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missmonsters2 · 2 years

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Between the Lines || XVII

PAIRING: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader / Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader / WandaNat x Fem!Reader Summary: Vampire AU. Life has changed drastically since the 1600s. Things are always on the move, and you’ve been very careful to not get on SHIELDs radar. Living on the down-low owning a café, you’re content to live out a quiet existence. That is until the Avengers enter your life. [Set after the New York Invasion, in CAWS, and goes up to AoU. Canon divergent after.]

Warning: canon-level violence.

TATYANA'S NEW CHARACTER FACE

Note: What a long hiatus! Glad to be back <3 hope you all enjoy this wild chapter! Please remember taglists are gone but you can follow my library blog for notifs! <3

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Library Blog || A03

PART XVII of XX

Count: ~8.5k

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The air smells different.

You expected it to. The landscape has changed after so many years, but it has still thrown you off kilter. You haven't returned to Tatyana's grave site in many years. It was cowardly, but you just couldn't.

You didn't feel like you had the right to. It felt wrong to have killed Tatyana and then sit at her grave and mourn. She would've loved it, though, and she'd probably want you to sit there uncomfortable and discontent. As much as it would've been a part of your punishment, you only visited a handful of times throughout the first couple of decades. You had less time once you encountered David, dealing with his newborn tendencies.

"So, what exactly are we looking for? A gravesite?" Tony asks, his helmet coming off momentarily as he surveys the area. It looked like a quaint little town. Modernized with time, but it was still out in the countryside. The air was still brisk, but it was warming with springtime emerging. You hear children and their parents preparing for the day in the distance, and it’s rather nostalgic.

"No," you shook your head. "I didn't bury her near anyone. I don't believe the villagers would've accepted having their murderer buried amongst their dead. There had been a flower field miles away that I laid her to rest at." You look around. "Although it's hard to tell if it will still even be there or if something was built over it."

"Can't you, like, I don't know—smell it?" Tony gestures at nothing in particular.

You roll your eyes. "I'm not a bloodhound. This was centuries ago, there'd be nothing left to smell even if I could pick something up this far."

You keep walking, leading the group, because you smell something even if you can't smell Tatyana's grave. You have yet to mention it to the group since you're unsure what it could be and don't want to get everyone more riled up when they're already so tense.

The moment you walk far enough between towns, an area excluded away from civilization just past the trees, something inside you clicks.

"It's here," you furrow your brows.

"What's wrong?" Natasha asks.

"I—" but you can't finish the sentence as there are a thousand footsteps at once. On the other side of the clearing, vampires are marching.

"Shit," Steve says.

"Language," Tony says, but it lacks its teasing tone.

Everyone buckles up, raising their weapons as the vampires begin to pick up their pace into a run toward you. You and the team begin to run to meet them, but before either side can reach the middle, there's a strong blast of magic, hitting the ground and nearly splitting it.

"I don't remember giving orders to move."

You smell her before you see her.

Spice and hydrangea override your sensories.

All you can smell is her—the memories. It's the smell of eggs, slightly burnt cinnamon, herbs, the laundry, the river, and grass, and no one could ever understand it, but you could smell the warmth. You smelled somewhere—someone you used to call home.

Smelling her just felt like you were losing everything all over, and to see her? Your breath hitches in a way that feels like it's slicing against your lungs.

"Fuck," you murmur. "It's really you."

Tatyana descends upon the field, her soldiers parting to make way for her. She looks just the way she did those few blissful weeks before everything went downhill—before you lost her. Her defined cheekbones, mauve lips, and sage green eyes that felt like she could always see right through you.

The field was noisy, settling down into a quiet murmur, but none of it mattered. None of it matters because Tatyana's eyes held yours as she looked at you as if it was just the two of you on the field.

"My love," her husk voice whispers, but you can hear it clear as bells.

You feel like you're being constricted, her voice and eyes strangling the life out of every thought you could have possibly been having that wasn't about her.

Natasha watches the scene unfold before her, unsure what to make of it. She hasn't ever seen you like this, even as you talked about her. But perhaps this was the issue. You always talked about her in a past-tense fashion. Tatyana had been nothing but a wounded memory that left scars all over you. Even when you encountered her previously, she was always in someone else's body.

But now, she was in front of you, clearly alive and unchanged. Seeing Tatyana must've brought you back to the 1600s just before everything went awry.

Natasha looks over at Wanda, who's struggling to decide what she feels. There's a definite burning hatred there. Wanda wasn't sure she could ever forgive the manipulations and the last encounter. And for a moment, she hated that she had done the same to others with her powers. Yet, there was a displaced longing. This woman was related to her by blood—another family member when she thought there was just Pietro.

"Sveti kurac," Pietro curses. "She really does look like you."

Tatyana turns her head then towards the twins, assessing them. "How misguided," she sniffs with a crinkle in her nose. Her accent is thick as she says, "she looks like me."

Wanda bristles at the tone and words. She could practically feel Tatyana's insinuation that Wanda was a poor imitation to replace her. She narrows her eyes, conjuring up her magic.

"Feisty," Tatyana chuckles like it's some kind of joke. "It's precious you think you can beat me, child."

Heat floods Wanda at the condescending tone.

"I had the upper hand on this battlefield," Tatyana cocks her brow. "Don't tell me you fools came here thinking I wouldn't have cast runes all over this place."

"My magic's still working, is it not?" Wanda smirks as she raises her hand, sending a blast of magic forward, only for it to make it out a few feet before fizzling away.

Tatyana bursts out laughing, hand over her mouth before she slides it up her face and through her hair, smirking. She turns to look at you, "I know the alternative to you not showing up here would've been devastating, but you were a bad girl, not preparing them more to come here."

You were stricken but trying to gather yourself and not show it. You take a deep breath. "What exactly is it that you want?" You stare on with no emotion.

It's then that Tatyana's expression changes. Gone with the amusement, and in came the narrowed anger. Her eyes narrowed, jaw clenched with a pinched brow.

"Don't ask ridiculous questions," she hisses at you.

"What?" You taunt her. "Don't tell me you're still chasing your delusional ambitions of ruling the humans." You look around, gazing at the improved artificial vampire army that seems to hover, just waiting for Tatyana's command. "They're better than the last batch, but they'll never be the real thing."

"I don't need them to be the real thing," Tatyana cocks her brow. "I just need them to get the job done." But Tatyana doesn't reveal exactly what job that is.

You pinch your brows, trying to appear annoyed rather than shaken. "Tatyana, just—stop," you sigh almost pleadingly. "Let it go. Let go of your anger at the humans."

But Tatyana just laughs, and it's hollow sounding. "You must not think about me at all anymore if you think I'm angry at the humans."

"Angry at me then?" You push. "There's nothing I could ever say to justify what I've done but I think the punishment you've left me and the fact that I'll live with what I did for the rest of my life is enough."

Tatyana just shakes her head. "I'm not going to talk about this here with you," she says and holds out her hand. "You've had your fun, and I've indulged your dalliances long enough. It's time to return to me."

There's a moment when you hesitate. There was a time in your life when this would've been all you wanted. You felt like you were walking around with half your spirit carved out for a long time. You missed Tatyana so bad some days that you wanted to join her, if not for Leo and then David. You would sleep if only to dream about a life where you and she had everything. Sometimes you would stay awake to avoid dreaming. Tatyana had been the rising and falling of everything to you.

But—you take a deep breath—that was just a moment in time.

"No," you tell her softly, but you know everyone can hear it. "That time of our life is gone, Tatyana."

"Don't make me ask twice," Tatyana calmly states, keeping her hand out, but there's a wisp of blue around her finger as she curls it, beckoning you.

You feel the magic jerk you forward, and the titillating of your center of gravity throws you off from fighting it. But before you can move further, Natasha and Wanda grip both sides of your wrist, grounding you.

You look gratefully at the two, your eyes soft as they smile back at you.

The intimacy of it brings a wave of white, hot anger into Tatyana. "How dare you interrupt us," she hisses.

"You made it everyone's business by bringing us all out here," Natasha gives her signature raised brow. "And it's certainly mine and Wanda's business. Hasn't anyone ever told you no means no? You're almost no better than a man at this point."

Tatyana narrows her eyes at Natasha, disgust written all over her features as she glares at the redhead agent. But she doesn't say anything, as if deigning that Natasha wasn't worth speaking to, let alone her time.

Suddenly, she snaps her fingers. Without words, the army of vampires begins charging again, and everyone has their hands full. Natasha and Wanda have to let go of you to beat off the crowding vampires, but the short moment of their hold has you able to stand on your feet again. Tatyana can't use her magic to try to pull you again, not when you're used to her magic and can throw it off.

Everyone's holding their own, and Tatyana seems to be refraining from joining the fight, and you're still trying to figure out why. You look around, and Wanda can only cast magic within a few feet of herself, meaning she has to be close to her enemies. Natasha's style of fighting naturally is close range. For the most part, everyone's is. With the exception of Pietro, who can run circles around everyone, and Tony, who can use his suit to fly, everyone is bound to the ground.

Tatyana seems to realize this within minutes of watching everyone fight. She uses magic to conjure something in her palms before sending multiple blasts toward Tony's. They hit him in quick succession at his feet and back. He can't move out of the way in time, busy above trying to shoot off two vampires on Steve's back. Nothing happens immediately. But then, roots begin to grow out from the bottom, breaking the repulsors in his feet, and he starts to drop from the sky. He tries to engage the jetpack in his back but nothing comes out.

Tony instantly begins trying to use the repulsors in his hands to slow the fall, but he isn't flying high enough from the ground. He's going to land right into a horde of vampires waiting to rip him apart. Tony could send missiles to kill them, but he might get caught in the blast.

"Tony!" Steve yells, using his shield to brutally jab into a vampire's shoulder over and over to release his leg. He starts running, but Steve knows he's not going to make it in time, and it's chilling.

"Steve!" Pietro yells as he begins to run. "Hold your shield up and brace yourself!"

Steve doesn't even hesitate. The time spent hunting for Bucky with the young man has earned his trust. Pietro barrels into Steve’s back, keeping his feet planted on the ground as he uses his powers to run the both of them. Steve's shield barrels into the group of vampires, knocking them over with a brutal force from the speed.

When it looks like just the perfect spot, Pietro stops pushing Steve before grabbing his shield and using it to slam into the rest of the vampires surrounding the area.

Steve catches Tony, but it knocks them both to the ground. You can hear the wind being knocked out of Steve's lungs, but it doesn't sound like anything is broken.

"Just for that," Tony sounds breathless. "I won't make fun of you for a week."

"At least two weeks, Stark," Steve huffs as the two get up.

Natasha only catches moments of it from the corner of her eye. She must be careful not to let the enemies in front of her land a blow. Wanda's got her back, but she can tell it's frustrating the young witch her powers are being limited.

"I have to find where she cast the runes," Wanda says. "If I can, there's a chance I can destroy them and get my full magic back."

The advantage of that would be overwhelming and could lead them to a possible victory. So far, Tatyana has refrained from joining the fight, but they might all be fucked if that ever changed.

As Natasha wraps her legs around a vampire's body, swinging her way up as she locks his neck in, she uses her widow bites to stun him as she works her way into breaking his neck. She uses that moment to look at how David and Liam are faring.

David is easily holding his own, watching out for Liam, who stays at the back as support with his alchemy. He seems to be attempting to cast a big spell.

Tatyana sneers as she realizes there's an alchemist amongst the group. "William! Are you going to stand back and have me do all the work?"

You tense, expecting something to shift. When nothing happens after a moment, the tension in your shoulders relax just slightly.

Suddenly, the air changes.

When a man—no, a predator—steps out from behind a tree, you feel something horrible.

If seeing the predator in you could make people feel the hair on the body stand, seeing him was like having the first layer of your skin peel off.

"No need to get yourself in a huff," he rolls his eyes. "You're losing your touch, dear. You can't even take care of a few measly enhanced humans and two vampires?"

He was tall and muscular but not overly so. He had long black hair that would've been popular during the olden days, just sitting at his shoulders. He looked unassuming, but you knew better.

"Don't call me dear," Tatyana snaps at him, but he ignores her.

Williams looks at you. "Hm," he hums. "You look familiar. Did I change you? But your venom doesn't quite smell like mine."

But you're wordless.

All these years...these centuries, and this has never happened to you.

You've never bumped into a vampire older than you.

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William changes the battlefield. What once might've been a possibility of winning quickly becomes closer to being annihilated. Both you and David team up to take on William, trying to be more strategic than using brute power that you both know won't win.

Everyone's busy handling their own fights, but they can't help but watch for the first time to see you outclassed. You brought your elbow into William's rib while David had him in a headlock. Natasha knows that the force alone should've obliterated the bones into dust, and it would've if it were anyone else.

But William merely grunts as he whips the back of his hand into your face, the force of it knocking you miles and miles away into the distance, breaking trunks of trees as you hit them.

Natasha and Wanda scream your name, horrified. They try to take off after you, but suddenly a horde of vampires conjugate into a wall in front of them by force. They look up and see Tatyana floating just above them, smirking.

They all knew this was a possibility, that this was what Tatyana wanted from the beginning. Yet, seeing it happen and being so utterly unable to prevent it is devastating.

"No!" Wanda yells in desperation. She turns around in circles frantically, looking for where Tatyana would've placed the runes.

Natasha's trying to formulate a plan. If she uses her grappling hook, she can try to aim at the trees over the vampires. She might break a leg, but it was better than nothing, wasn't it? It was better than not doing anything at all and watching you be taken.

"I told you, you stupid, little human," Tatyana sneers. "You're only meant for one lifetime and that lifetime is over." She uses her magic to begin toppling the vampires down towards them, meaning to crush them.

Natasha instantly turns to Wanda, running towards her and grabbing her before using the grappling hook. Pietro seems to notice them immediately as she shoots toward him. He moves out of the way of the hook that doesn’t catch anything but grabs onto the rope. With all his might, he runs with the rope, yanking it harshly to get them out of the way of the falling bodies.

Wanda holds onto Natasha tightly, using her magic to create a barrier around their bodies to protect their necks and any damage done to their bodies as it hits the ground.

Wanda wants to sob at the realization that you're gone. Natasha doesn't even feel like she has the time to process it as she watches William grab onto David's arm, crushing it under his grip.

David lets out a painful hiss as his grip loosens, and he's flung from Williams' back into the ground. It cracks as a tiny crater is formed where he lands. David can instantly feel all his ribs break, his legs are mangled, and the back of his head in danger of cracking.

William turns back to where Tatyana took off, stunned that she had simply left and wasn't coming back for him. Rage overtakes his face as he realizes he's been abandoned.

"David!" Natasha yells, running towards him, but he screams at her.

"Don't you fucking dare come closer!" David yells, and it's the first time she's heard him curse like that. "Get out! Get out of here now!"

Natasha wants to scream that she can't—she can't just leave him there. You'd absolutely hate her for it. David seems to think something similar: you'll hate him if you let Natasha and Wanda die here.

This line of work has always taught Natasha there were sacrifices, and you had to live with them. You don't get to question someone else's sacrifice. This was a losing battle, and the only way to survive was if they got to the Quinjet now.

But by the time that happened, what would be left of David? Could she get his brutalized body back from William so he could recover? There has to be some blood bags on the Quinjet, and she could give him her blood if not. He'd heal. He had to.

The idea of recovery gets shot to shit when William pulls out a wooden dagger. And they all know what it's made of.

William means to end it and end it permanently.

"Go!" David yells as William steps closer, hovering over David with his two arms raised, holding the dagger.

Natasha doesn't want to watch, but she can’t tear her eyes away. Wanda's summoning her magic even though she knows she's too far away, and angry tears are spilling out of her eyes. Pietro starts to dig his heel into the ground towards David. Steve throws his shield to the speedster, who catches it with ease. Tony uses one hand to attack the vampires between him and Steve while his other repulsor is pointed towards William, charging up.

Willam's speed nearly matches Pietro, his hands coming down so quickly.

It's over.

God, it was fucking over.

Hiss.

It was small at first. But then suddenly—

CRACK.

The entire field is lit up, lightning and vines zipping through them at an unstoppable force. They take hold of every artificial vampire in the area, grasping them in a vice-like grip. The lightning surrounds it in a second hold, squeezing tighter and tighter until they disintegrate.

William only pauses momentarily at the change on the field before a blur barrels into him ferally. The air leaves his lungs with a grunt. He drops the dagger on the ground, and Pietro scrambles to grab it and take off.

With no artificial vampires left on the field to battle, they all scramble toward David to help him.

They all watch, stunned.

The two bodies rolled on the ground over and over until William landed with force on his back.

And Liam on top.

Liam's eyes were pitch black, and his fangs bared as he snarled at William, snapping his jaws at him. William was surprisingly having a difficult time pushing Liam away, and it seemed Liam was using all his strength and alchemy to force William down.

It wasn't until Liam managed to bite into William's forearm that the man let out a piercing scream as poisonous venom was injected into him. Liam held tight, nearly taking a chunk out of William's arm before he released, biting again just a few inches over.

William began punching Liam in the head with his other arm until he was released. He crouches his legs in, pressing them against Liam’s pelvis as he uses them to knock Liam off of him.

Liam gracefully flips over and lands on his feet. Blood spilled out of his mouth and down his chin as he stood, and he wiped it away on the back of his hand.

"Leave," Liam growled, his eyes still black. "You won't win today."

William considers staying to fight, but he looks at the vines, still moving around. Also, the venom in his arm still pulsates with burning pain. He sniffs. He needs Liam's venom to reverse it; it's not his—

But then William narrows his eyes.

"You."

Liam doesn't respond to it, merely repeating, "Leave."

William snarls at the loss.

“Your venom,” William spits. “You know I can only delay the inevitable.”

Liam nods and they both tense as he blurs over to William, biting his hand before he runs back to create distance between the two.

William only gives him a withering glare before he turns and disappears.

Liam turns, and they all watch, slack-jawed. His eyes are still black, and it makes everyone's hackle rise. But it's like he doesn't register them; he just keeps walking until he's kneeling in front of David.

Liam assesses the damage to see if his venom can fix it temporarily. When he determines it can't, he bites deeply into his own wrist. When he releases, blood starts overflowing, and he immediately places it over David's mouth, who begins to drink greedily.

"What are you doing?" Natasha finds her voice first.

"Blood-sharing," Liam answers. "The blood in his own body is already working overtime and its priorities will always be major organs and the head. I fed before we came, so it should be potent enough to at least heal his arms, legs, and some of his ribs."

"You shouldn't," David mutters weakly, trying to speak and not let any blood escape his mouth. "You'll end up feral if you give me too much."

Natasha quickly connects the dots to why David didn't blood-share during the aftermath of Ultron.

Liam smiles weakly, his eyes slowly returning to normal when it seems like David will be okay. "We'll make do."

"If it's not enough, I'll give you mine," Natasha offers without hesitation.

David smiles thankfully at her. It's then that the Quinjet comes into view with Pietro flying it.

"We...we can't leave," Wanda suddenly says, her eyes welling with tears again. "We can't leave without her."

The heavy loss of you settles over everyone.

"It's okay," Liam says before he lifts his wrist away from David, licking the wound and sealing it up. "Tatyana won't hurt her. She probably can't even take her outside the city."

"How do you know?" Wanda hisses.

"Who the hell are you?" Tony finally asks. "Aren't you supposed to be human? What the hell was all of that?”

"You're clearly older than our two vampires. You're as strong as that William guy," Steve says carefully, assessing the vampire before him.

Liam sighs, running his hand through his hair. "I was William's apprentice. I only got the advantage with all your help to distract him and the fact he was blindsided from seeing me again. If it had just been me, it's possible even my alchemy couldn't kill him."

Liam looked directly at Natasha and Wanda.

"William is my maker, but I'm Elaine's."

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Everyone is sitting back in the Compound, nursing their wounds. They sit around Tony's lab as he silently works on repairing his suit, and Tony is uncharacteristically quiet.

Steve was wiping blood from his brow, inspecting if the cut on it needed to be stitched back together. He, Tony, and Pietro were planning on heading back out to see if they could find any traces of you.

Steve's phone blinked with a message that he quickly checked from Sam.

Found him. Slippery little bastard, but I'll see if I can set a trap.

Steve lets out a tiny smile before sighing and putting away his phone. He feels disconcerted that you've been taken. He wonders at this point if you and Bucky will ever get to meet.

"Speak now," Wanda hisses, "and speak quickly."

"What are you?" Natasha asks without hesitation. "How can you be a vampire and also use alchemy? Those seem to oppose each other if one is meant to be a power to be able to protect themselves from the other."

"How the hell could I not sense you were a vampire?" David mutters, mostly to himself in disbelief. "Vampires are always able to sense each other. It's like a primal instinct that we recognize in each other. And I never saw you feed and we were together almost all the time!"

Liam sighs, almost overwhelmed by all the questions directed at him. "Alchemy is a neutral power but only humans are able to receive it. It has to do with their natural blood. Humans, specifically priests, just used it as so to protect themselves from being prey. I had the gift for it as a human, but it was too weak to fully manifest. Once I was turned, the venom in me unlocked something."

Turning to David, he looked apologetic before pointing to the alchemy spells down his left arm. "This keeps an illusion spell up. It makes it so you can't recognize the predator in me, but I have to be careful because if I force any kind of vampire instincts like bloodlust up, it breaks through the spell. I don't have to feed as often as you being as old as I am, but when I did, I took advantage of the times we were apart."

The room is silent, trying to process the information. Steve and Tony left to see if they could find any trace of you and if they could find any information about where William would be hiding.

"Let me start from the beginning," Liam sighs. "About who I am and everything that has happened to come to this moment."

Wanda has her lip curled in disdain but doesn't say anything. Natasha places her arm on Wanda's elbow, and the girl softens just a moment, leaning into the spy as they all quiet to listen.

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Flashback

~1400s to 1600s~

The world was an unnaturally quiet place. At least to Liam. The markets were bustling, and people constantly moved during the day, but that noise never registered with him. Liam took in the days slowly with little to no rush, despite how much it would annoy his father and siblings.

But being the youngest did come with perks. They were generally much more lenient with him, and his mother seemed to hide the fact she'd allow him a taste of whatever was being made for the day first. It was a quiet life, and Liam hadn't minded one bit.

Despite the feeling that something was rumbling just underneath his skin and the crops he grew were always somehow much better than everyone else's, Liam liked his quiet life.

Moments of curiosity beckoned him to venture outside their quaint little farm and markets. Sometimes he stood out at the edge and looked out as if he could see anything beyond the horizon.

He couldn't leave, though.

Even if Liam wanted to see what he could do outside of growing crops, his family didn't need the uncertainty of waiting for him.

But just like how their little life was quiet, death comes just as quietly. Famine spreads through their lands, and Liam only manages to keep the crops alive a little longer than everyone else. One by one, they starve to death.

Being the youngest was a curse, always being given everything there was until he was the last one standing. Hunger gnawed at his stomach as he finally ventured past their quaint little farm and markets.

Hungry.

He was so hungry.

Liam thought about what he could do. Should he try to grow more crops? But the land had suddenly become unsuitable. He was quick with picking up things. Maybe he could try to find a merchant and learn the trade. Only can't remember the last time he saw a merchant pass by. Perhaps he should find a temple and look for work there. He'd have to shave his head, though.

And even as he stumbled upon a gruesome feeding man feeding on another man, Liam stood there motionlessly.

"Oh," the amused voice turned to look at him. "What have you stumbled upon, lost little boy?"

The words were difficult to understand. The man was white-skinned, clearly not from around here, but he had stayed long enough to learn the language from the locals.

"I'm not a boy," Liam shook his head and replied slowly so the man could process his words. His voice felt raspy from the lack of use.

"Could've fooled me," the man laughed lowly. "I can practically see your bones. You wouldn't even be a good feed."

"How can you eat him?" Liam asked as he looked upon the dead body, neck ripped open with blood running down. "Won't you get sick?"

The man raised his brow in amusement. It was strange that Liam didn't seem perturbed, but he supposed they had been experiencing famine for quite some time now. At this point, it was probably eat or be eaten.

"I won't get sick," the man told Liam, smiling sinisterly. "I'm a demon. I will never starve because there will always be blood."

It was quiet for a long moment, and the man wondered if Liam would turn to run. Liam was sweating at his brow and lip half-turned in a frown. Maybe he was too weak to even run away.

The man thinks that the thought of eating him doesn't even seem appealing. Maybe he'll just kill him and be on his way.

"Can I become a demon too?" Liam finally asks, locking eyes with the man, not flinching from their glowing redness. "If I become a demon, then I can live, right?"

The man stared, mouth agape. He starts laughing before he drops the body he's holding. "Fascinating, fascinating," he crooned. "It certainly won't be for free."

"I don't have money," Liam told him immediately. "If I had money, I would be searching for food to buy."

The man snorts. "I don't need money. Anything in this world is mine to take." He walks a slow circle around Liam. "What I want is an apprentice. I have plans, and my last one...didn't last very long."

Liam nodded.

The man smiled, but there was no comfort from it. "I must warn you, I don't have the patience to change you slowly. This will burn." He stepped closer, grabbing a fistful of Liam's hair and yanking his head back. "Welcome to the coven. My name is William, but you will refer to me as master."

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William was a radical. There was no telling how long William was around since he rarely spoke about himself. All Liam knew was that William wanted more demons like him. Secretly, Liam could only surmise that being alone for so long must've been lonely. Being lonely for too long does something to your head.

A century passed by. It didn't feel as quiet as it did when Liam was human. It felt like something was pulsating under his skin, making his bones ache. Liam encountered many priests before, seeing what they called ‘God's power.’ The more they used it around him, the more something inside him resonated—the more it felt like something was about to come out.

But Willi—his master would kill him. If Liam did what he believed he could, he would die for it.

So, Liam started to study the priests from a distance. When he encountered them, he watched with rapt what they were doing, what they drew, and how they moved. When he finally got his hands on one of their 'incantation and hymn' books, he felt something different about his life for the first time.

Liam felt awake. There was a constant stream of excitement in his mind. He could copy the drawings in the book, but he needed someone to teach him how to read the incantations. The world had always moved so slowly, and now Liam couldn't help but want it to move faster.

The only time he could practice was when his master was away. Despite the initial resistance, Liam convinced William that building networks with humans was better. If he wanted to create more demons, then they needed more space.

They needed land and money and their influence to keep the pitchforks and fire away. It was much slower to accomplish, but it was working well.

Humans were naturally suspicious beings. Too much compulsion and out-of-the-ordinary behavior would have the priests marching right to them.

"How dare he!"

Liam folded the paper he was drawing on and slipped it into his pocket as he turned around to see William barge through the door and slam it shut.

"What's wrong, master?" Liam asked, no inflections in his tone.

"That Baron Hastings—" William huffed, and his face was flushed with anger. "Not only did he laugh at my proposal to invest, he actually dared to convince others not to invest, saying it was a dupe!"

Liam said nothing. Even though he knew whoever this Baron was, he was correct.

"Your idea of this route was foolish!" William gritted out before he ripped off his hat. "I've had enough of this sham. Tonight, we will raid Baron Hasting's estate and take him for all he has."

"Yes, master," Liam tilted his head in acknowledgment. There was no use trying to refute anything William said when he was in this state. He was rather impressed since it was at least a decade since the last time he's lost his temper like this.

The raid had been like it was every other time. The smell of massacre stopped making him nauseous long ago. Liam prefers to kill the servants by snapping their necks and only taking a bite or two out of them, if only to appease William. The overindulgence was intoxicating for a few short years before Liam decided that the smell of their fear during the massacre didn't make them taste as good. William thought otherwise.

As he finished up, he could hear something outside at the stables, but it was mostly covered by the sound of the Baron's wife screaming bloody murder. She wouldn't stop even as William threatened to kill her slowly if she didn't silence herself.

Liam took off out the back. The Baron did well for himself, seeing a small stable holding three horses. He wondered who the third horse was for since the Baron and his wife had no children, and it couldn't have been for any of the servants.

Then he gazed upon something he wasn't sure he'd ever seen.

You were shaking and crying in your fine, silk-green gown. You were well-groomed and obviously spoiled with luxury.

A mistress of the Barons, perhaps? How bold of you to be here while his wife was. But Liam inhaled deeply and tilted his head in confusion. While he did smell the Baron on you intimately, he could also smell the wife in the same way. The wife's scent was all around you, over you, inside you.

Strange, Liam thought. He didn't know that was possible.

"Please..." you whispered, eyes closing as you could hear a woman's scream again, tears running down your eyes. But you don't continue your sentence.

His bones felt achy again.

"Can you read?" Liam asked, causing you to look up unsurely. You looked like you wanted to bolt to see if you'd make it, but you stayed rooted.

You nod shakily nonetheless. "Yes, a little. The Baron and his wife were teaching me."

Liam nodded. "Master won't teach me to read."

You swallowed, trembling. You obviously were confused as to why this...this demon was talking to you instead of killing you. "Have you asked?"

Liam shook his head. "He doesn't like it if I do other things. If I ask, he'll just be angry. He only taught me this language because it makes it easier for him."

You were gripping the horse's reins tightly. "If you don't want to follow him, why do you?"

There was a blank look as Liam stared at you. "Master made me as I am. I'm not strong enough to beat him."

"Have you tried?"

"If I try and fail, then I'll die."

"If he's too strong, then you need to be smarter. The Baron says being smarter and playing the long game is far better than being stronger."

The words settle upon Liam like a blanket. His eyes sparkle as if he knows that he's smarter, and despite being a mere human, it was like your permission to be so was all he needed.

There was a heavy, pregnant pause.

"You can leave," Liam told you, gesturing back to the screaming with his head. "If you leave now, the master will probably not notice you. But you can't leave with the horse as it will make too much noise. You must walk, not run. Your heart is already beating so loud and running will make it worse."

"I—" you started to say but choked. The tears that welled up in your eyes earlier fall over your already tear-stained face. "I can't leave without them."

Liam tilted his head. "Why not?"

"The baroness is screaming so I can leave," you told him, choking on your sob. "The moment we heard the break-in, The Baron pushed us both out the back, but the Baroness knew we both couldn't escape. She left me here and went back in."

"Then you should leave," Liam reasoned. "If she did it for you, you should live."

"Just to die another day," you muttered, wiping your tears. "How do you leave the first person to show you that kind of love? I—I can't. I should be in there too."

Liam ponders the words. He kind of understands. He loved his family as much as he could. It was hard to leave their bodies behind, but he kept moving because they had given him every last morsel so he could keep going.

And while you did not show him anything remotely close to love, you did show him something. And the ache in his bones made him feel like he shouldn't leave you behind. Playing the long game, as you said, will require time. And in the end, Liam knows he can't do it alone.

"Then die as a human and join them," Liam resounded before he blurred over to you and bit your neck, releasing his venom. There was no scream from your mouth, just your jaw dropping in shock. The taste of fear in your blood repulses him a little, but he hangs on, draining you. He was sorry—genuinely sorry—unlike his master, who warned him with false regret in his voice. Liam was sorry that your change would be painful.

When Liam felt your pulse nearly stop, he released you. He looked back at the house that was slowly becoming quieter. The screams quelled. He hopes you don't remember much of this.

Tonight, you'll die as a human and join the Baron and Baroness.

Then...then you'll wake up a demon, and the long game begins.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Natasha and Wanda feel breathless as they listen to Liam. You told them your side of the story when you were changed, which was very little as you didn’t recall much outside of waking up with a burning pain and smelled the massacre.

To hear it from Liam’s side was…they didn’t know how to describe it. It made them want to hunch over and scream.

"I watched her in secret for many, many years. I managed to drag William from town to town. Not too close, obviously. That's how Tatyana and William met, I believe. I thought that Tatyana would've joined to get rid of William, but..." Liam rubbed the back of his head and didn't finish the sentence. "When Tatyana died, and Elaine became close to that priest, I saw it as an opportunity. I needed to learn alchemy and that priest and his family were going to be the only way. So, I escaped and went into hiding. William eventually stopped looking and continued to travel further away from me."

"How were you even able to get close without alerting them?" David asks with a frown. "She would've sensed you for sure if you didn't have your alchemy tattoos yet."

Liam shakes his head. "Your senses don't react the same way when you're near your maker. When you said you can always sense the predator in a vampire, what's actually happening is your venom senses other venoms. Your venom is unique to you, but it did come from your marker. Therefore, you can't sense it very well because your venom sees it as an extension of itself. While venom is unique to yourself, it does recognize shared venom. When you bite someone, only your venom can fully counteract it. But anyone in the same venomline as you can delay the poisoning, like a partial healing."

"Huh," David hums, holding his chin. "You learn something new every day. That explains why I never felt any alarms or hackles rise when I saw her. I thought it was because I recognized her as a coven mate, but that makes more sense when vampires form their own coven by changing others versus outsiders banding together."

Liam nods, smiling at David before continuing his story. "I learned a lot from Leonard by just watching and listening to him teach his children. They continued their traditions and upheld alchemy for a very, very long time. Until a child came that didn't have a gift, and they couldn't bear any more children."

"Robert," Natasha realizes, recalling the priest they met in Nashville. Liam nods. "He said you were adopted. They must've adopted you and thought you were, what, 17 at the most? How did you manage that? You look..." Natasha trails. "Older."

"The documents I forged officially said so, but I did learn enough fundamentals of alchemy to experiment on my own to change some of my features," Liam reveals. "I think his grandfather suspected but never attempted to find out. I was a prodigy once I had proper teachings and although awkward, sincere."

"Did you know?" Wanda demanded immediately. "Did you know Tatyana was alive?"

Liam is silent initially. "I suspected," he admits. "I couldn't quite keep tabs on William after I escaped, but his behavior was strange weeks leading up to Tatyana's death."

"We couldn't find even a trace of them." Steve and Tony burst through the doors together, looking tired, angry, and defeated. The news of your disappearance sets off everyone in the room. Angry tears well up in Wanda's eyes, that feeling of loss at her door again.

And she is so, so fucking tired of losing.

"You knew," Wanda hisses at Liam, malice laced in her tone. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes narrowed in an accusatory manner. "You knew all along that Tatyana was alive and would eventually come after us."

Wanda's eyes began to glow, her magic manifesting around her in angry, red wisps. "You knew and you let Tatyana take her!" Her magic bursts towards Liam, grabbing him like a vice. His body stiffens and jerks in her hold as he releases a gasp of pain.

"Wanda, wait!" David calls out to her, but it doesn't register. He tries to grab Liam to pull him out of Wanda's grasp, but he can't get Liam to even budge. David turns to everyone else in the room, but everyone is conflicted about whether or not to step in after finding out the truth about Liam. Steve looks like he wants to step in, but the anger about losing you keeps you rooted. He wants answers, and if Wanda can get them from Liam, he'll stay in place with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

"Nat," David turns to the redhead instead, his eyes pleading. "Please. Liam must've had his own reasons for not saying anything. We need all the help we can get."

Natasha purses her lips. She'd be more than content to let Wanda rip Liam to shreds. She's so unbelievably angry to the point where it feels like hot needles are pricking her and boiling her blood. You were right there. You had been right there in front of her, and Natasha lost you. There was nothing she could've done to save you, and that's what makes Natasha the angriest.

But it's the years of experience—the training she's endured all her life— that she can put aside her emotions and be rational. Natasha gently places her hand over Wanda's clenched hand. The warmth of her skin makes Wanda look at her, the anger in her eyes slowly dimming as she stares into Natasha's gentle look.

The red glow disappears from Wanda's eyes, the wisp drawing back into her. She releases Liam from her grip, still glaring at him as he falls into David's arms. Liam's slightly hunched over, trying to regain his breath.

Natasha feels Wanda slip her hand into hers, and the warmth that seeps out is comforting. She coolly turns her head towards Liam, chin jutted upwards. "As much as I would like Wanda to give your comeuppance, you hold valuable information. You better have a plan or have some knowledge of how to save her and get rid of Tatyana for good."

Liam recovers from Wanda's attack as he gives a slight nod to David that he's okay and stands straight. "I had never intentionally planned for anyone to be kidnapped," he emphasizes, having the consciousness to at least look guilty. "I didn’t reveal myself because I wasn’t sure how Tatyana had been listening in. I truly believed that Tatyana was working with William to overthrow the humans. I'm not sure what changed, but it's clear that Tatyana abandoned William and had no intentions of creating sustainable creatures for his army again."

Natasha and Wanda look at each other for a brief moment. They recall the moment William had looked betrayed. The anger that rushed into William's eyes and the heat that pulsated through him—there was no way that was a part of their plans.

"Tatyana was able to recreate her body, but there definitely had to be a price paid," Liam continues. "I could feel something different about her, something not human. We need to find out exactly what she did to recreate her body because it was unlikely she was actually able to preserve it after she was killed. If we can find out, we can find a counter spell to undo it."

"That's if we can even stop her from using her magic," Natasha shakes her head. "Every time that woman casts a spell, we're always fucked."

"There has to be a spell to nullify her powers or stop her from using them," Liam thoughtfully says before sighing. "It's a shame we don't know any more witches. Usually, each coven has its own spell book."

"I'm sure I can figure something out," Wanda rubs her brow, a tiny headache forming. "Let's just form a plan first to find William and lure Tatyana out."

"In the case that there is another army waiting, we need to figure something out. If Tatyana won't create more vampires for William, he might just turn to the old fashion way of changing people. Even just a dozen of them will be troublesome for us, especially if they turn out to have gifts. The more time we lose, the more time he has to change people," Steve points out.

"What was that wood you said could kill you?" Tony asks David. "The...meth...metha...methu...the meth tree."

David gives Tony a look before he rolls his eyes. "Methuselah."

"That's what I said," Tony smirks. "If I can get my hands on a sample of it, I could probably turn it into something more effective to kill vampires...uh..." Tony paused. "Obviously not you guys, though. I'll work something out."

David wishes you were here to laugh at Tony. He lets out a deep sigh before he locks his eyes with Natasha and Wanda. "I'm going to find her," he promises them. "There isn't any place in the world Tatyana can hide her from me."

"How are you so sure?" Wanda frowns. She knows of his abilities, but Tatyana is a witch. They could be in a hut with no technology around.

David smiles, although sheepishly. "I have trackers in both her molars."

"What?!" Natasha narrows her eyes at David.

"It's fine!" David insists. "She knows, and I have trackers in both my molars too. Sometimes we do really stupid shit, and on two separate occasions, we couldn't find each other, and well—" David shrugs.

They all stare at him.

"Anyway, it's not always on," David says as if that should be obvious. "We just activate it when we can't find each other. I've reactivated it since we returned back here. It just takes some time to ping down a location even if I'm a technopath. The further she is, the longer it takes but we'll know soon."

They all continued to stare at him.

Tony finally opens his mouth to speak.

"You two are fucking weirdos."

#natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #wanda maximoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanov x reader #black widow imagine #wanda maximoff x you #scarlet witch imagine #natasha romanoff x wanda maximoff #wandanat #natasha romanoff x you x wanda maximoff #natasha x you x wanda #avengers x reader #avengers reader insert #avengers imagine #mm: my fics #marvel x reader #marvel reader insert

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kchasm · 1 year

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Ryu Number: Xerxes I

Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire from 486 BCE until his assassination in 465 BCE. At the time of his ascension to the throne, the Achaemenid Empire ran from the eastern end what's now Pakistan to the west end of what's now Turkey. You might notice that that's about the same amount of empire in about the same location as Alexander the Great had—that's because Alexander the Great was the guy who took over the Achaemenid Empire and made it not-so-Achaemenid anymore.

It was awful big, is what I'm saying.

But let's be honest: You probably know Xerxes I better as the Bad Guy with the nose ring in that one weird Spartan hagiography Gerald Butler was in. Fugging Miller.

Anyway, Xerxes I almost certainly has a Ryu Number of 2, and definitely not a Ryu Number more than 3, but there's some stuff.

The problem with finding a Ryu Number of Xerxes I is that 5th-century-BCE Persian monarchs don't show up in video games that often, for some reason. He makes a historical appearance in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC Legacy of the First Blade...

...but unfortunately, Odyssey takes place too far after the times of myth and legend for anyone big enough to be a Minecraft skin in Greek-mythology-inspired DLC to show up.

It doesn't help, either, that in Assassin's Creed lore, all the "gods" were just members of a Precursor Race pretending to be gods, a la Stargate. No, that's not "Hera," that's a jerk Precursor Person who's taken on the identity of "Hera," all the better to lead mankind around like a clowder of schmucks. She's pretending to be Norse elsewhere. Don't fall for it.

(There's also A Minotaur, which feels like it ought to connect via that Minecraft skin pack, but if I'm understanding the Odyssey lore correctly—and I very well might not be; holler at me—the minotaur the player encounters isn't actually the Minotaur from the myth we know and love, but some random other guy who subsequently got his hands on the Precursor Technology that turns you into a minotaur. Yeah, everything is Precursor People in Assassin's Creed. It's kind of disappointing.)

Of course, you can still get to Xerxes through Odyssey if you want to—a handful of historical characters who don't have Minecraft skins show up—but you'll need an extra step. And if we're going to have an extra step anyway, I'm going to go for the route that doesn't need Assassin's Creed, partially because I haven't played the games yet but mostly because I'm still really disappointed about the Precursor People thing.

Which means, unfortunately, it's back to Miller.

I'll say this: For all that 300: March to Glory is Not A Very Good Video Game, it left me the impression that someone behind the scenes actually did the bare minimum research into the Greco-Persian Wars. Persian commanders Hydarnes and Mardonius make appearances (if only to provide something unique to hit), and Mardonius even survives the movie-equivalent events of the game until an epilogic, post-movie level that takes place during the Battle of Plataea—which is, indeed, where the historical Mardonius bit it. It's not much, but I had to watch the whole dang thing, so I'll take what I can get. Gets me more names for The Chart, besides.

As for connecting this game to Ryu, you can, of course, count on the Ol' Dependable of Games With Historical Figures:

...Or maybe you're not a fan of Anime And Things That Look Like Anime, in which case, try this, instead:

I'm not sure I can explain how weird Spartan: Total Warrior is—by which I'm referring to its existence more than anything in the game itself, though the content's pretty weird, too. For context, Total War is a series of strategy games featuring a combination of turn-based strategy, resource management, and real-time tactical control (so sayeth Wikipedia). There are a coupla Warhammer entries in the franchise, sure, but the vast majority of the games focus on real, historical campaigns and factions.

Spartan: Total Warrior, on the other hand, is a hack-and-slash that took one look at a history book and immediately took a pair of shears to it. The story starts in 300 BCE: The Roman Empire, led by Emperor Tiberius, has conquered almost the whole of Greece, with only Sparta remaining, and Leonidas leads his men into battle to oppose him. Later, the Romans reveal a superweapon powered by the imprisoned Medusa. Sejanus, Tiberius' right-hand man, is a powerful necromancer who kills and resurrects Castor's brother Pollux. One mission involves protecting Archimedes, leader of the Athenian resistance, from assassination.

To quote someone on Discord, this is a game supposedly set circa 300 BCE that "has one side led by a king who died 200 years before, and the other by an emperor who reigned 300 years after (never mind the fact that Rome was still a senatorial republic)." If you forced a too-serious historian to play this game they'd end up on the floor in a frothing heap of rage and/or despair (actually, someone should totally do that; I want to see the Greco-Roman history version of Jonathan Ferguson having to analyze the firearms of Team Fortress 2).

Oh yeah and Beowulf is there.

At some point you've got to appreciate—no, admire, even—the Xena:-Warrior-Princess-level decision to just Don't Worry About It.

And now that we have finished with the indisputable, let us proceed with the first of the hinky. Which is to say: Let's look at God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Chains of Olympus begins with an attack by the Persian navy on the Greek Attic peninsula (where Athens is, incidentally). The opening sequence features (among a whole lot of faceless Persian mooks) this prone-ish fella, who doesn't quite get to operating a ballista, irresponsibly leaving the work for Kratos instead.

(Credit: Migeman)

Inspecting the body after all the local ruckus is over identifies him as "Eurybiades," the "leader of the Athenian army."

Eurybiades was—according to historical record—a real person, though God of War doesn't exactly nail it on the head. Herodotus (who historians depend on more due to him being one of a Very Small Number of sources rather than anything to do with actual reliability) names Eurybiades as a Spartan who, during the second Persian invasion of Greece, was given command of the Greek navy due to some political whatuppery (the Spartans said that if a Spartan didn't lead it they'd be Awfully Uncooperative).

Following this bit, Kratos confronts the King of Persia (identity unspecified), who is apparently personally leading the invasion himself, which seems dumb but was apparently the norm back in those days. I bet we'd have a lot less wars if we made our Presidents actually serve on the front lines whenever they started feeling belligerent.

(Credit: Ibid.)

Anyway, Kratos kills the King of Persia, because if the King of Persia killed Kratos the game would be a lot shorter. Now, there's no watertight confirmation that this is the second Persian invasion—the first one also featured attempted Persian inroads into Attica, and was recent enough that it's not inconceivable for Eurybiades to have shown up, there, too—but if this is the second Persian invasion, and that is the King of Persia that was King of Persia during the second Persian invasion, then that King of Persia is Xerxes I.

And now, I think, you peer up at me, gaze beseeching. "But KC," you say, anxious and afraid, "Xerxes I didn't die during his invasion of Greece! After Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis, Persian forces were forced to withdraw from Attica, including Xerxes I himself, after which he focused on lavish construction projects until he was assassinated fifteen years later for unrelated reasons! He didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars at all!"

To which I say: You know who else didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars? Eurybiades. And you know who definitely didn't die in a fit of paranoid, obsessive overwork in the heart of a monumental statue of Apollo on the isle of Delos?

What I'm saying here is that God of War's relationship with historicality is fleeting at best, so maybe Don't Worry About It here, too.

(Incidentally, if it's the first Persian invasion of Greece that Kratos is mucking around in, then that king is actually Darius the Great, who also didn't die in Greece in real life. Darius is in Civilization V, though, so getting his Ryu Number is a lot easier.)

And speaking of Civilization, I've finally come to the shortest route I've found that, for all its likeliness, isn't as definite as I'd like, which is why I've saved it for last. You know how Civilization works, I think—you play a historical civilization (with a historical leader to match), and go up against other historical civilizations with their leaders. Like Darius, just now—he's your leader if you decide to play as the Persians.

Civilization III is like that...but unfortunately not as much like that as a fellow'd prefer. Sure, it's got its civilizations and leaders...

...But there's the occasional glaring unspecificity that's apparently there to make life difficult for me in particular. Yeah, sure, Montezuma here is most likely the second one—the one everyone knows, the one that had the real bad experience with Spain—but are you sure he isn't the first one instead? Like, absolutely sure? The instruction manual doesn't say, you know. How sure are you? Sure enough to bet a dollar? Two dollars? Fifty dollars? Your firstborn child? Why would I want your firstborn child, anyway? I don't want to look after a child; that's literally more work for me.

The Persian civilization exhibits the same problem here. Yeah, of course that's Xerxes I! If the team behind the game is picking out a historical figure named Xerxes to represent the Persians, it's got to be Xerxes I. But at the same time, there's technically nothing saying this isn't Xerxes II, a separate 5th-century-BCE Persian ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. I mean, it's terribly unlikely, seeing as Xerxes II ruled for 45 days before being killed by his half-brother, who ruled for six months before being killed by his half-brother, making him Not Exactly The Sort Of Individual You'd Put The Spotlight On, but Mahatma Gandhi and Joan of Arc are the leaders of Indian and French civilizations in this game, and that's weird, too. Gandhi was never the Prime Minister of India or anything like that, and Joan of Arc was a military leader, not a monarch.

Still, if you're willing to follow the reasonable assumption that the Xerxes here is Xerxes I, then the path that results is pretty dang optimal:

...If this is how you found out that Mahatma Gandhi is in Minecraft DLC, I'm sorry.

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aylacavebear · 4 months

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Stockroom Antics - Chapter 14

Maria had changed jobs numerous times over the last five years, more to keep herself safe than anything else. Her mother had told her she was a fairy but she thought it was just her mom being weird. Honestly, though, she had no other way of explaining what had happened to her that stormy day before she'd gone into a coma for two weeks.

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will probably be 18+ I haven't decided yet!

Word Count: 1672

Pairing eventually Dean Winchester x OC

Warnings: Angst

A/N: This one's written a little differently than my last one. Let me know what you think. It's the first time I've tried this type of writing. Chapters will alternate viewpoints as well. I also looked into an actual area so this one could feel more realistic. This one is taking on a life of it's own in a turn I hadn't anticipated, so adding a new tag.

----------------------------------------- Stockroom Antics Chapter 14

It surprised not only Dean but also Sam when she took their plates to the kitchen, and with the time she spent there, they could only assume she’d done the dishes, too.

“So, what the hell is a soulmate?” Dean asked the moment she had disappeared down the hallway to the kitchen.

“I found a little bit about soulmates. I’m glad Charlie put the lore from the bunker computer on an accessible network. This would have taken days to find,” Sam began, keeping his voice down. “So, Pari need to find their soulmate. It has to do with not feeling whole if they don’t. Sometimes, it can take decades or centuries. If you’re feeling anything toward her, even with that sigil on, it’s a high possibility that you are her soulmate.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “How come she doesn’t seem like she feels the same, though?” he found himself asking, then rubbed his face with his hand, frustrated.

Sam chuckled a little, finding the situation slightly amusing, “Maybe she doesn’t believe in soulmates,” he suggested, doing his best to keep from smiling.

“I don’t even know how I’d ask her about it without it sounding creepy,” Dean groaned, leaning back in his chair and glancing toward the hallway she’d gone down.

Sam sighed, although he was still amused. He knew how talented and suave his brother was with women, and now, he almost seemed nervous. Sam understood that, yeah, Maria was their case, and Dean was attempting to remain professional about it, but it was amusing nonetheless. Before he could respond, though, Maria made her way out and told them she was hitting the sack. They bid her goodnight, and Sam watched his brother watch her as she went down the hallway to her room.

“You’re hopeless,” Sam chuckled, looking back down at his laptop.

“Shut up,” Dean told him, shooting him a glare, which only made Sam chuckle again.

“Okay, so, soulmates. Humans can have soulmates with each other, although it’s rare. Pari, on the other hand, always have a soulmate. It doesn’t even have to be another Pari. It can be any human-like creature,” Sam explained as he was reading things from his screen.

“What do you mean, human-like?” Dean asked, curious but also worried.

“A Pari’s soulmate can be anything from a human to an angel, demon, werewolf. Literally, anything human-like, even another Pari,” Sam answered him.

“I need a drink,” Dean mumbled, getting up and retrieving a bottle of whiskey and a glass. That was when he noticed the kitchen.

Not only were the dishes done, but the whole kitchen seemed to be cleaned up. The layer of dust on the shelves around things they barely used was gone. He glanced around the room slowly, taking it all in, and then hollered for his brother, who came running.

“What?” he asked, worried for a moment.

“Dude, she cleaned. Like, clean cleaned,” Dean said in a slight state of awe.

Sam looked around, noticing all the same things Dean had, along with the drawers and how all the dings, marks, and chipped paint were gone, making them look brand new. He also noticed how the pots that were hanging looked brand new.

“She’s trying to exhaust herself,” Sam sighed.

That was when it hit Dean. She didn’t believe in the whole soulmate thing, and it made his heart sink, which annoyed him. They both knew there were only two ways for her to fully awaken her powers, and it looked as though she was going the hard route.

“So, she doesn’t believe then,” Dean sighed, grabbing a glass and going back out to the library. He barely knew her, but he almost felt heartbroken. He knew that feeling, as he’d experienced something similar before with Lisa.

Sam opened the fridge to grab a beer and noticed that it too, had been cleaned. He pursed his lips as he grabbed a beer and rejoined his brother in the library. Dean looked heartbroken, and Sam began thinking of how he could help.

“We could always talk to her tomorrow, Dean. Maybe tell her that she’s more than just a case,” he suggested.

“You know, that’s not what I wanted to tell her, that she was just a case,” Dean began as he stared down at his drink. Sam could even hear the pain in his tone. “I wanted to tell her that she was more than that, that I wanted to get to know her.”

“So, talk to her tomorrow. She has been acting distant ever since you said that, and neither of us gave her that tour of the place today,” Sam suggested and reminded him.

Dean sighed, still frustrated. He was frustrated at himself for how he felt that he apparently had no control over. Then, he was frustrated because he had no control over it. He downed his drink, hoping it would help, and poured himself another.

“Drinking won’t solve your problem,” Sam sighed.

“No, but it’ll help me sleep tonight and not think harder than I already am,” he mumbled.

Dean didn’t want to tell his brother that for the first time in a long time, he was afraid to lose someone again, a stranger he barely knew. He also didn’t want to admit that it was worse than he ever felt with Lisa, and he had loved her, a long time ago.

Sam wasn’t sure if he should keep going with what he’d found about soulmates, not with how his brother looked, “Let’s just talk to her tomorrow and not jump to any conclusions tonight.”

He sighed, sipping his drink, “What else did you find on soulmates?”

“Well, according to this, a kiss can make a non-believer, believe. Have you ever touched her?” Sam asked, glancing over at his brother.

He had to think about that one, replaying every interaction he had with her in his mind, “Yeah, at the bar. I set my hand on her arm, but it was over her flannel.”

“Damn. and she was sleeping when you put her in bed last night. It takes skin-to-skin contact to get a non-believer to even start thinking about it,” Sam replied, feeling bad for his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes, although he had several very intimate things go through his mind when Sam mentioned skin-to-skin contact. He couldn’t control the slight smirk that played at his lips.

“Dean, that is so not what I mean,” Sam groaned, seeing the look in his brother’s eyes.

He couldn’t help the chuckle or the smile, “Can’t help it,” he chuckled again, shaking his head a bit.

They didn’t even bother cleaning up that night. Dean had had several drinks, and they talked a bit more about soulmates and Pari. Surprisingly, they didn’t have a ton of lore on either. They didn’t even know what dimension Pari were from or how long they lived for.

As Dean lay in bed, attempting to find sleep, a whole new slew of worries and questions running through his mind, even with the alcohol he’d consumed.

What if she didn’t want to believe? Would she look at him like he was a creep or a pervert? Would she want to go live in her own dimension, alone? Hell, would she want him to go with him, and how would that even work? Would he have to give up hunting? Could he give up hunting? What if she didn’t even find him attractive?

He groaned, rolled over, and sometime an hour later, sleep finally found him.

Morning came, and he made his way sleepily to the kitchen for coffee, where his brother was already sitting. He’d had bizarre dreams, but that was nothing new for him.

“She still sleeping? “Dean asked, sitting across from his brother.

“I haven’t seen her yet, and her door is still closed,” Sam replied, “Feeling any better?”

“Not really,” he answered, a mild groan to his words.

“We can talk to her after she wakes up,” Sam tried to reassure him.

The two returned to the library with their second cup of coffee, digging back into the lore books on the table from the previous day. Dean would glance at the hallway from time to time as he tried to concentrate on reading. Something just didn’t feel right to him.

After they ate, an hour later, she still hadn’t emerged from her room. Dean turned in his chair, his arm on the table, “I can’t believe she’s still asleep.”

“I’m sure she just wore herself out last night, cleaning the kitchen,” Sam stated, not looking up from his laptop.

Dean sighed. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong but somehow forced himself to turn back to the table and look back down at his book. Several times, he had to go back and reread things, as his mind had wandered, concerned for her and the fact that she hadn’t woken up.

Lunch came and went, and Dean was getting antsy. Even Sam was beginning to worry a little. It wasn’t like any of the books had explained how long she’d be out for having exhausted herself the night before. Dean got up and went to her room, knocking. When she didn’t respond, he opened the door. She was there, lying on her bed on her side, above the blankets, seeming to be sound asleep.

He signed and went back out to the library, making sure to close her door behind him, “She’s sleeping.”

“She’ll wake up when she wakes up,” Sam again tried to reassure him, even if he too was getting a little worried.

“I’m still worried. This can’t be normal,” Dean grumbled, again attempting to focus on the book in front of him.

When dinner rolled around, though, he had had enough. With the way he walked to her room, Sam followed close behind him. She was still sleeping, now lying on her back. She even looked comfortable. Dean went over to her side, shaking her gently and calling her name.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 15

Tag List: @djs8891

Link to the series Master List

A/N: If you'd like to be tagged in future chapters, leave me a comment, and I'll make sure to tag you.

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sizzleissues · 8 months

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Recent thing that I've been looking at to avoid doing what I'm supposed to do

-American President's ages-

(this is only mildly interesting (i try play it up) - a breakfast read)

Youngest person to be elected was Kennedy at 43 and Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest to take office at 42. Of your 46 presidents, 9 have been in their 40s when elected, 21 in their 50s, 10 in their 60s and 2 in their 70s.

That distribution is reasonable, it requires a lot of experience and connections to become president and to acquire that you need time.

Though what is fascinating is they you haven't had a Gen X president yet, Obama was nearly there but still a Boomer with the latest birth date of any president. That is important because Gen X is hitting their prime presidency age of 41-56, where many Presidents have aged in the past. We will probably see one or two Gen X president's (fingers crossed) after this upcoming election, and then possibly a skip forward into .... millennials (BWAH)

(Now a dramatization of President ages.)

Through-out most of history, up to the last 100 years, there's been a marked progression of birthdate. There's a couple ones older than their predecessors but someone will push the 'youngest' president forward. Over the course of 34 president's, things keep moving on. Then we get our first 'blip'

John F. Kennedy, 27 years junior to Eisenhower, catapulting us into the 20th century. 1890 -> 1917

This is unusual so we fall back to 1908, still a jump but less extreme. We continue through our Greatest Gen presidents, 1913, 1913, 1924.....

-1911???! Jumping back 13 years to a man at the cusp of 70 at the turn of the decade. Throughout the 80s we had the senior, Ronald Reagan.

Wow that was weird, but we'll surely get our first silent gen President now-

NOPE!, after another 1924 we're onto BABY BOOMERS. Their young, they're hip, they're cool, ready to take on a changing America. Born in 1946, Clinton kick starts the booming gen at 46 years old, taking on the 90s B]

Back on track then, forget about the silent gen, who needs 'em? We have our cool Baby Boomers, at the ripe age of presidency.

Bush keeps it steady at another 1946, welcome 21st century. So what he's at the older end? Boomers gotta have their turn.

Then we leap forward to a younger boomer with things to do, Obama! Born 1961, he rounds off the Boomer gen, finishing his presidency in time to celebrate 55th birthday.

Now its the turn of the Gen X-ers. They grew up in the shadow of their massive booming older siblings, their parents -the silent gen- never got a president but they're here to make it right and not be TrAmPLED-----

WHAT'S THIS

ANOTHER OLD BOOMER

Born 1946, entering presidency as a senior citizen at 70 years old, we have the infamous Donald J Trump. We can't seem to get over that 1946 age? Strange, but the Democrats have got a hip dynamic new candidate to ride the rocky times of the 2020s - so many crisis's on the horizon-

Drum roll please *ba dum ba dum bad dum* the young, the hip, the cool Gen X president you've all been waiting for is.........

A 78 year old man??? No, no. This can't be right? He's older than Trump, born 1942, putting Biden as our first Silent Gen president.... 25 years after that would have been appropriate

Sheesh

But our next guy must be younger? Uh, no its the same two old geezers again? Seriously?

This concludes me reading through walls of ages and dates.

#sizzle rambles

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vinceaddams · 2 years

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Top Five: thrift/secondhand/opshop finds?

Ooh, that's a good one! I have so many cool thrifted things. There's a big Value Village about a 20 minute walk from work, and I try to go there at least a couple times a month. 'Tis one of my few non-essential indulgences, and oh how I wish I had more room to store fabric and put cool decor in! (All the prices I'm saying are in Canadian dollars.)

1. Wool fabric! This is multiple finds, but I'm lumping them all into one. I think they're all 100% wool, and if any are blends it's still mostly wool. The burn tests results were all very wool-like. All of them are from Value Village except the navy blue in the middle, which was from a small hospice thrift store. That one was $4 for 6 metres!!

The bright teal on top is stretch knit, and I think it's merino. I'm thinking I'll make Regency inspired long underwear with it. The plaid is really long and narrow, and I think it's handwoven? The visible edge there is the full width, and there's probably enough for 3 waistcoats.

The beige and fuchsia will probably - wait, is that how you spell fuchsia?? Weird. It looks wrong. I always thought it was fuschia, but spellcheck is underlining it in red. Anyways, the beige and fuchsia will probably end up being overdyed. The one with the little woven diamond pattern is going to be a waistcoat, because the brown wool one I wear everyday right now really doesn't fit me anymore. (I'm going to make a youtube video of that project. Haven't started it yet, but I really need to!)

I have had a couple of deceptive fabrics that I thought might be wool at the store, but turned out to not be. Usually I'm pretty good at telling from touch though. Wool is so expensive to buy new, so finding any amount of yardage secondhand is pretty exciting.

2. This wonderful candelabra. It's solid brass and was $4. It's a modern reproduction, but very similar to some mid 18th century styles, and I love it. I've found some other nice candleholders there, but this is by far my favourite. Look at that elegantly curving S shape!

This picture is from before I cleaned it with some Twinkle copper & brass cleaner, and it's shinier now and has two beeswax candles in it.

(The next time I had alcohol after this I got really excited about my shiny candelabra, and went on the hardware store website and left a very positive review for the brass cleaner, because it honestly impressed me.)

3. Full length vintage mink coat for less than 20 bucks. It was marked as 21, but I had a coupon, so it came to $19.50. I think the reason it was cheaper than usual is because of the huge faded patch on the side.

It looks like there's sunlight hitting it, but there isn't, it's nighttime, that's just fading. I think it must have hung next to a window for quite a while. Other than that it's in pretty good condition, save for a tiny bit of stitching coming undone in the lining. I mean to eventually use it as the lining for a mid 18th century fur lined coat! The very dark brown one on the closet door behind me is a similar coat from the same thrift store, and it was $35, which is still an absolute steal for so much lovely fur. It's got a bit of moth damage at the hem, but is otherwise good.

4. Someone's really good button stash.

This was spread out over 4 bags, but definitely all came from the same old person. There was such a high percentage of Good Stuff in there, I was astounded!

Usually you look at the bags of buttons and maybe see a few mother of pearl and some nice metal ones, and have to decide if it's worth buying the whole bag just to fish out the good ones (and re-donate the rest because I already have more than enough plastic buttons that I rarely use). But for these ones the good stuff was half the bag!!

Dozens of Victorian glass ones, including a matched set of 15, and even more mother of pearl! And see the little ones in the lower right corner? They're from button boots!

Absolutely incredible day, I love to hoard beautiful buttons like a dragon!

5. Silver plated sugar bowl from 1880.

This was $6, and I almost left it there, but ended up getting it because the handles looked cool. "They look rather Art Nouveau" I thought, "perhaps it's from the 1900's". But nope! (I do not know things about historical dish styles) When I got home and looked at it properly I realized it has a personalized inscription:

"Le to Min Oct. 25th 1880"

Who were these people?? I wish I knew, but alas, sugar bowls can't talk. There are numbers scratched into the bottom and the inside of the lid, so I think it was pawned at some point.

The above picture is from when I was polishing it, and it turns out a fair amount of the plating has worn off, which is why the bits around the designs are so dark. Someday it would be nice to look into getting it re-plated, but I can't be spending money on that sort of thing right now.

I've gotten quite a few silver plated dishes from there (which I use to keep sewing stuff organized on my table) but this is almost certainly the oldest one.

It's hard to narrow it down, there are so many! My shiny blue carnival glass candy dish (which I use for candy) and the smaller one (which I keep my cufflinks in). My beautiful blue ship plate. (I actually have a pretty big stack of plates now. I always look at the collectibles, but most of them are unappealing, I just go for the monochrome transferware, which doesn't turn up super often.) That nice big piece of ikat that I fixed the fringe on and now have as a table cloth on my nightstand. The little brass medallion with Charles Goodyear embossed on it. The late Victorian fashion plate of two ladies, who had unfortunately been cut out and glued to velvet, which I sent to @marzipanandminutiae. The leather scraps, the fur collar, the multiple wool felt hats I want to re-block, the huge cone of olive green thread that turned out to be 100% silk...

I also usually grab embroidery floss when I see it, because the price of new skeins has gone up a ridiculous amount, and you can get a nice collection of it for a tiny fraction of the cost (as long as you use it for stuff where you won't need to match more of a specific colour). It's great to share with friends who do embroidery too! I gave a huge bag to @leegoguen when I went to visit them last weekend.

I don't always find interesting things there, but the chances of finding something good increase the more often you go! For every nice bit of wool there's like 100 pieces of scratchy garbage, but the nice wool does come along eventually if you fondle enough fabric.

#ask meme #ask #thrifting #me #clothing #fabric #buttons #dishes #candles #decor

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earlgrey24 · 1 month

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11 , 14 , 20 for the book ask game ^___^

Thank you for the asks!

11. Favorite historical fiction

There are a lot (seeing how it is my favourite genre - who could have guessed, right?). It's hard to choose just one!

I liked Margraret Atwood's Alias Grace. It's a fictionalised version of a real Canadian murderess from the 1800s. Grace is an interesting and complex character, and the whole story has a haunting atmosphere to it that is oh-so-good.

I'm also about one-fourth through Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety and - despite that there are many things you could criticise it for - I'm really enjoying Mantel's writing so far! (Can't believe I haven't finished it yet! Ugh, so many books, so little time)

14. Favorite humor and satire book(s)

I've recently read Voltaire's Candide and thoroughly enjoyed it! I think comedy dates much quicker than more tragic stories, so it's a testament to his talent that it is still hilarious more than two centuries later.

Also anything by Kurt Vonnegut - my favourite is probably Jailbird, but most of them are good! Though I'm not sure you could 100 % classify them as humor books, though they are pretty funny as well.

20. Where and how do you find new books to read?

That depends! Recently, Tumblr has been an amazing source and I'm blaming everyone in my Tumblr bubble for the now grotesque size of my reading list.

Other than that, I actually found a lot of my favourite books in my high school/uni classes. I also rely on word of mouth, because I trust my friend's taste way more than the goodreads algorithm. Oh, and sometimes I just browse book stores/the library and look for things that seem interesting, though that can be a bit of a hit or miss.

#ask away✨#ask game #book ask #Lin reads #literature #book tag #margaret atwood #kurt vonnegut #voltaire #candide #alias grace #bookblr

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coolasakuhncumber · 5 months

Text

2023 in review

This has been harder than expected to pull together. I know social media is the 'glossy' version of everyone's life but in the last couple of days of the year, in the seeing of people posting about buying houses and getting married and having babies, I feel lost. I feel a great sense of emptiness. A year ago I had a sense of what 2023 would look like and what my future beyond that may be and now I don't. I feel like I'm just holding space. I need more novelty and difference in my life to separate the days from blurring into each other.

Work I started a new job I was excited about. I learnt pretty quickly that implementation is maybe not quite where I want to be, I'd rather be doing the strategic influencing work. Big reform work. I suspected this already, but it was good to have it confirmed. I liked the work travel though. The going to Brisbane and Cairns and Sydney and getting out of the national office, getting a bit more perspective.

I moved to the role to follow a senior manager and that senior manager left 5 months into me being there. Two weeks later I was approached to go back to my previous work area and they committed to meeting the requests I had. I worked two jobs for a month and a half and that was HARD. Do not recommend. It's good to be back in this policy area (for the third time!!!) and working with the manager I have. I've had some really great opportunities to step up take the lead and have senior people see what I've done. The Melbourne trip was a highlight, despite the associated difficulties.

I managed a couple of underperformers this year and was forced to grow as a manager to address the issues. I learnt that the attitude of my staff really matters, and it's ok to have the expectations I have and that I'm actually a pretty good and empathetic manager. I dealt with a situation that looked like underperformance and had a strong element of fraud to it. What a time. Not.

I showed signs of burnout for a large portion of the year. It's not ok.

Travel I meant to do Perth -> Broome this year but it fell apart and I instead spent a week in Perth, a few days in Canberra with my friend who was recovering from knee surgery, a long weekend down the south coast, a few days in Cairns, and a few days in Sydney for my step-brother's wedding. It was all good, though if I were to do it again, I'd spend less time in transit and more time in one place.

Referendum Australia had its first Referendum this century, calling for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to be enshrined in the constitution. It failed and I am still smad about it. I don't know yet how to not be angry about the misinformation and disinformation that was spread through the 'No' campaign. I truly believe Peter Dutton and other significant figures of the no campaign have blood on their hands.

I started getting undercuts as a dopamine hit to lift me out of my feelings.

Health I'm pretty damn sick hey. I need heart surgery but my lungs are too bad to allow it so we're just hanging out deteriorating. Some days are just really tough. But I did start a new medication that has helped me breathe just a little bit better and we're all holding out hope I'll continue to improve. I'm going to do what I can to improve my lungs and yeah, I might not live to be 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, but God has a plan for me and I can rest easy in that knowledge.

Relationships The thing that has probably changed the most in the last year is that Duc and I are no longer together. We haven't been since late Jan. We had talked about getting engaged in 2023, getting married not too long after. I was thinking of buying an investment property with the thought that he could live in it for a bit, then it would become a shared asset when we were committed for life.

Instead, we're no longer together. We haven't been together for a while. It's absolutely the right thing for us to not be together but man did I get used to regular companionship the almost 4 years we were a thing.

Dating sucks. Trying to date as a woman in your early 30s with a visible disability really sucks. My friends and family are fantastic and fill so many of my social and emotional needs that I'm feeling a strong sense of why bother? The desire for domesticity with one I love is why.

Jay

I love Jay. I think I have loved him for years and I let myself love him this year. I know we're not end game. I will need to let go at some point but I remain not yet ready to.

Whiskey Club

This remains one of my favourite friendship things. It's Paul and I. We eat fried chicken, drink whiskey, and talk about our feelings. It's the best. It's a form of therapy, though I sometimes suspect a professional would be good.

Disability

I have become more 'disabled' over the last couple of years and it really became more pronounced over the last 12 months. I feel limited in my life in many ways. I can't travel internationally at the moment, pending how things go I might not be able to again.

Some days I just can't breathe. When things were bad there were weeks of impromptu crying because this body sucks. Sometimes it feels like things can only go downhill from here. I don't like that. I resent it, even.

This year I became the Co-chair of my workplace's Disability Network and I've been taking action to improve policy and procedures for staff living with disability. I've been on panels, talking about some of my experiences. But I'm not 'disability proud'. If I could not have this particular set of challenges based on genetic markers, I would choose that every single time.

There's probably more work I need to do on myself here.

Some good

I did say 2023 would be the year of natural fibres and I did predominantly wear less polyester and more linen. I bought a few more dresses and I do really love the collection I have now.

2024

This year I want to continue growing. My housemate is looking to purchase property and move out with their partner and I really don't know how I'll go living alone.

I'd like to maybe go on a nice date or two? Maybe?

I want to be stronger with my boundaries.

My Mum is going to start working with me and that's equal parts exciting and worrying. I want it to work and not impact the good dynamic we have in a negative way.

Bring it on hey.

#2023 #NYE #2024 #work #working hard or hardly working #duc #jay #the lump #whiskey club #paul #referendum #disability #personal

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thedragonagelesbian · 8 months

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9, 13, & 14 for the tav asks if you want to!

Thank you anon!! I never don't want to talk about my darling tav Cyrus

9: Is your Tav from Baldur's Gate? Why are they travelling there?

Main timeline Cyrus would consider himself to be from Baldur's Gate! He didn't grow up there, spending the first ~25 years of his life on the road with his mother and father, but as an elf, that's barely anything. After his mother passed on a voyage from Evermeet (Faerun's equivalent of Middle Earth's Valinor) to Baldur's Gate, Cyrus got stuck in the city for ~50 years as ward/employee of an orphanage in the Lower City, lured in first while in the throes of grief and unwilling to leave later because he saw himself as the only one protecting the human and half-elf children from the orphanage's negligent headmaster.

The orphanage caught fire and burned down when Cyrus was ~80. He nearly died trying to get everyone else out and was only just saved by a cleric of Ilmater (which is a little Anders cameo because I can't help myself). After a length recovery period, Cyrus has the sudden realization that the orphanage is gone forever, its charges scattered and lost throughout the Lower City and its profiteering headmaster dead in the fire (did Cyrus leave him to die... hm..................). This discovery is at once joyous and terrifying-- or, more precisely, terrifying because it is joyous. There is a part of Cyrus that firmly believes he should've stayed in the city to track down the children and find a way to keep supporting them, and that part of him is disgusted by how selfishly elated he is to cast off that responsibility and finally fucking leave.

But leave he does! He spends ~30 years as an independent adventuring paladin wandering all over Faerun being helpful and charming and very unintentionally breaking a lot of hearts before (in the main timeline) getting tadpoled. During that time, he never went back to Baldur's Gate. Still, it's the place where he spent most of his extended elven youth, so he still considers it to be where he is from.

(I also don't think Cyrus knows how old he is but does one day have a moment of 'oh I've probably hit my first century' and it is. Quietly devastating. An elf turning 100 is culturally a very big deal, but there's no one around to celebrate it with or to oversee his adult naming ritual.)

Ranger Cyrus does not consider himself to be from Baldur's Gate because this timeline is shifted back by about ~140 years and something ELSE traumatic and autonomy-stealing happens to him instead of getting tadpoled. As a result, he's been away from the city for a lot longer, and if you were to ask him where he's from, he'd say he's from nowhere, or suggest that he's lived most of his life in his cottage in [insert remote Faerun woodlands here I haven't worked out all the details yet].

Neither version of Cyrus were intentionally traveling to Baldur's Gate when they were abducted by the illithid, they just sort of happened to be in grabbing range.

13: What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it?

Nine times out of ten, any version of Cyrus is going to view killing as a last resort (...maybe seven times out of ten for ranger Cyrus, he just doesn't have the patience to talk things out nicely). In that tenth edge case, though, if he's dealing with anyone particularly and intentionally cruel, unjust, and oppressive, he turns into a storm of righteous, murderous fury. Dealing with Nere is probably the best example of this-- Cyrus had been diplomatic for most of Grymforge, and thenNere killed one of the gnome slaves, and Cyrus was like 'okay well now I'm going to smite you to the Hells and back and I'm going to enjoy doing it'. 'Your god, my oath' remains my favorite paladin line in the whole game.

The other edge case is when dealing with entities of ontological evil (devils, demons, etc.) because Cyrus is almost always going to default to killing those things (i.e., doing the worst possible version of the Yugir fight rather than tricking him into killing off his lackeys/himself).

14: What hobbies does your Tav have?

Do self-sacrifice and martyrdom count as hobbies?

For real though, Cyrus loves gardening!!! It's a hard thing to keep going during the adventure, especially in the Shadowlands, but I imagine Cyrus' tent has a couple of small pots or box planters for growing medicinal and cooking herbs.

(Except shadow sorc Cyrus, who neglected his budding plants while dealing with the whole... dying & not coming back right & not feeling like his body is his own anymore thing, and then the plants died too. Shadow sorc Cyrus is having such a rough fucking time from start to finish it's hard to engage with anything that would make him happier. The only hobby he really keeps up with is journaling as like. The One Singular Thread by which he is holding on.)

He'll also spar casually with Lae'zel and Karlach for funsies.

Also not really a hobby, but Cyrus is a big fan of cat socializing and just being around someone else while they're doing a hobby they really enjoy. Sitting with Halsin while he whittles, listening to Gale talk out loud while trying to figure out a piece of magic, watching Wyll practice his lute (because we all agree that Wyll is a bard). Ranger Cyrus takes a longer time to start doing this, but he'll open up eventually!!!

#cyrus bg3 #for reference unless otherwise specified main timeline cyrus = shadow sorc cyrus since they have the exact same backstory #things only start diverging after astarion. kills him.

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euphoniouspandemonium · 2 years

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Now I'm quite curious about Leslie, Percy, and Florence (yes I do know more about Percy than I do about Leslie and Florence, but there's no such thing as "knowing too much about Percy")

Oh yes. Ohohoho yes. Thank you for asking and you are so right, there's no such thing as knowing too much about Percy, like I still feel like I don't know enough about Percy and I'm the author who has three (3) WIPs with him in it, one of which is almost a sort of biography, and is incapable of thinking about anything else.

Okay okay so! Leslie first, because I am currently having a lot of brainrot:

Leslie is a character in Clarity Is Blood On A Murder Weapon and I want to hit them with a brick. Affectionately. They suck but it's okay because I love them and I think they're hot.

Also they are my pronouns buddy (they use they/he/she as well, though I'll be using they/them for this ramble for the sake of clarity) <3

The rest is under the cut!

You see, they were raised in a very "queer people gross only Feminine Woman In Kitchen and Manly Macho Man Dude Bro" because it was mid 20th century America so what can you expect. That was, of course, a problem, cause they're nonbinary and bisexual. So of course they left once they turned like 19. Also they have a younger sister - Roq - who got kicked out for being gay like a year later (when she was 17 oop) but that's another story. They did take her in, of course.

After they left, they met Kevin and Stephen and then a while later Roq started living with Leslie so The Friend Group was created. Stephen in the early days of their friendship was recovering from Very Bad Terrible trauma and later on a few other peeps were abducted into this friendship, but that is probably a story for another day.

Anyways! That's enough for their backstory! Tis time for... *drumroll* ... their personality! And such!

As I said, they suck (affectionate). They're a selfish dumbass honestly, and they just kinda act like they don't give a fuck about anyone's feelings but they absolutely do and they want the people they care about (*cough* their friends and their little sister and their boyfriend *cough*) to be safe and well and happy. But most importantly they always wear heart shaped sunglasses and of course in the scene where they are most vulnerable they are not in fact wearing said sunglasses. In fact they are broken. Do with that what you will.

But other than being a fool and an asshole they are an absolute darling of a person. They get so so hype every time their friends or partners get happy, ESPECIALLY if they're the one that made them happy. They are obsessed with everything heart-shaped. They know all of their friends' favourite songs. They're still a piece of shit but. A darling piece of shit <3

Also they fuck around with gender A Lot <3 because they can <3 and honestly they are really fucking gender in literally anything, ranging from dresses to shirts with giant sleeves to ridiculous pattern combos, like oh lord the gender envy. Also did I mention they're hot. And pretty. Actually I have a drawing of them, if you'd like to see.

And now! Florence!:

She's from the Earl/Edith WIP and honestly she could kill me and I'd thank her. I haven't developed her much yet, but all you need to know is that she says "Well, well, well. I have found a pretty little thief in my room" at one point. She has a really ethereal vibe and it seems like she draws moths and butterflies towards her~ and Edith is but a foolish little moth~ oh and I am implying some romantic emotions between Florence and Edith cause like. She was literally in a polycule with Edith and their husband Jonathan but then Something Happened. Don't even ask me what the something is because I don't know either. Also Florence is the antagonist's sister. Oh oh and she has two borzoi dogs, Frankie and Lola <3

And since I have talked about Percy A Lot I will make this a lil list of fun facts:

- named himself after Percy Shelley

- has watched Different From The Others - aka what is probably the first pro-gay film ever - in a cinema in Berlin in 1919. Makes me wish I was him.

- knows oh so many languages

- loves warm milk. It makes him feel very safe and comfy

- he falls asleep EVERYWHERE including but not limited to sofas, chairs, the ground, Oscar's lap, beds, tables, meadows, trains etc, and if you try to move him he just makes sad pathetic little noises and continues sleeping.

- has a birthmark near his nose

- he never lives in one place for too long but he always leaves something that will forever puzzle and haunt the person who's gonna live there next. Small boxes filled with weird old objects, like vintage pictures, teeth, children's toys. He can in fact be a bit of an odd boy sometimes. I would sell my soul to find such a box by the way.

#asks #percy #leslie #florence #this is very long. something about how i apologize for what you have unleashed.

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the-official-account · 2 years

Text

Edil's Long Ass Liveblog! s2e3 edition!

Okay so I have a lot of feelings about this episode, but I’ve gotta say it might be my favorite episode of desperado so far? Like I’m a MASSIVE fan of someone to dance with and the ending of s2e1 is a scene that will echo in my brain until I fucking die, but this one just had so much in it...like so much. Multiple things that i was like “wow I hope this shows up in desperado eventually!” happened this episode, and I feel just elated. Anyways enough pre liveblog rambles, here’s the tea.

also you know how it takes me like forever to finish an ep every Monday because I keep doing dumb shit and pausing to rant? Experienced today’s ep over a span of FIVE HOURS and let me tell ya I regret nothing I would do it again.

Also included: A running calculation of how much blood elio has vs. his usual amount. Ill put all that in red in cast that’s all you want this post for.

Okay the beginning of the ep is very rough. I was trying to make food and coffee and liveblog and listen at the same time and it did NOT work, so i paused to cook for a bit. A little sparse to start but I go back

minute one

Joan joining the girlboss covered in blood gang welcome. SEVEN MEN though? and they'll shoot you on site? sorry just how many guns do Americans have here?

IS THIS WHY THEY'RE IN FLORIDA????

more crown lore i find out & the more info i get about england the more fucked up this is

minute four

oh yeah that teleportation whit would fuck Shinji up huh? Didn't think about that

tempest is here?? Oh I thought she had them on priority shipping

[not edited afterthefact:] Minutes 1-3 had a lot of intersting stuff in it, but the cogs to analysis that haven't started turning in my brain yet. However, I was gonna say who's Coleman?/so the academy and the royal colleges are a DIFFERENT interesting/were they bad?/he's dead??/cece my love!! You are profound and unsettling.

Joan's whole dawn witch thing probably means she can heal up her tongue though, right? If she just learned to sign it

minute five

“you're the locals” no???

oh there she goes lol

Catrina was like fuck mortality I don't need mortality also hello but please do away I'm scared for elio [i cannot decipher this either]

I've gotta instance [???] maam I really don't think you'll survive that

minute six (okay here’s where the dozzy starts)

get his ass Shinji you are the only person with sense here

I mean Talia and elio are more powerful by proximity to home and Catrina killed an inquisitor no problem when she first awoke and that was before elio got training, so there's some precedent to say maybe theyre powerful enough to take on inquisitors but ??? I don't know they really don't have enough Intel to make that plan like it's nothing. Like, as soon as they wage the first battle they're gonna be TARGETS so they need to sit down with a map and research what places are in closet proximity that they can hit before they get discovered that yield the most net gain in allies but that's super underground information and these gods lost power like half a fucking century before the internet was invented???? I mean mind you maybe I'm just concerned about info going outdated because of a personal research endeavor. Maybe that's not something to worry about! But sorry the United States is a country with an INCREDIBLY diverse landscape (because it's FUCKIG MASSIVE) and idk! Maybe they have enough ancestral knowledge that it's not a worry but unfamiliar geopoliticial situations will FUCK. YOU. UP. I'm scared for them??? I don't know how warranted that is though there's just so many factors

and sorry not to wave around my general concern for democracy but England has been having king's for fucking ever. How is a centralized earth-connected power going to fare in the US which is much larger and I THINK made up of 3 countries depending on how far this is going I still think this might have something to do with plate tectonics but I don't remember jackshit about American plates those are BORING. There are tons of ethnic groups native and nonnative vying for sovereignty? How big of a concern will that be? How can we guarantee that whoever gets a right to this new crown will have the interests of religious people in mind because tempest is still a witch and she clearly has no great love for them. Tempest mentioned something about the people wanting a wartime leader so the position of queen is probably at least somewhat elected but that's also a life position and is that enough? How do we know this host won't just become TOMITS to the left?

Many thoughts. Many questions. I'm definitely over thinking things at least a bit. But ??? War is not something you bumble into you are three people. THREE!!! What do you know about the suppressed religions of America's?? Their priorities and their values and morals?? How are you gonna do diplomacy without that knowledge?? War is like...a big deal lmao

"Just gonna find some food" ass you would be the first to perish in a Russian winter

go OFF king. You right

oh.

OH???

interesting

besties I don't think geopolitics applies here

this is...this makes sense. Push a big enough house of cards over and a few of em will land where you want, right? Huh.

minute seven

Shinji's proof that anxiety is a superpower when it's fucking warranted. That recoveries gonna be ROUGH taking notes but god they really need someone without godly hubris rn

Shinji??? Stop that??? Why are you in the air like fucking Rudolph can they not see you????

WHITE MIDDLE AGED STEVE JAMES CHRIS ——HELP it is too early in the morning to be laughing this loud. I know this is like an intense thing but also [Wheeze emoji] SORRY. As someone who also goes by one of those names. Yeah.

right, angel shit, I forgot.

WAIT SO SHINJIS WINGS CAN GLOW ENOUGH TO BE I DESTINGUISHABKE FROM BIRDS WINGS?????? SO I DONT HAVE TO FUCKINF PAINT THEM????? HELLO????? or can angels have various wings...idk but they're so hard to paint man

minute eight

[re: shinji @ SJC] ominous ass what is wrong with him? This poor man

BITCH the FUCK

HELLO???? WHY THE FUCK??? CAN YOU NOT BE FUCKING NORMAL FOR ONCE IN YOUR GODDAMN IMMORTALITY SAMEDI WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????

OOPS????

oh god why do I love [samedi] so much he sucks so bad.

minute nine

the old man loves cars. Yeeeeah that's why they're in Florida.

ope.

Hrunkgougkl?

[ID: the blinking whited guy meme.]

my brains buffering while I process the idea that a show can just be overt about racism in a way where POC have power but don't go unaffected by what's happening. Like LMAO get fucked it also WHEW.

OH I just realized what he was about to say. Yeah get FUCKED Shinji may I present ally of the year award. I don't think they're come up with any new slurs, so first of all, raw line. Not like in a way that it's cool? But, like, raw. Descriptors fail me. Also yeah that just went way over my head the first time. Too caught up in the high of Shinji murderous efficiency that I forgot the n word exists.

minute ten

OH YOU CHECKED HIM. YOU CHECK HIM FOR SURE If one is my friends desecrated the corpse of a violent racist I simply would not be disturbed. Rip to Shinji but I'm different.

“Now you're gonna make the kid cry?” No honey he told you there are two options and one of them is leaving your ass stranded and the other one is Steve James Chris. Good for him.

The Baron and la Catrina are so goddamn annoying but I also like them a lot.

GET. HIS. ASS. GODTAMER!

what's wrong with elio tho. Nothing, right? Haha ....he's fine right?

deja Vu, god...fucking Florida. If Shinji feels one more SUD of pain I am going to collapse an die actually.

minute eleven

"like a garrison" that's really funny

minute twelve

oh this one has architecture, that's rare.

"yeah we hate to see it" THANK you talia.

minute thirteen

"a church is a church" thank you elio for this insight (joking, it was all very helpful) Please do arson? If I say pretty please can they do a dramatic arson? Please?

you know how you could creat chaos? Arson.

sorry but you don't edit explosions that good and make me not wanna pack as many as possible into an episode.

"we were three gods in a Prius" okay danger here I get that, that sucks, but this is really funny.

SO MANY SOUNDS AT ONCE, GOD.

minute fourteen

I really wish they discussed details on how The barons bone manipulation powers work and to what extent. Like I know they expected this to be easy but I'm still in the camp of Mr. 1 hit KO should know how he can feed Mr. And Ms. "a Corpse is a power source if you know what your doing," yk, for situations like this

the Baron is playing GTA.

"weaknesses let's say" Jesus Christ. Shinji in one of the most triggering fucking situations on earth with all his friends fucking gone...god, ow. Sure Shinji might be a fictional entity that doesn't actually expirience emotions but I'M not

I'm gonna project into Shinji so hard actually I'm gonna write something that caters to me and like 2 other people it's gonna be wonderful

Not now ofc [I edit out all the timestamps of these for formatting but I need you to know this was sent at 10:11 and the first message was sent at about eight am. My brain needs to SIMMER on shit so...addressing a valid concern]

I am just over ¼ of the way through this episode holy fuck

episode fifteen

everything Shinji does this eintire episode has me going YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!! thank you tibet for this fucking delivery thank you Samy for the content holy FUCK.

HELP LMAO

minute sixteen

"surely that's not gonna work" you're honor they're so fucking stupid like yes, she's essentially an incredibly adaptive immortal general who emphasizes protecting the weak and the prosecuted, stan-able behavior. Digital maps, though? Preposterous. One thing I love about desperado is it doesn't ask you to maintain a high level of emotional tension for an extended period of time outside of the really big climatic moments, there's enough not depressing shit to latch onto that it feels like sure I can't swim but I'm wearing a life jacket, which, for how the topic of race effects the target audience, is very useful and appreciated! The whiplash still gets me though I will NEVER get used to it and I don't think I want to

minute seventeen

I know we're only getting Joan in flickers and moments but I like her so much more in this season than the last. Fucking hated Joan before.

minute eighteen

”it was much more difficult without bassim” WHERE THE FUCK IS HE IM GONNA CRY WHERE IS MY GEM MY BELOVED RUBY MY LITTLE TINKERER HELLO?????

minute nineteen

I wonder exactly why the calisar affects and yes I'm sleeping that wrong for sure. Like Asher could handle it and he's a witch of like medium strength? (Placing Joan at medium high and tempest and Caleb at High, it's tuff competition I'm not trying to put him down) but he was a witch? How does it affect crusaders? How about other religious people, the Baron seemed to refer to it like a drug so he'll probably be okay. Hm. I guess we'll see.

Catrina clearly isn't as young as I thought but her manifestation is definitely new. Hm. Ruled an empire for hundreds of years...

minute twenty one

OOOOH JOAN PLEASE INTRODUCE SIGNING SPELLS TO THE AMERICAN WITCHES PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THAT'S SUCH AN EDGE. Asl is hard but it's not THAT hard and signed exact English isn't, yk, culturally ideal but it should for for translating spells into silence so you only really need to learn the words...

minute twenty two

Shinji smart as fuck evaluating exactly where he can push the God's buttons. That's useful info (edited)

minute twenty four

holy shit this crown lore what the fuck

minute twenty five

LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE BRITISH CHARACTER MADE ME FALL ON LOVE WITH THEM BY FORCE I HAD NO FUCKING CHOICE IN RHE MATTER THAT THE FUCK

minute twenty six

this fucking wierdo doesn't know hot to breathe I love her

joans pulls an all nighter then is like "GOTTA GO FEED THE BLOOD CELLS" and passes the fuck out what an oddball I love her.

minute twenty seven

she's gonna stab this old man

I'm sorry but I need to dissect Joan like a frog in a middle school biology lab actually

minute twenty nine

for reference, two eintire bodies worth of blood is something like 6 times the usual amount elio is able to carry from himself

if she takes from the three guards that increases to about 16 times the amount of blood, adding some for roughly ten percent blood mass I've been dropping for estimations and assuming all of these people are roughly elio's size, and seeing as they're prison guards and worshippers of mr.holy steriods I'll give myself that

Shinji deserves this nap but oh boy wow

THEIR BODIES MOVE AGAIN WHEN I SAY I CHOKED AND FUCKING GASPED IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS?????

SWOON

GONNA ADD MECROMANCING DANCIN TO MY TALIA PLAYLIST THIS IS GEEAT THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME

minute thirty

AND WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY ABOUT THE JDGKDHOSHSKS T RHEBFIFGCIDBTA IN SHD FUCKING THIS BRANCHING INTO A WAR OF MEDIA AND PERCEOTION????? SCREMAINING AMD L9OK9NG MY SHIT GEREVSKSHSKS IM SO 3XICTDJDIFNRJDKSH

minute thirty one

THE FUCKINF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF BATTLE DID I NOT MENTION THIS????? oh my god being wrong is a blast but being right is a blast in a different direction knashing my fucking teeth kicking screaming hooting hollering and generally boogieing down this is SO COOL

I was gonna say I recognized the pattern of that speech but did not at all click translation appreciated

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE JUST DO TO HIM?? SOME SORT OF RED PLAGUE EQUIVALENT TRANSFORMATION?????

title spotted but in fucking wait

[translation Inaccute please see notes. Would you believe this was the first time I looked up what desperado means? kinda slow upstairs]

minute thirty two

Shinji Calls them stone demons so yeah, right? La catrina's using the crystal elio swallowed in episode 14 (what was is called again???) And that la Catrina is subpresding from taking over him to spread the red plague to whoever she wants to make more soldiers is actually deeply disturbing in some sense but really really cool in others I love how that episode tied back into the plot holy fuck

minute thirty three (another analysis heavy one, this time the baron and black masculinity)

the fact that Shinji keeps calling them their names also, god. IS SAMEDI GIVES TALI A FUCKINF NICOTINE ADDITION FOR HIS BULLSHIT I AM GOING TO STRANGLE HIM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS WHAT A BITCH ASS USELESS FUCKING CLOWN SHE CLEARLY WOULDNT WANT THAT

I need to do more research on the nitty gritty of Haitian culture but i suspect it also falls into the overlap of American/carribean black culture in how black men feel a particular sense of entitlement to the bodies and labor of black woman like I adore the Baron as a character and I don't know if this was on accident, probably? but some of the shit he says and does so directly reflects black misogynior it makes me want to hurt him. I'm gonna say now though that nonblack people do not fucking critique him from that perspective. The line between valid criticisms of black men and racism with some white feminist glitter on top is fucking blurry, and even from black men and women the conversation too quickly descents into generalizations that stem from trauma and create a false sexual dichotomy that drives internalized race and colorism deeper into our community so when I say it's touchy, stay the fuck away, I mean that. Black men are still black and they're beautiful and they're allies and father's and uplifters, organizers and caregivers, and individuals who's value is not at all correlated to the labor they can offer others and their community but the Baron can go FUCK himself also. I'm gonna kill him

I'm sorry but at the circus Talia directly expressed a dislike for the concept of coping with substance and that's such a fucked up choice to take away from somebody.

Oh God it's been an hour lmao [I got into a DIFFERENT conversation about themes of race in podcasting because im fucking asdklfasdfhaf edil only wants ONE THING and it’s FUCKING DISGUSTING]

My attention span is healthy and my executives love to function!

minute thirty four

"it was rage...and it latched onto me" LET HIM GO I WILL KILL YOU.

what. What. What what what I have so many things to ...look into? What. Shinji. Alarm

I don't think the massacre of Dojima (doshima?) Was a real event. Theres a violent event that does relate to that name but it's not called that...huh! Shinji is like a magician doing a scarves trick but instead of scarves it's an infinite string of lore and trauma

I need to study Shinji like a cool bug

is "crusaders after Asher" meaning after as in time or after as in chase? Idk

God, if the Baron wasnt in talia's body is give Shinji full rights to tear him to pieces with his bare hands.

get his ass.

minute thirty five

GET. HIS. ASS. GODTAMER. THATS A NAME THATS GONNA STICK NOW.

"what do you need" is a small line to freak out about but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Frenship :]....love and care, even.

scared for Talia rn but if I don't think about it enough It can't hurt me!

not friendship. Fear. Crying. hate it.

minute thirty six analysis here on catrina's relationship with violence

Again for reference, a 10 litre water cooler of blood is about 1.5 completely drained elio-sized people and 4.95 times the amount of blood he usually has on hand

I'm SO conflicted because on one hand Catrina can go FUCK herself right now but on the other hand I think I recognize the pattern of behavior as like, She knows Talia and the Baron will be fine, or at least things she knows, and she know she and Shinji aren't friends and therefore can't offer comfort because like fuck he's gonna accept that. So she's got priorities and it's a situation that means no way you spin it can Shinji get his needs met without derailing something major but of course HE doesn't know that he has no way of knowing he just has to endure the bullshit and it's not fair but they're fair from reaching the kind of world where fairness can be a concern. HOWEVER, I find it very very interesting that elio know Catrina as a very matronly goddess, someone who took care of her people first. However, and this makes me think towards what Samy said about Catrina not being the goddess elio think she is in that one Tumblr post that made me loose my shit because HELLO? She seems much more overtly war focused as if taking care of people is secondary. Now, there's a high chance she switches additudes with the environment, as most people do, but it's interesting to me how her constant ignoring of Shinji's expressions of emotion, though she is NOT invulnerable —and I think I might spy the pattern of having one character be largely unphased by another's expressions of power so that when that person, in this case Shinji, really well and truly blows up towards the climax, the observing character (catrina's) reaction of open fear and shock is a queue to the audience that shit is well and truly really spiralling outa control now — stands in direct contrast with Elio's perception, also curious about how this might reflect Mexican femininity if that's a part of this

minute 36

omg haha are you ignoring the inherent immorality of utilitarian revenge for the instinctual satasfaction of bringing a sense of justice for the grievances and atrocities committed against you and yours to the horror of possible allies and with an amount of collateral damage that will eventually be your victorious downfall in that the soil of the kingdom you now rule is rich with the blood of everyone who could have hurt your but still too desolate to plant the seeds of a new world ? Haha that's so cool...

[ID: the debby ryan hair tuck meme]

and I think elio's gonna balance the violence back out to it's some murder some sincere caring and that is chefs kiss

I hope lmao

I actually love disgusting wet and repulsive sounds design portraying biological slights against God rip to Shinji but I'm different.

FROGGIE? [i have priorities, clearly]

minute thirty eight

Samar would fucking hate this btw

like yes war of perception, perception is fear which creates demons but I think with her approach to fighting demons she'd be morally repulsed by the idea of breeding fear in the people you're trying to free. Sexy sexy conflict

minute thirty nine

no yeah "there are no innocents in these lands" places ya squarely in you can do fuck yourself territory. I hope Shinji fucking decks her.

minute fourty

dreamy sigh Shinji's such a fucking badass I think he should wreck shit more often I think he might enjoy arson he should do arson!

minute fourty

"perpendicular to the ground" ANIME SHIT—RAD.

Out of my chair

SHINJI MAKES HIS FAITH SHINJI MAKES HIS CONVICTION DID HE JUST FUCKING MAKE IT HEREDITARY?? OBSESSED WITH THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT THREAT AND ALSO AAAAAAA HES SO COOOOOOOOL

minute fourty one

[re:samar] Ah he said it.

End of EP

yk, I'm happy with that

Fucking heaping serving of everything I could've wanted. 10/10.

in conclusion

after mellowing on it I mean...I have SO many thoughts. But my head is also super fucking empty at the same time. All of it was perfect, like, what? What do I even do about it? i just gush I guess.

#desperado podcast #desperado podcast spoilers #edil liveblogs desperado pod #edil liveblogs #yeah. need to kind of mellow on this episode y'all it was incredible.

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kenzies-love-stories · 3 years

Text

Fallin' All In You (Alec Volturi x Cullen Reader)

A/N: This Idea came to me while I was in the shower one day and I finally had the creative spill to write it out. This is set around 80 years after the events of Breaking Dawn. The reader is Renesmee's daughter that she had with a human who she fell in love with and ended up turning into a vampire. I don't like the idea of Jake and Renesmee together because it is weird in my mind. I didn't intent for this piece to be as long as it is but the words were just flowing out of me. I hope you like this because I needed to get this off my chest, I was having a hard time focusing on request but now I should be able to write them no problems. I have more ideas on how to expand this so if you were interested in a part two just let me know, I love this idea so much. Bold Italics are song lyrics to Fallin' all in you by Shawn Mendes ~🖤Kenzie🖤

Date Posted: October 21 2021

Type: Flangst (Fluffy Angsty)

wordcount: 5,964

Y/n Pov

"Y/n/n it's time!" I hear my mother call up the stairs to me.

"Alright mom, I'll be down soon!" I yell back even if it is not needed, I know my father and mother can hear me from any where in our little house.

I then speed around my room and quickly pack my things before my mother or father can come see that I wasn't packed yet even through they asked me too a week ago. Moving around is something that isn't new for me, we move around every ten years or so because we all look like we are eighteen years old. I mean hell I have been in high school since I was seven years old, could you imagine redoing high school over and over again.

"Y/N Y/M/N CULLEN ARE YOU JUST NOW PACKING!?!" My mother yells as she walks up the stairs towards my old room.

"No, I am all ready, I promise," I say as I just finished packing, luckily enough.

I can see that she looks surprised that I am all packed up. "Your father is waiting for us by the moving truck, let's get your things in there then you are going to follow us in my car." She holds out her car keys for me.

"Mom where is my car?" I ask taking the keys from her hands.

"It is in Forks with your Grandparents," she says before grabbing some of my boxes and disappearing.

Right, we are moving in with more vampires. Well I am one to technically but I prefer being like a normal human being; I like food to much blood isn't really my thing, but I guess living forever is kind of cool.

I look around my room for the last time for probably a while, at least long enough for the people of this town to forget all about us. I don't have any friends because we move around so much, it is hard to plant roots anywhere. It gets very lonely, yeah I have my family but being with them all day every day can get old; no matter how much I love them. I just crave someone that I can have to be my own, I mean everyone in my family has a partner; Rose has Emmitt, Alice has Jas, Edward has Bella, Carlisle has Esme, my mom has my dad, and then there is little old lonely me all by myself. The last Cullen who hasn't found their mate.

I walk out of the house and walk out to my mom's car. I open the driver's door and start the car to let it warm up before we start our long journey to Forks, Washington. I haven't been to Forks since I was a kid which was over fifty years ago. I am excited to see everyone again. After my mom decided to go off on her own for a while we only saw our extended family during the holidays and weddings that they insist on having even though they have been married for centuries.

We are starting out at Forks High School, everyone else is going to be juniors while I am going to be a Sophomore, the reasoning for this is that the younger we can play the longer we can stay without being noticed.

"Alright, Kiddo are you ready to hit the road?" My father asks me before mom starts to pull out of our driveway in my father's car.

"Yes sir, am I following you?" I ask before walking over to my mom's car.

"Yeah, I think so, if not then you are following your mother. Just keep your GPS on in case you get separated from us for a bit," he says before walking at a human's pace to get to the moving truck.

"Sounds Good!" I yell before closing the car door and getting everything situated. I connect my phone to the car so I can play my music while I drive. I check all my mirrors and adjust my seat just a bit, before putting the car in drive with my foot on the break waiting for my turn to drive out of our driveway.

I gently pull my foot off the break and gently press a bit of pressure onto the gas pedal, only braking again when I reach the bottom of my driveway to look both ways to make sure I am going to be in the clear. When I know it is clear I turn on my blinker and go for it, before I know it we are on the highway. We drive for a total of ten hours before my mom and I have to stop because we needed to sleep. My father is going to keep driving all the way to Forks because he doesn't need sleep anyway. He will be there a day before my mom and I will be and that is okay.

*Time skip*

The next day mom and I leave in our separate cars early in the morning, we managed to lose each other on Highway 101 but that is fine because she told me just to follow the signs and I see that I will be in Forks in 66 miles, meaning less then a hour for me if no one is on the road. I stop at one of the little hole-in-the-wall gas stations to get gas, use the bathroom and get some snacks for the rest of my trip.

I make it to Forks in time for when school ends, which means I can follow one of my great uncle's and Aunt's home as I don't want to get lost. I park just before the school's entrance and pick up my phone to call Rose.

She picks up on the Second Ring, "Hello Auntie Rose, I am near the Highschool, can I follow you home so I don't get lost."

"Of course, you know what my car looks like right? " she asks

"Is it the Red one that just pulled out on to the street?" I ask putting my foot on the break.

"Yes ma'am that is me, I'll see you when we get home."

"Alright, sound peachy. Thank you!" I hang up after we say our goodbyes and I carefully follow the nice red car that is in front of me leading me to my new home.

* 4 months later*

"Carlisle, you have mail!!" I exclaim through the home as I walk into it.

I hear Carlisle appear in front of me, "Who is it from y/n/n?"

"There isn't a return address so I couldn't tell you." I say as I pass him the envelope.

Carlisle studies the envelope before flipping it over I see his brows furrow at the seal. He pops open the wax seal and pulls out what looks to be an invitation to something. "What is it Carlisle?"

"It is an invitation addressed to the family to a ball in Volterra Italy, from some old friends of mine." he states as his golden eyes run over the cardstock.

"Are we going to be attending?" I ask hoping that we would not be attending.

"I am afraid we don't have a choice, when the Volturi sends out invitations it is more of a demand then an invite."

"Will I have to attend?" I ask

"Are you apart of this family?" He asks back

"Well, yes."

"Then there is your answer, we leave for our flight in an hour."

"But Carlisle I don't want to be alone, I am the only one in our family who doesn't have a date to this ball. Do you know how lame it is to go to a dance solo."

"It will be okay, maybe you will find someone at the ball, now go get packed kiddo, I will tell the others what is going on." Carlisle says before disappearing from my sight.

Sighing I make my way upstairs and pack enough clothes for three days plus an extra outfit in case of an emergency, I decide not to pack a dress because I know Alice already has one picked out for me, because she likes these sort of things.

I drag myself downstairs with my packed suitcase for Italy. I see the rest of my family is already waiting for me with their own bags already packed.

"Don't you worry Y/n we are going to find you the prettiest dress when we are in Italy." My great aunt Alice speaks.

"Alright." I say trying to hide the disappointment I feel. I know I don't do a good enough job when I feel my mood start to lift and a smile breaks out on to my face. I look up at my uncle Jasper and narrow my eyes, 'I'm watching you Jas.' I project my voice in to his mind.

'why are you so upset?' he asks me silently in his mind.

I look away to continue our conversation without letting everyone else know. 'I'm just not looking forward to going to this ball alone, I will probably be the only person with out a partner.'

'Hey don't be upset, you could meet someone there who is in the same boat.'

'doubtful, I am just going to hide out in the corner during the night. But thank you for trying to make me feel better.' I wait to hear his reply before I release the projection in his mind.

My gift is like of my Grandparent's and mother's mixed in to one. I can shield people from reading my mind and those around me minds, then I can get in to some ones head and make them see what I want them too. I also have been practicing reading minds, I don't hear what they are thinking though, I see it like a movie in my own mind as they are thinking it. I am also trying to learn how to break shields, I have almost gotten through my Grandma's but she has far more practice with her gift then I do mine but maybe one day, if I get enough practice

The drive to the Airport was quite, I put in headphone because I wanted to keep to myself a bit. My mother checked on me a few times to make sure I was okay, to which I just nodded. When we get to the airport I stand in line with my dad while we wait to go threw security. On the plane ride I was seated by the widow, I wasn't seated next to anyone so it allowed me to get some much needed rest.

We get to Italy and it is a overcast day meaning that everyone can go out. Alice took me to go get a dress for tomorrow, while everyone is exploring what has changed in Italy before we make our way to Volterra. We are going to be staying in a few hotel rooms near the castle where the ball is being held, I am kind of dreading meeting the Volturi, I heard that they are ruthless and they are like some sort of Vampire Royalty.

I am in the dressing room trying on another god awful dress that Alice had picked out for me. This one is purple and it isn't very flattering to my body shape, "I don't know about this one Alice, I feel like an alien in it." I say while walking out of the dressing room.

I see her purse her lips shaking her head, "Yeah not this one, um I still have two more right here. Try this one." She says handing another dress.

"Okay." I huff grabbing the dress hanger and disappearing in to the dressing room, again.

I look at the dress she handed me, it was beautiful. It was floor length and looks as if it will hang slightly off the shoulders exposing my neck there is black bead work that is on the sleeves and down the front. I carefully get in to it, I slowly pull up the zipper that is located on the side, (it is like the dress even knew I was alone) I reach around me to quickly tie the sash in place, which also tighten the dress just a bit. When I look up I freeze, it fits like a glove and I, I look perfect in it. With a slight smile I open the dressing room door and walk out to where Alice is.

She gasps when she sees me in the dress, "Awe! you look so beautiful, that is the one for sure."

"Thank you Alice, I actually really like this one." I say having a hard time controlling my smile.

"Perfect, now let's get you back in your clothes and I will buy it for you." She says while smiling.

"Really?" I ask

"Yeah, that is the whole reason we even came here in the first place silly." she says as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Right, well I am going to get changed." I say heading back in to the dressing room.

*The Next Day*

It is the evening of the ball and I am actually excited about it. Ever since we arrived in Volterra I have felt like I belonged here, like it was home. I allow my mother to do my hair while Rose and Alice do my make up. I see Alice disappear for a second then she comes back with a box in her hands. I get my dress on then turn around to see Alice with shoes in her hands, they are heels.

"Are those for you to wear?" I ask

She shakes her head with a smile, "Alice, no! Please can't I just wear sneakers?"

"Absolutely not, you never dress up so we all are going to bask in it together." She puts the black Red Bottoms on the floor in front of me.

"you won't even be able to see them with my dress on." I whine out

"They are Red Bottoms, one of the most comfortable heels, just please wear them." she states while helping me in to the shoes.

I look around with the extra inches that were added to my height. It has been at least twenty years since I wore heels this tall. I walk out of the hotels bath room and see everyone is dressed and ready, "Wow you guys all look amazing." I say as I join them.

"Awe my baby! you look so Beautiful." My mom says as she gently hugs me.

We all exchange complements before leaving the room and locking it. We all walk down the streets of Volterra until we get to the castle. Once we make it inside I see a man in a grey cloak leading us down a hallway. We have to walk two by two so naturally I am the very last one in line as it is just me. We enter the beautifully decorated ballroom and I see my family all go in different directions leaving me alone. I glance around the room and find an open table off to the side, so I take the liberty of sitting down away from everyone else.

I take a slower glance across the room, I see couples dancing and Vampires socializing. I look to the left because I can feel eyes on me, my eyes soon meet blood red ones, I scan the face that they belong to.

Just as I was about to get up I hear my mother, "Y/n, this is Aro Volturi he is one of the three Kings, he wanted to meet you."

I peel my eyes from the man in the opposite corner and carefully get up from my chair. "It is nice to meet you Aro." I say not really sure how to greet him.

"It truly is a pleasure, would you mind." He holds his hand out for me.

"um- sure." I say as I looked confused at my mother, when she nods I hand Aro my hand.

He brings it closer to himself and I can feel his presence scanning threw my thoughts. "Truly fascinating. Have you met Alec yet my Dear?"

"No sir, I have not, was I supposed to." I reply honestly.

I see Aro look around and make eye contact with an older looking Vampire whom I assume was Marcus. I see the elder nod with a smile, "I think you will find him to be to your liking, he is over there in that corner." I see Aro point to where I was looking before.

"Oh, well May I." I ask trying to excuse myself in a polite manner.

"Of course Dear, please do enjoy the Ball." Aro responds before walking off.

I give my mother one last glance before heading to the corner that had been pulling my interest in. I slowly make my way threw the dancing bodies until I am in front of the man who is standing. I admire him for a minute, He is absolutely stunning and he feels very welcoming.

I feel him study me too until I hear his voice, which sounds like a god themselves, "Hello, my name is Alec."

"Hi, my name is Y/n Cullen, it is nice to meet you."

"Well, y/n would you like to dance with me." Alec says while holding out a gloved hand.

I place my hand into his and I allow him to lead me out to the dance floor, "I apologize now, I am not the best dancer. It has been nearly ten years since I been to an event like this."

"you haven't been to a dance since you were eight?" He asks confused.

"No, I was eighteen." I reply as he places on of his hands on my waist while I put one on his shoulder.

"You have heartbeat, aren't you a human?" he asks even more confused now.

"No!" I giggle slightly before responding, "I am a hybrid, Renesmee is my mother, I have been alive for at least sixty years. Time kind of blurs together when you are alone."

"Yeah tell me about it, but I think we won't have to worry about that any longer." he replies as I feel my dress flow around us as we spin.

"what do you mean by that?" I ask with my brows furrowing.

"Can you not feel the pull too, like you belong here in this moment?"

"Yeah, I have felt more at home here in Volterra then I do in Forks, but what does it mean?"

"You feel that way here and now because we are meant to be together, I have been waiting for you. It has been quite lonely since my sister Jane had found her mate."

"We're- we're mates?!?" I ask shocked

"Is there something wrong with that?" Alec asks almost sounding hurt.

"No! please don't misunderstand, I have been waiting for this moment for years and now that it is happening it is just a lot to take in." I say as we stop dancing and start to walk off the dance floor.

"Well don't be afraid to take it all in, we have forever together, if that is what you wish." he says before gently kissing the back of one of my hands.

"I would love nothing more, I just don't know how my family would feel about it." I reply making eye contact with him.

"We will handle that when if comes to that. Now why don't we go some where more quite to get to know one another?" He asks nodding towards the door.

I just nod at my mate in reply. He then gently leads me out of the ballroom and through the castle. I look around in wonder as we pass through the hallways until we make it outside. I see that we are in some sort of garden,

"Alec, it is so beautiful out here." I say as we sit on one of the concrete benches looking at all the flowers in the solar lights around the garden.

"Not as beautiful as you Cara Mia." he says gently moving some of my fly away hairs that fallen out of place.

"I am sure you have seen people that are more beautiful then little old me."

"Why would you say such a thing, you are by far the most beautiful creature that I have had the pleasure of laying my eyes on." He says getting off the bench and crouching down in front of me.

He gently lifts my head up to look at him instead of my lap, "Who has told you otherwise? Who hurt you Cara?"

With tears in my eyes I pull my face from his hands, "It was a long time ago and it isn't important anymore." I look up to stop the tears from falling from my eyes.

"If it still upsets you this much it is important to me. I know we just met and for that you don't have to tell me but what can I do to get blessed enough to see that perfect smile again."

"Thank you. Um well for starters I want to get these devil sent shoes off my feet." I laugh a bit before continue, "And a hug would be greatly appreciated."

"What do you mean Devil sent shoes." He laughs

I gently pull the skirt of my dress up to reveal the six inch strappy Red Bottoms that Alice made me wear. "These are Devil sent, I wanted to wear sneakers but no."

"Why would you torture yourself if no one would see them anyway." He gently starts to reach down, "May I?" he asks permission before continuing.

"That was my point exactly, and yes please." I say as I watch him gently unclip the straps before relieving the pressure from my feet by taking the shoes off. He gently puts them on the bench next to me before standing.

He holds a hand out in front of me, "Now to fulfill my loves second wish tonight."

"Be prepared because I am about to be six inches shorter then I was." I say before taking his hand allowing him to gently pull me up in front of him.

"I think it makes you cute that you are this much shorter then me." He states before lifting my arms to wrap them around his neck.

"Of course you do." I tease while gently playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

He smiles before pulling me closer by my waist until our bodies are touching. I raise to my tip toes to make the hug more comfortable. I let out a squeak when he lifts me up off the ground a bit before spinning us around.

we both giggle as he places me back on the ground. "I am just so mindblown that I finally have gotten the opportunity to meet you. Now that I have met you I don't know how I survived without as long as I did."

"I know I feel the exact same way, I don't want to leave." I say while gently placing my forehead on his as he gently sways up back and forth in the slight night breeze.

"you don't have to go, I am not going to send you away. I was actually hoping that you would be staying here with me in Volterra." he says before gently bumping my nose with his.

"I hope my family will let me." I reply pulling away so I can play with Alec fingers before I take the chance to intertwine them with my own.

"Cara, you are a full grown adult, you don't have to ask their permission to do what you want to do." He says while leading me out of the garden and back in to the stone castle.

"I know but I just don't want them to feel disappointed in me, oh I have to go get my shoes."

He stops walking and turns my body to face him, "you need to stop thinking about how to make other people happy and focus on putting yourself first, and stay here I will go get them for you."

"It is harder then you may think." I reply maintaining eye contact as he walks backwards to get my shoes.

"I will show you how and I will be here to remind you how beautiful you are everyday." he says as he hands me my shoes, "Now come here."

"Can you keep me steady while I put my heels on?" I holding on to his shoulder.

"Silly girl, you are not putting those back on, I'll carry you." He says before placing one arm on my mid back and the other under my knees, lifting me up as if I weigh nothing.

"I am so lucky to have you, I just know that we are going to very happy." I smile as I place my arms around his neck as he walks us through the castle.

"I want to show you something Cara." He says as he leads me further and further in to the beautiful castle.

With Alec coming into my life at this point in time I can feel things are starting to fall in to place. The things about myself that didn't make any sense are starting to become clearer.

Jane's pov

The Ball is in full swing when I finally realize something is missing, my brother Alec hasn't asked me to dance yet. It is a tradition that we have had because when we hadn't known our mates we would dance to at least one song to enjoy the night. I decided to keep the tradition going even through I have found mine.

I feel the tail of my dress flow behind me as I walk, I come to an abrupt halt and look all around the room, scanning for the familiar brown hair of my brother. I start to panic when I realize that not one of the vampires in this room is him. I quickly look for Demetri, once I find him I march over to him on a mission.

"Demetri!"

"I didn't do it Jane I swear!" He turns around to face me.

"What? Demetri what did you do?"

"Nothing! What can I help you with Jane?"

"Alec is missing, can you help me find him."

"Now? like right now?"

"Yes now." I deadpan

"Okay, I need to get out of here first." Demetri says and starts to walk toward the exit.

I follow behind him until we are out of the Ballroom. I see him focus on what I assume is Alec's Tenor. We both start walking when he suddenly stops in the middle of the hallway.

"He goes in two different directions here, this way is the most recent, he had someone with him too." Demetri says before turning to the right

I follow him further still confused as to who could be with him, maybe an old friend that was invited. I just am wondering what could have been so urgent that he didn't tell anyone that he was leaving.

Y/N pov

When we reach our destination Alec gently places me back on my feet so he can open the door, to what appears to be a room. We both enter the room; I look around and I see a desk with art supplies on it a bookshelf and a fireplace. There is also a bed over by the window.

"I thought Vampires don't sleep." I tease Alec lightly.

He closes the door behind me, "Us vampires have more than one use for them." He winks at me before he goes over to his desk.

I feel my cheeks get warm then he starts talking again, "Relax Cara, over the years I learned how to allow myself to be in a deep meditative state, it allowed me to see things." He shuffles through some papers before pulling out a few.

We both walk over to the bed and sit down side by side. He places the papers in front of me in a row. I lean over slightly to get a better view of them and when I see them my breath hitches. Imprinted into the paper were delicate lines that mapped out....my face, "Alec is that?"

"Yes it is Cara, I have been seeing your face in my mind for the last eighty years or so, I have almost one of the pictures for every day. I drew one every night I saw you because I wasn't sure if it would be the last time I saw you or not."

I gently stack the pages and put them carefully to the side, so I can move closer to Alec. I place one of my hands on his cheek to tilt his face towards mine. I look into his red eyes before trailing my eyes down his face to stop on his lips, "Alec, would it be okay if I kissed you."

Instead of getting a response I feel Alec slowly close the distance until our lips touch is a soft kiss. I pull away and Alec's lips try to follow mine, I giggle and kiss the tip of his nose before getting up off the bed. I look around and notice that he has a cd player and a ton of music. I turn on the cd player and hear a soft familiar voice and guitar. I hear Alec get up as he turns up the volume a bit before he pulls me in by my waist so we are dancing around his room.

I hear him softly sing, "you are bringing out a different kind of me There's no safety net that's underneath, I'm free, Falling all in you. You fell for men who weren't as they appear. Trapped on a tightrope now we're here, We're Free, Falling all in you. Every time I see you, baby, I get lost, If I'm dreaming Baby please don't wake me up."

Jane's pov

Demetri leads us to the door of Alec's bedroom but pauses before the door, " I am not going to barge in there but if you want to fine, I am not going to be on Alec's bad side."

"Hmm" I hum before I quietly open the door and peek inside, I smile when I see Alec slow dancing with a woman to a song in his room. Without disturbing them I quietly back out of the room and silently close the door with a smile.

"What was it Jane?" Demetri asks

"He finally found her Demetri, after all these years; He found her."

Demetri opens his mouth in shock before smiling, "That's great, do you know who she is?"

"No I never seen her before, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that he found her." I say as we both walk back to the ballroom with smiles on our faces.

The smiles are short lived when Renesmee walks up to Demetri in a slight panic. "Demetri can you help me with something?"

"What's wrong Renesmee?" He asks

"My daughter Y/n is missing, we can't find her anywhere. I was wondering if you could locate her tenor through me?"

"Yeah I can do that, I am sure she isn't far." Demetri says before leading Renesmee out back the way we came.

Renesmee's Pov

"Thank you Demetri I really appreciate this." I state as he leads me through the castle.

"Of course it is what I do..." He trails off as he comes to a halt.

"What is it, is something wrong?" I ask starting to panic.

"No everything is fine, she is actually coming this way now." Demetri says pointing at the top of the stairs.

I can't see my daughter yet but I can hear her laugh, a sound that I haven't heard for a long time. It almost brings tears to my eyes at how happy she sounds. I see her and a tall figure starting to walk down the stairs while look at one another.

"Oh, this changes things." Demetri says as he sees who is with my daughter.

"What do you mean?"

"Jane asked me to track Alec for her just before this and she says that she seen them slow dancing in his room, she's his mate." Demetri explains.

"Oh...yeah this does change somethings." I say before I hear my daughter's voice.

"Mother, is every thing alright?" She asks as she walks to stand in front of me, I watch Alec come to stand next to her.

I smile at them both, "Yes, I was just worried about you. I couldn't find you and no one knew where you ran off to. Alec it is nice to see you again."

"It is nice to see you again as well."

"Y/n/n I hate to inform you but the dance is over, it is time for us all to go back to the hotel room. Everyone else is out front still and you have a bit of explaining to do when we get back."

I see her frown slightly and it breaks my heart to separate the two so soon, "Yes ma'am," she sadly says before pulling Alec in to a tight hug.

"Y/n/n I promise you can come back and see him tomorrow if he doesn't have any duties." This makes Alec and Y/n smile again as they pull away.

"I will come get you tomorrow Cara Mia." I hear Alec whisper moving some hair out of y/n face.

"I will see you then." she responds before very slowly walking away from him and toward me.

We both walk slowly to the exit, when we are out of their ear shot I ask, "Was he treating you right?"

"Yes he was very kind and sweet."

"You know the rest of the family isn't going to approve right?" I ask her sadly.

"I know mom, but I don't want to have to live with out him, for the first time in I don't even know how long, I- I felt complete. I felt like I am finally....Home" She says as some tears slip.

"You are my daughter and the only thing I can wish is for you to be happy, I have not heard you genuinely laugh in a long time. I will help you talk to the family. I am not prepared for you to stay here in Volterra but if it will make you happy, I can't get in the way of that." I state hugging my only daughter tightly.

"I love you mom." she whispers

"I love you too baby, more then you will know, now let's go to everyone else before they tear apart the castle looking for us." I joke walking us outside to everyone else.

Y/n pov

Now that I know that I have my mom's support confronting the rest of the family does not seem so scary anymore. I just hope that they can look past the rivalry with the Volturi and see this as an opportunity for our two clans to unite. At this moment I know that I won't be able to live without Alec, even the thought brings a pain in my chest. I will do what ever I have to do to stay, I just hope it won't cost me any family members in the process.

If they try to make me chose between them and Alec, I already know who it would be and the thought of living without my family is not any more pleasant then living without my mate.

#alec volturi imagine #twilight imagine #twilight imagines #twilight x reader #volturi imagines #volturi imagine #alec volturi fluff #alec volturi imagines #alec volturi x reader #Alec volturi drabbles

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slashbitch2 · 3 years

Text

A Snippet of Life with Agatha Harkness

I have no idea how to use tumblr so I hope this works

--- Salem 1693 ----

Chaos reigned in the forest that night. Even before you had any inkling as to what had transpired between Agatha and the elder half of the Coven you could feel the imbalance in the air. It came in the form of an ominous pressure weighing down on you, a heightened sense of urgency that had you rushing toward shelter.

The forest had never scared you, not until that night. Shadowy figures seemed to move in your peripheral, gradually drawing nearer as you grew closer to your house, to your sanctuary. For once, you were cursing the remote location in the depth of the woods as upon arrival, you'd find yourself completely isolated, yet trapped by the thick rows of trees.

Although, as the heavy wooden door slammed behind you, the tension dissipated ever so slightly. Despite what your intuition was telling you, there was still a sense of safety to be found here. You exhaled, calming your erratic breathing and turning to lock the door.

"You know that flimsy lock wouldn't work, right?" A voice called from the back of your house, hidden in darkness but revealed by the person's tone.

Without turning, you answered. "It would against humans."

This wasn't the first time Agatha had sought refuge in your house. When she was younger, and would argue with her mother, she'd come running to your door begging for a bed for the night. Your own mother, a much kinder woman, would never turn her away. It was how you became such close friends.

She chuckled in response, though there was no real humour behind it. In spite of how tired Agatha sounded, she commanded a certain amount of fear. You could feel the dark power radiating round the room that was accustom to her presence. The other witches were not attuned to her malevolent abilities, but you'd always known.

The energy was almost audible, crackling as it came into contact with your own powers. Most would be threatened by it, but as her closest friend, the magic welcomed you into its obscurity. Tonight, however, there was a certain hostile hesitance to it.

You gulped, refusing to turn around in fear of facing the truth. "Are you staying for the night?"

"No." You heard movement, imagining that Agatha was gradually walking towards you. Your suspicion was confirmed as her breath hit the back of your neck. "I need you to come with me."

A chill travelled throughout your body at the notion. She'd always hated living as part of the Coven and used to share her dreams of running away with you. Now, for some unknown reason this fantasy had become a possibility. You remained quiet, trying to put two and two together.

At your silence, she sighed. There was more movement, and then her hand was outstretched in your line of vision, palm flat presenting a broach. Her mother's broach. Your breath hitched. If the broach was in her possession, than that could only mean one thing.

"They held a trial against me." Her voice barely breached a whisper. "Tried to have me killed." Her other hand rested against your shoulder, causing you to flinch. "I couldn't have done anything else."

You inhaled a shaky breath, tears welling up in the corner of your eyes. Years ago when your own mother had died, you blamed yourself, but Agatha had been there for you. She saved you from spiralling further into depression, dragged you out of the bleak captivity and promised to never leave.

You owed her everything, and had promised to do the same if anything ever happened to her. Now was the chance to repay for her loyalty.

Without another word, you turned, wrapping your arms around her form and tugging her closer. She was taken aback by the sudden contact, but soon reciprocated the embrace. She leant into the crook of your neck for a moment, then placed a kiss along your jaw. It served as an unspoken agreement, sealing your pledge of loyalty.

You knew in that moment that Agatha Harkness would probably be the death of you, which was something you were more than willing to accept so long as you could spend eternity in her arms.

--- London 1852 ---

Since the turn of 17th century, you'd been inseparable. On the very same night Agatha had grown fully into her potential powers, you'd run away together. It fulfilled childhood ambitions while simultaneously throwing you into independence earlier than you'd been prepared for, meaning that Agatha was all you had, not that you were complaining.

Had your mother been alive, you liked to believe she would've approved, although, sometimes you missed your home amongst the forest. The house and Coven had been your last true connection to her, severed that night as you left without a proper goodbye. Even now, over a hundred years later, the loss still caused you grief.

Agatha had never related to your attachment to Salem, or to family. From her perspective, you were all she needed. As long as you were by her side, anywhere could be home. Which is how you found yourself living in London, of all places, trapped amidst the seemingly endless industrial revolution. The houses were crammed close together, the streets overcrowded with miserable people.

Out of all the places you'd resided, this was by far your least favourite. Though, you'd never mention your misery to Agatha, who you could tell secretly loved the chaos of the city.

Your house was one among an identical row, so undifferentiated from the others that there had been several occasions when you'd accidentally entered the wrong one. Though thankfully, this evening you did not repeat that particular incident. After a long day of work, which you insisted on doing to maintain some sense of normality, your feet were aching, and your lungs filled with the smog that encompassed the city.

As the door shut behind you, the bustling noise was slightly subdued. You sighed in relief, taking a moment to observe the current layout of your home. While you spent the day working, Agatha would practice spells, and often you'd arrive to find the house either in disarray, or in a state of luxury that didn't match the appearance of the building. Today was the latter.

The living room had been transformed into something you'd expect to find in a manor house, featuring a rich wooden floor and furniture that looked to be the most comfortable you'd ever seen. New exotic decoration was scattered throughout, though you didn't take the time to appreciate it upon noticing the lit fireplace, instead collapsing in the armchair in front of the crackling fire. You basked in its warmth while savouring the comfort the chair provided.

You closed your eyes, appreciating the silence until it was inevitably interrupted. "Evening, dear." Agatha's enthusiastic voice called out as you heard her walking upstairs, most likely leaving the basement. She spent most her time down there, pouring herself into the books she'd accumulated over the years, dedicating effort to gaining more power.

"Evening. " You greeted upon hearing her footsteps grow nearer. "I like what you've done with the place." Opening your eyes, you were met with the unexpected image of Agatha wearing one of her usual dresses, only it was now an intense purple. "Nice dress."

"Oh, this old thing. Just an experiment." She dismissed with a wave. "Now, come with me." She stepped forward to grab your hand, impatiently trying to pull you up.

You groaned, reluctant to move from exhaustion. "Let me sit for a minute." The complaint didn't deter her, and you finally relented as her magic began to surround you, lifting your body as though you were weightless. "This better be worth it." You mumbled, being lead down to the basement.

It in fact was worthwhile. She'd spent the day working on a counter to a binding spell, and required you to be the test subject.

First, she walked you through how it worked, explaining in great detail that you shouldn't immediately oppose the spell, but rather let yourself fall deeper into the trap. And then she, without warning, bound your hands together, assuming you were willing to participate.

Unfortunately, her guidance hadn't been as clear as she intended, leaving you stuck for the following half hour.

"Please, Aggie, can we just give up?" You shifted around, seeking room to stretch your cramped limbs. "I obviously can't do it."

"Well, not with that attitude you can't." She clapped her hands, seemingly reinvigorated by your surrender. Then she began to amble around you in a circle as though observing from every angle.

You rolled your eyes, ensuring that she saw the display of impatience. "Why don't we pick this up tomorrow? Or when I haven't just had a full day at work, at least."

"It's your choice to work." She reminded you. "We have no need for the money." Agatha halted behind you, concluding that a new approach was necessary. She stepped closer, starting to rub soothing circles on your back. "You're overcomplicating it. Just- think about the disadvantage you're at right now. All the things I could do from this position."

You could practically hear the smirk in her voice, so decided to play along. "And why would I want to stop you?"

She laughed loudly, or rather, incredulously at that. "Oh baby, you sure you could handle it?"

Finding yourself at a loss for words, you simply nodded. Agatha usually flirted at any given opportunity, which was initially for her entertainment, simply to make you blush. But as you spent more time together, you became immune to her words. You'd quickly learnt that they carried no real weight.

Except now her tone was insinuating some sincerity behind the claim, which left you speechless.

"Can't even get out these binds." She murmured, her breath hot against your ear, her body pressing against your own.

"That's- unfair." You faltered, distracted by the close proximity.

"Then prove me wrong."

Tearing your mind away from Agatha's annoyingly smug insinuations, you focused on the binds in front of you. Purple magic looped around your wrists, erratically swerving around, but firmly holding your hands in place. Taking her advice, you almost entirely cleared your mind, concentrating only on the feeling of confinement. Slowly, the purple was overtaken by a sea of blue, replaced by your own magic.

"Atta girl." She praised, watching as your magic began to work. In encouragement, her mouth brushed against your neck, trailing up to behind your ear.

The binds suddenly snapped. Your mind overwhelmed by her teasing touch. You were grateful for the freedom nonetheless, sighing in relief as you massaged your wrists. Agatha backed away.

You turned to face her, already missing the contact. She was being unusually quiet, and only smiled awkwardly at the eye contact before busying herself with something else.

So much for being serious.

--- London May 8th 1945 ---

Despite living rather detached from the events of everyday, the World Wars had been rather hard to avoid, especially now, as millions of people flooded the streets to celebrate victory. The party had really begun the night before, requiring a noise cancelling incantation to be placed upon the house. Although it only resulted in a restless night spent lying in bed imagining what was happening outside. You had sworn to yourself that you'd join the celebrations the following day, regardless of whether or not Agatha wanted to join.

Living for such a long time, you'd come to realise that events truly were once in a lifetime, so you certainly weren't going to miss out on this one. Throughout your unnaturally long life, you'd grown wiser in some aspects, while with others you remained equally clueless. Dealing with your emotions, for one.

Almost three centuries of life spent with Agatha, yet you still hadn't confessed how you felt. The feeling had crept up on you slowly, strategically taking root deep within you. At first, you'd reasoned that perhaps it was the endless amount of flirting, or the shared experiences that made you care so deeply for her. But as you were currently walking through the city, passing couples sharing in their jubilation, you admitted that it was entirely her.

You loved everything about Agatha. You loved her at her best, and at her worst. Stuck by her side through prosperity and calamity. From the time she accidently transmuted you both to the middle of a jungle (which was then proceeded by a long hike and a tense week in which neither of you spoke to the other) to moments like these.

Through a gap in the crowd, you'd spotted her a few paces ahead, frantically looking around for you.

Sometimes the most memorable moments with her were when she was oblivious to you, in a world of her own. One of her weaknesses had always been her inability to truly relax with other people, and despite having spent so long together, you were no exception. Though the scarcity of these moments only made them more special, which is one of the reasons you loved to watch her work. There would inevitably come a point when she was so lost in her thoughts that she'd completely unwind, and the rare but real Agatha would take over.

Carefully pushing past the hoards of people, you caught up with her. Admittedly, the 40s were serving her well. Somehow she was able to perfectly blend in, styling her hair to be shorter and donning a deep purple dress, while simultaneously being eye-catching. You were certain that you'd be able to find her in a crowd of any size.

You reached out to tap her shoulder and were almost knocked over by the pace at which she swung round. At first glance she appeared concerned.

"There you are." She exclaimed, smoothing her expression into one of disinterest.

For all Agatha may try to act nonchalant, you'd learnt to recognize when she was uncomfortable. In this instance, it was the slight disdain in her voice that gave it away. "Behind you the entire time." You lied.

She looked sceptical, but dropped the subject in place of grabbing hold of your hand. "I hate crowds." She half whispered, half shouted, shooting an exasperated glare in the direction of a group that had just bumped into her. "Don't wander off again." She scolded, switching her focus back to you.

"Lighten up, Aggie." You tugged her forwards, re-joining the pace of the procession. She followed obediently, keeping her eyes down. "Don't ya know," You mimicked your worst American accent. "wars over doll!" The attempt at cheering her up earned a small smile, but she remained otherwise distracted.

A few more minutes of walking in a rather solemn silence and you relented. "What's on your mind?" Pulling her to a stop, your hand automatically slid to her waist. "If you don't want to be here, we can go home. I don't mind."

She shook her head, opening her mouth to speak, but never got the chance.

Behind you, someone from within a group began yelling out a countdown. You turned to see what the commotion was just as they reached the end, then watched as everyone in the group grabbed a partner and kissed them. The display was followed by cheering, and a round of applause as several other couples followed suit around you.

Perhaps it was the celebratory atmosphere, or the continually increasing intensity of your feelings toward Agatha, but you only had one goal in mind as you turned back to her.

But she must've been thinking the same as she beat you to it.

Her hands found their way to your face, yanking you closer. In the split second before your eyes fluttered closed, you caught sight of the abnormally vulnerable way she was looking at you, and quickly sought to reassure her by reciprocating the embrace. As soon as your lips met, everything faded around you. Agatha was all you could feel. She became everything.

Neither of you wasted any time in deepening the kiss. Soon your lips were parting, her tongue brushing against your own causing a rush of heat to suffuse across your body. Her hand shifted to caress your jaw, the softness of the action contrasting to the insatiable desperation with which she was pressing herself as close as possible.

You reluctantly pull away for a second. "We should-" You're trying to speak between kisses as Agatha refuses to stop. "go home now?"

There's no need to elaborate any further as she, without halting her path down to your neck, teleports you both home in a cloud of purple smoke.

You've never been more pleased with her improved accuracy in transmutation.

--- 1986 ---

Somewhere in the distance an awfully cheesy song was playing, one from one of Agatha's mixtapes no doubt. She loved the recent music style, stating that this would be the peak, though she'd said the same during the 60s and 70s. You had to agree, listening to trashy ballads with her had been the highlight of every decade.

"What are you thinking about?" Agatha's voice was low and husky, almost a whisper. You turned to see how she was staring at you, eyes roaming across your face as though for the first time. You were undoubtedly doing the same, but who could blame you when she only grew more bewitching everyday.

"Nothing." You sighed, sinking further into the pillow behind you. The room was faintly glowing, illuminated by both blue and purple strands of magic floating through the air. It was strangely comforting, like watching lightning crackling from afar. Lazily, you reached up, swirling a strand of blue round your finger.

"Your magic is darker." She commented, admiring the sapphire colour. She was right, while her power had taken on its purple colour earlier, yours had gradually darkened from the conventional light blue to a deep sapphire.

"Probably from spending too much time with you."

She chuckled, drawing your body closer to her chest and resting her head against your shoulder. "You love it." Smirking, she pressed her lips on your collarbone, then lightly bit down on the flesh. She shifted impossibly closer, her mouth tracing a path across your neck.

You revelled in the attention she was indulging you in, the sensations that accompanied her affection. Having Agatha's complete devotion was something you'd never get used to. During your friendship, she'd strived to be as close to you as possible, but being in a relationship with her provoked a whole new level of dedication.

"I love you." Though not the first time you'd told her, the repeated phrase still carried the same weight.

However, perhaps it was even more meaningful on this occasion, because as soon as the words left your mouth, Agatha froze. An anxious minute followed in which neither of you spoke, let alone moved. You didn't dare say anything else, rather lay there in silence, wondering what had warranted the sudden change in atmosphere.

Then she, without lifting her head, murmured against your skin. "Marry me."

Initially you believed your hearing had deceived you, that in reality she had said something else entirely. But judging by the way her whole body tensed, the way her magic pulsed dangerously as if it were guarding her, you knew, or rather could feel that it wasn't a deception. She had just proposed.

As another minute passed, you could almost feel her retreating into herself, insecurities inducing regret. You snapped back into reality, already loathing yourself for delaying the obvious response. "Yes. Of course I will."

Finally, Agatha dared to look up, tearful eyes meeting your own. She smiled shakily, then leant back down into a demanding kiss. "I love you, so much." She practically purred against your lips, before continuing to pepper any available skin with kisses.

Being loved by Agatha Harkness was bliss.

--- The Battle of New York 2012 ---

Another devastatingly loud crash shook your apartment, the gradually increasing volume indicating that the conflict was drawing nearer. Unlike the rest of the building's inhabitants, neither you nor Agatha had fled yet. But with each deafening rumble, or ear-piercing scream, you found yourself a step closer to ignoring her demand and leaving to help.

Upon waking up that morning, you'd sensed something was wrong, or rather, would be wrong very soon. The inkling had nagged strongly enough at the back of your mind to prompt you to wake Agatha up, who was quick to confirm your suspicion. However, neither or you could pinpoint specifics, leaving you to continue as though it were a normal day.

At some point, Agatha, being the ever vigilant wife, had gone behind your back and decided to place a protection spell upon the apartment for any worst case scenario that might've occurred. Although not an inherently bad thing, with the eventual discovery of this, you'd come to a couple rather upsetting revelations.

First, the obvious fact that she hadn't told you her plan, and second, the realisation that she'd somehow learnt to hide her magic from you. Of course her actions had annoyed you, but the battle raging outside kept you too distracted to process anything beyond basic surveillance.

Instead of arguing with Agatha, you'd suggested that you ought to help in any possible way. She'd replied with strong discrepancy, stating that it'd be too dangerous, then later admitting that she was afraid of losing you. Under any other circumstances, the confession would've been sufficient to cool your temper, to resign to hiding with your over-protective wife, but not this time.

You'd grown weary of watching people suffer, of the city being destroyed all around you. The large windows surveying the streets below had portrayed nothing but constant violence for the past hour. You were unable to look away, yet hated to watch helplessly. Only you weren't helpless. Unlike the majority of people, you were able to defend yourself, to fight back. The only thing stopping you was the reluctant promise made to your wife.

Avoiding the battle was becoming unbearable, and with no end in sight, you decided it was time to take action. Jumping up from the chair, you set a determined pace toward the kitchen. Agatha had her back turned, nonchalantly making tea while ignoring the chaos surrounding your home. Her indifference only motivated you.

"Agatha."

"Yup." She replied, casually popping the p.

"I'm going out." You tried to copy her apathetic tone, though there was still anger behind your words.

She tensed at the declaration, her grip on the counter visibly tightening, yet was remarkably quiet. Despite being unable to see her face, you could perfectly picture her grimacing. Nonetheless, her silent seething only encouraged you to continue. "Sitting here and doing nothing is driving me insane. I can't just-"

"No. You're not." She slowly turned round, peering at you both challengingly, and curiously. You hadn't seen her like this for centuries, not since the night before you'd runaway together. She had the same demeanour, was harnessing the same barely contained power. It filled the room like a shadow, engulfing you in a sense of dread. She shook her head, an eerily disbelieving smile stretching across her face. "You're not going anywhere."

The statement was commanding, it should've had you at her feet begging for mercy. But you'd spent so much of your life with her that you could see the lie in her eyes, notice the lack of meaning behind the words. She wasn't going to stop you.

"I'm going to help, Aggie." You took a step forward, a pleading attempt to convince her to let you go, maybe even to join you. Instead, she flinched. "Please..."

She was warily watching you in silence, her stubbornness shining through. The lack of compassion she was demonstrating reignited your resentment, had you nearly shaking with apprehension. There was no way she'd join you, but she definitely wouldn't stop you either.

"Here." With unsteady hands, you fumbled around for different valuables about your person, first throwing a watch onto the table, then a phone, and finally your ring. "Look after these."

Without another glance at Agatha, you strode out of the kitchen, flung open the door and descended onto the chaotic streets of New York.

It soon became apparent that your effort would best be spent helping any citizens, while, with much difficulty, staying out of sight. Under no circumstances did you want to be recognised for your endeavour, honoured for something that was general human decency. Besides, there was plenty gratification to be found in the battle. You couldn't recall ever having the opportunity to unleash your powers like this, out in the open with no holding back. It was therapeutic, though draining.

The eventual end to the conflict was a relief, but walking home seemed to require more energy than the entirety of the fighting had. As the adrenaline faded, you struggled to climb the endless flights of stairs, cursing the out of order elevator. However, the journey did give you a chance to think back over the past few hours, which were mostly a blur. Although one thing remained painfully clear; the argument with Agatha.

Pushing open the apartment door, you decided that your first priority was to apologise to her. You didn't regret your decision, but hadn't intended to upset her either. Then, only after could you relax, treat the few injuries sustained.

Strolling into the entrance, a palpable silence followed. You certainly hadn't expected to be welcomed back with open arms, but the lack of any greeting was concerning. The sound of your footsteps continued to be the only noise, echoing round the apparently empty flat. Your pace quickened as you explored the last few rooms, finding them all to be empty also.

At first glance, everything appeared to be exactly where you'd left it (except Agatha herself). It wasn't until your third walkthrough that you noticed something else was clearly missing. Your ring. The pile of valuables remained where you'd left them on the kitchen counter, save for the small silver band, which was no longer there.

Dropping to your hands and knees, you frantically began to search the floor, checking it hadn't fallen anywhere. Even at the lower vantage point, the ring was still no where to be seen. Upon giving up, you then searched through the apartment in greater detail, basically tearing the place apart. It didn't take long until you noticed that more was missing. Specifically, most of Agatha's things.

She had left you.

--- Westview 2023 ---

The red wall crackled ominously before you, the noise it emitted strangely similar to that of TV static. There was something inherently terrifying about the large structure engulfing the town. You could almost hear it transmitting a warning to stay away, not to venture past the boundary, but you'd come too far to surrender now.

Stretching forth a hand, you were met with little resistance. You'd dedicated the last ten years to improving on your magic ability and finally the progress was paying off. However, a large majority of that time had also been spent trying to track down Agatha, who's disappearance had caused nothing but pain. Out of all your mistakes, that one was the worst, and inconveniently, the hardest to fix. Despite your best efforts, there had been no sign of her for the last decade, though you hoped today would be the end to this separation.

Thousands of spells all cast at once, it would be impossible for Agatha to stay away. You could practically feel her presence nearby.

Propelling yourself forward slightly, you were pulled through the wall by an unknown force. While the boundary seemed to intimidate and reject most people, you were clearly an exception. The strength with which you were immersed into the town sent you spiralling toward the ground.

Grunting upon impact, you allowed a few seconds to remain on the ground and recover, only looking up when you heard a distinct but unforeseen sound. Children's laughter resonated from a distance, perfectly wholesome and entirely unexpected. Even more surprising was the completely ordinary suburban town in front of you.

Undeterred by the unanticipated scenario, you stood and observed the town in closer detail. You were situated towards the edge, on a patch of grass facing the last row of houses along the perimeter road. It was night, but the street was illuminated by what looked to be Halloween decorations. A pumpkin was placed outside every house, yet there was no one in sight. Carefully, you approached the signpost reading Ellis Ave and paused for a moment to think of a plan.

You knew Agatha was lurking somewhere in the town. The question was, how could you find her while being inconspicuous enough to avoid whoever had cast this town entrapment? Clearly they were incredibly powerful, perhaps more so than Agatha.

The eerie silence was broken by an advancing car, which parked in front of the crossroads. The entire situation was bizarre, but the uncanny feeling didn't stop you from walking over to the vehicle. Hopefully whoever was inside could shine a light on what was happening here.

You kept out of the beaming headlights, sticking to the shadows as you hesitantly approached. The person sitting at the drivers seat was obscured by the darkness so you hid from them while moving closer, therefore gaining the high ground in case they were someone worth avoiding. It wasn't until you were adjacent from the window that you halted to peer inside.

She was turned away from you, but that didn't stop you from immediately recognising her. Agatha still hadn't seen you, busy adjusting her witches hat, ironic, and seemingly setting a scene.

You had imagined this reunion many times, but not like this. It felt unreal to see her sat barely a few metres away from you, obliviously going about her business. The last decade without her had been the longest of your life, yet you felt like nothing had changed, like you could hop into the passenger seat and continue as normal.

Droning out your anxiety, you stepped onto the road, moving as silently as possible toward the car. Clearly Agatha was completely at ease as she paid no attention to the figure drawing nearer.

You knocked on the window, not daring to analyse her reaction. "Good evening, can I take your order please?" You joked, having no idea how else to handle the situation. For all you knew, she could still be upset, and would order you to leave her alone. Or she could've forgotten the grudge entirely, and welcome you back.

Instead, she sat there motionless, mouth slightly agape. Her lack of response prompted you to continue. "I came to apologise- well actually I tried to ten years ago but you left before I got the chance." Glancing up at Agatha, you noticed she was frowning now. "But if this is a bad time I guess I can come back later?"

She said nothing, but appeared to be fighting her own internal battle. You fought the urge to say anything else, desperate to hear her voice.

The car door swung open abruptly, causing you to stagger back. By the time you'd regained your balance, Agatha had flung herself at you, her hat falling off in the process. You wrapped your arms around her tightly, reluctant to ever let go. Hugging her felt so familiar, yet each time was as memorable as the last.

You felt tears begin to form in the corner of your eyes and let out a watery laugh. Agatha invoked so many different emotions, you couldn't keep up. Simply being in her presence pacified any worries you'd had, quelled the betrayal you'd felt after she'd left.

"This is a bad time," She muttered. "but it doesn't matter." At her dismissal, you separated, seeing how her expression matched your own. "And I'm the one that should be asking for forgiveness." She smiled sadly, brushing back a strand of your hair.

"How about we both take the blame and move on?" You suggested, eager to move past this stage of your relationship.

"Sounds good to me," She nodded, her hands slipping onto your arms as she backed away. "and I will catch you up on everything that's happening, but right now I need you to hide in the trunk."

"God I've missed you." Sighing contently, you looked over to the car, accepting your imminent fate. "And fortunately I do still trust you."

You went to leave, but were stopped by her grip on your arm. "Hold on." She reached into a pocket, producing a silver band. Your ring.

"You've been carrying that round the entire time?"

"Just in case." She winked, grabbing hold of your hand and slipping the ring back on.

A warmth travelled through you, starting from the tip of you finger and diffusing across your entire body. She held onto your hand, bringing it up to meet her lips while maintaining eye contact. At the gesture, you tugged her into a kiss, the contact saying what you currently were unable to.

You knew there was a lot you'd have to work thought together, but right now, all that mattered was the feeling of her lips against your own.

"Next time you want a break, please tell me instead of vanishing."

She chuckled. "There won't be a next time." Then pulled you into another chaste kiss. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, dear."

#agatha harkness x reader #agnes x reader

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alison-anonymous · 3 years

Text

I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

If you're reading this, HELLO. All of you long time ONS fans probably don't know me, but I'm Alison and I'm a hardcore Mikayuu, Mitsunoa, Gureshin, etc shipper. I've been in the ONS fandom for almost a year and dear god. The amount of people telling me that Mikayuu is queerbait is just making me really sad 😅 I'm a writer, and I'm the type of person who honestly feels like the author of a series should have the ability to choose how a story ends without influence of their readers. I mean, if it's their story, then it should be their ending, right? However, I also do have some qualms when it comes to how this "love triangle" between Yu, Mika, and Shinoa is being portrayed. This is entirely my personal opinion, but I feel like Shinoa seems to be forcing herself to love Yu. I honestly don't think she cares for him in a romantic way, but more of a very deep-rooted admiration or even envy that she's trying to convince herself to be romantic love. And Yu has said multiple times that he values Mika's life above his own, that he doesn't know what he would do without him if he were to die again (I mean the fact that he suffered seeing his best friend and potential lover die a first time was definitely scarring enough, PLEASE STOP TORTURING OUR POOR BABIES). And it's basically confirmed by now that when Mika said I love you in the manga, it was in the romantic sense. Even though I wish, I hope, I dream, and I pray that Mikayuu will become canon, I honestly can't say for certain what I think will happen. I think it could sway any way, with Mikayuu becoming canon, Yu and Shinoa becoming canon, or it being one of those ambiguous endings where it's heavily implied but nothing actually happens. And in order to make myself feel better when stuff like this happens, I tend to rewrite the entire story with the ending that I would have liked to see ;)

You're probably wondering where the hell this stranger is going with this. Well, I want to write a book. A series, actually.

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

Now, if you're interested in hearing me out, then feel free to keep reading. But if not, continue on with your scrolling, no hard feelings. But if you do, and I really hope that you do, give me a chance to explain.

I want to write a series inspired by Seraph of the End called Bloodsucker (working title, obviously). And this series is going to be a reimagination of ONS with an ending that I would have loved to see in the anime and manga. I plan to have three main characters (please keep in mind that I'm going to have name changes): Yuichiro, Mikaela, and a brand new character, Epic.

Now, I would begin this series a bit before the anime and I'm assuming the manga begins. I'd start with introducing our main three characters as they meet in the orphanage (yes, Epic would be a part of this orphanage as well) and how Epic and Yu try to make moves to run away only to be stopped by Mika and Akane.

I plan to include a scene between Epic and Akane where Epic tries to run out in the middle of the night only to be stopped by Akane, and this is what caused Epic to develop a crush on her (Epic is a girl btw). Then I would begin the whole shit with the vampires and how they set the world on fire and shit, but instead of the apocolypse, I'd make it so that most of the adults died in the fire while the kids were taken alive (because young blood is better and whatnot). This includes our little Hyakuya family. The directors would have tried to trade the kids lives for their own, and due to their selfishness, the vamps killed them and took the kids anyway.

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

Epic, Akane, Mika, and Yu would all be living under the vampires at this point along with the rest of the kids in their orphanage. I plan to include lots of moments of bonding that heavily imply Epic loves Akane even though she doesn't know it yet and Mika loves Yu, but Yu is fucking oblivious. The four begin to plot their escape, but while Mika and Akane (yes Akane too) are making deals with the vampires to help out with their family, Epic is constantly finding herself getting dragged along to visit Queen Krul. The pink haired vamp has a soft spot for her for some reason and often tells her that Epic and her family are "special" or sum shit. And she's super confused and semi grossed out. But none of the vamps ever dare to hurt her so she thinks it's fine. Then one day they all plot their escape and it's much more planned out and lengthy and less rushed than it is in the anime. Things almost seem to work out until the vampires stop them

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

Epic is standing here in shock as she watches the love of her life die before her and Mika BEGS for Yu to take Epic and run while they can. So while in the series only Yu survives, he obeys Mika and both him and Epic survive this. They're found by Guren (a new character I haven't come up with yet lol) and Yu is super protective over Epic, not wanting anyone to take the only piece of his family he has left (he's a fucking mess without Mika let's just be honest) and Guren ends up taking them under his wing.

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

Hold onto your hats everyone because this is where shit is about to get complicated. So I do plan to have a bit of a time skip into the current spot where Yu and Epic are attending school with Guren as their father figure and they've become very close. So close that Yu refuses to work with anyone else but her. They end up getting onto Shinoa Squad (obviously going to be completely different in my version) and they get put onto the battlefield. But here's the catch. Well, two catches.

Yu and Epic do have demon weapons. I do plan to try to incorporate that into this. BUT the backstory is different. I plan to make it so that the vampires obviously see the humans as fies. Insignificant things that are more playthings than threats. And they didn't want to have to deal with killing all of them, so they sent demons in their place to handle it. But the humans were able to form deals or "contracts" with the demons and therefore turned the vampires' own secret weapon against them.

Now, catch no. 2

So, Epic, Mika, and Yu aren't seraphs in this. But they are something else. I'm going to try to explain this as simply as I can, but each of them (besides Mika since he doesn't have a demon) have 3 souls inside their body:

Soul 1 is their current soul, the one that identifies as Mika or Epic or Yu.

Soul 2 is their demon soul, like what Asuramaru is to Yu.

And soul 3 is their archangel soul (I might change that name later on).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it. In this series, Epic is the villain.

Yes.

You read that right.

Epic is the villain. But she doesn't know that she is. These Soul 3s were reincarnated into the current bodies of Mika, Epic, and Ari (and I know that's not exactly how it works but screw logic this is just a fucking concept) from their lives centuries ago.

These souls existed way before vampires existed and Epic (or Essie) was very close friends with Yu (or Aytigin). Aytigin was in love with Haru (Mika) but for one reason or another, they couldn't be together. Essie wanted to do something, willing to do anything to make the two of them happy. So she made a deal that brought the vampires into creation so that Haru and Aytigin could be happy. She was willing to sacrifice everything that they stood for so that the two of them could be in love together.

She had good intentions, but of course Haru and Aytigin were furious because now the vampires were turning against the humans and they all basically died. Until they were reborn respectively, but unknowingly.

Now picking back up in the present, Yu and Epic are fighting in one of the main battles and the two are very confused when the vampires make a very deliberate attempt not to hurt Epic. They're unsure as to why, but Guren tells them not to worry about it.

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

Yes he is a vampire. And Yu falls in love all over again upon seeing him, and after a bunch of struggling, Epic gets kidnapped. At first she gets strangled by Lacus and then she gets kidnapped by Ferid who doesn't kill her surprisingly.

Oh and uh... Ferid is nice in this. He's still a fucking creep, but he's a lot nicer than he is in the series. I plan to make Queen Krul or whoever I turn her into be the villain.

Anyway, they take Epic back to the vampire palace or whatever and Queen Krul and Epic are reunited! And Krul is the one who reveals to Epic exactly who she, Mika, and Yu are and this is what sparks Epic's fall to insanity.

I mean, she's the killer. She's the one who brought them into this world. She's responsible for every death the vampires cause.

I would go crazy too.

So, she manages to escape (partially thanks to Mika) and the two join Yu and the others again and it's revealed a second time exactly what is going on. And while no one actually blames Epic on the Shinoa Squad, that doesn't stop people like Kureto and even herself from blaming.

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

She begins losing her marbles, almost killing her teammates and trying to kill herself, all while the three begin to experience dreams or visions of their Soul 3s.

While all this shit is going on, there's heavy romance between Mika and Yu because these two lovers just got reunited and FUCK did they have glow ups but yes -

Oh. And there is another spark for Epic, even though she doesn't think she's worthy of love.

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

Lacus falls in love with Epic. Yes. You read that correctly too.

I plan to make the two of them get trapped together at some point and they have to work together to escape. It's during this time that Epic realizes he's not all that bad and has some form of self control and he realizes that she's the most interesting thing he's ever met in this disgusting and boring life and damn do her eyes look pretty-

But yes. She forms a permanent alliance with him that he jokes about as marriage and they meet on other occassions too, but lol yes.

Anyway, blah blah blah, more fall to insanity, the Soul 3s take over their bodies on multiple occasions and there's a lot of bonding and fighting and Epic and Mika somehow manage to get some of the vampires on the human side.

And in the end, Epic and Yu basically sacifice themselves to save the human race and kill Queen Krul. It's a very rough ending I haven't quite perfected yet, but Yu has a moment like he did with the King of Salt. But though he inflicted a lot of damage, it's not enough. So while the team is worried about him, Epic takes this opportunity to fix her and Essie's mistakes.

She allows both Essie and her demon to take control of her body and dies on the battlefield. Queen Krul is eliminated. Most of the vampires are gone. The humans won.

Horray.

Epic is dead.

Kinda. Yu and Mika take her back home and this is the preview to the last arc where everyone's in the hospital and Epic's in a coma. Mika and Yu barely ever leave her side and it's only when Lacus of all people comes to visit that she fucking wakes up.

Okay. Are you still with me? Now come with me to the final arc.

The Post-War.

No my friend. It doesn't end there. Because Mika and Lacus are still vamps and life still sucks and I drank too much coffee this morning.

No it's not over yet.

So flash forward a couple years and Kureto and Crew are working as the heads of this city. Stuff is being rebuilt, people are settling down in homes, Lacus and some of the other "good" vampires find jobs, and Mika, Yu, and Epic get a house together (in case I didn't mention before, Epic is pansexual. She loved Akane dearly and I plan to include scenes where she sees her in her mind and dreams like Mikayuu so she's never truly gone, but she falls for Lacus too when he's not being a sadistic asshole). Things are going strangely when

BAM. Epic and Yu come up with a cure for vampirism.

How, you may ask? I don't fucking know, I haven't read about it in the manga yet but before we come up with an idea for it, imma say they came up with it through a spell. They share their findings with Guren and soon all vampires are being cured, most notably Mika, Lacus, and even Rene.

BUT and there's always a but, Kureto passes a new law claiming all vampires to be property. That any vampire or previous vampire or even vampire supporter/owner that tries to disobey these new laws is to be killed immediately. Now Epic and Yu are in jeopardy because their ex-vampires are in danger (Epic and Lacus have been hanging out a lot more and he's proven himself to be a decent guy. Contrary to popular belief, I headcanon him as not really knowing what to do when he actually cares about someone since he's been a heartless vamp for so long. So when he turns to Mika and begrudgingly asks him for LOVE ADVICE of all fucking things, Mika is ready to die). So basically, Mika and Lacus end up getting locked up along with the other ex-vamps (including Ferid which was a pain in the ass) and did I forget to mention that there's a proposal?

Oh yeah, Yu proposes to Mika and the blond still has yet to give him an actual answer because poor baby is still having a hard time accepting that Yu can love a "monster" like him.

But anyways, now Epic and Yu are furious and SHINOA SQUAD IS BACK IN BUSINESS. With the help of Guren and Shinya and everyone, they form a sort of rebellion and blah blah blah they manage to get Mika and Lacus and everyone out and blah blah blah they all get separated and Lacus begins to get INSANELY protective of Epic and ends up confessing his feelings to her before he nearly dies and blah blah blah did I forget to mention that I'm making Mitsunnoa and Kimizuki x Yoichi canon and blah blah blah.

Epic kisses Lacus as an instinct. Lacus kisses her again. Mika accepts Yu's proposal then almost dies AGAIN. I kill off some characters for emotional tugs and after a ton of more fighting and revenge and psychological breakings later, Kureto is killed. And Guren (or someone else haven't decided yet) is the new head of their city.

Epic, Mika, and Yu finally let Akane and the kids go. There's a lot of Shinoa Squad bonding but this is a summary so I haven't included much besides the main three. Epic and Lacus becomes canon. Mika and Yu get married. Guren and Shinya get married. Shinoa gets pregnant.

And everyone gets the FUCKING HAPPY ENDING THAT THEY ALL FUCKING DESERVE BECAUSE FUCK

I do plan to be slightly ruthless like the creator and include a lot of heartbreaking scenes, but it's going to be much different than ONS but I still want it to hold on to some core relationships.

I just want them to be happy. And I just want to make other people happy because fuck I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

So my question to you is... if I wrote this shit.

If I sat down and typed about 30 books roughly inspired by Seraph of the End and Mikayuu and Mitsunnoa and shit...

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

#mikayuu #yuumika #mika x yuu #yuu x mika #owari no seraph #owari no straights #owari no serafu #seraph of the end #seraph of the gay #Mitsunnoa #i wanna write a book #reimagination #fml #send halp #lacus #new character #akane #what am i doing with my life

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