#she was right. i should die because i am weak and stupid.

[katyspersonal]

I really do not deserve sympathy if I keep trusting into people who obviously can only hurt and invalidate everything about me and everything we had as soon as I don't meet some of their selfish expectations. As soon as I start to feel safe and accepting living together, I fucking hear "we have no reason to be friends if you don't get into the videogames that I love" when I explained 500 times how I interact with videogames and fiction and why I cannot just waste my days playing many of them and why I cannot simply chug up new information and content often.

But really, why should anyone care about the fact that I get hurt again and that I am crying again, when I am the one who never fucking learns and keeps giving a chance to a person that I /know/ doesn't care and will harm me when I expect it the least? That every time it is another dumb, stupid, minor thing that magically makes me no longer important. That I cannot be honest and cannot be myself without being punished for it every time. That I just am not worthy of acceptance and understanding and unconditional love, it seems. That I am never good enough. Maybe people that hate me and want to exterminate me for the awful sin of having terrible mental health were right. Maybe I am weak for expecting anything from wrong kind of people. And the weakest must be gone.

[clockwayswrites]

A Broken Sort of Normal, Part 17

WC:1471 Masterpost CW: must distress continues

“Danny!”

Danny had just—

Somehow he had—

Danny is falling.

Wally makes it in time to catch him. He goes from blocks away to having Danny in his arms in an instant. Gently, so gently, he holds Danny and lowers them to the ground, next to the heart that Danny had ripped out of the leader’s chest.

“Wally,” Danny rasps. His voice is weaker than Wally has ever heard it. It’s like some twisted imitation of how Danny sounds when he wakes up in the morning, voice rough with the remnants of sleep. Danny is even smiling the same, soft smile.

“Medic!” Wally screams. Hands shaking, he clutches at Danny’s chest. He can feel Danny’s breath stuttering under his trembling fingers. “I need a medic!”

Danny’s fingers wrap weakly around Wally’s. They feel so cold.

Wally stuffs the sob back into his throat. “Thought I told you to stay safe.”

He did, too. Before they split up at the Watchtower to Zeta down to their respective locations, Wally had pulled Danny to the side and rested their foreheads together. He had told Danny this was a big one and that he needed Danny to stay safe before kissing him goodbye.

“Sorry,” Danny murmurs. His eyes are glassy now.

Wally doesn’t think Danny even sees him anymore.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. They’re supposed to get married. Buy one of those row houses Danny is always looking at. Have mornings and nights and years together. They’re supposed to have tomorrow.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, babe,” Wally says, sniffling, trying desperately to smile for Danny. “I love you no matter what.”

“Love you too. Had to…”

Wally hushes him, softly, gently. He doesn’t want Danny to spend his last breaths on excuses. Wally leans down and presses their lips together.

Danny’s lips are so cold.

“I love you so much.”

Foreheads resting together, Wally twists his grip so that he can feel Danny’s pulse. The heartbeats are unsteady under his fingers. Unconsciously, Wally starts counting them as his mouth runs without his permission or thought, just affirmation after affirmation about how much he loves Danny. He doesn’t want Danny to die without feeling loved.

He doesn’t—

There’s a feeling, suddenly, like when a plane pressurizes or an elevator drops and both of their breaths stutter. Then it pops.

The world is lit in a green glow.

Danny arches with a gasp.

Wally clutches Danny protectively to his chest and looks up.

A glowing, slowly twisting orb of green floats above them. A wisp trails from Danny’s chest up to the mass. Above it, hands splayed on either side of the ball, is floating a woman with green skin, black hair, and red eyes that look at Danny with a hungry sort of malice that makes Wally want to lunge at her.

And then she starts laughing. The sound blends with the melodic noise as the coins on her outfit shake with her laughter. “Oh, Phantom. I was starting to think that you would actually manage.”

She reaches her hand over the orb, fingers sinking into it to pull herself forward. Danny jerks in Wally’s arms.

“Seven years. You made me wait seven years. I didn’t think you had it in you, Phantom. I was sure when you made that wish, that foolish, stupid, wonderful wish that you’d trip up within a week. But you didn’t! You made me wait seven years!” The ground shakes with her scream. She clears her throat and smooths down her outfit, making sure that the skirt lay right over her genie-like tail. “But it doesn’t matter. You did it now and all the others can stop hounding me for their slice of your power for helping with this plan. And of all things you did it for love. You always were weak, Phantom.”

“Who are you?” Wally snarls, trying to tuck Danny closer to him, as if it is possible to do so.

The woman looks down at Wally, arching a brow before her purple lips form into a razor sharp smirk. “I am Desiree and I should thank you. How does it feel, to know that you killed your lover?”

Wally’s heart skips a beat.

“That he’s dying in your arms because he couldn’t stand to lose you? That he's going to make you live with that pain instead? Don’t you wish that it could be different?”

Wally does. He doesn’t want to lose Danny. He doesn’t want the world to lose Danny. He wishes—

The air compresses again. Another pop. A flash of yellow light.

“Thought we were fighting aliens, not ghosts and djinn?” a tired British voice asks.

Wally twists around to see a battered, bloodied, and bruised Constantine and Zatanna standing on the edge of the crater.

“Help him!” screams Wally. His voice cracks around the plea.

The Dark team takes in the scene, eyes darting from Danny to the orb to the— to Desiree. John’s face darkens quickly. “Well that has to be fucking dealt with.”

“Oh, you’ll deal with me?” scoffs Desiree. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I have?”

Desiree pulls herself across the orb again, sinking her clawed fingers into it. Danny twitches in Wally’s arms with each stab. The green seeps up from it like punctured air and wraps itself around Desiree’s neck.

“No matter, I can absorb some of his power now to deal with you rats!” Desiree screams. She plunges her arms into the orb. The green flashes blindingly bright. The wisps grow. The tendrils tighten.

Danny lets out a weak breath of air, like it was the last in his lungs.

“Constantine!” Wally begs.

The green light ripples and pulses. Wally looks up, trying to shield Danny from it. It’s like Desiree is drinking it in.

Constantine and Zatanna are talking. Wally can’t hear what they’re saying. He can’t hear Desiree laughing even though he knows she is. He can’t hear the chant Zatanna calls out. All Wally can hear is the fragile, rattling breaths from Danny.

When the breaths stop, it’s like Wally’s world goes silent.

And then it explodes in green.

Wally covers Danny’s body with his own, holding tight as the light and wind rips past them. When it settles, Wally pulls back. The djinn is gone.

Danny is silent.

“John, he’s not breathing!” Wally shouts.

“Zap him!” John shouts back. He’s scrambling down the edge of the crater, rushing into the cloud of green that’s settled in it. Wally loses sight of him. “Zap him!”

Wally’s never done that.

He’s never tried to call on the electricity outside of a battle. He’s only just gotten a handle on moderating its power. He can’t—

But Danny is dead in his arms. Breaths silent. Heart silent. Dead.

Wally’s hands tremble as he rests them over Danny’s chest and pushes the power that thrums under his skin, through his fingertips, and into Danny.

The word explodes in green again— like a lit match in a room full of gas.

Wally’s flung backwards, away from Danny, hitting something, someone, and they tumble together. Then John is helping Wally up. They rush through the scattered remnants of the green fog. Wally falls to his knees next to Danny.

Please please please—

And Danny breathes.

Sound comes back to Wally’s world.

-

There’s an echo in Danny’s ears. The ringing of it feels like it’s burrowing into his brain, like it’s vibrating through his very bones, like his heart is stuttering and jumping to try and match the awful sound. It makes Danny groan in pain.

Someone is talking to him. He can hear the words past the hum of the ringing but can’t understand them. He whines, arching up. His fingertips scramble at some soft material. Suddenly, there’s a weight pressing down on his shoulder.

“—still. You’re safe, but you’re hurt.”

“Wally,” Danny gasps. He tries to speak but he’s not sure most of the words make it past his lips. “Did Wally make a wish with Desiree? Please, no!”

The press of soft lips against his temple Danny would recognize anywhere. That’s Wally. Wally was still alive.

“It’s okay Danny. Desiree is gone. Constantine and Zatanna showed up. Apparently all the…” Wally sounds so wrecked that it makes Danny whine again. There’s another brush of those lips. “All the death magic being used alerted them. When she started to absorb the, um, your? Absorb the power, Constantine and Zatanna basically forced it into her all at once. It overwhelmed her and she, well, exploded.”

That sounds good. It is good she’s gone. Danny thinks he should be concerned about more, more that he needs to know, but Wally is alive. Somehow he is alive. The rest he can deal with later.

Danny makes a soft noise and slips back into the black.

---

AN: What, you didn't think I was actually going to kill Danny, did you? ^_~

One chapter (or two parts) left! Danny's got some explaining to do! And Wally has some important things to say too.

I no longer tag, but you can subscribe to the master post here.

[yuri-is-online]

And Your Name Is? (Sebek, Silver, Idia)

Synopsis- After successfully resolving whatever was causing NRC to be trapped in an endless time loop of overblotting and disaster, one last reset should give him a chance to experience a normal school year with you. But instead you find yourself trapped in the here and there, appearing as a vague shadow around the school that vanishes as soon as he catches up to you. The kind thing to do would be to allow you to be forgotten in the chance it lets you return to your world.

But this is Twisted Wonderland where the kind thing is seldom done, and he wants you back as much as you want to find him again.

notes: they/them pronouns used for Yuu, thanks to the lovely annon who requested this, they suggested Silver and Sebek in celebration of Book 7 Chapter 5 and I decided to add Idia because I expect he'll be doing something soon-ish. Please look to my masterlist for the other parts if you liked this.

Sebek

This is madness, it has to be. What other explanation could he have for these memories torturing him every time he finds himself alone. Lilia had reassured them they were real, even if Lord Malleus's memory was fuzzy and Silver's as unreliable as ever what he saw, what he felt, were all painfully real. There was a missing student from his first year class, an incompetent irrevocably out of place, magicless human who seemed determined to get into the worst situations possible. He can't decide who he is angrier at, the other students for forgetting you, you for once again getting yourself into a situation someone would need to rescue you from, or himself for... for... for...

He'd asked his mother once, angrily and painfully disrespectfully, why she would marry someone so weak. The perspective of time, looped or otherwise, made him realize he was really blaming her for the way his grandfather saw him. As if he could have somehow earned his total respect and love if he erased everything about his father from his being, as if the answer his mother ultimately gave him was a sin somehow.

"Because my love is not weak, true love never is. You can let it change you for the better, or you can let it make you worse. When you see the person you love you will know what they'll do, your soul becomes theirs in a way. Your strengths and weaknesses become shared."

Sebek thinks he must be letting love make him worse. He isn't loud when he approaches your silhouette, he makes no announcement, no demand you be grateful he is paying you attention despite your humanity. He just sits under the apple tree, and quietly into the the empty night air reads a novel. There's a vague memory he has of a much louder conversation you had here about the exact same book. The knight saves his love at the cost of his own life, and he had gone on at much louder length about how noble that was.

You though, you had hated it. "What's the point of living if the person you want to share your life with had to die for it?"

"Do you remember?" His voice is still woefully in line with a normal volume, and you are still just out of reach. "That is what you said, and I am sure I said something very stupid about knightly honor. I probably told you that a mere human would never understand, but whatever I might have meant you were right in the end. It's an empty world when your life is paid for with the life of someone you love." You flicker as if to disappear, but Sebek is faster, snapping up from his seat to grasp you in a death roll and tumbling down to the grass. Yes, love is absolutely making him worse, how else is he supposed to explain to anyone the sheer joy he feels to find you, heavy and warm in the flesh successfully pinned under him and trembling. He can atone for his improprieties later, the sheer worry you inflicted demands immediate penance. There is no running from your fate, not that the arms that encircle his shoulders and pull him further down seem at risk of fleeing anywhere. Sebek's eyes close in relief, allowing himself finally to release his weakness into the strength of your embrace.

Silver

He used to dream what it would be like to live without his curse. Granted Silver didn't have much of an imagination, most of those thoughts consisted of him doing simple things like training with his father or cooking without fear of hurting himself, not that those were bad things to want. Now though, he almost missed his lapses into sleep. He was certain, based off of what little Malleus and Lilia had been able to tell him about the here and there, that he could find you in his dreams. When he went to bed at night he knew he slept, knew he dreamed, but for some reason he just couldn't find you. There were traces, locations he remembers from past timelines, places he's sure must be a twisted echo from your world, all showing traces he could follow but never once showing him you.

It was enough to make him cry, he swears he's cried more in the past month than he has in how ever many years he's been alive. He knows it's scaring his father, he thinks it's scaring Sebek. Malleus is still under the impression there is a way to save you so he has yet to give into fear, but if the way he dismisses Silver, teasingly telling him to get some rest, is any reassurance he's worried about him too.

"I really hope you aren't missing because you think we don't care." He seldom speaks aloud to you outside of dreams, Silver isn't sure if you can hear him when he does. But there's a painful strength to his desire tonight, maybe fueled by the silhouette he saw flickering just beyond the Ramshackle Gate earlier in the evening. He knows Malleus told him to rest, but he finds himself walking back there "just in case" before he returns to his dorm. It's quiet here, inviting himself to close his eyes and begin tracing the steps he saw earlier. You were dancing, he tried to reach for your hand to give you the partner the waltz so clearly demanded but only found air. They're still only holding air when when he pauses, eyes blurring as he tries to examine a still tingling palm, confused to find tears pooling in its center as words continue to flow. "That's not to say if you do I don't understand. If I was in your place, I would feel lonely too. It has to be painful, feeling so alone when you are surrounded by so many people..." His eyes close. A gentle breeze picks up the autumn leaves and tickle his nose with a familiar scent as he chokes out an earnest plea: "Is it too much to ask for you to be lonely in my hands? I promise I'll hold on so tight you never float away again." A comforting weight settles itself onto his hand, his fingers thread through theirs and his other arm pulls them into his embrace through sheer muscle memory before his eyes even open.

"Why are you crying?" A voice he's been chasing after for hundreds of years now, cracked from a months worth of silence asks him so earnestly and sweetly the only response he can find is laughter.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!" His arm finds it's way under your legs to sweep you up into a protective cradle as he spins you around and around to reassure himself that this is not a dream, no matter the familiar gleam shining up at him from your eyes.

Idia

This is so not worth it. Idia is not built for this, this, this cliche bullshit plot line. He will not own up to his past self's decisions, he will stay resolute in nihilistic pride and continue to refer to himself as a looser NEET who has never gotten any in his entire life. And technically, as he has argued to Ortho for the past five hours now, that is still true.

"New timeline new me, I am not in love with a student who doesn't technically exist that was my much cooler alter ego." He says that, but Ortho knows that's not a video game's code he has pulled up on his monitor. And despite checking the school's security cams being his thing, his older brother has several open on his other monitor. They've been changing through this entire argument, clearly monitoring wherever you appear and logging it as data in a massive spreadsheet Ortho has maybe taken one or two looks at when he managed to convince Idia to take a nap.

"Um big brother, not to be rude-" Ortho really wants to be. Idia isn't the only one who loves you, just the only one insistent on denying his feelings. "but isn't it sort of... childish to deny yourself at this point? The prefect-"

"They can't be a prefect if they aren't in school." Idia snaps.

"Just Yuu then." Ortho chooses to take the weird cackle Idia lets out as a sign he is making progress with his code and not a sign of a mental break. Yet. "They never showed interest in anyone else, they always picked you. That's got to be enough data to prove that when you save them," because there really is no point in pretending Idia is trying to do anything else at this point, even he gave up denying that just fifteen minutes into this conversation "they won't abandon you for anyone else."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Idia doesn't think he meant to say that, the words sort of just fall out of his mind onto his lap. He risks a look at the security footage, your ghost seldom comes into Ignihyde. That had bothered him at first, angered him even. What, you'll tell him you love him, steal his first kiss every time you can, and watch all his favorite shows just to get him to talk to you more but then when you're trapped in a liminal space you won't bother knocking on his door? Did all those things you said you would do only apply to the good times?

Not that it changed what he was going to do, part of him saw saving you as a challenge but mostly it was just out of gratitude for saving Ortho. That would have earned you his help even without the whole "lovers doomed by the narrative" thing you had going on. But recently, the more he worked on saving you really, he had started to wonder if his self doubt was what was pushing you away. Idia hated how much magic could rely on something as unpredictable and unreliable as human emotion, but it did. And whatever was happening to you was absolutely magical, he had the data to prove it. Reluctantly, ignoring Ortho's protests despite the guilt that gnaws at him he leaves his room. The harsh nighttime light of Ignihyde's LED displays bounce off his skin as he shuffles himself through the empty dormitory, no real destination in mind. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud in front of Ortho, he couldn't bring himself to say it in front of you either, if his spotty memory is serving him correctly. He finds himself stood in front of a vending machine in one of the school's hallways, two distorted shadows flickering with equal uncertainty in the glass.

"Hungry?" Idia doesn't know why he asks, but he knows why he puts enough money into the machine for two bags of chips. "I keep forgetting I'm just getting shit for myself now." You don't respond, but Idia isn't too surprised or upset. It has to be weird hearing him address you directly after he's spent so much time ignoring you. "Just because Ignihyde's meant to respect the King of the Underworld doesn't mean you'll get snatched away if you pay me a visit. You shouldn't be afraid of him, he isn't dangerous to you." But I am. He doesn't say that, but the words hang heavy in the air anyway. Your shadow tries to reach for the vending machine, but pause almost confused when Idia beats you to punch in the familiar number of your favorite drink.

I love you. He doesn't say it out loud, but the thunk of the can makes the point just the same Idia realizes when he brings the can up to a very confused, very familiar looking face. You are confused, and a bit scared when he drops the drink to tackle you but you hold onto him anyway.

I love you too. You don't say it either but the steady, comforting beat of your heart screams it just the same. I will find you in ever lifetime.

[happilychaengs]

The Little Things [Rewrite]

a/n: this is my first rewrite and it's a rewrite of the first fic I've published ever. i didn't proofread because i'm sure i'd hate it but this one is less lighthearted than the original. hopefully i still did it justice.

word count: 944

angst, fluff

minatozaki sana x gender neutral reader

original

Sana was possessive. She knew that. She was overprotective and a 'worrywart' as you called it but sometimes rational thinking is thrown out the window when it comes to you. Her tearstained cheeks were proof of that.

"Where have you been?"

You furrow your brows as you looked at Sana, the look of disapproval apparent on her face as she crossed her arms. "I was out with a friend."

"This late? It's 2 in the morning!"

"I told you before that I'd be going out today, do you not remember?"

"So what? Who in the world would you even be going out with?"

You're reluctant to say the name, knowing how she'd react. "Momo..."

"Momo... As in the Hirai Momo?" She chuckles almost hysterically, her tone was almost venomous as she spoke, the back-handed insults flying straight out of her mouth. "The girl who'd do anything to even be near you? The girl who was so clearly trying to take advantage of you at that stupid frat party one time? The girl that was definitely in love with you?"

"She did not take advantage of me! She was watching out for me! We cleared that up ages ago! You were there!"

"Right, because she being so protective while she practically hit on you as I watched! If you're cheating on me just say it!"

Silence.

She didn't mean that.

Why did she say it?

Take it back.

Her heart hammered against her chest as she saw the look on your face, your eyes turning redder by the second, "You think I'm... cheating on you?"

"..."

Stop it.

Say something.

Anything.

Fix this.

But in the end, she doesn't.

Silence envelops you as you tighten your lips, evidently to stop yourself from crying. You nod briefly as you take your keys, your fingers fiddling with the ring on your left hand. "Okay."

And before she realizes it, you're out the door under the short promise that you're only going out to clear your head.

It's been an hour since then. An hour of hating herself. An hour of worrying where you've been. An hour of sobbing.

How stupid was she? Why did she doubt you? Why did she hurt you in the process?

She gets up to pour herself a glass of water, but the sudden motion somehow makes her light-headed as she grabs the corner of your bed side drawer to support herself. But then she sees something that catches her eye, something she's never seen before. There laid a small brown journal, maybe a diary, under a small stack of your favorite books that you kept to yourself.

She sat down again, debating whether she should reach for it or not, but in the end she does. She lays it on her lap as she turns the blank cover, reading the words etched inside.

"The Little Things I Love About My Sweetheart, Minatozaki Sana"

The words made her heart skip a beat as she turned the page, reading down the next few lines.

"Always love her, never disappoint her"

Oh, but how she disappointed you.

She flips the page, her eyes scanning through the words, quietly reading them to herself.

"Her love is loud and sometimes almost too obnoxious but that's what I love about it. I love those quirky songs she makes up on the fly as I step into the room, never ceasing to make my heart flutter. I love that she's always there and always present.

And then there's her honey-like voice. It has a sweet tone with an underlying huskiness, the mere sound of it making my knees want to buckle. It's worrying how weak I am for her because I'm sure I'd go die if she told me to.

I really never noticed it until recently but she has the cutest habits imaginable. She almost always have to even out her kisses when she kisses my cheeks. 'It'd be unfair to the other!' she tells me.

But all of it really pales in comparison when I see her drop everything for me. Sometimes-"

Your voice abruptly interrupts her as her eyes tear away from the page.

"Sometimes when she notices I come home, she drops everything she's doing and comes to give me a tight hug with a huge smile on her face and I love her for that."

And there you stood, leaning against the doorframe, your nose and cheeks a shade of rosy pink from the blistering cold outside.

"Y/N..."

And in that moment, she really does drop everything.

The bed quickly dips as her hands push her off the bed. Her legs practically get caught onto each other as she rushes off the bed, her whole body crashing into yours. Her arms envelop around you as her head rests on your collar. Her hands ball up bunches of your shirt as tears begin staining it.

"I'm so sorry..." As she spoke, her breath hitched repeatedly, her lips shaking, "I-I didn't mean it any of it... I was scared..."

She bites her lip as she waits for you to say something. Anything. Tell her that she was wrong. Tell her that you were hurt. Tell her that she was crazy.

But instead, she feels your soft lips press against her forehead, the three words ringing inside her head loud and clear. Her worries disappear.

"I love you."

[mybeautifuldelirium]

Can you write a chapter 2 to And you left me! Maybe Y/N goes to Storm’s End with Luke and Aemond kills him, kidnaps Y/N to capital as prisonar and then Aegon marries to her. But now Y/N is unwilling to marry him because he stole her mother’s throne and his brother murdered her brother in front of her. She hates her husband and wants to return to her mother. (If you are uncomfortable about writing noncon it can be just angst for both of them. It doesn’t have to be smut or yandere thing. I just want to see real Aegon’s character more than HoTD. Because in the show they made him more innocent than he actually is.)

And You Left Me! Part 2 |Aegon Targaryen II x reader

Part 1

A/N: I’m not sure how well I did w this chapter cuz originally I wasn’t really planning on doing a part 2, so I’m not sure if I did it any justice, but I still hope u enjoy 💚

Warnings: Targ!Incest, Dub Con, 18+, Angst!, NSFW allusions but nothing explicit

“And yet, with his final breath, he whispered to me that you should take his place on the throne.” The queen insisted, tightening her grip.

“Only on one condition shall I obey” Aegon narrowed his gaze “I am to take Y/N Velaryon as my second wife like Aegon the Conqueror did. She is to be my queen”

-

“No” Rhaenyra tore the thin parchment and threw it at Otto’s feet “My answer is NO! I am not to sacrifice my only daughter, she is a woman betrothed and my treacherous brother is well aware of this predicament”

Y/N’s eyes burned from trying to hold back her tears, Aegon lied, of course he would do that, of course he would betray and usurp her mother. She should’ve never returned to King’s Landing, she should’ve never let her guard down in front of him, never allowed herself to get lost in those teary violet eyes again.

-

“You met up with him, didn’t you?!” Rhaenyra pulled at her daughter’s hand “What did I tell you all those years ago, don’t you remember why I had to take you away from there?!”

“M-mother…I…I’m sorry…I didn’t-”

“You’re such a naïve girl Y/N” she shook her head in disappointment “You think he really loves you, don’t you? He took away my birthright, your birthright and now he wants to take you, to corrupt you! I will not allow that!”

-

The blood curdling screams that the young princess let out as her sweet little brother was falling down to his demise, echoed through the storm. Y/N leapt from her beautiful silver dragon, hoping to soon meet the same fate, but strong arms were suddenly wrapped around her pulling her back.

“NO” she wept, trying to free herself from the firm grasp of her captor “Let me go!! You KILLED him!! Let me go, let me die!”

“Forgive me, dear niece, it is your king who shall get to choose your fate” those were the last words she heard, before the shock and grief slipped her mind into unconsciousness.

-

The princess winced as the cold wet rag was firmly pressed onto her forehead, bloodshot eyes fluttering open. It was hard to adjust to the bright light, streaming through the windows, had she too died? A piercing pain shot through her chest, memories flooding back into her head.

“Lucerys, NO! He killed him! He killed him” she jolted up as the screams were tearing through her chest “No, he’s gone! He’s gone, it should’ve been me!”

“Princess, princess, please, you’re still weak” the poor maid begged, desperately trying to restrain her as the doors bursted open.

“Out, everyone”

That voice, Y/N knew that voice, of course she did, the voice of that drunkard, silver haired imbecile that she had been cursed to love.

“Where is he?! Where’s my brother?!” She tried to get up groaning from the pain “He killed him, he killed him!!”

“Don’t get up, you’re still weak” Aegon grimaced, plopping himself beside on the bed.

“My mother was right! I was a stupid naïve girl” her voice echoed through the room as she scooted further away from his body “Usurper! Traitor! Take me home!!”

Aegon bit his lip, trying to ignore the hatred in her voice

“This is your home” he looked down then back into her eyes mumbling with a stern voice “With me”

“With you? WITH YOU?!” Y/N let out a pained laugh “Let. Me. Go.”

“NO” Aegon stood up, his pale finger pointed at her chest

“You will stay here! You will marry me, like you promised!”

“You’ve lost your mind” the princess shook her head in disbelief “After everything your family’s done, after everything you’ve done, NEVER…I’d rather burn”

“You WILL” flames burned through the young Targaryen’s eyes as he tightly gripped her arm, knuckles going white.

“I am your king!! You will obey me! You shall be my queen”

-

The following days melted away into each other and though the health of the young princess had improved, her heart had been shattered into million pieces.

The queen mother Alicent would often visit the feeble girl, trying to reason with her.

“You love my son Y/N, you always have, despite your mother, despite his despicable behavior, I know that”

“I did…” the princess’ words trailed off “now no more, that love is forever gone!”

“You know that’s not true,” Alicent scoffed. “You think I wanted to wed your grand sire? We’re women, we don’t get to choose our fate”

-

Aegon’s life wasn’t any different than usual, the unfortunate king, had spent the preceding days drinking himself into oblivion with the occasional visits to the pleasure houses yet his mind kept coming back to Y/N, ever since that night when he had drunkenly stumbled into her chambers, her face had been haunting his dreams. He wanted her to be his and she was going to be his no matter what.

-

Poor, sweet Helaena had come at dawn, thin pale fingers draping a cloak of emerald green with a delicate embroidery of gold around Y/N’s trembling frame.

“Hel…please, please help me, I want to go home…” her eyes glistened from the newly formed tears “Aegon is your husband, the father of your children…d-doesn’t this bother you?”

“An oath of the dragon is an oath of the flesh” the young queen’s voice quivered, her delicate face devoid of any emotion.

-

This wasn’t how her wedding day was meant to go, Y/N Velaryon the eldest daughter of Rhaenyra Targaryen, she was supposed to be happily wed to Cregan Stark, before the eyes of the gods, blessed by the hand of her mother. Yet there she stood, as the septon spoke their vows, her hands intertwined with those of the one her heart longed for but her mind despised.

“Father. Smith. Warrior. Mother. Maiden. Crone. Stranger. I am hers, and she is mine, from this day, till the end of my days” Aegon’s words were slurred as a meager stench of wine lingered from his breath yet his eyes shone with twinkles of hope and desire.

“Father. Smith. Warrior. Mother. Maiden. Crone. Stranger. I am his, and he is mine, from this day, till the end of my days”

The king’s calloused fingers felt rough against the skin of her cheek as he brought her face closer “My queen…you belong to me, only me” he snorted, crashing his chapped lips onto her plush ones as the hall erupted with cheers.

-

The feast was a brief affair, Aegon kept draining goblet after goblet while his left hand was clenched around Y/N’s wrist, violet eyes occasionally peering into her face.

“Aegon, slow down” she narrowed her gaze “You’ve drunk enough”

“Enough? Enough?!” the young Targaryen laughed “Oh my sweet niece, or should I say wife? Shan’t a man celebrate his union?!” his grip tightened, tugging her towards him as he raised his goblet “May the bedding ceremony begin!”

A veil of horror enveloped Y/N’s face as strong hands were mercilessly ripping through her lavish attire while her husband’s sneer echoed through the hall.

“Okay, that’s enough” Alicent scoffed, pulling the wine out of her son’s hand “Aegon, take your bride to your chambers, now!”

-

“Drink” the king sneered, handing her a goblet of wine as they were at last alone.

“Is this funny to you?!” Y/N’s eyebrows scrunched, a glimpse of disgust flashing through her eyes “Am I just a toy to you?!”

“You’re my wife, my sweet niece” Aegon’s gaze was now locked onto her face as if making sure that she won’t disappear at any moment “You’ll do your duty…you’ll give me an heir”

All blood drained from Y/N’s face, leaving her pale as a ghost “Y-you…you already have heirs”

“No, no, I don’t, not from you” his voice cracking as he took a step forward, his breath warm on her supple skin

“I want a child from you, from my queen”

“I would never lay with you” her hands hit at his chest “I would never touch you”

“You. Are. Mine.” the king tugged at her wrists, pulling her towards him so closely, that she could feel his wine odorous breath “You shall do as I say!”

“Aegon…no, don’t” her hands grabbed at his face in search of mercy in his eyes “I won’t do this”

“You are my wife now!!” Aegon grunted, pushing her onto the bed “You think I wanted this?!” he looked with disgust at his crown, tossing it at the wall “You think I wanted to be king?! I did this for you, I did all of this because I wanted you”

-

Y/N’s breath hitched as she felt restrained underneath his body, his wet mouth, hungrily kissing her neck while his hands were tugging at her skirts.

“You promised, and you left me! You. Left. Me.” His grip tightened “You won’t ever leave me again! Promise me! Never!”

As he eventually eased into her, he’d occasionally look up to take a quick glance at her pained face and for a brief moment there it was as if she could catch a glimpse of that Aegon she had once fallen in love with.

She had of course once, years ago, secretly dreamt of giving her maidenhead to Aegon, to her Aegon, but now this man, this man on top of her, that wasn’t him, it was as if a cruel beast had taken over his body and soul yet at one point her arms were instinctively wrapped around him, pulling his frame flush against her chest as she was quietly sobbing into his neck, sobs of pain and sweet pleasure.

-

The room grew quiet in the midst of the harsh night as they laid underneath the cold silk sheets, something that they would often do as children, alas now it was all different. No sweet chatter, no warm embraces, facing away from each other, the only audible sounds being some shallow breaths and whimpers.

Until Aegon’s voice, barely a whisper, tore through the silence;

“Do you hate me?”

[chloe-caulfield94]

I don't understand that section of the LiS fanbase, at all

I'll never understand folks who sacrifice Chloe and also gush over how cute she is with Max or how cool of a character she is. Okay, don't murder her then. Is there something I'm missing? Her life or death is up to you. If you decide to kill her, then she obviously is not that important to you. Certainly not your "number one priority".

Go bask in your glory of an everyday hero who'd be willing to kill their own friend for "the greater good" instead of crying crocodile tears over Chloe's coffin.

An especially egregious example of such mentality is fetishizing Chloe as a "tragic" character, a member of the 27 Club with an 8 year head start. Dude, you're the one turning her life story into a tragedy. You're the one killing her. You're the one depriving her of a happy ending, of a fresh start. I don't understand the morbid interest in Chloe's story viewed through that lens.

The story of a troubled kid who everyone gave up on, including her family, her friends and even herself, who died a stupid death that could've been prevented had she had at least one person standing in her corner (but as it turned out, there was nobody willing to stick by her) is not interesting or captivating. It's simply revolting. And to tell you the truth, quite unoriginal in its inhumanity and banal in its cruelty. Look out the window and you'll see hundreds of stories like that. Is this the sort of tale you wish to write with your choices?

At least I can understand Chloe Price haters. They sacrifice Chloe, because they are lusting to murder the person they are seething with hatred towards. They sacrifice Chloe, because they are deriving sick pleasure from handing down the death penalty for the unforgivable crime of being a troubled teen. That mindset is condemnable, but I can at least understand it, even though I would never think or feel that way, not about Chloe, not about anyone else.

But I cannot comprehend the mindset of celebrating the character that you judged unworthy of survival, less important than others, whose life you chose to spend as a resource. We get it, you performed the incredibly complex analysis of "one is less than multiple", you proved you possess "the strongest of wills to make the hardest of choices".

You decided that there were others "who should live way more" than Chloe and you swung the headman's axe. I salute both your strength to usurp for yourself the right to judge who is more worthy of life and your courage to immediately kill to enforce your swift and wise judgement. I personally, being a coward, faced with a choice to sacrifice a human life to stop a tornado would refuse to do so and let the events unfold, as I feel I am in no position to ever judge who should live and who should die. I guess that's just my weakness and liberal, tree-hugging concern for human dignity speaking.

But could you please stop smiling over the coffin of your victim? Could you please stop recollecting all the moments of joy and friendship that you selfishly decided to take back, that you erased, that you prevented from ever hapening? Could you please stop celebrating the friend that you used for five days to make yourself feel better about your past mistakes and to go through a coming-of-age adventure, who you then discarded like a toy you got bored with, making sure that she never experienced any of the things you did?

Go have fun with all the people you saved instead of performatively mourning the person whose life you deemed so insignificant you chose to willingly cause her death.

In her darkest moment she said she didn't deserve Max's love and friendship, that she didn't even deserve to live. And instead of proving her wrong, uplifiting her, giving a chance to begin again somewhere the past would hold no dominion over her, you chose to prove her right. Denying her a chance at life, you pushed her back into the quagmire of the past, to drown.

Sadistic fate set her up as the Price to be paid. And in your blind obedience to evil destiny, you chose to pay with her life. Whether that made you feel bad or sad was irrelevant to her as she died alone, abandoned and afraid, in a pool of her own blood.

On a related note, don't you think Bay Max keeping Chloe's belongings is deeply disturbing? The belongings of a girl who saw Max for the last time five years ago? I'm fairly certain that if you asked the Monday, pre-parking lot Chloe (so the one who is murdered) if she wished for her personal belongings to pass to Max in case of her death, she would respond with an emphatic "no". I wonder, would Bay Max lie to Joyce, telling her that she got to reconnect with Chloe before her murder (she didn't, since she erased all the time she had spent with Chloe). This only goes to show that Bay Max is totally out of character - basically a creepy body snatcher.

[whumble-beeee]

Into the Woods and Out of the Woods

The (Un)Official Guide to Hero-Keeping | Cont'd from Part 9

Content: mentioned past capture, angst, mentioned (potential) character death, child in distress (only for a second there tho)

* * * * * * * *

“In this life, you need to do everything in your power to survive and thrive. Supers aren’t allowed to thrive in this world. We're forced to hide, we're forced to serve, we're taken advantage of. If we don't comply, then we're dangerous, we’re feared, then we're subjugated, imprisoned, or killed. Just look at what they did to me because of my power, weak as it is [...] [They] made an example out of me, knowing I couldn't fight back, and time and time again it has been shown that I am not the only one. The current system needs to be dismantled and started anew. And if– when– ‘The Man’ says no? Then he must be taken down too.”

– Supervillain Aurelias “Elias” Byrne, codename “Alias"

**Note: Danger Level Five: Any sightings of this individual should be reported to the police immediately. DO NOT INTERACT.

* * * * * * * *

[~Not long before Stan McKellen’s recapture (the events of Ch. 1)~]

"My legs hurt!" a high voice groaned from just behind Stan. He sighed deeply and simply continued walking, arms and legs burning for rest from the nonstop exertion.

"Yeah I know, mine too. But we're almost there. And you're not the one with a bad knee, you can make it."

"But you have a magic cane to help you! I just have my stupid normal legs!" Chloe stomped on the ground with each syllable to illustrate her point.

"I'm not using my magic right now, so the cane is just a cane and my leg still hurts just as much as usual,” Stan countered. “More actually. Not to mention my wrist is killing me because I didn't have time to grab my crutch. So that's just gone now, I guess."

"You should use your power to make it easier, like you do when you’re fighting. And use it on me too! Just make my legs walk for me!"

"Not happening, I don’t wanna pass out and die from exhaustion on this hill using my powers because your legs got tired."

"But I'm about to pass out and die on this hill from exhaustion because my legs got tired. You should teach me how to use my powers, then I could just do it myself.”

“Squeaks, I don't know if you noticed, but we're basically being hunted for sport because of those exact powers.”

"Chloe, you wanna ride on my back?" Marcus chimed in, exhausted from listening to his beloved fiancé and said fiancé's equally as beloved younger sister bicker back and forth. Nonstop. For the entire trip.

"Marcus, don't encourage her. We're literally almost there," Stan groaned. He actually had no idea how far they were from the 'campsite'. But Chloe didn't need to know that.

“It's fine Stan, she's tired, she's a kid, we've been walking a long time. I get it.”

“Nuh-uh!” Chloe said in an obnoxiously nasally voice.

“Nuh-uh?” Marcus questioned, at the same time Stan reflexively cracked out a “Yuh-huh!” without even knowing what the hell he was “yuh-huh"-ing.

“Nuh-uh, I'm not a kid!”

“You're thirteen actually, so you're a kid,” Marcus laughed.

“Nuh-uh, nope! Thirteen. ThirTEEN! Teen! Teenager! I'm a teenager! Not a kid!”

“You're not a teenager until you're sixteen, actually,” Stan stated, amused smile pulling lightly at the corners of his mouth.

“Sixteen is basically an adult already, you can't be basically an adult and also barely a teenager, Stan,” Chloe said matter-of-factly.

But at least she wasn't complaining about being tired anymore.

“And I am a teenager, or else why would it be thirTEEN!?”

“Well, only kids get to ride on my back,” Marcus retorted with ridiculously heightened haughtiness, nose raised and all. “So no riding on my back for you then, big teenager.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Marcus. “Fine, I didn't want to ride on your back anyw–!”

“AND we're here!” Stan announced cheerfully, cutting them off with a mighty huff.

And all fell silent.

Wind whistled through the branches overhead, swishing through leaves with a gentle rustle as the crunching of dirt underfoot came to a grinding halt. The chirps of birds in the distance became audible in their tentative silence, whistles and cheeps and squawks filling the air with a cheerfully chaotic melody. The smell of wet dirt and decaying leaves wafted through the cool air. 

Chloe, of course, was the first to point out the obvious. “Uh. What do you mean?… There's nothing here…”

“Except for the beautiful sounds and sights of nature!” Marcus proclaimed, spreading his arms out and spinning around as if surrounded by the beautiful rolling hills of Austria instead of… Well, the same trees they’d been passing by unheeded for the last hour.

Stan pointed at a dinky circle of rocks on the ground, a slight char to the earth scorching the center of the ring. “Fire pit. This is it.”

“Oh okay, my bad, I guess,” Chloe sarcastically raised her arms in surrender. “Didn't know that a pile of rocks passes for a campsite now.”

“Well, it's what we've got.” Stan plopped his full-to-bursting backpack into the barely-packed dirt. “Hard to be picky when you're on the run from a buncha psycho government crazies trying to torture us or whatever.”

Chloe raised her brow and tilted her head at her brother, arms crossed in that know-it-all sort of way. “Stan. Just because you got a shattered knee doesn’t mean you need to break my back by making me sleep on the best choice owl bones and sharp rocks.”

“Chloe!” Marcus' voice nearly cracked with how high it went, appalled.

“No, no, it’s fine Marcus, she didn't mean it like that,” Stan said. She was just frustrated. “Look, it’s what we got for now. I’ll try to figure out something better for tomorrow. And hey, at least it's not under a bridge or something.”

“Or some mad scientist's lab,” Marcus pointed out.

Chloe shrugged. “I'm just saying, generally it's good to find a place where you don't have to wonder if someone might’ve been burned at the stake.”

Stan had to admit, he felt that same hopeless pit in his stomach that his sister must've been feeling. This was not how he had been hoping to spend his day. Or week, month, year. In fact, he had been hoping he would never have to flee again. Sadly, sometimes it's just not written in the stars that certain people get their way. Ever, apparently.

“... hey Chlo?” Stan called. “How you holding up?” 

She pelted a rock she'd found somewhere into the endless void of the forest. “I'm fine. Wish we had like…” she gestured around, arms wide before throwing them back down to her sides.  “Walls. Or like a roof, or something.”

Ditto.

“Stan?” Marcus called from behind him. Stan quickly made his way over to his fiancé so they could talk in private, as private as you could talk in the woods when the person you're talking about is a 3-second jog away.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Stan whispered quickly.

Marcus grinned conspiratorially at him, eyes flicking around the clearing as if searching for ninjas eavesdropping to learn of his dastardly plans.

“I think it's time–” he whispered dramatically, “for Plan 'Brother-sister-bonding-by-teaching-her-how-to-use-her-powers-and-get-her-out-of-the-mood-she’s-in’.”

Stan scoffed, failing to not let an amused shine crack through features at Marcus’ ridiculousness even as a very real worry took root in his chest. “I guess it probably is time she learned. It’s just hard for her, you know how complicated her feelings are about the powers. But I suppose if no one's around out here to see it, plenty of space…”

“And hopefully it'll help her out of that funk. I can't even begin to think what must be going through her head right now…”

“I can.”

Will I ever see my friends again?

What important things did I leave behind?

Where are we gonna sleep tonight?

When is the next time I'll get the chance to eat?

What if my brother is caught?

What if we're both caught?

Will I finally get to see what mom and dad and Stan had to go through?

I thought we were finally safe.

“It's… it's bad.”

Marcus just nodded sympathetically. The silence was excruciating. 

“... but she's a tough kid, she'll make it through.” Stan finally managed to choke out. “We all will.” 

Marcus pursed his lips, thinking for a moment. “How about this: you both go train, and while you're gone, I'll go back to that convenience store we saw a couple miles back and get some supplies. Y’know, the essentials, marshmallows, some chocolate, graham crackers…”

Stan lit up like the northern lights, eyes full of stars. “S'mores night!”

“Yeah! We can use that crappy little firepit you found!”

“Oh, she would love that!” Stan whisper-shouted, nearly jumping up and down, vibrating with excitement.

Marcus’ eyes glinted. His teasing smile nearly made Stan blush. 

“She's not the only one, huh?”  He poked Stan in the stomach, and Stan nearly squealed as he jumped back out of the way, even almost managing to avenge himself by thrusting the tip of his cane into Marcus’ chest. But Marcus grabbed the cane and yanked it forward, pulling a screech from Stan before he felt Marcus’ strong body pin his arms to his sides in a tight embrace before he fell flat on his face.

“Caught you,” he teased in a sing-songy voice. “Whatcha gonna do now?”

“Oh get off it Silva!” Stan yelled as he halfheartedly shoved to try and get away, secretly wishing he could stay here forever.

Marcus let Stan go, instead grabbing his fiancé's hands in his own and squeezing them tight, looking lovingly into each other's eyes.

"We'll have a nice night tonight,” he reassured. “I know things are horrible right now… but things always get worse before they get better. And hell, they could always be worse.”

Slight flashbacks so kindly reminded Stan of the horrors. Every day away from that hellscape was another better day. 

“Things could definitely be worse.” Stan tossed his arms over Marcus’ shoulders with a cheeky grin. “ Like for example… I could be anywhere else in the world, and then I wouldn’t be with you.”

He pulled Marcus down into a soft kiss, one hand on the back of his head to gently guide him and feeling the warmth of skin against skin, Marcus’ body against his own, supporting him wholly. And in that moment, where the world was just the two of them, he let himself imagine that everything truly was okay. That they weren't being hunted down, that they hadn't just had to flee from their home again, that he wasn't alone in this world. Because he had Chloe, and he had Marcus, and he would always have them forever.

He pulled away just as he heard Chloe shout out an over-exaggerated “Ewwwww! Get a room!” From behind them. Stan rolled his eyes and pushed off of his fiancé, who was now practically giggling.

“You better get going if you want to get back before dark. Meet up in, say, three hours?” 

Marcus gave a goofy grin and started on his way back up the trail with a big thumbs up. “Will do! Be back with yummy treats soon!”

“I'll see you in a bit! I love you!”

“Love you more!”

“Are you done eating each other's faces?” Chloe yelled. “Where's he going? What's happening, what are you planning?”

Then Marcus was gone. That small pang in his heart that came around when he couldn't see those who he loved most returned again. He'd gotten used to it, but it never stung any less.

Stan ignored the questioning as he made his way over to his little sister, who was now balancing with her arms out swinging wildly, stepping around and around from rock to rock of the small ‘fire pit’.

“Hey, Chloe?”

Her gaze shot up to his, sea-foam blue eyes peering into turquoise-green. His breath caught in his throat. The words died on his tongue for a moment as he remembered all that he had done for her. To keep her safe. To try and keep her happy. The times he clutched her in his hold, held her hand, shoved her behind him, shielded her from anything that could harm her in favor of harming himself instead.

And he would keep doing that, every single time. But that didn’t mean he would always succeed, and they needed to prepare for that.

It was finally time, huh?

Chloe tilted her head at him. “Uh… Stan? Why are you looking at me like a serial killer?”

Stan startled. “Ah, right! Sorry. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go train your powers some.”

Chloe’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Really!?” 

She jumped up as high as she could off the rocks and scrambled over to Stan. “I thought you said I couldn’t learn them because they’re dangerous!”

“I never said that!” Stan protested. “We just haven't had the chance to do it because other people want to hurt us over them. That’s why they’re dangerous. Not the power itself. Well, the power itself also can be dangerous... But you need to know it. To defend yourself. In case.”

“...in case?” Her eyebrows creased slightly.

“Uh… well, yeah, in case–”

“Boring! Let's go! I wanna learn!” Chloe interrupted a bit too quickly, grabbing Stan by the wrist and damn near tripping him flat on his face when she started to drag him toward… she didn’t even know, really. To learning powers!

“Augh! Chloe! Stop, I’m gonna trip and die and it'll be your fault!” Stan’s heart jumped into his throat and he struggled to keep his balance.

“Use your magic to fly or something,” she said giddily, though she did let up slightly on the pulling. “It's like a warm-up so you can teach me better! I bet I'll be even better at it than you!”

“Ha! In your dreams you'll be better than me!”

* * * * * * * *

Chloe was unusually quiet on their trek to find a spot to practice. Stan would say something, and then she'd brighten up for a moment, bantering and hollering as usual. But then her jaw would clench, her brows knit together. Staring into the middle distance as they walked, looking at nothing in particular. Thinking. She even ignored various cool-looking rocks and tree formations, never once trying to climb the haphazard structures.

She might be worse off than he originally thought. 

They came upon a clearing in the brush.  Flat ground, no trees or rocks in the way. 

Perfect.

“Alright, Chloe,” Stan started, startling Chloe out of her walk as he took a ready position, feet apart and grounded for a steady base, cane at the ready. No going back now. “Now I've seen you trying to use your powers without permission before and honestly, you did pretty good.”

“Nuh-uh!” She interrupted obnoxiously. 

“Yuh-huh! I've seen it!” Stan bit back without missing a beat. 

“Nuh-uh!!”

“Yuh-HUH!”

“NUH-UH!” she shouted, and Stan barely managed to block when she jumped up and tried to bap him on the top of the head.

“What are you even ‘nuh uh’-ing here?” Stan cried, accompanied by a small screech as he ducked away.

“I thought you were about to say I shouldn't have done that. But then you said something else,” Chloe shrugged.

“So you doubled down?”

A pause.

“Yesssss...”

Stan rolled his eyes. 

“You really shouldn't have used your powers, to be fair…” he considered, tapping his finger on his cane. “Especially since you know what would happen if the wrong people found out. You remember. The– the uh…”

The running.

The raids.

The people in the armored vests.

The guns.

The murder.

Our magic killing just as easily as it lifts a mug into the air.

My disappearance, the experiments I won’t talk about.

Our parents.

Stan cleared his throat. That was all in the past now. 

Chloe’s eyes were downcast, holding her arms close in a self-hug. 

Yeah. 

She remembered. 

“But uh– But I did the same when I was your age, so I can't judge. You did pretty good from… from what I saw. So I want you to show me what you've got so far.” 

Stan lifted himself off the ground in a light float, the bottom of his good leg and his hands glowing a harsh bright blue as they lifted him away from the earth. “Then I can show you how it's really done.”

Chloe’s eyes raised, a tired smile forcing its way to her lips. “Show off.”

“Well, maybe once you learn, you can also get a big head about it.”

Chloe gave a small huff in acknowledgment, her smile slowly falling from her face as she stared blankly at the ground.

Stan carefully lowered to the ground. This wasn't something they could just ignore and hope would go away, was it? 

He crept up to Chloe, the wind rustling the trees overhead creating an almost deafening cacophony in the silent spell that had befallen them like a thick blanket.

“Chlo?...” 

She wouldn't meet his eyes. 

“Talk to me, Squeaks, you’ve been off all day. What’s wrong?”

She took a sharp breath in, face scrunching up, eyes edged red.

“What do you think?” she whispered, hissed, practically. “I hate our powers. This is stupid, they’re stupid, I wish we never had magic. I don't wanna learn, I wanna– I just wa-anna be normal.”

Ah. Yeah.

Stan knew the feeling all too well.

He tried to find something encouraging to say to help lift her back up to normal, to tell her that everything would be okay and that she was perfect the way she was, powers and all. But he found that he really didn't have any words to say to make this better. Nothing that was true anyway. She wasn't wrong.

“... Chloe,” he finally started. “I need you to learn this for me, kid. I need you to be able to… to-to defend yourself in case… In case I can’t.”

Chloe’s body lurched with a held-back sob. “I don’t want to learn! I hate our magic! It’s not fair! I wish we never had powers, then I could still have a normal family. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about you not being able to protect me! I wouldn’t have to protect myself, I wouldn’t have to be strong, I don’t want to be strong! I wish Mom and Dad were still here! I just want my mo-mommy and daddy-y-y!”

She cried freely now, breathing shallow and fast as she tried to catch her breath over the shuddering and the tears, muscles clenched as she hugged herself in some small attempt at security, face scrunched and small and pained as she finally let out all that she’d been holding in the entire trip. For who even knew how long.

He gazed at her with glassy eyes; his sister weeping before him. She’d been through so much. His wonderful, amazing, annoying sister who he’d been through hell to protect. 

She didn't deserve this.

They both didn't deserve this.

He pursed his lips. Tears burned at his eyes now too, threatening to wet his cheeks just as they were doing to Chloe.

He pulled her in close to his chest, heartbeat thrumming against her as he held her tight. A hug she didn’t reciprocate, didn’t need to.

“I know. Me too,” he whispered.

It was unfair. It was incredibly, heart-wrenchingly unfair. Just knowing everyone and everything they ever loved could be so easily ripped away from their desperate grasp as easily as wind blows leaves across the ground. 

“But…”

Stan had screamed and cried about it for many a night and day, mourning the loss of the person he could have been if anything else was different.

“That’s not the hand we’ve been dealt,” Stan murmured into his sister's nappy hair, clutching her even closer as she trembled. “It's unfair, it's so, so unfair. But that's just…”

Screaming.

Crying.

Begging.

Running.

Wishing for something different.

“That's just how it is.”

And that’s why I need you to learn.

She let out a sob into his shoulder. They sat like that for a long while; Listening to the sounds of nature which never ceased around them. The whistle of the wind through trees, the birds chirping all around them. The continuously quieter weeping as the girl in the center of it all tired herself out.

“Those ho-orrible people, Chloe?” he breathed. “They want to capture you. They want to capture me. They did capture me. Tortured me. It’s a… It’s a miracle I escaped, honestly. They captured Mom, Da-ad. And–... and they would do it to you too, if-if given the chance.”

Teary wetness started to soak through the shoulder of Stan’s shirt.

He squeezed her shoulders, breath shaking. “I need you to… I need to know you can defend yourself, okay? A-and as much of a curse as our powers are, they’re strong. So strong, just like you. You can learn how to use them to defend yourself, right? In case I can’t anymore, in case–”

“DON’T SAY THAT!!” Chloe cried out, angry, desperate azure eyes flashing angrily up at her brother as she pushed away from him. “Say that you’ll always be here for me! Always! You can’t get caught again! I need you! Marcus needs you! You’re gonna stay with me and we’re gonna find Mom and Dad and you’re never going anywhere ever again, and neither am I! And neither is Marcus, or Mom, or Dad, and if anyone tries to hurt them again then I'll kill them and then we can all stay together! An’-- an’ I'll get the guys who tortured you too and I'll make them pay.”

Stan felt a melancholy smile overtake his face through the running tears. Maybe not the exact right motivations, wanting to kill anyone who ever tried to hurt them. 

But it was a start. 

He knew he couldn’t promise that he would always be here to protect her. His parents had promised the same thing. And yet…

“Don't worry, Squeaks, I’m–... I’m not going anywhere. Nev-never plan to,” He sniffled. “Also, uh… maybe don't kill them… that wouldn't make you much uh, much better than them, would it?” He winked. “Maybe just maim them a bit.

Chloe nodded slightly, jaw set as she took a deep, shaking breath and a similar smile Stan's started invading her features as well. “Yeah… Jus’-just broken bones. Thr-throw them into the ceiling like you do a little. Pay them back for your knee...”

Stan snickered. “I would love to pay back the person who crapped up my knee…” and he couldn't help the welling pride in his chest as he raised his gaze to look his sister in the eye once more. It almost caused the tears to start pouring all over again.

“And if you were the one to get them, Squeaks? Maybe you let me get in on the action too? God, I would let you lord that over me forever.”

Chloe burst into a little laugh, still marked with the haunting ghosts of sobs. “I would never let you forget it.”

“So… you're on board then?” he asked tentatively. “Gonna learn your powers and defeat the bad guys for me? Marcus is bringing some treats back to camp for when we’re done too, though you’ll get them either way, we all need a bit of a pick me up.”

“Treats?” She looked up at him like an astounded little puppy dog. Stan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah! So you wanna work the magic a bit? Or you just wanna head back and be lazy?

“I…” She was still shaking. “I… I think… magic. But uh, but… You-you can fight your own bad guys. I’ll be too busy floating around you to help you not get your ass kicked.” 

Her eyes widened slightly when Stan raised his eyebrow at her.

“I mean… Butt.”

Stan scoffed. “Yeah, okay potty mouth–”

“Potty mouth? Are you five years old?”

“Am I five years old? You’re the one who can't say ‘ass’.” 

“That's because you're my brother!”

“Well,” Stan theatrically cracked his knuckles and drew some power up through his cane as he grinned at her smugly. “You know any five-year-olds that can do this?”

He swiped with a grand flourish at the nearest tree across the clearing, a full sweep through air in front of him with all the force he could muster up, bathing the now sunset orange-red ring of trees in a blast of eerie aqua blue. A deafening crackle-pop came from deep within the trunk, as if the wood itself was screaming out in protest, in agony, as cracks started to explode outward, shining through with bright blue light bursts. The side of the tree exploded with a thunderous roaring creak, gnarled and deep and sharp and twisting as it showered bark and wood pulp down on the two siblings as the both screamed in what was terrified joy and dove to duck and cover.

Stan immediately realized his error with a playful screech, jumping in front of Chloe and pulling her in close to shield her from the flying wooden shrapnel machine that the tree had so unwittingly become.

Then once again, the clearing was safe, wooden rain finishing its downpour, a few stray splinters tip tapping into the ground. The only sound to be heard now was the breathless laughter of two siblings as they took in the full breadth of what just happened.

Stan had just exploded a tree.

It looked like a cannonball had been shot through it! But surprisingly, it was still standing. Tilting, sure. But standing.

Stan cleared his throat, blinking against the wood dust. Chloe now stared openmouthed and wide-eyed at the mighty tree, a deep eternal gash scarring to the very heart of the wood.

“I uh–...” Stan coughed with a curt laugh. He had to pant to get enough air into his system “I didn’t expect it to explode that much.”

Chloe’s gaze shifted back to her brother, open mouth and all.

“That. Was. AWESOME!!” She cried, jumping up and down like a child on a trampoline. “I mean, you basically killed that tree… but that was so cool! I didn’t know we could explode things!!”

“Well I mean, I didn’t really explode it, I just kinda hit it hard enough that it exploded. Kinda surprised it's still standing.”

“Show me!” Chloe exclaimed, bouncing over to the tree to examine the damage more closely. “Show me show me show me! Show me how to do that, I wanna hit that hard!”

“Careful, you’ll get splinters!” 

“Shoulda thought of that before you exploded a tree!”

Stan hurried after her as fast as he could go without winding himself even more. He leaned extra hard on his cane as he walked, movements just a bit more sluggish. That had taken so much more energy than he had thought it would, even with the cane helping him along and aiding the power. But hey, at least Chloe was excited again. Happy. For now.

That’s all Stan could ever ask for.

* * * * * * * *

Next

Taglist: @flowersarefreetherapy | @pirefyrelight | @cakeinthevoid | @painsandconfusion | @books-are-everything |

@paperprinxe | @tippytappytyping | @chaotic-orphan

[howlingday]

Persemblance

1 / (2) / 3 / 4

Qrow: Hey. Some girl named Weiss Schnee went missing.

Qrow: All this work is such a pain! It's like people expect huntsmen to solve crimes or something!

Qrow: Ruby, get your uncle another beer.

Ruby: ...

--------------------------------------------------

Neptune: Weiss really isn't at school today...

Port: THAT'S BECAUSE SHE'S DEAD!

Neptune: It's almost like that crazy TV world we fell into has something to do with the murders!

Naaaaah.

Neptune: I can't just walk away this time. I need to find out why Weiss had to die like this!

Yang: Neptune...

Neptune: ...So can we go back in the TV again please, please, please~!

Sure.

Neptune: YAAAAAAAAY~! THIS IS GONNA BE SO AWESOME~!

--------------------------------------------------

Neptune: Alright, guys, this is going to be dangerous...

Neptune: So, I brought a rake!

Neptune: Also, Yang doesn't get to come!

Yang: Wh-What?! But I-

Neptune: Shut up and hold this rope!

Neptune: YAAAY, TV WORLD~!

--------------------------------------------------

Somewhat: Hey! It's you guys again!

Somewhat: Now I get it... You must be the ones throwing people in!

Neptune: SHUT UP AND TAKE OFF THAT SUIT!

Neptune: (Yanks Somewhat's head off)

Neptune & Somewhat: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Somewhat: We must join forces~!

Somewhat: (Hands over glasses)

Neptune: What are these for?

Somewhat: So you can look cool during battles~!

Neptune: Battles- Wait! This is Weiss' parents door! I bet this place has something to do with how she di-

Somewhat: TUTORIAL FIGHT! TUTORIAL FIGHT!

Neptune: What?

Grimm: (Licks Neptune's face)

Neptune: WAIT, WHAT, WHAT IS THIS?!

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF PERSONA~

The Rusted Knight: I AM THOU, THOU ART ME...

The Rusted Knight: WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILYYY~!

Somewhat: Okay, listen; some Grimm have weaknesses, but they never make any sense! So just guess until you get it right! Here, press this button to get a helpful analysis!

Somewhat: I'm CHEESED to see your GOUDA input skills and FONDUE diligence for this SQUEAKER of a battle~!

ZIO!

Somewhat: Wowie, sir~! That was amazing~! Don't you think so, what's your face?

Neptune: Hey, why don't you call me sir?

Somewhat: Because you're comic relief!

???: WHY DO I HAVE THE WORST DAUGHTER IN THE WORLD?!

Neptune: Is that Weiss' dad? I don't get it. Weiss always seemed like she was having fun at work... Y-You mean to tell me she WASN'T happy working at the store that drove her family out of business?!

Weiss: Hey, Neptune~!

Neptune: Yes, my sweet~?

Weiss: GO KILL YOURSELF!

Neptune: WHAT?! B-But we were gonna get married and have a million beautiful babies together!

?Neptune?: Whatever, man. She wasn't even that hot.

Somewhat: (Gasps) Two Neptunes?!

?Neptune?: More like one Neptune and one... AWESOME Neptune. Gee, living in the country sure is boring-

Neptune: NO, YOU'RE NOT ME, I WOULD NEVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT EVER!

Somewhat: Whoa~!

Neptune: Naptiiime~!

Grimm Neptune: SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE JUST ORDERED A STUPID LOOKING BOSS~! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

ZIO!

Grimm Neptune: OW!

Neptune: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!

Somewhat: You have to accept it, or it'll attack us again!

The strength of heart to face one's self has blah blah blah...

Neptune: Okay, fine, I guess I do kinda hate everything.

He has obtained the facade used to overcome life's hardships... THE PERSONA FARMER PIG MONK~!

Neptune: Sweet~! Maybe now we can save people who fall in here before they die!

Somewhat: Yeah~! You know, since you guys came in here, I've been wondering where I come from and-

Neptune: Yeah, whatever! See you later!

Somewhat: HUH?!

--------------------------------------------------

Neptune: Hey, we're ba- Oh, crap, I forgot about you.

Yang: You guys are jerks!

Yang: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!

Neptune: Huh. I guess we should apologize.

Neptune: Later! I'm going to bed.

--------------------------------------------------

Blake: I'm wearing a kimono because I'm filling in for my mom at the inn we run!

--------------------------------------------------

TV: Blake Belladonna is wearing a kimono because she's filing in for her mom at the inn they run.

--------------------------------------------------

You should watch the midnight channel. There's a high school girl wearing a kimono on the screen. ...but you can't think of anyone who fits that description, so you decided to go to bed.

--------------------------------------------------

Ozpin: Helloooooooooooooooo~!

Ozpin: Person, persona, persona...

Ozpin: SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS!

--------------------------------------------------

Neptune: Dude! I'm so excited to find out who's behind all these murders!

Neptune: Let's be friends~!

You became friends with Neptune~! Neptune will now DIE FOR YOU

Yang: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Yang: BLAKE'S MISSING! BLAKE'S MISSING!

Yang: BLAKE'S MISSING! BLAKE'S MISSING! BLAKE'S MISSING! BLAKE'S MISSING!

Yang: (Scroll buzzes, Answers) Oh, is this Blake? Yaaay~!

--------------------------------------------------

Qrow: Two bodies hanging from telephone poles... and we don't even know if this is a homicide yet.

Clover: Sir, I think we can probably assume it's a-

Qrow: Shut up, Ebi.

Qrow: We've got no clues about the perp. We don't even have a sus because the sec with the mo's got a perf al.

Clover: Sir, what are you even-

Qrow: SHUT UP, EBI.

Clover: Um, so what do we know about the case so far?

Qrow: The perp... is PROPBABLY in Patch!

ACE DETECTIVE~!

Qrow: Case closed! Let's get drunk.

Clover: Huh?!

--------------------------------------------------

...

Ruby: ...

[kerubimcrepin]

Episodes 27-29 - Ecaflip City (part 2)

Hiiii totally-not-one-of-Ecaflip's-avatars

This says "Pub."

This is so cute... She really cares about his opinion of her outfits.

We need more scenes of them shopping together. (I say, as if we won't get this in the next episode.)

I feel like if I was Keke, this would be my time to start running and fleeing.

While it's never explained what his lucky dice mean to him, they obviously mean a lot. He was ready to die for them, in the comic, after all.

While this did start out as something he did for Lou, it became very clear that really, this is about Kerubim's sense of being inadequate.

But what really feeds his sense of inadequacy is his love for Lou, and it's kind of not-the-best-manliest-coolest-adventurer thing, to say, "I think I'm not good enough for the woman who already agreed to marry me."

The baron, being a god's avatar, doesn't really have insecurities. He plays to put mortals in their place.

Kerubim, however, plays because he doesn't want to go to therapy.

As I've said in the previous liveblog, if Ecaflip is testing his willpower or morals... Then that's a very cruel test, rigged in a way that doesn't seem to expect Kerubim to win.

Especially with how conveniently Lou is made aware of the game, right before the moment Kerubim is about to make the biggest fucky-wucky of his entire life.

We can see, here, how much he downplays his love for Lou out of fear of being vulnerable, and appearing weak before other people. But all it does, is make him look like an asshole.

Really, I've seen so many theories on why they broke up, — from terminal illness, to "well what if she got pregnant, and thought that Kerubim, who can't shut up about how much he loves kids, (though mostly orphans,) wouldn't want to have one, so she left?" — and none of them consider the possibility that, perhaps, she would leave him after remembering what he did, as well as everything else that happened and how their relationship was in general.

(Or perhaps, and this is my personal "theory that doesn't have any proof behind it and is just me throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks", what if she Would Not Fucking Want to be with a demigod, who might just end up not ageing, amd will outlive her and their theoretical kids? Because I can totally see him hiding this from her until the last possible moment.)

(Hell, both of these possibilities can coexist! There are so many factors that probably led to their split, god.)

I think, if the reason why she left him is remembering this, the only reason she hadn't beaten him to death is also remembering that 1. she's been an asshole too, 2. him finding her is what helped her recover her memories to begin with.

Just... a fail relationship. They both failed in every single possible way. God.

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes, Keke...

As sad as I am, I think it's good that in the end, she left him. They both deserved better than this relationship.

Perhaps Oropo did nothing wrong.

Maybe we should kill and dethrone the gods.

New reaction images for when Ecaflip is being an evil fucking cat.

[aajjks]

NWO!JK

“hey~ that’s not true” you take jungkook’s hands in yours and caress them. “i don’t think you’re a loser and neither should you. you’re the amazing spider-man! and sure, things went to shit but everyone is okay. aunt oh-wol will be okay and i’m sure once she knows the truth, she’ll be so proud of you. her nephew is an icon. you’re every child’s dream and you’ve singlehandedly inspired so many people to fight for what’s right. we win some and lose some but hey? just do as the late aaliyah said, dust yourself off and try again” the status of yours and jungkook’s relationship is…strange. after everything that’s happened, you feel like a break is needed between the two of you but you’ll share your feelings on that after jungkook has fully recovered.

you press a kiss to jungkook’s cheek before running your fingers through his silky hair to show your support but it doesn’t help much. his heart is in shambles and the will to continue being the hero his country loves so much begins to dwindle.

as the chapter comes to a close, our heroes are left in critical condition. jung morgan has torn through the tight-knit family and has taken so many lives and hearts with her. her hideout is raided and aired on live television for the world to see and you’re forced to stay with a friend until you can save enough money for another apartment. seoul is once again at peace but not for long. a new enemy is just around the corner, a mask spitting words of hatred and malice into a heart that used to be so pure.

“eunwoo~”

“eunwoo~”

“stop…leave me alone. no, i-i can’t! he’s my friend”

“that spider is not a friend. you want power? i can give you that. no more ridicule. no more judgement. we can give the world peace but you need me”

“i wish i never brought you here. i wish i never—,”

“SHUT UP!!! that is why you’re so weak and will forever live in the shadow of your peers. put me on, eunwoo. i fit like skin, my voice like silk. tempting…so close…wear me and i will make you happy”

🔴 LIVE ON AIR

“we interrupt this program with breaking news, hahahahahahahahahhaaaaa!!!!!!! i’m coming for you spider-man. beware”

*BOOM*

the building is engulfed in flames as hundreds of people cry out for help, barely managing to escape the suffocating flames.

“OF THE GREEN GOBLIN!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

END.

~🫧

You’re feeding him soup right now and he’s watching the TV, it’s boring. news has nothing to show except for headlines about the black cat.

“Ugh I am tired hearing about that bitch she is dead now! PLEASE CHANGE THE CHANNEL YN.” He begs you, because hearing about the black cat just triggers him so much, you definitely understand where he’s coming from because you relate to his trauma, you pick up the remote and you change the channel.

That is until you guys come across a new channel, but— there’s something really weird about it, the commentator is wearing a stupid costume and a mask.

“Wow early Halloween?” Jungkook snorts, “can you please increase the volume? I really want to see what they’re talking about.”

You do as he tells you too, and he gives you a sweet smile before thanking you.

Jungkook and you focus on the news while you continue to feed him the soup, “hmm?” He exclaims.

There is destruction everywhere, the screen shows a fire everywhere, people, screaming in terror, crying out for Spider-Man to save them

He hears sinister laughter.

“we interrupt this program with breaking news, hahahahahahahahahhaaaaa!!!!!!! i’m coming for you spider-man. beware”

Jungkooks smile vanishes.

“OF THE GREEN GOBLIN!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

He sits up, his jaw clenched, and eyes hardened. “What the fuck, looks like someone else wants to fucking die from my hands again.”

This time it looks like his hands won’t be red from the blood, but instead green.

Because the Spider-Man is going to kill the green goblin, even if he dies trying to.

E N D O F P A R T O N E O F T H E R P.

[imaslutforcuddles]

Did something bad (sneak peek)

PART THREE

[ part one ] [ part two ] [ part three ]

Robb Stark x Fem!reader

song link | Did Something Bad By Taylor Swift

summary | You go to war against your father and Cersei, to Robb’s surprise you help in every way possible. His men threaten you because your a woman, you can’t go to battle, they lock you up before dawn of the war for your ‘safety’. Lets just say you put up a good fight, the war isn’t the Lannisters against the north anymore. It’s a war against you and your mother, she arrives to take you home. The war starts to go south (pun intended?) and the north is suffering, you end that suffering along with any doubt and hate Robb had for you.

warnings | Death, war, violence, sexism, swearing.

a/n | I apologize for the wait!!!! (I AM SO FUCKING SORRY-). Too long.

She had stepped into your quarters long before you had woken up and when you finally had, she was right there to wish you well.

“Oh gods!”

Your hand was next to your heart as it tried to slow itself down a little. “Forgive me my Lady you startled me.”

Caitlyn smiled at your politeness, Arya and Sansa were for more stubborn than she had hoped for. “There is no need to apologise y/n, i understand your surprise.” You both chuckle for a moment before you rise out of bed, “I’d imagine you are not here to just say goodmorning?”

“You are for more clever than i thought you were.”

You scoff a little.

“Perhaps Lady Caitlyn, i am not just some maiden. I have a brain and i have been taught far more than your average girl.”

Her eyes widen for a second at your remark, “You are going to be doubted; that is what us women have to endure, you should know this by now. You are stupid until proven otherwise,”

“And yet,” She moves toward you, “The only thing you have proven to me is that your naive and impulsive.”

You Step forward toward her, showing no sign of backing down.

“That’s the thing Lady Caitlyn,” You step again.

“I’m not naive and i’m not impulsive. I’m just simply not afraid to speak my mind when necessary, and i will not have you disrespect me. Especially when you question my place as a woman.”

A guard from outside your quarters barges in, “My Lady, it is urgent!”

“I don’t care who you are or what is urgent, you do not barge in my room.” You state to the boy.

He snorts, “You are just a weak woman.”

You smile and tilt your head, “I am not just a weak woman, i am a woman of power.”

Lady Caitlyn bows her head to you, “She was right, you are not to enter any quarter without permission. Or you will be banished, do you hear me boy!”

The knight gulps and nods slowly.

“Now take me to the urgency boy!” Lady Caitlyn scoffs at the ‘so called’ knights idiocy.

His eyes widen and he nods his head, “R-right this way my Lady.”

-

The knight led Lady Caitlyn and you to his General’s tent and nodded to you before running of.

When you had walked in, the stench of death hit you.

Looking around for the source you found a small child lay on the bed where the General should lay to rest.

You frowned and sighed in guilt, how did he die? Who was he?

Turning around you gasped as a familiar face became present.

The General grunted as he made his way into his tent finding you over his sons body, “We found him just across the border your royal highness.”

Lady Caitlyn sighed and nodded understanding what this meant.

“They must have sent someone before their army.”

Your eyes widened at Lady Caitlyn’s assumption, “You mean the Lioness is already on her way?”

Lady Caitlyn’s face became stern and sour, more harsh than before, she would argue that it hurt to frown that much.

“I believe so.”

-

I am so sorry i almost forgot about who wanted to be tagged! @queerqueenlynn​

[nikatyler]

Zeph 1.0 ✨

Surprise. I wanna archive my very first bg3 run over here also, because it's pain in the ass to revisit it on twitter. I didn't quite live tweet this one, but I tweeted it a bunch too. The usual applies, spoilers are inevitable*, do with that what you want, and as per usual, if you haven't played this game yet: Go. Play. It. NOW. 😡

*but also this one is wayyyy less spoilery than my livetweeting of later runs haha

So let's go back to the beginning, March 7. Little Nika had no idea she's about to unleash her greatest hyperfixation since her Winx Club days.

I'm feeling like. Proper shy about this game 💀 It's just a game these people are fake no need to feel shy you'll hurt no one's feelings dammit

(it's still installing btw, because apparently my internet hates me today of all days)

Still about 80 minutes to go 💀 my own stupid ass anxiety will kill me before that

(x)

nice

(x)

FIVE MINUTES UNTIL I LOSE THE LAST SHRED OF MY SANITY BESTIES

(x)

friends i'm too shy to click the play button

(x)

See this is why I have zero friends because I'm too intimidated to even open a game with people who DON'T ACTUALLY EXIST alright alright i'll go do it you know i want to and i know i want to but i'm gonna sit here blushing like a fool the entire time

I also need to yell before I do a new thing

I'm in

Being a complicated asexual means I have no ducking idea if I want it or not Eh we're going with it

Yes I suppose this will now be the live thread of my initial thoughts and shenanigans, welcome welcome, or use that cute little mute button if you don't care ✨

I can already tell I'll have only two facial expressions playing this game: 👁️👄👁️ and 👁️🫦👁️

That was some fucked up asmr right there in the beginning. 10/10

Fuck it whomst do we create now chat Do we do it Do I do that thing we talked about

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of ways I could go about this, I think I'll create a random character at first and then when I play some other time I'll bring my boi in when I know better what to do and how 🫣

Girl help I don't know what kind of character I want to play with

As someone who dropped out of university I kinda feel like I need to have this hair 💀

them need a name (idk why i said it like that but i'm keeping it my brain is mush ok)

aintnoway it's been 15 minutes and i still haven't picked a name, am i possibly overthinking this? does anyone get the vibe that i'm overthinking this because i certainly feel like there may be a chance that i'm overthinking this

BUT I AM HAVING FUN I PROMISE

I'm still playing I just have nothing to say, I'm learning, and I'm waiting to meet you know who

Here we go 😗

Had dinner irl and I feel like I should take a break but so far I'm loving this! I'm a bit dumb but eh we'll get there. Would love to try out the multiplayer at some point (but don't count on it, I say that now and then I'll be too anxious to play with you 💀)

(x)

I just realized my guy Zeph (they/them) looks like a yassified Ladislaus the Posthumous and idk what to do with that information

here's a slightly better look at my guy. do i need to say i'd die for them

(x)

babes the minecraft hole will be abandoned for another game i'm afraid

(x)

That little thingy that tells you the character approves will ruin my life. Pathological people-pleaser reporting for duty 🫡

(x)

Y'all weren't lying this game is addicting

(x)

i'm so fucking weak already he just lays there like that and i fgjklsdfsjkljdsf thoughts i will not handle this game well

(x)

i'm so schoolgirl with a crush coded at the moment it's so embarrassing

(x)

I haven't played bg3 since before lunch

Midnight and I still haven't played it's been like almost 12 hours at this point I'm completely normal abt this

I'm too tired but I want to play but it would be a bad idea but I mean I'm dumb at this game anyway so what's the harm but I don't want to mess up but ok bed first ig

(x)

did someone ask for homemade niche memes that only apply to me

(he would get it though)

wait that picture is even funnier than i intended for it to be bc like this happened canonically in the nsb legacy, he burned because i was too busy doing something else

(x)

I killed my character 💀 whoopsie it's reload time sorry bud

(x)

Teehee won a battle and knew what I was doing most of the time, maybe I'm getting better at this

I'll go put some lasagna in the oven and continue playing

(x)

Chanting "eat shit, eat shit, eat shit" in a very squeaky voice every time an enemy goes down

(x)

all too well you say?? wind in my hair i was there i remember it all too well?? did you leave your scarf at his sister's house???

(x)

lemme tell you how to make my simple bi ass happy

i'm bi first and people pleaser second. or vice versa. dunno

(x)

Oh yissss the bite scene here we go :3

(x)

oh don't you worry i will so be on my vigilante shit for you

(x)

Not to be weird again but this game is unlocking emotions I didn't know I had

(x)

You know how I thought I was getting better 💀 yeah nvm it's reload after reload today 💀

(x)

Oop I'm already on 14 hours 🫢

(x)

Okay I'm gonna play for just like five minutes and then go to bed If I'm still online at 2am you're allowed to yell at me

lord save me I said five minutes

I'm showing great restraint right now

(x)

Oh something is happening ohhh something is happening can my laptop catch up and stop lagging pls

(x)

You know it's gonna be so jover for me and I'm gonna be so beyond saving when I start putting together detailed information about my boi Zeph

(they/them btw, I call them boi or bud but in a nonbinary way)

Also can't decide what Zeph is short for. Was their deadname Joseph and they kept just half of it? Is their full first name Zephyros or something? What's their full full name? See it starts with little things like this but give me an hour and I'll have their full history 💀

(x)

Big spiders...big fucking spiders ;----;

(x)

hELLO

fuck that's not the best screenshot i could've taken 💀 I PANICKED OKAY

live nika reaction

Why do I get the feeling *everybody* wants to have fun with me

i didn't click it yet guys i'm 💀💀💀

so do i torture myself and leave it to tomorrow or do i go back in the game now? 👀

Fuck it let's go asexuality leaving my body as we speak

Oh boy

👁️👄👁️ gnight

(x)

My sibling: *sends me a picture of their blorbo* Me: THAT'S NEAT, ALSO I F🤭CKED MY BLORBO YESTERDAY

And yes, those are our first messages today. No "good morning, have a nice day", more like "so this fictional man dammit", straight to the point 😌

Asking the real questions (abt their blorbo)

(x)

Having an Annabeth Chase in Mark of Athena moment (and I don't mean that I'm doing something smart, I mean there's spiders)

FUCK YEAHHHHH WE WON (and almost died) (and in Zeph's case literally died) (but we're so back) (seriously though why do I always manage to kill just my character) (this was the worst battle I hate spiders I hate spiders so much)

I'm still shaking 😭

Having a real dummy day, besides the spider fight I'm not doing well 💀

nvm we got the pwetty book, it only took me like an hour to get here, it's fine😂

the blood, i like it 😌😏

(x)

Oop I've got over 24 hours in the game already 🤭

btw I don't think I ever told you, my savefile name is "girl help"

Also I just quickly hopped in again now but I didn't really do much, I'm too tired to think at this point, I'll probably go to bed soon. I thought I figured something but nah not really and then I accidentally crashed the game oops 💀 my bad

(x)

bi panic intensifies

(x)

Something about me forgetting there could be traps and letting Zeph run straight through them over and over again…no wonder they're always on the verge of death 😭🤣

(x)

um yeah i guess we weren't supposed to do that huh 💀

Don't worry, I reloaded 💀

(x)

I miss my boi Zeph I wish I could be playing rn

They are so getting a backstory and like actual development once I get more into the lore and everything, just watch. And then we'll come full circle and I'll create them in ts4

(x)

we are here

sorry not sorry but also occasionally i'm too self aware so i will be sorry but most of the time i will just not be sorry. sorry about that. but actually not sorry. sorry --

(x)

[hanako-san]

To conclude my thoughts that I have had about the jshk character for a long time, the last character is Kou. It's possible that I will make an addition because the manga is not finished. I can finally express the thoughts I currently have for him.

Edit: [I know I'll be repeating myself and I apologize for any mistakes]

Kou is a character from I expected more and I had a lot of hopes for him, but I was disappointed and irritated by his character. I don't hate him! I am very disappointed with him. He shouldn't get close to Amane like the daikon did and stop playing the big friend act. I thought that if he gets closer to Amane he will start to understand something, but no, all I see is a boy who wants to defend the girl he developed a crush on. No wonder Kou is so good with daikon on the team, they are both the same,except that Kou tries and wants to understand and takes too much on his shoulders. These efforts are visible in him, but it still doesn't explain how he behaves and the way he disappointed me. Kou actually sees Amane, as shown in the red house. So he's furious and ready to kill anyone if he doesn't get rid of him, but he still hasn't decided what he wants because he doesn't want to accept it, because can see that Amane is different and not like his brother and grandmother said, but honestly? He deceives himself with promises. You see him this way. The red house shows sincere desires and thoughts, so let him finally stop deceiving himself and pretending to be good and a prince on a white horse, because it simply does not work for him. I know that only he can see Amane and that he doesn't think Amane is evil, but the way he sees it confuses him. The feeling that Amane is evil is greater. He was willing to break his promise to Amane to become stronger and he had no problem with that because, as he said, he wanted to be stronger when he decided when Amane would kick out. He considers himself the "god" of his life and decides. He's just a pathetic jerk, he doesn't know what he wants and is completely lost, but he wants to become stronger in the future if he wants to get rid of Amane. This is a pathetic, stupid and naive approach. Sure, Kou is too weak to defeat Amana now, but he should stop playing the good friend, maybe he sees good in him, but they wouldn't mind getting rid of him. He didn't blame the daikon for what had happened, but mainly himself. Sure, who would blame the princess who has the right to everything and Amane is just her dog on a leash, which she leads because she doesn't deserve an apology because he had to fulfill a wish for which she is responsible. But it is not important. It's important to side with this weak, always whining, crying, short-tempered daikon who always does something that she thinks Amane is always more responsible for than she actually is, and make her the eternal victim. Accepting Teru's offer to train him means killing indiscriminately, and he quickly backtracked on his opinion when he desperately tried to save Mitsuba, who wanted to die. And in disbelief, he did everything he could to help him. He did it because he loved him, sure, but it just shows that Kou is a jerk and a worthless friend. It didn't bother him that Mitsuba 2.0 might hurt a student out of hunger, but it did bother him that Hanako was doing it for the life of his dearest senpai. I really don't expect much from him, but at least he would be honest with himself and admit that he sees Amane's evil and good at the same time for him, instead of playing the role of a good friend because in reality he is only a friend of the daikon and no one else. I completely understood Amane how much he counted on Kou and was disappointed with him. Kou talks and shouts a lot, his words are great, but his actions are poor and pathetic. Do absolutely nothing to show. I thought he would be the minamoto who would start to see the supernatural differently, but no. He acts almost like Teru, in fact over the past two years he's been starting to remind me more and more of teru.

I understand why teru kept him away from the supernatural. He is completely useless if he doesn't organize his thoughts and decisions, he is terribly confused between how he feels towards Amane and he should stop denying that he doesn't see an evil spirit in him and stop pretending to be good and a prince on a white horse. It won't make everyone happy. His naive thinking like this is what destroys him the most, but I still feel very dissapointed for him because he was willing to break his promise, and the only thing that stopped him was Mitsuba. He couldn't get rid of it. I'm still not sure if he will train or not, but he failed his first mission. He should stop really pretending to be nice to Amane and finally be honest with himself, because it just makes him pathetic. I won't feel sorry for him when he's ready to break his promises, and his feelings for Hanako are not completely sincere, he doesn't know how he feels towards him and he considers himself to be his god of Amane's life, it's up to him to decide when to get rid of him. Come on, man. I really don't care that he's disappointed with Amane. Amane was disappointed with him too, so it's 1:1.

For me Kou should stop fooling themselves. The fact that he sees the good in Amane won't change how Kou saw Amane's illusion on the roof when Teru was trying to get rid of Amane , what he said in red house, Which means the illusion that appeared in the red house in front of Kou shows how Kou really sees Amane and Kou never really trusted him either, and what he's trying to do is just play the good guy and friend to Hanako, get stronger, and get rid of Amane whenever he wants, forgetting that he's failing all the time. He should stay as far away from Amane as possible and be as close to his senpai as possible. He and his senpai really are a good team.Being like his 'teru-nii-chan' doesn't work

I really feel sorry for Amane because he surrounds herself with people like that. He doesn't deserve it.

[gojuo]

Please don't take this as a hate ask , i am just curious why do you like Aemond when he represent all the flaws that you hate in the targaryens ? You hate Tywin (rightfully that asshole deserved to die painfully) because of his war crimes and killing innocent people *Elia and her children and the riverlands people* but Aemond basically did the same? He killed thousands of innocent people children included. Didn't spare the male line of house strong means he killed the male children too. You Jaeherys (rightfully again because that asshole was the cause of 80% of westros misogyny) but Aemond who spend the entire war spiting the most misogynistic words against his sister Rhaenyra, saying that she is weak because she has woman's parts, enslaves a woman who he has murdered her entire family and takes her as a war prize .

but Aemond basically did the same? He killed thousands of innocent people children included. Didn't spare the male line of house strong means he killed the male children too.

I mean, Aegon kinda did too? Let's not pretend like he wasn't killing people in Rook's Rest and ordering people's executions left and right during his reign either (whether it was justified or not is a different matter, because I definitely think there were a few of the executed who did not deserve to die). Obviously not on the level of Aemond with the Riverlands but I'm not going to pretend like I give a fuck about nameless and faceless Riverlanders lmfao, just like I'm not going to pretend like I care about House Strong 😂

The difference between him and Tywin is that 1. he wasn't killing people I actually cared about and 2. ain't nobody defending him or trying to justify what he did or calling him a military genius for it. I just enjoy Aemond as is because there's no pretentiousness involved. The narrative doesn't try to exonerate him of anything (like GRRM with Daemon), and neither are the fans, which is how it should be with villainous characters. Now, of course there'll always be fans that do the opposite but why tf would I be taking anyone that does that shit seriously first of all...

Aemond can kill as many people as he likes (sans the Dornish cuz that's where I draw the line), because nobody in our corner of the fandom excuses him for doing what he did or calling him a damn genius over his stupid campaign in the Riverlands. I'm fine with that because above all, it's the hypocrisy that I can't stand. Which is near non-existent with Aemond, so I'm cool with his character. I feel like that whole "HOTD/DOTD is about choosing your favorite war criminal" shtick suits Aemond the most out of the entire main cast. I don't need the characters I like to be morally pure, I need them to entertain me. Which is something Aemond does, with all those cunty lines shittalking the Strongs lmfao.

Besides that, he's literally a Green? The brother Aegon loved? The brother that was his partner in crime and stood by him? Why shouldn't I like him?

Whether his choices concerning Harrenhal and Alys were what started the Greens' significant losses in battle or not (and let's be real... it was because of him that Criston died) does not hinder my likeability of his character. Because that's what the Dance was all about: House Targaryen eating and killing itself because of their own pride. Like, I was not sad when Aemond died. I was not sad when Aegon died, not when Rhaenyra died, not Daemon, etc. etc. because that was always how this war was supposed to go down. House Targaryen destroyed by its own members, since that is like the only thing Targaryens are good at. Which includes Aemond, y'know. So I'm not bothered by what he chose to do when he separated from Criston, which then led to Butcher's Ball. Because it's fine. That is what was supposed to happen, thematically. It's not like Aemond did what he did to his family with malicious intent. I feel like from B&C onward, he went on a downwards spiral because of the guilt he felt. He was only 19 years old, too y'know, so it would make sense that he didn't really know what he was doing, just unleashing Vhagar thinking that could "fix" things. Especially since his big bro was out of the game and depending on him now.

Anyways I went a little off topic, but what I mean to say is that no one is being pretentious about the things Aemond did, unlike what fans do with Tywin and (especially GRRM himself with) Daemon and Rhaenyra, etc. you know?

when he represent all the flaws that you hate in the targaryens

Uhhhhh... where? What I don't like about Targaryens is their stupid delusional god-complex and false belief of racial superiority, which isn't something I've seen Aemond believe in. I mean he's got the superiority complex one would have as a Prince of a kingdom, but like .. that's to be expected and not something I'm going to fault him for.

enslaves a woman who he has murdered her entire family and takes her as a war prize

Enslave is a bit of a big word but from what we know of Alys, she and Aemond had a complex and very mysterious relationship that was reciprocated and of which we know little. So I'm not going to take Alysmond at face value, sorry.

You Jaeherys (rightfully again because that asshole was the cause of 80% of westros misogyny) but Aemond who spend the entire war spiting the most misogynistic words against his sister Rhaenyra

Oh man... you should definitely NOT go into my Naoya tag then bc you don't know me at aalllllllll 😂😂😂😂

Dude come on... Jaehaerys' misogyny is absolutely NOT comparable to Aemond calling the sister who wanted to torture him after her sons mutilated him gendered slurs liiikeeeeeee.... Shit I'd call her a fucking cunt too if she did that shit to me.

[atlasofthestaars]

i dont know if you still do these but can you do the character bingo for meleena, kitana and sindel? both from mk11 and 1

MK11 MILEENA

She was my main!! I started to like her after a while (despite not initially caring for mk9-11 version) I think she's cool! I wish her and Kitana got along in her ending but oh well. I would affectionately (somewhat) salad spin her and squeeze her. I almost marked her as a bastard but I held off bc I am still under the belief that she was a product of her environment and could have been redeemed imo. I am not a big fan of her design in this game for the base one, but the Kitana lookalike skin SLAPS.

MK11 KITANA

BINGO!

I love Kitana!! She became a favorite of mine after a while. I was really really sad that her playstyle and Jade's didn't match mine HAHA. I really actually relate to the whole wanting to fit your blood culture but not really being able to be like them because you weren't raised in that culture. I think over time I also ended up liking her soft, kind personality in this game. I do wish she was a little sassy like X but I am fine with it. I would affectionately salad spin her, but I couldn't bring myself to affectionately squeeze. The whole canon thing is how she didn't get along with Mileena in her ending and how she just didn't get to be with Liu Kang I guess. I really, really don't care for her base design and imo it is her worst design. I do like her skins though!

MK11 SINDEL

I uh. Don't like MK11 Sindel. I think it was a stupid retcon. I think she was much more interesting as a good guy who got corrupted then redeemed herself in the original title and I HATE how she got treated here. Ugh. I would squeeze her unaffectionately. I can see ig how people like the whole "dommy mommy" chara but imo should have been a different character all together if they wanted that. At least her design is kinda pretty? Idk. Not a fan!! Sorry!

MK1 MILEENA

I like her! I like how the story treated her and how she didn't get turned evil! Solid character right there. I actually think this is my favorite Mileena design! I would affectionately salad spin her. I like her more than it shows here, but I felt like the squares didn't fit well to my opinion. Idk! Cool character!! I'm a fan! Also I love her ending and imo one of the better ones!

MK1 KITANA

MY MAIN!! I love her playstyle a lot!! I'm also glad she got her style back, though I think MKX's designs are still my favorite for her HAHA. I do love her a lot but I feel like she got shafted in favor for Mileena, which makes sense because homegirl got SO much spotlight before. I do wish she got more exploration still since she was kinda made into Mileena's sidekick type of character and we rarely get to see more of it. I think Kitana and Johnny are funny as best friends, wouldn't want them together. Not sure how to feel about Raiden x Kitana. I do project and have a lot of hcs for Titan Kitana! But I based this off of the Liu Kang timeline Kitana. Otherwise, this would also be a bingo.

MK1 SINDEL

Thank god she's not evil! I do like what they did with her, but I wish we got to see more of her. Also, I am a little :| at her treatment of tarkatans and vaeternians (and EVERYONES treatment of that race, but that's another discussion). I like her design kinda, but eh! I wish I liked her more but I just kinda like her/am positive neutral. I marked that bottom left square because, you know. Also imo she didn't need to die so I marked canon isn't real. She could have been mortally wounded and handed the crown over to Mileena. Idk! I feel like killing her off was a weak move. Otherwise she's cool

[panicatthediaz]

Here we are, part 5. I'm not even going to try guessing how many there are gonna be at the pace this is going.

[Part 1] – [Part 4] – [Part 6]

@madaboutmunson @lamburrito @benjaminrussell @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @dijkstraspath @swiftiebuckleys @spectrum-spectre [Let me know if you want to be tagged!]

TW for homophobic language (from Eddie's father) right below the cut. It is a single paragraph, then discussed with more positive figures in Eddie's life.

Pin a String to My Chest – 5

A child's question

Eddie listened to what his dad said. How could he not? It was his dad talking, he had to pay attention.

Dad's hatred didn't make much sense, though. He kept saying that boys liking boys was wrong — "fags, all of them," he'd say with a ferocity that kind of scared Eddie — and it made them weak, made them fairies, that they "should all just die already."

Eddie, at eight years old, couldn't understand what was so wrong. Wasn't it enough if those people were happy? Did it really matter who that was with?

His mom smiled at him softly, like she always did, when he asked her. "Of course it doesn't matter," she said. "Most people fear what they can't understand, though."

Dad wasn't home then. Eddie knew not to talk a lot when he was; he didn't like how Eddie seemed to have an endless curiosity about the things around him, always asking "stupid, useless questions."

His mom had always been nicer, anyway. So he listened, stored his questions until his dad was out of the house, and then spent hours just talking to her.

Uncle Wayne had the next two days off, so Eddie was picked up bright and early (at 10 am) the next morning.

He was barely out of the door to hug his uncle when his parents started fighting. Wayne smiled tensely when he frowned, glancing back at his front door, but neither of them said anything until they were halfway to Hawkins.

Until Eddie repeated, "Does it really matter if a boy likes another boy?"

Wayne sighed, a little harshly, and Eddie shrunk into the backseat. With a glance in the rearview mirror, his uncle shook his head.

"Your dad is talkin' shit again, huh?" He affirmed, smiling apologetically. "It shouldn't matter, no," he sighed again, this time… a little sadly. "But a lot of folks are just stuck in their ways, y'know?"

"Like who?"

Wayne chuckled, like he did every time there was a follow-up question. "God-fearin' fanatics, mostly. The type that don't really wanna think by themselves, and are glad to follow the first person that'll tell 'em how to be."

Eddie nodded seriously. He didn't think he'd like someone telling him how to be. Not if that was like his dad, angry words at everything and everyone.

"I don't think you'll have to worry, kid," Wayne was smiling at him, looking in the rearview mirror. "Keep asking questions—"

"To the right people!"

"—to the right people," he chuckled at the echoing words, "And you'll be thinking by yourself no problems.

"You'll always have your ma and I to help too, kiddo."

What no one had told him was that "always" and "forever" could mean just two years.

That sometimes, sickness came too quickly and undetected to take everything that was good to him. That his father would spiral and make Eddie his new preferred target, and make his life miserable for a whole year before he was arrested.

At least Wayne took him in. Wayne didn't get rid of art supplies in the middle of the night because drawing was something that "only girls did."

Eddie wasn't even interested in boys like that! His father didn't know him very well, in the end. Not like his mom had known him. Not like Wayne still did... Hopefully...

Where was Wayne, anyway? Eddie... Eddie missed his uncle, he knew that, but... Why? What happened?

He was sure he could hear voices somewhere beyond the darkness that surrounded him, but he couldn't reach them.