers, the one responsible for a long-running conspiracy that went behind the glitz and glamour of the country’s entertainment industry. Mirae was outmatched and captured, her powers being used to channel the summoning of the demon Ose. It left her boyfriend Yunho and her half-brother San, along with her old colleagues including immortal mutant billionaire Kang Yeosang, to be the ones to save her and the world. 
Mirae shook her head. “It was only one time. Just one. But I’m starting to think I’m losing my touch, to be honest,” She looked down at her now-empty plate. 
“I wouldn’t think of it that way if I were you,” Hyuk patted her shoulder. “You still have your powers, don’t you? Didn’t Junhong say your powers only got stronger after that? You’re practically invincible.” 
“Says the person who is also practically invincible,” Mirae grinned. 
“But I don’t heal like you do. Chanyeol doesn’t even heal like you unless he sets himself on fire.” 
“Can you stop talking about injuries now? I think we’ll be late for that training session both of you promised the guys,” Mirae nudged the telekinetic. 
Chanyeol got up at the mention of the training session. All of their plates floating in mid-air, the cutlery and glasses sorting themselves out, as Hyuk followed the taller male into the kitchen, making sure nothing dropped. Mirae smiled to herself as she removed the tablecloth and the napkins. 
The boys at the safehouse would be waiting for them, San and Yunho included. Choi San was her half-brother, and had almost the same abilities as her, including her healing factor and a mastery of martial arts. Unlike Mirae, who channeled her powers mainly through her extendable staff, San channeled his into a harpoon gun. 
San’s powers first manifested in his high school years, as a result of the constant pressure placed on him by their father, who wanted him to pursue a career he himself wanted. Upon learning how to control his abilities better, San ran away from home, eventually learning the skills he knew to become a paid hitman. San also witnessed Mirae getting taken away to be interned at the sanitarium, and he looked everywhere for her.
Jeong Yunho was Mirae’s boyfriend. Yunho was also like her, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, both unarmed and armed. Yunho was also a mutant, an immortal mutant who possessed the ability to teleport, but could only do so in dark places. 
Yunho’s powers manifested when he was killed in Morocco during what would be Mirae’s final mission before she was discharged. Her memories of him were seemingly erased in the final electroshock therapy session used to alter her recollection of missions. They only found each other again when Mirae was being targeted by the Kang crime family, descendants of Yeosang who held a disdain for mutants. 
Hyuk returned from the kitchen. “What’s that smile about?” He asked. 
“Nothing, nothing, I just realized how it’s been a while since we did something like this together,” Mirae replied. 
“Lee Mirae, you’re getting sappy.” 
“Did I lie?” She laughed. 
“No, but that’s weird of you,” Hyuk laughed as well. “I mean you are right. I’ve been busy practically managing the group, Chanyeol’s busy here, we’re just busy living our lives.” 
“My point stands that we’ve never done anything together in a while, unless those goblins come up again and try to kill us,” Mirae joked. 
“Hopefully not,” Said the psychic, the table in front of them turning itself over on top of another table. “Even with the way things ended back then, I’m glad the three of us found each other.” 
The kitchen doors opened and Chanyeol returned, wiping his hands, with his backpack in tow. “Whose car are we using?” He asked. 
Without another word, the three of them extended their fists. Both Mirae and Chanyeol had scissors, while Hyuk’s hand remained curled into a fist. “Guess it’s yours then, Mr. Psychic,” Mirae grinned. 
“Be glad I stopped for gas before coming here,” He gave them a look as they left the restaurant. 
The car pulled up in front of a brick-walled building that had a vending machine. It was the entrance to the safehouse that now became the headquarters of everything mutant-related. It was also where Mirae’s old colleagues were now staying, with the exception of two; Jung Wooyoung and Park Seonghwa. 
The three of them got out, sensing the slight change in the air as they approached the machine. They knew there was a sort of cloaking over the spot that shielded anyone from seeing that the vending machine moved to the side to reveal a secret passage. Chanyeol, Mirae, and Hyuk entered the dark passageway and stopped at the red door at the very end. 
The safehouse was similarly modeled to the recreation room in the Center for Paranormal Research, with a couch and beanbags surrounding a flat-screen television and several game consoles. There was a sleeping quarters and a shower area and a kitchen that was only stocked with instant food. Ino and Junhong’s labs and offices were in the two other doors in the kitchen area that had a small dining table where they would at least take turns in eating. 
This time, the safehouse had since expanded thanks to Ino’s ability to manipulate matter. Junhong’s lab was much bigger, more beds were added to the sleeping quarters, and there was a small training room that Junhong fortified. A shelf was behind the television, showing all the weapons carried by the group of men who now resided in the place; a rapier, a set of nunchaku, and a few axes and shurikens. Those belonged to three people: Kim Hongjoong, Choi Jongho, and Song Mingi. 
All of them were trained assassins, skilled in hand-to-hand combat both unarmed and armed. While Mirae and Yunho were no longer part of the group, the remaining members were turned into personal guards of the Kang crime family and underwent several experiments to turn them into super soldiers. All of them were impervious to pain and were a lot more agile in their movements. 
It was those experiments that triggered the mutant gene in each of them, their own mutant abilities manifesting around the same time. Hongjoong possessed superhuman speed and could be as fast as the speed of light that also enabled him to heal if wounded. Seonghwa was a telekinetic, whose powers also made itself known if his eyes and fingertips glowed green. Mingi, like Chanyeol, was also a pyrokinetic, but unlike Chanyeol, could only manipulate flames that already exist. 
Wooyoung on the other hand, possessed the ability to turn into a shadow being. His shadow form allowed him to be intangible, as well as give him superhuman strength and a healing factor. But along with his shadow form, Wooyoung developed a kind of extrasensory perception, where he could see past and future events from a person or an object, or even a name. 
Jongho had the painful ability to manipulate his bone structure, and his arms and legs would produce a sharp spike that could pierce anything. 
They immediately noticed that a few other weapons were shelved, as they were likely in the labs or in the training room; a set of sai, katanas, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and the harpoon gun. Everyone was indeed present. 
“Hello?” Hyuk called out as they closed the door behind them. 
“We’re here!” Chanyeol called out as well. 
“Yunho? San?” Mirae spoke, looking around the empty living room. 
Suddenly materializing in front of them was Ino. “Good! You’re all here! The rest of them are in the training rooms, but can you wait a little bit? There’s something I’m finishing and I hope the three of you can test it out for me,” He said. 
Jang Ino was a prime example of a true omega-level mutant, with abilities so powerful he was almost like a god. Ino had the gift of manipulating matter, inter-dimensional teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy, duplication with sentient clones, intangibility, precognition as well as the ability to see everything as it happened. Ino’s abilities manifested much later than the rest of them despite not being much older than Chanyeol, Hyuk, and Mirae, and thus had more difficulty trying to control each of his abilities. 
“Really? What is it?” Mirae asked as Chanyeol put down his backpack while she put down her staff. 
Ino looked excited. “Another training room, or…?” 
“Another Danger Room,” Hyuk nodded. “Can it not turn into a vortex manipulator again?” 
“I can’t promise that, but it’s as safe as ever, right? Just like old times,” Ino was beaming. “Ah, well, you might as well see it for yourself. I’ll call the rest of them,” and he disappeared. 
“Are we supposed to wait for them here?” Chanyeol glanced at them, and they shrugged. 
A commotion erupted from the door that was Junhong’s lab, making them turn around. “For a telekinetic, you could’ve aimed better! You could’ve killed me!” Hongjoong appeared, shooting Seonghwa a look. 
“You sped away in time! You knew it wasn’t going to reach you anyway!” Seonghwa argued back. 
“Well I wasn’t able to, not when Mingi keeps playing with that lighter of his! It’s like having to pass by a dragon each time I’m next to him.” 
“So your situation is actually my fault, is that what you’re saying?” Mingi spoke, looking at them incredulously. “I was practicing my pyrokinesis the way Chanyeol hyung showed me, right, San?”
“Stop including me!” said the male who had a visible white streak in his hair similar to Mirae’s. 
“This was a department store-bought shirt and Jongho just had to ruin it!” Wooyoung shrieked, pointing to the tears in his sleeve. 
“Welcome to my world, Wooyoung! Live with it!” Jongho shot back.
“At least I don’t have spikes coming out of my sleeves and pants!”
Chanyeol and Mirae exchanged looks. Hyuk stifled a laugh. “Kind of reminds you how much we bickered back then, huh? I bet those guys would’ve loved to see a repeat of this,” He chuckled. 
“Nothing seems to have changed after all,” Mirae laughed, their reactions making the group stop in their tracks. “We just had dinner,” She explained. “I see training’s been going well?” 
“Not so much when the rest of them bicker more than San and I do,” out of the group came Yunho, who immediately swept her up in a hug then exchanged high fives with Hyuk and Chanyeol as he pulled away. 
The taller form of Junhong appeared from the crowd as well, with scorch marks on his lab coat and a hole in his clipboard. Ino had materialized again as well. “So, the Danger Room, Junhong?” Hyuk asked. 
“Yes, yes, the Danger Room,” Junhong led them to the pair of doors on the other side of the space. He pushed the button, the doors opening up to reveal a dark room covered in what looked like steel tiles. There was a panel of buttons near the doors from the inside and on one side of the room, was a booth. “Ta-da!” He announced, looking over at the three of them, while the rest looked amazed. 
“A little shift in elements here and there, I was able to expand this entire space of ours, make it a little more familiar, don’t you think?” Ino smiled. 
Mirae approached the panel of buttons near the side. “Ice fortress, dystopia, post-apocalypse, zombie invasion, alien invasion, gladiator arena,” She read out. Mirae turned to the next set of buttons and looked over at Junhong. “Why is my name at the top of this panel? Am I a level of difficulty?” She asked, looking puzzled. 
“The highest,” Ino spoke. “But that level’s reserved for the three of you, not that these guys can’t do it, but the three of you are more experienced.” 
“San and Yunho are just as experienced, if you ask me,” Mirae pointed out with a shrug, choosing not to argue any more. 
“Yes, but they’ve never been through the same missions as you and Chanyeol did back at the Center, remember?” Ino reminded her. “The creatures at the museum, the goblin warriors at the train station, and their throne room, and the jewelry store at night?” 
“I remember the jewelry store one,” Hyuk said, glancing at her. “We were coming from dinner when the store exploded. It was the time I found out Mirae was a mutant.” 
Mirae smiled at her friend’s recollection. “Yeah, you came from that singing competition too.” 
Chanyeol grinned. “The train station, I remember that well. Everyone hated us when they saw what was happening in broad daylight. Junmyeon got hot coffee thrown at him...” He looked down the more he remembered. 
Ino noticed Wooyoung squinting at him, the rest of them looking fascinated by their brief trip down memory lane. “Well, I thought I’d show the rest of them how the three of you would do things in these simulations. Hyuk, I know you joined us late at the time, but you still know a thing or two on how to handle non-human entities, right?” He said. 
“Oh yeah, I was with you all at the Esteholm,” Hyuk smiled. Sensing everyone else’s confused expressions, he chuckled. “It’s a hidden marketplace for non-humans, goblins, witches, warlocks, ogres…” 
“You mean those things were actually here all this time?! On this planet?!” Mingi gaped at him and they nodded. 
“Okay, okay, we’ll have a lot of time to talk about that later, but let’s have the three of you take this new Danger Room for a test run?” Ino suggested. “The rest of you follow Junhong into the booth, we’ll all watch from there.” 
“What are we taking on?” Mirae asked. 
Hyuk approached the panels. “What about…” He stopped when he read the mode at the bottom. “Evil villain mansion? What kind of mode is that?” He laughed. 
Chanyeol and Mirae laughed as well. Mirae glanced at the booth, giving a thumbs up to Yunho and San, who looked excited as did the rest of them. “It’s exactly what it is. The mansion of the bad guy,” Junhong said from the booth. 
“Alright then, put up the difficulty rate to my name, I guess,” Mirae said. 
“That’s what I had in mind. Initializing evil villain mansion, Lee Mirae difficulty,” Junhong announced. 
Hyuk backed away, until he was back to back with Chanyeol and Mirae. They heard tiles shifting and a swirling of colors all around them, bringing in a strong gust of wind. Mirae took out her staff from her jacket pocket and extended it. After a few moments, the swirling was disappearing, and they found themselves in what was the ballroom of a large, abandoned house that had some bits of modern technology on the locks of the doors and the windows. 
“Okay, so this is the evil villain mansion,” Chanyeol mumbled as they took in their surroundings. “Where’s the evil villain, then?” 
Mirae took a step forward, seeing two metal circles near the large fireplace. There was a seven-pointed star engraved on one circle, a hexagon that had the shape of a keyhole in the middle engraved on the other. The circles began to turn, until it slowly went up to reveal coffin-shaped tubes. 
“This is oddly specific,” She muttered. 
Hyuk and Chanyeol stared at the tubes as well. The closer they looked, they saw bodies, blackened and as if they had been mummified. “This is very specific,” Chanyeol nodded, feeling a chill down his spine as they approached the tubes. 
Back at the booth, the rest of them stared at what was happening. “Can they see us?” Jongho asked curiously. 
“I don’t think they can, can they?” Hongjoong glanced at Junhong, who was looking at the panels of controls. “But the surroundings look so real.” 
“I know I should be used to this, but this is something I’ve never seen before…” San was staring at the tubes that were opening up in front of the three. 
“Me neither, and I thought I’ve seen everything,” Yunho nodded. 
From the side of the room, Wooyoung could suddenly see flashes of scenes in his head. He looked back at what was happening, seeing Hyuk, Mirae, and Chanyeol nearly destroy the surroundings they were in as humanoid demons with large talons began to attack them. The flashes kept coming. He could see people he hadn’t seen before having been inside the very booth they were in. Yet, Wooyoung wasn’t sure if this had already happened or it was about to happen. He stayed watching the simulation that Mirae, Hyuk, and Chanyeol were in. 
“Kind of familiar, isn’t it? The train station,” Mirae’s eyes and fingertips were glowing as she sent shockwaves towards the two demons, but to no avail. Instead, the demons clapped their hands, sending similar shockwaves towards her. “They’re parrots.” 
“What do you mean parrots?” Chanyeol had transformed into his fire form, dodging the attacks that were coming towards him. 
“They’re copying everything we do,” Mirae spun her staff a few times before hitting the demon, only to be sent back by the other, who had turned into a fiery figure as well. 
“Can they copy this?” Hyuk waved his hand, sending the two demons in mid-air. His eyes widened when the figure also raised their claws at him, lifting him up and off the floor. “This is impossible-” He crashed into the wall, moving away when some of the decor fell down. 
“Looks like Junhong had his work cut out for him,” Chanyeol tried to burn down the doors of the room until the surroundings changed into what looked like a massive dock full of zeppelins and tables full of volatile chemicals in test tubes and beakers. “Yeah, now I can see why Mirae turned into a level of difficulty.” 
“Let’s try not to touch anything, or interact with anything on those tables,” Mirae looked around on alert. 
They heard a blast from all the way on the other side of the room. “Looks like they found us,” Hyuk said, trying to move the zeppelins as carefully as possible towards the source of the blasts. 
“Those might explode if you let them get blasted,” Chanyeol called out at the telekinetic. 
“Would you rather we get out of here with those? We don’t even know what to use these for” Hyuk pointed out, still trying to move the airships as the blasts grew louder, the impact exploding the tables closest to it. “At least they get blasted and we don’t-” 
Boom. 
There was a blast on their side of the dock, sending the three of them to the floor, as bits of shrapnel and the chemicals on the tables exploded. A large cloud of smoke enveloped them, soon revealing that they were no longer at the dock. They were back in the Danger Room, or at least what was left of the Danger Room.
Mirae opened her eyes, feeling considerably beaten as she looked around, surprised at what she was seeing. Her clothes were scorched, her staff was gone, and from the gust of wind that hit her, she realized what happened. 
The safehouse seemed to have exploded. 
Mirae looked around for a sign of Chanyeol and Hyuk. Was she still in the simulation? “Mirae! Mirae! Mirae! Are you alright?” She turned around, seeing Junhong, Yunho, and Hongjoong run up to her. “The machines overloaded when I was about to take you three out of there,” The tech guy explained. 
She nodded, a feeling of dread suddenly overcoming her as she looked around the area. “Chanyeol? Hyuk?” She called out, kicking away a few bits and pieces of the rubble that surrounded them. “Chanyeol-” She stopped, feeling her heart sink. 
Chanyeol was lying on the floor, a puddle of blood near his head, and bits of shrapnel having hit his sides. Mirae looked around for a sign of the telekinetic, only to realize that he was also lying on the floor, eyes glazed over. A piece of shrapnel hit his head.
“Chanyeol, Hyuk,” Mirae bent down, moving the rubble away from her best friends. She refused to believe it, refused to think that what happened really happened. “Chanyeol, Hyuk,” She took one of the sharp rocks and cut open her wrist, pouring some of the blood into where Chanyeol was hit. “Come on, both of you, this isn’t funny,” She saw that they weren’t moving while her wrist had already healed. 
Junhong bent down to check Hyuk’s pulse, only for his expression to fall when he realized there was none. “Mirae,” He tried to say. 
“No, I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t believe you,” Mirae shook her head profusely, crawling up to Hyuk. Tears were already falling from her eyes as the reality was hitting her bit by bit. “No, no, this can’t happen, not here, not now, no,” She patted his face, but no response. “No, Hyuk, no, don’t, please-” A sob escaped her as she held his body. “Hyuk, no, no, no, no, no,” She sobbed, reaching out to hold Chanyeol’s hand that was going cold. “No, please no, Chanyeol, Hyuk, you two can stop it now, please…” 
“Mirae,” Junhong said again. 
Hongjoong and Yunho exchanged looks, hearing the rest of their colleagues including San appear, all of them had traces of the smoke from the explosion on them. 
“No!” Mirae shook her head again, until she broke down. They were gone. Her best friends. Gone.
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thiefakefia · 3 years
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TKB: Post-Dawn of the Duel
So, because I’m going to be referring specifically to how I choose to write TKB, and how my TKB responds to losing, I will call him Akefia/Kef throughout this post. This is how I write Akefia in my main verse, when dealing with waking up in a new world. I’ve sorta structured this around the 7 stages of grief, but changed the order as appropriate, because it resonates. He is grieving the loss of his village (properly, without the hyperfocus on revenge), and he is grieving the loss of everything he’s worked for. He’s also grieving for his previous view on the world, in a way. He felt he was right, and now in the silence, he has to face what he’s done.
I should probably point out at this point that I don’t subscribe to the idea that TKB was 100% right in what he did. Neither does my Kef (although it takes time for him to accept it). Was his anger justified? Absolutely! Was the chaos justified? Not at the extreme it went to. Not with the innocent people that got involved. I don’t believe it was meant to go that way - and TKB’s confusion as to what was going on when Yami Bakura lets control of him go says a lot to me. He was a pawn - but I don’t believe he’s innocent, either. I think his anger fuelled so much of what happened.
Stage 1: Shock and Disbelief
I mean... what do you do when you’ve revolved your life around a plan of vengeance for so long and now it’s just... gone? There’s a serious sense of shock that goes through him. Everything that’s happened hasn’t caught up with him. He’s not even begun to analyse it - if he was wrong, or right. He’s numb, and lost. 
Stage 2: Denial
He’s already a touch removed from the circumstances, having been possessed for a significant portion of it. The way I write him, Kef remembers the majority of it (but later describes it like he was watching it happen, more than controlling it). That sense of derealisation from it means he doesn’t really believe this is happening. His next instinct is to find a way home and effectively fix it. He doesn’t believe he’s lost - and he certainly doesn’t believe it’s over. He will drive himself positively nuts, trying to find a way back.
Stage 3: Anger
Anger at everything but himself starts to settle in his bones. This is the Pharaoh’s fault- those damn Priests- the Gods- this city- these strangers in the streets. Somebody has to pay for it, and Akefia erupts in violence during this stage. Whilst my TKB has a strong history of violence, his anger reaches a level of pointless overkill. The sense of derealisation continues, and he’s removed from his victims as a result. He’s not seeing them as people, but fictional ghosts in a world that isn’t real, which allows the violence to escalate further. This stage tends to be shorter under a good influence if he meets someone. Seeing just one person in his new world as a real, genuine human being allows him to realise the other people are actual real humans he’s harming. 
Stage 4: Guilt
This is the longest stage for Akefia, as he battles with what he’s done. The reality of living a new life is starting to sink in, and it begins with the guilt for what he did during the anger phase. It’s only then that he starts to analyse his past behaviour, and picks apart the battle and what he remembers of it. Left to his own devices... this is a pretty long struggle where he swings between stubborness of “not my fault” and realisation of “I really messed this up.”. With the help of a friend he feels comfortable sharing with, it’s a lot easier for him to manage the negative feelings that come with this stage. By himself, it delves into “Am I bad person?” to an extreme that isn’t productive.
He will absolutely settle into the conclusion that he’s responsible for everything that happened - even picking apart what he remembers of the connection between Y!Bakura and Ryou and holding himself accountable for the devastation of Ryou’s childhood. If left to come to his own conclusions, he will take on responsibility to an overwhelming amount to a degree that begins to cause panic attacks and a level of anxiety he has never experienced before. There is no fixing those mistakes - and he has no idea what to do with them, or any idea how to conceptualise a new life after this.
He swings rapidly between feeling he deserves the punishment of being dumped in a new, confusing world, and wishing he had just died and feeling he should have.
With assistance, he’s able to parse through a little better. Whilst still taking responsibility for everything involved - and absolutely refusing to accept anyone telling him he isn’t, or that everything he did was justified - he is able to manage his own feelings better with much-needed comfort. He’s able to maintain some level of calm and composure, rather than being completely overwhelmed by his own negativity. During this stage, he’s also inclined to ask vague, often nonsensical questions and get frustrated when the other person is confused. His ability to function around other people is not yet at a level where he can actually verbalise what he’s thinking/feeling properly. 
There is also the added difficultly of feeling he doesn’t deserve assistance and, as he realises more and more that he Done Fucked Up, worrying that this person really shouldn’t be involved with him - and would they if they knew everything he’d done? Akefia, although he will share bits, is hardly the most forthcoming about everything with the majority of people.
The guilt goes on so long because it has so many layers to it. Right from the very beginning, there is a survivor’s guilt from Kul Elna. To guilt for things he had to do to survive before Dawn of the Duel. To the damage he did to Ryou’s life - a completely innocent child. To the innocent people who got swept up in his attempt at vengeance. And in spite of knowing he shouldn’t have let it get that far... the guilt at feeling he failed his village, even so. It, frankly, would take a professional to sort it through with him properly - but Akefia will never do that much to his own disaster (frankly). I know I could personally go deeper into this but I feel like I would never stop!
Stage 5: Depression
I mean, I think this is self-explanatory given what he goes through with the grief stage. That’s a LOT of emotions to swallow, and it causes him to become withdrawn and depressed. Akefia, who has never wanted to laze in his life, who has always enjoyed being outside and hates feeling trapped... now wants nothing more than to retire to bed, pull a blanket over his head and block out the world. Having previously only woken up crying with nightmares, he now finds himself prone to random fits of tears.
He never ‘gets over’ this stage, so much as it becomes episodic as he learns to feel things other than anger and frustration, and how to handle those emotions. The depression never fully goes back in its box but it becomes shorter periods of times, days or weeks rather than months where he refuses to do anything but lay down. He becomes disinterested in food, water or any form of caring for himself - which is also very uncharacteristic of my Kef, who has always prioritised surviving over emotion. 
Stage 6: Reconstruction
Akefia starts to see his new life as an actual life - not a prison he’s trapped in. He begins to focus on any connections he’s made and how he can move forward with them. Rather than obsessing over whether or not he deserves them, he starts to search for ways to earn them. This isn’t always healthy for him, and he needs help moderating it as he learns to interact with people around him after a lifetime of refusing to engage with them.
It’s messy, it’s chaos and it’s full of emotion Akefia has no experience dealing with. It’s also... beautiful (to me, anyway). From an intense hyperfocus on vengeance to actually finding joy in life. To enjoying the things he’d considered stupid, and pointless. Whether it’s platonic or romantic, Akefia learning to live a new life with other people in it is not always simple but it’s usually worth it for both parties involved.
Stage 7: Acceptance
Although his past will never be forgotten, Akefia accepts every bit of it as his story. He’s more honest with himself, and others. To the right person, he’ll answer more questions honestly, and he’ll bring up more stories when he trusts someone to give him insight into his own behaviour.
He starts to fully engage in his future, looks to make actual plans and learns more about the world, and people, around him. Instead of only showing interest enough to find a way to survive, he becomes curious and invested in the world around him. He mellows as he begins to fully accept life for what it is - and for what it was. As previously mentioned, he continues to battle periods of depression (and anxiety), and he, unsurprisingly, is traumatised from many of the events in his life. It’s not always an easy life he lives, but he does find his centre, and often a slice of happiness he never thought he could have. 
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