#knowing without Knowng

[glutenmustburn]

Hello!

Am new to tumblr and social media as a whole. I don't know what exactly i'll post, mostly rendom thoughts i think.

Ummm

(I'll edit this as i go i geuss)

[gvndhams]

headcanon time !! (they're all more romantic to me personally but you can interpret them however)

-Fuyuhiko and Hajime spend a lot of time together sitting in silence, not because they don't like each other and wanna avoid talking, but having the other's presence is usually enough. Sometimes they'll cuddle up, sometimes they'll sit on opposide sides of the room, it doesn't matter, they just enjoy being there together yk

-Kazuichi and Gundham getting to know each other consists of a lot of glaring. Kazuichi glares trying to figure out what Gundham is trying to say or do, and Gundham glares because he just spaces out in Kazuichi's direction. They both get a bit nervous about it and the confrontation is painfully awkward, but eventually they work it out.

-Mikan rarely gets enough sleep for her own good, so sometimes Chiaki brings her over to have sleepovers to subtly try and help her sleep without pushing her to it and stressing her out more.

-This one is more explicitly romantic, but Nekomaru radiates "I love my wife" every second of the day, he doesn't shut up about Akane and he brags about her to everyone he knows for hours at a time just because he can.

-I don't have a specific ship in mind because Sonia gets mad bitches and I'm a firm believer that she can be shipped with any woman and it's perfect and amazing, but every now and then she'll just say something sexual and out of pocket knowng it'll throw off whoever she's with and then just act like nothing happened

-Mondo and Taka both wake up pretty early in the morning, at least later in life, so they like to make little rituals of getting out of bed together, or sometimes surprising each other with breakfast to be sweet

-Shuichi fidgets a lot, and sometimes that results in him playing with his hair. It took a while for her to let him, but eventually Maki started offering to let him braid her hair when they watch movies or hang out so he has something to do with his hands

[transgenderer]

SHWEP and HOPWAG are superficially similar but i think as projects almost entirely different. philosophy, because it's just about like, *ideas*, doesnt really NEED its history. like its history is cool, but you can understand the ideas (if not the motivations) of modern philosophy without knowng anything about plato. but esotericism isnt like that, esotericism is ABOUT its history, its about the golden chain, the wisdom lineage, about referencing past things. it points ever-backwards. if you want to GET a figure like crowley, you need to know about 2000 years of weird guys doing weird guy stuff

[noneedtofearorhope]

isnt it kinda funny how you can wake up knowng you had a dream, without really knowing anything about the dream? just some vague feeling of memory. and how some tiny comment or detail in the waking world will suddenly snap it all together for you

[absolutezerotolerance]

I don't think I can make a goodbye post better than the other moderator has, because honestly? I feel the exact same way.

But there is something I want to talk about and apologize for.

My IRL stalker trauma, the doxxing, death threats, suicide bait, and coordinated harassment I received from Gray/Juvia shippers and some of the people I was actively around in fandom caused me to form an opinion that I hadn't realized was rooted in purity culture. That's what led me to create this blog with their help.

I wanted a vent space to exist for those who had gone through the same thing, but a public vent space really does only encourage further hatred and anger. It encourages people to go further down the rabit hole, and to begin stereotyping shippers, driving a larger divide between people.

And that's the thing, isn't it? We're all people on the other side of the screens. Who am I to judge what brings them joy? Even if it caused me so much grief, that doesn't mean it did the same for them. It's no different from prefering a different kind of cake than someone else.

There's nothing wrong with having a different taste in fiction, and it doesn't define your morals. Not in the slightest. One bad apple may spoil the bunch, but people aren't apples, and my experiences do not define everyone's.

I have grown a lot as a person in the past couple of years, and with that I have learned just how many things that I whole heartedly believed in during my teenage years were wrong. So very wrong.

And in doing so, it's made several of the asks that we get very hard to answer, because I now see every little thing that is only feuled by hate and anger instead of the actual need to vent. There are many asks that have been deleted simply because they are wildly innapropriate and innacurate. Others that I've gone through the effort to correct, even when it lends itself to the side of Gray/Juvia shippers.

Many of those asks were outright dehumanizing all of the shippers, and thats where I draw a line. Again, the actions of some are never the actions of all. There are always exceptions, and in my case, all who hurt me were likely just a loud majority at the time. It wasn't right of them to hurt me, but it also wasn't right of me to judge all shippers by the actions of other people. And even if I though I tried not to ever judge people without knowng them first, I know I still did it unconsciously.

So while my intention was never to harm any of you, I know there's a large chance that one of my posts or something I've said has been used to harm you. And for that, you have my deepest apologies.

At one point I was a kid who had been mislead by purity culture and the lies that fictional media reflect one's morals, but leaving the fandom for a bit has helped me to see how deeply manipulated I was, both by others and my own trauma. This blog was not the right way to go about anything. It wasn't helping anyone. Even whenpeople vented here, it often just led to us accidentally validating their hatred for real people instead of just a piece of fiction they didn't like. it's not okay.

So once again, I'm sorry.

This blog is now officially dead. All moderators have left except one willing to archive the sideblog, and we will no longer be taking asks or submissions.

Ship and let ship, and try not to make the same mistakes we have. okay? Live, learn, and do better. Be kinder.

Goodbye.

When I created this blog, along side my fellow moderator, I was in a very different place, mentally. J//uvia and Gr//uvia made me angry in a way I couldn't get over and by in large I surrounded myself with people who felt the same way. I thought that venting was healthy, and I still do, but not so much in the way we went about it.

There is a difference between having a space where you can voice what you're feeling and thinking for the sake of working through them, and having that space be public. There is a certain level of satisfaction that you can get from reading metas like the ones we posted, agreeing with your side, but to what end?

Over the months we've run this blog, we've received many an-ask about how this blog has been appreciated by other fans who don't enjoy the way the ship is handled by the Fairy Tail series, itself, the sequel or by the fandom at large. And whilst there may or may not be a conversation to be had where J//uvia and Gr//uvia and what they represent are concerned, months ago I came to the conclusion that this blog is not the way to go about it. I will come back to why it took so long between me realizing this and posting this in a moment, but for our followers, I want to pose a question to you.

What conversation does this blog actually influence? That J//uvia is a bad character? That Gr//uvia is a bad ship? Okay, then, to what end? How is this blog different from the recent attacks on archive of our own, or the inter-fandom discourse about purity culture? Is the way we talk about J//uvia and Gr//uvia not in line with the same type of thinking that gets fanfiction archives attacked over hosting gay fanfiction or authors attacked in their own comments over writing about darker subjects?

And even if that were a moot point, how would it be fair to ask fans of the ship and character to have a conversation with a blog like this floating around that is so aggressively opposed to it? How can we ask fans to sit down and have an actual discussion and trust that there is a good faith to be had? Do we have any good faith towards J//uvia or Gr//uvia?

Personally, I have arrived at the answer: no. I didn't have good faith towards either.

When this blog was active, I thought that was a fine position to hold. I still don't like J//uvia or Gr//uvia or the way they are so heavily intertwined with Gray that it is impossible to search for him. But, that's my problem. That's my opinion. I've been in this fandom for just under a decade, I have fanfic authors and fanartists who I like who don't post about those topics, or if they do, I can just rely on the old adage of "don't like, don't read". Disliking J//uvia and Gr//uvia doesn't have to be this big political statement that you need mountains of evidence to justify. It is okay to just not like them. Hell, it is okay to think the ship is toxic. But there are better things to spend my energy on the venting about how much I dislike them, and the people who do like J//uvia and Gr//uvia are not evil pieces of shit for doing so, I don't need to make them into strawman arguments to show why me not liking J//uvia and Gr//uvia is the morally superior stance to hold.

In the months that I have been gone, I have moved on from the Fairy Tail fandom into another one and that above all else is what helped me flip my perspective on this. The Fairy Tail fandom was not a good experience for me, by in large. I adore Gray, and I would not trade the friends I made through Fairy Tail for the world, but those are the exceptions. There are too many ways that Fairy Tail and its fandom have warped my perception of fandom to list, but just being outside it for months was a hell of a shock.

I was so god damn scared of approaching ships and characters and topics in my new fandom because my experience with the Fairy Tail fandom made my first instinct be wariness and caution, because what if. What if the ship's fans are toxic? What if the content of the ship isn't healthy? What if other people care that I ship this in the way I cared if other people shipped Gr//uvia?

In the defense of my younger self, I was 13 when I joined this fandom. And for the majority of the decade it was my only fandom, the only one I was active in for a substantial period of time anyway. I now know that if I found and fell in love with Fairy Tail today that I would have a vaaaastly different opinion of it and its ships and its characters and its fans. I wouldn't care, is the thing. Because why should I when the alternative is having fun with the parts of the fandom that I enjoy?

Ship and let ship, it's a piece of media for fuck's sake, the people who enjoy ships you don't like are not the devil reincarnated, so leave them alone.

To the fans of this blog, I'm glad if this blog was helpful to you in some way. Be that in helping you to articulate why you don't like J//uvia or Gr//uvia or the 100 years sequel, or if the original intention of this being a productive vent space actually had that effect for you.

To the fans of J//uvia and Gr//uvia, I am sorry to have put you in the position that I did, using this blog as a weapon to paint you in a truly awful light. What I think and feel about this ship is my issue, and I shouldn't have pushed it onto you as some grand moral failing on your part.

I will be stepping down from actively running this blog, it is a piece of my fandom history that I don't want to hold onto any longer.

See you around.

[bwoahtastic]

Runaways: I can imagine Max nursing Noah quite a lot while they were on the run because sometimes it was the only way he could feed him. Maybe it becomes a comfort thing and even sometimes when they are with Dan already Noah won't settle without nursing with his Meymey but Max always hides it because his dad would not let him nurse Noah long at all and he is afraid Dan will ridicule him

Nngggg Noah asking Max for milk one night and Max knows what he wants and hodes away somewhere so the others can't find them as he let's Noah nurse, knowng the little one needs comfort cos even though they are safe, it's all new and weird still, also for Noah.

And it doesn't happen often but every once in a while they need that bonding time. Every time they hide away and even Noah won't tell the others about it.

But one time, Daniel walks in on Noah nursing and Max and Noah both panic, scooting far back and making themselves small and its just one of the litte ways Dan is reminded both of them have been through way too much...

Dan just sitting down with them so he is smaller and less imposing and rumbling softly and just apologising for interrupting and just being so chill about it that Noah dares to crawl back onto Max's lap, giving Max big eyes until Max let's him nurse some more (and Noah totally falls asleep now that Dan is thre too)

[letusmeetagain]

Some thoughts about the ending and what wasn’t told...

It got so difficult to write about SnK.

First, the most important reason is my work. I’m overwhelmed with things I have to do. Another reason is that I was told my English is not really good so it ruins the message I’m trying to tell. Since then I’m trying to avoid English but I wanted to write a last post.

Regarding the manga itself.. I’m not really satisfied with the way last chapter presented things. Yet it’s not that it was a lot of things that I missed. Just some lines or panels that might have helped that some topics weren’t so... misleading like Armin thanking Eren. Some panels showing what kind of things won’t happen anymore without titans. The point I get is that Eren vanished the main reason division was anchored in. Yet humanity can find new traits to justify division as it happens in the ending. Eren’s doing might have built a brick between both sides. Muv Luv ends like that. The main problem, the connection with the aliens, vanishes as Sumika dies but the battle between humanity and the aliens just started. The main point is that humanity has now better chances althought it isn’t for sure they’ll survive. That kind of ending makes you ask yourself if all this journey and the sacrifices were worth it as we don’t get to see the true results. It’s a choice... I don’t complain about it. But it explains that feeling a lot of fans had while reading the last chapter.

The difference between Muv Luv is that we get to see Takeru reacting to Sumika’s choice and death. On that matter, there’s a conclusion we see ON camera. Isayama chose to leave it up to the reader, as something evident yet unspoken.

Knowing his inspiration sources, where he took his concepts from, and knowng that some things weren’t explained because he hadn’t time/will to do it... It’s like knowing how things could have been but we got this. That increase the level of frustration to me.

There weren’t any moments where we get the last lines about his truth (those that were presented at the last exhibition) and how Eren may have cared about it. In the last chapter he says he doesn’t want to die yet he doesn’t think he could be forgiven. After that, Armin cuts it leaving it open... as well as the part of him letting Dina eat Carla....

There’s important material missing:

A lot of fans got mad at Eren acknowledging that he was the reason why his mother died. I took it differently. He caused indeed Carla’s death. But it was to preserve the storyline as it was. He had to sacrify her although he didn’t want it. If you hear what Ted Chiang (the author of the main story of Arrival) explains about the knowledge of the future, you’ll get a glimpse about quantum mechanics and how determinism and free will are considered in Arrival. You can either understand it like what Nietzsche presented (as a way to be truly free because your will is to live fate as it is) (2) or understand it as Chiang explains (1).

There are two important points on that:

1. The acceptance of something you already saw because it happened and it’s unavoidable and thus future is happening at the same time as present and past so there’s no lineal progression.

2. The acceptance of the future because it will lead you to something you want to experience. In Arrival: the mother chooses to have her child although she knows she will die... but she doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to know her and live with her despite the pain of losing her.

So... Eren make this hard choice just to mantain things as they were. He was somehow forced to. The flaw here is that there’s no highlight on the reasons why this was more important. There’s no true development on the things he gained doing this sacrifice. We are asked to fill that hole: It’s apparently more important that everything happens as it does in order to accomplish what we saw in the ending...... that still didn’t happen.

Titans aren’t there anymore. But the walls are still there. We are supposed to understand that there’s a possibility that things get better. Not being able to touch something for sure makes Eren’s choices and sacrifices weaker to the reader.

Sushi (oldsummerdream) told me it was a sort of non ending... Of course it was.

I appreaciate how realistic it was. That’s how humanity is. That’s what happens in Watchmen... another inspiration of Isayama. I’m glad he didn’t write his ending like that. In that story, one superhero starts a plan against humanity, something like the rumbling and wants to make another hero responsible for the attack so humanity works together against him and stop fighting each other. In the ending of the film, we see a journalist getting a diary that tells the whole truth hinting that the whole plan to unite humanity would fail soon as they get to know it was his plan.

Thank god it wasn’t like that in SnK. In this story, we are supposed to think that Eren knows for sure Armin will reach a world without walls as he states “You will save the world”.

I personally accept it. It would have been better if he said something like “I saw it”, “I’m sure you will. I trust you”. Isayama’s lovely grandiloquence was missing as it wasn’t really impactful.

What I really missed is where Eren comes to know somethin about him and Mikasa’s decision. The process of him maybe not being proud of his doing but as someone who helped humanity to have a chance. He parts way with the world not being able to understand Ymir, Mikasa nor himself. That happened maybe... but off camera. That he knew the results of Mikasa’s choice means that he was still able to see and that he didn’t left the world.

By touching Ymir and gaining power he became a sort of god... yet his power as god was limitated as he couldn’t really understand neither Ymir nor Mikasa. Yet he got to know the future of a world he isn’t part of anymore. He remained as an observer through the birds.

It’s interesting to compare him to the main villain of ARMS. Eren didn’t want to become god at all yet he gathered some characteristics of one.

Regarding the connection between Mikasa and Ymir... In ARMS both, Ryo and Katsumi, come in contact with Alice and build a relationship with her to the point that she reborns as their child. Here there’s not contact between Mikasa and Ymir yet Mikasa was the one who saved her. Eren has no idea why.

We, as readers, have the task to fill this hole with asumptions. I don’t think it’s impossible. But since that’s the most important part of the last arc, I wouldn’t have minded if Armin made a wild guess about it helping Eren to understand it. It wouldn’t have been weird of Armin to do such thing. That they stated that love means freedom and from that on trying to dig into Eren’s motives to start the rumbling instead of leaving it as an uncertaing uncontrollable drive he had since his birth.

On that matter, Isayama chose to show us that Eren concept of freedom was based by his nature and that wasn’t up to revision or discussion since he can’t explain it. But this: we have Eren’s drive of freedom (was it inherited from Ymir maybe?) and the freedom that only love can give.

Was it enough for Ymir to witness love? Why wasn’t it enough for example to watch what Levi did for Erwin? Let’s say that she wasn’t able to look the whole creation. So it was needed to set her free... but how two different individuals showing love for each other is enough for her to ease the pain of her unrequited love? It’s interesting.

I was called out for asking for a closure for her. I don’t see why it should be wrong to develop at least how she left the world and how looking at Eren being granted what she couldn’t get for 2000 years would be unnecessary as she was an individual and the cause of everything. A closure for Eren is not so related to her, moreover when he couldn’t understand her.

Just a statement made by other character could have helped.

On the other hand, we never got to know why Falco received the memories at Slava. It also seems to be that Armin knew Eren would say to Mikasa that he wanted her to be free and Mikasa knew Eren visited everyone. Something like that made me believe that they got a certain amount of knowledge but there were no further explanations about it.

I wonder now what was that thing he couldn’t draw for the last chapter. The impression I have is that he couldn’t really plan the last chapter but he had to finish it no matter what. I also understand how the industry works and how the process of creating something works... sometimes, a work can be modified... So I guess we might see some minor(?) changes in the last volume and the anime.

[retvenkos]

“one of these days i will knock you out cold.”

BEING THE YOUNGEST AVENGER AND TRAINING WITH THE DAD™ OF THE TEAM, MR. CLINT BARTON, WOULD HAVE TO INCLUDE...

so you know that when fury announced you to the team, clint immediately was like,,, this is my child, i need to protect them

and tony is jealous that hawkeye has a protege that he immediately starts looking for one

and some of the other members of the avengers are confused as to how you could help them, because you are look like you are twelve and natasha thinks she could snap you in half before you could register that she was there

but in reality you are 17 and can turn invisible, and you are actually more competent than you look, seeing as you have been trained by s.h.i.e.l.d. for the past year

nick fury wouldn’t do you dirty like that

fury also pulls the rest of the team aside after introductions and explains that you need some extra training because he’s hoping to make another force like the avengers - only they’re younger and will do undercover missions

and bruce has mad beef with this because nick fury is going to be exploiting children and children are not developmentally ready to take on these responsibilities or know what it could be like

and thor is confused because he fought battles when he was thirteen!

“and you are a literal god, thor.” (bruce)

and tony agrees, but believes with training it can be done

cap is more with tony, saying that plenty of the people fighting in wars are just barely 18

natasha is hard pressed against this - she was a child that was taken advantage of

and she knows that there was nothing she could have done to be prepared

clint is somewhere in the middle of the two - he has kids and wouldn’t want this life for them. but heroes need to be made, and better that they have direction

and at the end of the day, orders are orders and whether they like it or not, you are their new “partner.”

“partner in crime, right?” (you)

“we obey the law!” (cap)

and this entire time, you know that you’re listening in

what? you use your powers for good. and knowng what the team thinks of you? that’s good, right?

when your powers are explained to the group, there are mixed feelings

thor loves it and says it reminds him of loki

“that’s a good thing, right?” (you)

cap is generally confused because he’s from a time where people were just normal (for the most part)

tony and bruce are now excited because if they can figure out how your cells manage to do that

natasha thinks it could be very useful

and clint agrees but he figures that his intuition is better than any power you may have

and he is eager to test his theory

and so early one morning, he wakes you up

“training. we start early.”

you look at the clock and it’s four in the morning

and part of you hates this, even though you’ve been excited for this moment ever since fury told you that he was transferring you

and so you meet up with clint, who you’ve gotten into the habit of calling “hawk” and the objective is simple

avoid getting shot, and knock him out

and your excited to prove yourself, because you’ve done this on countless s.h.i.e.l.d. agents already

so you hide yourself, and even though you’re feeling cocky, you decide to take some caution and try to take him from behind

but before you can get within 6 feet of him, he turns around an shoots you

right in the chest

thank god the arrows are blunt and only give you a shock

and he smirks to himself and you scowl

“how?”

“you’re loud.”

“what?”

“your footsteps, your breathing - you’re like a walking fan.”

“well, it’s not gonna happen again.”

“i hope not, otherwise this training session will be boring.”

but it does happen again

and again

and again

and again

and again

until you’re so upset you could scream and run away, completely invisible

clint hears your footsteps in your retreat

and based off of your breathing, you were crying - or, at least about to

time to be a dad

he finds you up high, and it makes him smile because it’s exactly the place he would have chosen, too

“here to shoot me again?”

“no, here to impart some wisdom.”

and you sigh, but you scoot over and make yourself seen

“your powers are incredible, but they aren’t enough to make you an avenger. the avengers are more than powers - nat and i don’t even have any. being an avenger is hard work and dedication. it’s working on your skills from four in the morning until midnight.”

“...i thought rousing speeches were america’s thing.”

he laughs

“yeah, usually they are.”

“he should let you do them sometime.”

“i doubt he ever would.”

“yeah, you’re probably right... you wanna go again?”

“you want to get shot?”

you shrug, smiling

“it’s growing on me.”

and you don’t manage to get it all the way right that day, although you did manage to get at least a few feet closer

and, a few weeks later, you were able to sneak up on him in the morning and punch him in the arm without him noticing

“what the hell?”

“training, hawk. we start early.”

AND FLUFF ENSUES.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Based on the response you gave in the last reblogged post, you said that Callum learns magic to "protect his loved ones." Isn't Rayla supposed to be the protector?

First off, thank you, anon, for being my very first question! I appreciate you had read what I had written about Callum, and came up with some of your own thoughts as well!

So, the simple answer to your question is: Yes, Rayla is certainly a protector. That doesn’t detract or contradict what I said about Callum wanting to protect his loved ones as well, which he absolutely does.

I think what you might be referring to is the fact that Rayla’s character arc is about her, being a trained instrument of death, realizing that being a protector of life feels much more right for her. Rayla realizing she wants to protect others is integral to her character’s journey.

It’s not integral to Callum’s for one simple reason: he’s always been protective, particularly of his loved ones.

In fact, his character arc is an inversion of Rayla’s--Rayla is already a skilled warrior, but is trying to figure out what she wants to do with those skills.

But for Callum, protecting his loved ones is part of who he is. And who can blame him? He lost his father, his mother, and stepfather, and almost lost his brother and the love of his life on several occasions each. He’s going to want to protect the people he has left.

Callum’s arc involved developing the ability to defend others, the kind of ability Rayla takes for granted.

This was the case from the very first episode: when Callum finds out that assassins are coming to kill his step-dad, the very next scene he shows up ready to go with Soren to attack them.

Why? Because he must.

He’s in ceremonial armor, which would only weigh him down without doing much to protect him from an assassin’s blade. He knows he can barely hold a sword and has fallen off every horse he’s ridden (a streak he was not about to break that day). While his stepfather is an accomplished warrior, with some of the best fighters in the Five Kingdoms at his beck and call. Callum could do very little to defend him, and would probably wind up getting killed if he tried to.

It did not matter to him. He was going to try and protect his father, because to Callum, that’s simply what you do for the people you love.

This also does a good job highlighting the fact that it doesn’t matter their relative skill level. Just because King Harrow is a warrior and Callum is not won’t deter the precocious 14-year old. If you’re important to him, he’ll defend you with his life.

It’s for this reason that it initially bothers him that he’s “always been bad at everything,” or “can’t do anything,” or that without magic, he’s “nothing.” These are obviously untrue assertions (something that Rayla, Ezran, Ellis, and others never believed were true). But while Callum knows he’s good at some things (he’s very confident about his artistic abilities, for instance), he didn’t think he was good at anything that would protect the people in his life.

Notably, Ezran.

When he jumped into a frozen lake, Callum’s first instinct was to go after him.

Ezran is probably the main reason Callum is this way. He always had to take care of his little brother, and knowng that he was going to be king meant knowing just how much support and protection he would have to be prepared to give him.  

For his entire life, he was likely preparing for that responsibility. As Harrow tells him:

This probably isn’t the first time Harrow told Callum something along these lines. It was always expected of him to advise and to protect Ezran, both as his brother and later as his King. As a result, Callum grew up becoming attentive and protective of him.

And, when he fell in love with Rayla, we seem him become noticeably more attentive and protective of her too.

He rushes to her when she’s unconscious.

And when the battle against Viren’s army is over, Callum barely takes a moment before his thoughts immediately turn to Rayla’s safety and well-being.

You can see in his gaze right there, that he’s worried about her. What if something had happened? What if something is wrong? Callum ponders. He doesn’t take a breath or rest on his laurels, instead racing up the Storm Spire to make sure she and Zym are safe and sound.

Rayla has certainly come a long way, and ended Book 3 as a hero and a protector. But for Callum, being protective comes naturally and instinctively, and it drives his pursuit to learn magic.

I said in a previous post that for Callum, learning magic has almost always come in response to a need, rather than a desire. His need to protect his loved ones drives his growing magical abilities.

Here’s what I mean:

While there are small exceptions, whenever Callum tries to learn magic for its own sake, he usually doesn’t get very far.

In Book 1, he runs into Claudia in the library, and brings up how interested he is in learning magic. But then she runs off without giving him any useful tips or advice.

In Book 2, Callum tries to learn Moon magic from Lujanne, but she rebuffs him.

In Book 3, Callum tries to learn Sky magic from Ibis. He tells Callum to leave.

But in each of these moments, he takes small pieces of information with him, and when he or his friends are in danger or need his help, the pieces click and he’s able to perform new magic.

The biggest moment is with his mage wings. When he tries to conjure them the first time, he can’t do it.

But when he’s trying to save Rayla, somehow, he can.

Part of this involves Callum being able to work well under pressure, but it also stems from the fact that his magical abilities develop in response to how much he needs them to.

He needs the aspiro spell to work to save the group from Claudia’s shadow dogs.

He needs to wake up from his coma.

He needs to save Rayla from falling to her death.

Callum is a very interesting microcosm of the Narrative of Love in action—his strength stems from love, and the need to protect that love. And yea, because of that’s tied to how he’s learned magic thus far, it’s likely going to continue to push him to learn as much as he can, perhaps becoming one of the most powerful characters in the show. Who knows?

I accidentally wrote a mini-meta here. Honestly, this answer deserves a much longer meta than I have time to write at the moment. I promise that it’s on my mind to flesh this topic out some more in the next few weeks (if I can hold your attention for that long). but the main takeaway should be that: Callum is a protector. He’s always been protective, and those instincts are what drive him to learn new magic, whether he’s aware of that or not.

That doesn’t take away from Rayla’s journey, nor does it imply their relationship isn’t a two-way street: they’ve both had to protect each other.

Because after all, that’s what you do for the people you love.

[sergeant-donny-donowitz]

Hell-Bent (DonnyxReader)

Continuation of The Traitor and the Bear Jew & Home for the Holidays

Requested by @svonschroeder​

@inglourious-imagines @war-obsessed @owba-chan

Let me know if you wanna be tagged in these! :)

Donny was straightening out his bow-tie, lost in his own repetitive scenarios and worries.  He was scared. It wasn't the prospect of walking into the theater and never coming back out that scared him. It was that something much worse would happen to you. "But what if this Landa guy recognizes you?!" "He won't." You had enough of this war. You once wanted to start a new life, with Donny, far away from the ruins of your home. Then you got Operation Kino. In no scenario was Donny making it out of the war alive...and you decided to go with him. Donny groaned in frustration, "They ran your face in the papers all over the place when they found out you weren't dead. How is he not going to recognize you?!" Hugo peered from the bed of the makeshift infirmiry. He and Wicki had survived...but barely. Hicox wasn’t so lucky... Hugo managed to mutter, “Donny hat recht. Bleib hier.”  "Donny's right. Stay here." You shook your head, “Nein, ich gehe.” “No. I’m going.” You looked to Bridget for help. She was pulling on her heels, and looked at the boys. "I need at least one other person there who can actually speak Italian."

Aldo sighed...He was originally going to put either Hirschberg or Smitty in your place, but he knew one thing for sure. Everyone carrying out a part of Operation Kino inside the cinema was never coming back home. Donny was the first to volunteer for it. He wanted to be the one to kill Hitler. That was a given... But Aldo knew something else: You couldn't live without Donny, and Donny wouldn't be at peace knowng you were miserable without him. Besides, Bridget was right. They needed you to make their act more convincing. Then you would be 'Catia Barbarino,' stylist to Bridget von Hammersmark. A final card from the Basterds, and once again, a traitor to the nazis.

You looked into the mirror, and swiped on a copper-red lipstick, and wore a long, emerald green dress, covering the sticks of dynamite around your ankles. Bridget lent you a ring to make it more convincing. Everyone was in the next room, having one last drink. Donny came up behind you. "Are you sure you want to do this, doll?" "Are you?" He sighed and looked down. "I'm not going home until Hitler's dead. I'm gonna do it myself." "Then I'm going with you."  His head tilted a little, and his eyes grew soft when he saw that your love for him matched his hatred for the enemy.

"Donny, I can't live without you. Don’t ask me to stay here again." "Don't do this...Don't go. I-" "You’re not the only one with a vendetta. Remember that." He smirked a little as you wrapped your arms around his neck, and kissed him. He nodded in surrender, and sighed as he looked down at you. “You look beautiful, doll.” He pretended he was ok with everything, but...he was still worried you'd be recognized. Still, there was no one else he wanted by his side when he took down the nazi regime. A few hours later, his world seemed to collapse when Landa approached them. Still, somehow it all seemed alright. "MARGHERITIIIII!!!!!"

Landa looked at you, and for the first time in a long time, you couldn't read someone. He asked for your name. "E il tuo nome?" "Catia Barbarino." He nodded. Landa gave the impression that he believed you. In reality, he was just impressed you'd made it this far. He also enjoyed tracking your fake names through the years.  All six of you stopped talking for a tense moment, wondering what the next few hours would entail.  Not everyone was going to make it out alive, everyone had that clear.  Bridget quickly broke the silence, fearing that any more contact with Landa would cost them all dearly. "Lei è la sua fidanzata." She told Landa you were Donny's fiancee. It was not true...But Donny did make a certain face, Omar did smirk, and Aldo did smile a little.

Bridget had noticed Landa looking at the ring around your gloved left ring-finger. It was really Bridget’s ring. And given that you were her ‘stylist’ a bit too grand for someone of your occupation.  Bridget heard Hugo tell Wicki in German that Donny wanted to propose to you, until the basterds were assigned to Operation Kino...there would be no point then... It sort of slipped. Bridget panicked, trying to keep Landa from asking too many questions. Landa congratulated you and Donny. Then, realizing Donny and Omar were choking on their Italian, Bridget managed to get Landa to allow you, Donny, and Omar to take your seats in the cinema.

0023 0024 0025... You sat in seat 0025, beside Donny. Your hands were entwined, much like your fates had been for two years. His hands were steady. His heart was set on Operation Kino. His eyes were set on you, one last time... You would have gladly sat there until it all ended, but you couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. You looked at the two emty seats following yours. Aldo and Bridget should have been there by then... Donny followed your gaze. You turned to him, and whispered softly, "Donny?" He sighed, looking back at the seats again, then at your eyes. He nodded with certainty, and you smiled broken-heartedly. Something told you that things would never be the same again. You rested your hands on his cheeks, as your eyes became teary and he smiled at you, one last time. He kissed you. And you were gone... As you passed Omar, you saw he was smiling widely, as he repeated under his breath "sua fidanzata"

You chuckled a little, though your heart felt heavy. You looked through the lobby, it was mostly empty, save for Aldo standing in the middle, with a glass of champagne in his hand. You were halfway up the stairs then, and Aldo turned around, hearing the click of high heels, thinking it might be Bridget. He was confused when he saw you, but then he glanced at the room where Landa had taken Bridget, and nodded at you. You nodded once to your lieutenant, and made your way to the door. Your excuse for retrieving her would be to touch up her makeup for the cameras... You stood at the door, and heard Landa give an order, "The guy in the white smoking jacket." He opened the door unexpectedly, and found you as you looked back to see a group of nazis attack Aldo and take his weapons from him. "ALDO!"

In the middle of his insults, he glanced up at you, with another reasuring nod, then resumed his shouting as the nazis dragged him away. You were reaching for your purse, where you'd hidden a gun. Landa reached for your wrist, "Now, now, Private L/N, don't be rash." You clenched your jaw. So he did recognize you... He was right. A gunshot would alert all the guards... You’d end Operation Kino before it even began. He pulled you into the room. You saw her shoes on the ground...your could hear your heart beat in your ears as you braved a glance across the room. There, you found Bridget von Hammersmark, lifeless. She was lost in the hands of an unforgiving fate. Landa’s hands, to be precise. 

Not unlike you. You whispered, "Bridget..."  She was not supposed to die... Not like that. Not that night.

Landa was cool and collected as he paced in front of you.."Well, well, well. If it isn't the traitorous Y/n L/n." "Villains really need to get a better spiel, you know." He looked shocked, as if he were truly offended by your words. "I am most certainly not a villain, liebling. I resent that!"

"You are the Jew-Hunter, aren't you?" "I'm a detective. I do my job. And I do it right." He gestured to the corpse, and a wave of rage ran a chill down your spine, and boiled your blood as he looked at you, "We're very much alike, you and I, liebling." "Don't call me that. We are nothing alike." "No? You're German. I'm German. You're a killer. I'm a killer. We both look at the possible outcomes of our decisions: Yours was to be a traitor, and mine was to stay loyal to the third reich. And here we are, looking at the possible outcomes of killing each other...and in your case and of your friends: yourselves." "I kill nazis. You kill people." He chuckled, "Jews are no more than rod-" You took a step forward. Your fists were clenched. You didn't need a gun. You were a basterd. "Watch your words, Landa." He countered like a child on a playground, and sneered, "Watch yours, private!" There was a knock at the door, and as you were face to face, he remarked, "Ah... we find ourselves in a compromising position. I advise you to stay quiet, and still. No tricks."

You clenched your teeth and nodded. You heard him utter 'clever' outside, and come back in with Aldo's knife, his explosives, and jacket. "Scheisse..." Your mind raced with all the possible horrible things that could be happening to Aldo at that moment. You were a traitor. You once had eyes on the inside...you knew the extent of the enemy’s inhumanity. Your rage was hardly contained at that point, "You're a coward, Landa." He smirked a little as he poured himself a glass of champagne, "Why do you say that?" You glared at him, "You killed her. She was a good woman. A fucking civilian. She's not a soldier, she's not a-" "She was a spy and a traitor, much like yourself, Private L/n." He took a menacing step forward, Aldo's knife in hand, as you stared at each other, hell-bent on getting revenge. He laughed a little, like a madman "Is it such a sin?" "She was innocent." Landa slammed his fist on the table, "A liar and traitor just like you!" he turned back around, and you were both aiming guns at each other. He smiled again. "Kill me, they'll look for a gunman. They know about Aldo, they saw you with him. They saw your fiance a...Oh he's not really your fiance is he? Shame...Thought you made a handsom pair and all...Disgraceful as it is, for a German like you and a Jew, well I must admit young Mr. Donowitz is a fine looking young man, good match for you...Shame, really, all this." You had your gun aimed between Landa’s eyes. You didn’t move, you didn’t speak. "They find him and your friend Omar. Your mission is kaput. And their fate is much worse than what you planned." "So you want us to stand like this until it’s all over?" “It's a possibility..." He sighed “not a practical one, mind you.” He lowered his gun...and you did too. "My disappearance and yours will raise suspicions. You know that, colonel." He paced around, thumb at his chin, as if in deep thought, "I have a better idea, private..." he turned, disarmed you, and stabbed you with Aldo's knife before you could even take a breath.

You were stunned for a moment. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. You were supposed to die alongside Omar and Donny, destroying the third reich, and avenging millions.  There you stood, so close to them, yet so far from your destiny.   The searing pain, the uncertainty of the mission... The tides had turned for the blade used against so many nazis before... You couldn't say a word... Blood pooled through your dress. You grew cold and numb. Your knees buckled, and Landa crouched by you as you kneeled weakly. He leaned in and murmured, "Do me a favor, liebling. Don't die now. You may just be useful to me just yet..." He pulled the knife out slowly, and left you there. He took your gun and Aldo's things, and left the room. You were sprawled out on the ground, the opposite side of the room as Bridget. Your eyes burned with agony and rage as you looked up. "So endet es also ..." 'So this is how it ends...' **** The theater was full, the movie had started, and neither the lieutenant, the spy, or the traitor came back. Donny and Omar were in the bathroom, about to carry on with their mission. Donny was pushing for some hope, "You sure you didn't see her in the theater? Maybe she forgot where we were sitting." Omar shook his head slowly, "She didn't forget...She didn't come back."

Donny nodded. That could only mean one of two things: You were either dead or once again, a traitor. He knew you wouldn't betray the basterds.

And his heart shattered knowing what that meant, He nodded slowly, numb, but with a mission. "Mission goes on, Omar..." Orders from high command were that they were to carry out Operation Kino at all costs.  Omar shook his head. "No. No, Aldo and the woman didn't come back either. Something's going on." Donny turned his back on Omar, and leaned onto the sink, looking down. "Operation Kino goes on. It's what they would have wanted." Omar caught a glimpse of Donny's eyes in the mirror. They were filled with rage and sorrow. The rage wanted vengeance for everything and everyone the nazis had taken from the world. The sorrow was the realization it didn’t matter if you weren’t there with him... The sorrow was the realization that as of now, you were one of the millions lost at the nazis’ hands.  Donny was now more than willing to die in that cinema for his lieutenant, for Hicox, for the spy, and most of all, for you... Omar rested his hand on Donny's shoulder, "We said we'd die together, or we don't die at all. Something happened to them, but we don't know that they're dead. I'm not dying unless I know what really happened to them."

Donny stayed silent, still looking down at the sink. "Donny....I know you want to see her one last time." If Donny had you by his side when it all happened, there would be no hesitation... And even if the only logical explanation was that you were captured and killed, somehow he felt you were still close. "I owe it to her, kid. Hugo and Wicki almost died last night. England lost a good soldier there." His voice was low, but vengeful. You were the closest thing Hugo had to family, and Donny knew that. "We need to get this right. For Y/n.... For everyone. We have to do this, Omar, means we have to die too... We have our orders." Omar’s voice was soft, "Donny?" Donny sighed, "Yeah, kid?" "You love her. I know you don't wanna do this without her." "This is our mission. It always has been." Donny shook his head, trying to block out Omar’s logic. "But-" "Ulmer." Donny took on the tone of a sergeant. It was a warning to Omar.

Omar wasn't scared anymore. Not when they were so close to ending it all. "With all due respect, sarge-" "We have orders, Ulmer. If someone falls behind tonight they...they stay behind." Those orders came directly from the brass, Omar knew that. Orders are orders... "Then fuck the rules." "Ulmer-" "You can't follow orders if you needa follow your heart...Just this once... Donny, you love her. You got a  heart, sarge. That's what sets you apart from those nazis in there." Donny was silent again. "Look. We kill Hitler, and the high command in there, throw the dynamite, then find the others.  There's a chance, Donny..." Donny nodded slowly and sighed. He looked through the doorway then back at Omar. He took off his jacket. "When I kill that guy, you got thirty seconds to kill that guard. Can you do it?" Omar smirked a little, but they were back in busines... And business was a'boomin'. "I have to."

****** Aldo and Smitty were thrown in the back of a truck. "Utivich?" "Is that you lieutenant?" Smitty was audibly afraid. He was supposed to keep watch on the roof of the tavern across the street from the cinema.  He saw the nazis drag Aldo out of the cinema. By the time he turned around, he was cornered and outnumbered himself. "Yeah." "Do you know what happened to Donny? Omar? The woman? Y/n?" Aldo had his theories, but Utivich's voice already sounded  unsteady.   He just said, "No I do not." The truck came to a sudden stop. They heard nazis struggling against someone, and then the sound of a body being flung into the truck. "Boys? Y/n?" Utivich was trying not to cry. He was so certain that they would end the war that night... He was holding out for some hope. As long as the nazis didn't have you or the boys, the basterds still had a slight chance.  "Miss von Hammersmark?" There was a half-second delay. "It's me..." Your voice shattered them. They'd never heard you sound like that. So broken, so lost...so weak.... Aldo had almost lost you once. And that was the closest he ever your heard sound like that. "Y/n? Y/n, they hurt you?!" He started to stand up, but a guard pulled his down. Aldo struggled against him, but got nowhere. "Come on, kid. Speak to me." You coughed a little. You wiped away the blood that dribbled from the corner of your mouth. "He got von Hammersmarck." You were thankful Aldo and Uti couldn’t see you then.  "He what?" You took a breath. "He killed her." The world around you spun, and seemed to burn with the embers of what could have been... Maybe Donny was right. Maybe you shouldn’t have gone... Maybe then, Landa wouldn’t have caught on.  Everything would have gone according to plan... Smitty asked, "You....Y/n, what about you? Wh-why do you sound like that?" "Don't...Don’t worry about me, Smitty." They noticed you were forcing your voice to sound more put together, and a bit louder.  Aldo wanted to know how bad it was, without having to force it out of you. "They put a hood on you and cuff you too?" "No, sir." That answered his question. They didn't even bother to handcuff you because they knew you weren't going to make it very far anyway. After losing your wits, your blood, and Donny, you didn’t realize Aldo was able to deduce that from your answer. "Don't worry about me, Aldo..." "Don't tell me not to wory about my goddamn boys. I'm gon' worry bout em kids till we're gone.” Aldo took a breath... the way it looked, they’d all be gone sooner than he thought. “What the fuck they do to you, soldier? How do you feel?" "He got me Aldo, he got me good. Use-used y-your knife..." You started to shiver, and struggled to keep your eyes open.  Smitty leaned his head against the side of the truck, clenching his jaw, and the knot in his throat.  There was nothing he or Aldo could do...not even hold your hand. Aldo's mind raced with the image of his knife, digging into countless scalps.  That knife, paired with a merciless nazi meant no hope for you. "I'm sorry, Y/n... I shoulda known Operation Kino was too risky..."  Your eyes rested on the roof of the truck. One arm across the wound, drenched in your own blood. The other arm at your side, cold and numb. You shook your head, eyes never abandoning the ceiling. "We're soldiers, sir. We follow orders." You were all silent for some time. Roughly five minutes. But with the hoods, and your impending last breath, Aldo got worried. It was too quiet. "Y/n? How're you holdin' up, kid?" "Cold..." Was all you could manage to mumble... Aldo and Smitty could barely hear you at that point. Smitty's voice was broken as he uttered, "Fuck..." Hopeless, forgotten tears streamed down his hooded face. Aldo struggled against his handcuffs in vain, trying to get to you, and offer you any comfort he could. Operation Kino was a failure, and most, if not all, the basterds would be killed before sunrise. The war would go on. It all would have been for nothing... The truck slowed down and stopped, and the nazis started pulling Aldo and Smitty down. Both of them struggled against the enemy for years... It seemed so cruel for it to end like this. You were most likely going to die cold, alone, and in a pool of your own blood in that truck. Something Aldo and Smitty couldn't abide by... They managed to drag Aldo away, though he looked back one last time, "Y/n?! Listen to me, listen to me, kid! Everything’s gon ' be ok! Ya hear?!” He looked down at the blod, then turned away as his voice lowered in heartbreak, “Y-ya hear..." Even he didn't believe himself... Smitty managed to kneel by your side for a moment, "Y/n? I'm sorry...I'm sorry we have to go..." You nodded, even if he couldn't see. You felt his warm knee at your forearm. Your cold, shaking hands reached out to his shoulder... The blood on your hands soaked his shirt, though you couldn't feel it anymore. "Y/n..." "It's ok, Smitty...We tried." "I c...I can't leave you alone..." You shook your head. "There are worse ways to die, love..." You thought of Omar and Donny. They were probably going to be tortured and then shot against a wall. If they weren't already being tortured... You watched as the nazis dragged Aldo and Smitty away... You tried to get up, you wanted more than anything to fight them and get freedom for your boys, and a fighting chance for Donny and Omar... But you could barely keep your eyes open at that point. A tear streamed down your cheek, thinking perhaps it was all your fault... ******* Aldo eyed the glass of wine in front of him...which he couldn't reach. In no scenario would Donny and Omar survive: They'd either carry out the mission, and die as planned. Or die in the hands of nazis... Aldo looked at a clock, and sighed. You barely had any time left, if you weren't already dead. It wouldn't be long before the nazis zeroed in on Hirschberg. It wouldn't be to hard for them to find Wicki and Hugo, and finish the job. He and Smitty would most likely be killed by Hans Landa himself. Still, Aldo, much like you, couldn't quite read Landa. "But I digress...where were we? Ja. Make a deal." He gestured behind Aldo and Smitty, "Over there is a very capable two-way radio. And sitting behind it is a more than capable radio operator named...Herman..." He looked as if he had uncovered the secrets of the universe, "Get me someone on the other end of that radio to authorize my...let's call terms of my conditional surrender." Aldo was silent. "Get me someone on the other end of that radio I spare Hugo, Wilhelm, Gerold, Smithson, and yourself, and I'll call for someone to save your friend. That traitor....I suppose my ally now, if all goes well.” Utivich turned to look at Aldo. The last thing any soldier would want is to die alone...  Both of them knew that. Utivich looked to Aldo, eyes pleading.

*******

Donny and Omar were covered in drops of blood, but their hands and consciences were clean. Hitler, Bormann, Goerring, and Goebbels were dead. 

The war was over. They threw the dynamite down when they still had time, and ran through the cinema, searching for a sign from you, Aldo, or Bridget. They searched every supply closet, every opera box. "Donny!" Doonny turned around, smiling, holding out for a some hope. Instead, he saw the grave expression on Omar's face. He peered into the room. There, they saw Bridget von Hammersmarck, dead in a corner. On the other side, they saw the glint of your gun on the ground, and the ring Bridget convinced Landa was your engagement ring. It was stained in red. A dark pool of blood streamed through the floor boards, extending in every direction of the room.  Donny knelt by the blood, picked up your gun, and glanced up at Bridget. It wasn’t hers, she didn’t have any wounds or blood on her.  It had to be yours... His eyes widened at that realization. He shakily rose to his feet, and dropped your gun. ”Donny...Look...” Omar pointed at the red smears, like masses of rose petals strewn violently by the wind.  Donny nodded... You’d been dragged out. "They have to be here somewhere." Donny ran out of the room, and started frantically racing around the cinema, his mind blank, his heart racing, sweating from the heat and the fear. "Y/N?! ALDO! Y/N?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" But Donny and Omar were out of time. Omar grabbed onto Donny, "DONNY, LET'S GO, THEY'RE NOT HERE." "I HAVE TO FIND THEM." "THEY'RE NOT HERE. THEY DRAGGED HER OUT, THEY WOULDN’T STAY HERE. COME ON!" Donny looked intently at the young private. Omar was right... Omar managed to pull Donny outside. Donny was fuming as they stood outside the cinema. He was deciding whether or not to go back into the cinema. “Someone hurt her, Omar. Someone fucking killed Bridget, and hurt her, and probably Aldo too. What if they’re still in there?!”

Omar shook his head. he was a bit more clear headed than his sergeant at the moment, "They're not here. They must've been taken away. They had to, if they were going to interrogate them." "Why didn't they get us too?!" Omar shook his head, lost for words, and without an answer...."I don't know..." At that moment, Donny entertained the idea that maybe you were killed...maybe they took you out of that room, and didn’t have time to get Bridget out. 

He looked at the cinema. His eyes were bound to the  cinema as they once were to you. His voice was steady, and low. “I should’ve stayed in there...” Omar shook his head, “There’s still a chance-” “What? That they’re torturing her and they’ll kill her before we even figure out where she is? I know...” Omar knew Donny was right this time. Still he said, “I was gonna say alive...” Donny shook his head, “No...not after this.”  His eyes were set on the theater. If he lost you, he’d never feel alive again... They watched the cinema implode, fire burst through the shattering glass and splintering pillars devoured by hellfire. The cinema was destroyed, dragged down to depths of hell, and the nazis’ power went along with it.

Donny fell to his knees... "Where is she...Omar? Where is she?" Donny’s voice trembling with the tears and rage that came with the irony: He won the war but he lost you.  Omar put his hand on Donny’s shoulder...glanced up at the rooftop across the street, searching for an answer... He realized that was where Smitty should have been posted for something like this. He was gone... "Donny...Smitty's gone." Donny turned around, and saw the empty roof. He and Omar looked at each other... If Smitty was gone, then there really was a chance he was with you and Aldo, outside of the theater. Omar held out his hand, and pulled Donny up. They marveled at their work. The vengeful inferno that ended the war by their hands, and avenged millions. "For Y/n..." Donny picked a flower and tossed it into the fire, uncertain what to believe anymore. ********** Aldo and Smitty were put in the back of the same truck they came in. Aldo and Smitty eyed the blood stains on the ground, sloppily and carelessly wiped away, leaving red footprints on the ground. It looked like the inside of a slaughterhouse... It was no wonder the nazis didn't bother to cover your eyes and tie you like them... "I'm not leavin' without my man, Landa. You know the deal."

Landa sighed, "It appears you are correct, Lieutenant Raine." He looked back at the guards and barked out an order in German. Someone, presumably a medic, appeared in a few moment, and helped you up. You were handcuffed. And you were set between Aldo and Smitty. There words seemed distant, you could hardly hold your own, and they knew it. "What about the cinema..." Smitty shook  his head, misunderstanding the brokenness in your eyes. You didn't know about the deal. "No...they did it. Hitler, Goerring, everyone of them is gone. It's over, we won!" Aldo knew the real reason you were like that. "They're gone, kid...I'm sorry." "I should've been there with them." Aldo understood. He nodded slowly, "I'm sorry kid. For everything." You bit the inside of your lip, not wanting to let the nazis see you cry. The war may have been over, but that didn't change who they were to you, "Thats...that's war." War... War was what brought you together. It was what brought the world to its knees. It was what drove you away from your home. War made you a traitor. It made you a basterd. War gave you Donny. It was what taught you what love was. It brought you the basterds, and taught you what family was. War gave Hugo back to you, and showed you what redemption was. And war was what took it all away again. You were ready to die with Donny and Omar in that cinema. But you would never be ready to live without them...  Now all that was left of them was probably their dog tags... A part of you condemned Aldo and Smitty for making your salvation a part of their deal with the devil called Hans Landa. As soon as you crossed back in allied lines in the forest, you were all freed from handcuffs. Aldo and Smitty pulled your arms around their shoulders and kept you standing tall. Aldo eyed the bloody truck once more, then looked to you, “How you doin', kid?" You glanced at Landa, then to Aldo. Your voice was hoarse, and hopeless. "He's gonna get away with it, Aldo..." Aldo sighed, and nodded, " ‘Fraid so..." Aldo said something about you needing to be in the infirmiry with Hugo and Wicki, you weren't listening. The truth was, even thought the war was over, he wasn't done worrying about you. You and Donny were hell-bent on taking down the third reich and dying together. The war may have ended, but without Donny, yours was just beginning.  Now that the basterds were going home, Aldo was afraid for you. Hugo said something about moving to America once... He hoped you'd tag along, then there wouldn't be much to worry about. Hugo would never let a thing happen to you.  Smitty held on to you as Landa and Aldo carried out the deal. Landa held out his tiny blade, "I'm officially surrendering myself over to you, Lieutenant Raine. We're your prisoners." Aldo forced a smile, "How 'bout my knife?" Landa chuckled as he pulled out the machete and handed it over. "Thank you very much, colonel."  Aldo eyed the blade that was used against you. The blood still drying... Aldo took your arm, then said, "Utivich, cuff the colonel's arms behind his back." "Oh is that really necessary?" Aldo's ears burned with your words, 'He's gonna get away with it, Aldo...' He glanced at his knife, safely around his waist, then back at you. You were neither dead, or alive. You were victorious, but heart broken. He couldn't abide by that. Not one damn bit. Aldo smirked a little, and admitted something every basterd knew him to be guilty of: "I'm a slave to appearances." He shot Herman. He gave Landa's knife to Utivich. "Scalp Herman." Landa used Aldo's knife against you, he was using Landa's knife against his man. Utivich smirked as he took the knife, and gently set you down against a tree. "ARE YOU MAD? I MADE A DEAL WITH YOU FOR THAT MAN'S LIFE!" As he and Aldo went back and forth about the deal, you saw something in the distance. For a moment, you thought you were dead. You thought it was the spirits of those you left behind. Donny and Omar. Donny and Omar. Donny and Omar. Their names repeated in your mind. Their voices seemed to get closer and closer... Closer, and closer, and closer... Your eyes widened..."Donny and Omar?!" Smitty thought you'd snapped. He glanced up, expecting to see nothing. Instead, he saw everything his heart could ever desire. His two brothers running out of the woods, towards them, just as Aldo declared this final marking his masterpiece. His eyes followed Utivich's and he saw it too. Donny ran past them, directly to you. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around you, and kissed you. He was covered in soot, and smelled like ash and victory, covered in the blood of his enemy. You were covered in your own blood. He held you gently, his hand resting at the side of your face. "Are you ok? Tell me you're ok, Y/n. Tell me you're fine." His voice was desparate. A man faced with glory and fire. Love and death. You and oblivion, only hours before. You touched his hand and nodded, "I'm ok..." He took a breath, seemingly for the first time in a long time and he smiled. "Hugo woulda killed me if you weren't..." You giggled as much as your wound would allow, and he kissed you again... You whispered, “I’m sorry...I’m sorry, Donny, I-” He shook his head, “Sh, it’s ok, doll! Everything’s ok! Just...save your breath, I need you to get better, ok doll? I need you around.” He smiled as he looked at you, and you smiled back. You just couldn’t believe it. Seething through his pain, Landa taunted "Oh, private L/n and sergeant Donowitz, so it's true! How sweet...a traitor and the Bear Jew." Donny saw you clenching your side. He glanced at the smirk in Landa's eyes. He knew who hurt you. Landa went on, "Nantucket Island isn't too far from Boston, is it sergeant?" Donny shook his head. His voice was low. For a moment, you realized that if Landa went free, he'd only be a few miles form you and Donny... Donny knew that too. "No. No it isn't, colonel." He raised his gun, aimed it at Landa and smirked, "But hell is." 

One last bullet.

Then, the war really was over, for all of you. The general was definitely going to chew everyone out for it, but that was ok. It was more than ok. Donny laughed a little as he remarked, "Told you he'd recognize you, doll." Covered in ash, a steady heart, and loving eyes, Donny looked back at you. After that night, after everything you'd ever been through together, you were everything to him. The war may be over, the basterds may be splitting up, but he couldn't imagine his life without you, and you knew that. He slipped his hand around yours, just like he did in the theater. He was willing to die with you hours before. Now he was willing to live for you, and spend the rest of his life with you. Your eyes wandered east. The Germany you once knew was gone. There was nothing to go back to. You and Hugo knew that.  He made you swear once, that you were truly happy with Donny, and that you loved him. When you admitted it, Hugo smiled and said he'd move to America, only if you promised to visit him. You agreed. And so your eyes wandered west, beyond France, beyond the Atlatntic, was America. And on the coast was a place named Boston. A place you never knew. A place you'd never seen, not even in pictures. Only stories. What's more, they were Donny's stories. That was where your home was. Donny looked west, beyond the horizon, toward his home. He looked back at his life, at you. It all would have been nothing without you. He thought about the night before for a moment... "Lei è la sua fidanzata."

He didn't have a ring on him, but he had his heart. And his dog tag...

"Y/n... will you-" It was then that another truck passed by....recklessly... honking like there was no tomorrow. Hirschberg was driving, of course. Wicki and Hugo trying to get him to drive without getting them killed. Aldo turned around, "KILL THE ENGINE." "What?!" "KILL THE ENGINE." Hugo swiped the keys from Hirschberg, the engine shut off, and the three arrivals peered out the windows. Aldo shushed them, "KEEP YOUR FUCKEN MOUTHS SHUT!" He stood with Omar and Smitty as Hirschebrg, Wicki and Hugo wandered to them, watching. You and Donny laughed a little as he collected himself. He cleared his throat, and tried again, "Y/n..." He held out his dog tag. "Will you marry me?" You smiled, "Yes!." He kissed you, and held on to you, the only reason he was still alive. He put his dog tag around your neck, as the basterds cheered and joked with both of you. One last time. For the first time in a long time, everything was fine. You, Hugo, and Wicki may have been knocking on death's door hours earlier, but there was no answer. And that was fine. For the first time in years, you and Hugo had a place to call home, and a family. For the first tim in years, there was peace. And for the first time in his life, Donny was satisfied. He paid off his debt to Aldo the Apache. He avenged every name on his bat. He killed Hitler. He ended the war. He looked at you...his “fidanzata” and smiled. Now that there was a world worth living in, Donny had the girl he loved to share it all with.

[idyllicstarker]

Hey, same anon! If you wanted an idea, could you maybe do Tony introducing peter to either pepper or Rhodey (regardless of what the relationships are) cause I’ve always wondered how and when it happened?? Don’t worry if not x

Of course anon, thank you for the idea x

I chose Rhodey just because I feel like Tony would have spoken to Pepper a lot about Peter beforehand and at the end of homecoming she saw Peter so yeah..

I also chose to do irondad just because you said you preferred it.

So let me just, get right to it...

Tony never thought that he’d be the type of father a kid could want.

Don’t get me wrong, he was cool, and suave but he just didn’t think he’d be cut out for that. At least not without some careful thinking time beforehand. You know, nine months probably would be enough. But unfortunately, Peter Parker was now a fully grown spider boy. There was no waiting time as he was bought to life. He was there. But yet, it wasn’t a secret that Tony already felt a paternal responsibility to look after the boy, and protect him from the moment he laid eyes on him.

He wasn’t so welcoming to that feeling at first. In fact he tried to take a more ‘hands off’ approach. He assigned Happy to Peter, in hopes that he would keep the reckless boy safe.

But then everything kind of went wrong.

The sight of the teen being vaulted across the airport in Germany had Tony’s stomach dropping in the most uncomfortable of ways. 

Of course, as the famous tale tells, Tony attempted to avoid the issue like he did best. Until, of course, Peter got dunked in the lake, broke a ferry and of course crashed Tony’s own damn plane, almost killing himself in the process of it.

And it was in fact, that moment, in which Tony realised, he needed Peter, and Peter needed someone there for him.

Either way, Peter’s appearance around the tower was no longer an uncommon thing. It just so happened that, for a while, no one really knew.

With the talk of the ‘internship’ still in the air, Peter was just his intern. But as Tony’s fridge became stocked with pickles, apple juice and ice cream, pencils being left behind his couch cushions, and a beaten up and frayed hoodie always laying casually on the coat rack, it was no wonder that his closer personnel started to question it. 

One of these in which was his ever loyal best friend Rhodey, It wasn’t talked about, only noticed. But it also wasn’t like Tony was trying to hide it either.

So when F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced one Thursday evening that Peter Parker had arrived in the tower, Tony didn’t even flinch. Rhodey on the other hand, who was sat opposite Tony in the lab looked up surprised.

“Peter?”, he asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. He was skeptical of the new name he’d never heard before.

Tony nodded his head, looking up from his paperwork. “My intern”, he answered casually, the tip of his pen hitting against the table slowly from where he mindlessly tapped it.

“So what’s he doing it?”

Tony didn’t reply, only shrugged, he wasn’t too sure himself. Peter wasn’t scheduled to be here, not that they really kept to that schedule anymore. Peter came and went as he liked. Sometimes when Tony wasn’t here he’d come in to find the boy adorably curled up on the couch asleep.

It wasn’t long until he heard the soft voice walking into the lab. “Hey Mr Stark.”

However, Tony didn’t give much of a greeting in return. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

Peter physically frowned at that, shrugging his backpack off his shoulders and dropping it carelessly onto the floor, having yet to notice the other man who was in the room. In which by the way, was looking between them awkwardly.

“Teach training day tomorrow Mr Stark”, he answered, sheepishly shuffling forwards. “Do you think i can stay tonight?”, he asked hopefully, bright eyes melting Tony once again. 

He was automatically nodding before he had time to consider it. “As long as your aunt is okay with it. But what have i told you about leaving your backpack on the floor like that”, a slight hint of scolding in his tone.

However Peter was no longer listening, frozen in his shy walk (because he still got all flustered whenever he asked Tony a personal question such as that) his wide, and yet excited eyes settled on Rhodey.

“Y-You’re War Machine”, he whispered slowly, which earned an amused nod from Rhodey himself. 

Peter scrambled to wipe his clammy hands on his sweatpants before fumbling to hold it out to the man. Tony laughed loudly at that before gesturing to Peter, 

“Kid this is Rhodey, Rhodey this is Peter. You’ll be seeing a lot of him around here so i’d get used to him”, he told him.

Peter still seemed a little starstruck, and seemed to repress a slight throaty sound of apprehension i guess as Rhodey shook his hand. There was a moment of locked eyes before Rhodey too laughed and nodded his head.

“Nice to meet you Peter”, he said. 

All he got back was a scrambled “uh huh” and a clumsy nod of Peter’s head. 

Tony smiled affectionately, standing to gently pat the boys back and bring him back down to earth. “Kid go take your backpack upstairs, grab a snack because i don’t want you turning all moody on me due to you forgetting to cater towards your freaky metabolism”, he told him, squeezing his shoulder slightly. “and then come back down and we’ll finish what you were working on yesterday.”

Peter looked up with a sheepish gaze, nodding his head. “okay mr stark, i’ll be down soon”, he said, flashing him one of those grins before sprinting off to do as he was told. Of course, he couldn’t help but flash a yearning look towards Rhodey as he slipped out the door, backpack in hand, as Tony rolled his eyes slight.

Rhodey looked over at the man with a knowng glance, letting out a slight huff of a chuckle. “You seem close”, he noted. Tony dropped his gaze down to his shoes as he ran his tongue over his teeth. 

Eventually he let out a breath and nodded his head. “yeah, he’s a good kid, and needed a father figure of sorts.. i’m not saying that I-”, he began, but was cut off by a hand being placed on his own armm

“It’s okay Tones, I understand.”

Peter’s visits only started becoming more frequent. Even May began to jokingly complain that he may as well live there. And Rhodey watched on.

Tony didn’t want to admit that he was anything more than a mentor to Peter, and Peter was too embarrassed. But everybody already knew.

Tony was the father figure that Peter needed, but he’d become the dad he’d always needed.

[meetmeatmidnightsblog]

One of the hardest things for me to be a swiftie is knowing that some people outside of this fandbase wont always like Taylor, they might think its uncool to like her music, they might talk shit about her without really knowng the truth. Sometimes I can annoy my mom because I dont have anyone else to condfide in. No one will understand how deep the connection, bond that we share with her. Why you can feel so protective / defenesive over her even if you really dont know her, you have never met her in person. Her music inspires us, it helps us through whatever were dealing with in our own lives. Thats something that Scooter and Scott cant take from us.

[keichanz]

*pssst* while walking across the village, Inuyasha comes across Kagome. Grabs her, gives her a big smooch and continues on this way . Smugly of course :D

DAMN YOU RYU FOR KNOWNG MY WEAKNESS YOU KNOW I CAN’T RESIST THESE TYPES OF PROMPTS GODDAMMIT 

Inuyasha yawned and tucked his hands into the opposite sleeves of his suikan as he casually strolled through the village proper, his gait lazy and unhurried, however his senses were alert and focused. It was a warm and sunny day and he was about ten minutes into his daily walk through the village to see if there was anyone who needed assistance with something or other, whether it be delivering goods too heavy for a human to carry on their own, an extra pair of hands for a construction project, or perhaps something as simple as sniffing out a lost item. Several times now little Aoi had misplaced her doll and Inuyasha would always find it in either one of three places; half-buried in the ground courtesy of their dog, underneath said snoozing dog, or on the roof of their home. (He still hadn’t found out how that one happened.)

It was a win-win situation; it alleviated Inuyasha’s boredom most days, having never been one to sit around and do nothing all day, and walking through the streets allowed the villagers to spot him easily and call out for assistance. Sometimes he would even purposely seek someone out if he knew they needed help with something, such as old man Kuiichi, who was getting on in years, however acted like he was only twenty summers and tried to do everything by himself. Despite his denials whenever Kagome questioned him about it, Inuyasha did worry about the old man and his family had expressed their concerns for him as well, so he didn’t mind checking up on the mischievous old coot every once in a while.

He figured now was a good a time as any; though men and women alike waved and called out greetings to him, none had expressed a desire for assistance thus far, which was all well and good, but it gave him a altogether new problem.

He was bored. 

Nodding a greeting at a woman and the two children at her feet, Inuyasha deliberately wiggled his ears as he strolled on by and didn’t bother to hide his grin at the delighted squeals that echoed in his wake. He didn’t think that would ever get old.

A familiar scent suddenly reached his nose and he turned his head to find his wife chatting pleasantly to one of the village woman, Myana, if he recalled correctly, one hip cocked to the side and a basket of herbs tucked under her arm. She was smiling, her brown eyes bright, her cheeks flushed a delicate pink, and her hair, almost as long as his how, trailing down her back in a smooth waterfall of ebony silk.

So beautiful, Inuyasha thought somewhat dazedly and without thinking he started walking toward her, an urge slamming into him so hard and fast he didn’t even think to resist it.

“He didn’t,” Kagome gasped, putting a hand to her chest as she struggled to contain her giggles, though the grin on her face was harder to hide.

Myana laughed. “He did! Grandfather stirpped down to his fundoshi, struck a ridiculous pose, and asked Shinju to marry him! Oh goodness, but you should have seen the look on her face! It looked as if she didn’t know whether to laugh, or be absolutely horrified.” The young woman laughed again and shook her head at her elderly grandfather’s antics.

A giggle escaped her lips before she could stop it and Kagome shook her had as well. “Oh, that old Kuiichi,” she said pleasantly, eyes bright and her smile genuine. “I swear he acts like he’s only twenty-three instead of sixty-three, and with the libido to match!” 

The two women snickered together and then a flash of red caught caught Myana’s peripheral vision and she turned her head curiously. Her eyes lit up at what she saw and she turned to her friend with an impish grin. “Speaking of libidos,” she said and flicked her eyes back to the figure in red rapidly approaching. “I do believe yours is about to be tested quite thoroughly.”

Kagome blinked in confusion then followed Myana’s gaze to find her husband striding purposely toward them, his expression an odd mixture of determination and something she only ever saw late at night during…intimate moments. Instantly her body flushed, heating up, her cheeks reddening further and her eyes flashing with memories of just last night when they’d–

“Inuyasha,” she said a tad more breathlessly than she intended and turned to face him fully when he reached them. “What–”

With a wicked curl to his lips, heedless of Myana’s amused gaze and the curious stares of other villagers watching them, Inuyasha snagged his wife around the waist, bent her back over his arm, then claimed her lips in a deep, searing kiss that told Kagome that she was not the only one remembering last night’s event’s. Her gasp was swallowed by his mouth, her moan drowned out by the heated growl that rumbled in his throat, his lips that danced expertly over hers stealing her thoughts, her inhibitions, the very breath from her lungs as she clung to him, hands fisting in his suikan as the basket of herbs fell to the ground, forgotten. 

Then just as quickly as it had happened it was over and Inuyasha was hauling her back up to her feet and it was only then that Kagome realized the villages had been cheering him on, laughing, whistling and even applauding the half-demon’s amorous actions. He steadied her with a possessive hand to her hip as Kagome blinked her vision back into focus in time to see the smug quirk to his mouth, smoldering amber eyes flashing with sinful promises of more later that night, and then he was leaving, walking away as calmly as you please like he hadn’t just kissed the everloving shit out of her. 

Face flushed, eyes wide and her breathing embarrassingly heavier than normal, Kagome blinked once, twice, and then pressed her fingers to her swollen lips as a wondering, completely smitten smile spread across her face. Myana started giggling, as did several other women who had witnessed the intense lip lock between she and her hanyou husband, as Kagome stared after him. 

“Um…Myana, I just remembered I have to…fold the garden. I mean water the laundry. I mean…I have to go. Uh, bye.” 

The giggling turned into peals of laughter as Kagome ran after her husband and no one was surprised when Inuyasha suddenly turned around, tossed his wife over his shoulder and hurriedly took off toward their home. 

[yuusinberry]

So this how it starttttttt *sex bgm*

First of all baby i know that we had a stressful day August 30, 2018 because of your defense but luckily did great job and got a nice comment but the shit happened in makati square because of the shitty technician and vendor keeps nagging without knowng their point.

Look i know you’re having a hard time now but always remember to keep moving forward and just stay positive at all times though its stressful i am always here behind you and always guiding you. I will always be here for you and always got your back because you always got mine this just prove that no matter what shit happened to us we will always got each others back!!

I love you so much baby, lifetime! Good luck on your defense today i know that you will have a good grades because you’re giving your all on this semester and i am so proud of you.

Lets stay positive and always happy!

I’ll see you later smol bean! I got you! ♥️

[earako]

You know what would be adorable?

Okay, so Simon is back, crown is no longer corrupt and they hook it up to a computer so Simon can still use it's powers without risking his sanity. Only, he wants nothing to do with the crown, it triggers a sort of ptsd in him. And someone needs to keep the ice kingdom from flooding ooo

So Finn takes over and slowly helps Simon get over his thousand year trauma along with Marceline. Meanwhile, without him knowng, he slowly starts to see Simon as a dad and one day when he went to check the ice computer Simon told him to be careful and nagged him about being weary of the crown. Finn turns around and goes, "oh my glob dad, I get it."

"...what."

"...Imma go to the ice kingdom now bye guys!"

[kiaraspeaks]

Time to Sleep →Anansi&Bilquis:

“This isn’t exactly my idea of bonding, Nancy.” Bilquis said as they entered the church. It smelled of vanilla candles and a rotting corpse. Did Nancy grab the first man he found on the street to act as his double?

“At our age you cause a funeral at a funeral. Besides, what else were you doing on a Wednesday afternoon?”

“Don’t you think it’s in bad taste to attend your own funeral?”

“If I don’t come how do I know who cried the most over my casket.” He said, they took the pew closest to the back of the cathedral. It wasn’t his place but Shadow did the planning, he was an old man now, his beard fully gray, that empty  head of his still shaven low and even that half dead wife on his arm. 

“At least you toned it down.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I’ve never seen your ... sense of style be so... tame.”

“Purple and Orange is a great match, I’m a professional stylist, I know what works and what doesn’t.” He said, she made comments about his palettes and what he chose to wear but he once reminded her she wore the same colors she ridiculed him for. 

“I won’t bite the hand that makes my dresses.” She said and the ceremony began. Shadow said touching words, Nancy almost felt bad for having to lie to the boy but Old Gods had to ‘die’ every now and then. Truth was that he was tired, he wanted to rest in his mind for a few centuries, let all this war talk wash off of him for a while. 

“You could come with me.” He said as the service came to a close. 

“Into your mind? How would that work out?” She asked but watched as Shadow and a few other men carried out the casket with some poor man’s body inside. 

“It’s not an empty gesture.”

“You trust me enough to do that? What if I actually killed you, turned it into a real funeral.” She said and followed behind the small crowd of people funneling out of the cathedral. 

“Well, as far as deaths are, that’s not a bad way to go, is it?”

“Haven’t gotten any bad reviews, but I haven’t received post cards either.” She said as they stood on the Cathedral steps looking down as Shadow helped push him into the hearse. 

“Be honest with me.”

“Those are dangerous words from a dangerous God.”

“Then humor an old man.”

“Fine.” She said and watched as Laura held out her arms to shadow. She was still half dead, one foot in one world with another foot in this one. It was bizarre but not the craziest thing she ever saw. 

“Are you going to miss me?”

“Like I miss the plague.”

“Be honest, girl. This war, it reminded you of old times, didn’t it?” He said and slipped one arm around her waist while he waved to Shadow and Laura. They both blinked a few times before reaching for their foreheads, Nancy was still the troublemaker and she was glad to see that hadn’t change. 

“Maybe a little.”

“Is that good or bad.”

“Mostly good.”

“Mind the shop for me while I’m gone?”

“You must think I’m a fool to believe you’ll ever truly...” She turned to scold him, all this business about him disappearing into his own world, hiding away in his mind for rest was bullshit. He was God with eight legs and eight souls in each of these realms, there was no way he would ever just run away, was there? Bilquis turned to see he was gone and feel he was no longer holding her. “Leave?”

She smiled to herself, it was one last gift and one last trick and his chance to truly have the last word. She walked down the steps and fished a cigarette out of her purse. 

“Got a light.” She asked Laura.

“Not right now, Lady. Can’t you see we’re burying someone.” She said.

“Hmph, so be it, Nancy sends his regards, Shadow.” She said and headed down the street. She wondered what this new chapter meant for her in this new world but she knew it would be infinitely less interesting without the spider around, if that was even possible. 

“You didn’t even look back for me.” He said from behind her as she continued to walk.

“Because you’re predictable.”

“I’d rather you cock my mouth open and spit down my throat than ever use those words.”

“I’ve got a business meeting, maybe we can squeeze that in later.” She said and smiled to herself, he was stunned into silence for a moment. She stopped at the street corner and waited for the light. “Nancy, when you do decide to leave, I will miss you.”

“I know, there’s just not enough of me to go around.” He said and leaned against the lamp post. “Let me know if you change my mind.”

“About?”

“Sleeping with me for a few hundred years.” He said and the light changed, she did her best not to look back but when she did he wasn’t there. Later that night when she was safe in her bed she looked into the corners knowng there had to be a pesky spider or two hanging out. ‘

“Tell him I’d be willing to hang out for a few years, but no more than a hundred.”