#it also implies that they somehow need the Mass less

[staplegrapes]

Mystery Guardian (Éomer Éadig x Reader)

Description: After the battle, you are wounded. You were not supposed to be here. Therefore, you would simply swipe some healing supplies and be on your way. Yet a certain newfound king would not allow it.

Word Count: 1.4k

TW: Canon-typical depictions of violence, blood and battle

A/N: Reader is written as gender neutral, but it is implied for some reason or another they were not supposed to be at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

✨Gender Neutral Reader✨

It was risky being here, you were well acquainted with that thought given that it ran through your head with every passing second. Though the battle had ended in an apparent victory much blood had been spilled. Scores of men flooded back towards the Houses of Healing and you found yourself contemplating going with them.

You weren't bleeding profusely or had any limbs hanging on by a thread, but you knew if you did not see your wounds tended to, you would likely end up quite ill. Seeing as you had managed to not perish in battle, you thought it may be of interest to not succumb to something much more easily avoided than a blade swinging at our face. Yet, there was the added difficulty of the fact you were not supposed to be in this battle. Your presence unveiled from your helmet would turn heads undoubtedly.

You had a simple plan. Keep your head down and armor on as you weave through the masses of injured and only take what you needed to avoid infection. Many more were in a state much worse than yours. As soon as possible, you make a hasty exit and find a safer spot.

You found it relatively easy to make it within the doors, many men were also still fully suited in their armor. The houses were large, yet the thralls of men easily overtook the resources. The hoards pushed you further into building. The stone archways seemed to get narrower the further you walked, more or less shuffled in further. After some time you noticed a free table with what appeared to be some clean bandages and a wound solution. Quickly, you snagged both and tried to make an exit, but the masses pushed you further forward. With some small shuffling, you finally made it out of the mainstream. Taking a breath to orient yourself you caught a glimpse of a pair of broad and familiar shoulders. Éomer was stooped over another, to which it shocked you to see the angelic face of Éowyn void of any life.

It was of no surprise to you she had also found the courage to fight despite the opposition to do so. While you did not know her plan, you knew you both had done so to protect your people. Still, she laid dead and your heart lurched having grown up with her and Éomer. Her bravery was overshadowed by the loss of her. As your gaze widened you noticed Aragon standing over her, while he was concerned he did not appear to mourn her. You saw a look of hope on Éomer's face.

Watching for several moments, you watched as Aragorn tended to her. You saw Éomer's shoulders relax and somehow you knew, she would be alright.

"Where did you get that?" a healer asked you, pointing to the healing supplies in your arms and in that moment you bolted down the hallway back towards the door. Maybe that had not been the most dignified way to deal with it, but your mind grew hazy and you began to rely on instinct rather than intuition. You hastily walked outside the walls and found yourself beginning to walk with no true direction in mind. The sparkle of a small stream down a steep slope caught your eye.

The small stream seemed to be the only place you would be able to tend to yourself safely. So that is what you did, carefully shuffling down the steep grassy slope towards the small glistening stream below. Your breath began to grow weaker as well as your vision did, the surge of battle wore off as the wear from battle grew. Taking a steadying breath, you bent down to the stream and began to dampen the cloth with the clean water.

It was a slow process, given your weakened state, but you made progress. Washing the injuries, keeping them clean with the solution and the water, wrapping them in the bandages and moving onto the next. It was quite awhile as you began to grow near the end of your needs but a voice startled you from your silent pursuit.

"You'd find better aid within the walls of Healing Houses, go there to tend to- oh."

You knew that voice anywhere and given the abrupt ending to his sentence supposedly he knew the back of your head anywhere.

Éomer.

How had you not heard him sneak up behind you?

"I shall be fine, your grace." you timidly turn towards him, ironically, given your fierce demeanor in battle not long ago.

"Whatever have you done? are you hurt badly?" His eyes were wild with concern as he quickly descended down the embankment. You watched him stumble just as you did, likely the most uncoordinated you had ever seen him be in all your years of knowing him.

"I trust Éowyn is alright?" you whisper, still deflecting his concern.

"Y-yes, Aragorn... she'll wake soon." He knelt alongside of you, "Are you hurt?"

"I'll be fine, I'm sorry about your uncle." You wince as you wrap your forearm tightly. He gently places his hand over yours.

"It is better for it to be loose."

You nodded silently as he rewrapped your arm.

A silence takes over the air between you two. It was comfortable in some odd way, given that you had both lived through the battle you were unsure of the outcome.

"It was you." he says in a breath.

"I do not know what you are talking about," you mutter through gritted teeth as you feel him start to clean another spot.

"You're the one who saved me when I had a blade to my neck." He keeps his eyes locked on your shoulder where he continues to clean.

"That could have been anyone." you shrug, looking away.

"If it was not you, then say so." You feel his eyes burning into the side of your head.

You remained silent. He sighs as he leans back on his knees.

"That tells me all." He states. "Why are you here?"

"Others needed to be attended to. I can manage myself."

"No, you that is not what I mean." He gently pulls your chin for you to face him. You sigh.

"You think I a coward?" you ask with a harsh tone much more intense than you had originally planned.

"What? No. In what tone did I-" You see him startled by your change in inflection.

"Then how shall I not defend my people as well as you?" You ask, dropping your tone to a softer, yet defending clarity.

"My job is to defend for you." He says softly, tilting his gaze.

"Well that does not sit well with me. I could not bear the thought of you dead on my account." You shake your head.

"It sits well with me." He says, "but I am most appreciative to breathe another breath granted by you, though I'd prefer it not be at the risk of your safety."

"We will have to agree to disagree on that matter." You turn back to him with a small smile. You understand his chivalry and nobility, yet you truly would never want to be the reason he didn't come home one day.

"Very well then, you feel well enough to walk? Let us return to the Healing Houses, Éowyn will wake soon."

"Will it not look strange for me to be present? Some may be opposed."

"And then they will have to answer to the King, for who is indebted to you with a life debt." he said as he helped you stand up and navigate up the bank.

It never occurred to you till now. Éomer is to be king.

"You may question that, I have more or less stolen the supplies from the houses that I used."

He chuckles, "I'm certain it can be remedied." He kept a solid and stabilizing hand along your arm as you walked back towards the Healing Houses.

"I can stay outside if that is better, give you time with Éowyn." but his grip only tightened.

"Stay by my side, I lost my uncle and nearly lost two of the dearest people in my life, I intend not to repeat that in anytime in my rule." he looked down to you with a protective look in his eye. Though it had been a grim day, you saw light beginning to shine from behind the clouds.

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[solradguy]

asking this off anon since it’s p obvious who’s asking, but what are your thoughts on asuka? obvs you think he got off light with sol but do you overall think he was mishandled in the story/dislike him as a character?

As a villain he's awesome.

When they established the core of his character/backstory in Overture, they had him almost like a sympathetic villain. If you read between the lines, there were events where the only choice Asuka could have made were ones that were going to paint him as a raw bastard to the rest of society, with the biggest one being the Black Sunrise when he overrode Justice to blow up Japan to keep the Universal Will from manifesting (and making humanity go extinct, probably).

His options were either to override Aria's control over her own body or to try to convince her to do it herself, which she may not have been able to do in time because trying to convince someone to wipe out 99% of a country of people is a hard thing to do lol It sucks for the characters, but as far as writing goes it's awesome. It's a complex choice, and complex choices tell a lot about a character.

He did something similar with Frederick when he put the Flame of Corruption in him. Asuka knew that he was going to lose control over the Gear cell research (implied at the end-ish of Begin) and needed something on the outside to deal with it once that research inside got out of hand (which it did—Crusades). He also needed to somehow keep the FoC away from the Scales of Juno because of the risk of an Absolute World (mass extinction event). Asuka very probably could have convinced Frederick to accept being infected with the FoC but he didn't even try, he just did it.

Asuka had hundreds of chances across the timeline of Guilty Gear to try to explain things to Sol and he never does until the very end of Strive. Of course, Sol probably wouldn't have listened to him anyway because, as far as he knew, Asuka killed/did something awful to his fiancée, betrayed him, and turned him into a supernova barely caged inside a human form. But he could have at least tried. Asuka is complex as hell, and it's fascinating how GG has managed to pull that off.

Until roughly Xrd. And it got worse in Strive.

I don't know what the decision there was. It's like the foundation for an Asuka redemption arc was being put down before they just went and dropped the whole house on it anyway. They needed him to still be a bit of a villain, but they wanted to start wrapping up the Sol/Asuka threads at the same time and it just isn't doing it, imo. Like I said in my reply on that other post, the FoC stuff between Sol and Asuka has been brewing since Missing Link, 25 years ago, and they "resolved" it in a less than 10 minute scene that was in the middle of another scene where the Earth was about to be blown up by God!I-No at the climax of the entire Strive story itself.

Sol's in-game lines about wanting to beat up Asuka and beating him up in honor of Aria confirm that Sol's still mad at him, but... man.... I want to believe they're going to loop back around and expand on all that a bit more later because right now it's a massively disappointing end to Sol's biggest story arc and to Asuka's character as a whole.

Asuka knows he fucked up, Sol knows it, the rest of the world still knows it too. They can't just be like "and then Asuka went to the moon and everyone forgave him because he helped a bit with some stuff." Fingers crossed Sol's planning something with that rocket in his backyard at Iseo. Even if it's just to go up to the moon and monologue at Asuka.

[kaelio]

vampire chronicles; vampire powers conversation:

@kaelio & @thecactifindahome

Kaelio: Well, we know that like Baudwin's death helps level up the scrub vampires

Kaelio: His flesh/blood do that!

Kaelio: Well, what if Lestat fed everyone his arms and legs? And then took new arms and legs from a clone of himself that had been made a vampire. [I think Viktor in one line is implied to be a clone and not actually part-Flannery, with her perhaps solely as surrogate despite the sex--need to check this]

Kaelio: Is this basically the infinite chocolate hack?

Kaelio: The only way it isn't, is if losing part of your original tissues makes you weaker; you that has new parts isn't as strong as you that had the old parts

Kaelio: So did cutting off Rhosh's arm make Rhosh weaker at vampire stuff?

Cactus: Oh I see, hm... but the vampirized arm would be a pretty fresh fledgling, right? Somehow I have the idea in my head that the flesh would store, like, blood points essentially

Cactus: Like how Enkil just shattered without blood, I think losing significant body mass would negatively affect them

Kaelio: Yes so it wouldn't level up Lestat but it's not like him getting a new arm would the undo the gains from whoever ate his old arm right?

Cactus: True... does Flavius every say something about his new leg? I can't recall, hm, I'll look

Kaelio: Or maybe you couldn't do this all the time, but it strikes me it's something that maybe you could do every once in a while.

Kaelio: Ahhh yeah 🤔. But we do know that if you don't take all of it, they do have some tolerance and ability to essentially refuel to full power

Kaelio: Or do they! Did Lestat actually take a meaningful step back say post-Merrick vs recently Akasha-clouded qotd Lestat

Cactus: Hm, a rationale for the cult to say that elders/master shouldn't make fledglings, too

Kaelio: You could have a punishment that is less sever than capital punishment but still has a fine-like consequence this way. Ate some of your flesh/power.

Cactus: There's always the cope vs. realism explanation for the downgrade, but it seems like Fareed has to explain things about the leg to Flavius, who take a few months to warm up to it, so maybe there's something to it?

Cactus: You know, I think he might? I was surprised by how much less powerful he seemed to think he was as compared to the ancients in Prince Lestat

Kaelio: Yeah, I actually think that might be the case, and he really does seem like the most powerful around the end of Queen of the Damned and then he definitely isn't later, I mean, I actually would've thought that he could at least put up a fight against Rhosh in a normal sense based on where he is around Memnoch times

Kaelio: Yeah and also maybe Akasha wasn't just the fount for new vampires but basically much more widely used as a recharge than we assumed

Cactus: And Rhoshamandes delegated an unknown amount of fledgling to Benedict

Kaelio: Yeah also maybe then making Fontayne was actually intended as a submissive move by Pandora for Arjun

Kaelio: Almost like self-injury

Kaelio: Of course this also introduces the possibility for gross little mechanisms like Lestat's affirmation that sires have the right to the fledgling's blood

Kaelio: So David's return bite is just about trying to be able to open heavy doors again

Cactus: o: oh now that's a fascinating way to look at it, and also explains why she was not especially raring to go after him

Cactus: [David] was halfway through building a little faux medieval folly on the Talbot estate (old man project)

Kaelio: So implies entitlement to all derived power of the lineage not just intimacy

Kaelio: Kings and vassals indeed!

Cactus: Alternatively, an MLM!

Kaelio: And like an mlm those at the bottom are basically hosed, because wasn't there something about how Amel hits capacity?

Cactus: Yeah, they said people were actually failing to make new vampires there were so many, they'd just die

Kaelio: So it is a scrabble with lords and vassals and subjects over a finite resource. A "game of thrones", if you will.

Kaelio: Although I get the sense the capacity is only a number, not the power of respective components

Kaelio: Which is a really interesting dynamic. It's a zero sum game in terms of population but not in terms of power.

Kaelio: I think a lot of this has to do with how much control we think Amel has over who is getting what powers when, and to what extent, and how much of its power is just to make them vampires period.

Cactus: Oh, I like that idea about them waking up due to essentially hunger pangs, and it explains why the jerks never felt inclined to contribute before but do now

Kaelio: Someone (Marius) does say (to Armand I think) when you get which powers seems kind of strange and arbitrary which is why you have to keep testing your abilities and if they've changed.

Cactus: That comes up a few times I think, I think it took him quite a while to get the Cloud Gift. Or maybe it was fire, hmm

[stuff]

Kaelio: Oh I misread that; do you mean Marius? Because yeah he gets fire before Cloud Cactus: No yeah Marius.

Kaelio: Fire [Marius] gets consistently in Byzantium iirc

Kaelio: But otoh we don't really know because he doesn't know anyone who knows they have it and doesn't really care for it

Kaelio: Avicus it feels like should have it and maybe he does but he doesn't know he does if so.

Kaelio: in Byzantium (or frankly Rome with that sad ass performance against ruffians)

Cactus: Armand mentions he had the feeling he'd get the Cloud Gift fairly soon, so maybe that's what Avicus felt? Like how you can sometimes tell you're going to get a headache before the pain starts

Kaelio: Or I wonder if the powers are granted by a kind of a prayer system to Amel and they just don't realize this is the pathway

Kaelio: And part of the reason they tend to get certain powers is once they know another vampire has them, they can want them

Kaelio: Like maybe he gets the Cloud Gift early because he actually knows what it is and therefore can have a desire for it that might be picked up by Amel

Cactus: Rhoshamandes didn't realize he could fly until reading the books, so that's something

Kaelio: Oh yeah!!!!

Cactus: Counterpoint: Armand couldn't burn anyone until PL which you'd think he'd have started ASAP

Cactus: So I think it does have to be points to an extent

Kaelio: Oh yeah or at least maybe Amel was like you don't get any more powers for a while, greedy!

Kaelio: At least not until you kill more scrub vampires 👀

Cactus: Unlike the others, he doesn't need an incentive to kill so he doesn't need the perks, lol

Cactus: Like how he never bothered urging him to destroy

Kaelio: Armand was being labor exploited :(

Cactus:

-The council: It seems like Amel has only been commanding those with the fire gift to destroy the young -Armand: Well he wasn't said shit to me -The Council: Anyway!

Kaelio: But it's interesting if their categorization system also is... faddish? They tend to get powers because that system allows others to know that it's a power that is acquirable.

Kaelio: And it still leaves it open for the idea that some of them are getting actual -vampire- powers that they don't realize that they've been granted (again Lestat definitely has that love/charm power)

Kaelio: but if it were ever to actually be recognized as a "Charm Gift" others would start to get it because they would be communicating in some conscious or subconscious way that they would like to get it

Cactus: Yeah, as always the healing gift remains ignored and underexplored!

Kaelio: That one's foisted 😭

Cactus: Louis' magnetism could certainly be a manifestation of it

Cactus: His beauty area of effect, lol

Kaelio: absolutely a power he clearly has imo

Kaelio: He absolutely seems to have a glamor for those in his proximity

Kaelio: but maybe the Math Gift could be a thing but they don't realize so the Amel is never getting that subconscious request/"prayer"

Cactus: Louis' is more limited in that it won't absorb you your whole life

Cactus: Oh there's one user of the Math Gift

Kaelio: Oh yeah!

Kaelio: I forgot it was so pronounced

Cactus: You DO win stupid prizes playing stupid games (explode rats gift)

Cactus: Also the notorious insect speed reading

Kaelio: Oh my God, marius did get the explode rat gift

Kaelio: Underutilized against Santino, who just got the rats around gift

Kaelio: saw a rat one time and wanted it to come closer, and that got interpreted as "I would like to have rats around me constantly". Cooter burger moment.

Cactus: Summon Rat vs Rebuke Rat

[pyreo]

Ok so you know when you're presenting a scenario in the narrative that your audience is supposed to disagree with. and, you know, 'shaking my head while reading on the train so everyone knows I don't agree' etc, you aren't presenting this for children, the audience is supposed to know what's going on.

good writing doesn't have something in-universe that points out when bad things are bad.

but there is a loophole.

if you want to make sure, if you feel like adding a failsafe to make sure nobody starts throwing accusations, you have the character with the incorrect view say something else, earlier or in the same scene, that is wildly, brutally obviously incorrect.

you brand them with the idea that they are Wrong and the audience will absorb that trait and apply it to everything else they do.

There's a great example of this in the Sopranos episode "Christopher", about christopher columbus and how defensive people are about him, where Tony disagrees with his son's columbus-critical school book. Tony rants "he discovered America, is what he did. He was a brave Italian explorer", with absolute conviction. But just a moment ago, Tony tried to excuse columbus's actions by saying that 500 years ago everyone was less aware - "people thought the earth was flat, for crying out loud", when arguments about the shape of the earth belong to ancient Greece, around 300 BC.

He also then mentions something about "remember when we went to Florida - the heat? and those bugs?" seemingly implying that mass murder is as excusable as swatting annoying insects. an abhorrent, disgusting view - informing us in concrete terms that Tony's impassioned defense of columbus is based on flimsy logic and his mentality is flawed.

another example I like is The Nicest Kids In Town from Hairspray. a toe-tapping number about the vast opportunities for young people in 1950s Baltimore - as long as you're white!

You'd better come on down and meet the nicest kids in town! Nice white kids who like to lead the way

Other than a little zoomed-in emphasis on the singer, it's just baked into the song. It's got the same jaunty beat as everything else. So just in case you somehow didn't get how amazingly racist this situation is, Corny Collins goes on to sing:

Every afternoon drop everything, Who needs to read and write when you can dance and sing! Forget about your algebra and calculus, You can always do your homework on the morning bus, Can't tell a verb from a noun- They're the nicest kids in town!

Playing it as a joke is a good way to couch the meaning, but this is no holds barred irresponsible in a way that explains why parents don't want their children watching Corny's show. But the link is there - this guy jokingly insists that children should watch tv instead of learning to read and write. With that in the same song, are you going to trust him on any other topic? On the racial divide of 1950s america? He's the face of the show, and given the time period, what he sings isn't shocking in-universe - but it should be outside of that, and his regressive humour clues you in that the correct stance is opposing this guy.

so there you go. if you want an audience to be assured a character is in the wrong... just... make them unbelievably wrong about something unrelated.

[arlecchno]

mission accomplished [ scaramouche x reader ]

eighteen | be your date

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things started to change a lot when you're finally back to the real world, especially your relationship with the guy you're supposed to hate the most.

warnings: swearing, yun jin calls you babe, just reader and scaramouche being awkward and also yun jin being a 'very' good friend lmao

a/n: god i need to stop updating so often because now this series is already halfway finished and it's only been less than 3 months... i don't want ma to end quick T-T so maybe i'll start posting once a week now. happy reading!

grammatical errors may occur so please let me know if i've made any mistakes!

it has been an unusual week for you.

for the first time in two months and a half, viktor was avoiding you.

it first started when you two had mass comm together a few days ago. he always used to be so cheerful and always full with conversations that you barely even hear what the professor's always teaching in his lectures.

but he completely changed when you returned to class, and had progressively stopped talking with you as the week goes by. he only ever talks with you if you were the one who initiated small talk, usually answering with a simple reply, and decides to never talk to you again for the rest of the class.

things started to change even more when he slowly distances himself from you. from sitting next to you in every mass comm class for the past two months, to not even being in your sight now, always sitting far away from you.

you had tried confronting him, of course. but somehow, he never fails to escape from you. from you searching for him in a crowded room, all the way to chasing him in the busy hallways of campus, but to no avail.

so, you did the only thing that you could do right now.

ask his girlfriend about it.

“viktor? avoiding you?” yun jin asked curiously, sipping on the cup of latte she bought at the campus cafe.

you had dragged yun jin to the campus park to discuss on the topic you've been trying to get an answer from. none of you had any classes for the rest of day, so you have all the time in the world to interrogate the young woman about her fellow partner.

you nodded, looking at her intensely. “he never talks with me now, and the only time i get to see him is when i catch glimpse of his face in class.” you said. “i never manage to catch up to him since he always comes in after the professor arrives, and always leaves the second the class is dismissed.”

“so you're asking me about him, because i'm his loving girlfriend?”

“uh, i guess so. i just want to know why he's avoiding me all of the sudden when he's the one who's most eager for me to get back on my feet and come to class.”

yun jin cleared her throat, avoiding your gaze to look at the autumn leaves. “well, in all honesty, he's also been avoiding me.”

you quirked up an eyebrow. “really?”

“it's happened a couple of times during our relationship, where he just... ignores everyone. i've asked about it before, but he merely shrugged and ignored me for the next few days.” she paused, looking back at you.

“it's as if he's living in his own world, where no one else exists, just him.”

you hummed, not knowing what to say for a moment. “is he.... you know?” you asked, hoping that yun jin would catch on what you were trying to imply.

at this, yun jin jumped on her seat. “no! no, he'd never hurt me.” she commented, emphasising the word. “there are just times where he completely ignores me and every other human being, and then comes back all of the sudden, as if nothing's happened. i've grown accustomed to it by now, just... give it a few days, he'll come back like normal.”

“you sure he's not causing you any trouble?”

“yes— don't worry about it, luna, we're fine.” she looked at you, assuring that nothing bad is going on between her and viktor. “besides, you're supposed to be preparing for this weekend, not worrying about viktor.”

you rolled your eyes at her. “seriously? that's what you've been thinking about?”

yun jin pouted, crossing her arms. “come on! this is our last year, and i don't want you to miss out on this.” she tried convincing you.

“aside from that...” she trailed off for a second, before continuing her sentence. “who're you bringing to the ball?” she asked mischievously, raising her brows up and down with a smile on her face.

“you mean a date?”

yun jin's smile faltered and huffed at you. “of course i'm talking about a date! what else would i even be suggesting?”

you sighed, looking back at the scenic view of the busy but calming campus park. as autumn is approaching to an end, most of the leaves on the trees have fallen, preparing themselves for winter to come by.

winter is the signature season of snezhnaya. with its long term and never ending snow, winter is something that everyone in the nation always look forward too.

it's no doubt that you're one of them too. with the season coming, you always look forward to continuing on this path of life, whether it'd be bad or not.

“i don't have a date.”

those five words was all it took for yun jin to jump out of her seat to sit next to you on the picnic bench. “you're kidding me, right?”

“why would i lie to you? and it's not like i won't have fun if i don't have a date, i've been single my whole life.” you looked at her, in which she glared at you in return.

then, an idea popped in her head. “isn't that ivan guy single? you should ask him out.”

“what?”

“ivan, that roommate of yours. you told me that you two came from the same uni before transferring here, surely you know enough about him now that you're living with the man.”

slowly registering her words, you widened your eyes and glared at her. “no way! we hate each other!” you said furiously, though your flustered face was very opposed to what you were saying right now.

yun jin raised a brow, smiling mischievously at you even more. “really now? ‘cause all i've seen over the past week is you two being lovebirds.”

“excuse me?!”

“what? am i not right? i see the way you look at him, and i see the way he looks at you. if it's not love, then i don't know what is.”

you covered your mouth in astonishment, and maybe just a tad bit of embarrassment.

it had been a weird week for you. ever since you got sick that one time, scaramouche has been acting different towards you. it's not entirely in a bad way, but you're sure it's not exactly in a good way either.

unlike the usual times he's spent time with you, with him throwing around three insults at you at the very least of each conversation, this time, he's been treating you very differently.

he's started to stop with his crucial actions and bashful words towards you, and he's now being exceptionally quiet, only ever replying with a word or two before going off with his own business. sure, you are not one to complain now that he's stopped making your life a miserable mess, but it's not wrong to at least ponder about it.

your views on him have also changed too.

you used to think he was the most useless man alive, and that he was the most ruthless bitch in the police department, but as time passes during the duration of your undercover case with him, things have changed by a lot.

he's not the grumpy man like before, who'd always stomp at quite literally everything whenever something doesn't go his way. he's not the guy who'd shit on you every chance he gets anymore, and he has stopped being the guy you've known so damn well.

he's now this weird, nice guy that's always treating you nicely.

you also see him as less of a burden, and more of a friend now. you two have gone a long way from being sworn enemies, so it should be time to change your title from enemies to friends, or at the very least, acquaintances.

you appreciate the little things he does for you, and repay with whatever you can, whether it be staying up with him during long nights to work on the case, or just spending time with him on the couch and watch stupid shows or movies just to shit on them together, you really wouldn't trade it for the world.

“seriously? you're off on your own dreamland right now?” yun jin asked in boredom, snapping her fingers at you.

shaking off your thoughts, you cleared your throat. “i'm not going with him.”

“babe.” yun jin said in a serious tone as she placed her hands on your shoulder, turning your body slightly so that you were facing her. “this is a once in a lifetime thing. i desperately need you to have a date, that is my personal and only request for you. besides, do you even know any other guy in campus that is not ivan?”

you slowly shook your head in defeat, looking down on your lap.

“then there you have it, ask him out by tomorrow. go big or go home, child.” she said, the embarrassing and stupidly dramatic nickname rolling off her tongue easily, as if you were her actual kid.

you give a thought.

maybe it won't be bad, you ponder to yourself. well, he technically has been nice to you for the past week, so it'd probably be less awkward if you ask him out to the ball since you guys barely argue now. and, you also can investigate on the case with him while you're at it, so it's definitely the perfect plan.

“...fine, i'll see what i can do.”

yun jin grinned giddily, shaking your shoulders violently with her hands. “thank you, thank you luna! it's gonna be sooo great!” she beamed, dragging out the 'so' in excitement.

“what?”

“let's go to that grad ball together.”

scaramouche crossed his arms, raising a brow. “i thought we were going together? you know, for the case?” he asked confusedly, looking at you from his desk.

the ravenette was currently doing some work on his desk in the small room, and you were leaning on his doorframe, staring at him expectantly.

“no, um, i meant like...” you paused, hesitant on finishing your sentence.

scaramouche leaned back on his chair properly, still looking at you with a confused look. “well? what did you mean? spit it out already.”

rubbing the back of your neck in nervousness, you avoided his eyes. here goes nothing, i guess.

“we should go together... like uh, a date.” you mumbled, voice barely a whisper, but it was enough for scaramouche to hear and slightly jump on his seat.

“w–what?”

“w–well, i mean like, we go there together... like normal people, friends— yeah, friends, that's what i meant to say! go as f–friends, y'know?” you quickly covered up in a sputtering mess. the idea of a date instantly being dumped to your butt.

how did you even manage to fuck this up so bad? it was not even that hard to begin with, yet you couldn't even do it properly like you're supposed to.

scaramouche flushed red, crimson creeping up his cheeks. he shyly looked away from you and shifted in his seat, fumbling for the right words to say. “i, um– i don't mind if i'm gonna be uh... be your boyf– date, i mean.” he stuttered, silently cursing himself for doing so.

you widened your eyes in pure shock. “h–huh?”

“you said we should go together as a... date, right?”

rubbing the back of your neck again, you fixate your eyes on his door instead, looking at it intensely as if it's the most interesting thing you've ever seen. slowly, you nodded, heart pounding from the embarrassment you're facing.

and maybe because scaramouche was looking a little too attractive to your liking.

the ravenette hummed, clicking on his pen to continue on with his work. “then, sure. i'll be your date, i guess.”

“really?” you asked, face still confused as to why he's suddenly so obedient to your request.

scaramouche shrugged, continuing on writing from where he left off. “if you have any doubts then i'm gonna call it off. this is your last chance, i'm not doing any of your stupid ideas after this.”

you pushed yourself off from his doorframe and quickly brought your hands up in defense. “n–no! please don't do that, this'll be my last ridiculous request, i swear!” you clasped your hands together.

his indigo eyes fixate on you, and he clicks his tongue. “no need to go all begging for me, i'd do anything you want me to if you ask properly.” he said, and you stared at him in return, before you looked down to the floor.

“...thank you, scara.”

“it's nothing.”

“see you tomorrow morning?” you asked, looking back up. he was still gazing at you.

scaramouche hummed, a soft expression on his face, contrary to his signature scowls and frowns. “yeah, pack whatever you need, we'll use my car.”

you smiled, and turned to the hallway to leave.

“y/n.”

“hm?” you looked over your shoulder.

scaramouche was in his seat, his hand still gripping the pen. if you look close enough, the grip he had on the pen was so strong that his knuckles were starting to turn white, and the pen was on the verge to break in two.

“i look forward to sunday.”

smiling at him again, you replied. “me too.”

and then you finally left, leaving scaramouche in his room with the door wide open.

your loving smile was all it took for the pen is his hand to snap, the ink splattering everywhere on his desk and paper, in which he breathed out a few curses as he hastily cleaned everything up.

looks like he's got to redo that paper all over again.

ooooo we've gotten to the point where their relationship starts to blossom mmm so excited to see what's next

taglist; @beriiov @hopesandlegacy @cloudsandrenoswife @salamiwrites @thenightsflower @bleedingwhiteroses222 @lisiastak021 @yuuki4646 @lez-zuha @ryhie @sleepy-waffle @yoursockstinks @shizunxie @moonxma @kunikuzushiit @anonwhocried @vqqrii @luminesuprrmacy @calxb-do @sixscara @xooya @mobiussdarling @mafukissu @antri13

(unfortunately i am unable to tag those that are in bold, i'm sorry!)

want to be added to the taglist?

[theangryjikooker]

What’s your theories on the maknae line dynamic? I keep feeling like there’s this weird off-balance feeling with them, not necessarily a tension but just a strange lack of clicking? I don’t know, it’s really odd and I think it’s a situation that could invite some tension vibes but I have no clue why (I don’t think any of them are dating each other btw). I don’t notice it when there’s another person with them, though. Like Hobi for an example. It might explain why we literally never hear of the three of them hanging out alone.

Well, I don't think it's a matter of "are they or are they not close?" because I think they're all naturally close due to their circumstances. I don't think you can share that significant of an experience without cultivating the kind of relationship they all have. They're as much family as they are friends, and yet their bonds transcend those labels at the same time.

So for me, it's not a matter of closeness that's the issue but rather their interests and "where they're at" in their lives.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not discussing this with any romantic undertones in mind (there isn't any as far as I'm concerned, anyway):

As with any group, if two people are in the same stage of their lives (which could mean many things), you might see those two gravitate more towards one another. They may not be interested in specifically the same things, but if they wanted to explore new experiences, for example, those two people might do that together. This is what I think is happening with Taehyung and Jungkook, which is what I suspected a long while ago. I think where they're at in their lives are converging in a way that their interests are similarly aligned.

Several people have asked me about Jikook's dynamic, which I think this would be better served for their asks, but to summarize: I think their relationship has just... graduated. But before anyone passionately agrees with this assessment, I don't strictly mean it in the way that it sounds. I'll elaborate later when I get to those asks.

Again, Vmin is more of an interesting case to me. They remind me of the common example of friends who don't see each other for years but can reconnect like no time has elapsed. I feel like they fulfill each other's needs (e.g., physical affection) in a way the other members can't, but I think they're also wildly different people. I do believe they think of each other as soulmates and relate to each other in a way that they don't with the others, but I think the fans' ideas of "soulmates" has gotten a little too mixed into what that might mean for Vmin. I think Taehyung and Jimin's hearts are the same, but their general interests don't really seem to overlap right now aside from maybe gaming. I don't think this makes them not close, but it sometimes feels like there's a weird dissonance happening when there most likely isn't because there's an expectation that they should be close because they're self-titled soulmates.

I don't really like to get into this here because this topic seems to cause psychotic breaks en masse, but I'm perhaps one of the few people who think there is merit to Taennie–even on a surface level. The Taennie rumor has more substance than Jikook and Taekook combined, sorry not sorry. And this is pure assumption, but I wouldn't be surprised if Taehyung and Jungkook bonded on that and their experiences (I won't get into this because some of you are not ready for this conversation and what it implies, but because this blog is also centered on the idea that Jikook has potential, I wouldn't share it here even if I wanted to).

Maknae line hanging out as a trio is where the light bulb is still off for me. It's not that they have to hang out together because if we're looking at OT7, there are a few combinations that don't seem to hang out as much (or at all) compared to the others, and it's not like they're somehow less close (this is idiotic thinking and anyone who entertains this is pathetic).

Honestly, at the end of the day, I think the true nature of the OT7 dynamic and how they are as individuals would break the minds of ARMYs. Too often people forget how human they are and how the perception of them on Twitter/Tumblr/wherever is only as close to what we've been allowed to see.

[ellaintrigue]

Poly people suck. They ignore my profile and harass me. I like this:

"For me, it's the mass gaslighting and manipulation.

The idea that monogamous people only want monogamy because we are "conditioned" to want it. This is soft minimization because it implies that our feelings are somehow less authentic because they come from some external societal force. This narrative gets used groom others, so that a person will be less able to defend agaisnt being coerced into a non-monogamous situation. This coercion gets introduced under the guise of open dialog, and there are an inordinate number of people in the NM community which support this. They don't seem to realize how incredibly manipulative that is to do to someone. It's the same with telling someone that they are just insecure for not wanting an NM realtionship. It's all meant to get a person to doubt their own emotions.

I've also noticed a tendency of polyamorists to pathologize attachment. If I had a dollar for every time a polyamorist called a monogamist "codependent", I could retire early. This is another way to get monogamous people to see their own needs as somehow lower or as something in need of fixing. This is horrendously destructive to a vulnerable person who feels lost or is unlucky in love because they begin to believe that their own needs for stability and companionship are the problem. Many unfortunate monogamous people get spock-talked into polyamory this way and end up being defeated and neglected 3rd wheels in these arrangements, forever stuck in a cycle of self doubt and resentment.

The whole thing comes off as cultish to me. If they were just doing it to themselves, that would be one thing, but they seem very intent on recruiting reluctant monogamous people to their ranks. In some circles this is a political/ideological practice as much as a way of gaining more partners; it's a way of sticking it to traditionalism. Conversion is something I take serious issue with. When people from the poly sub come here and start throwing out the standard talking points that we've all heard a thousand times, it just seems like one more zealot who wants to preach to us and that only reinforces our annoyance with that whole community."

Source: Why do you all hate on polyamory so much? : monogamy (reddit.com)

[sun-god-nasty]

Wanderer's - Starseeds, Co-creating Heaven on Earth

Channeled by Amara and Anchara

We, Amara and Anchara, are two starseeds, which are assisting in the co-creation of Heaven on Earth. We are part of a Planetary Transition Team, which is heere to assist Planet Earth, a conscious living being, to move from 3rd to 5th dimensional awareness.

Planet Earth has made the choice to no longer be available for the game of limitation and will now play the game of divine expression, where everyone is following their own spirit without hesitation and respects each other as sovereign beings.

We are not only here to raise our own vibrations and make radical changes in our pictures of realities, we also are here to serve as path cutters making it easier for others, who are ready to transcend through the illusions of the mass consciousness of the beings of Planet Earth. To be able to do this we use 5th dimensional tools, which are as accelerating as the world is now, so then it is easy for us to look at and experience ourselves as being totally different, and then think and live like the beautiful, magnificent divine masters that we really are, and be ready and willing to co-create Heaven on Earth together with other masters of divine expression.

In our reality, everyone here is a master, it is up to everyone's free will to choose either the mastery of limitation or to become masters of divine expression. There is as well something to be experienced in the game of limitation and we all have mastered that beautifully. Only when we feel that small and limited and separate from the divine source (God, or all-creating force, whatever you like to call it) will we be able to experience the magnificence and beauty in the awakening of our vastness in all that is.

WHY HAVE WE COME TO PLANET EARTH?

A common question that is asked by those we meet is, 'why are we all here on Planet Earth?!' Most of the answers that have been presented so far have come from a linear-thinking perspective. Some of them have been simple evolutionary answers and others have been religious tales that imply that beings are somehow less for being here and need to earn or learn their way out. Some Tales speak of the hope of rreincarnation and others speak of the burdens of Original Sin, racial guilt, or ancestral tradition.

We would like to present a multi-dimensional answer. One general enough to accommodate everyone and another specifically directed to extraterrestrial planetary transition teams.

Looking at this question from a multi-dimensional perspective, we could easily consider that Planet Earth is an alive, conscious being that is participating in a process that involves a period of condensing into matter (a time of limitation and slumbering), then a shift, after which there is a time of awakening, expansion and new possibilities of expression. Looking at this planetary shift from a linear interpretation, you could foresee a lot of destruction, but from a multi-dimensional perspective, it looks like a dimensional shift that simply exalts everything to maximum realization of potential.

Back to why beings would come here. Imagine yourself to be a multi-dimensional identity that is involved in a process of unfolding back to the Source. In this unfoldment, many different options are being explored on many different dimensions simultaneously. One of these options could be the experience of lifetimes in a limitation system which is available on planets that are still in their condensing phase. This offers the being opportunities to "master limitation". Mastery of limitation is desirable to a consciousness that wishes to precisely utilize energies. The experiences of limitation by one aspect of the multi-dimensional self could be useful to all of the other aspects as more precision is gained in the mastery of limitation. So, if you are here as a multi-dimensional being, you wanted to master limitation and agreed to enter the condensing energies of Planet Earth and accept the beauty and horrors of the illusions created in a limitation system.

If you happened to be a part of an extraterrestrial planetary transition team, your reason for being here would be slightly different. You are already a master of entering a limitation system, sinking into limitation, and then setting up transition energies that make the shift easier for others in that system. A good analogy is that you're like midwives at a birth. You are part of a wakeup call synchronizing with the planet to help those who are deep in the slumber of limitation to awaken to their multi-dimensional selfhood. EXTRATERRESTRIAL EARTH MISSION

THE DIMENSIONAL MODEL.

THE 3RD - Where you are now, your physical reality.

THE 4TH - On the fourth dimension (which - is a good one to skip). We found dark forces, lost spirits, earthbound spirits, fairies and elves. We found all the karmic patterning and past-life stuff for people that are here on this planet. Here is where you find the classic battle between the forces of light and darkness, good and evil. The fourth dimension is highly interactive with the third dimension.

THE 5TH - On the fifth dimension is the plane which you would consider to be the heavenly plane. In fact, in near death experience, people describe going down a tunnel and gong into the light - well, in our model the tunnel crosses the fourth into the fifth dimension, the light, it is also the dimension where people go when they die on this (the 3rd dimension). The 5th dimension has ET's in light bodies, extraterrestrial ships, angels, spirit-guides and many wonderous things. This is a place where things are done purely by spirit and designed by spirit and carried out by spirit.

THE 6TH - In the 6th dimension we found all of the basis of language, music, art, numerology, astrology, genetic coding, DNA and all symbolic languages of any sort. All of these are different systems, different ways and energy's for understanding, for healing, for helping, for expanding consciousness exist here. Most of the work that we do and information we share comes from the 6th dimension.

THE 7TH - On the 7th dimension we found that this was the last dimension where there was an individuation of spirit. If you will, the 7th is where your pure essence exists as an individual spirit. There we found beings existing as pure essences, as colour, as sound, indviduated.

THE 8TH - On the eighth dimension we found that spirits began to manifest as single identities that were groups. So there was the spirit of a marriage, the spirit of a city, the spirit of a community, the spirit of a group of any sort existing as an individual identity. This is where all the group sould activities are going on. Manifestation of self begins to take place in larger and larger groups as consciousness unfolds back to the source.

THE 9TH - On the 9th dimension, we found that entities manifested as planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies, and even universes. Here is the place where you can experience this planet as a live, conscious being with a purpose, a spirit, a soul, everything. The 9th dimension was the last dimension within the local universe.

THE 10TH - The 10th dimension, which was beyond the limits of this local universe. We found this dimension to be beyong, surrounding, or all-pervading, all of the other dimensions. In this dimension was a pure, sparkly, white light. What you would knmow as the Christos, or divine light.

THE 11TH - On the 11th dimension we found the very source and inspiration for this light.

THE 12TH - On the 12th dimension, all beings are one. All forms, all demonstrations, all expressions, in all universes, are one. And that was the edge beyond which you entered the void, where there is nothing and everything. GOD

We have created this model to help describe our exploration of other dimensions. It is only a possibility. Your explorations may reveal quite different possibilities, and they would be correct, for you.

THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE REARRANGES ITSELF TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR PICTURE OF REALITY.

YOU ARE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE EXPRESSING ITSELF AT A SINGLE POINT.

BLESSINGS ON YOUR JOURNEY.

[moose-muffin]

Sooooo... Uhmmhmhumhmhm.,.,. Do you have any Manray HCS to feed the hungry masses? Maybe? 👉👈👀

Please for the love of god I am starving fhdjdjj

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!! HI!!! I AM APART OF YOU LOVELY PEOPLE SO LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD SHALL WE??? THIS IS LOOOOOONG OVERDUE <3 (ALSO THANK U SM FOR THE ASK, OPENING IT MADE MY DAY AND I HOPE THESE HCS MAKE YOURS <3)

MANRAY TICKLE HEADCANONS!!!!!!!!

as a lee…

- HE IS ACTUALLY ADORABLE! LIKE??? FULL STOP JUST THE SWEETEST THING. THINK ABOUT IT RIGHT, HE WAS FULLY PREPARED TO TAKE SPONGE AND PAT OUT AND HE COULDNT BC HE WAS JUST SO TICKLISH HE FELL ON THE FLOOR AND CURLED UP WITH LAUGHTER, HOW MUCH SWEETER CAN HE GET!? ESP BC HES SO THREATENING TOO ITS AN AMAZING COMBO

- like I know the show is silly and all that but it’s also like confirmed to be something Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy themselves have used on him!? like… they MADE THE TICKLE BELT, F O R MANRAY!? this implies they had to find out somehow that he was uber ticklish and I am so curious about that backstory… (more on this later tbh..)

- BACK TO THE THREATENING THING!! his character is genuinely scary like bros got a laundry list of bad stuff he’s done but yet tickling is the thing that takes him out! seriously will never get over it <3

- and also there may not have been that much though in the placement of the belt itself, I’d assume it tickles mainly his lower torso/abs which is a valid spot and I genuinely adore that so much <3

- If I had to continue the list of spots I see him as being ticklish is say bros got ticklish thighs for days… also he’s pretty damn muscular so anywhere that’s strong af is also ticklish af, I don’t even make the rules here THATS like legit science LOL

- also???? there’s like this sweet little video of a irl manta ray getting tickled and its instinctual reaction is to curl up a little bit and the fact that Manray mirrors that is wonderful (could be a coincidence but considering Hillenburgs background in Marine Biology there’s a chance it was planned)

- Also bro has so many little laughs I am obssesed!!!! like he giggles a lot but sometimes has moments of more rambunctious and louder laughter and it is a truly beautiful combo

- If you are to tickle him he is quite literally putty in your hands <3 so so sensitive and so much potential for the best sounds you’ve ever heard

as a ler…

- I’ll probably make more headcanons later (aka anon if you’d like more pls remind me darling bc I will probs forget)

- BUT HIM AS A LER!? He is so unforgiving

- im not sure if anyone would remember this but in the beginning of one of the episodes there’s like a Krusty Krab commerial with Mermaid Man and Barnacle boy being tied up and tickled by manray (implied, nothing is actually shown but it’s said it occurs) to the point of wetting themselves… speaks VOLUMES to how far this man would go for you, if you wanted it of course

- I mean that too, when he’s not up against his enemies he is truly such a polite gentleman and I respect that so much

- He would be similar to a partner totally. Just absolutely the kindest ever but the moment you want to be tickled, say LESS

- he’s on that so fast, bro is ready to pay back anyone for the time he’s spent with the belt on. It brings him joy tbh, and when he knows you love it, it brings him even MORE joy ;)

- He definitely goes for your worst spots and pushes boundaries but would absolutely check in on you after to make sure you’re ok

- He’s something else.. and he may be evil but he cares about you

- He’s such a little ass I love him, you’ll see his shit-eating grin and just KNOW what’s about to go down

- He doesn’t do tickle fights, he does tickle WARS. he LOOOOVES the idea of it being ever running, he could strike at any moment and you’d never know *oOOOooOooo*

- Speaking of that sound effect he absolutely teases like crazy. He’s got the wiggly fingers, the little evil giggles, the whispering teases into your ear when he can.

- Ok I need to stop myself now but all in all, he would be all over tickling, he’s such a wonderful character man and I’m glad you enjoy him as well!!! I’d love to make more headcanons for him so just remind me <3 I can go more specific as well like an x reader or background story type thing, you tell me!!!

ok!!! love you byeee!! thank you anon for a lovely request!!!!

[waheelawhisperer]

Another interesting bit about Raven: despite having no direct connections with Adam whatsoever (belying some V5-vintage theories), they sport *unnervingly* similar aesthetics, weapons & disregard for expendable subordinates. I mean, Raven actually cared a little about Vernal but still put her in a red herring position expressly intended as Maiden-hunter bait, while Adam didn't even fucking twitch at news of mass WF casualties *or* Yang blasting one of his dudes right outside the cafeteria.

Yeah, there are a lot of parallels between them, so much so that a lot of people thought that they were supposed to be associated somehow and get mad that they weren't, but I actually think those similarities aren't meant to imply an in-universe connection and are actually supposed to tie them together in the minds of the viewers as shitty, abusive, yet nonetheless deeply important figures to Yang and Blake who serve as mentors and protectors in some (limited) capacity and ultimately reveal that they aren't the people that Yang and Blake hope, want, believe, and desperately need them to be. They both shatter the pedestals they stand upon, one by losing sight of what they're fighting for (in Blake's mind, we all know Adam stopped giving a shit about anything resembling true Faunus equality in favor of making everything about forcing the world to hurt the way he did long before Blake figured it out) and the other by failing her family repeatedly and failing her daughter in particular by doing the exact opposite of what a mother should at every opportunity.

This is a really interesting contrast to me because it highlights a big difference between Blake and Yang. Blake has always been presented as a big picture person - she wants to stop discrimination against all Faunus, everywhere. She wants to make the whole world better for everyone. Yang, on the other hand is all about the immediate - who can I help right here, who can I help right now? She's the only member of the main four who didn't have some grand reason for becoming a Huntress, the only one of the four who wanted to help evacuate Mantle instead of launch Amity. Yang wants to help the people in front of her. She wants to solve the problem in front of her and worry about the bigger picture later. Her connection to the big, sweeping plotline isn't some goal like restoring her family's legacy or making things better for marginalized people across the world, it's protecting her friends and family. It's because the people she loves are also involved, and she'll be damned if she'll let them fight alone. That's why it's so painful for her when she realizes Raven will leave her to fight alone, that Raven will let Yang paint a target on her own back because she's too scared and weak and pathetic to protect her own daughter.

Didn't talk about this enough in my initial Raven post, but she is really... not a good person. While my coomer brain will forgive her for anything because she's a hot samurai goth MILF in thigh-highs, the fact that she regularly raids and plunders villages and then leaves them for the Grimm really shouldn't be overlooked (Qrow does not overlook this at all and it's a source of major conflict between them, shoutouts to Qrow), nor should the fact that she does so using powers that Ozpin originally gave to the Maidens in order to protect the world and the innocent, as a direct response to the kindness and wisdom of the original Maidens. In terms of everything but power, Raven is the exact opposite of what Ozpin wanted the Maidens to be and represent.

Gotta say I love the way Adam and Raven are both so... selfish. They just view their respective organizations and the people in them as things, tools they can use to protect themselves or accomplish their own goals. The difference between them, really, is that Raven cares. She expresses regret and remorse. She just lacks the strength of character to place someone else above herself. Adam, on the other hand, couldn't care less. His men die serving Cinder's goals? Oh well, they're acceptable casualties because it lets him hurt the humans. Adam writes off every loss without a care in order to get closer to his big goal of lashing out at the world and wiping out humanity, Raven regrets the things she does and tries so hard to justify them to herself and others.

I cannot wait to see Raven's return to the series. I want to see what made her leave Team STRQ and why. I want to see how and why Taiyang fell in love with her, and what made her love him enough to marry and have a child with him. I want to see the person Taiyang talks up to his daughter even after all these years. I want to see how she becomes that person again, and I have faith that she will. One of RWBY's big themes is the idea that even if you've failed in the past, even if you've made mistakes, you can still start making the right choices now. Not every character takes that opportunity (see: Adam's refusal to let go of Blake, Ironwood's insistence on bombing Mantle and raising Atlas no matter how little sense it makes, etc.), but enough do that I feel comfortable considering it a theme, and I think Raven is primed to add to it at some point.

Honestly, I'm just hoping she shows up at some point and then someone just clotheslines her for being a shithead.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Idiot on Reddit: The UK and Australia had a mass shooting, and they changed their gun laws so it didn't happen again! Me: But Australia's had mass shootings since Port Arthur. Idiot: It was only one or two! That doesn't matter! Me: So a single shooting is enough justification to change the laws, but further shootings don't actually prove the previous laws were wrong and a country needs more laws?

Me: Or do you just...hate to admit knee-jerk gun control might not be perfect?

Idiot: [stops responding]

The idiot also claimed less guns and better "mental healthcare" (Read: government-funded) could prevent shootings. I said Stephen Paddock was a rich man, and could easily afford a top therapist, and mental health professions won't do people any good if those people don't go.

Come to think, Elliot Rodger actively refused to go to therapy.

In another thread, Idiot said "screening" is something "every developed country" except America does to prevent mass shootings. I asked him for specifics. He deflected. 

I said he was bluffing and didn't actually know what they did, and Switzerland has about 20% gun ownership. Idiot insisted "screening" keeps people from committing mass murder, and implies Switzerland doesn't count, it's an exception.

Except I had already mentioned mandatory Swiss male conscription. That's literally the opposite of screening. Only about 20% of men are deemed unfit.

He also thought "training" somehow prevented mass shooters, though he was slim on the details. Common sense would say military training would make shooters more deadly, and the US has had several military-trained shooters (EG Fort Hood 2009 and 2014, Sutherland Springs).

He also implied Switzerland was an exception and didn't really count, even though it meant he had been wrong. Then I told him Germany has about the same ownership rate, and also mandatory male conscription.

I wonder what he'll come up with next.

[c-e-d-dreamer]

If you don't write a part 3 of the come and get me nessian fic, I'm going to scream! I need it! Please!

What's that? You want sad Cassian's POV? You heckin' bet! 😇 Also, if you want this to hurt extra good, you can listen to See You Later by Jenna Raine which is what I listened to while crying writing this. Enjoy! TW: implied SA

Part One // Part Two

To say that Cassian was having a hard week feels like an immense understatement. Every day is somehow harder than the last. From the moment he opens his eyes, he feels the weight of the ache through his whole body. It engraves itself into his bones in rough, deep lines, and leaves his chest gaping in a way that he’s sure is going to fester. His fingers constantly itch to grab his phone, and sometimes that deep ingrained desire wins out. His thumb will hover over the contact or he’ll open their last text conversation, the one before everything went to shit. It always ends the same, though: with him throwing his phone.

Growing up, it was almost a running joke, that Cassian couldn’t handle silences, that he always had to fill the lulls and empty spaces with loud laughs or remarks. Considering the current silence, maybe they were on to something. Because it presses in on all sides, squeezing until his ears ring and his throat burns with the urge to scream. He tries to keep himself busy, but judging by the concerned look Azriel gives him when he takes to a punching bag at the gym hard enough that his knuckles split, it’s not exactly doing wonders.

By the time Saturday rolls around, his brothers have had enough, and they drag Cassian to a party with the promise that alcohol and being surrounded by sorority girls will somehow help. It takes less than an hour in for Rhys and Azriel to disappear amongst the crowd, and Cassian finds himself tucked into a corner, still sipping on his first beer. It just tastes stale on his tongue. He’s watching the students around him, a sea of writhing bodies that laugh and drunkenly shout above the music, when he spots a familiar head of red hair trying to weave through the dancing masses, leaving Cassian’s reeling at the implication.

“Gwyn?” Cassian asks when she’s close enough. Sure enough, wide, teal eyes snap to his. “Is Nesta here?”

“Gwyn, what are you doing? We’re mad at him, remember?”

“What?” Cassian stutters out, turning his attention to Emerie who’s sidled up beside Gwyn. “Is Nesta here?”

“What do you care?” Emerie snaps.

Cassian knows that he should probably be offended by the snide remark, by the derisive tone of Emerie’s voice. But all Cassian can think about is last weekend. Of bruised skin. Of Nesta curled up small on a curb. Of the quiet shake to her voice as she asked him to stay.

“Is she or not?” Cassian bites out.

“Yes,” Emerie finally relents. “She was being extra mopey, so we dragged her out to get her mind off you.”

Cassian pointedly ignores the way she sneers ‘you,’ pushing away from the corner and making his way through the house party’s crowd. His eyes dart around for Nesta, squinting through the dimmed lights and drunken haze that seems to roll off the partygoers. It doesn’t take long for him to spot her. It never seems to. He’s always had a knack for knowing exactly where in a room Nesta was, their eyes forever on a collision course to catch the other. Even in this crowded house, Nesta’s eyes snap to him.

She’s pressed back against one of the cabinets in the kitchen, some dude standing in front of her. The tense set of Nesta’s shoulders and the way her lips are pressed into a thin line has Cassian picking up his pace, not even bothering to apologize to the person he bumps shoulders with, liquid splashing at their feet.

“I said I’m not interested,” Cassian hears Nesta say as he gets closer.

“But we had such a good time the other—”

Cassian is pulling the guy back hard by his shirt before he can even finish his sneer. He settles himself between the guy and Nesta within a second, his hands folding into fists as he stares the guy down. He wonders if he’ll be able to hear the crunch of breaking this fucker’s nose over the heavy bass of the music blaring through the whole house.

“What the fuck, man?” the guy splutters.

“I should be asking you that,” Cassian seethes.

“Do we have a problem?”

“We’re about to.”

“Cassian,” Nesta cuts in, her hands settling on Cassian’s arm and tugging gently. Cassian’s eyes snap down at the contact, at the grounding warmth they leave branded against his skin.

“Get lost,” Cassian snaps at the guy.

Luckily, the guy has enough semblance of self preservation to listen, disappearing further into the house. Once he’s gone, Nesta is stepping out around Cassian, pushing her own way through the crowds. Cassian follows after her, calling her name, but she ignores him, plowing forward toward the front of the house.

“Nesta, where are you going?” Cassian asks once they reach the foyer.

“Home,” Nesta answers simply, yanking open the front door.

Cassian sighs, but he follows her out, pulling the door shut behind him. “I have my truck here. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Fine.”

He had parked a few blocks down, so they start walking in that direction, that heavy silence back in full force as it settles around them like a suffocating blanket.

“I hate this,” Nesta whispers.

“Hate what?”

Nesta stops walking then, so Cassian does the same, turning to face her. Under the yellow glow of the street lamps, he can see the dark circles that have settled under her eyes. The pink torn up nature of her lips that he knows are caused by the way she always chews at them when she’s anxious. A breeze ruffles the stray strands of her hair, and even with her eyes looking more grey and dull than he’s seen them in years, she’s still the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. It leaves his heart stuttering in a painful icy grip in his chest, and he has to look away.

“I hate this distance between us,” Nesta explains. “I hate not talking to you every day.”

“What would you have me do, Nesta?” Cassian asks exasperatedly. How many times are they going to play this game, go round and round in this same conversation?

“I just want us to go back to before, I want my best friend back.”

“I can’t just pretend. Gods, it kills me every time I even look at you.”

Nesta steps forward then, right into his space. This close he can smell the jasmine scent of her shampoo, can feel her welcoming warmth trying to press up against him. Her hands curl around his wrists, grip tight like he’s the only thing keeping her here, the only thing holding her steady.

“Please,” Nesta pleads. “Cassian, please.”

Cassian’s not even sure what she’s begging for at this point, but she looks up, wide, water lined eyes boring into Cassian’s own. Cassian swallows hard and leans forward, brushing his lips against Nesta’s forehead. She closes her eyes at the contact, the tears finally slipping free of her eyes and down her cheeks. Cassian can’t stand the sight of it.

“I’ll take you home,” Cassian whispers, stepping back and away from Nesta.

There’s a moment where Nesta just stands there and stares at Cassian, the cool night air suddenly feeling like an expansive ocean between them. But then she’s nodding and following him to his truck. When they pull up at Nesta’s apartment complex, Cassian doesn’t go in this time. Once he’s sure Nesta has safely stepped through the door, he throws the truck out of park, and he drives and drives and drives.

[phoenixyfriend]

Vader Tries to Help

People encouraged me to share the dead dove concept! Yay! It’s a horrible concept with an undertone of comedic absurdity in the sense that you keep waiting to see what awful, incredibly stupid thing Vader is going to do next. Like it’s horrifying but it’s also very dumb.

By moving forward into the fic, you acknowledge that this is intended to be dark and liable to be upsetting, and that you are taking responsibility for your own engagement with the material.

This AU was helped along on discord by several parties but tbh I’m not sure how many of them actually want to be named.

Warnings: Mutual Extremely Dubious Consent (forced by a third party), drugging, irrational behavior (Vader), nonconsensual body modification, forced pregnancy, imprisonment, threatened torture of a child (not followed through on)

----------

Vader captures Obi-Wan a few years into the Empire. Because Vader is Anakin, but even worse on the emotional bullshit, he decides that he needs to keep Obi-Wan safe but harmless. Vader also got Luke in the whole 'capturing Kenobi' situation, so part of what Vader's thinking about all this is that Obi-Wan tried to protect The Baby and so Vader kind of owes him, obviously.

Palpatine lets him keep Obi-Wan "safe," because threatening Obi-Wan is a convenient way to make Vader shut up and do what he's told. Palpatine can kind of tell that threatening the toddler would make Vader lose his shit and attempt to kill good ol' Palps, so threatening the middle-aged depressed alcoholic being kept in Vader's guest room with Force-nullifying cuffs is pretty good. It's an additional layer of emotional torture on top of the electrocution of Vader himself!

Vader has Obi-Wan taking care of Luke, mostly, because Vader has Obligations and A Job, and Obi-Wan wouldn't hurt Luke, duh. He might try to escape with the kid, but he won't be successful, and Obi-Wan will definitely put Luke's safety first, so that probably won't happen.

This is all fairly normal for a variety of AUs, granted, and not very dark.

But see, Obi-Wan behaves. He's aware of how tenuous the situation is for him and his charge, so he plays nice. And Vader decides to reward that.

By giving him Cody.

There's an implied thought process there that Obi-Wan was fond of Cody, and Cody was fond back, and now that the Jedi aren't around, they can follow through instead of worrying about some silly Code. Vader's nullified the orders to kill all the Jedi, of course, possibly dosed their food with an aphrodisiac so they don't try to talk themselves out of What They Obviously Want.

Now, we’re going to make it a little darker, because why not make things worse by having Vader try to make things better?

Vader somehow twisted himself around to encouraging them to have a baby. This is accomplished through a combination of Sith Magic and nonconsensual surgery, and lots of questionable drugs.

Obi-Wan just wakes up in a hospital bed with a womb one morning, and is informed of the surgery then and there, after it’s already happened. The droid telling him about it is just like "in the Lord Vader's infinite kindness--" and Obi-Wan just.

Anakin.

What the fuck.

What in the actual fuck made you think this was a good idea.

(The Sith Chemicals, probably.)

I feel like Palpatine would maybe even order the pregnancy induction just to torture them by proxy because that's like eight levels of Fuck No and he barely has to do anything except tell Vader that he'd like to see what kind of children a Jedi Master like Obi-Wan has.

Luke needs friends, doesn't he?

Obi-Wan is having some very complicated emotions about all of this because Vader is, in his own absolutely insane way, trying to help.

Anakin wanted babies and Padme wanted babies so clearly, if Obi-Wan and Cody are in love, then they also want babies!

Cody and Obi-Wan very well might not be in love. Anakin definitely could have misinterpreted. It’s probably more angsty if they're just friends who ended up in this bullshit together.

(He's taking baby fever to new and somewhat horrifying heights, because... he would adore Obi's kids.)

(His family button is suprisingly large for a mass murderer.)

Vader Kindly Informs Bail That Obi-Wan Is Alive And Unharmed. Bail was a friend of Obi-Wan's, telling him this is only helpful and will keep Alderaan from getting more rebellious out of personal insult. Obviously.

Vader is almost offended when Bail implies he might hurt Obi-Wan. He kept his son safe, he owes him. Speaking of, don’t you have a child? How old is she, again? It would be Good for her to make friends, wouldn’t it? :)

Palpatine is just like... sitting back and eating evil popcorn as Vader runs around, ruining people's lives by trying to be less of The Worst than before.

Palps barely has to do anything, Anakin's fucking it up on his own!

Could have been just a sly "Kenobi is so attached to young Luke, but now that you've been reunited with your son, perhaps he'd be happier with a child of his own?" Come at it from both "make Obi-Wan happy" and "protect your relationship with Luke" angles.

Vader: I can't have babies anymore due to what you did to me on Mustafar. Obi-Wan: So you're punishing me by forcing me to have them instead? Vader: No! Children are a gift that you have been cruelly denied by the Order that held us in its chains! Obi-Wan: ...oh, right, you're insane. Forgot about that. Somehow.

Big dramatic speech about how the Jedi Order spent so long making them take lives, he’s giving Obi-Wan a chance to create it! To put something good and bright into the world!

Poor Cody is like. "General, I am very fond of you but I'm having a million panic attacks at the same time because of the mind control, and also Vader is under the impression that we're in love and I need to be your stud? I wasn't aware you could have children--" "I can't. Or at least, I couldn't, but Anakin is... creative." "...what."

I don't want to actually objectify Cody in the narrative past the point that Obi-Wan himself is, because nnnnngh racism and clone stuff, so I'm going to say Cody was in love with Obi-Wan, and would have been okay with at least discussing the whole baby schtick if not for the absolutely horrible circumstances.

Like if the war had ended normally, and Obi-Wan had expressed a desire to retire, unlikely as that was, then Cody may have suggested a dinner, and they could have gotten married and then eventually adoption...

(Cody had a lot of fantasies he didn’t let himself think about too hard.)

But no. It's this... weird Vader-inspired bullshit.

I'm just so invested in Vader trying to help but making things legitimately a million times worse.

He wants to help :) Oh god, he wants to help.

Why aren't people more appreciative of how hard I'm helping them? - the Anakin Skywalker story

With less time to stew and also getting handed what he wants, Vader could absolutely flip on a dime the second he saw Luke being protected, and go from “I hate you” to remembering that Obi-Wan said he loved him, and now he must keep Obi-Wan safe out of debt and he just... he’s playing house. 

Vader throws Obi-Wan a baby shower after the pregnancy is confirmed. Bail is invited, because Obi-Wan doesn't have a lot of friends still alive. Vader decides Bail is top of the Obi-Wan’s Friends List.

This is the first time they've seen each other in two years. Obi-Wan is heavily pregnant despite Bail knowing full well he didn't have the plumbing for that before the Empire rose. Cody is there and emotionally exhausted but more lucid than most troopers. Luke is running up to Leia because New Friend!!!

....there may be MORE of the 212th and 501st at the baby shower, with “kill all Jedi” orders revoked, of course. But it will keep the children safe!! And Cody and Obi-Wan can see their surviving friends!!

Cody: I'd be much happier to see my surviving troopers if they didn't all still have chips in their heads. Obi-Wan: I feel much the same. Vader: [404 error]

Bail and his family might be there at blaster point, but aren't you happy to see them, Obi-Wan??

Obi-Wan's endless trauma is honestly somewhat curtailed by the incessant need to facepalm at Vader’s bullshit

Obi-Wan and Cody both outwardly have a very "there are much worse people I could be stuck with in this situation but obviously I wish I'd had a choice, no hard feelings" attitude at each other.

Internally, Cody is suffering because this is NOT how he wanted his crush to be realized, and Obi-Wan is just suffering, period.

Cody: How did he even choose which of us ends up pregnant? Obi-Wan: He thinks I need to be protected, and that he needs to keep me safe. Cody: ...he does realize that you're better at-- Obi-Wan: Cody, he's completely lost it. No! He doesn't realize!

I feel like over the course of the year or two this plot unravels towards Palpatine getting murder-deposed and Anakin getting locked down, part of the driving force to Vader not being Vader anymore is that Luke actually really loves Uncle Obi and always starts fussing and going "Ben's sad" whenever Vader dismisses what Obi-Wan wants in favor of what Vader thinks Obi-Wan wants, and Vader can't deny his child anything.

Luke cries because Palpatine Feels Wrong like, once or twice, and Anakin goes “oh, okay, assassination time.”

[mx-metronome]

Sky Theory: The Light and The Darkness

A post about my thoughts on light, darkness, how they react to one another, and (possibly) what it all implies regarding the Eye of Eden. (Spoilers ahead!)

I wrote a post about the civilization we see rise and fall, but today we're going to delve a little deeper into how the story might really be going, from the conflict to the climax to a possible resolution.

To quote the game's story (from the updated Isle of Dawn):

"With the stars united, our light was infinite...and together, we lived in harmony."

It is well established that light is a valuable resource that the spirits relied on, and way back at the beginning, it was also a renewable one: Winged Light fell from the sky continuously, a symbol of innocence and purity as a gift from the Megabird. Because it was infinite, the spirits all flourished, and there was no squabbling over a scarcity.

"As spirits, we soon became many...creating our home here in the clouds."

Here is where the civilization really starts to grow, specifically in the Daylight Prairie stage. The spirits' needs are all met every day of every year. But somewhere down the line, their basic need wasn't enough for them anymore. As they grew in number, so too did they grow in curiosity and want.

"But darkness came and the stars fell...

This sentence here sums up the remainder of our story, although what take place over the course of this sentence is an entire age. Here's how I feel it goes down:

The darkness coming literally refers to darkstone being discovered, and how its potential in advancing the people tempts them away from the comfort of their infinite light. The spirits did not have the light ripped away from them: they chose the darkness over light and turned away willingly, severing themselves from the stars. The Winged Light stop falling and become a precious commodity.

So they toy with this newly discovered darkstone and find that it reacts to light: as light is applied to any kind of darkness, it gives off energy, a rudimentary sort of power generation. There are several pieces of evidence to confirm this:

Darkstone technology only activates when you apply your light to it.

In fact, whenever you activate a darkstone door in the Hidden Forest, you recharge a little bit of cape energy, suggesting excess energy is produced in the reaction.

Darkness plants, when exposed to light, are used up in the process (as they are less dense than darkstone), but they release candle wax in the reaction, a concentrated form of energy.

However, as mentioned above, you need light for the darkness to be of any use to advancements, and now that supply is finite. The spirits must now find alternate sources of light, and the only source available to them at this time is the creatures of light.

The prairie begins transporting butterflies en masse to the forest to be broken down, and their light is channeled through their dark machinations to keep things running. As the butterflies become scarce, they look to mantas instead, and so on.

The civilization continues to grow and with it their demand for light, but the supply continues to dwindle. The scarcity of light is now threatening the people, and an ultimatum must be reached. They need a reliable, renewable source of power, one that can run almost indefinitely, so the King has one built, for the future of his people and their way of life. That's right: the Eye of Eden was never a weapon, but a near-infinite energy source, like a nuclear plant.

The finest engineers gather at the capital city and splice together mass quantities of darkstone into one megalith, only requiring enough light to kickstart a chain reaction. The reaction would cause a feedback loop: the energy emitted by the light-dark reaction would be enough light to perpetuate the reaction for an extended period of time, and any excess energy can be harvested or siphoned off and used to power the grid.

The people have spread far and wide and into different factions, each jealously guarding what little light they have left, knowing the King has intent to seize it. Skirmishes turn into battles turn into a full scale war. The desperation of each front has them all take the glorious darkness and turn it into weapons, and in this production of arms the people are failing to realize the true long-term side effects of utilizing darkness: pollution.

The weapons are produced as close to the front lines as the people could safely manage, hence the heavy pollution in the Golden Wasteland, just outside the capital. The water becomes thick and near impossible to sail through; the light from the light creatures begins to react to the darkness in the air and water, hence the presence of krill and dark crabs twisted by the corrupting dusts. The people try to infiltrate the capital city to seize the light that the King was hoarding. Perhaps some of the elders were even privvied to the King's plan and were working to defend him to save their own factions of people. Perhaps some of the elders even fought each other over differing ideals regarding the new generator.

As a last-ditch effort, the King moves the generator to as close to the sky as he can in a futile attempt to harness the holy light of the stars they had turned away from ages before. He hopes that the reaction will reach high enough to begin drawing in star power, slowly draining the heavens to keep his people alive.

He gathers any light left in the capital city and sends it through the machine, and the reaction kicks off in an instant. The power is greater than the engineers had calculated, and it is too great for them to harness; the wave of energy is massive enough to wipe out most of the denizens in the city within the first few seconds. The displacement of energy creates fierce winds and kicks up poisonous dust clouds, even scooping up entire bricks and boulders and flinging them through the air.

The mighty capital begins to crumble under the weight of this blazing light, and the flinging rocks tear down surrounding cities, picking up more debris as it grinds away at buildings. The dark dusts scatter across the land, settling over what few survivors remain, reacting to their inner Light and encasing them in stone, leaving them with no light left to return to Orbit whence they came.

The people had fallen to the darkness and its powerful properties, using up all their precious light to maintain their mortal existence. Now there is no light left and no way home. All that is left of their existence is husks of darkness, broken bones of old cities, and a radioactive storm with an unholy hybrid of light and darkness at it center that will run its course for thousands of years more.

"...and with their light we faded away."

...But not without one last plea.

"A long time has passed. Now we call to you."

In their last few moments, some groups of people, those who still had faith that they'd rejoin the stars, began to pray. They stated prophecies, chanted incantations into the sky, erected shrines with candles, hoping that their selfless offerings of light would grant them grace. That somehow Megabird would hear their cries and send them a chance at redemption, a chance at attaining Her inner Light once again.

And so the Megabird sent down the Winged Light again, hoping it would be enough to begin healing the land. But She did not quite understand the inner workings of this darkness, for it was beyond Her: this Light was fragile, and couldn't stand up against the darkness that swallowed the sky. She needed a vessel able to carry this Light safely into the heart of darkness where Her people slumbered.

So She learned of the darkness and how it cancelled out Light, and in response, she created the first sky kids.

"Go forth, child. Return our spirits to the stars."

Sky kids are different from spirits in many ways. Firstly, spirits are also creatures of light in that they originate from Orbit. It was their go-to source of energy and sustenance. But that connection between the spirits and all the light they'd ever need was so easily broken by the want that darkness produced, and their sensitivity to this darkness made them fall prey easily when it fell out of control.

By contrast, sky kids were created as instruments of the Megabird, shells carrying Her fragile Light within. They are not beings of pure light, but that's the point: they were designed to withstand darkness, and granting them a corporeal form provides more protection for Her Light from darkness than otherwise.

So the first sky kids go and deliver their inner Light to what fallen spirits they can find. The elders see the coming of the sky kids as Megabird's answer to their pleas, as Her Light is within them, and as the sky kids present their Light to the elders, they are able to reconnect with the stars and send up the spirits freed from darkness. So begins the pilgrimage back to Orbit, spearheaded by an army of children.

The first sky kids free some of the spirits and then head to the capital where light and darkness collide, the point nearest the stars. Megabird's intent was for the collected Winged Light in the hands of the sky kids to be enough pure Light to dispel the storm, but the darkness is too great, and as the Light was torn from them, they had no Light left to keep away the darkness, and they fell at the summit with no way of returning to Her.

So She sent more sky kids, thinking greater numbers would aid Her will. But two things began to happen, things She did not foresee: the sky kids, blank slates with no discernable emotions or features, learned from the spirits they saved: they learned how to wave hello, they learned how to laugh, how to cry, how to cheer, and so on. They even began taking on some of the fashions from the spirits! They presented individuality, suggesting that Megabird's Light was more than just pure Light: it was also a soul in its own right, much like the spirits that came before.

The second thing that happened was at the summit of the Eye of Eden, as it came to be called: when the sky kids realized their Winged Light wouldn't survive the Storm, they passed it on to fallen sky kids instead so that they may ascend back to Orbit and rejoin Megabird, at the cost of their own ascension. This soul of Light each sky kid carried not only established a personality, but also compassion, as Her Light was always meant to do. Sky kids were drawn to one another, and they started to work like teams and help one another out. They gave each other offerings of light as symbols of friendship and acceptance, not unlike the spirits' desperate offerings of light and candles to Megabird.

The Eye of Eden is the purest, most powerful light colliding with the purest, most potent darkness, which makes it an ideal euphemism for death: suffering and then release. It is the door to Orbit, but their possessions - their Winged Light - will be left behind. They only carry their deeds in their darkest time, which they are rewarded for after the fact.

When they came to Orbit at last, Megabird lauded them for their sacrifice and kindness, and invited them to remain with Her. But many of them expressed distress and dismay for all the sky kids still down in the clouds that needed help, and all the friends that they would miss. So She sent them back with two boons: additional Light granted by the spirits they helped ascend, and the knowledge needed to guide other sky kids back to Her.

Even if not everyone would rejoin Her in the Light, it brought Her comfort that Her Light was spread across an aching kingdom, sharing hope and peace to those who couldn't be near to Her.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Light on the Door (ao3) (aka WWX in the Nie sect); tumblr: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Wei Wuxian woke all at once when someone dropped something onto the floor, but he kept his body relaxed and his eyes closed. It was only when the smashing sound was followed by a very familiar muttering – “Shit, shit, shit, da-ge’s going to kill me!” – that he relaxed.

“How expensive is it that you think he would care?” he asked, opening his eyes and frowning when he found himself somewhere unfamiliar.

Nie Huaisang, who had been standing in the middle of the room and looking at the shards of a (admittedly very expensive looking) broken teapot with some dismay, promptly forgot all about the teapot and dashed over to him. “Shixiong! You’re awake!”

“You say that like it’s a surprise,” Wei Wuxian said, reaching up to rub his head. “Am I – wait, is this Jiang sect grounds? How’d we get to the Lotus Pier, of all places?”

The last he remembered, he and Lan Wangji had remained behind in the cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter, distracting it while the others went out through the underwater exit, which had closed up when the Xuanwu had thrashed around. After a few days, when inedia would no longer help them and they knew their strength would begin to decrease, they had decided to fight it, and then…

“Is Lan Zhan all right?” he asked, abruptly concerned. “What happened to him? Did he –”

“He’s fine, you big baby,” Nie Huaisang said, throwing himself down on the bed next to him and promptly snuggling in for a hug. He had zero grounds to call anyone else a big baby. “He woke up two days ago and already left for the Cloud Recesses. He didn’t want to worry them any longer, and they need him, what with his brother still being missing.”

Wei Wuxian spared a moment’s thought for Lan Xichen, who was very nice and also a good friend of Nie Mingjue’s in addition to being Lan Wangji’s precious older brother, but reminded himself that there was no point in worrying when it wouldn’t do any good. That settled, he complained, “Oh, that’s rude! He left before making sure I woke up?”

“Oh, you woke up yesterday before he headed out,” Nie Huaisang said breezily. “You were sleep-drunk as anything, but you were awake and saying something about musical masterpieces. Possibly you might have started to say something about kissing, but tragically I was forced to gag you for your own health before Lan Wangji disintegrated from embarrassment.”

Wei Wuxian put his head in his hands. “…and so he left.”

“And so he left,” Nie Huaisang agreed. “Don’t worry, he left you a nice long letter to read when you feel up to it – and when I decide to give it to you.”

“Cruel.”

“Caring! You must think of your health, shixiong.”

“Shixiong this, shixiong that,” Wei Wuxian teased. “Were you worried about me?”

Nie Huaisang glared death at him. “Of course I was! Do you know what you put me and Jiang Cheng through?! We left you in a cave with that thing, we got ambushed by the Wen sect the second we emerged –”

“You did? Are you all right?!”

“Shut up, I’m fine, Jiang Cheng handled it,” Nie Huaisang said, which – fair. Wei Wuxian would have to give Jiang Cheng many relieved thank-you-for-saving-my-little-brother hugs. “We then ran for days to get someone to rescue you –”

It make sense. The Lotus Pier was closer than the Unclean Realm, and Jiang Fengmian had always been a little unreasonable about Wei Wuxian; it was a good bet to make.

Still, even if they’d travelled down from the Nightless City, they hadn’t gone that far, and the Lotus Pier was a long way away.

“Are your feet all right?” he asked.

“No! They are not! They are awful! There was blood! But not as much blood as we found all over you when we broke into the cave to find you lying there unconscious!”

Wei Wuxian resigned himself to spending the next shichen calming down Nie Huaisang from (admittedly somewhat reasonable) hysterics.

-

“So I’m worried about the Jiang sect,” Nie Huaisang said the second they crossed out of the Lotus Pier – by horse, since that required less from his torn-up feet.

Wei Wuxian looked at him sidelong. “And this wasn’t something you could mention while we were there? To them?”

“I’m not so stupid as to start a fight with our allies by implying that they can’t handle themselves,” Nie Huaisang said. “Even if…”

“Even if you don’t think they can?”

Nie Huaisang sighed. “It’s not that!” he protested. “They’re very capable. Extraordinarily capable, even. But Sect Leader Jiang doesn’t take things seriously enough – the way he tried to scold Jiang Cheng for lecturing you..!”

Wei Wuxian winced. He’d managed to head that off at the pass, luckily, but Jiang Cheng’s face had gotten that mulish expression of mixed envy and hurt that he hated to see, and it hadn’t cleared up until Nie Huaisang fainted in order to escape the awkward conversation. It was a trick he pulled often, one that worked on adults virtually all the time and also amused Jiang Cheng every single time.

“And he doesn’t take da-ge seriously, either,” Nie Huaisang said, sounding as if that were the worst possible crime imaginable. Wei Wuxian understood his feelings. “Not even after the indoctrination camp…I just don’t know if he’ll take the steps he needs to in time.”

“You’re right,” Wei Wuxian said regretfully. “Uncle Jiang won’t want to think about it, so he won’t, but that won’t stop the war from coming…Wait, hold up. You think the Wen sect would come here? Why?”

“I mean, it’s the logical next step to quash another one of the Great Sects,” Nie Huaisang said. “Also, remember that time I fainted from the heat and they took me inside the guardroom? I looked at some of their papers; they were definitely planning on a siege.”

“But why here?” Wei Wuxian asked, deciding to reserve comments on Nie Huaisang’s unexpected foray into espionage to a time when he could appropriately lose his mind over it, preferably with Nie Mingjue in the vicinity to add to the effect. “Why the Lotus Pier? Jiang Cheng wasn’t involved with sticking it to Wen Chao; that was Lan Zhan and Jin Zixuan, and then after that it was mostly me. No Jiang sect at all!”

“He helped later,” Nie Huaisang pointed out. “Anyway, where else would they go? They attacked the Cloud Recesses once already, Lanling Jin is so slimy and double-dealing that they might as well count as a Wen ally, and if you had to pick between attacking the Lotus Pier or the Unclean Realm, between wishy-washy old Sect Leader Jiang or da-ge, who’s been preparing for war since before you joined us, which would you pick?”

“Well, shit,” Wei Wuxian said, because Nie Huaisang wasn’t wrong at all. Nor was he wrong to keep this from Jiang Fengmian, who would probably just pat them on the head indulgently before dismissing them. “What’s the plan, then?”

“Shopping,” Nie Huaisang declared.

Wei Wuxian knew his little brother too well. He started grinning. “Just a couple of young masters going on a shopping trip? With a nice, small retinue?”

“We could hardly be expected to travel with anything less,” Nie Huaisang agreed, grinning back. “Especially with there being both of us, heir and spare! It would be disgraceful to send us out with anything less than at least a squad of Nie culivators. We could stay in Yunping, maybe? That’s not far.”

“Yunping? There’s nothing in Yunping.”

“Not recently, no,” Nie Huaisang said, and shrugged when Wei Wuxian shot him an inquisitive glance. “Personnel issue, someone da-ge met recently…not a big deal. I’m just curious about him, that’s all. I’ll tell you about it on the way.”

“I love how you just decide these things and then pretend that I have some input into how things are going to go before doing what you want anyway,” Wei Wuxian remarked. “I take it that you’ve contacted da-ge already, then?”

“Of course! Sent him a letter first thing once we arrived at the Lotus Pier. Are we going?”

“Yes, fine,” Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. “We’re going, we’re going.”

-

“So, I think we can all agree that that went badly,” Nie Huaisang said. “Can we all agree on that?”

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng said. His impression of being above it all was somewhat ruined by the tears still streaming down his face and the way he wouldn’t stop hugging them both intermittently.

“Listen, it could have gone worse,” Wei Wuxian said placatingly. “Right? Could have gone much, much worse. At least Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu made it out, and they’ll go crazy trying to find us.”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said, and sniffed, rubbing his nose. “Yeah. That’s true. Thanks.”

Even with the best river-watching intentions in the world, the attack had come so quickly that they’d only shown up midway through the assault on the Lotus Pier, just in time to find Jiang Cheng tied up in Zidian and floating downriver, a sure sign that Madame Yu had given up all hope of maintaining a defense, and naturally they’d grabbed him and rushed in to help her.

A single moment of surprise had been all she’d needed to finish Wen Zhuliu.

Unfortunately, even two full squadrons of Nie sect cultivators – Nie Mingjue hadn’t stinted – couldn’t change the end result, not against the massed forces the Wen sect had brought with them, not even if they sold their lives into the bargain. It was only enough to hold them off for a little while. 

At Wei Wuxian’s order, they had gone back in again and again, getting as many Jiang sect disciples out as they could. It’d been a good plan.

Getting captured hadn’t been part of the plan.

Getting thrown into the Burial Mounds was definitely not part of the plan.

Fucking Wen Chao. Just because his smarmy stupid core-melting servant got killed and he didn’t want to risk them returning as ghosts…

“Somehow, the possibility of it being worse doesn’t actually make me feel better,” Nie Huaisang said, scowling. He had the weakest core out of all three of them, so they’d given him the one blanket they’d managed to smuggle along with them – though technically, that had been Wen Ning who’d done the smuggling, actually, a Wen disciple that Wei Wuxian had befriended in the archery contest. 

He’d apparently remained very sympathetic despite the war.

It would’ve been pretty funny, if anyone had been in the mood to laugh: Wen Ning had arrived to the Lotus Pier late in a panic, nominally to provide medical services, although Wen Chao had implied in a snarl that it was actually to claim credit for helping. He had stuttered his way through excuses and apologies, offered to go start work right away, and then promptly beelined straight for the room where they’d been trapped, sneaking them a qiankun pouch with a few supplies in hopes that they could use it when they escaped.

He hadn’t known that they were bound for the Burial Mounds at that time, of course.

Maybe he’d have included some weapons they could use to fly out of here if he had.

Wei Wuxian had whispered to him “Find a way to tell Sect Leader Nie,” as they’d been dragged away after hearing Wen Chao declare that he was going to dispose of them where they’d never escape, and he could only hope that between that avenue and the Jiang that they would be found soon.

Ideally very soon.

They were running out of protective talismans, and night was approaching.

“Still could be worse,” Wei Wuxian said, thinking to himself that if Wen Zhuliu hadn’t been garroted by Zidian they might have found their way here without even their golden cores. Definitely worse. “Okay. So. I have – an idea.”

“Oh no,” Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang chorused.

“…you two are so supportive.”

“It’s going to be a dumb idea,” Nie Huaisang said. “We can tell. Your tone of voice tells us.”

“He’s not wrong,” Jiang Cheng said. “It’s going to be dumb and self-sacrificing.”

“Dumb, self-sacrificing and with a less than fifty percent chance of –”

“Must you throw all my past failures in my face?” Wei Wuxian said mournfully.

“Yes,” they both said.

“…fine. I’m still going to do it.”

“We never doubted that for a moment,” Nie Huaisang said. “Now tell us what heart failure we’re going to be dying of today.”

“Well…” Wei Wuxian said.

-

“I think I’m hallucinating,” Wei Wuxian announced. “It may be the resentful energy going to my head.”

“Nooooo,” Jiang Cheng said. “You think?”

“Could be the reduced rations and extended inedia,” Nie Huaisang said, looking very tragic. “Or maybe these sad excuses for potatoes we’ve been picking.”

“I am never eating wild-grown potatoes ever again in my life,” Wei Wuxian agreed fervently. “But also, no, seriously, I think I’m hallucinating, which we should write down as a possible side-effect of demonic cultivation.”

Jiang Cheng groaned from where he was lying on his back and staring up into the ever-clouded sky above the Burial Mounds. He’d gotten tired of the writing-things-down portion of the experimentation process early on, especially when they’d had to carefully unbind the one book Wen Ning had (rather inexplicably, but helpfully) shoved into the bag for them in order to get enough paper to do it after they’d run out of space on Nie Huaisang’s fans.

“We have to keep notes!” Wei Wuxian insisted.

“Fine, fine,” Nie Huaisang said. “What are you hallucinating?”

“Suibian,” Wei Wuxian said. “Flying right at me. From the northwest, if that’s relevant.”

“It is extremely relevant, actually,” Jiang Cheng said, sitting up. “Because it’s not a hallucination if I see it, too.”

Jiang Cheng was their control group, insofar as they could have a control when they were all stuck here being slowly consumed by the Burial Mounds. He and Wei Wuxian were about evenly matched in cultivation strength, so it only made sense for one of them to try demonic cultivation and the other not, and then Nie Huaisang had also started doing it, over Wei Wuxian’s protests, when they’d realized that they needed two people for some of the arrays Wei Wuxian invented.

So if he was seeing things as well, that either meant that the Burial Mounds were affecting them faster than expected, or else –

“Wait, you can see Suibian too?” Wei Wuxian jumped up to his feet. “Suibian! Suibian! Over here!”

“Wait,” Nie Huaisang said. “We don’t know how Suibian will react to demonic cultivation –”

Oblong meat boy! Suibian shouted in Wei Wuxian’s brain across their bond, familiar and perfect as always, descending like a whistling arrow. You left me alone! With evil people!

Wei Wuxian leapt up as high as he could and wrapped his arms around his saber. “I’m so glad to see you, you jackass of a saber!”

Apology accepted.

“Is he talking to his saber?” Jiang Cheng murmured to Nie Huaisang, who nodded. “I know he told us about the whole Nie sect cultivation thing - which I understand I shouldn’t know about, but whatever - but I’ve got to say, it’s kind of weird to see it happening out loud.”

“You think that’s weird? You should see my brother and Baxia.”

“How did you get out?” Wei Wuxian asked, ignoring them both.

Baxia tore open the wall where we were being kept, Suibian said, which probably meant that the war was going well and also that Nie Mingjue was on the warpath and very likely that Wen Ning had not managed to deliver the intended message, which would explain the delay in anyone finding them. Baxia’s master gave me energy and told me to go find you, while he followed behind.

“Da-ge’s coming!” Wei Wuxian shouted, and Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang dropped their supercilious commentator façade in order to cheer.

Hey, jerkface master. Why do you feel funny?

“…uh, about that…”

[nateserenas]

So FWIW, I’m not sure I would characterize Blair’s reaction to Gossip Serena as apathetic, exactly, so much as like… impressed isn’t entirely the right word, amused sort of? Like here is an excerpt of the moment from the script:

Serena: “It's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while now. I've been posting on Gossip Girl as Gossip Girl for a couple of months now.”

Blair: “What? How is that possible?”

Serena: “When Georgina left town, she gave me her laptop, and it had a direct link to the Gossip Girl server - passwords, the software, everything.”

Blair: “S, you had me at ‘Georgina’. But I can’t believe it. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Serena: “I don’t know. I felt like it was something I had to keep secret from everyone. I mean, my best friend, even. I- I know it was wrong, and I'm so sorry.”

Blair: “I mean, I could've helped. Sealing fates, forging destinies. Like an imperious Greek goddess, imposing her will on the guileless masses.”

[…]

Serena: “Wait, so- so you're not mad?”

Blair: “I am furious with you for not sharing your good fortune and omnipotence. But right now I have to go replace my mother's La Mer before she returns from Paris and discovers that I've used it all.”

Serena: “Wait. Let me do that for you - my first act of contrition. Please.”

Blair: “You think I'm cashing in your Gossip Girl guilt chip on some overpriced eye cream? I'll think of something more useful.”

And that’s kinda… it, at least until Blair’s diary starts getting leaked. Blair isn’t mad, she isn’t concerned, and as she implies she would she does use Serena’s guilt to her advantage to have Serena sub in for her with Dan while she chases around Chuck to help with his dumbass scheme of the episode. Like she literally could not care less, even though it’s visibly eating Serena up, and it’s weird. And I know, I know 5x23 is not a very good episode and it’s at this point in the season everyone’s characterizations start going wonky but… Jesus. You’d expect more of a “hey, Serena, what’s going on?” sit down moment between them at least, not “hmm, how can I best utilize your guilt to my advantage?” y’know?

(And I know this whole ask sounds contradictory, but I 100% agree with your analysis about the state of Blair and Serena’s friendship during late season 5 and all of season 6. It’s so depressing. It’s like somewhere between seasons 4 and 5 they stopped liking and in particular respecting each other, and they just felt stuck with one another. They were the besties equivalent of a married couple who obviously needed to get divorced already but refused to even though they were making each other miserable and I hate that for them.)

oh my gosh wow her reaction is so… like i don’t even know what you’re right she does seem amused and a little mocking and also like so dismissive?? it’s so strange she’s like okay so you’ve been posting all the details of my life online for months…anyways, whatever, you owe me bye?? what?? and the i could’ve helped and the comment about good fortune is also really really strange. but yeah you’re right serena’s seems like she’s practically begging blair for something here. like to get mad at her or to tell her that it’s wrong like she seems very guilty and like maybe she wants blair to do something to get mad to force her to quit to somehow absolve her of her guilt. but blair’s like purposefully breezing past it. like she doesn’t acknowledge serena saying that what she did was wrong she instead says that she could’ve helped and her word choices seem kind of idk mocking or condescending in that sentence it’s interesting. same with when serena like you’re not mad?? blair’s brushing past any real reason she has to be mad instead she’s kind of mocking joking again. i think it’s so interesting that serena’s clearly begging for blair to be her conscience to pull her out of this but blair’s clearly just not willing to do it. she deflects every time. it’s so strange like serena is clearly begging for blair to ask her what’s going on. and i think maybe it could still be said that that’s because of the crumbling state of their relationship by s5 compounded by the fact that blair just found out that serena was gossip girl. but also not really. this was ep23… and yeah wonky, wonky characterisation. like even in trying to make the argument that she’s brushing over everything because blair would at this point be unwilling to throw serena a lifeline, the dialogue of this scene is still so strange. i feel like it would be fair to call the entire serena being gossip and blair’s reaction ooc.

also seeing this scene and blair’s unwillingness to get involved when serena wants her to so badly is kind of sad but also serena was gossip girl in this situation which like i get that she was feeling soo bad but still not cool serena very not cool so i still don’t really fault blair that much for being like nope not dealing with this.

also yeah that married couple comparison is literally them