#that he tries to throw himself sacrificially on the stone and he survives. then what? you live i guess

[isaacathom]

on naielle odelia, florian de kasimir, and the idea of sacrifice

naielle is a celestial warlock. she's a backliner, a combination support and damage.

florian is a man at arms, a soldier, armed with sword and shield. a front liner, a tank, a consistent damage dealer.

being in the front lines means risk is always present. and florian considers it his duty, his obligation, to remain. he considers the idea of fleeing first to be a violation of his job.

he is deeply afraid. he always is. but he has to be the first and final line of defence.

when he was killed, time froze, and he saw the state of his friends, battered and near death. he saw the monster that stood before them.

he had once taken great umbrage with a man who had made an ill-thought out deal with the devil.

and when push came to shove, and the devil held out his hand, florian took it. because if he didnt, his friends would die. it wouldve been a waste.

naielle's devil hangs over her head, a sword of damocles. you are a healer, aren't you? the front line will fall without you. you must run in, and you must help them.

her devil is not her patron. her devil is herself.

florian is constantly aware of the danger he is in, and considers himself illsuited to all of it, and simultaneously suited to nothing else. all he can be is a sharp object pointed at a villain. when mauled near death, watching the party's witcher fall, he ordered the retreat, and unable to stand still tried to protect the party doctor's spirit.

naielle forgets her own risk. she sees the threat posed to someone else, the blood that issues forth, and she sees the solution held in her hands. she would be a failure not to administer it. withholding the cure from the dying would go against everything she tries to believe and hold herself to. she does not balance it with the idea that her premature death might leave things worse. its the now, now, now.

she'll defend the man defending her, even if he says she shouldnt.

when the mission came down to it, and the devil's plans laid bare, florian considered it his moral duty to lay down his life. he could not stomach to kill the woman who had brought him here, to betray her so utterly. but for the party priest, he paused. because to give up himself, to act as Emelia's final defence, he would doom the priest. The two would either die at the traitors hands, or by a devil collecting on unkept promises.

he couldnt sacrifice himself to doom another, to doom a man in service to a woman he hadn't met and owed no alleigance too. florian could not demand that of him, and thus could not give of it himself, much as he wanted to.

he was forced to live, and to see her die, and to know he'd failed.

naielle hasn't reached that crux yet. the mountains peak lies high above, and many descending tracks offer solutions from this vantage, though they may lead simply to deep ravines.

for her to give herself to her patron, to play the numbers game, she would save many. she would damn herself, damn her sister, damn her twin brother, her wife, her mother, her father. all the people she's met and known, ill and well, would be hurt. depending on the relationship, on the timing, she might even kill them.

but naielle would play the numbers game. its an easy game at that scale - a world, or an elf? she'd like both. but maybe her goal, to do good, necessitates giving up the opportunity to see that good done, and only to know it was.

after his betrayal, he heads north. he has loose ends to attend to. peoples lives to try and fix. a war to join. he expected to die in that war, as he expected to die in that manor, as he did in that forest, as he thought the griffin might, like the previous war had thought to.

he doesnt die. the war spits him out, like it had before.

and he stands on a rural farm, holding out tools for the farmer reparing the fence, and he wonders:

why did he always try to throw it away?

[grimtwin]

Favorite ZoNa moments?

All of them of course!

Their first time meeting! Zoro saves Nami from Buggy’s crew as they made to attack her for refusing to kill Luffy. Fending off something like five or six attackers easily, Zoro casually asks her if she’s okay. 

Then on Usopp’s island, where Nami and Zoro are trapped behind an oil slick. Nami steps on Zoro so she can safely cross, while Zoro gets stuck. A short while later, when a couple of Zoro’s are taken from him, Nami tries to retrieve them. Even after taking a brutal hit from Jango, she’s able to kick Zoro’s swords to him, which kind of annoys him, but she has this cheeky, “is that how you thank someone?” line, and Zoro gives her his thanks, before whooping ass. That and his terrified reactions every time she’s attacked during this fight with the Black Cat Pirates.

Then we jump to Arlong Park for a few more scenes. This is one of the biggest shipping moments for the two, for a lot of fans. After getting nearly bisected by Mihawk, Zoro’s pretty banged up, and gets taken prisoner by Arlong’s crew. After some cheeky back and forth between Zoro and Nami, Arlong says some pretty fucked up things about Nami being a cold hearted witch who would even forget Bell-mere’s murder for money, which clearly upsets Nami. That doesn’t go unnoticed by Zoro, who then throws himself into the water. He’s bound at the legs, with his hands tied behind his back, and one of the most gruesome wounds we’ve ever seen in OP...so no way is he getting out of that. Until Nami dives into the water and drags him back up that is. Kudos to Nami’s strength here btw, she’s gotta be strong as hell to do that. Anyway, Zoro calls Nami’s bluff here, telling her he knew that she couldn’t have let him die and to stop acting cool which infuriates her enough to stomp on his back. She then asks why he has so many bandages on, and in the English dub, he flirts a bit by saying he didn’t have another shirt and didn’t want Nami to be distracted by his chest/abs, to which she immediately punches him as hard as she can in his Mihawk wound.

After a dramatic flashback and Nami stabbing her arm to slice away the Arlong tattoo, Luffy and the crew go to kick Arlong’s ass. It’s here were we get the next short, but sweet moment that I like. Zoro’s wound has been hit a few times, he’s got a stupid high fever, is damn near dead on his feet at this point, but he’s fighting Arlong in order to give Sanji and Nojiko time to save Luffy’s life. He gives Nami a thumbs up, saying he’s good, but in his weakened state, Arlong gets the better of Zoro, and is holding him by the throat. Its then that Arlong tears away Zoro’s bandages, and that’s when he, Nami, and the rest of Cocoyashi’s villagers see just how fucked up Zoro is right now. Zoro’s got this death glare that startles Arlong to his core, Nami’s lets out a horrified gasp, and Arlong knows he has to kill Zoro here and now because it’ll be too dangerous to let him live. Well...that is until Luffy finally shows up, freed from his stone prison at the bottom of the ocean, grabs Zoro by the shirt color, and throws him several hundred yards to the back of his head lol. 

I suppose the next instance would be at Whiskey Peak. The crew has just made it to the Grande Line, and survive a hellish wave of storms...all thanks to Nami, and no thanks to Zoro, who was napping. When he wakes up, Zoro is interrogating Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9, who jumped on their ship, and just when he’s about to uncover some secret, Nami shows up and beats Zoro’s head in. She’s pissed he was sleeping during all the chaos, and even though Zoro tries to get tough with her, she just beats him some more. We all know who wears the pants...or short skirt in that relationship. Later, the crew are happily welcomed into Whiskey Peak’s village, where a massive party is thrown for them by the villagers. The crew is having a grand ol’ time, drinking eating, partying their asses off and we see both Nami and Zoro engaging in a drinking contest. Zoro “goes down” around the 13th tankard of booze, while Nami “goes down” around the 15th. It’s then that we learn that the village is one of 100 Bounty Hunters, who aim to kill/capture pirates making their way into the Grand Line. Just as they unveil their big secret, Zoro appears on top of a house, in one of the most bad ass moments of his up to this point in the series. He was faking being drunk, saying no way would he trust a village welcoming pirates into their midst. He then announces he knows they are Baroque Works, and proceeds to beat the shit out of the entire village in a dope ass fight.

And after that tussle, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine’s Day show up! It seems they have an intruder in their organization, and it’s Miss Wednesday, aka Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta! They’re on the hunt when Mr. 8 pleads with Zoro to go save her, as he is actually Igaram, Vivi’s royal guard. It’s then that Nami appears, agreeing to help Vivi..but at the cost of one billion beri! Zoro questions what she’s doing there when Nami says the same thing he did earlier, that she couldn’t trust a town welcoming pirates, and that she could handle way more booze! These two are can handle their drink alright. Nami and Igaram negotiate, and after coming to terms, Nami commands Zoro to go save Vivi! He immediately refuses until Nami counters that her contracts are HIS contracts as well, and that Zoro still owes her payment for the money she lent him at Loguetown. She guilt trips the ever loving hell out of him, and Zoro has no choice but to run off and save Vivi. 

Now we’re at Little Garden, the isle of giants and dinosaurs. The Straw Hats food reserves are low at this point, so Zoro and Sanji decide to have a contest of who can bring back the bigger dinosaur and most meat, very much like Dory and Brogy did 100 years prior. After some running around, Zoro kills his prey and is trying to make it back to the ship when he gets lost; big surprise right? During his search for the ship, he suddenly sees Nami leaning against a tree and happily calls out to her with a big ol’ smile on his face...but cut to black. It was all a trap set up by Mr. 3! A wax dummy of Nami, who has now captured Zoro, Nami, and Vivi! More stuff happens with the other characters, before we’re shown that Nami, Zoro, and Vivi are attached to this big candle with a spinning top that, as it melts, will spray a wax coating over the trapped victims, turning them into statues. Zoro being cool as shit, decides that if they’re just going to die as statues, he’ll cut his feet off and go kill Mr. 3 before this can happen. Just as he goes to do this, an action which horrifies both ladies at his side, Luffy, Usopp, and Carue show up, and Zoro stops about half way through his legs. The pooling blood freaks Nami out, who berates him. A short while later, things are looking bad for Luffy, Usopp, and Carue, so Zoro decides if he’s going to become a statue, he’s going to strike a cool pose. Again Nami gets angry with him, and Zoro jokes with her that she should have taken a better pose too. All three, plus Brogy are completely encased and wax...until Usopp, Luffy, and Carue set them on fire! The wax melts, Zoro, Nami, and Vivi burst out of the towering flames, and take out Ms. Valentine’s Day and Mr. 5 in one shot! 

Next, we fast forward to the Alabasta Kingdom. For years, Shichibukai and leader of Baroque Works, Sir Crocodile, has engulfed the country in a civil war, all for the goal of gaining access to a poneglyph, a stone with the location of an ancient weapon known has Pluton, carved into it. And under his employee are the assassins partners Mr.1, Daz Bones, and Miss Doublefinger, Zala. During all the chaos of the final battle, these two would become Zoro and Nami’s opponents, tricked into following the Straw Hats away from Princess Vivi. Zoro tells Nami to stay quiet and hide, but it’s the assassins golden rule to take out those that are weakest first, so they immediately go to attack Nami. Just before Mr. 1 is about to cut her down, Zoro comes to her defense just in the nick of time once more! (In the anime he gives her a cocky grin) The two separate to take care of their own battles, both bloody and brutal, and after Zoro and Nami prevail, Zoro collapses in the street in need of a nap from blood loss. Nami finds him soon after and smacks him awake, but since she’s had her foot and leg stabbed through by Miss Doublefinger’s needles, she can’t walk to well, and gets a piggy back ride from Zoro as they search for Vivi and their friends. 

Onward to Jaya! This one is short and sweet. After Luffy and Zoro take a massive beating from Bellamy and his crew, a fight that held no meaning for the Straw Hats so they just didn’t counter, Nami is thoroughly pissed at for being mocked and made a fool of. Later on, when Luffy goes to confront Bellamy for stealing Norland’s gold, Nami asks Zoro why he didn’t go with Luffy to fight. A small, but cute, argument breaks out between the two. They fight like an old married couple! Just get hitched already dammit!

Further still, it’s up to Skypiea! Here we have a lot of good moments between the two. After Pagaya and the people of Skypiea rat the Straw Hats out to Eneru, the Going Merry is attacked and dragged off by some massive sky shell fish. And on the ship, are Robin, Chopper, Zoro, and Nami, where they’re carried to an area  where they are meant to be used as sacrifices for Eneru and his warriors. While trying to leave the sacrificial alter, the crew is attacked by Sky Sharks, which try to eat Zoro right away. He gets soaked during the scuffle to kill the sharks, and strips his shirt off, to which Nami goes into his room and then tosses him a new, dry one. Nami warns Zoro that God and the guardian priests are in the forest and are too strong to compete with, but Zoro tells her he’s never prayed to any god because he doesn’t believe him him. Chopper thinks this is cool as hell, and Nami cries, saying she doesn’t know Zoro lol. So Nami, Robin, and Zoro leave the alter to go check some things out, and during their trip, some delightful arguing and banter takes place, and Zoro saves Nami from several sky sharks and a sky alligator trying to devour her. He had been taking the lead on their journey but slowed down to walk behind Nami so he could protect her more easily.

Later on, during a hellish battle set up by Eneru, involving his forces, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the Shandian Warriors, Zoro are fighting alongside with the gargantuan sky snake Norla. In the ensuing chaos, Norla swallows Nami and Aisha appear in the midst of the battle, and are attacked by some goat men under Eneru’s command. Zoro, Wiper, and Gan Fall protect them...but soon after, Gan Fall, Nami, and Aisha are immediately swallowed by Norla. In a fit of anger, shock, and urgency to save Nami, Zoro tries to swiftly deal with his opponents at the time, Ohm and Holy, who activate a cage of iron cloud barbed wire to trap the combatants inside, while also fending off Wiper’s attacks. After defeating Ohm and Holy, the ground beneath his feet is blown away by Eneru and everyone falls to an area below. In all that, Norla spits up Gan Fall, Nami, but then Eneru attacks the snake, and fries it with a massive electrical attack. Zoro, seeing this, is terrified for Nami, until she pokes her head out from behind a rock, revealing that she’s fine. Zoro almost looks annoyed that he was caught looking so scared.

I could continue on, but this is crazy long as is...so this is a good stopping point!

[randomingoftherandomness]

endgame post

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS BENEATH THIS CUT

[Update] I made a Youtube review (still spoilery though). If you wanna support what I do, please consider buying me Ko-Fi

Firstly, there’s no after credits so don’t bother waiting around for that. Three hours is a long time to be holding your pee. Second, bring tissues. I was crying from the moment the title sequence rolled. 

The main thing you need to know is that there was time travel courtesy of Scott Lang and the Pym particles in this film and a tonne of pop culture references in terms of time-travelling and it was all 

The gist of the Time Heist was that they were gonna go back into time and get the Infinity Stones before Thanos could get to it and they figured out that if they hit the right year, there were already three stones on Earth (Mind, Space & Time). So our heroes split up into three teams to Pokemon Gotta Catch’em all.

Now, we’ll start with my favourite, the love of my life, Tony Stark. My man. We got them right that Carol Danvers definitely brought Nebula and Tony’s space ship back to Earth. There is a five year time jump in this film that saw Tony and Pepper get married (which regardless of how you may swing on Pepperony, YAY!) and have a child together, Morgan H. Stark who, let me tell you, I would die for because she is the perfect copy of Tony and I would not be surprised if one day they did a Young Avengers roster and she is there. Tony Stark having a child of his own and it is glooooriuuusss.

Steve Rogers got rid of the beard, and honestly I missed it ngl. 

Let me just say that I adore, adore, adore them for not letting the Stony reunion be just a push by. They let it breathe and matter and it was every angsty Post-Civil War fanfic brought to life. They allowed Tony to lay it into Cap that this was what happened when you didn’t listen to me when I told you I saw this coming. There was a reference to the suit of armour statement from Age of Ultron and Tony laid it into Steve that look at what we lost because you tore us apart and it hurt so good my friends, so good. But over the course of the movie you could see them slowly relearn to trust and depend and be a team again and it was great. When they said that Endgame was a Stony event, they meant it. I live for this. I love it.

Thor got a beer belly and it’s as if the writers underestimate the powers of our thirst for this man. I would still ride him like no one’s business. He’s let himself go, feeling the survivors guilt weigh on him because he aimed for the head and not the arm. The Valkyrie survived Thanos’ raid on the Asgardian refugee ship and New Asgard is formed, probably, where Odin told Thor to remember the view. Thor, Korg and Miek are running a roommate situation where the Wifi is free, and Thor fights back Online trolls.

I think we all knew going in that Clint Barton was gonna be the Ronin and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They gave us a bit of Hiroyuki Sanada’s character fighting with Clint and that was great. But it honestly made me want to say SO dark you sure you’re not the DC Universe?

Natasha has always been a character I was always a bit miffed with the writing about. There have been many complaints about the inconsistencies of her characterisation and those weren’t unwarranted. That being said, I am at peace with where they took her in this movie. 

Hulk and Bruce Banner managed to find some zen where Banner’s consciousness could exist at the same time as Hulk’s body. 

I’m so happy about the way they treated Nebula as a character and you could tell that Karen Gillan was given a lot of room to stretch out and breathe here. As one of the effects of travelling into a timeline which had her past self, Future!Nebula shared the same network with Past!Nebula which allowed Thanos to access her memories and to be aware of what the Avengers were planning to do. Which, Oh No.

So what happened: The heroes split up through time and space to get the stones. Steve, Tony, Scott and Bruce all go back to 2012 during the Battle of New York, where Bruce goes to convince Tilda Swinton’s Sorcerer Supreme to give him the Time Stone, Steve goes and intercepts the Mind gem (still in Loki’s glow stick of destiny) by convincing Sitwell and Rumlow that he was all Hail Hydra, which gave me all kinds of Hydra!Cap feels, Tony and Scott get to go for the Tesseract. Shit happens, Bruce succeeds by telling the Sorcerer Supreme that Strange gave it willingly to Thanos which clues her in that there might be more to it, and Steve battles himself for the glow stick of destiny

Also, there is much mention and appreciation of Steve’s ass. America’s Ass. Yes, indeed. That is a nice derriere. Premium grade American Ass right there 🍑💦

(I’ve been waiting hours to use this gif :>>>) 

Tony and Scott screwed the pooch and they lose the Tesseract while Loki, who sees an opportunity, snatches and bails. So I guess that’s how they get to slip into the planned Loki series for Disney+. Tony and Steve then jump back to the 1970s where they can get more Pym particles, for more jumps and where the Tesseract will be both at the same place, the secret bunker facility we saw in Cap2. Steve chances upon Peggy’s office there and spends some time looking at her from the shadows, while Tony bumps into his dad who is freaking out about Tony’s impending birth. He manages to give his dad some advice on becoming a dad, and they gave us a nice closure for Tony who hugs and thanks his dad for everything he has done. 

Rhodey and Nebula go to Morag to intercept Peter Quill right before he gets the orb with the Power Stone. They both succeed but right before they can jump back, Nebula is paralysed by Ebony Maw hacking into her memories and she figures out that Thanos knows the plan. Rhodey jumps back, but she doesn’t and is captured by Thanos, Past!Nebula and Gamora. 

Clint and Natasha travel to Vormir and is soon acting like self-sacrificial idiots who battle it out to throw themselves for the Soul stone. Clint manages to clear the ledge, but Natasha is the one who pulls a switcheroo and tells Clint to “Let me go” which :<<<<<< So she dies and Clint gets the stone.

Thor and Rocket go to Asgard circa Thor The Dark World to get the Reality gem. Soon, Thor bumps into Frigga who immediately tells him that she knows he isn’t her son and that the future must’ve not been kind to him. She gives him some words of comfort and wisdom and tells him, despite his insistence that she knows what is going to happen to her, she doesn’t want to know, and honestly this movie gave Frigga the character fleshing out in five minutes what two movies couldn’t and I fucking love it. They are also successful and right before they leave, Thor calls for Mjölnir, and is pleased to know that he is still worthy when she answers.

Our heroes all come back, plus Nebula but they all soon realise that Nat isn’t coming back. They waste no time with assembling the stones with Tony’s nanotech gauntlet (I was kinda bummed we didn’t get to see more giant Peter Dinklage but I guess season 8 of Game of Thrones was a big thing huh) and Hulk-Banner takes it upon himself to do the snapping because he is the strongest avenger and it damn near kills him (remember this). 

It works, but before our heroes can enjoy the sweet taste of success, we figure out that Nebula ain’t our Nebula and is Past!Nebula who has impersonated our Nebula to open up a portal for Thanos to arrive in. Thanos decimates the Avengers facility and we enter the final battle.

Thor, Steve and Tony are the only ones not currently trapped under rubble and they all try to hold Thanos off from Clint who has the gauntlet and the stones.

Thor becomes pinned down under Thanos who is trying to stab him with Stormbreaker when Steve picks up Mjölnir and knocks him a new one and we get Thor saying “I knew it!” and let me just say that by this point I was screaming. Really. This was a comic book payoff and I love it. #SteveIsWorthy

This battle bit made me so anxious, like, holy shit I was worried for the safety of all involved. Then we see that Steve is the only left standing against the legion of Thanos, but wait! We see the Strange’s magic circle portals and it shows the arrival of all the other heroes who were snapped. So we have Black Panther coming in with the Wakandans and Bucky and Sam who goes “On your left” to Steve, the heroes on Thanos’ home planet (PETERRRR) and also, Pepper in her own armour! 

We get, fucking finally after all this time, to hear Cap say “Avengers Assemble!”

The ensuing melee sees them all try to get the gauntlet to Scott and Hope who are standing by the Pym van to try and get the stones back in time where Thanos can’t get them, and we get to see Peter finally get his hug from Tony and ngl I was crying.

All through it all our Nebula convinces Gamora that she’s changed, and that they have to stop Thanos, and our Nebula kills Past!Nebula when she tries to kill Gamora. 

It becomes a whole monkey in the middle situation with everyone passing the gauntlet off to another teammate and we see Peter activate Instant Kill, which is awesome, and then just when shit was about to get worse, get Carol coming in to get the gauntlet coz she’s the star quarterback here (i honestly feel like she was only here for the beginning and end so if you’re only watching this for her, i’m sorry?) and Peter asks her how's she going to get through all of that, all the women Avengers come up and Okoye says, “Don’t worry, she’ll have help” which just, ❤️

When Stephen Strange came back into the fray, Tony had asked him whether this is the one time they succeed and he says that he can’t say it because then it becomes real. So, when it seems like Thanos was going to get another shot at the snap, he makes eye contact with Tony and lifts up a ☝🏼which. 

Tony makes a roll for the gauntlet, but Thanos pushes him back, tries to snap but. Nothing happens. We turn, and see that Tony has the stones melding with his gauntlet, and as he prepares to snap his fingers, looks Thanos in the eyes and says “I am Iron Man”

Tony lays dying on the battlefield as Thanos and his legion are dust in the wind. Rhodey, Pep and Peter all say goodbye and are with him to the end and fuck y’all I thought I did my crying in the cinema but as I’m remembering this scene I’m tearing up again holy shit.

We get a funeral where Pepper and Morgan lay a wreath on a lake which had the Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart reactor from IM1 laid on it. The funeral is a who’s who of the MCU and we get Harley Keener back, which is, yay, but also :< Happy asks Morgan what she wants to eat and she says cheeseburger. Which. Fuck. Tears Happy up as he promises to get her all the cheeseburgers she wants. And ensures that I won’t be touching a cheeseburger within the next year. So many callbacks to IM1 which was the movie that started it all and I can’t even.

Clint goes back to his family, looking like he’s hanging up the bow for good this time, and Thor hands over Kingship of New Asgard to Valkyrie and boards the Guardian’s ship for a future instalment of GOTG. 

Steve is charged with being the one to get the stones back into their own timelines. Right before he goes, we get a callback to Cap1 with “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone” “How can I? You’re bringing all the stupid with you”, they prepare to pull him back but he misses the jump point. Sam, Bucky and Hulk-Banner panic for a moment before Bucky spots a man in the distance. They approach, and Bucky tells Sam to go talk to him, and we now see that it’s an aged Steve Rogers who had decided to stay back in time and is very much at peace and happy with it, Sam tells Steve that he doesn’t know how to live in a world without Captain America, when Steve hands over the shield to Sam and tells him that he’s it now. Now I cannot wait for the Falcon and Winter Soldier series.

The final scene in this movie was of Steve and Peggy dancing in their living room in what looks like the 1940s. Honestly, if I hadn’t already gone through a pack of tissues, I would’ve started then.

Cameos (at least the ones I picked out): Ken Jeong as a security guard in the San Fran warehouse where the Antman van was parked, Yvette Nicole Brown at Camp Lehigh, James D’Arcy as Jarvis (Which I was super stoked by because JARVISSSS), Joe Russo in a therapy circle with Steve (also made me real happy coz they kept a gender drop uncensored in my screening), and finally who could forget Stan Lee’s cameo all bedecked out in ‘70s flower power.

This movie was a lovely bowtie on 22 movies and 10 years of the MCU. Was it everything I wanted? No. It was more. Am I happy with what I got? No, I do wish some things ended differently but I knew they were coming. Nothing good lasts, and everything had to come to an end some time. I’m still unpacking my emotions tbh. The credits had all the OG6 signing their names, and the fact of the matter is, I have been so very changed by the MCU. The past 10 years have been amazing and I’ve been proud, and always will be proud to call myself a Marvel fan.

I honestly don’t know where they’ll be taking the MCU as a whole from this point onwards because it seems like there will be ripple effects from the actions of this film will be felt for at least the next ten years. Far From Home is the next MCU movie and I’m sure they’ll be dealing with the direct effects of this film so I’ll be looking forward to that. I’m elated, I am heartbroken, I am a glass case of emotions. 

[vergilsangel]

Sacrificial Lamb: Chapter 2

A/N: I cannot stress enough how grateful I am to everyone who follows me. You all are absolutely amazing and I love each and every one of you! 

Summary: Vergil is trying to claim the power of Sparda, but he needs a human sacrifice to do so. Arkham chose a woman to be the sacrifice, but her behavior towards death is quite curious to Vergil. How does he react when he learns this woman WANTS to die?

Rating: M Warnings: Mentions of suicide, character with suicidal tendencies. Rating it M because of this.

Tagging: @blindedstarlight @catsorfries @fantasy-emblem-xv @whatanodyssey

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Previous Chapters: Chapter 1

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Chapter 2

Trish gazed out at the city as the storm clouds rolled in. While she was grateful for grabbing her jacket, she knew it would be of little use against the rain. But ultimately, it would be a small annoyance. The sun slowly set and the lights in the city came on. Finally, she looked over at Vergil who stood quietly beside her. Arkham had gone off to deal with something in the tower.

“You said your brother is coming?” She asked and Vergil nodded.

“And exactly when will he get here?” She asked, but Vergil gave her no answer this time. Letting out a sigh, she started to look at the stone statues around them, walking a little ways away from him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Vergil asked.

“Looking at the statues. These ones kind of look like dragons and I love dragons.” Came her answer. Vergil looked at her then at the overhanging statues that appeared to be hooks of some kind. They did look like dragons. Vergil walked over to her, gazing up at the one she was looking at.

“Have you ever seen a real dragon?” He asked, already suspecting he knew the answer. The truth was he hadn’t either, but he’d seen demons that bore a striking resemblance to the mythical creatures.

“No.” Trish said a bit sadly. She looked over at him.

“Have you seen any? Do they even exist?” She asked, perking up slightly, and Vergil shook his head.

“I have not encountered any and I do not believe they exist.” Trish let out a sigh of disappointment.

“Too bad. That would’ve been-“ She stopped and gripped him as a large creature floated by.

“What the hell is that?!” Vergil looked at the large whale-like creature. It had four red eyes, an alligator-like head, with two fins and three tails.

“Leviathan. It was awakened with the tower.” Vergil answered and looked at her. She let him go and watched it float around the tower.

“How the hell is it flying?” She asked more to herself than her blue-clad companion. Vergil watched as her initial fear turned to wonder.

“It is a demon. Demons have a variety of different powers.” Vergil answered her. Trish looked up at him then back at the demon as it disappeared into the clouds. As she tossed his words about in her mind, she looked back to him.

“You said you were trying to get the power of your father. Does that mean your father was a demon?” Vergil’s gaze turned cold and she wondered if maybe she had said something wrong. He turned his attention back towards the city and she wondered if she would get an answer or not.

“He was.” He finally answered and Trish tilted her head.

“So, that makes you at least half. Do you have powers then?” Trish vaguely wondered if maybe she was asking too many questions for her own good. She had a brief moment where she thought that maybe she was being too annoying asking him all these questions about himself and his family. But if she was going to die for him, she felt that she had a right to know.

“I do. Perhaps when I fight my brother, you will see them.” Vergil answered and she nodded. The sun finally set and Trish couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness rush through her. This was the last time she would see it set. She looked up at the sky, but it was covered in clouds. Too bad. She had hoped to see the stars one last time.

“When my brother arrives. I want you to take cover. I know the battle will get a little…heated and I don’t want you caught in the middle of it.” Vergil said and looked at her.

“I don’t want you dying before we can break the seal.” He added and Trish nodded, looking around. The smaller reaper-like statues looked solid enough, but if this battle would get as bad as Vergil said it would, she would still be in the way even if she hid behind them.

“Those reaper statues don’t look very solid.” She mused.

“They will be enough. If you hide behind one, I will keep the battle away from it. My brother uses guns so you will have to stay behind it until I say.” Vergil said and Trish nodded. She looked out at the city again, watching as the moon peaked between the clouds in the sky. Vergil studied her, trying to read her. Any other captive would be struggling to escape or begging for their lives. But not her. He was just about to ask her why when he heard a door shut from below.

“Take cover. My brother is here.” Vergil ordered. Trish’s eyes widened and she hid behind one of the reaper statues. She felt a drop, then another, and in the next moment it was pouring rain. Footsteps echoed as someone came up the walkway and soon they stopped at the top of the stairs.

“You showed up.” Vergil stated. Trish couldn’t help it, she peeked around the statue and saw a man clad in a red trench coat with black pants and black boots. Her eyes widened when she realized he was a twin image of Vergil except his hair wasn’t spiked.

“You sure know how to throw a party! No food. No drinks. And the only babe just left.” The man said.

“My sincerest apologies, brother. I was so eager to see you I couldn’t concentrate on preparations for the bash.” Vergil replied. Trish loved their banter, but soon she felt the energy turn.

“Whatever. At any rate, it’s been a whole year since we last met. How about a kiss from your little brother? Or better yet, how about a kiss from this?” The red-clad man held up a gun, aiming it at Vergil and Trish’s eyes widened.

“So, this is what they call a heartwarming family reunion, eh?” Vergil’s brother asked.

“You got that right.” Vergil answered and drew his sword. The brothers fought against each other and Trish took cover behind the statue once more. She wanted to watch, but the thought of possibly getting in the way kept her hidden. Finally, she glanced around the statue once more, seeing the brothers fighting. Her eyes were drawn to Vergil who seemed to be moving effortlessly in the fight. She watched the way he moved, how he easily parried his brother’s attacks.

The rain had flattened his hair so now if it weren’t for the different colored coats, Trish wouldn’t be able to tell a difference between the twins. Vergil kept his word and kept the battle away from the statue she was hidden behind. Vergil’s brother was thrown against one of the other reaper statues and quickly drew his gun, firing several shots at Vergil. Vergil spun his sword, catching the bullets, before lining them up on the ground with his sword and sending them back towards his brother. His brother raised his sword and brought it down, splitting the bullets in half and they landed harmlessly behind him.

“Why do you refuse to gain power? The power of our father, Sparda?” Vergil asked as his brother stood. His brother only chuckled and shook his head.

“Father? I don’t have a father. I just don’t like you, that’s all.” Vergil’s brother replied. They clashed swords once more and sparks flew as they strained against one another. Finally, Vergil sent his brother’s sword flying and stabbed him through the stomach making Trish gasp softly.

“Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness. Might controls everything and without strength, you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself.” Vergil said and pushed his brother backwards off his sword. As his brother, Dante, fell, Vergil reached out and pulled something off his neck. When Dante reached out, Vergil cut his hand. Trish saw the way Vergil looked at the item, she couldn’t see what it was, but it was clearly important to Vergil. Vergil swept his hair back and turned to leave. He grabbed Dante’s sword just as Dante started to get up, but before Dante could get all the way up, Vergil quickly stabbed him through the chest with the sword. Trish’s eyes widened as she watched, surprised at how coldly Vergil attacked his own brother. Vergil stood over his brother before turning to see Arkham standing there.

“Do you finally have it?” Arkham asked and Vergil nodded, pocketing the item.

“Yes, now the spell Sparda cast will be broken.” Vergil said and started walking away from Dante.

“Trish, you may come out now.” Vergil called and Trish went over to him, looking towards where Dante lay. Vergil looked down at her and knew she had seen most of the battle between he and his brother. Trish’s eyes widened as the sword in Dante’s chest changed and she gasped as it was forcefully pushed from his chest and water surrounded him. Vergil only reacted because of her gasp, whirling around and pulling up Yamato to block his brother’s attack, Yamato embedding halfway through Dante’s fist that had been aimed at him. Trish took a step away from them, her eyes wide. How could this man survive that?

“I see a devil inside you has awakened as well.” Vergil said with a smirk. Trish watched as Dante’s hand wriggled and freed itself from Yamato’s blade and she felt sick. Dante grabbed the sword and tried to throw Vergil backwards, but Vergil flipped and landed gracefully. Just before he went back to fighting his brother, Vergil was stopped by Arkham.

“Wait. We should leave. For the moment we have all that we need.” Arkham said and Vergil put away his sword. They watched as Dante took a couple steps towards them, pulsing with energy. Trish felt the energy pulsing from Dante and took a step back. Just what had she gotten herself into? An arm went around her waist and she looked to see Vergil looking down at her.

“Hold onto me.” He ordered and Trish wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up bridal style. Vergil carried her to the edge and for a brief moment, Trish thought that was how he was going to kill her. Instead, Vergil jumped and she whimpered, hiding her face against his neck.

“Why are you afraid? Do you not have confidence that I will keep hold of you?” Vergil asked and Trish glared at him.

“Why am I afraid? You just jumped off a damned tower! And we’re-shit!” Trish broke off her rant as she mistakenly looked down. She gripped Vergil harder and hid her face again, trembling in his arms.

“I won’t let anything happen to you before the ceremony. You have my word. You needn’t fear.” Vergil said to her, but Trish couldn’t help but feel the terror of falling. Vergil held her protectively and if she hadn’t been so scared, she would’ve been touched at how compassionate he could be. They landed and Vergil looked at her.

“We’re on the ground now.” He said and Trish slowly pulled away. They were outside the tower entrance and Trish relaxed as she looked up from where they had fallen from. Vergil set her down and she let him go.

“Are you alright?” He asked and she nodded, not trusting her voice yet.

“I told you, didn’t I? I won’t let anything happen to you before the ceremony.” He reaffirmed to her as he and Arkham started towards the stairs. Trish looked behind them and saw nothing but darkness. If she wanted to, she had the perfect chance to escape. But escape to what? She thought of her life back home and knew it wasn’t where she wanted to be. As she gazed into the darkness, she thought about what Vergil had told her. What her purpose here was.

Vergil didn’t hear her walking so he turned to look. He saw her looking into the darkness and he wondered if she was pondering escape. As he watched, he was curious what her decision would be. Would she try and escape? Trish turned back and followed them and Vergil saw an expression he hadn’t expected to see. She was hopeful? He watched her follow Arkham and he wondered just what she was thinking. She had been a strange captive from the beginning and he wondered why she wasn’t giving them any trouble. His mind drifted back to having her in his arms as they fell. How scared she was. Before he could go further with these thoughts, he pushed them aside. There was no use getting attached to her. She would be gone soon enough and he would have his power.

However, he had one more loose end to clean up before he could attain his power. A loose end named Arkham.

[becomeawendybird]

21 and 59 for larry (or horchata, you know, whatever you want)

Dystopian AU & Interrupted Declaration of Love

Edit: This was supposed to be a sentence about how I would write it. Not a drabble. Whoopsies.

Louis’ chest heaved as he scaled the chain link fence. The twisted, raw metal edges dug into the fabric of his hoodie, and if he hadn’t been wearing a layer underneath - if it had been any warmer that day - they would have ripped right through the worn down fleece.

Today, of all days, the police finally managed to get their heads out of their asses and track down their most recent den.

Louis had gone out to hunt for at least two days, and when he got back the place was in shambles. He should have insisted Harry come with him, he shouldn’t have let Harry pout and turn his doe eyes on him to insist he wanted to stay behind and fix up the place.

They were in the middle of a war. That was certainly no time to indulge his best friend’s instinct to be domestic.

He knew Harry could take care of himself, he did, but he also couldn’t help wallowing in the intense guilt he felt at leaving them all vulnerable. Fizzy told him Harry had sacrificed himself so that his siblings could escape through the tunnel out the back. Because of course he did.

That idiot didn’t understand what losing him would do to Louis. It would destroy any shred of hope, positivity, anything Louis still clung to deep in his heart of hearts. Louis couldn’t survive on this stupid barren wasteland of a rock formerly known as Great Britain without Harry. He wouldn’t have survived so long without him.

His feet pounded against the gravel stones of the road as he approached the old power plant. The guards would see him, he was sure of it, was counting on it. Maybe, if he was lucky, that would drive them away from wherever they were holding Harry.

They probably weren‘t expecting Louis to waltz right up to the front gate the way he was. It wasn’t the best plan he had ever had, but it was something.

The guards started shouting about his arrival when he was about halfway to the front door. Idiots.

Adrenaline started pumping and he didn’t stop his momentum as someone opened the small door in the large metal gate. They probably thought he was going to be civil and stop so they could talk, negotiate. Fat chance. He kept running and barrelled straight through their sacrificial lamb. More useless shouting rang out.

He blindly pushed through the thugs, his size and pure speed helping him dodge the bodies and lead them on a chase through the facility.

They had done this dance a million times. Like Captain Hook and Peter Pan. The police raided their home, took a member of their family be they blood related or not, a rescue mission was mounted, then they all went home.

But they had never taken Harry.

It must have been someone new, someone who hadn’t learned that even looking at Harry cross-eyed was the best way to piss off Louis. Someone who definitely didn’t know what they had unleashed.

He worked his way through the corridors of wires and machines that no one remembered how to run to the security office deep in the heart of the building. They must be holding him there.

When he hit the door, he forced it open only to feel a searing pain shoot through his arm.

“Aah!” he cried out, falling against the wall right next to the door he had just damaged as a knife clattered to the ground at his feet.

“Hello, Louis. Right on time.” Simon’s smug, nasally voice reverberated against the metal walls of the empty room. Next to him there was a thug Louis had never seen before, lean and wiry with sharp features and another knife in his hand poised to throw at Louis if he so much as flinched.

Both men loomed over Harry who was tied to a metal chair in front of them. Louis gave him a quick once over, and his first thought was relief. From the way his eyes sparked with anger and awareness, he could tell they hadn’t drugged him at all. Just gagged him. They had probably made that decision after the fact. Louis knew firsthand how annoying Harry could be when he was angry.

“Simon,” Louis responded, flatly as he felt his blood pool at his wound. His hood was definitely torn, but he didn’t want to look away to asses the damage. He was too concentrated on Harry. “This was a terrible idea,” he said, infusing his tone with confidence he no longer felt. It wasn’t like Simon to bring in extra muscle. He needed something. Taking Harry was intentional.

“Oh, on the contrary,” the man responded.

Harry, clearly fed up with the mind games that Louis and Simon usually enjoyed, grunted behind the gag and jerked violently, pulling at his bindings and causing the feet of the chair to scrape against the floor.

Simon reached a hand down and pet at Harry’s curls as if to soothe him, and Louis saw red.

“Get your hands off of him.”

Simon lifted his hands up in mock defense. “Ooh, touched a nerve there, did I?”

Louis couldn’t stand it any longer, and lunged for the thug. He needed to take him out first, even if he got stabbed a few more times. Simon was easy to deal with, he would never do his own dirty work.

The thug did, in fact, throw the next dagger at him, but he underestimated Louis’ reflexes. Daggers were cool and all, but they were relatively slow moving through the air. Louis took a deep breath and time stood still as he spun his body with his back to the men so that if he failed, the dagger would hit him in the hip and miss any vital organs.

His hand shot out, and he just managed to grasp the hilt of the dagger in his hand, using his own momentum in his spin to send it flying back towards the thug. In that span of half a heartbeat, he hadn’t really had the chance to aim, so he prayed it wouldn’t go wide in either direction and hit Harry.

Thankfully, it didn’t, instead embedding itself in the gut of the thug.

Simon’s eyes were as wide as they could go given the limits of the excess botox in his face. Louis wasn’t even sure where he managed to find enough materials for regular injections in this day and age.

Several things happened at once; the thug fell to the ground clutching the knife, and Louis rushed forward to untie Harry. Simon lunged to try and prevent him from his goal, but all it took was a solid kick to the sternum to send him flying backwards against the wall.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, Hazza,” he muttered as he untied the gag first. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? I should have been there.”

Harry grunted, coughing as the gag came free. “Louis,” he croaked out.

“I’m here, baby, I’m here.” He flushed at the term of endearment and hoped Harry hadn’t heard or that it was muffled from where his head was bent untying the ropes around his wrists. As soon as he was three quarters of the way done, Harry wriggled his hands and forced them free, vaulting up from the chair and rounding on Louis, his eyes blazing with rage.

“You FUCKING idiot!” Harry cried, pushing at Louis chest. He was so shocked that he stumbled and almost tripped over the thug who had gone a worrying shade of white.

“What?” he was confused.

“I can’t believe you came here, you are such an idiot!” Harry was waving his arms around and Louis could tell he was getting ready to shove him again.

“What did I do?!” Louis yelled back.

This time Harry did shove him again, now that he had moved to avoid the prone body. “Why. Would. You.” He punctuated each word with a shove or a slap on any available surface of Louis’ body. “Risk. Your. Self. Like. That!”

Harry was breathing heavily by the time he had Louis backed up against the wall and now that their movement had stopped, Louis could see what the issue was.

“I’m sorry Hazza, but I wasn’t going to just sit there while they had you in here. I couldn’t,” he said trying to reason with him.

“I can take care of myself, Lou, that is no reason for you to put yourself in harm’s way,” Harry yelled in his face. Now Louis was starting to get mad.

“You think I’m going to let you rot in here? Sit back and kick my heels up and let Simon just fuck off with the man I love?”

Too late he realized what he had said as it echoed around the room before a tense silence fell.

Harry’s eyes had bugged out and his hand was frozen in mid-air where he had been wagging his finger at Louis. “What?” he asked breathlessly.

Louis’ mind reeled as he tried to come up with something to say. Just as he opened his mouth, the other knife clanged against the concrete floor and the thug reared up, reaching for Harry’s ankle. Louis’ heart shot through his chest as he tensed up to attack, but before he could do anything, Harry reared back and gave the man a solid kick to the jaw.

“NOT NOW! THIS IS IMPORTANT!” He was almost doubled over from the intensity of his shouting at the man. Not that it did any good. After that kick, the guy was definitely unconscious.

“Harry-” Louis started, as his best friend rounded on him for the second time.

Instead of yelling at him though, he crowded him up against the wall, gripped his jaw, and slammed their mouths together for the first time.

Harry’s lips were dry and cracked from the gag, and everything had a twinge of copper from where one of them most likely had a split lip, but it was the best kiss Louis had ever experienced. Even in this godforsaken room with two prone bodies, Louis never wanted Harry to let him go.

In his fervor, Harry’s hand slid down the outside of Louis’ arm, and a slice of pain wrenched through him where he brushed his cut from the knife. He couldn’t hide his flinch or tiny whimper of pain.

Harry gasped and pulled his hand away. There was only a smudge of blood, really. Louis was going to be fine, but he knew Harry would fuss anyway.

Louis tilted Harry’s face back to his and pressed their lips together for a few brief pecks, drinking him in, before running his hands through his curls in an attempt to erase the feeling of someone else touching them.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. Harry nodded, and they turned to walk out hand in hand.