#that would be symbolically confusing and also absolutely hysterical

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Do you think it means anything that Bartolomeo burned shanks flag? Like that choice, means something? Is it foreshadowing for shanks death?

i think it's an indicator of how shallow barto's knowledge of luffy is. just about anyone who's managed to have a real conversation with luffy knows how important shanks is to him, but barto's at such a remove he can only see shanks as a rival, or an enemy. he admires luffy, but he doesn't understand him.

(something something idolization and dehumanization are two sides of the same coin, something something putting someone on a pedestal just puts them farther away from you, something something downsides of godhood, you get it.)

i don't think it tells us anything new about shanks, we've already seen his death flags.

[riahlynn101]

"I Love You to the Moon and Back" (4).

Chapter four:

--

Nakaya is frustrated. 

Talking with Yagi wielded the exact opposite result he had been hoping for. The commission counted on him turning on the boy. Izuku Midoriya is the son of his most hated enemy. By all accounts he should be begging the commission to take the boy. 

But he hadn’t.

If Nakaya were anyone else, there would be little he could do to rectify this. But he’s not. So, instead, he pulls all his connections at the hospital to get to Izuku Midoriya. 

Though it isn’t easy, some of the hospital staff refuse the commission’s authority-citing their duty as medical workers to protect the patients-but after some delicately placed threats, all of them bow their heads and look the other way. 

The pediatric ward has a splash of color that the rest of the building lacks. Cartoon animals decorate the walls and the floor is a mish-mash of colored-tile. He passes a playroom with what looks like, every toy imaginable. A TV inside the room plays a local kid-friendly station.

“Room 383….” He reads the smudged writing off the paper. “It should be around here somewhere-”

“Nakaya-San,” Yagi says.

Against his best efforts, he jumps. Yagi should still be bickering with the scrounge of Japan. If he comes back now, then the commission will have to wait to extract the boy. Or they could just take him now, but that could lead to a custody battle between the commission and All Might, the former symbol of peace. What a headache that would cause.

He turns, taking out his handkerchief to wipe at the sweat beading on his forehead. Thankfully, Yagi seems out of sorts as well. He’s holding-

“Shigaraki Tomura, it’s nice to meet you.” In his haste to extract Izuku Midoriya, he’s forgotten about the number one threat (well, former threat) facing this country. 

The boy cringes back, hiding his face in Yagi’s shoulder. 

“I’m very sorry, Nakaya-San, but we have an urgent matter to attend to. If you’ll excuse us.” Yagi starts to walk around him, and it doesn’t escape his notice that the man shields Shigaraki so he can’t look at him. 

He chews his bottom lip, watching Yagi walk away. There might not be another chance. A few people have already petitioned the courts for guardianship of the boy (and likely Shigaraki Tomura as well). If even just one of those goes through before the commission has him in custody, then there’s little they can do. For some reason, despite the fact they hold a lot of authority, many courts (especially on a lower level) absolutely despise them meddling in the welfare of children. 

But they also tend to ignore the children already in the commission’s custody. Too much of a headache for them. 

Nakaya reaches out, grabbing the former symbol of peace by the arm. The other man pauses. He blurts out the first lie he can think of. “Midoriya was transferred to a different floor.”

Shigaraki makes a strange sound. He shifts in Yagi’s arms, whispering something in the man’s ear. Yagi nods along, a grim expression on his face. 

“Okay,” he says after a moment of consideration, “can you please direct us to where he is? I’m sure after being sick he wants someone familiar around.”

Sick? Is that a roundabout way of talking about the boy’s “condition?” 

Either way, Nakaya can roll with this. Anything to get the former symbol of peace out of the ward. 

“Yes, he’s in room 89.”

Yagi fixes him with a confused stare. “Why would they place him in the general ward?”

Nakaya wipes at his forehead again. He covers up his nervousness with a shrug. “I have no clue.”

He continues staring at him. “And why, if Young Midoriya is no longer on this floor, are you here?”

“Well, it’s actually interesting you bring that-”

A nurse bursts through the double doors separating the elevators from the ward. She’s hysterical, pointing back towards where she came. “He’s escaped!” She wails, grabbing onto Yagi. 

Ever the saint, Yagi uses his free arm to comfort the woman. “Miss? What happened?”

She looks up at him, tears streaming down her face. “All for One escaped.”

Nakaya takes a step back. This….

…this wasn’t part of the plan. 

“Are you injured?” Yagi asks.

The woman shakes her head. 

“Have you told anyone else?” He finds himself asking. If All for One has truly escaped, then they need adequate time to prepare a-

“No, I panicked.” She sniffles, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Okay….okay, that’s fine. We’ll take care of this. Go take care of any patients that can’t move themselves and then hide. We’ll tell your coworkers.”

Nakaya gives him a sideways glare. How dare Yagi place this on his shoulders? Who does he think he is? The number one hero?

The woman nods again. “Bless you both.”

“Of course.” Yagi turns to him, “If you’ll watch Young Shimura, I can tackle the bigger issue of finding All for One.”

Nakaya has no time to decline when the boy is pushed into his arms. 

“Take him to his room. He can tell you where it is. Lock yourselves in there,” Yagi says. “I’ll deal with the rest.”

Okay, he can do that. At least it’s better than finding a supervillain (ignoring the fact that he’s currently holding a supervillain. He refuses to look at the child in his arms who’s trembling like a leaf). 

“Fine,” he snaps. 

“I’ll be back, Tenko. Don’t give the president too much trouble.” 

And then, he’s off. 

Nakaya sends one last backwards look to the still sobbing woman, before he too hurries down a different hallway of the pediatrics unit. 

Unknown to both men, the woman-upon realizing she’s all alone-smiles widely. 

“What idiots,” she murmurs to herself. Her features morph and change into that of a man’s, and she grows taller. 

All for One shakes his head. He’s grateful he thought ahead and stole clothes a few sizes too big. They’re still a little snug but it’s better than nothing. 

-x-x-x-

Continuing to breathe is the hardest thing Izuku has ever done. It’s agony, separate from any he can remember. He rubs the stuffed bunny All Might gifted him against his too-warm cheek. 

If he squeezes his eyes shut, he can almost imagine the bunny’s his mommy coming to comfort him and guide him through the pain. The soft fur reminds him of her hair, which used to tickle him whenever she kissed his face. 

He cries out in between gasps of breath. “Mommy!”

The vestiges are at a loss of how to comfort him. Even half-delirious Izuku can tell that much. It’s obvious in the way they keep their distance, muttering to each other about how to proceed.  

Izuku sniffles.

“You need to sit up,” First says, hands grasping his shoulders in an effort to pull him up. “Laying down only makes it worse. I would know.” His voice is clearer than the others, surer of what needs to be done. 

The others back off, letting the first user direct their ninth. 

Izuku allows himself to be pulled into a sitting position. First maneuvers himself to be sitting behind him, so Izuku won’t fall back. 

“There,” First murmurs, soothing Izuku’s hair back. “That should make you feel a little better. A nurse or doctor should be along shortly. They can give you a corticosteroid.”

Izuku recognizes the word, corticosteroid, but only in a vague, distant sort of way. He remembers hearing his parents talk about it, a long, long time ago. 

He groans. His chest is tight, but the first had been right - it is significantly easier to breathe sitting up. Still hurts and he can’t help but cry for the slightest bit of relief, but it’s something. 

He’ll have to tell the first, thank you, when he’s not gasping for air.

The door to his hospital room bursts open. 

First goes unnaturally still. An arm reaches around, blocking Izuku’s view of whoever’s come to save him. 

“You,” Nana says. Her voice has a dangerous edge.

“Me,” an unfamiliar voice cooly answers back. 

A wave of nausea passes over Izuku, forcing him into another coughing fit. He moves forward, body slumping down and forehead brushing the blanket. All sounds muffle together, creating an obnoxious cacophony of angry voices. 

Izuku groans. His trembling hands tug on the sides of his hair. It doesn’t relieve any of the pain, but the brief sensations of pain he gets every time he pulls on the curls, is enough to distract him from the overwhelming nausea and oncoming headache. 

He’s pulled from the bed and tucked against someone’s chest. Izuku forces himself to look at the stranger. Through wet, blurry eyes he can make out curly white hair and red eyes. 

The vestiges haven’t stopped kicking up a fuss. First has kept a firm grasp on the back of his shirt. 

“Please, don’t take him,” First begs. His voice uncharacteristically desperate, like he knows whoever he’s talking to won’t actually listen. 

Izuku’s arm hurts when the man pulls out his IV. But he can’t summon the energy to do anything besides lay his head on the man’s shoulder. 

He knows he should be freaking out. There’s something he’s missing. A puzzle piece he can’t fit. 

The vestiges have always been a comforting presence. They’ve gone toe-to-toe with evil incarnate. They’ve lost their safety, security, livelihoods, families, and even their lives in an effort to prevent others from losing the same. They’re what Izuku wants to be when he graduates, courageous and strong. 

But right now, even mostly out of it, he can tell they’re….scared. 

“First,” he gets out between loud wheezes, “what’s going on?”

“It’s going to be okay, Izuku,” First tells him. He doesn’t sound as sure as he did five minutes ago, but Izuku chooses to believe him regardless. 

He’s pulled closer to the man’s chest. A kiss is placed on Izuku’s forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Izuku,” the man says, a perfect echo to the First’s earlier sentiment. 

Izuku looks up at the man again. A vague sense of familiarity fills him. He definitely doesn’t recognize him based on his looks. The curly white hair and red eyes are reminiscent of the All for One from First’s memories, but Izuku’s confident he wouldn’t be cuddling him, whispering nonsensical words of comfort, and looking down at him with soft, concerned eyes. 

Still, he can’t knock that he knows the man from somewhere. 

He sounds young, like he’s around Izuku’s age (or his former age). Maybe he helped him before? Or maybe he’s seen him around the-

Without warning, a large hand clamps down on his forehead. 

In the second between the hand clamping down and the pain shooting through his head, Izuku pulls to the surface a long-forgotten memory. Something that he hasn’t thought about in years, and not for lack of trying. 

A memory of being held in a similar way. Of struggling to breathe and begging for relief. Of being comforted in exactly the same way before a large hand had clamped over his forehead. 

And then….

….nothing….

-x-x-x-

Hisashi stares at his hand, the one he used to heal his son years ago. 

His hand that should have healed his son now . 

“W-why didn’t it work?” He tries again, but his son remains slumped against his chest. His breaths labored. 

He sees his brother out of the corner of his eye, watching the exchange. “When did you pick up the quirk that you’re trying to force on Izuku?”

“I…I don’t remember.” A lie, he does, but if he says it out loud then what his brother’s insinuating becomes real. 

“Is it possible that you don’t have access to the quirks you stole after the age your body was rewound to.”

  He balks at the thought. If that’s true, then that means….

….that means he can’t heal his son. 

He shakes his head. “No. I just need to try again.” Hisashi reapplies his hand over his son’s forehead. 

His brother makes a strangled sound. “Brother, no, you’re hurting him.”

“He…I…I can’t lose him. I have to try again.”

Izuku squirms in his sleep, face scrunching up. Hisashi lightly bounces him, in the exact same way he used to when Izuku was being fussy as a baby. 

“I know, sorry, baby.”

He removes his hand, but his son’s still gasping for air. 

He tries again.

His son has tears streaming down his face. 

It doesn’t work. 

He tries again. 

And again….

….and again…..

He stops. It’s no use. His attempts to bring forth the relevant quirk are fruitless. The most he’s doing is causing unnecessary harm to Izuku. 

“I’m so sorry, Izuku.” Hisashi Midoriya-for the third time in his life-feels like a failure. He rests his head on his son’s chest, listening to his son’s rapidly beating heart. 

Hisashi straightens. He can cry later, but right now they’re in a time crunch. He hurries for the door, securing his son in his arms. If he’s quick, then he can snatch a corticosteroid before anyone realizes something’s amiss. 

-x-x-x-

Tenko watches the president of the commission speak frantically into a cell phone. It’s entertaining, in a way, that even the super powerful are prone to freaking out. Or maybe that’s terrifying, because they’re in charge of society at large. 

Eh, it probably doesn’t matter.

He wonders how his cousin’s doing. Not well, would be his educated guess. Tenko had tried everything before he had gone to fetch All Might. The call button, patting his cousin on the back, asking him to breathe, but nothing worked. 

Most of all he vividly remembers the bluish tint to Izuku’s face. 

Running to get All Might wasn’t ideal. The man was so clearly distrustful of him. Which, while understandable, kind of hurts Tenko’s feelings. It shouldn’t. But it does. 

It feels like he’s being rejected by his father again, though this time it’s more out of a place to protect others around Tenko rather than Tenko himself. 

He leans forward, head in his hands, and elbows on his knees.

The president finishes his phone call, slumping into a nearby seat. He rubs a hand down his face. 

“Bad day?” Tenko asks, doing everything in his power to keep the snark out of his voice. 

“Yeah, you could say that. Though, looking at the state of you, I’m not sure your day’s been much better.”

Tenko shrugs. “My day’s been fine. Or it was until my cousin started choking.”

The president quirks a brow. “Cousin?” He asks. 

“That’s what I said.”

“You have family in this hospital?”

Something in the way the president asks his question, and the way his eyes seem to light up, immediately puts Tenko on edge. A subconscious part of him recognizes the predatory tone.

He can’t take back what he said, but he can refuse to speak further. Tenko pointedly looks away. 

“Oh, don’t be like that. Who is it?”

Tenko remains silent. It’s awkward, just sitting here with the president’s eyes burning holes into the side of his head. But whatever the president wants with Izuku probably isn’t good. 

“I don’t suppose it’s Izuku Midoriya, is it?” 

He tries not to react, but he can’t help the involuntary squeak that comes from his throat. 

“Well, that explains why you were visiting him.” He hears the president get up. The man rounds the bed, blocking Tenko’s only exit. “I don’t suppose you would be up for a family reunion?” 

-x-x-x-

Toshinori is running. He runs all the way to All for One’s room. A thousand and one thoughts run through his head, none of them good. If All for One gets out and hurts someone, it’ll be all his fault. 

A few staff members tell him to slow down, and he briefly thinks of letting them in on the situation, but he can’t spare any time. Hopefully the president is calling in reinforcements. 

He makes it to All for One’s room. The door is still closed.

Taking a deep breath, he opens it. 

Inside, asleep on the bed, is….

All for One?

Toshinori steps inside. Was the nurse confused? It would be just like All for One to make a poor, innocent woman think she was in immediate danger, only for nothing to happen. 

He pinches the bridge of his nose. 

Well, at least they haven’t told anyone on staff yet. If he hurries back to Nakaya-San, then they can call off the obvious false alarm. Hopefully Young Shimura hasn’t-

Is that his imagination or is there smoke coming from All for One’s body? He cocks his head, moving closer. 

Psss…. poof!

All for One’s body disappears in a puff of smoke. The only indication it had been there in the first place is an indentation of where a body had been. 

Toshinori stumbles back. Did he pick up a new quirk? The handcuffs were supposed to prevent him from using his quirk, so maybe he-

It then hits him: 

All for One tricked them.

[thebigoblin]

🥰 #10 "I give you permission...." for Sterek please!!

Hey! Thank you so much @princecharmingwinks for the prompt ❤️ Sorry for having taken so long (and I promise to others that I'm working on your prompts too, it's just slow going progress!), but I hope you like this!!!

This is written for my 300 followers celebration thing, from this list I believe. (I saw the “I give you permission” and I ran with it... it wasn’t until I was finished that I realized that wasn’t the prompt at all! I’m going to write that one too tho, because the prompt is so sweet, just not sure when). 

This has also been posted on AO3 (for registered users) if that's more your style.

Relevant Tags: Angst With a Hopeful Ending, Pre-Slash, Self Love, (not the sexual kind), Flower Symbolisms, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Stiles Stilinski Is a Nice Thing

Achingly Infinite

Never let it be said that Stiles Stilinski is prone to giving up easily.

Derek has known Stiles for, fuck, nearly six years at this point, and still he is entranced by Stiles' entire being. Every time he sees the human — now with a magical prowess that matches Derek's own level of comfort in his wolf skin, and he's a born werewolf — there is something new to behold. Skill, idea, movements, tattoos, a new facet of his personality — Stiles.

He's so much, means too much, and Derek is scared of the day he'll lose him.

Derek knows he's not relationship material. Unless he's being exploited, he's not worthy of being loved, and he believes this so wholeheartedly that when he sees Stiles look at him with that look, the soft look with his eyelashes fanning over tawny eyes, lips stretching into a smile, face and scent lighting up with happiness... he bolts.

He only has enough time to register the beginning of the souring of Stiles' scent before he's far away from the diner he and Stiles were supposed to meet at for lunch. Only then does he relax, and unlike normal people who would be ecstatic at knowing their love is reciprocated, he tries to come up with ways he can make Stiles hate him.

It's either that, or him destroying Stiles' life. And given any circumstance, he'll always, always choose the former.

Even though it will hurt. Will make him want to claw and cry and curl up in his bed. But that's the kind of love he has for Stiles — protective, overbearing. So much and so achingly infinite that his pain barely feels like pain when it's Stiles he's saving. Caring for, even in his own backwards way.

Derek isn't stupid. He knows this isn't healthy, isn't okay for him, but this is for Stiles.

For Stiles.

*

Derek manages to avoid Stiles for exactly a week before he's being cornered at the Sheriff's station, John himself standing guard outside his office while Stiles makes Derek stay with a flick of his hands. It's like being in a mountain ash circle, except there's no grey powder, or a circle.

"I thought this was an emergency," Derek utters when it's clear he's lost, that he's going to have to face this song if he wants the chance to dance the way he's planned meticulously over the past seven days.

Stiles fixes his steely, purple eyes on him. "It is," he agrees, "My Alpha isn't talking to me. That's a cause for concern, isn't it?"

Derek tries his best to not give anything away. Before he met Stiles' observant eyes, he used to have a mask so absolute he could have won billions in a poker game, but with each second spent with Stiles, he's lost it. Or perhaps Stiles has just gotten good with reading Derek, just as Derek has gotten good at reading Stiles.

He hopes to anyone listening above that he manages to pull the words, "Maybe he got sick of you," out so convincingly that Stiles will be hurt, will start hating him again, like he did when they first met. But all Stiles does is laugh, a hysterical, unbelieving sort of laugh, and Derek is confused. But he doesn't let it show. He scoffs. Says with enough contempt, "This. I tell you something, anything, and all you do is mock me. Ever think that's not what I need? That I need someone who respects my decisions and does exactly what I say?"

Stiles stops laughing abruptly. His eyes are their usual color now, a bright golden in the streaming sunlight from the window, his hair a wild mess, like he's been stressing out, pulling on his hair all day long.

Stiles says, "That's not what you want," and Derek bares his teeth.

"You don't know what I want, Stiles." I want you. But I can't have you.

"You want me." Startled, Derek lets his half-shift fade away, cursing himself mentally for being stupid and saying it out loud. He's been so careful these past years but now—

"Relax, you didn't say it out loud. And no, I didn't read your mind. I can't do the Charles Xavier thing, and you know that, Derek."

Derek rolls his eyes, and before he can stop himself, says, "If you wanted to, you could." Stiles smiles at him, and it's the first one since Stiles captured him in his father's office. The realization makes Derek's gut churn with anxiety, of having given up on his master plan to make Stiles hate him so easily.

Whenever he's with Stiles, his walls turn to dust, but this is ridiculous even for his standards.

Stiles seems to catch each one of his thoughts, because his smile keeps growing until it's a legitimate grin, so beautiful and breathtaking that Derek has trouble moving his eyes away. He just stands there, near the windows, in his jogging clothes — yoga pants and a tank top — staring at Stiles.

"You want me," Stiles repeats, and moves closer. Derek is frozen in his spot, sweaty palms at his side, his own heartbeat a war cry in his ears. "You've wanted me for a long time, Derek Hale... perhaps as long as I have you. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Derek doesn't nod, doesn't do anything in response to the fact. Stiles has stopped just a little away from him, enough that he's not encroaching so much on Derek's space. He continues, "I respect you. I don't always respect your decisions, because frankly sometimes they're just too careless, but I respect you, so I didn't say anything for the longest time. I figured you would come to me when it was the right time for you, but... it's been so long, Der." Stiles' voice breaks at those words, and instinctively, Derek brings up his arms to hug Stiles close to himself. Stiles doesn't resist.

Derek thinks about how to reply to that. To the newfound knowledge that not only Stiles loves him back, but that he's known for who knows how long that Derek loves him back, too. And Stiles has been waiting for him to further their relationship into the romantic territory, because it's Stiles, the one person who knows Derek best, especially his relationship with boundaries in general. He thinks about it, replaying the words Stiles spoke just now over and over, and finally, comes to a reply that is satisfactory, at least to him.

Stiles pulls back just as Derek opens his mouth, his face expectant and a little embarrassed.

Derek says, "I think you just answered your question."

Stiles' scent had never truly lost the tinge of anger, and at his words it rises again, like a wave in the ocean, rising with the pull of the moon. "What?" Stiles shouts, mouth twisting. "What the fuck does that even mean? Here I am, pouring my heart out, and you're pulling a Deaton!"

The comparison makes Derek's lips quirk upwards, but he pushes the feeling down, instead letting his eyes wander down to the wooden flooring of the Sheriff's office. He can still hear John's heartbeat outside, as well as a few officers, and he wonders what excuse John has given his officers in regards to all the noise coming from this room.

"Don't you smirk, douchebag. Answer me! I didn't plan this ambush for nothing, and unless I get some—"

Taking in a deep breath, his eyes still downcast, he says, "You said, 'your plans are careless,' and that's true. And that's where your answer lies." He looks up, and finds Stiles' confused face just inches from his own, the spark having moved forward further in his anger. Licking his lips, he explains, "You know me better than anyone, Stiles."

Stiles' face goes through a lot of expressions as he parses the meaning of Derek's unsaid words; confusion, more confusion, thoughtful, sad, anger, more anger, then sad again, livid, and the most damning of all... heartbreak.

"Derek..." Stiles says, voice so low it's almost impossible to hear. They stare at each other for who knows how long, and when Stiles finally unfreezes enough to come forward further, Derek steps back. Stiles' magic isn't stopping him, so he moves as far away as possible, stands at the door to drive home the point that he's done with this conversation.

He stares at the blindingly bright sky visible through the window as he says, "I don't deserve good things, Stiles."

As he leaves, he's grateful Stiles doesn't follow him.

*

Let it be said again: Stiles does not give up easily.

The day after the ambush at the police station, which he isn't exactly sure how either of the Stilinski’s pulled off, Derek gets a bouquet of flowers delivered to the Hale house. At first he thinks it's for one of the betas, so he picks it up from the porch — the smell of the daffodils overpowers the scent of the human, and it's so strong that Derek sneezes twice — and puts it on the center of the dining table. It looks good on the mahogany table, and after searching it for any cards at all, which he doesn't find, he shrugs and heads for his daily jog.

It's the one thing that takes his mind off of things easily, so he doesn't dare miss it. As he leaves he calls out to Boyd and Erica, "There's a bouquet here for you!"

They call out in confusion, but Derek doesn't turn back around. He figures it must be for Isaac or Cora or Jackson.

He doesn't realize how wrong he is until he's picking up the fifth bouquet of daffodils off of his porch on the fifth consecutive day, the gifts devoid of any name of the person who is sending them. But by the fifth day, Derek has a pretty good guess who it might be.

He hasn't been to Stiles' house for days now, for good reason, but he's a wolf on a mission. So he swings inside Stiles' bedroom through his perpetually unlocked window, takes one whiff of the room, and flashes his eyes red at the spark sitting innocently on his desk chair, arranging the sixth bouquet.

"I told you—"

"You told me, and I quote, 'I don't deserve good things, Stiles.' And see, I can't just accept that. You should know, because as I've also told you, I love you." Derek looks away from Stiles' beautiful face, and Stiles tsks. "Oops. I said I wanted you, right? Eh, same thing. I want you, I love you. I love you, I want you. Anyways. What was I saying?"

Stiles says the words as easily as he's breathing air. Like loving Derek isn't a chore, isn't a part of a well executed plan that he needs to play perfectly for some ulterior motive. Like loving Derek is just... a thing that happens, one Stiles loves that it has happened.

It's too much, so much for him, and he just wants to leave. Wants to push Stiles away so that he doesn't end up making Stiles bleed with him. But he's transfixed, as he always is when he's watching Stiles; his fingers work quickly, deftly as he plucks away the extra leaves on the stems, the little blue bow adjusting nicely on the bunch as Stiles lowers it inside the little plastic, then the vase.

Derek takes said vase numbly when Stiles hands it to him. "Since you're already here," Stiles explains.

Derek wants to ask why Stiles loves him. How can he love him? Doesn't he see how Derek destroys everything he loves? But instead of all that he asks, "Why flowers? Daffodils, specifically?"

Stiles beams and excitedly tells him, "Daffodils symbolize new beginnings! And I wanted you to start a new journey. It seemed fitting. So." Stiles shrugs, like it makes perfect sense.

"Stiles," Derek says, pained. "I can't—" I can't ruin you, is what he wants to say. "I can't."

Stiles' beam turns into a small smile; a little sad, a little encouraging, and all Stiles. "I know," he says like he heard what Derek couldn't say, "I know. I had other plans for you, actually."

Stiles' heart stays steady, so Derek forces himself to ask, "What did you have in mind?"

Stiles' hands wrap around Derek's, both their hands wrapped around the vase. New beginnings, Derek hears in Stiles' voice, at the same time Stiles says, "The most important journey is the journey of loving one's own self. I want that for you, Derek. I want you to love yourself, so that one day—"

"I can love you and not be afraid of it?"

Stiles' smiles brightens as he admits, "I'd like that." Derek can't help but smile at thought: In a distant future, when he'll be Stiles' and Stiles will be his, and he won't feel bad about it. "But more than that, I want you to love yourself because I want you to see that you deserve good things. Things that you want."

They stare at each other for a moment, Derek's eyes following Stiles' tongue as it darts around to wet Stiles' lips. In that split second, Derek thinks about leaning forward, the vase being crushed between them as they kiss. He thinks of not waiting for who knows how long for the day he can call Stiles his, for going in right now and never resurfacing. But then he flicks his gaze back up and into Stiles' eyes, which are earnest and fond, bright and beseeching.

Stiles wants Derek, but he wants Derek to believe he deserves Stiles in the first place. Because if Derek is being honest, Stiles is the nicest thing he can have — if only Stiles will have him back in return.

And Derek wants whatever will make Stiles happy.

So he says, "Okay," and cradles the vase carefully in his arms.

"Is that you giving me permission to do whatever it takes to make you love yourself?"

Derek doesn't know what the future holds, but he does know that Stiles won't ever lead him astray, so he agrees readily. "I give you permission to do anything to make me love myself." He frowns. "But no Disney movies marathon. Last Christmas was more than enough."

Stiles' laughter follows Derek all the way home, the vase of Daffodils held gently against his arms.

[felswritingfire]

(Hades) Gods x Shade! Reader

No matter how much you try, mortality will always catch up to those who are not of gods. Even the most blinded of them learn this eventually. You take your death with grace, choosing to go and explore this new world as soon as Lord Hades permits you to go, impressed by how little you complain and demand. You are one of the brighter parts of his day (night?).

You drift along, catching certain snippets of other Shade’s conversations as you wander aimlessly. You notice a crack in the wall; deciding to muster up your courage, you slip through it to find yourself in the glowing green torches of Tartarus. With what little you have, you hold it close to your translucent body and push forward.

You’re quick to notice the large glowing ball with an oddly familiar symbol floating in the middle of it. You take your time circling it, feeling compelled to touch it. When you do, a beam of light comes slicing through the dreary air to reveal a mighty god who stares down at you at your shocked form...

Zues

Cause of Death: Lightning Strike

Zues is confused when he sees you. He’s even more confused when you start screaming at him, waving your hands about and threatening to fight him yourself.

“You fucker! You killed me!”

He raises a brow. “I think I’d remember if I killed you.” You flipped up your middle finger at him and his eyebrows drew into an angry v. “How rude! I am the God of Gods-”

“I don’t care!”

Zagreus had to high tail it to you before Zues tried to smite you (possibly a second time).

Suffice to say you hoped you’d never bump into that boon again. And you didn’t. No, the God of Gods and Lightning himself decided that he’d have to make a house call himself (Hades was not pleased when a bolt of lightning came crashing down and left a scorched black ring in the carpet).

He picks you out quickly and you try to zoom out of the lobby until he catches you by the back of your robe and then you’re swinging and yelling profanities at him. He’s kinda amused now instead of angry- you’re just so weak and tiny compared to him. It’s hysterical- ow! Did you just bite him?

After you and Zues finish your little “spitting match”- Hades kicks Zeus out and you're forced to hang out in Tartarus for a bit (“but I’m just a simple fisherfolk! I can’t fight anything!” You cry, Hades does not spare you a look as you're dragged out by Meg).

You think maybe that’s the end until you’re approached by a… a squirrel? You almost punt it when his voice spills out as he shoots into a long prattle about how much of a jerk Hades was and how he couldn’t handle someone as grandiose as him appearing before him. Threatened him as a god or something- you were busy trying to figure out how you were going to kill this guy and make sure he stayed dead.

Turns out, after the two of you chattered (argued) a bit about whether or not he actually killed you, Zeus had some neat stories about the gods.

While you were interested in his children’s and brothers’ and sisters’ stories, he was interested in your stories of the mundane. A simple fisherfolk? That was a word? You just fished and traded? Amazing! Tell him more!

After this particular interaction between the two of you, Zeus really ended liking you. Maybe a little too much, but, aw well, it wasn’t everyday a mortal soul had the balls to argue with him for something he doesn’t remember doing (he probably did. Probably. Most likely). He swore that he’d come and see you everyday as he sat on your shoulder as a squirrel, going on and on about how you should feel blessed to be praised by one such as he. You were about to throw him until a giant hand came out and grabbed him (seemed you drifted too close to Lord Hades’ desk), the hulking god flinging him out of a portal.

He continues to pop up and bother you and, to be honest, he’s kinda growing on you. Also, I’m gonna be frank and lay it out that, if he likes you enough, he’s probs gonna want to smash, especially if you lean more towards the feminine side (he’s fucking AWFUL). It’s up to you if you wanna indulge that or not, I don’t recommend it, but you can if you really want to.

We’re going with the option you don’t smash- he’ll be salty at you for a whole ass day before he comes back the one after that as a rat (Hades kept finding out his forms that he used to sneak in so it was an ever constant menagerie of appearances to keep up the disguise) and is like: “I thought you would miss me too much so I came back before you could even complain.”

Zag likes to watch the two of you interact because he finds it absolutely fascinating. It’s like watching… He doesn’t know what it’s like but he’s having a blast as you roast his uncle to bits. It really helps him out when he’s feeling a bit down after failing getting out one too many times.

When you first get Zeus an Ambrosia, he thinks it’s poison and then he gets all prideful because of course you would give him an offering, he was the strongest of all the gods! Him and him alone!

“Silly, mortal, you cannot poison me! I am a god.”

You squint your eyes at him before you huff and pull the bottle closer to you. “Fine, whatever, I’ll just give it to Zagreus- or better yet, Hades if you don’t want it.”

“No! No! I want it! Give it to me! It’s mine!”

During this time, he’s actually experiencing some purer emotions in life- he’s genuinely giddy that you got him the Ambrosia and asks how you got it. You hold up a makeshift fishing rod and grin at him, telling him you snatched it from some nasty shades before you wandered back down to Tartarus.

His gift to you is a little lightning pin that, when you're in danger, will send a nasty bolt of lightning down on your enemies. You wonder what good it’ll do since you’re dead already, but shrug and accept it, thinking that he looks years younger and friendler when his smile isn’t packed full of ego and pride.

Poseidon

Cause of Death: Drowning

Poseidon, Lord of the Oceans, Earthquakes, and many other things, is simply- how do you say? Amused? It’s the best way to describe it at least. Of course he was mostly surprised when he appeared expecting the Little Hades to be waiting for him just to meet a Little Shade in his place.

“Why, hello there, Little Shade! You wouldn’t happen to know where the Little Hades is, would you?”

You shake your head, he doesn’t miss the way you nervously play with your hands, drifting back as some of his droplets float close to you.

He laughs at your simple reply. “Shy one aren’t you?” He leans closer to you, squinting and running a hand through his beard while he hummed.

You fight the urge to take a step back, the smell of salt water making your stomach churn.

His eyes flutter shut as he takes a deep breath. He takes a moment before he opens his eyes again and a look of understanding flashes across his eyes. “You drowned. Didn’t you?”

You stare up at him, eyes round and glassy. You nod.

Before your conversation can go any further, Zagreus comes running through the window, surprised to see his Uncle talking to a Shade (you look so scared- he hopes that you aren’t being bullied). You’re quick to take your leave bowing to both and passing the boon to the Prince before you scurry away into the cover of the other Shades.

He hums to himself, a cryptid smile on his face as his eyes follow after you. Such a strange little thing you were- he wouldn’t mind seeing you again.

It takes a bit, but he does happen to see you again, by peaking through a fountain in a fountain room in the Underworld. He spies you trying to poke at the water that he happened to choose, but jumping back each time. You face scrunched up into one of pure frustration. He asks if you’re doing alright there, Little Shade? Causing you to flash out of existence for a moment before settling back down and looking into the pool with wide eyes. Posiedon almost busts a gut with how hard he’s laughing and you huff telling him that it wasn’t funny.

He says otherwise, but asks what you’re doing. When your face bursts into a large blush you mumble something that he doesn’t quite catch and he’s left with more questions than answers as you take the chance to phase out of the chamber when Zag walks in and steals his Uncle’s attention for a split second. He furrows his brow before asking his nephew about you, which Zag, surprisingly, supplies rather quickly, seeing as the two of you talk a lot: apparently you’re deathly afraid of water after you were thrown into the ocean by your supposed best friend. The memories of the waves crushing you deeper and deeper beneath them sticking with you even in death. So, you were trying to curb that phobia. Posiedon nods, letting the words sink in before he offers the Little Hades a thumbs up and says he’ll help with that.

The next time you see the god, he’s eager to call you over and explain that he’s figured out what you were doing last time and offers to let you mess with some of the drops of water that follow him wherever he goes. You stare at them, eyebrows furrowed and looking just as sick as a shade could look. Yet, you still nod your head and hold out a shaky hand. He smiles at you, praising you for your courage and flicks one towards you; it floats gently before it rests serenely on your palm, allowing you to feel the cool sensation of the droplet. You marvel at it, still shaking with an anxiety before you nod. He pulls it away, it shoots back to rest next to his head and you thank him for going out of his way to help you and ease your fears.

He remarks that you should fear the water out of respect: it’s unpredictable, terrifying in it’s own right- vast and, seemingly, never ending, what could possibly be more terrifying than the unknown, hm? He continues to say that you should also hold onto a bit of bravery at the very least, for untold treasures come from there for those who look.

After that conversation, Poseidon makes it a habit of having you hold onto his droplets of water, making them slightly bigger each time for you to get used to them.

By the time you’re able to touch them freely without experiencing crippling fear- the droplets are almost the size of you. Poseidon praises you the more you grow out of your fear.

You do eventually open up to him about how you died and he never tells you that he already knew. Just allows you to talk in a soft voice as you recall it. It’s a nice bonding experience for the both of you and Posideon decides that you’re his favorite Shade and he’ll treasure you for as long as you exist.

The first time you get him a bottle of Ambrosia, you come to him shivering and sopping wet. He’s confused and concerned as he hovers to you.

“What happened to you, Little Shade? Are you alright?”

It takes you a moment to be able to speak. “I- I found a bottle of Ambrosia. I thought-” you take a deep breath, holding out the bottle with both hands- “I thought you’d like it.”

It’s one of his prized possessions now, he takes little sips of it once in a while, but other than that it remains as one of his most precious memories. He’s very attached to you at this point and you’ll forever have his blessing. His gift to you, aside from the undying loyalty, is a shell necklace, if you ever need him- you only need to whisper his name to it and he’ll appear in an instant.

Athena

Cause of Death: Exhaustion

Athena had been prepared to meet with Zagreus- not a curious shade staring back up at her with all the relevance of one of her worshippers.

“What business do you have with me?”

She raises her brow at your gobsmacked expression, watching as you screw your face up before bowing. “Apologies, m’lady, I only happened to bump into your…” you look at where it glows, furrowing your eyebrow, “your orb?”

“Boon.”

You nod your head in understanding before bowing your head again. “Again, my sincerest apologies.”

Luckily, she didn’t smite you, instead asking the question of how you were even talking to her. Getting a shrug from you, you say that maybe it’s because you worshipped her (unofficially, you were never able to make it up to her shrine much to your disappointment) when you were alive- maybe a deeper bond is there compared to someone who had never prayed to her for her protection and guidance.

When she hears this, she’s very interested, pressing you to elaborate further when the Young Prince comes jogging out of the glowing window, waving to you. You slink away, passing the boon to him and bowing to her once again before you disappear into the mass of Shades that choose to wander their new home as well.

After the conversation, you had caught the Goddess’ attention, planting a desire in her to see you again. Even going as far as to write a letter to ask her uncle for a council with you after a week passed of her placing her boon in Tartarus so that maybe you would drift too close to it once again. But each time only the little prince would find them (which she was fine with, but it still left such an unflattering taste of defeat on her tongue each time it wasn’t you). She figured it would be a moot point to send the letter, but it was worth a try.

But she decided to place her boon down once more before she sent it out. Just to try. And this time it worked.

You were the one she saw and she was absolutely delighted- not that she showed it, choosing to keep her stoic and sharp expression. You greet her in a similar way before: awed before bowing your head to her. You continue to go on about how you're happy to see her again and, despite how little you had been buried with, you hoped that she would take this- a broken sword, despite the worn hilt and the deep scars the littered what was left of the flat of the balde; it was still polished (at least what was left of it)- as a proper offering to her for all she had done in your life- even if it truly wasn’t all her doings.

She takes the sword in her hand, holding it high, her eyes shining as she studies it: truly, it was a warrior’s blade. She watches as the history and memories flash in the smooth iron. She remarks that it is a remarkable offering, but she cannot accept it. It feels wrong taking a weapon of a warrior such as yourself.

You smile as her, shaking your head, urging her to take it, for you didn’t need that blade in this afterlife. You had already fought your battles, killing the man who you had been battling with and quelling the rage that had followed you since you were a child for revenge. Eventually, dying from the strain of the fight with a feeling of contentedness.

Athena raises her brow, remarking how that sounded more along the lines of Ares rather than her.

You nod, but say that you couldn’t help but desire her help for she was the goddess attached to your favorite animal. She had to fight the urge to laugh, a shaky smile slipping through as she nods at you. Such a silly thing you are. She decides that she’ll take the sword as a reminder of you, no matter where you should go now. She also decides that you were forming a rather soft cradle in her heart.

After this, she is quick to ask Zagreus about you every chance she gets- not that he minds too much, he tells her about how you’ve been helping him train and you’ve even told him about your life when you were alive (“a general, can you believe that? They’re so young!” Zagreus says as he shows her the new move you taught him). She’s only the slightest bit miffed at hearing that you and Achilles have begun to form a sweet friendship. She’s pleased to hear that his father has been trying to barter with you to get you into Elysium, though she’s a tad confused on the reason you refuse to.

She asks you about it one day and you say that it would take longer to see her and you would prefer to avoid that. It was the only time the goddess has ever had to fight down a blush.

When you get her a bottle of Ambrosia, she’s in pure awe at the huge bottle.

“How did you get one this big?”

You lean against the new sword you managed to get your hands on- something simple and obviously used- you offer her a lopsided grin. “Well, not just any Ambrosia would work, so I decided to try my luck with Lord Theseus and, The Great Bull, Asterius. Took me a couple of tries but I managed to beat them and snag it.”

Athena smiles warmly at it, telling you that she’ll treasure it and think of you every time she takes a drink of it. She realizes in that moment just how important you had become to her, never feeling this… soft for a mortal soul in her life. Her gift to you is a shield and a new sword: the shield bares her symbol of an owl while the sword was ornate with a divine glow. She promises that no matter what they’ll protect you and so will she, you only need to call out her name.

Aphrodite

Cause of Death: A Broken Heart

When the Goddess of Love first sees you- she thinks you’re absolutely gorgeous (of course not as gorgeous as her). The sad look in your eye and the slight frown that rests on your lips makes her almost fall in love right then and there.

“Hello, little one- do you know where the little godling is?”

You shake your head. “I’m sorry, Lady Aphrodite. I know not where he is.”

She raises her brows, a smile on her face. “How did you know I was Aphrodite, my dear?”

You look up at her, a sudden glint in your eyes has her yearning to see it once again. “No one else could be so breathtaking, my Lady.”

Oh. Oh, she likes you.

She chooses to chatter away with you- despite you mostly listening, adding little things here and there, she feels a strange sense of fullness, like she just ate a full and warm meal for the first time in a very long time, by the time Zagreus arrives. You bid your farewell and she can’t help but follow you with her gaze as your transparent form blends in with the other Shades.

Aphrodite is thrilled the next time she runs into you- or rather you run into her boon. She missed the melancholy look in your eyes, she also doesn’t miss the fact that you’ve come bearing gifts this time: an assortment of colorful flowers rests in your arms and you offer it to her. That glint coming and going like a shooting star as she accepts the offering, holding it up to her nose to take in their sweet scent. How sweet were you to hand her something so delicate.

She asks you where you got them and you remark that you made your way up to Elysium. She’s surprised to hear as such- you didn’t seem like the warrior type. You shake your head, your eyes sweeping low. You weren’t a warrior, far from it- a simple florist if anything. You just drifted until you made it up there and plucked some flowers to make bouquets. You mumble that maybe you’ll be more useful in death.

She tilts her head at the comment, beginning to ask until Zagreus is jogging up to the both of you and it was time for you to leave. She’s a tad annoyed, but reminds herself that the little godling didn’t know- simply trying to break out of this dreary place he calls home and see Olympus in all its glory. She’ll just ask next time.

You gave her another bouquet, this one more beautiful than the last, when she gets the chance to ask you her question. Your eyes pool with a mournful look as you gaze up at her, your hand resting over the place where your heart used to beat as you look to the ground. You explain that you were young when you were wed- just as you were young when you died. You were married off to someone you did not love- someone awful, vile, who beat you down daily just to build you back up so they could laugh when they toppled you over once again. You remark about how you could feel yourself dying little by little, your delicate heart bleeding as your want for life began to dwindle away. You grew sick and you would sit by the window day in and day out, staring out and wondering what your life could have been if you were married to someone you loved. A ghost of a smile blooms on your lips as you look up at her, that glint she oh-so loved twinkling in your eye as you say that you did not die in as much loneliness and pain as you could have; having been making a bouquet dedicated just to her love and sweetness: your Lady Aphrodite who you love, ever so much.

She’s shocked when she realizes the tears that drip down her cheeks, her hand coming to caress your cheek (really your head, she was hulking compared to your small form) with her fingertips. She comments that she would accept every bouquet you made and treasure each flower like it was the one you made for her with your last breaths in the living world.

After that interaction, she comes down a lot more, asking Zagreus if he could bring along her darling florist so that she could talk to you. He always obliges, loving to see the two of you chatter about (well, her chatter about, you usually just listened with a smile on your face as you used the flowers you had plucked into flower crowns for him and Lady Aphrodite). You two become a sort of comfort for him when he’s getting frustrated: seeing your usually melancholy demeanor light up as soon as the goddess appears and in turn the goddess becomes something less vain and more gentle as she speaks to you.

At some point, you’ll probably meet Ares himself- the two never that far from each other, also she adores you, so it only makes sense for you to meet him. He’s honestly a tad unimpressed when you first meet, but when he hears about the heart ache you faced he gains a sense of respect for you, remarking that love is a battle in and of itself and you fought valiantly to keep your ability to love freely (Aphrodite might convince you to have a threesome, I’m not gonna lie, she’s attracted to you on a deep level and she has her trysts with Ares- it’s perfect in her eyes. Though she won’t push you if you don’t desire it).

When you first get her Ambrosia, she’s flabbergasted before it turns into worry for how you got it and the potential danger you were in.

She takes the bottle of gold liquid and the flowers that you had so carefully arranged. Her attention, though, is focused on the said bottle of Ambrosia. “My Darling Florist, how did you get this?” Before you can answer she shoots into a flurry of questions. “Are you alright? Did anything catch you? Hurt you? You don’t seem hurt. Oooh-” she puffs her cheeks out, her gaze sharp- “why did you get me this? It’s dangerous!”

You wait for her to calm down. “I apologize for making you worry, but I simply snuck around and grabbed it from some witches- they didn’t even notice me. And I-” you tap your fingers together, a blush blooming across your face as you look away from the goddess and she decides that she craves seeing that expression on you again- “I thought that you deserved it. It’s a much better offering than my silly bouquets.”

Well, aside from the ‘silly bouquets’ comment (which she corrects you on very quickly), she’s absolutely flattered and it might be the final nail in the coffin that has her falling for you, the little shade in front of her. She decides that you hold a piece of her heart in your translucent hands, though she chooses to keep that information to herself.

Her gift to you is a hairpin that matches hers, though if you don’t have enough hair- she says, you can always pin it to your robe. It’s a blatant claim on her part, but it also helps ease the residual heartache that followed you into death. And, hopefully (a personal hope of her), each time you look at it, you’d fall deeper and deeper in love with her as well.

Artemis

Cause of Death: Arrow to the Heart

She’s confused when she sees you, quick to voice her confusion as well. Also depending on if you're more feminine or masculine (and I don’t mean woman or man, I just mean how you present yourself), she will treat you differently depending. So, for now, we’re gonna go with the more “feminine” option:

“Who’re you?”

You bow. “An honor to meet you, Lady Artemis, I seem to have bumped into that orb on accident. Wasn’t sure what it did and the curiosity got the better of me.”

She hums, she perks when she notices your bow. “You’re a hunter?”

You smile, holding it out to her. “Yes, indeed, my Lady- I prayed to you a lot.” You laughed, adding. “Hoped to join your hunters when I was young.”

She’s quite happy to hear that and begins to chatter along with you. For some reason feeling oddly at ease around you. It’s probably because you were a fellow hunter but she simply can’t help the way she grows an odd sort of… adoration? Something like that, she thinks- for you. She almost laments the fact when Zagreus comes to get the boon.

You nod to him, biding your farewell to the Goddess and passing the boon to the Prince. She doesn’t miss how Zagreus’ eyes shine as you walk away. She almost comments on it but bites her tongue, wanting to observe the prince and the dreamy look that drifts over his features, even as you disappear.

The next time the two of you meet, she asks if she can see you in action. You agree and search up ahead to find something to demonstrate your skills on. You’re quick to find a few Numbskulls. She watches as you take a deep breath, your eyes narrowing on your unassuming targets and your footsteps become silent as you skirt closer to them. You nock an arrow, never looking away. Her eyes gleam with thrumming adrenaline at the way the muscles in your arms tense as you draw the string back. The low groan of the wood barely above a whisper as you wait for them to line up. You hold your breath, releasing the arrow- it goes through all three of them, making them break into dust in a consecutive line, a harrowing scream being wretched from them as they fade from existence. You release the breath you were holding and stand, sending a smile to the young goddess whose eyes shine with stars.

She praises you for your amazing skill and sings of your prowess. You shake your head, looking down at the ground as you argued that you were but a simple bow folk in your living life. Nothing more, nothing less.

She begs to differ! That type of skill only belongs to those of her highest ranking huntresses! She continues to gush about you until Zag comes up and, once again, greets the both of you. That dreamy look coming over his face as he looks at you. She watches as you once again disappear into Tartarus, this time though, after you’re gone, she turns to her cousin and shoots into a tangent about why he had never told her about you before and where did you come from? She has to know!

He answers all of her questions to the best of his abilities but there are even some he doesn’t know about, for example: how you died.

Artemis accepts this and decides that she’ll just ask you the next time the two of you meet.

And, true to her word, she does. She asks you point blank and you can’t help but be slightly taken aback. You laugh softly, leaning on your bow as you begin to recount that you were traversing her forest, as you had done many times before, and noticed fresh foot prints of man. You decided that it would be a good idea to look and you found hunters trying to kill her Golden Stag. You had dove in as quickly as you could, shooting one- the arrow sailing in a clean arch through his wrist before he could let loose his arrow. But as you went to nock another arrow- a searing pain in your chest and heart. You looked down to see blood pooling around your robes, dying the olive green of your cloak a wine red. You remember the last thing you saw was the Golden Stag running away. You smiled telling her that you were happy he got away- you don’t know what you’d do if he had been captured despite your effort.

Artemis suddenly remembers that day: her stag rushing to her and urging her to follow him- he bounded through the forest, frantic and panicked. When they got to a clearing, she was quick to notice the blood and the drag marks of a body. Her stag pressed his nose to the ground sniffing at the pool of blood, his eyes watering and bulbous tears slid down his muzzle. It suddenly made sense. You were the one he was mourning for.

She couldn’t help but grab your hands, resting her forehead against the back of them; thanking you for protecting her stag when she couldn’t. You smile at her, bowing your head to her and thanking her for the countless hunts she went on with you. You pull your hands away from her and hold out your bow to her. She asks what you think you're doing in a watery voice and you say it’s an offering. You couldn’t give much when you were alive and you still can’t give much now, but, this bow- it shall treat her right.

She sniffles as she takes it, trying to hold in tears. She vows to treasure it for all of time as she admires the worn wood.

That day, the two of you became closer as comrades, she would actively come down to say hi to you (and encourage Zagreus to take the leap and court you after she learned of his growing affections for you). The two of you would talk about everything you could think of, explaining how your hunting styles differed or how you could set a trap easier. She had realized that she had never felt this carefree with anyone before. She felt like a child. It felt nice.

When you snag her a bottle of Ambrosia- she’s swaddled in a whirlwind of emotions.

“You… You got this for me?” She asks as she takes the bottle of golden liquid.

You nod, that gentle smiling spreading across your face. “Of course. You had helped me so many times- it is only fair, my Lady-”

“Artemis-” she sniffled, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles- “call me Artemis, my friend.”

She finds you to be a perfect friend- a breath of fresh air from home. She may not feel any romantic feelings towards you, but she still holds you in a dear place in her heart. Her gift to you is a new bow and quiver that will never run out of arrows. The bow is enchanted and you’ll never have to fear it breaking for it will protect you for as long as you exist- in this realm or another.

Ares

Cause of Death: Blood Loss

When Ares first sees you, he is… well- he’s impressed that you stumbled upon his boon, but at the same time… He’s a tad miffed? That you found it?

At the very least he’s condescending as all hell about it:

“What is this? A little lamb came to beg me for power? How foolish. No matter how hard you struggle you will never be much more than some little shade.”

“Ah, sorry, my Lord! Didn’t mean to bump into it!” You hold up the basket in your translucent arms, “I wanted to see if I could find some new ingredients to bake with! I do oh-so miss it, sir.”

Well, he wasn’t expecting that.

He ends up allowing you to chatter on with him despite his obvious judgement on your, what he calls, “soft mortal hobby” until Zagreus comes to do his daily try of breaking out from the Underworld.

As he watches you drift away (after passing the boon and giving words of good luck to the Prince, who happily takes it), he kinda hopes to see you again

And see you again he does! He literally sees you the next day- night? Whatever, he’s never sure when he drops a boon in there- it’s damn dark-

He’s presented with a basket of treats and your gleeful greeting as you chatter that you found ingredients to make some Baklava and you thought that, maybe, he’d like to try it?

He smiles- cruel and sharp- and asks if you truly think that this is a fit offering for a god such as himself?

You shrug, saying he doesn’t have to eat it if he doesn’t want to

He laughs and takes it and you two are off chattering again: him regaling you with his war stories and you of the ingredients you had (somehow) found down here until Zag shows up, once again, the boon is passed to him (this time along with a slice of the delicious, warm Baklava. Which, he’s confused on what it is but he finds out very quickly that it’s his favorite treat).

The two of you talk a lot, which Ares is pleasantly surprised about, usually he’s the scorn of everyone- not that he cares, it causes conflict and he likes that. But you’re so calm and sweet that he just can’t get a rise out of you. Which, on one hand, pisses him off to no end, but, on the other, it’s such a nice change of pace for him. He’s used to the bloodshed and animosity of battlefields- the iron tinged air that follows after the warriors that traverse those fields. And yet, here you are: a shade that always has a treat for him when you run into him and the smell of warm sweetness wafting after you.

So when he learned exactly how you died- he was absolutely floored.

“How did you die, little baker?” He asked one day, fiddling with his knife, tilting it discreetly so that your reflection was in it.

“Oh!” You smiled sheepishly, glancing away from him and placing the bag of flour (how did you even get that? He’d have to ask you next) back into your basket. “Well- you see, I bled out.”

He raised his eyebrow, suddenly very interested. “How? You’re so…” he tilted his head and flipped his knife so that the blade pointed at him and the hilt pointed at you, he poked your arm with said hilt. “Soft.”

“Well…”

You explain that you had a little brother who had a nasty habit of getting into trouble- he was a good person, just made foolish choices- and this time, it had cost you your life. He had pissed off the wrong person and, well, when the man had attempted to grab your brother when the two of you were out walking the stalls on your break- you did the only thing you could think of: you fought.

Of course it went horribly, you’ve never been in a fight before then and, despite all the work you did with dough, it didn’t help much when the man pulled out a knife and dug it straight into your gut. But, you don’t mind too much- your brother’s alive and well and, from what you understand from asking Lord Hades, he had started to be more aware of himself and who he angered. Which made you super happy and proud of him!

Ares can’t help but feel some sort of pity for you. So much life to be taken so quickly and placed in- wait. Why weren’t you in Elysium?

You’re incredibly confused when Ares suddenly disappears (Aphrodite appearing in his place in the blink of an eye- she greets you happily and asks if you have any of Baklava to share today. You do not but you do have some Loukoumades if she wanted some. She did). You’re even more confused when the Underworld shakes and angry yelling fills the entirety of it for a solid ten minutes before all goes back to normal.

You tell Ares about it the next day and he simply hums. Keeping it to himself that he made a whole scene about you not being in Elysium by popping up and butting heads with Hades, of course he got kicked out. That still doesn’t stop him from sending angry letters that can span anywhere from one word letters (usually containing a curse word) to a 30 page essay on why you should be in Elysium instead of milling about in such unkempt places.

The first time you go out of your way to get him a bottle of Ambrosia is the day that both scares the shit out of him and makes him hate you for giving him mushy feelings.

You came to him in, almost literal, tatters: your greenish, transparent form ripped in places, the few wisps of you following after your torn form like they were tied to a string. You had held it up to him in a basket, a plate of Baklava sitting next to it, along with some other treats. “Lady Aphrodite mentioned that she wanted to try my Baklava, so I made her some! Though the Ambrosia is just for you, my Lord!”

He blinked at you, taking the basket in a delicate hold. He turned it this way and that, his chest feeling… warm? He wanted to grimace at the soft warmth that thrummed through his veins, yet it was replaced with a smile as he held up the gold liquid. “Thank you, little Baker.”

It was the first time he felt something so unexplainably soft: so gentle and warm as it settled somewhere between the bottom of his ribcage and the top of his stomach. He listened as you told him how you had gotten it: with Zagreus’ help (you even got to meet Lord Hermes! It was so amazing! He had scoffed at that) he led you to a room with Ambrosia as the prize and, despite the young prince’s worry, you managed to beat the monsters and collect it, mostly, by yourself.

Ares was so flattered, but he couldn’t help the way that your tattered form made him feel a sort of worry. He waved his hands through the wisps of your body before he snapped his fingers and a small blade appeared: a beautifully constructed blade that was an exact replica of his (albeit much, much smaller). He handed it to you, telling you that you should have a proper weapon if you’re going to go out of your way to fight in his name.

Dionysus

Cause of Death: Alcohol Poisoning

Dionysus, unlike many, is incredibly excited to see you sitting there. He adores mortal souls and can’t help but look at them each time Zag chooses his boons and he has the chance to glimpse at their souls (despite his tendency to let them go completely after they die- he can’t help but wonder about them once in a while).

“Why, hello there! What’s a little thing like you doing strolling up to my boon, hm?”

He can’t help but notice the way your eyes are a tad dull, but he writes that off as the dark of Tartarus since it’s gone as fast as he noticed it. You smile up at him, absolutely beaming at the God of drink and madness. “Hello, Lord Dionysus!”

“Oho, you could tell it was me? What gave it away?”

The two of you laugh, diving into a conversation. He offers you a cup of wine and is put off with how long it takes you to decline it. He almost thought you looked absolutely ravenous as you peered into the deep red liquid. He shrugs it off and continues to chatter with you until his favorite Zagman stumbles upon the two of you. He’s quick to say hi to you and even leans down to ask you… something. Dionysus misses it, but still watches the way you stiffly nod before you pass the boon to the prince and scurry off.

He’s tempted to ask about it, but decides that he should probably ask you himself instead of trying to pry. Mortals didn’t take well to people snooping around their private lives, which he could respect.

The next time he sees you though, he relaxes you into a sort of peaceful lull as he chats with you before he drops the question.

You stare blankly at him, that dark look in your eye coming back and making his skin crawl. You suddenly laugh it off waving your hands as you tell him that a god shouldn’t worry about a little ol’ shade like you.

He doesn’t push for an answer but the question still swirls in his mind, even as you toddle off after his Zagman pops up. He decides that he’ll actually ask the Prince this time around.

He asks him point blank and Zag, despite him being hesitant at first, decides to spill how you died. You had been the black sheep of your family, never truly fitting into the carefully set path that they wanted you to follow- so you found solace in drinking from a young age. It had taken the edge off of everything, Zagreus recounted you telling him. It filled you with a warmth you had been missing all your life and you couldn’t help but indulge more and more in it until it slowly became your own personal poison. Dionysus grimaced, for once feeling a sort of queasiness in the pit of his stomach as Zagreus continued on with your story. So, one day, you had drunk yourself into a deep stupor after an awful argument with your parents. But, this time, you never woke up. Instead you woke up floating in the river of blood- the River of Styx.

Dionysus had nodded after the Prince finished the story, playing with the goblet in his hand and swirling the red wine that resides in it. He offers a bitter smile to Zag and bids his farewell (of course leaving a boon of his choice with the lad) popping off back to Olympus.

The next time he runs into you, he asks if you’re feeling alright- if you want to talk. You blink at him, confused at first until realization dawns you. You bite your lip, looking down. He’s quick to assure you that you didn’t have to talk about anything- you two could just have a good time like always. You tell him that you’d like that, not yet ready to face your past. He nods, immediately telling you about an embarrassing story about Ares and how much of a lightweight he was which had you letting out an ugly snort along with your loud cackles.

The god begins to take it upon himself to have you smiling more and maybe remedy those dark clouds that appear in your eyes once in a while. He’s pretty observant despite being piss drunk half the time, it also helps that he’s very intune to your emotions for some odd reason, so he’s quick to pick up on when you feel down or your having something the equivalent to a relapse. He has you drink just a little bit from his goblet since it’s better than quitting cold turkey. And that little bit is always enough to quench your thirst and calm you down. You’ve been needing less and less of it as the days (nights?) pass by.

The first time you get Dionysus Ambrosia is the same day that he almost swears that he’ll marry you. He’s quick to grow emotional with the sheer fact that you went out of your way to get something so special for him, his face almost splitting with how wide of a smile he has on his face.

“You got this for me, man?” He says, holding up the bottle in his hand and inspecting it like it’s a precious jewel. “You know this stuff is hard to come by, super hard.”

You nod, the clouds far from your eyes now. “I had to thank you some way and punching a couple of Shades to get my hands on that was worth it.”

“You punched people for me?”

“Of course.”

He fights the urge to squeal and pops the top off, summoning another cup and pouring some in it. “Here’s to us!” He says as he hands you the cup.

He’s honestly never had so much fun just existing with one person. After that he’s never far from you, one usually not seen without the other around- even despite the Underworld not being Dionysus’ favorite place, he can’t help but be willing to venture down there to see you in person (he’s been trying to convince his wonderful Uncle Hades to let you come up with him to Olympus for a little bit- he’s even got his dad and (other) Uncle in on it. Hades officially hates all of them). His gift to you is a matching goblet that will supply you any beverage of your choice. It also has the double power to protect you from all that wishes to harm you, but you’ll learn that in due time. It’ll be more fun that way, Dionysus muses.

Hermes

Cause of Death: Falling

Usually, Heremes wouldn’t have taken the time of day to chatter mindlessly with a shade. But, it was a different story when that shade summoned him through bumping into his boon- now it’s just interesting!

“Eh? Who’re you? It’s kinda strange for a shade to be here and not my Cos, huh? Did something happen to him? You his stand in or something? That’d be kinda funny because you don’t seem like his stand in- not buff enough or something like that.”

You blink slowly taking in the words of his mile a minute speech as he continues to prattle on. You take a seat in front of the quick mouthed god, getting yourself comfortable as he flutters about and chatters. Not like you minded- he filled in the places where you couldn’t with steady conversation. You nod to some of the quips he makes, just to show you were still listening.

He decides then and there that he likes you a lot and that you should meet Charon. As soon as Zagreus pops up to collect the boon- he grabs the back of your robes and goes zooming off with you in tow. You wave to the panicked prince, allowing yourself to be dragged around. He continues to chatter on and on, only taking a break when he reaches the Boatman (who was not expecting a Shade to be accompanying the God of Messengers). He sets you down, tries to introduce you two to each other- realizes he doesn’t know your name, so you end up telling them your name- and then is quick to say goodbye, after he gives a scroll to Charon, and shoots off.

You end up staying with Charon after learning a bit more about the quiet boatman and Hermes is quite pleased when he realizes that he’d be seeing you around a lot more. He’s quick to flutter about you and chatter for a few quick seconds before zipping off. You wave at him.

The process repeats for a while before he finally takes a moment to really sit with you, Charon having gone to pick up more souls and lead them down the River of Styx. He chatters on aimlessly, asking little questions here and there before he decides to ask the million dollar question: “How did you die?”

You blink slowly as him before murmuring that you fell from a very high place, you head cracking open on the rocks at the bottom and now here you are. He asks why you were messing about on a high place, as that seemed to be something most mortals avoided doing. You explained that there was a kitten stuck in an old root on the ledge and you couldn’t just leave her. So, you crawled onto the branch and put her back onto safe ground, but the root gave way and then you went tumbling to your doom.

Hermes is surprisingly quiet throughout the entire exchange until you reach the end and he says: “you’re a real bleeding heart under all that quiet, huh?” You nod solemnly and he laughs, pulling you into a side hug. How could something with such a fleeting life be so selfless with it? He squeezes you harder before he stands up and bids you farwell, shooting off once again. And, again, you wave as he goes.

He grows attached to you quickly afterwards, bringing you little things that might help make you more comfortable down in the Underworld. Of course Charon is there to keep you company which he’s happy about- and he voices that exact thought to the boatman, who just grumbles out a long: uuuuaagghhh as his reply. He pats his arm and says that he knew he’d get it.

When you manage to get your hands on a bottle of Ambrosia- he’s completely blind sided that he almost trips on his own feet. His face flushing a deep red as he takes the offered bottle.

“How’d- how’d you get this?” His speech is all jumbled and jumpy, though he tries to keep the giddy excitement bubbling in his stomach as bay.

“I saved up my coin,” you said, nodding to Charon who nods back. “And bought it from Charon. I would’ve fought for it, but I’m no warrior.”

A smile splits across his face and the wings on the side of his head flutter. He’s quick to scoop you up and hug you, floating up with you as he does.

Hermes is an absolute giddy mess with your offering, not sure if he should kiss you or simply remain holding you. He had a special place for you before but this just solidifies his adoration for you. His gift to you is a pair of boots with wings on the side of them- an exact replica of his (in your size! Somehow-). He promises that they’ll help you get anywhere you want quickly, also the two of you match! How cute is that?

[magireco]

out of curiosity what do you think of the characterization of homura in rebellion? i hugely dislike it but get the impression you enjoy it which i think is interesting cuz we seem to have very similar thoughts on homura pre-rebellion (CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG)

THIS IS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON WHAT FLAVOR OF REBELLION HOMURA YOU MEAN. i really really like the way she was done in the first half of the movie but as for the twist at the end...? mmm...

...okay, so... i've been thinking about saying this at some point but i keep avoiding it in fear of causing discourse and such bc... this is a really unpopular opinion apparently, but I really do not think devil homura was done properly. read under the cut if you wanna know why i feel this way!

the first issue i'm going to address is that there wasn't NEARLY enough buildup for it. i'm going to explain this from the perspective of a first-time viewer: what would you have thought would happen after the very last scene of rebellion leading up to them breaking homura out of her soul gem? when homulilly got purified and the flowers on her head turned to sakura flowers (y'know, the flowers that symbolize life and rebirth, homura being reborn from her witch)? did you think homura was suddenly gonna undermine madoka's godliness? because, uh, first-view me did not think that at all. and neither did almost anyone i know who watched it for the first time. not only is that poor setup but it's just so sudden and it feels so out of character compared to what we'd seen in the entire series as a whole, especially considering that the entire last part of the movie leading up until that was about purifying her... and saving her... there wasn't enough buildup. most people are like "but the flower scene happened!" but that's still way too vague...? it's hard to tell what conclusion homura comes to at the end, because we don't get to see any of her internal monologue... there is no other buildup after the flower scene... it just skips to homura realizing she's a witch. wouldn't that bring the viewer to think the flower scene was something that made homura realize she was a witch rather than her suddenly starting to form her plan? it always felt like to me the conclusion homura came to at the end of the flower scene was that she was validating madoka's bravery and telling her that if it ever came to that, she'd have the ability to make that hard decision. which is... so... weird? because i always interpreted that as homura coming to terms with what happened? i could just be interpreting it wrong though, but isn't that supposed to be our proof scene? our buildup scene? why would they make it so hard to understand? we need to know such important buildup points just as blatantly as the natural buildup to homura becoming a witch was. that's just from a moviemaking & writing perspective though.

secondly, i'm gonna discuss homura's motive. i actually ended up understanding were she was coming from after a while of being like "what the hell that makes zero sense!!!!". madoka is a 14-year-old girl who, in order to save the fate of every magical girl, literally had to sacrifice herself and erase herself from the world, and in the end, madoka just ended up saving homura again, and that must've made homura feel like her promise with madoka was never fulfilled. it's unfair what happened when you think about it and the law of cycles should not have been run by madoka herself because she, as any other 14 year old, deserves to be happy on earth. although it was said in magireco that madoka felt happy with what she was doing (and she felt like it truly gave her a purpose), she did admit to feeling lonely and homura probably made that assumption big time. but the way the writers went about it just made her seem so sinister... so out-of-character-ly sinister. what with the evil smirking and the deepened, almost... uh, sensual-seeming voice, and homura completely ignoring madoka's fear. it feels like they twisted her character extremely suddenly and it throws the viewer on a loop. they could've gone with that ending without making such drastic and sudden changes to homura's character, and if they were planning on doing that, why did they not give us more buildup? buildup that wasn't extremely cryptic that you have to scan and search every detail to get a clue? something i love about rebellion is that every time you watch you find something new, but how come some of the only clues illuding to devil homura's existence are in the op? it's odd. why didn't they go with something like making the incubators run the law of cycles? they were the ones at fault for causing it to be created. but honestly, the incubators cannot be trusted with anything, which is why it'd make sense for a magical girl to run the law of cycles, but if homura and madoka had the combined power to do so, what if they just remade the law of cycles so it was less unfair to madoka...? i don't know. either of those possibilites would make more sense than what happened.

something else that kind of irks me about it is that they demonized(literally, lol) homura's love for madoka. homura is very much a canon lesbian, and it's incredibly discomforting to me that they made her seem, outwardly to the viewer, so selfish...? please don't get me wrong, i'm not ACTUALLY calling homura selfish -- i know the entire akumura facade is a mask she put on, but like, it's so much more blatantly sinister than she is in the series when she's putting on the coolmura facade. it's going to really confuse the viewer and see every single one of her actions from the entire series in a completely different light, INCLUDING stuff that happened in rebellion itself. like the genuine sadness homura felt, the way we saw into her soul and felt her pain, that genuinely made a lot of people i've seen think that it was ingenuine upon first inspection... they made homura turn "evil" out of her love for madoka, as if it's a bad thing to fall in love, and as if love for another girl was what corrupted her soul gem... i understand that gen urobuchi probably wanted to explore that kind of path where love leads to obsession or whatever, but homura was selfless to a fault, constantly trying to force herself away from the others in order to not get attached, and deeply afraid of seeming creepy and predatory and scaring(she said this herself), which is exactly what she ends up doing at the end, and i feel so awful that they did that to her... how is the viewer supposed to know what her true motives are at that point? it gets all scrambled up after they did that huge plot twist. i'm going to address another thing super quick before people jump in my ask box over this, i understand also that it would make sense for homura to be obsessed with madoka, but in the series, it was never shown in this light, and like i said, if they were going to do this, why'd they even have the purification scene at the end at all? the buildup is all wrong . it also just made me upset that this ending caused SO many people to start literally believing homura is evil because of her actions at the end, and it made people become even more vehement on their beliefs that homura is obsessive and ps*cho...

i was really confused when i watched it for the first time (and also sobbing hysterically, literally, my funniest rebellion story as someone who has genuinely watched the movie 40-ish times, i remember vividly the first time i watched it i started sobbing on my hands and knees on a yoga mat in my mom's room). also like, just to prove my point a teensy bit more, the ending was so ambiguous and out of nowhere that one of the first google results to "madoka magica rebellion" is "madoka magica rebellion ending explained" because it shocked people so much that that was the first thing they needed to google. also, the fact they left us on such a vague cliffhanger and then abandoned the movie series for a total of 8 whole years only to make a sudden comeback in god's holy year of 2021 was almost cruel. LIKE GUYS I JUST FINISHED UP MY DEVIL HOMURA HEADCANONS IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!!!

...anyways, um, i really have to address the sexualization. madoka magica, previously, was a series that avoided fanservice in the show, at least, but why did they make akumura's design look like that...? it shows an unsettling amount of skin and like, every three seconds in the end they're focusing intensely on her lips and her eyes and... it's almost like the writers forgot she was 14, but they never seemed to forget that in the series? what happened????? in the transformation scene, we get closeup views of homura's thighs and back and stuff and it's all open everywhere... they made her tights into thigh-highs... in the whole series, even when she went to school, she always wore tights, and she was wearing tights in her magical girl outfit too... they absolutely deliberately did that to sexualize her further so they could make official art with her thighs out. speaking of official art that unsettles me, why does so much of the official art make the whole outfit just glued to her body and you can see all the shading on her features... it's just. ugh. anyways.

i went off a LITTLE too much on this and i know this is probably gonna get me some weird glances in the fandom and i am open to hearing other people's opinions but i don't think i'll ever stop disliking the effect this plot twist had on the fandom's interpretation of homura and although i'm like UNDENIABLY incredibly hyper excited for the next movie, i'm kind of...nervous for what this is going to bring? i don't want this next movie to cause the same amount of discourse the ending of rebellion did and i legit just want to see homura happy. another one of my main issues with the ending is just that homura is SO unhappy when she literally deserves to be happy SOOOOOOO BAD and just take a break from all the loops ... i'm Praying to madokami out there that that's what happens.

i know this is all really funny coming from someone who draws devil homura on a regular basis and literally writes her, but like... i'm a lesbian i'm allowed to<3

ANYWAYS thanks for listening this was a fun ask!!!

[365days365movies]

March 16, 2021: Legend (1985) (Part One)

Hi, Tim Curry. How are you doing today?

Yeah, that tracks. Been a while, always good to see you. Man, actually, when is the last time I saw you? Clone Wars? I think so, although I don’t know if that really counts. I think, in person, it was...oof, Criminal Minds in 2012?

Yeah, dude, you were FUCKING TERRIFYING, HOLY SHIT. I feel like people don’t talk about that performance as much, but you were goddamn amazing, buddy. Sorry I didn’t open with this, but...you were my childhood, Ti. Like, from Clue to The Wild Thornberrys to Muppet Treasure Goddamn Island GOD I LOVE YOU IN THAT MOVIE TOO

Amazing. And let’s not forget Ferngully, of course. Look...I love you, OK? You’re beautiful. And I know that recently, you’ve been through a lot of health struggles, and I wish you the absolute best, I sincerely do. You’re the best, man. Hang in there. 

Actually, while I have you...settle a bet for me, I’ve got it with myself. Have I...have I already seen this movie? Because I feel like I might have, but I don’t think so. It’s like the Mandela effect, y’know? I mean, if I’d seen it before...would I not remember you in this get-up?

I mean...come ON, RIGHT? I know FOR A FACT that I’ve attempted to watch this movie with friends before, and that didn’t happen. Then, I tried to watch it on my own, and that didn’t pan out because I’m pretty sure I fell asleep after 15 minutes. It had been a long day, I’m sorry. But...I don’t get it, Tim Curry? What the hell happened?

Well...whatever. I guess we’re going to take care of this ONCE AND FOR ALL. Now, who directed this movie?

Oh shit, REALLY? RIDLEY SCOTT! Kick-ass, he did Alien, and this - 

And then this - 

OOH, and this!

Oh, and we can’t forget this!

And also this!

And...and this...

...And this...

Oh. Fuck, and this.

...

OH GOD STOP I FORGOT ABOUT 1492

...OK, this could either be a very good movie, or a very VERY bad one. I mean...it’s got Tim Curry in it, so it can’t be that bad? And hey, Scott was on a hotstreak at the time, right? What could go wrong? Let’s do this!

SPOILERS AHEADOH FUCK IS THAT TOM CRUISE

Recap (1/2)

...Ahem. Um. OK. Maybe I imagined that image, or it’s from a different movie. Cool. Let’s keep going, nothing to see here.

The opening text scroll tells us that once, long ago, before time was even a concept, the world was shrouded in darkness. But Darkness hid from the light, which brought to the world laughter, love, and...unicorns. Yeah, really. Unicorns harbor the Light in their souls, as the most mytsical of all creatures. They’re safe from Darkness, and can only be found by a pure-hearted mortal, like Jack, a denizen of the forest. He is loved by Lily, and both believe only in goodness. But not for long, as a struggle for the balance between Darkness and Light is about to commence, and in that struggle will be born...Legend (1985), dir. Ridley Scott.

As the opening credits roll and confirm that Tom Cruise is in fact in this movie, I take a brief moment to vomit lightly.

At night, walking through the forest, there is a creature with some...bad-ass makeup and costume design GODDAMN. Like, yeah, that category’s already looking good. Anyway, the creature goes through the forest, and finds a den of fire and torture, all lorded over by a horned man, who speaks Mother Night, asking for her protection.

This is Darkness (Tim Curry), and...fuck me, holy shit, I GET it. Like, this dude began an entire movement and aethestic, and it makes a fuckton of sense. THis dude must have given birth to, like 10,000 goth children, goddamn. Anyway, he commands his goblin henchman Blix (Alice Playten) to find a unicorn and kill it, and to bring its horn back to him. Blix, the rhyming cretin, asks how to find them. And Darkness answers with the perfect lure: innocence.

That innocence is symbolized by Princess Lily (Mia Sara), a maiden cavorting happily about the wood, without a care in the goddamn world. She visits her friend Nell (Tina Martin), and briefly has a vision of winter in the cottage. Nell notes that it’s time for her to grow up a bit, but Lily’s only concerned with finding her sweetheart, Jack.

And Jack is...well, Jack o’ the Green (Tom Cruise) is a young man who lives in the forest, with his animal friends. An innocent himself, he’s basically Peter Pan, with Lily playing his Wendy. Except, well, they’re not THAT innocent, because they, like, IMMEDIATELY make out on the forest floor. Which has to be uncomfortable, real goddamn talk.

Jack teaches Lily to speak with the birds, then takes her to see something wonderful and rare. All the while, they’re being followed by Blix, who believes that their innocence will attract the mystical unicorns. And, uh, yeah, Blix is entirely correct about that, because here they come! And they’re making whale noises?

Apparently, as long as unicorns roam the Earth, evil can never harm the pure of heart. They express only love and laughter, and dark thoughts are unknown to them. Which Lily takes as an opportunity to go hang out with them, despite Jack’s urgings.

But the unicorns seem receptive to her, to Jack’s...frustration? He just kinda leaves her behind for some reason. And Blix takes the opportunity to hit one of the unicorns with a poison dart, causing them to be startled and storm off. Lily flees into the forest, and is immediately scolded by Jack, saying that what she did is forbidden by magic forest law. OK. She’s as confused about that as I am, but she still apologizes to him.

The two kiss, and Lily makes a promise to him and the universe, I guess, and says that whomever finds her ring will have the right to marry her. She throws it, and Jack IMMEDIATELY JUMPS OFF A CLIFF AFTER IT GODDAMN MY MAN! Lily screams hysterically after him for...some reason?

However, this isn’t great timing, because Blix and the goblins have caught up to the poisoned unicorn, and they cut off its horn, immediately plunging the forest into a fierce winter, similar to what Lily saw in her vision. Jack, in the river looking for the ring, is trapped underwater, beneath ice. By the time he breaks out, Lily’s already run away, to Nell’s place. Nell is frozen solid for some reason, and the goblins are also coming off after Lily for...some reason.

Lily hides, as Blix and his two companions Pox (Peter O’Farrell) and Blunder (Kiran Shah) exposit the whole thing so that Lily’s caught up on her fault in all of this, and once they leave, she promises to make it right. No idea how she’s gonna do that, but sure.

Jack, meanwhile has collapsed in the woods and snow. He’s woken up by a spirit of the forest named Honeythorn Gump (David Bennent), who is...interesting. He asks Jack what in the FUCK happened, and Jack admits that Lily, a mortal, touched a unicorn, which is apparently the ultimate no-no. Gump’s pissed, but the ACTUAL SECOND that Jack says that it was for love, Gump’s just...totally cool with it? They have a drink with Brown Tom (Cork Hubbert), and agree to help him find Lily...like, immediately.

They quickly find the dead unicorn, and yeah, the unicorn is FUCKING DEAD after losing its horn, and its mate shows up to mourn. Jack and Gump mourn with the magical creature, which looks REALLY BIG for a horse, Jesus. She stays with her fallen mate, and Jack goes back to the group, delivering the news that they’re cursed? No idea where that came from. 

To lift the curse and get the horn back, they must find a champion bold in heart and spirit. Gump IMMEDIATELY nominates Jack, and takes him to some cave where he can find weapons and armor. He’s guided by Oona (Annabelle Lanyon), a fairy who is LITERALLY NAVI FROM ZELDA, I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH

Oona reveals her true form to him secretly, then notes that she could be anything he wants her to be, even his heart’s desire. COMIN’ ON A LITTLE STRONG THERE OONA. Anyway, in the vault of golden weapons and armor and...gold, Jack grabs a sword.

Meanwhile, Lily follows Blix and his group, where Blix uses the magic of the Unicorn Horn (or the Alicorn) to demonstrate his newly found prowess. But as he’s claiming to take over Darkness’ kingdom. Just then, Darkness shows up and claims the Horn for himself, and kills Blunder when he talks back. Darkness asks whether or not the Unicorns are both dead, and reveals that his power will not be complete until the female Unicorn is also dead.

Lily runs off and makes her way back to the Unicorn and Brown Tom, and warns them of the Goblin’s approach to kill the Mare. Brown Tom, who I think is either a leprechaun or a brownie, fends the Goblins off, while Lily and the Mare...DON’T RUN? FUCKING RUN YOU ASSHOLES!

Tom gets shot by an arrow...in the hat. He immediately falls dead, despite being totally fine, the dick. And Lily and the mare are captured, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T FUCKING RUN WHEN THEY SHOULD’VE. Jack, Gump, and the leprechaun/gnome/brownie/halfling Screwball (Billy Barty) come to “rescue” him. He tells them that Lily’s alive, and Gump takes Jack to the Great Tree for the next step, accompanied by Screwball and Tom. There, they find...

WOW. THAT SHIT IS COOL. This is Meg Mucklebone *Robert Picardo), and this thing is absolutely my favorite thing in the movie so far...AND THEN JACK KILLS HER IMMEDIATELY. JAAAAAAACK, WHAT THE HELL, she was really cool. Goddamn it.

The group gets to the great tree, then falls into an underground prison, where Blunder is also held. The group is NOT where they want to be, right in Darkness’ lair. Nice job, Gump. In the prison, the guys, now joined by fellow brownie/dwarf/gnome thing Blunder, hide from one of Darkness’ men, as he takes Blunder away to the torture table.

Stuck in the cell, Jack suggests that Oona go and get the keys. However, her ability to transform into a humanoid form was a secret between her and Jack, and she’s upset by him revealing it. Gump’s also upset by the secret in and of itself, but she defends that her secrets are hers to keep. You tell him, Oona!

She then says that she’ll only do what Jack wants if he kisses her, GODDAMN IT OONA. NOW IS NOT THE TIE TO GO ALL TINKERBELL IN HOOK! He gives her a little peck, but she transforms into Lily to make him give her a real kiss, dear lord that is CREEPY, OONA! Jack almost kisses her, but refuses at the last second. He notes that human hearts can’t be won over that way, which greatly upsets Oona. Still, she ends up getting the keys for them regardless, and sets them free.

And at this point, we are halfway through, so FUCK IT. PART TWO! See you there.

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Groetus, God of the End Times

Chaotic Neutral God of Oblivion, Empty Places, and Ruins

Domains: Chaos, Darkness, Destruction, Madness, Void Subdomains: Catastrophe, Entropy, Insanity, Loss, Night, Stars, Truth

Inner Sea Faiths, pg. 46~51

Obedience: Preach of the coming end times to a listener who has not yet accepted this truth. If the person leaves or otherwise refuses to listen to you for the full hour, you must find another person to preach to so that you are proselytizing the entire time. Alternatively, if no one at all is available to listen, spend an hour contemplating ways and times the world might end—do so in an empty place where nothing lives and no person except Groetan worshipers have been for at least a month. While you contemplate, deface any surface available to you with unholy images and symbols, such as a skull-like moon. Benefit: You gain a +1 sacred or profane bonus on Will saving throws.

the sad part is that pretty much every god in inner sea faiths is like this. First Ghlaunder and now THIS! Paizo was scared of Deific Obedience when it was first written, and it shows!

God you really are just tasked with being an annoying doomsayer for an hour, huh? Standing around with a sandwich board that reads THE END IS NIGH every single day you want your god’s blessing. You can easily get away with just preaching to your party every day, provided they don’t mind listening to this crazy babble... and, of course, provided that the end of the world isn’t actually coming, or else your evangelism will come off as tasteless. But, what do you care? You’ve been saying it all this time! It’s likely going to get you punched in the face or even mauled by a crowd if you try it in the middle of a city currently undergoing a crisis (as cities in Pathfinder are wont to do), though. So, uh, be careful.

This is one of the rare Obediences where the primary method is actually easier to do than the secondary, because it specifically demands that you find somewhere “nothing lives.” While a merciful DM may allow you to share a space with vermin, this does mean you can’t simply find a quiet area in a woodlands, because trees, brush, and grass all count. Stick to the cities or in ruined civilizations! Ironically, this means that being captured and thrown in a dungeon is actually beneficial for you, provided no one else has been locked in that specific cell for more than a month.

All this hard work for a measly +1 though. I’m insulted, honestly; it’s a universal bonus to the most important saving throw you have and it stacks with everything, but it’s only a +1! It would have been fine at +2! Come on, Groetus, shell a bit more out to your flock!

Boons are acquired slowly: the first once you reach 12 hit dice, the second at 16, and the third at 20. However, the Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel Prestige Classes can be entered as early as level 5; doing so grants you the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. As Groetus is a true deity and does not require Fiendish Obedience, you earn the right to enter the classes earlier than those who serve fiends!

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EVANGELIST

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Boon 1: Doomsayer. Gain Doom 3/day, Augury 2/day, or Bestow Curse 1/day.

Oooh, Bestow Curse! That’s always fun to see! It’s a Save-Or-Suck that keeps on s--being terrible long after the battle has ended, if the enemy you slap with it gets away! It’s ALSO a touch spell entirely negated by a save, and we all know how I feel about those. Better make sure it sticks and sticks hard, or drawing into an enemy’s melee range can earn you a pretty severe slapping.

Augury is decent to have as a spell-like (I’d never prepare it as an actual spell), though its limited gaze of only 30 minutes into the future is an equal blessing and bane and it relies entirely on DM fiat... AND there’s a non-negligible chance it simply won’t work! Which means that if you don’t want to rely on the Save or Suck of Bestow Curse, your best bet (eugh) is the tragically weak and ironically ominous Doom--WAIT THAT’S RIGHT I ALMOST FORGOT! The Shaken condition also imposes a -2 to saving throws! Ok yeah, if you don’t want to rely on BC, Doom is a pretty good way to go if you have some way to bolster its pathetic saving throw of 11+Cha mod.

Boon 2: Consume Essence. 1/day, you may touch a corpse. That corpse must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Cha mod) or be reduced to dust as per Disintegrate. You gain 1d8 temporary HP, which last for a number of hours equal to your Hit Dice.

Before we get into the rest of this mess, I just really need to point out that an unattended, nonmagical object is not able to make saving throws, and a corpse is an object. ThereFOR, it should not even get to make a save against this ability!

What stats do you even use for it? The former creature? Because that’s just unnecessarily confusing, especially if you use it on the corpse of a long-dead creature. I really, really don’t see why this ability should allow a save, especially since A) it’s only usable once a day and B) it’s incredibly weak. Under what circumstances would you use this? Because I’ll tell you right now, using this against a baddie that’s supposed to be recurring will simply make the DM contrive a reason for them to come back anyway. Turning them to ash will just make it harder. I suppose there is a niche use in bringing it against creatures who can reanimate themselves, or against casters who may have Contingencies in place, but

but still, like. It’s a bad Boon. If you want a body destroyed, hacking it to pieces or burning it is just as easy, all this ability does is save you time. And maybe not even then! Because it gives the body a saving throw! For WHATEVER reason! And you only get to do it ONCE a day! Honestly, everything about this ability is just a progressively more insulting middle finger, all leading up to the pitiful 1d8 HP you get. There’s a lot of Boons that are straight up bad or useless, but I think this is the first one I’ve actually hated. Lets move on...

Boon 3: Whispers of Insanity. 1/day as a standard action, you may whisper Groetus’ Truth into the mind of a creature within 30ft. This acts as the Insanity spell, but the save DC is 10+1/2 your HD+your Cha mod. In addition to the normal methods of curing Insanity, a Modify Memory spell or similar can end the effect. A Knowledge (Religion) check (DC same as the saving throw) reveals this information.

Insanity is a decent spell, essentially being a permanent Confusion... but it only affects a single target, and whoever you’d want to use it against is typically not going to last long enough for the permanent duration to matter. I suppose slapping someone you hate but don’t necessarily want to kill is good enough, or blasting some poor random sod who hasn’t accepted the Truth, but as a Boon? Groetus really doesn’t bless his Evangelists with anything good.

Insanity is not only a level 7 spell while most 3rd Boons grant 9th level effects, but in stark contrast to a normal third Boon, the version you get here is actually weaker than just getting the spell normally, because Insanity has a Long range (100ft + 10ft/lvl) and can only be removed with 7th+ level magic (Greater Restoration, Heal, etc). Having a much easier method of dispelling the effect is just insulting, even if it is flavorful. This would be considered a second tier Boon by most deities, or even demigods! Come on, Groty, step it up!

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EXALTED

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Boon 1: Maddening Voice. Gain Lesser Confusion 3/day, Mad Hallucination 2/day, or Confusion 1/day.

Off to a bad start. Lesser Confusion may as well not even be a spell, so we’re moving on from there. Mad Hallucination is a fun spell to not need components for, barraging a single target with visions of insanity for upwards to an hour, though mechanically it’s only a -2 to a very small number of relatively unimportant checks (caster level really only applies to players, who must regularly pierce SR). Rather uniquely, it’s not mind-affecting, but is instead a phantasm Illusion, allowing it to affect a wider range of creatures than normal! But it’s still not really super useful, because as it’s negated by a Will save and penalizes Will saves with a successful application, wouldn’t you have preferred a Save or Suck first?

This leaves Confusion which, as area of effect spells go, isn’t the best. There’s a 1/2 chance that they essentially lose their turn, but a 1/4 chance that they’re unaffected by the confusing magic and a 1/4 chance that they attack the nearest creature... Which, more often than not, means your allies anyway. Speaking of, Confusion doesn’t discriminate between ally and enemy, so blasting a crowd that happens to have a friend inside will force them to make a Will save as well.

It’s a hysterical spell to drop on a crowd of smaller enemies (or a crowd of innocent civilians), but the coin flip nature of its effect makes it terribly unreliable. It’s still the best option among the three, though.

Boon 2: Silent Witness. 1/day as a full-round action, you can protect yourself with the effects of Invisibility, Nondetection, and Sanctuary for 10 minutes per Hit Die you possess. Anyone who succeeds at a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Wis mod) or a caster level check (DC = 11+your HD) against these effects sees a glimpse of something unfathomable and becomes confused for 1 round unless it succeeds at a second Will save with the same DC.

Have you ever wanted to be this gif?

Then good news! Exalted of Groetus can live out that dream! With little more than a gesture and a bit of concentration, you can just vanish from the world for a little while. It’s not a complete disappearance, mind, because anything with blindsense, blindsight, or scent can still track you, but by god can absolutely no one see you (remember you’re shielded from Detect X spells!). And, thanks to Sanctuary, even if they have a way to keep track of you, there’s a chance that they won’t be able to act on it.

The mindbogglingly massive 10 min/level duration effect on each of the effects screws over Nondetection (with a normal 1 hour/level duration) but is a monstrous buff to Invisibility (1 min/lvl) and especially to Sanctuary (1 round/lvl), because someone failing their save against Sanctuary means they can’t target the warded creature for the duration of the spell! While normally a fighting monster could just pull back and wait for the effect to expire as they focus their efforts on the rest of the party, good luck kiting for 10 minutes. The shielding effect breaks the moment you attack, but you can get around that by never casting damage-dealing spells! Crowd control and SoS spells all day!

Invisibility and Nondetection also make you the undisputed king of sneaking into places, too. Mundane eyesight and magical detection spells will fail to pierce your veil, requiring the 6th level True Seeing to actually see where you’ve gone. I really enjoy the added touch that anyone successfully piercing the spell effects has to make a save or become confused. It’s just some nice frosting atop this cake! Already Groetus is looking better and better!

Boon 3: Infinite Patience. You cannot die of old age, even through magical means. You still physically age, accruing bonuses and penalties as normal. In addition, once per day as a standard action, you can choose any one action you could ready and define a condition under which you will take that action. Within the next 24 hours, whenever you observe that condition, you can take the chosen action as an immediate action.

Age without youth isn’t something you see a lot of nowadays, except in cases of diabolic bargains going haywire. To have a god inflict it upon its followers is something special; I like enjoy the fact that you’ll eventually just need to outright mummify yourself if you want to keep moving (or invest in mechanical/magical parts). It brings to mind the mental image of a cult to Groetus opening an ancient coffin to reveal their absolutely skeletal leader, old enough to have seen Earthfall and coursing with madness and might in equal measure.

But post-campaign shenanigans aside, the primary use of this ability is a pseudo-Contingency that you can use to prepare anything. Any action you could conceivably ready (an attack, a standard-action spell, a sudden move, a sabotaging strike, etc) is usable with this ability! And because you don’t have to name the action or condition right away, with a bit of good guesswork (or divination magic), you can custom tailor your immediate action for maximum benefit; you can go the mundane route and have it be something simple, like “if an enemy strikes me with a melee attack, teleport to safety” or “if I am brought below half health, cast Heal or Mass Heal on myself/my allies,” or the bonkers route like “the instant the enemy opens their mouth to monologue, cast Disintegrate” or “if someone compares me to an animal, use magic to turn into that animal.”

This ability rewards both creativity and thinking ahead, so get good at both! Because used right, this ability is “cast any spell w/ a standard action casting time as an immediate action,” and used wrong it’s “do nothing.”

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SENTINEL

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Boon 1: Endbringer. Gain True Strike 3/day, Death Knell 2/day, or Keen Edge 1/day.

I’m 90% sure there’s been Boons named Endbringer before, and nowhere else is it less appropriate than this menagerie of mediocrity. Oh, sure, Keen Edge is nice and all, but want a fun fact? Groetus’ sacred weapon is the heavy flail, which deals bludgeoning damage, and Keen Edge can ONLY be applied to a piercing or slashing weapon. That means you, the Sentinel, the holy martial warrior, cannot bless your own holy weapon chosen by your god. Sure, you can bless someone else’s stuff, but it still boggles my mind that they’d give you spell that cannot work on your own weapons!

Ironically, despite that, it’s probably your best choice. True Strike is useless unless you can cast a Quickened version, and Death Knell saves you basically no time (if you want a dying enemy to die, walk over and stab them 2~4 times). The only real use for Death Knell for a martial character is to take care of creatures with Ferocity or Diehard, or cheesing a creature with Regeneration.

Boon 2: Visions of the End. 1/day as a full-round action, you can gain the benefits of Augury, Know the Enemy, and Locate Weakness simultaneously, all regarding the same creature or object (even if the spell normally doesn’t function with objects) and its death or undoing. These effects apply only to the target.

Because these are relatively niche spells: Know the Enemy lets you make an immediate Knowledge check versus the target with a +10 insight bonus, and Locate Weakness lasts 1 min/level and allows you to roll twice for critical hit damage and take the better results. While normally KtE only affects creatures, this ability allows you to make it against objects as well.

Evangelists got screwed, huh? Imagine not being able to cast three spells at once (this post made by Exalted And Sentinel Gang). Now, granted, this ability isn’t as useful as Silent Witness above is, but it’s a pretty handy way to deal with a creature you’ve never seen before. With Locate Weakness’s lengthy duration, you can use this ability before combat begins and use the knowledge gained from Augury (perhaps asking if a certain tactic would work?) and Know the Enemy to better prepare yourself and your party.

The added flexibility of being able to focus this power on an object opens up a lot of options as well, such as using it to parse the history of an Artifact, to know where or when an item may have come from, and how best to destroy it if need be. This spell combo isn’t the best, but even at its worst it’s a free +10 to a Knowledge check against any critter or object and an Augury against the same target to let the DM sprinkle some hints for you here and there.

Boon 3: Frightful Presence. You can terrify foes as a free action whenever you take an offensive action, such as attacking. Foes within 30 feet of you and with fewer Hit Dice than you must succeed at a Will saving throw or become shaken for a number of rounds equal to your Hit Dice (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha mod). If the victim has 4 or fewer Hit Dice, it becomes panicked instead. Foes with more Hit Dice than you are immune to this ability. 

Frightful Presence is a massively powerful ability when it’s on a dragon or powerful Outsider, terrifying whole armies at once and sending them scattering--perhaps even to the point of attacking one another to get away--but in the hands of a player? It’s not exactly as strong. When you face something with Frightful Presence, there’s a 100% chance that they’ll have more HD than you (and maybe your entire party), assuring that you’ll be shaken up at least once in the fight. If you have FP, however, it’s never going to work on anything you desperately want it to, because anything with your HD or higher is entirely unaffected and unimpressed by your antics, and of course anything worth fighting has more HD than you.

The scaling on this ability means basically no minions will march into battle against you without being shaken, and swarms of minor foes trying to clog you up will be sent running to the hills by your terrifying aura. It’s a satisfying feeling of power to walk into an area filled with low level enemies (or civilians) and force them to run in utter, pants-soiling terror at the mere sight of you. What’s better than a tank that draws aggro? One who ends it.

There’s no per-day use on this ability and no 24-hour immunity clause on it, so even if you fail to scare the crowd once, you can just try, try again every single time you attack. So, it’s safe to say that while Groetus started off pathetically weak with his basic benefit and the travesty of his Evangelists, his Exalted and Sentinels more than make up for it in terms of power and flexibility. Not bad! And soon, we’ll see what sorts of actual sentinels he’s got on his side...

You can read more about him here.

[forsaken-letters]

The 100 Series Finale (Spoilers Ahead)

This season was not what I expected. I didn’t particularly love it, but here’s what I have to say about our finale and a bit of the final season itself.

I didn’t like that they killed Bellamy. I didn’t like that it was all for nothing because she didn’t even get that god-forsaken book. She didn’t even save Madi. Madi was brutally destroyed, which was devastating and just wrong in so many ways.

I didn’t like that they killed Emori, or that Murphy was going to give his life for just a few more hours with her. I understand why though. The reason was beautiful. It was a moment where it showed just how much Murphy’s character has developed—from someone referred to as a “cockroach” because he’s the best at surviving. Raven herself said on numerous occasions that that’s what he does best. I was just so devastated that he would go out that way—his brain deteriorating because he couldn’t let go. Again, it’s beautiful, but it just didn’t sit well with me. I suppose it was for the best because it saved Emori’s life in the end, which I am endlessly happy about.

I was in absolute hysterics when Octavia and Echo ran into the middle of the firefight to save Levitt. I was so sure that Octavia was going to die then. I’m so glad that she didn’t, and that she was essentially the one to save all of mankind, with the help of both Raven and also technically Bellamy, as without him, she might not have fully reached the Bardoans. She was the first of the Sky People to step foot on Earth in nearly 100 years, and about 125 years later, she saved what was left of humanity with a single speech and a bit of faith—a bit of hope. She is a true leader, even now.

Speaking of hope! Hope and Jordan!!!! They are so cute! The writers made it very hard to get truly attached to them, but seeing their characters develop and seeing them grow together has been so nice. Their blossoming love gave me just a shred of joy in this season’s darkest times. I mean who didn’t love watching Jordan pining for her?? And Hope’s character development in just a single season was actually wonderful in retrospect. I wish we saw more of those two before the finale, both together and on their own.

And since we’re talking about couples, let’s take it back to Octavia for a minute to discuss how cute she and Levitt are. He saw into her mind and fell in love with her despite being taught not to love. He gave up everything for her—his way of life, his beliefs, and nearly his life itself. He believed in her ‘til the very end. I loved Levitt’s character and I wish we could’ve seen more of him as well, but I’ll settle for the fact that he made it to the end of this story. And I am overjoyed by the fact that Octavia has finally found happiness both with herself and with another person—one who is deserving of her.

My dear, sweet Raven. She’s been my favorite female character from the very beginning. She’s been through so much, and in the end it wasn’t for nothing. After Clarke failed the test, she didn’t give up. She tried to persuade it to spare humanity, and if she hadn’t, Octavia never would’ve had the opportunity to prove it wrong. She is a warrior and always was. I will always love my mechanic.

Lexa!! It was so nice to see her back on the show, even though it wasn’t really her. After all this time, I do think it was odd that Clarke saw her of all people, rather than Bellamy or Madi, or perhaps her father. (That would’ve brought this story full circle!) I am glad that she made a reappearance though. It was very emotional, having her tell Clarke about transcendence.

Clarke. She failed the test to save mankind for justice. She lost everything. She was denied transcendence, and was content with living alone on Earth with only a dog to keep her company. To live and die alone. She didn’t want it, but she would do it.

There was one final thing about this episode that really stuck out to me. My friends and I pointed out that there was no lever at the end of this season—as there has been in every season since the very first—and we were confused. It is now, though, that I realize that the lever was a metaphor. Each of those levers symbolized a choice—a difficult decision that Clarke always had to make to save her people. And each time, she pulled that lever. She made that hard choice that almost no one else ever wanted to make.

There was no lever at the end of this season, but there was still a choice. After all this time, all of the bloodshed and war, after all of the sacrifices made by all of them, but especially by Clarke, they came back. They made the choice. They gave up transcendence—gave up immortality without pain or suffering—to return to Earth and live out the remainder of their lives with Clarke. And even more beautiful is the fact that they were already there, waiting for her. It wasn’t a difficult choice for them, because it was one made out of love. And that’s what made all of this worth it.

Our fight is over.

From the ashes, we will rise.

May we meet again.

[red-winters]

*Batfam fic-recs

*Some are Tim Drake Centric

**Some links are not working in mobile (and ONLY mobile) for some reason? And some titles that were bolded in the original post are ALSO not displaying on mobile correctly. Idk what to do about that, but you can still look up the fic, I guess.

The Bat’s Crest - livierambles

Note: I will always keep recommending this fic. It’s epic, thrilling, and hilarious and sometimes angsty. Also, everyone is confused, including the ones doing the confusing. Maybe especially the ones doing the confusing. Also, some Tim and Damian bonding, which is always nice.

Summary: Tragedy strikes the hero community when Bruce Wayne commits a crime so heinous even the best start asking for blood. However, as the heroes try to recover from the hit and carry out justice for their friends, a random assortment of people start acting oddly, including the current Speedy Tim Drake, a child hostage in Gotham, and a young man from an unremarkable circus amongst others. All of them seem intent on saving Bruce Wayne from the grasp of the Justice League for no apparent reason, going as far as betraying their previous allegiances.

Unknown to the Justice League, these people are equally confused. Clearly they're stuck in another dimension, but how do they get back? How did they even get here? Who else is stuck in this world? And how long will Tim's patience last? Back home, the Bat was a planetary symbol that struck fear in the hearts of criminals. In this new world, it has no meaning, save for the handful of stranded souls.

In the Shadows - Kieron_ODuibhir

(shortened) Summary:

“I’m not like you.”

The cowl still looked like something he was wearing, but Clark knew it was not. It flexed like skin when Batman narrowed his blank white eyes and said, “I can see you know that.” 

Chirp - AmariT

Summary: Every piece of the signal Tim unlocked revealed more locks, and by the time he broke through the last one, he was already mentally rehearsing his many upcoming talk show appearances. 'Yes,' he told the interviewer, 'it was difficult for me, a ten-year-old genius, to break open the worldwide alien conspiracy. That's why it took a whole hour.'

When the crackling audio started, he expected some weird alien language. Maybe squawks and high-pitched squeals mixed with musical woofs. Maybe they wouldn't talk at all, and images would beam directly into his mind. Maybe they'd talk in practiced English with a Midwestern drawl like their other resident alien.

Instead he heard a low, guttural voice growling out of his computer speakers. "Robin," it said. "Are you in position?"

A Better Cage - Mangaluva

Note: I was absolutely DELIGHTED to see a Young Justice Crossover with the Justice Lords (Earth-50) from the animated Justice League series, which is near and dear to my heart. I admit I haven’t really had much time to hunker down and read this, but even skimming, it’s an intriguing piece of work. Also, Justice Lords.

Summary: Wally's grateful to have woken up at all, really. He just doesn't know what to make of the world he's woken up in. At least they want to find a way to his world as much as he does, if not exactly for the same reasons...

Common People - AmariT

Note: The Bat boys are all Bruce’s blood sons, but it still feels very much like a found family. I haven’t really read everything in this series, but I feel the author has an amazing grip on all the characters. Lovely and heartwarming.

Summary: His whole life, Jason’s mom had told him his dad was Bruce Wayne, but he’d never been dumb enough to actually believe it. They lived in a rundown, one-room apartment in the worst part of town, and in every single picture he’d ever seen of that rich bastard he was wearing a suit or sipping champagne worth more than everything they’d ever owned.

But if he wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s kid, then what the hell was he doing sitting outside the man’s office in Wayne Towers?

Red Robin and the Hood - momoejaku

Note: Haven’t read this in a while, but it made an impression. Though it’s a fic set during the Red Robin arc, it very much is about both Tim and Jason. Plus, it fleshes out the Pru and Z a bit more, too.

Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. Superman brought back his body, and the family mourned him, holding a quiet funeral in secret so that the legacy of Batman could live on. But not everyone has been able to put him to rest.

Reeling from the loss of Bruce, his identity as Robin and his trust in his family, Tim Drake sets out on a personal quest that will take him across the world to prove what he knows in his heart: that Bruce Wayne is alive.

Though intending to make his way alone, Tim reluctantly accepts help from his predecessor, Jason Todd, who knows from personal experience that death is not always as final as it seems.

Together, they are Red Robin and the Hood.

Liminal Spaces - Calamityjim

Note: Skimmed this only since I’ve been busy, BUT it does look well-written, and I’m always a sucker for alternate dimension/dimension travel intervention-type of fix-its. It’s a very specific trope.

Summary:

Bruce's habit of collecting strays is not limited by dimension.

Or

When Young Justice Batman comes across an angsty, seemingly abandoned by his Batman Tim Drake, he decides to step up to the plate and parent the crap out of him.

Little Bird’s Vengeance - KatHarkness-Katara

Note: Crossover with Avengers. Awesome fic with Tim and Jason and some Outsider POV (via the Avengers) of these dimensional stragglers. I think Tim’s team shows up in the later chapters, too. If you’re reading on mobile, it’s still very much worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version.

Summary: Why is life never simple? Red Robin's ended up worlds away from home once again, and now what's he to do? What do the Avengers want from him; do SHIELD have another agenda; and is there any way back? Pre-New 52. No slash. Rated for inevitable language/violent themes.

A Displaced Red Robin - dragonprincess1988

Note: Worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version. Well-written fic! EMOTIONS! I love them. Younger Dick Grayson is adorable, Tim is a competent fixer-upper for other people but not so much himself. He’s kind of angsty and making YJ Dick want to keep him (and YJ Bruce, too, if you read between the lines). On the plus side, seems like he’s making good friends with Young Justice Roy. This fic was written before certain episodes of YJ came out, though, and the fic reflects/will continue to reflect that. Still, I give it five stars.

Author’s Summary: Tim gets transported to the cartoon Young Justice world, and he's not sure he knows how to deal with it. Attention: If you want to know about Artemis or people from Tim's world the final note on my profile is for you. Also, a special thank you to angel-gidget over at Tumblr, who made the wonderful cover art for this story.

The Till-then From the Ever Since - Keiron O_Duibhir

Note: Fandom classic. Definitely a must-read for Batfam fans, in my humble opinion.

Summary: It began, or seemed to begin, with Jason.

Usually that would have meant something in the order of fire and explosion and probably at least one gunshot wound, but for once (as Tim said, sourly), it wasn't actually Jason's fault.

The Wayne Family Ghost - pupeez4eva

Note: Please read this. Especially if you’re sad or anxious or just have time. I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s my go-to cheer-up fic. Absolutely hysterical.

Summary: In which Bruce realizes that having a legally dead son, who regularly hangs around the family, might be slightly problematic. 

Bloodline - chibi_nightowl

Note: Complicated family dynamics, this time centering around Tim, Selina, Bruce and, surprisingly, Damian. Jason and Dick make an appearance as supportive big bros, too. It works. Take a read, it isn’t that long.

Summary:

“Mr. Drake, I can’t think of a better way to say this, so I’ll just be blunt. This file is for your first adoption. By the Drakes.”

Tim blinked. “My what?”

“You were adopted as a newborn by Jack and Janet Drake.”

“Excuse me, but what the fuck are you talking about?”

Talon!Tim AU Series by keeptogethernow

Note: Found family, from a different angle. Cool fic and well-written.

Summary of Tso’ape Mumbichi, first in the series: Ten years ago, two people made a deal with the devil--unlimited funds in exchange for their child. And now it's time to pay up. But there's no way to ensure that the child will cooperate.

Shutterbug Series by goldkirk

Note: Exactly what it says on the tin! Found family.

Summary:

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird next door neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

Thursday’s Child - anthalogia

Note: Well-written and has found family and Tiny!Tim? Automatic win.

Summary:

He’s not the first child with nowhere else to go that Bruce Wayne has taken in. Dick Grayson was the first and the most high-profile – because no one would have thought Bruce Wayne was interested in ever raising a child, let alone the orphaned son of circus performers – but Jason was maybe just as much of a shock to society for being a street kid who came out of seemingly nowhere. Tim Drake is ordinary by comparison – his parents died in a plane accident. He can’t think of anything very special about him except that he met Bruce a few times when his parents hosted parties to keep in touch with Gotham society.

Or, tiny Tim Drake is adopted by the Waynes a little earlier than scheduled.

We’re Not Driving (How did we get here?) - TimTheToaster

Note: Short and sweet, a little angsty, and then very sweet.

Summary:

Tim stared at his phone, as if that would change what was on the screen.

Dick Grayson @FlyingDGrayson

It took some doing, and in some cases a little blackmail, but we've finally got the whole family together for a movie night! #WayneManor #movienight #familytime #schedulingisanightmare

15 minutes ago

Take It Back Now Y’all - TimTheToaster

Note: And Tiny!Jason has made his appearance. Also, Tim, I am begging you to please take care of yourself—ah, Bruce has made his appearance. Interesting. Also, I gotta say this author is good.

Summary:

There was absolutely no way this sunshine was from Gotham in April.

Not possible.

Which meant, Tim was no longer in Gotham, in April.

(In which Tim finds himself in the past, and tries to do the right thing. It's more complicated than he'd like.)

Takes a Little Time, Takes a Lotta Twine (To Get Us Back Together) - TimTheToaster

Note: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, beginning of reconciliation, and brotherhood. A satisfying, cathartic moment during the Red Robin arc to soothe your heart.

Summary:

Tim was in Gotham.

Tim had pretty specifically been avoiding thinking about Dick as much as possible for the last few weeks.

For the last year, really. No need to open that can of carnivorous worms.

Dick had other plans.

Everybody’s Heard (Bird is the Word) - TimTheToaster

Red Robin Era ANGST, but like, deliciously well-written. Also, protective Dad Bruce is always epic. Light bashing of Green Arrow and BC, though. But considering the situation (in this fic), kind of warranted.

Summary:

5 times Batman heard other heroes talking about his wayward brother,

And 1 time they were talking about his son.

A Choice to Make - scorbusfics

Note: fresh and interesting premise! Cool world building, too.

Summary: They have to choose. Dick and Bruce have to choose one person each to save, and one to disappear through the door.

“Send one of us,” Dick says fiercely, not for the first time. His face is dark and angry and desperate, eyes flicking from brother to brother. “Send one of us instead. I won’t choose.”

“Neither will I,” Bruce says.

But Tim knows.

Secret Places - RenaRoo

It’s ANGST, but the author knows how to use it well. Also, Jason’s line at the end killed me. Damn.

Summary: Tim Drake goes missing. The search to find him begins.

[alexhogh7137]

The Battle Between Love and Fire-

Ivar the Boneless × Reader

Chapter Eighteen: Terror in Wessex

Chapter Seventeen

Word Count 1.8k

Warnings: mentions of blood, torture, mentions of rape (no details, just implied), heavy angst

When Hvitserk heard those double doors open, his heart dropped. He knew what that symbolized, and that was his worst fear: him losing you. He rushed Ivar's room and just as he expected, you were gone. Except this is real and not a vision. Where you would normally lay, are a few blood drops in the fur that would cover your body. He almost threw up at the sight but kept himself composed. 

Hvitserk "Ivar...IVAR!" His brother looked over at him and then next to where you would lay. 

Ivar "The guard's-the guard's were supposed to keep watch!" 

Hvitserk "Go see for yourself." Hvitserk knew what his brother would witness as soon as he walked out of those doors, but he didn't want to tell him himself. Ivar needed to witness what happened this horrible night. 

When Ivar opened up the doors fully, there were drag marks in the snow so he followed it. He pauses when he sees the first set of guardsmen that were positioned by the doors. Their throats were slit and they were disarmed. Ivar looks back at his brother, who is standing in the doorway, not moving. Ivar walks on with shaking legs, so scared of what he might witness next. But with his head up, he walked on and followed the drag marks. He can see many more of his men, deceased in the snow. The white, crisp snow is now stained with red blood. The smell is starting to set into the air around him, but him being a viking, is used to such a smell as death. 

Hvitserk "She isn't here!" He shouted from inside. 

Ivar stops in his tracks and his head falls to the ground. He shouldn't have hoped that the vision came true. Why did he hope for such a thing? He walks on, searching for any sign of you but there was none. Your dragon's are whimpering, growling and breathing fire trying to find you. Ivar walks over to them and tries to comfort them but it was no use. He looks behind your dragon's, where the trading post is and finds a blood pile but no body. He falls to the ground and starts to cry. Hvitserk joins him a short while after and sits down in the cold snow.

Hvitserk "How did you let this happen?"

Ivar "I did everything I could-"

Hvitserk "YOU SLEPT BESIDE HER! HOW DID YOU NOT WAKE? She was right next to you, Ivar! But for some reason you did not wake up. Or did you?"

Ivar "N-no I did not. I don't know why I didn't."

Hvitserk "Now, we lost her and many of our guardsmen. We have no idea who took her nor do we know where she is being taken to."

Ivar "I will find out who and where she is Hvitserk. Even if it is the last thing that I do." Hvitserk just scuffs and gets off of the ground and stumbles his way back inside. Ivar lays alone, dragon's frantic behind him, staring at the blood that he knows must be yours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You awake in a dark dungeon-type of place. You attempt to get yourself up and run but your body soon let's you know that you cannot do that. You touch your head and wince out in pain. Your chest feels like you can barely breathe, and it feels like all of your ribs are broken. Your nails are all broken off and your wedding ring is gone. Your legs are scratched to all hell and are freezing. Where are you? You look all around, trying to familiarize yourself. You crawl your way up to the barred window where the small source of light is coming from.

Once your eyes adjust to the scenery, you know exactly where you are. You are home. You fall back down and sob uncontrollably. Why did he take you, and for what purpose? He banned you, so why did he bring you back? And why did he beat you this badly? You let out a scream. A shriek, to be exact. When you do, you can hear footsteps coming from outside of your cell door. You crawl your way into the corner, and hold your limbs close to your body, even though it causes you so much pain. When the door opens, your father appears in the doorway. 

Father "Hello little one. Finally awake, are we?"

"W-why am I here? You banished me!"

Father "Ah yes, that. That is in the past now."

"Why am I here? Why did you beat your only daughter?! Haven't I endured enough torment?!"

Father "I was not responsible for your beatings, dear one."

"Then who was?" You watch as your father smirks at you. He turns his attention to the doorway. You are confused for only a moment. That is, until your sworn enemy comes through the door: King Harald.

Harald "Hello, Y/n. Have you missed me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hvitserk did not sleep a wink the remainder of the night. He just paced and paced in his room and in yours. He saw your dresses, your accessories, and cried. Cried because he couldn't save you. Cried because the only woman that he has loved since Thora, is gone and he doesn't know what to do. Where to begin. Once Ubbe is awake, he finds his brother's in absolute dispar. 

Ubbe "What happened here?!"

Hvitserk "It came true, Ubbe. My vision. It came true. I lost her."

Ubbe "But the guard's-"

Ivar "Dead. All of them are dead. The one's on duty, that is. Completely massacred."

Ubbe "Who would've done this?!"

Ivar "Greatest guess, her father. But I could be wrong."

Hvitserk "It has to be him, Ivar. He is the only one that has harmed her in the past."

Ivar "That is not completely true."

Ubbe "Than who else, hmm?"

Ivar "King Harald. He killed her mother. So why couldn't it be him? I mean, don't you remember her vision?!"

Hvitserk "Of when he came to Kattegat?" Ivar nods, "Yes, of course I remember."

Ivar "I say we hunt King Harald down. He must know something."

Ubbe "And if he does not?"

Ivar "Then we go to Wessex."

Hvitserk "We should do that first."

Ivar "You are not king! I am, have you forgotten brother, hm?" Hvitserk chuckles and then clenches his jaw. 

Hvitserk "No, I have not forgotten. I also have not forgotten that you were beside her when she was taken, Ivar. Is she here, hm? Is she here, because I can't find her anywhere! And you could've saved her."

Ivar "I did my best-"

Hvitserk "Your best? YOUR BEST?!" Did you not see all of the blood by the trading bank? What if she is gone, hmm? What are you going to do?"

Ivar "I wouldn't worry about that too much, Hvitserk. Life goes on!"

Ubbe "Ivar!" 

Ivar "What?"

Ubbe "Your wife is missing, and possibly very injured. Show some respect!" 

Ivar "I am. I have already ordered my men to prepare our ships.

Ubbe "Good."

Hvitserk gets up and walks away. He is so infuriated that he has to get away from Ivar before he does something that he would regret doing later. How could he say that? How would life go on without her? She is with child. She is his queen, his wife. He feels sick to his stomach. Hvitserk just wants you back home, safely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing King Harald standing beside your father like they are the closest of allies, made you feel more terrified than ever. 

"What are you doing here?"

Harald "Well I am here by your father's request. Y'see we have made an agreement."

"And what is this agreement?"

Harald "Your father will give me anything I desire in this entire world, if I let him stay the King of Wessex."

"And what do you desire? Why am I here?"

Harald "You are what I desire, Y/n. You and your dragon's...fascinate me. You are so unique, so different for anyone else I have ever met. And your dragon's, well...they can be very useful."

"YOU ARE NEVER GETTING MY DRAGON'S!" 

Harald and your father chuckle, "Y'see you are not in any condition to be making such a statement. Look at you, broken and frail."

"Just let me go."

Harald "Oh but I want to get use out of you first!"

"I AM WITH CHILD!" Your father takes a step back. Completely stunned. 

Father "You are what?"

"I am with child. Your grandchild."

Father "You lie! Your husband cannot impregnate you!"

"I am WITH CHILD!" 

Harald "What do we do?"

Father thinks only for a moment, "Beat her for lying to me. Then do whatever you wish to do with her. Just make it quick." 

"No, no, NO!" You scream and shout but it is no use. He hits you, beats you almost to unconsciousness. And then takes you. Uses you as an object for his perverted needs as you sob and beg for mercy. He does not let you go. To him, you are his little price, his little toy that he can do whatever he wants to. Once he is finished with you, he hits you one more time. Hard and powerful. But not just anywhere, no no no...in your belly. You cry hysterically as you hold your belly, still small but growing slowly. Praying that she is okay. You lay on the floor, bleeding from pretty much every area of your body and pray, pray to the gods to let you and your child make it out of this alive. 

"Hvitserk...Ivar...where are you?" You say out loud, as if they could hear you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ivar looks up at the sky, as if he can hear something. Almost a whisper but it is so clear. Clear to him as if the voice was directly next to him. 

"Hvitserk...Ivar...where are you?" 

Ivar "YN?" He turned around but no one was there, especially was not you. He knows that you and him have a connection. Ever since that dream of you before he met you, he knew that you and him were connected not only in marriage but in mind. Meanwhile, Hvitserk is in the middle of another breakdown when he hears your voice in his head. He gets up and runs all around the house, searching for you. But of course, you are still gone. So he searches for his brother next, finding him with your dragon's. 

Hvitserk "Did you hear her?"

Ivar "You heard her too?!"

Hvitserk "Yes. She's...she's alive."

Ivar "We have to go save her. Before it is too late."

Hvitserk whispers to himself, "Hang in there, baby. We're coming. Just hold on. Stay with me."

…

You hear the man that always comes to save you, and you hear him loud and clear. You look down at your belly and smile. 

"Daddy is coming, little one. Hold on for me, please...please stay with us." You look down at the blood coming out between your legs and breathe in deeply. You try not to think about the pain that you are in, and try to think about being saved. You have to be saved. You are not ready for Valhalla. 

@hvitserkmarcosource @a-mess-of-fandoms @jzr201 @youbloodymadgenius @ivarsgoddess @conaionaru @ivarzeitgeist @herestherealproblem @kaitieskidmore1 @heavenly1927 @saldelys

[muwitch]

Why the Fullbringer Arc is an important plot milestone - 2

the continuation of this post and I’m bak on my bullshit~ remember my brain will jump to things

also CFYOW spoilers

so part 2/?

key figures and themes of the arc

So last time I said that ppl disliked the majority of new characters because, as opposing to the ones we grew familiar with, the arc was differently paced and so we didn’t have time at large to form some sort of solid connection to them.

And here the magic happens, because we do not have time to get attached to the characters and they seem to be faded against the background of all the others.

But apart from COMPARISON Fullbringers are quite an independent unit that focuses not on how much reiatsu you have, but on skill

In the Can't fear your own world novel the origin of Fullbringer power is revealed and it’s shown how actually universally badass those powers are, take Tsukishima for example, who grows a tree in a second to ward off lightning, simply adding himself to the past. Atomic.

For living people even just getting close to the level of those with whom they fought (three captains and three leutenants) and not dying in the first moment (except u Giriko) is a great achievement. For people who are not Ichigo Kurosaki with a family tree rivaling GoT of course. 

There is another important motive associated with fullbringers, which I mentioned above, and this is LONELINESS. And it's served so brilliantly that I'm going to die now.

If you look and read carefully, it becomes clear that even the fullbringers gathered together are unusually, exasperately lonely. (See the cover? They reach out but never do truly connect) This is the curse of their power. This is their main weakness. This is their unusual humanity and kinship with the Hollows.

This is also why, but that’s my guess, their whole presentation is very lacking, to show how they fall out of everyday life and proper sozialising, so even we, as readers, cannot properly connect to them. Same reach out, but not hold symbolism. Or I am giving too much credit, we just don’t know?

Even the one who has assembled the whole group, Ginjo, is an even lonelier person who has terrible trust issues, who survived betrayal and persecution, and everything that he once believed in was set upside down. And even knowing what kind of person he is, fullbringers, driven by loneliness, followed him. (Though, we must admit, he weilds his words well and rolls +20 on persuation)

Because, although for a short time, he helped them to bear the burden of this loneliness.

Needless to say, the entire initial situation with OG fullbringers happened not only bc of some noble meddling, but also due to the fact that Ginjo gathered people to TAKE POWER FROM THEM SO THEY COULD LIVE A NORMAL LIFE

Ironically enough, each Fullbringer posesses a piece of SOUL KING, which is the source of their power and lures Hollows to pregnant mothers, which is such an important piece of information it makes me mad it was only explained in CFYOW. 

Although it is understandable why Kubo chose not to focus on it during the arc. My take is he planned to show the importance of Fullbringers and their origins during TYBW, but we all know it didn’t happen.

Another common theme that follows from the previous two is PTSD, which unites the characters and key figures of the arc, and the paths of experiencing trauma constitute another conflict, where Ichigo overcomes it through friends and the return of strength and motivation, as opposed to Ginjo, who choses destuctive way to handle his own trauma.

In short flashbacks shown during “Pray for Predators” chapters, we can also clearly see PSTD practically in every person’s past. Each of Fullbringers go about it differenly, most proactive being probably Riruka and most reactive being Tsukishima and Ginjo. Which is also symbolically shown that people, who can go own with their lives and finally integrate into society stay alive. Those, who cannot, go to SS and are set into new path by more drastic measures.

I will surely attribute to the pluses how Kubo shows Ichigo's PTSD, literally in 3-4 chapters showing how he cannot, like Remarque's hero, settle in peacetime, because he constantly catches triggers, for example with his substitute badge.

Through Ichigo’s thoughts is shown how he merged with his position as a substitute shinigami and constantly thinks in categories that are not very applicable to his normal life, which he seemed to have dreamed of for 16 years And now he actually got it, but absolutely does not know what to do with it.

Kubo skillfully fuels PTSD and Ichigo's anxiety which is why he is being swayed by Ginjo's words correctly spoken at the right time.

 Example: Karin speaks of his brother, they say he always fought to protect  Ginjo fuels Ichigo’s doubt , saying he must act to protect his family

Accordingly, the theme approaches the climax for a push into the plot at the time of the attack on Ishida, Ichigo gets a punch in the gut twice: first from Ishida himself, who, with his unwillingness to tell things, pokes Ichigo into his helplessness and excludes him from the circle of trust, which IS the last blow 

And then from Ishida's father, who by his behavior shows that Ichigo's efficiency now amounts to zero, so much so that he cannot even protect Orihime while she walks home, which is why he runs away in frustrated feelings, realizing the message. So this intro is absolutely veritable and ingenious.

And so that you understand how desperate Ichigo is, if not yet, then here is a panel where FATTEST visual forshadowing happens. And here is an absolutely genius moment to understand that Ichigo is not a child but a teenager with all that it implies

He may be battle-hardened, but this is a 17-year-old living boy with trust issues, and if we remember that through his manager's lips we are given a direct hint that Ichigo is still immature in a way, so the meaning of this arc as a stage of Ishigo's psychological maturation becomes clearer.

Just look at the face he has when Ginjo promises to return his powers (not to mention the hysterics after that) Is this a healthy person's face?

And here my hands are literally itching to start talking about Ginjo, because to give an antihero who, in addition, will have a much closer dynamics with Ichi than Urahara, plus for the duration of the arc  will act as a mentor and father figure, this is just genius. Don’t @ me.

But the next plus, which will then bring us further, and this is THE Forshadowing 

Everywhere, just everywhere, starting from the very first pages.

And Kubo still confuses us in the course of the narrative, but my god, when you re-read, Easter eggs are crammed almost in every chapter and I think its beautiful. Both verbal (Ginjo is such a bad actor that he has to change his memory badumts) and visual

The plus that I mentioned earlier is 100% more lively dynamics between Ginjo and Ichi, because both are people and in fact, there is much more than it may seem at first, that brings both together. And the friendly connection that they establish with each other in this arc still not 100% false placeholder. (Which is easily spotted by the way Ginjo adresses Ichigo through the arc especially last chapters). 

And at the same time, they are in many ways the antonyms of each other, in age, color scheme, design, even names and also in what gives them motivation, in how they react to this or that event. For example, Ichigo is quite an emotional guy and puts his soul into everything, so to speak, then Ginjo, for example

Plus, the latter is not only skillful manipulator, but also embittered. And through such contrast, with generally the same input data, Kubo shows us that there is always a different path, leading to the topic choice, and where each specific one can lead a character.

Which absolutely doesn’t stop Ichigo from familirizing himself right off the bat and the two of them have comedy gold moments from the start. It is more lively, than being set against 300+ y.o. Urahara (whom I love as a character).

And, cross my heart Isshin is a great character, but he’s got that father of the year award, and Urahara can only give like a little itsy bitsy of information at a time only if it benefits him or a bigger picture, so the mentor’s role goes to Ginjo, which is well earned as he is technically the First Substitute. 

Ginjo is a mentor, a guide, and the main antagonist of the arc, which in itself is an unexpected and interesting combination within the framework of  Bleach. Here is a living example, in the moment of training he can go so far as to help Ichigo overcome his psychological barrier by simply and cruelly breaking him.

Which he does in the most painful way, through the trauma and inability of Ichigo to protect his loved ones. And from the reaction of the latter, childish and naive, his immaturity can be clearly seen (see the previous points). Although we do not know this yet, Ginjo is constantly trying to teach Ichigo one lesson that he himself learned the hard way. 

Combining this with such an important praise for a teenager and faith in Ighigo’s powers, which Ichigo was deprived of for 17 months as soon as he lost his powers as a shinigami ( all relatives are trying to isolate him from this, no one believes that he can and is able to stand up for him). This is another plus of the arc, namely the whole depth of the betrayal that Ichigo experiences when the cards are revealed.

Maybe the quincy arc would go completely differently, if Ichigo felt Ishida's betrayal or reacted to the truth about his mother in a different way. Did Ginjo not temper/prepare Ichigo in the way he did, did he involuntary not strengthen Ichi internally... Who knows how Bleach would end in general.

 This is to the question of the importance of this arc yes 

P.S  Strengthening the body also benefited Ichigo.Friendly reminder that he fights in his physical body for the entire arc except the end.

And the training episode immediately appears in a different light, right? 

And in my next hot take I will focus on another really important thing which is salvation and my own bitterness of why didn’t Kubo explore the whole SS thing and now we have to fee ourselves

[fsketchart]

Daminette December - Fire

Slight angst sorry also taglist coming very soon so yay also @noirdots ur the best thanks.  Also this is absolutely not realistic rip. Enjoy!

Marinette was oohing and ahhing as she walked around the New year's festival.  Everyone was gathered around the center of the festival as a parade marched down, and from the very back she could see a huge float.  She was getting excited and whipped out her phone to take a video for her family. Next to her, Kagami was jumping up excitedly. She had never seen a parade before.

Marinette and Kagami could only watch in awe as the large float from the end began to make their way to them.  They marveled at how much organization and elegance, and of course patience, it must have taken to make such a large float.

------

Bruce was already banging his head against the table.  He and his family were asked to run one of the floats this year, and unfortunately, the people who run Gotham's annual New Year's parade decided to make a Bat Family themed float.

Since they obviously couldn't dress as themselves, they each took turns going outside to the front of the float to perform and pretend to be another bat fam member other than themselves.  It was becoming a disaster.

When it was Dick's turn, he had to pretend to be Red Hood and he was having way too much fun with it.  He dressed up in a mock version of a Red Hood outfit. When he went outside, he took advantage of the moment.

"HIYA Y'ALL!  Y'ALL ARE LOOKING LIKE QUEEEEENS TODAY!  I HOPE Y'ALL ARE HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIVES BECAUSE I TOTES AM!  LEMME HEAR Y'ALL MAKE SOME NOISE!"

The crowd screamed as fans began to reach out towards him.  Dick winked back.

"CAN I JUST SAY THANK YOU TO MY AMAZING CO-WORKER, MY BUDDY, PAL, BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER, NIGHTWING?  LIKE HE'S SO AMAZING. AM I RIGHT Y'ALL?"

The crowd screamed even louder as people grabbed their phones to record.  Marinette and Kagami began to fall over giggling.

"HONESTLY I WISH I WOKE UP LOOKING AS FLAWLESS AS HE DOES...ANYWHO WHO'S READY FOR TONIGHT?  WE'RE PLANNING A SPECIAL SURPRISE FOR Y'ALL, SO BE READY! CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU GUYS WHAT NIGHTWING HAS WORKED SO HARD ON TO MAKE PERFECT!"

The crowd began cheering, "Nightwing!  Nightwing! Nightwing!" Dick waved at them and walked behind the curtains for the float and returned to the back of the float (closed off section that can't be heard from the crowd.)

Jason immediately lunged for him while screaming, as Alfred tried to pull Jason off of him.  Damian just gave them looks of judgement as he suited up. They decided it would be perfect to send him as Batman, but Damian wouldn't accept a mock outfit.  He wore the real Batman suit, but for obvious reasons...that wasn't the prettiest sight. Damian began tripping everyone and when he reached the stairs to go up on stage he stepped on the cape once more and went flying.  He face plants onto the stage Suddenly, the Batman symbol pops up from one of the lights they set up as the crowd cheers. Damian is still trying to adjust the mask that is covering half his body.

Damian is trying his best to do a Batman impression.  He recalls how his father speaks when talking to Dick, and tries his best to imitate it.  The crowd seemed to like Dick, so that's a good sign right?

"Yo my flip was so hip bro," Damian says in an obviously fake deep voice.

The crowd loses it and goes into hysterics.  Kagami is on the ground laughing as Marinette is just in awe at how cute he seems to be.

Damian sees that he clearly isn't having the tough guy effect.  He tries again.

"Why are you all laughing?  I was so...dope," Damian says, but this time his voice cracks at the end.

Kagami is now sobbing on the ground from hysterics as Marinette begins to giggle a bit.  Marinette sees his small smile, and her heart almost stops. She swears she's seen that smile before.

Damian is done.  Go big or go home.  He tries one last time.

"I hope you all are having a... groovy time?" This time Damian tries finger guns for a moment before immediately stopping and just ditching it.  He runs off the stage but trips again on the cape and a loud thud can be heard from behind the curtains. The crowd just laughs, having caught it all on camera.

Marinette is just giggling, before she realizes where she's seen that smile before.  Damian, she realizes. Her cheeks redden a little bit. Kagami is almost passed out beside her but using Marinette to balance herself.  Kagami wipes a tear from her eye while smiling brightly.

------

Damian is running to the closest corner he sees.  He swears he saw Marinette in the corner. He tunes out the rest of the noise, including Dick's yelling at Jason's mock performance of Nightwing, and he just rips off the mask.  He sighs and joins his father in banging their heads against the wall. Alfred already taped a pillow to the wall in preparation. (ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ @noirdots)

Alfred pats them both on the back.

"Father?" Damian asked.

"It's your brothers.  What about you?" Bruce asked.

"...Marinette."

"The one from school?"

"...Yes.  I think she just saw my little performance."

"Sorry you inherited my love life."

------

After Jason and Tim finished their performances, Bruce was last.  They had to drag him outside to the front. The crowd was screaming at the sight of Bruce in a bright red outfit with green elf shoes and green shorts and a bright black and yellow cape.

Bruce bowed his head in utter shame and humiliation, while all the former robins were getting a kick out of it.  Alfred was recording it.

Bruce wouldn't even speak.  He just stood there awkwardly trying to form words but just settled for awkward silence.  The crowd took photos and Bruce was sure he was going to be on the cover of newspapers and magazines.  Bruce groaned. Clark was going to have a field day.

The robins backstage high fives in their victory.

Jason laughed, knocking off a few boxes.  He made them no mind. Even though the boxes were quite close to some electronic…stuff.  (I'm sorry I don't know what to put here rip.)

------

The last performance, all of them came dressed up, Bruce having to carry Damian to the front because he couldn't see in Bruce's mask.

Together, they took a bow.  Marinette waved from the crowd and Damian got red.  He shyly waved back, still being carried by Bruce piggy back style.

They gathered around and were about to announce some bat fam merchandise when their planned surprise, ended up going off.  Behind them, a loud boom came from behind the stage. Bruce screamed a high pitched scream while everyone else just stared.  The crowd was confused while the bat fam was panicking. They weren't planning on setting on the surprise until later. That's when Jason remembered the boxes.  He slowly walked behind Dick and hid there.

Suddenly, fireworks were exploding from behind them.  The fireworks were designed to show the Batman symbol, and little logos for each bat fam member.  They were all being set off at once, and Jason was severely panicking by now. That's when Alfred noticed the look on his face and in turn, returned Jason with a judgemental one.  Everyone turned to him.

The crowd was still in awe of the fireworks, oohing and ahing.  Marinette was excited as she hugged Kagami next to her. Kagami returned the hug.

Meanwhile Damian was still clinging onto Bruce for dear life and Jason was screaming.  Dick was running around asking for a fire extinguisher or whatever he could find while Tim was trying to get everyone off the float.  That was when the crowd realized this wasn't supposed to happen. And that's when they smelled the burning.

Marinette darted forwards from the crowd.  Her parents have had plenty of accidents in the bakery before, and began trying to evacuate people.

Kagami already dialed 911 and everyone was screaming.

Bruce led the way off the float while but in the mess, Damian fell off his shoulders.  Everyone kept pushing and shoving each other trying to get away from the float. They pushed and shoved Bruce farther and farther away from the float.

Marinette saw the Wayne family exiting the float, but with no Damian in sight.

Bruce noticed Damian was missing and immediately ran back.  He was screaming his name and that's when Marinette realized what had happened.

A short girl passed Bruce and shoved him out of her way.  She was running towards the float and Bruce let out a curse.  She kept running and running while screaming his name. That's when Bruce joined her.  They entered the burning float and saw his lying there unconscious. Bruce grabbed him, but before they could leave, the roof collapsed.  Marinette jumped into action, trying to hold the roof of the float up. She was muttering under her breath, and Bruce could only hear the name Tikki.  Marinette's eyes seemed just the tiniest bit brighter, as she tried to keep the ceiling together. Bruce ran out and Marinette followed behind him, just barely missing being crushed by the roof.  They ran out of there and onto the front stage. Marinette pointed near the edge and suggested they try to jump there. Bruce nodded and together they jumped off the edge of the float.

Kagami finally saw them on the float and raced forwards.  Marinette broke her ankle, but Bruce managed to land alright.  Kagami grabbed Marinette and ran, Bruce following behind her.

------

Jason apologised profusely to all of them and even offered to wear the OG Robin outfit as a punishment for a whole week.  The bat fam agreed, and while his pride was tarnished, Jason deemed it worth it. However, Dick added that he had to keep a post it note on his forehead at all times saying, "I am so not cool beans." He was also required to say goodbye with, "toodles." Damian approved.

Bonus : Damian's face wearing the Batman mask.

[wavesmp3]

naur 😩 I just read Eurydice and it’s so soo good!! I’m in distress, I was so into it I didn’t realize it was coming to an end. I only knew the story vaguely so you can imagine when I read the end of your story I went hysteric trying to find out why people think he turned, and most seem to think it’s because of lack of patience or distrust. But if you don’t mind me asking what’s your interpretation? why did he turn around? why would she ask him to turn around ? at least in your story what was the reasoning? maybe it’s right in my face and I just missed it, maybe I’m just bad at interpreting symbolism.. idk. But I really absolutely loved it so much!! I can’t wait to read your other works! Thank you for writing 💖

oh my goshhhh thank YOU for leaving me this I’m so speechless rn. as for the interpretation of why orpheus turned,, I don’t honestly have a solid theory when it pertains to the actual myth but I recommend you look at the interpretation from portrait of a lady on fire and from hadestown because those two were some of my inspirations for the fic

(im gonna call the characters of my fic eurydice and orpheus bcs I have two vers of the fic posted but pls read it as whichever version you read and note that the reader character in the fic is gender neutral,,, I’m only calling them eurydice and orpheus here for my own ease okay moving on)

I do wanna start with saying that this explanation is just how I interpret my own story. you’re not bad at reading symbolism or missing anything anon ! Orpheus’s reasoning for turning around was purposefully left vague, and the reason for that is I wanted readers to make their own assumptions and interpretations ,,, idk I just think a story is more fun when it’s left up to your imagination. So that being said if you or anyone else reads my explanation and thinks it’s lame or it’s not what you want, feel free to ignore it. seriously! the ending of the story and the driving force behind the choices that the characters make are ultimately up to YOU

and now for my interpretation: so it’s hinted that eurydice died very suddenly, so I imaginee that in my story orpheus going down to the underworld was mainly done out of shock. he seems like a pretty cool-headed dude, I think if he gave his grief and shock more time to settle he would not have gone to be honest. but on the flipside, it’s almost like he felt this obligation to go. and what I mean by that is like he knew he could find a way to get eurydice out of death so he HAD to at least try. also in the flashback of their first meeting eurydice says something along the lines of ‘if I die before getting to center circle I’ll walk all the way back from hell’ . so its also sort of like orpheus was keeping eurydice to that word and actually giving them a chance to walk back.

and that line about walking back from hell was very purposeful! eurydice really cared about their dream of getting to center cicle when they were alive. before eurydice met orpheus, they would have been jumping at the chance to make this walk back to the real world, jumping at the chance to come back to life and achieve their dream. but as eurydice says later: ‘dreams change’ . after meeting oprheus, eurydice’s priorities changed. eurydice’s life had more meaning and purpose to it than just longing after a life in center circle, and orpheus was the reason for that change in thinking.

so the way I see it when Orpheus found eurydice in the underworld, eurydice only agreed to make the walk back as a way to say goodbye. like this entire walk was never gonna end with eurydice coming back to life. its only real purpose was to give these two a little bit more time to make peace with eurydice’s death and to say good bye

OKAYYY sorry that got so long omg, but thank you for liking the piece and sending this ask in. this might be very confusing so do let me know if you have any follow up questions haha I could talk about this piece for ages. and if you or anyone else has a different interpretation, id love to hear it ! pls send it in

[two-are-the-trees]

31 Days of Poe Day 24: “Shadow: A Parable”

This is a very short tale and yet it may just be one of the most powerful and complex I’ve read. In “Shadow: A Parable,” Poe paints a dark and distorted scene, including intentionally confusing and nonsensical imagery in order to twist his reader’s minds and place them in a realm of despair and anxiety. In this brief moment he tackles themes of shame, denial, grief, fear, and mortality in a truly breathtaking way. 

The story is set during an eclipse when the sun has gone dark and the atmosphere is strange and frantic. A group of friends have gathered to drink their sorrows away and mourn for their friend, another recent casualty of a catastrophic plague. As they drink more and more, the narrator feels increasingly strange and depressed, believing that he even feels the eyes of his dead friend watching him. Finally, a mysterious shadow emerges from the hall and sends the friends into a terror with its haunting presence. 

Poe provides a very distinct and very peculiar atmosphere for this tale. The setting, during a celestial event, is extremely mysterious and evokes ideas of fate, change, or even unusual occurrences. There’s a feeling of anticipation from the very beginning as we sense that something is not quite right about the scene. Another aspect that sets the uneasy mood comes in the form of the plague which forms the backdrop for the tale. There is the heavy weight of death and despair over everything. This combines with the eclipse to form an almost apocalyptic feeling to the whole story, as though everything is falling into chaos. 

The raucous attitude of the drinking party continues this notion of chaos. The narrator can sense that there is a horrible depressing air over everyone and everything, and yet in spite of it the friends force themselves to be lively, to the point of absolute hysterics. They sing loudly and continue drinking, even when the narrator begins to feel paranoid and believes that the corpse is watching him, a signal that his reality is crumbling. This chaos continues until the emergence of the shadow, when reality completely flies out the window and all that is left is pure terror and disturbance. 

Would I recommend “Shadow: A Parable?” Yes, yes I do. It is very short and yet there is so much to unpack within it. The overall mood is very unique and it provides terror in an understated and ominous sort of way that can lend itself to amazing interpretations. If you know anything about Poe himself and his struggles in life, or if you are interested in a work that may have been very personal to him, I definitely recommend taking a look at this story. It’s tragic and deep all wrapped up in an elegantly simple package. 

For more analysis (which contains spoilers!!!) please read below the cut! 

One of the most noticeable things about this tale is its title: “Shadow: A Parable.” We can clearly glean where the shadow part of the title comes from, but what of “a parable?” What is this parable actually representing? Well, It’s very clear that death is a presence which hangs over the entire tale. Outside the gathering, death reigns supreme at the height of the plague, the corpse of one of the narrator’s friends lies near him as he drinks, and the shadow at the end which has the voice of “so many departed friends” is very reminiscent of a personification of death. Even before the beginning of the story, Poe includes the quote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow,” simply omitting the obvious “of death” part. 

There is more to this tale, however, than simply death. Death is merely a consequence of the true subject of the parable. It’s well known amongst literary circles that the events of the story do not represent the concept of death, rather, they represent the devastation of alcoholism, an issue that Poe suffered with for most of his life. One of the main indications that point to this idea is the pervasive presence of drinking throughout the story. The narrator mentions that they drink specifically to enhance their moods and to forget about the grief which they all suffer from. They drink to the point of extreme intoxication, even though the narrator cannot forget the terrible heaviness in his mind. 

This is also the reason for the increasing sense of chaos throughout the story, as the narrator both literally and symbolically loses control of his reality. He notes that the wine reminds him of blood and he begins to feel the judgemental haze of his departed friend upon him, as though serving as his own conscience telling him that his conduct is wrong. In his drunken state, he also looks into an ebony mirror. This is significant in that he is able to see a reflection of himself, but the mirror being ebony, it would be a reflection masked in darkness, symbolizing his troubled mind and the influence that vice has upon him. 

This brings us to the titular shadow, which most likely represents the inevitable conclusion of extensive alcoholism; death. It only appears after the friends have been drinking heavily and it has no clear form because it signifies the unknown aspect of what lies beyond this life. It also has the voice of all of the narrator’s departed friends, as though everyone who has died before collectively represent the concept of death to him. This bleak ending serves as a reminder of where the abuse of alcohol will eventually lead and promises that no amount of denial will allow its victims to escape. 

So, what do y’all think? What do you think the tale represents? Are there other aspects of the story that point to a connection with alcohol? If you have something to add, please comment on this post or send me an ask! You can also use the tag #31daysofpoe to write your own response post!

[hejer-maomao]

The long-awaited second part of this ask is finally here!

I was actually planning on posting this last night, but I had a couple of health related issues to take care of, so I chose to push it back until I felt better.

I hope you enjoy this continuation, and let your heart be crushed with all the oncoming angst ❤

(First Part: Lancelot watching his S/O die)

Trigger Warning: Very Heavy Angst, mentions of Blood, Major Character Death.

Edgar Watching his S/O die:

Edgar felt his world falling apart around him. 

And he wished nothing but to die. 

Edgar’s empty eyes, devoid of all human emotions, were glued to the the young man sitting in front of him restrained in handcuffs. The judge’s deep voice was announcing the final verdict, but Edgar could not find it in himself to properly listen, gaze still locked tightly on his most hated enemy. He could faintly feel Jonah's gaze on the back of his head, his superior ready at all moments to step in and stop Edgar from committing any grave action. 

Zero, hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword was sticking close to his side as well, his presence although usually soothing to him, was making Edgar's wrath raise in intensity.

His King's eyes were also on him, the only thing barely keeping him in check. Minutes painfully ticked by, as the criminal received his rightful sentence and rose up from his seat to be escorted to his assigned prison. The now convicted man slowly raised his head and started searching through the crowd in the court, a disgusting smirk growing on his face as soon as he spotted Edgar sitting in the front row. 

Edgar saw red. 

He saw crimson blood, heard agonizing screams, and felt your body growing cold between his arms. 

He saw your killer, alive and well, walking away from him, a week after your funeral. 

 And the nightmare played out in his head again. 

Edgar has never been this happy before. 

How could he not be when his bloody past has been finally buried, his real self accepted, and his love returned? You were the very light of his life, the sunshine to his darkness, the smile erasing his loneliness. You wholeheartedly embraced his every flaw, and poured so much affection into his broken soul that he felt the desire to live burn in his veins for the fist time in a very long time.

That desire was his first mistake.

But nothing lasts forever.

And because the worst things in life come free to us, soon things took an abrupt turn for the worst.

It was a slightly cold afternoon when Edgar saw you off on your way to pay Blanc a visit. Cradle’s Official Record Holder has apparently invited you to have a cup of tea with him, and you were more than glad to accept his offer. Your smile was shining brightly as you kissed your lover goodbye, hand coming up to softly caress his cheek before you waved at him. Grinning when he spotted the delicate bracelet he gave to you on your last birthday, which you were proudly showing off on your wrist, the Jack of Hearts watched you skip across the paved road, heart feeling at ease.

Waiting until your small figure disappeared from his sight, Edgar tuned around to get back to his neglected duties, when a loud voice stopped him in his tracks.

One of the his unit’s newest recruits stood behind him, a bouquet of flowers held carefully in his hands. The soldier quickly saluted his superior, before handing him the beautifully wrapped gift, tone formal as he announced.

“This was just delivered for you, Sir.”

Raising one eyebrow in sheer curiosity, Edgar slowly pulled off the thin veil protecting the flowers’ fragile petals as he questioned.

“Who was the sender?”

“I-I am not sure, sir.” The soldier nervously responded, “We have found the bouquet in front of the main gate, with your name written on its accompanied card, so we have brought it to you, after checking it for any harmful substances or hidden poison.”

Lightly nodding his head in incomplete understanding, Edgar finally took a good look at the delivered flowers, eyes suddenly widening in shock as he recognized the deceivingly vibrant colour.

They were Purple Petunia.*

Edgar’s breath was caught in his throat, but he quickly regained control of himself, dismissing the confused soldier before hastily entering the Headquarters, directly heading to his office.

Once inside, Edgar made sure to properly lock the door before turning his attention back to the suspicious bouquet. He was never a true believer in flowers’ meanings and symbols, but he did recognize its practical usage while sending a coded message to a certain enemy, thus he was unable to dismiss this particularly ominous flower.

Carefully picking up the small card hidden between the delicate stems, Edgar took a deep breath and concentrated on reading the following message.

‘Dead men tell no tales. 

But when gone are the hidden veils,

Guide the Gentle Devil to his doomed rails.’ 

The foreboding note sent a shiver down Edgar’s spine, his heart dropping as a sinister feeling seemed to completely envelop his senses. Shaking his head in a futile attempt to shake the dark, unreasonable thoughts swarming in his mind, Edgar soon spotted an address at the bottom of the card in an almost unreadable handwriting.

Incapable of making sense of the flowers, card or creepy note, Edgar let his body drop on his chair, suddenly feeling too exhausted to move. His logical side knew it was best to treat the entire thing as a unsavoury prank from one of the soldiers, but the the ill-boding feelings continued to grow further in Edgar’s head despite his resistance, and he wished he could see your face soon.

Glancing at the clock sitting on his desk, Edgar deduced that you would probably be back in two hours or so, considering the fact that Blanc’s house was not that far away from the Red Territory.

He can wait for you, and when you’re finally back, maybe this impending feeling will disappear for good.

Waiting was his second mistake.

And Edgar will come to realize so in the next few hours, as you were nowhere to be found.

“Is she not back yet?” Zero’s voice carried a hint of worry as he stepped beside Edgar, who was standing at the front gate, face completely blank. When Edgar did not respond, Zero sighed in defeat, eyes locked at the road where you were last seen in, before he muttered:

“She probably got caught up with Blanc’s idle chatting. She will be home soon, so don’t worry.”

Edgar’s mind barely registered his protege’s words as another wave of dread invaded his body. Something was incredibly wrong. Edgar simply knew it, and he couldn't help but to squeeze the hilt of his word even tighter.

“Sir!” A shout suddenly echoed behind the two men, forcing them to immediately turn to face the young soldier running to them in full speed. Edgar, recognizing his recruit from this morning’s delivery, didn't waste any time waiting for him to catch his breath, quickly snatching up the note held in his hands.

“We-- found another note-” The soldier struggled to properly breathe, “At the back gate this time-”

The note was partly covered in blood, instantly sending warning signs in Edgar’s head. Willing his hands to stop trembling, the Jack of Hearts unfolded the piece of paper, colour rapidly draining from his face as soon as a too-familiar bracelet fell from the folds, equally covered in blood.

Zero’s face twisted in pure shock just as Edgar crumbled the note in his clenched fist, eyes loosing every ounce of warmth at once.

Frozen in his spot, Zero was only able to watch Edgar calmly walk away from him, unhesitatingly heading towards the forbidden forest following the note’s specific orders. Small droplets were starting to fall from the grey sky, thunder growling in the far distance, turning the previously relaxed atmosphere to a gloomy one.

Zero harshly bit his lips and rushed back into the Red Headquarters, praying with all of his might that Edgar makes it to you before it’s too late.

Finding where you were kept hostage was an easy feat for Edgar, considering the fact that your kidnappers were generous enough and provided him with the address earlier this morning.

‘If only I realized their twisted plot earlier!’ Edgar bitterly thought as he made his way through the thick, dense vegetation covering what seemed from afar, as an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Pausing to quickly sweep his surroundings, Edgar’s gaze finally spotted a young man standing in front of the lone cabin, absent-mindedly toying with a sharp dagger.

Few minutes passed in absolute silence, but even after straining his well-trained senses, Edgar found no proof of any other presence, apart from the seemingly uninvolved man. 

Clenching his sword in preparation for a close battle, Edgar slowly stood up, fully exposing himself out in the open, anger steadily boiling in his veins the closer he got to the man. The latter didn't waste any time spotting the Jack of Hearts, a disgusting grin plastering on his face as he quickly reaches behind him to open the cabin door.

“Where is she?” Edgar’s frosty tone echoed throughout the empty space, making the man stop in the middle of his action, hand hovering over the doorknob.

His eyes, now clear of any trace of his previous mirth, unwaveringly fixed Edgar, voice equally cold as he muttered.

“That’s the first thing you say to me after all these years?”

Edgar subtly moved his hand closer to his sword, trying his best not to trigger the man’s wrath. In an attempt to keep your kidnapper too busy to act on his twisted whims, Edgar sought to distract him with the first question that came to his mind.

“Oh my. Have we met before?”

These six words were Edgar’s third fatal mistake.

 The man’s hysterical laughter filled the deadly silence as Edgar continued to watch him doubled over, disgust written all over his face.

The man continued to laugh for what seemed like ages, only straightening out to properly open the door this time, voice revealing none of his emotions as he responds.

“...Have we now?”

His venomous whisper passed unnoticed as the door slowly opened to reveal the horrible sight inside.

You were tightly tied to a chair in the middle of the bare room, your mouth painfully bound with a dirty rag, forcing you into tormenting silence. From where he was standing, Edgar was only able to spot few nasty bruises scattered on your knees and several still-bleeding wounds engraved deep on your thighs.

Just the sight of you, badly hurt, with tears filling up your eyes as you struggled against your restraints, was more than enough to send Edgar into a fit of rage once again. You soon managed to lock eyes with your lover, a flicker of desperate hope finally returning to your eyes as Edgar took one step closer to you, hand reaching out to hold you close as soon as possible.

...Then there was blood. Everywhere.

Your eyes were still locked with Edgar even as your throat was slit open. Blood gushed from your open wound as life slowly seeped from your body. The crimson liquid slowly dripped from your neck to your chest and down to the ground, where the soil instantly absorbed it as it never existed within your veins. Your muscles twitched in a last, hopeless effort to cling to life before the fire igniting in your heart was put off for good.

Edgar stood frozen as seconds passed by, and only snapped awake from his dazedness when the man --your killer-- spoke, his tone terrifyingly indifferent.

“I sure hope you now remember me and my sister. The young girl you killed off by your own hands three years ago.”

The hazy memories of a young, red-haired girl trashing in his arms, hitting his chest and struggling against his hold as he choke her to death resurfaced in Edgar’s head.

‘Ah,’ The cursed Jack of Hearts quietly thought to himself, ‘How did I ever allow myself to forget the monster I am?’

Edgar have always believed that his past will not leave him in peace. He knew that his bloody sins will definitely come back to haunt him sooner or later, but he never thought the victim this time will be you.

Edgar chuckled to himself, sword falling to the floor.

‘I give up’.

The following events occurred too quickly for Edgar to fully comprehend, as if he was observing them from a very far place. Red soldiers, led by Zero and Jonah, quickly filled the cabin, arresting the man without any resistance, and recovering your corpse in the process.

Zero’s face was twisted in extreme agony the minute he spotted the bloody scene, and Jonah was unable to stay for more than few minutes in there, quickly running away to hide his tears from his soldiers.

Edgar stood perfectly still right in front of you, smile eternally frozen on his face.

‘I'm sorry, love. You were my cure and I was your disease. You were saving me and I was slowly killing you.’

Edgar’s heart died with you that day.

(*Purple Petunia symbolizes resentment and anger. Do not let its vibrant, beautiful colours fool you, this flower is usually associated with malicious feelings and heavy grudges.)

See? I'm somehow able of NOT killing off my favourite characters in these stories!

This second part in particular took way too long for me to brainstorm, craft, write, correct and even more to edit. 

I couldn't have done it without the lovely @edgarbright who not only helped me create the initial story frame, but also bared with many of my failed ideas, blabbering and whining before coming up with this final draft. Girl, I really cannot thank you enough ❤ She was the first person that came to my mind as soon as I received this ask for Edgar, and I was not rejected despite my sudden ask for help! Many kudos go to her!

My Ask Box is still open for the moment, so make sure to make the most out of it! I’m looking forward to your Asks!

[angstybadboytrash]

||Voice of Treason || Chapter 7

[DABI X OC]

Summary: Hanako Yamada is tired of living in her brother’s shadow, so when an old friend comes back into her life, she can’t help but take a chance and make a new name for herself alongside the League of Villains.

Chapter: | Masterlist |

A/N: Here’s some Mic and some slight Endeavor confrontation! Honestly I had a general idea of what I wanted to happen in this fic and it’s going so much better than I thought it would. The next few chapters will involve some flash backs and I really hope y’all enjoy. Also I don’t know if I specified but the purple writing is Hana using the mimicry part of her quirk. Please please please like and comment because I would really enjoy some feedback on this.

Reblog to be put on the tag list

Tags: @fridgesbestfriend @princedabi @nightkidd-hd @gaylemonsmutfluff @dark-eyed-dream @sweetycue @aarinisreading

“‘Zashi! I’m so glad you’re home! How was school?!”

9 year old Hanako ran to the door to hug her older brother. It was his 3rd year at UA and he was so close to graduation. He came home for a short visit before he had to get back to his interning Agency and his best friend Shouta Aizawa trailed in behind him.

“Hey there HanaBanana! Did you miss me?!” Hizashi picked his sister up and spun her around as she giggled happily. He blew a raspberry on her cheek as she struggled to get out of his grip.

He set her down and headed over to greet his mother. He hugged her tightly and murmured soft ‘hey mom’ into her cheek.

“Hana baby why don’t you and Shouta head up to Hizashi’s room? I need to talk to him for a second. Okay?” Mrs. Yamada’s sweet voice suddenly made Hizashi very anxious.

“M’kay momma. C’mon Shouta.” Hana grabbed Aizawa’s hand and started pulling him up the stairs to Hizashi’s room.

Mrs. Yamada let out a long sigh as she looked at her almost grown son infront of her. “...She misses you ya know...” her voice was quiet and sad and it hit Hizashi hard. “She needs you. School is getting difficult for her and she won’t talk to me about it. She’s only got one friend and it’s a Todoroki boy and I don’t know how to help her.”

Hizashi’s shoulders sagged like the weight of the world was on his shoulders and to him it was. Hana looked up to Hizashi like he hung the moon and stars but that wasn’t the case. He was imperfect and he was just doing his best to graduate.

“I’m sorry mom.. I have been busy with school and my internship and I just haven’t had time to come home. I promise I’ll do better. I’ll try and come home more often and check in with you.” Hizashi leaned against the counter and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a nervous habit he picked up.

“Don’t check on me. Check on her. Please. I’m worried about her future. She’s only happy when you’re home and new things have developed in her quirk. You both are so completely different and I don’t know how to parent this.”

Hizashi let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding in. He blinked repeatedly to try and disperse the moisture in his eyes.

“I’ll be better... for her... I promise...”

Broken... his promise was broken. He didn’t get better. He didn’t check in like he should have and things got worse. So much worse. Things go so bad that Hizashi was currently standing outside of the League of Villians hideout hoping and praying what Aizawa told him wasn’t true. Hana wasn’t a Villain. She couldn’t be... Had he really fucked up that bad??

All Might had just blown a hole in the side of the wall. They had just surprise attacked the league in hopes of rescuing Kastuki Bakugo. Mic was worried for the kid but he was more worried about his sister.

“LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE! GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!! YA DIG?!”

The dust started to clear and that’s when the heroes were supposed to make their movie but they didn’t. Mic’s breath hitched and he didn’t even realize that he yelled out a very panicked ‘Stop! It’s Her!’. Standing in the middle of the hole covered in settling dust was a very very VERY pissed off Hanako Yamada.

Hana heard and she couldn’t help but laugh a little at the reaction. Everyone was just standing there watching her as the dust cleared. Hana was ready to have a little fun with this. She started throwing little whispers all around the heroes, but mainly around her brother.

“Who’s her?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you at a loss for words?”

“What’re you looking for?”

All of the heroes’ heads were turning and looking to see if she had appeared behind them but she hadn’t. Hizashi knew that and that’s why he never broke eye contact with her. That made her angry.

“Look at you! Big brother isn’t so big anymore, are you Hizashi?!” Hana couldn’t help but gesture to the man who she could tell was falling apart from the inside. She stepped up on top of the rubble that All Might had created so she could get a good view of everyone.

Mic was still speechless, he was starstruck by the person infront of him who looked vaguely like his sister but at the same time was someone completely different.

“Hanako Yamada. We have you all surrounded. If you tell us right now that you were tricked into joining the Leauge of Villians then your sentence will be shortened.” Pro-Hero Endeavor spoke up behind Mic when he realize that he wasn’t going to do anything. The fact it was coming from Endeavor absolutely tickled Hana to death. She couldn’t help but bust out laughing hysterically. It took her a minute to compose herself and as she was wiping a tear from her eye, several other villains had joined her in the wide opening of the wall.

“The name is Decible and that’s rich coming from you. If I did that I would be lying and don’t we all know that Todoroki’s can’t lie wether they be past, present, or future Todoroki’s right?” Hana placed one hand over her heart and the other in the air like a mock salute.

“No son of mine will ever marry trash like Hanako Yamada. You’re forbidden!” She mimicked Endeavor’s voice and sick smile spread across her lips as several of the hero’s were shocked. His eyes widened at the statement and his flame grew hotter.

“Perfect impression, Doll face. It’s like he’s standing right infront of me. Oh wait, he is.” Dabi’s voice spoke up right behind her. He stepped up onto the rubble next to her so that he could give his father the death glare that he deserved.

Now Endeavor was speechless at the sight of his eldest son. He didn’t know that he was still alive. Mic was confused by both his sister’s statement and the boy next to his sister.

“Dabi he looks a little confused. Do you think he remembers?” Hana leaned into Dabi’s side as he put his arm around her waist. His hand settled on the curve of her hip.

“I mean it would be kind of hard to forget brutally scaring my own child, but that’s just me baby.” Dabi kissed Hana’s temple before throwing a very harsh glare towards his father.

Mic snapped. “YO WHAT THE FUCK?? WHO ARE YOU?!!” He didn’t like how this sick fuck was giving his littler sister bedroom eyes right before he was gonna save her.

“The names Dabi. I’m your sisters boyfriend, best friend, and soulmate. So just shut up. Your voice hurts my head.” Dabi rolled his eyes and sent a glare to the loud blonde.

“BOYFRIEND??? HANA’S NOT ALLOWED TO DATE?!” Mic was more upset with the fact Hana hadn’t told him she had a boyfriend, than her actually having a boyfriend. Hana facepalmed at her brothers comment and Dabi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Please just shut the fuck up. You lost the right to dictate what happens in my life the minute you left.” Hana kicked a piece of rubble off the edge of the ledge she was on. It tumbled down to the edge of Hizashi’s feet.

“Left? I never left. What are you talking about??” Hizashi was hurt and confused. How was this all his fault? He had always tried to be there for her but apparently it wasn’t enough.

“You left my life the minute you went Pro! You weren’t my brother anymore. All you cared about was climbing the Pro-Hero ladder. It was impossible to get a hold of you!” Hana jumped from the ledge to the ground below.

“You have no idea how many times I called you or your agency and you were always busy. You got even busier when you became a teacher! It was insane, it was like I didn’t even exist anymore!” Hana ran her fingers through her hair and slowly approached her brother. The anger in her voice was very noticeable.

“When Touya disappeared I needed you ‘Zashi. I needed you to be my brother for once but you weren’t. I handled all that grief on my own and the weekend of his funereal you were in the fucking states doing god knows what. How can you call yourself my brother when you never fucking acted like one?!?” Hana shoved Hizashi hard in the chest as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Hizashi stumbled backwards but caught his footing. He was completely speechless and it showed since his mouth hung wide open.

“I’m sorry Hana... I- I had no idea. I deserved all of that.... if you confess to trickery then I can fix this. Hana I can fix this I promise. Please let me fix this.” Hizashi was distraught and tears ran down his cheeks. He grabbed Hana’s arms and pulled her into a hug in an attempt to calm her down but he knew it was really for his own benifit. She struggled against him and when she finally got his arms off of her she pushed him away and spit at him.

“There’s nothing to fix.”

“Hana I-“ Hana cut him off by screaming at the top of her lungs and it launched her brother into the air. He would have landed a couple of miles away but Aizawa intercepted him out of the air with his capture weapon.

Hana glanced around the area to see what heroes were here. All Might, Endeavor, Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, Eraserhead, and Present Mic. Hana turned around to head back towards the giant hole in the wall when All Might spoke up next to her.

“Where is Katsuki Bakugou?!”

Hana laughed to herself and glanced up to nod her head at Dabi before looking at the Symbol of Peace. “He’s safe... with me. Now I really gotta run but it was awful seeing all of you. Hope I don’t see you again!”

Hana threw a peace sign up and winked at the Symbol of Peace as she jumped up in the air and landed in Kurogiri’s portal making her completely disappear.

All the heroes blinked in shock at the sudden disappearance. Somehow all of them had been completely oblivious to everything else that wasn’t Hana. It was like she had put a trance on them and that had allowed all of the villains to get away once again with Katsuki Bakugou.