#they are retired from hunting life everyone is alive and free

[sasanka-27]

Cozy movie night ✨💙💚

[veny-many]

Previous post :

Thinking about survived Order 66 Plo Koon AU

What I saw, Kel-Dorian often worked as a bounty hunter or something like that due to their strong judgment of the right and wrong.

So what I am thinking in my headcanon sandbox: Plo acting as a retired bounty hunter. And like "what is Jedi? I didn't hear of them. Of the lightning from my hand? It is Kel-Dor ability no need to worry :)"

Wolffe is by his side as a... colleague? Or successor?

Some people think it's odd that Kel-Dor and clone like human wandering around and got suspicious.

"I knew it! You guys not just some bounty hunters teaming right?"

"You Kel-Dor adopted human! I never thought any Kel-Dor clan would accept other sentients as their family!"

"Excuse me what"

Wolffe feels strong responsibility of protecting Plo because he never deserved this and he still feels guilty(despite how many times Plo told him it was not) so he often acts in front.

But since he was naive and honest clone(be honest, Wolffe is not good at lying and he is softy despite his sass) Wolffe often caught up in troubles in civilian and underworld life. In this case, Plo steps front and negotiate or talks about troubles.(thank you and not thank you Micah for always dragging his naive friend to underworld)

Wolffe feels frustrated and powerless when this happens.

After Malevolence, he always feels bad when he can't act in front. It means his brother will suffer instead of him.

Wolffe sometimes thinks, if he was not here, Plo would be more easily live and hide under Empire's hunting.

He doesn't know that when he is fallen asleep, Plo often strokes his hair, and recites Jedi Code in his mind to send his never-ending grief and regrets to the Force.

One day, Wolffe didn't come back to their hideout till late evening.

Plo: I knew that one day he will get lost, like other children.

And half true, because Wolffe got kidnapped by underworld criminals.

The kidnappers recognized Wolffe has same face with the clone troopers, and he was deserter from Empire. So they thought if they get him and make him talk about the army information, or just send him back to Empire for reward. Or just sell him to slavery, because clone troopers also known as a great soldier and worker with no worries about someone would try to find them.

What they didn't know, that there was one Jedi who was tracking them for one clone they trafficked.

Lightning. Because why not. Plo couldn't use his saber because it was too dangerous for his and Wolffe's hide, but instead he uses his Electric Judgment to knock down kidnappers. He frees abducted peoples and finds Wolffe.

Wolffe, who was tortured and hurt because he tried to protect other young slaves.

And Wolffe tells Plo that it was too dangerous and meaningless. That it was too risky too use his Force tactic to rescue one clone.

And anyway Plo gathers Wolffe in his arm and goes to their hideout.

And tugges Wolffe in warm blankets and gives him warm soup. And water.

After Wolffe is calmed, Plo tells him his honest mind. That actually he is doubting that they could fine any Jedi survivors, or even if there are any other survivors at first. And after Jedi Order's fall, Plo felt like he lost his whole life's purpose, that was meant to serve the Force and greater goods.

But Wolffe was still there, and he found his first new purpose for his life, to protect this young soldier and help him learning to survive the real life outside the army life. And with that, when he finds many others who are in danger, he could help them even after Order's fall, and he was grad to be alive thanks to Wolffe's existence.

Wolffe just keeps weeping silently while listening Plo's talk. And Plo had to give him more water to prevent dehydration.

Stay hydrated everyone.

Peoples who got freed kept their secrets, for the Jedi who saved them. But anyway the rumor spread to underworld, that there was one Kel-Dor with iron arm who striked to trafficking hideout and fried criminals and released slaves.

Ahsoka and Rex in Rebellion heard that rumors with newfound hope.

Wolfpack in Empire army heard that rumor with burning desire to hunt down their commanding officers who betrayed and left them.

That's all for now. Thank you everyone have a nice day.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

As a fandom- where do we think Izzy's story will end? [Poll at the bottom]

Now. So much of S2 is about what Stede/Ed want in the end. Sure, they're together again, but now what? For Stede, it's a pirate's life. He wants a crew, a family, connections, and adventure. Freedom from a life he hated. Even if it's short, he wants joy. For Ed, it's peace. He wants to fish, and eat good food, and spend time with the person he loves. Away from the stress of piracy. Of being hunted down and fighting to survive. To me, this is why the S2Ep7 fight happens the way it does. Stede's rising popularity shows Ed that, fuck, Stede is slowly becoming an example of the pirate life that he'd despised. Ed is dating the most popular pirate in the Republic, and fuck. That's dangerous. That's a target on Stede's back. That's more fights, future rivalries, future doublecrosses, another fight surviving against the authorities. An expanding list of people to hunt down the man he loves. Here he is, slowly watching as Stede, a man who onced loved nature and marmalade. Scared of violence and fighting. Slowly get taken over by a hardened Stede. Still Stede, yes. But scary and new. Ed's scared. So he runs. Chooses to protect his heart and go before he is forced to break up with Stede. He can't be this anymore. Leaving Stede behind, sad and confused on how things went to shit so quickly.

So....

Not to be an Izzy fan about this but... When everything settles down. When Stede and Ed are free to run and be happy, what will Izzy Hands do?

I've seen so many opinions, but honestly, I don't think even he knows the answer to this question yet. I think a large part of his S3 arc is Izzy looking at life and being like 'fuck, I'm in my 50s, but I'm still alive. So what now?'.

To be by Ed's side? Well...not anymore. He has a family. Sure, for a second it looked like they'd all split up in EP7 but we all know the upcoming bullshit in ep8 will tie everyone in tighter together. He doesn't need Ed the way he did even a few episodes ago. He's trying to form a life where he can be happy with his identity outside of Ed.

These last few episodes have shown that this life is too dangerous for Ed to feel safe starting something with Stede. There will be a compromise, and fuck. The idea of Izzy just going along with it because 'that's where Ed is' after everything is just...heartbreaking.

To go retire? I mean. I'd want that ending for him, to grow older, happy and safe, and warm and loved by his community. Maybe get him someone whose as loyal to him as he was to Ed(platonically or not).

In S1 he stated that's not a future he ever expected for himself. Sure, maybe next season we'll get some 'It's my final day before retirement' bullshit. But it will need to be set up.

To stay a first mate? Maybe! hell, Izzy loved Ed enough to 'let him' become a fisherman without talking him out of it. Clearly he enjoys the life he has on the revenge. Whose to say he won't enjoy being first mate under a different captain. Say, Olu, or Jim, or some rando they introduce next season.

To become Captain? Again, maybe? I can see it. The show ends with Stede and Ed in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Izzy and the crew run off for one more adventure (with the promise that yes, they'll visit as often as they can).

It's sad in a way. Knowing what we all know about history. How one day Captain Hands will die at sea. Either by being too slow in a fight, being caught, or their ship going down. But maybe that's what he wants?

THIS is the reason so many latched onto Izzy Hands. Stede and Ed will get a happy ending. Period. The End. But what about our crew? What about Izzy? Izzy's arc has meant so much for so many of us. I don't see him dying this season (FINGERS CROSSED) but this fucker would die for his crew.

SO. What do you think? As it stands right now.

[vwbugggie]

Introducing my Supernatural DR:

Buckle in this is a long one!

Disclaimers:

I’m gonna write this with the assumption that you’ve seen the show and know what I’m talking about. I’m not really gonna explain things that are canon.

Feel free to ask any questions!

I made several changes to canon for my DR, if you don't agree with them that's perfectly ok, but please be respectful!

Comments on my DR (opinions, ideas, etc.) are welcome as long as they are respectful towards me and others!

If y’all with Supernatural DR’s (or any DR; but especially if we have DR’s in common) ever wanna chat my DM's are open, don't be shy! (No minors, sorry!)

Anti-shifters do not interact, I don't care what you think. If you are rude or disrespectful I will block you and delete your comment. I'm not going to argue with you because I simply don't care to. (If you see a rude or disrespectful comment before I can get to it I encourage you not to engage, ignore it, thanks!)

Last thing before we start: Yes, I’m one of those shifters who overpower themselves, so? You think I crossed the multiverse to be what I am here? No.

Background:

First thing first, introductions! This portion is just a meet & greet! More details will come later when I go into the 'plot' of my Dr! :)

Name: ‘Buggie’ Singer (Me!)

Species: Demi-god (Unbeknownst to everyone, including me, but more on that later)

About me: Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Raised by Bobby to know how to protect myself from the supernatural, but wasn’t raised specifically to be a hunter. He didn't exactly want me to be a hunter but he supports my choices because he knows I'll do what I want anyway. I like to write, read, make jewelry, listen to music. Before Dean came to get me I was an author who mainly stayed home writing and helping my dad with the salvage yard or helping him help other hunters. Occasionally going on a hunt with him if a monster happened to find itself in our area.

Biological mom: Amara

Species: God

About her: The darkness, god’s sister, existed before creation

Status: Alive; Locked away by the god squad

Do I know her a first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: In my DR when she escaped she wasn't a baby and instead of going to Dean (when she thanked him for freeing her and she saved him from the black smoke) she came to me and told me she’s my mom (oooooo dramatic reveal) and saved me from the black smoke. (In the show it's Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire season 11, episode 1)

Adoptive dad: Robert ‘Bobby’ Steven Singer

Species: Human

About him: Semi- retired Hunter, born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on August 12, 1950. He was like family to my biological father and adopted me when my parents died. To raise me he stopped hunting. He still helped others (like he did in the show), but he only went on hunts if a monster stumbled into our area. It was a last resort of course, first he'd try to call other hunter close by, but if they couldn't deal with it he'd reluctantly go. When that happened he'd always drop me off at the roadhouse for a couple of days.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: Shortly after I was born

Biological dad(s): Cassian Calavera and Alastair

Species: Human and demon

About Cassian: Born in Toluca, Mexico, on December 29, 1950. From a legendary family of hunters.

About Alastair: A white eyed demon, considered one of the oldest and strongest demon. Hell's grand torturer.

Status: Dead

Do I know him at first shift?: I was a newborn, so no. I got to know him later in life though.

When did we first meet?: The first time I met him was shortly after I was born. Later, I met him when he rose from the dead during the rise of the witnesses.

Mother figure: Ellen Harvelle

Species: Human

About her: Widow, retired hunter. She’d let me stay at the roadhouse if ever my dad went on a hunt. Treats me like her own. Doesn't really want me or Jo to be hunters, but supports our choices because we'll do it anyway. Born on November 2nd, 1968.

Status: Alive (Scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: Yes, she helped raise me

When did we first meet?: Childhood, I was around seven

Like a sister to me: Joanna 'Jo' Beth Harvelle

Species: Human

About her: Born to Ellen and William Anthony Harvelle on April 7, 1985, raised at the roadhouse. Wants to be a hunter like her father.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: Yes, we're besties! She's like my little sister fr.

When did we first meet?: Childhood, I was around seven and she was around five.

Bestfriend: Samuel 'Sam' William Winchester 

Species: Human

About him: Hunter, legacy. Son to John and Mary, Dean's little brother. Born May 2, 1983. Views me as a little sister, stayed in contact with me after he left for Stanford. The only person who knows about my powers other than my dad at first shift (Technically Cas does too he's not there at first shift). Him and Eileen are endgame.

Status: Alive

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: John dropped him off at my house so he could go on a hunt when Sam was around three. We’re the same age so we were instant besties. Have been ever since!

Future S/O: Dean Michael Winchester

Species: Human (Later a vampire, then demon, he gets cured though)

About him: Hunter, legacy. Son to John and Mary. Born January 24, 1979.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his final death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: When John came to pick up Sam the first time (when me and Sam met), John was putting Sam's stuff in the trunk and I came out to say bye to Sam. John introduced Dean, who was waiting in the passenger seat. He waved.

Guardian Angel (Kinda): Castiel

Species: Angel

About him: Angel of the lord. I truly feel like it's impossible not to like him, especially if you know him. Him and Meg are endgame (I'm not sorry).

Status: Alive (I scripted out his final death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Technically

When did we first meet?: When I was a child; he was with me shortly after birth up until I was nine (I thought he was an imaginary friend).

Bestie: Meg Masters

Species: Demon

About her: Got a job as a nurse so she could look after Cas when he was in his crazy era. She's a demon so she's not exactly 'nice' but she's not exactly 'mean' either. Falling/ looking after Cas made her a little soft. She's sort of hard shell somewhat soft-ish insides.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: At a bar (In the show it was season one episode 16 'Shadow'. She was still possessing the other girl.)

Close friend: Garth Fitzgerald IV

Species: Human (Turned werewolf later)

About him: This man is so chill. He has no beef with anyone. You might not like him at first (I did though) cuz he does come on a little strong, but he grows on you.

Status: Alive

Do I know him first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: We met like how I met most hunters, they came to my dad for help on a hunt.

Close friend: Crowley (Born Fergus MacLeod)

Species: Demon

About him: He's really not as bad as he wants you to think. So unserious. Low key bestie vibes. Material Girl!

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: When Sam, Dean, and I tracked him down. (In the show: Abandon All Hope Season 5, Episode 10)

Close friend: Rowena MacLeod

Species: Witch

About her: Definition of material girl. She's so iconic. She also puts on a tough exterior. She originally only wanted to be my friend so she could use my power, but it turned into a genuine friendship.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her final death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: Girls, Girls, Girls Season 10, Episode 7)

Adoptive child: Jack Kline

Species: Nephilim

About him: Parents: Kelly Kline and Lucifer. Born on May 18, 2017. I love him so much.

Status: Alive

Do I know him at first shift?: No (He doesn't exist yet lol)

When did we first meet?: I was there when he was born. (In the show its at the end of season 12 episode 23 'All along the Watchtower'. Also, in my DR he didn't come out the womb a grown man, he had a few years of childhood.)

Family friend: Rufus Turner

Species: Human

About him: Semi- retired hunter, recluse, dad's old hunting partner, checks in on me from time to time. So unintentionally funny.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes, haven't seen him in a while though

When did we first meet?: He first came by the house (before he became a recluse) when I was five. He needed dad's help on a hunt.

Bestie: Charlie Bradbury (Born Celeste Middleton)

Species: Human

About her: Larper, rookie hunter, hacker, smart as hell and impossible not to love

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: When she tried to hack into Frank's hard drive. (In the show it's  season 7, episode 20, “The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo")

Bestie: Jody Mills

Species: Human

About her: Cop turned hunter, born June 17, 1976. Black cat person, she's rough around the edges but she is truly kind. Very motherly.

Status: Alive

Do I know her at first shift?: Probably, we're from the same town and my dad has run in with the law often.

When did we first meet?: Haven't scripted it, but we're not close until she starts helping Sam, Dean, and me.

Bestie: Donna Hansum

Species: Human

About her: Cop turned hunter, born July 15, 1982. She is so nice and caring, total badass too of course but legitimately one of the nicest people I've ever met.

Status: Alive

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: season nine episode thirteen The Purge.)

Bestie: Eileen Leahy

Species: Human

About her: Hunter, Legacy. She's so funny, she keeps Sam in check, she's a badass, she gets along with Dean. What's not to like? (We're a lot alike personality wise, I'm just more unhinged, lol.) Her and Sam are endgame.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: Season eleven episode eleven into the mystic.)

The Past:

The moment you've all been waiting for, 'plot' time!

In the beginning there were two: Chuck, the light, and Amara, the dark, brother and sister. Chuck, or god, wanted to create. Story goes Amara destroyed everything Chuck made, so he created the Archangels: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel to help him defeat her. Here's where my DR starts to differ from canon. Yes, there was a battle between the god squad and Amara, however they failed to completely defeat Amara.

God didn't want to kill Amara. So he came up with a way to defeat her without killing her. Chuck created ‘The Mark’ this was to serve as lock and key to Amara’s prison. He entrusted it to his favorite son, Lucifer. However, something that powerful, something meant to contain that much darkness, corrupts. So Chuck and the Archangels attacked Amara. They nearly won, however by then the mark had already begun corrupting Lucifer. Instead of delivering the final blow to incapacitate Amara, Lucifer turned on his brothers and his father. While they were busy fighting Lucifer, Amara slipped away using what little power she had left to cloak herself from god and the Archangels. She wasn’t usually the run and hide type, but if they found her in the state she was in they’d surely win that fight. So she hid and waited for her strength to return to her.

Lucifer was not defeated that day either. Say what you will about him, but he’s not an idiot. He knew that if his family could nearly kill Amara, who was a great deal stronger than him, he knew that they’d most likely make quick work of him. He too fled, and for a while everything was quiet.

With no sign of Amara or Lucifer’s return, Chuck began creating again. He created the rest of the Angels, the world, you get the idea. While there were no obvious signs of Lucifer, he watched and waited. He saw his father's latest creation: humans. Chuck was worried Lucifer would return so he charged Gadreel with protecting them. Chuck was right to worry of course because Lucifer did return and to trick Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Man fell, Lucifer gave the mark to Cain (making it the mark of Cain), he made Lilith then the princes of hell. He lost the war against heaven and got cast into hell and trapped in the cage by Michael.

Eventually Amara regains enough of her strength to return, and when she does she’s met with something that actually kind of amazes her. Humans, humanity. She was both intrigued and infuriated. She still wasn’t at full strength so she decided to live amongst the humans, more like hide amongst the humans, while she looked for her brother. But finding Chuck was only half the battle. She’d still need a way to defeat him. She knew the angels and Archangels would side against her and with Lucifer in the cage she had no other choice but to make something of her own.

Amara tried to make her own angels or similar beings like her brother had, but it seemed creating life was harder than she thought. Maybe the darkness just wasn't meant to create. Until it finally dawned on her. Chuck had given her the answer. Procreation. The idea disgusted her, true, but if a Nephilim grows to be stronger than their Angel parent, what of a god’s child? Surely they’d grow to be stronger than God himself. Yes. With this child, she could defeat god and become unstoppable.

While searching for Chuck, Amara lived all over the earths in the different worlds that Chuck created. Until she landed in ‘The Main Universe’ (Where God’s favorite Sam and Dean are). She was traveling the world looking for a human she didn’t completely detest. The one that would be my father.

My father was a born into a family of legendary hunters. Every hunter has their speciality. Every hunter has a favorite thing to hunt. My father's favorite were demons. His last case was a demon named Alastair, he worked the case alongside his little brother, Ivan. They had never encountered a demon so powerful. Alastair takes possession of Ivan and leaves Cassian for dead. Cassian survives and tracks Alastair all the way to Sioux Falls. Where he mets Bobby, who was also hunting Alastair. Bobby was reluctant to team up at first, but he gave in once Cassian shared his story. While working the case they become close friends, all was going well until they actually encountered Alastair. They were losing the fight against Alastair. While Bobby knocked unconscious Cassian pleads Alastair to leave his little brother be. If he must take someone take him instead. Let Ivan go and live his life. Alastair accepts only so Cassian can watch Ivan's body fall to the ground, having been dead since he was first possessed. Once he had taken hold of Cassian's body, he wakes Bobby. Taking over his body was not enough, he would force Cassian to watch as he took over his life. Alastair, as Cassian, settles in Sioux Falls.

Alastair sensed Amara's power the second she entered Sioux Falls. He was drawn to her darkness, to him that made her truly beautiful. She paid him no mind at first, but he persisted. She could hardly stand humans, let alone demons. Ultimately the promise of an all powerful weapon to use against Chuck and Alastair worshipping the ground she walked on won her over. Sure, for her he was just a means to and end, but for him? She was the love of his life. She wasn’t particularly kind or caring towards him but he didn’t much care.

After I was born the room lit up and started to shake. Amara knew this meant Angels were on the way to destroy her and whatever caused that surge of energy. She told my father to take me and run. He does, he takes me straight to Bobby. He would have preferred to leave me with other demons, but demons could be found to easily by angels. My father pounded on the door frantically until a confused Bobby came to the door. He explained that something was after him and Amara, but he didn't know what, but he needed his help. Bobby of course wanted to help, so he agreed to take me for a couple of days.

My father returned home to find nothing. Amara was nowhere to be found. Now you might be thinking, how can some run of the mill angels defeat Amara? She's as powerful as God. They were no run of the mill angels. The angels that came to deal with Amara were the remaining Archangels along with Cain (because he had the mark). This coupled with Amara being severely weakened by my birth, and the fact that she had never fully recovered from the first go around, she was sealed away as god had intended all those years ago.

My father, was so caught up in his grief that he almost didn't notice a man come out from the shadow's behind him. The two men fought eventually ending in Alastair leaving Cassian's body. Escaping to hell and leaving Cassian to deal with the agonizing pain of being stabbed. Then the man stood there, looking over his body with no particular emotion. For he was no man at all, he was an angel. An angel named Castiel.

Castiel had orders. He had orders to wait after Amara's defeat to find and destroy the reason for that power surge. With the death of my father he thought his orders complete, so he returned to Heaven. Upon his arrival he was met with disdain by his superiors. They not so kindly informed him that his orders remained and that he was to return to earth to finish them. He was not welcomed in heaven until his orders were fulfilled.

Castiel does as he's told. He searches my parents house for days, with not much luck until the house phone rings. It had been a few days since my father dropped me off at Bobby's and he hadn't heard back from him. He made some comment about how it's easier to run a salvage yard than to look after a baby. Castiel knew of a human's instinct to protect their young so he figured that was the missing piece. Castiel was set.

After a few hours of searching, Castiel finally found the salvage yard that had both a 'Bobby' and a baby. He snuck into the house on the property while Bobby slept. He looked over my makeshift crib with the intention of completing his orders. At the last minute I awoke, he expected me to scream or cry, but instead I just smiled and reached out to him. In that moment Castiel wondered why heaven would condone the death of an innocent child.

He stayed with me for a while, he'd never been so close to a baby before, there was something about this child. Something that made him decide on another path. He decided then and there that he would not- that he could not kill this child. Instead he warded me against the angels. The very same spell he would later use on Sam and Dean.

Throughout my childhood, Castiel would come by and check in on me. He hadn't meant for me to see him, in fact he's still not sure how I could see him, no one else had. He walked straight past my dad, with no incident. But somehow he wasn’t invisible to me. Every time he'd come by I'd reach out to him. He was confused as to why at first, but after a few tries he caught on.

Slipping away from heaven was no easy task, but he managed. When he discovered my powers he felt no choice but to increase his visits. My powers weren't like any he'd ever seen. By then I could speak and due to that one time I accidently saw his wings, I called him Birdie. He taught me what he could about controlling my powers, when I cried he'd comfort me, when I got hurt he healed me. He was so much more than a teacher, he was family to me. He was my best friend that no one else could see. Things stayed that way until I was nine. Until he left.

Growing up me and Dean weren't really close. We were never really around each other too much. Mainly because I only saw him when John was dropping off or picking up Sam. I saw him a little more once we got older and they started to come around more. Not a ton though. Me and Dean were friends, but not close. We became close after Sam left for Stanford. After Sam left he called me and kind of asked if I could be there for Dean. I reached out not really expecting a response, but he got back to me and we talked. After that we talked all the time and he came to visit whenever he could.

The Present:

Sorry this is short, but I didn't really change too much of the show's beginning so there's not much to say!

I am shifting to the beginning of the show. Before Dean went to go pick up Sam from Stanford he came to pick me up. They haven't spoken since Sam left so he wanted me to come along because he wasn't really convinced that he could convince Sam to leave with him to look for their dad. Totally not because we're crushing on each other. It's a two day drive from Sioux Falls to Stanford so I will be shifting to the night of the 28th.

First Shift:

I haven't shifted to this DR yet btw but this is what I have scripted for my first shift!

When I wake up I'll be laying on the couch in the living room. Dad will be reading some lore at his desk, the radio softly playing "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. There's a knock on the door, my dad looks at me and asks if I'm expecting anyone. I'm still waking up so I don't respond. He huffs and goes open the door. He's gone for a minute, I hear some talking, then he walks back into the living room followed by Dean. Dean asks to speak to me, we go into the hallway while dad returns to his reading. He asks me to come with him, I agree. I grab my go bag and say goodbye to my dad, then we're off!

My Powers:

I just really wanna talk about my powers. Totally not an excuse to show off my shitty edits.

My Magic:

My powers for this DR are a combination of Wanda's powers (Unoriginal, I know. Idgaf.), god powers (Cuz Amara's my mom), and a siphon witches powers (from TVD). I wanted my powers to be visible and look more like witch magic than angel magic, which is why in the beginning I think I'm some sort of witch. My power is basically Wanda's magic with a black core and a dark red outer shell. It's more free flowing than Wanda's, her's stays in a ball shape mine is more free flowing and moves like fire. When I use my power my iris' glow the same dark red that my power is and it makes the same noise that Wanda's magic makes when she uses her power (Idk how to describe it, it's sort of like little whispers).

My wings:

The wings in my DR work more like the wings in the show ‘Lucifer’. They have to be summoned by the Angel, and when summoned they can be seen by everyone. (Example of wing summoning on the right.)

Thanks for reading!

[prowl-autism-extraordinaire]

waves my hands listlessly. guys remember tagg. remember my guy. he was supposed to be a ruthless killer and he was until one day he said no. i wont do this. and his dad- yknow, the guy who killed his real dad and stole him, left his dads body lying in the river- his dad tells him to skin a man alive. and tagg says no. he wont do this. this is too far. his dad demands he torture the man, one of their tribe. a man tagg has been raised to lead when his dad retires. and tagg says no. lifts his knife. the man is shaking, too afraid to beg. begging wouldn’t help anyway. and tagg cuts him free. throws down the knife. and he leaves. tagg says no more and he leaves. his dad- sawney rath- pushes too far. see, tagg was supposed to break. he was supposed to go along with it or snap and kill sawney rath. and instead he threw down his knife and walked away. he just leaves! doesn’t look back!

and the tribe hunt for him. they do. but tagg trained for this. he learned from them how to hunt and therefore how to hide. and then he learned how to hunt better than them. he’s the best. he spent his life learning to be the best. thats his name. taggerung. hes supposed to be the best.

and they hunt for him and follow him across the world and he stays ahead of them. he’s done. he’s had enough. and he meets a man a bit younger than him, who had an abusive father in a different way. a more physical way. and he learns that not everyone knows how to break the hand that strikes them. and he meets some folks who live in swamps on rafts and boats and he learns how to laugh. he learns how to joke and dance in ways that arent to intimidate. and he learns! he meets people that are kind and people that are unpleasant and he learns about excessive force and he learns about trust. he doesnt learn to trust quite yet but. he learns about it. and hes terrifying! he’s big and strong and tattooed and armed. but he learns to smile in a way thats kind and just a little sharp. he learns how to speak gently. he learns so much. and more than anything, he learns how wrong he was raised. he learns that murder is wrong and torture is wrong and that hurting people isnt how to communicate. and in the end he meets his sister and his mother and they know him. they know him by his birthmark and the shape of his eyes and the way he walks. and tagg doesnt know them. and they realize they dont know him. he pulls a knife and they dont know him at all. in the end his tattooes are removed. he goes by the name his parents gave him before he was stolen. and he learns to love.

[miss-bvnny]

Okay fine. MY re-write for Kion.

The lion guard has not existed for several generations. There was never a replacement guard inaugurated after Scar killed his. And while Simba had many friends, he had no siblings. When Scar took the throne after murdering Mufasa, he forbade a guard from forming, fearing that all the younger and stronger lions would form a coup and overthrow him. When Simba returned, he didn't feel the need for one either. Sarafina and Sarabi explained the tragic fate of Scar's guard to him when he returned, and Simba didn't want more stress in the middle of his busy term rebuilding the pridelands. The guard as an idea died out, and perhaps it was for the best. The royal family had enough of a rule over the Pridelands, and did not need to micromanage every little detail to an almost fascist extent. Everyone was shocked but content to see the new King Simba ACTUALLY fully retire the idea.

...And it might've been best if it had stayed that way.

Kion never took anything seriously. He could always be found fooling around and shirking his responsibilities. Simba worried about himfor this. The cub was adopted after he'd been found alone in the grasslands, and having a hard time fitting in with the royal family. Simba was the king. Nala led the hunts. Kiara was to be Queen one day. So...what was Kion? The spare? Royal only by mere adoption? He didn't seem to have any sort of importance to his name like the rest of his family. As a child that had always seemed nice. He would tease his older sister for the responsibilities she would be burdened with. Ha! He had none of that! He was free to play and goof off with the other cubs his age as much as he pleased! Such wonderful golden days! Nothing but a life of Hakuna Matata as far as he could see!!

...The ignorant bliss only lasted until Kion realized what it REALLY meant.

He stumbled across the abandoned lair of the Lion Guard by chance one day while playing. These days, the pride occasionally used it for privacy when lionesses gave birth, but not for much else. When he asked his father what it was, Simba felt like explaining the Guard and its controversial level of control over the pridelands was a good idea. Kiara had learned the dangers and true story about it not so long ago, after her adventures with Scar's heir that fateful day. Kion deserved to know as well. Simba cautioned him that the guard was a gateway drug. An open door to a lust for power that would eat him alive, the same way it had eaten Scar alive. Even a royal lion was not meant to have that much power. Kion seemed to finally take this seriously, and vowed to never become like his great uncle. But....in a way, it was always out of his paws.

The truth is...Kion was almost always destined from the start to follow in Scar's footprints. Despite being adopted into Simba's family with no idea of his own parentage...the evil red lion haunted his family tree far closer than anyone else might've wagered.

Kion was in a hurry to get the Lion Guard out of his head and go back to his normal life. And yet...it didn't leave him alone as easily as he wished it would. He kept thinking about how the guard would give him a purpose. Something important to do in the family. It would be just like being a king, wouldn't it? Keeping everything in check, and ensuring no harm befell innocent pridelanders. A lot of Kion's best friends were prey animals! And he wanted to help his friends! Simba always acted so calm about it in front of mixed company, but Kion heard his father's whispering about the hyenas, when no one was around. There was still a hint of resentment and distrust for the creatures. So...someone had to do something to keep the scum out of their lands, right?

It was a game at first. Something for Kion and his little ''Guard'' playing pretend as they went all over the pridelands. Being heroes and helping where they felt their help was needed. In reality, they were a bit of a nuisance. But the children didn't quite see it that way. The guard interrupted hunts, important ceremonies held by other species, and nearly got other animals killed with their interference. In an attempt to catch the eye of the beautiful Tiifu, Kion thought to show off by trying to fight Janja, the direct descendant of Shenzi herself. Had it not been for Nala interfering, the entire ordeal might've ended much worse.

The king and queen had to do quite a lot of cleaning up to fix the mess Kion and his friends seemed to leave wherever they went. Kiara wet along with them, dutifully trying to prove herself a proper princess in the wake of Kion and his chaos.

They were children. Children playing with something bigger than they could comprehend. Kion saw it as his rightful place in the circle of life, and his infatuation with his ''destiny'' blinded him from the truth. There even came a time when Ono, Fuli, and Beshte grew tired of the game and no longer wanted to play. Their parents had explained the gravity of things to them, and they understood. Kion refused to give in. Surely this was HIS destiny. HIS calling. His so called ''friends'' didn't believe in him. They were just like everyone else! They thought he was a useless spare! Bunga was the only one who stood at Kion's side, but...arguably that was just because Bunga was the only one fool enough to go along with it. Kion broke down in a fit with no one but Bunga to talk some sense into him, and...''talking sense'' was simply not Bunga's strong suit. With what he perceived as his purpose on the line, Kion decided he would have to show them all that this was what he was meant for.

He was so consumed and inconsolable about the idea, that he failed to realize the very familiar path he was walking down. But how COULD he know? He was only a child, seeing things from a very one-sided perspective. A perspective that was bound to get him in bigger trouble with other pridelanders one day....

[crusaderce]

Its quiet times like this when I remember amusing facts about crowley, mostly portioning to his backstory as a human. Like? This man was an absolute monster on a battlefield, and mind you this guy was like early 20s during the crusade, so was probably battling in his teens as well. Absolute monster unit that when their commander died, everyone turned to Crowley to get everyone out alive ( of course no one could've predicted a vampire had other ideas ) - he was in a skill class on his own basically. Dude also comes from nobility, like he is the third son of a noble ( which is why he knew how to read and write )- he even mentioned his father and brothers only once, more on his father than anything. And despite this all, he was still quite a humble individual. Living up to the code and everything of what it takes to be a crusader ( this dude literally was refusing woman and beer when his entire team was indulging ) even his best friend at the time was teasing him and calling him a virgin. He even scolds Jose when he talks ill to a prostitute! If anyone reads Demon Slayer, he is the Akaza of Owari no Seraph basically.

And lets not get into the fact when he retired from a life of fighting, he was still training children ( mostly to pay back for living in the town he was )- and this man basically rocks himself to sleep on a broken chair and suffers from ptsd with everything that had happened. This man watched his entire squad get completely killed by a singular man ( aka a vampire ) and was the only one left alive in that squad ( the rest of them die due to ferid later fuck ferid )- he basically is an older brother figure to Jose, and then turned father figure towards Marlon ( who is an orphaned child of a town that was destroyed by a vampire seemingly aka probably ferid I gotta read the Novel again )

Not to mention that when Ferid breaks every bone in his body, this man still tries to move and stop Ferid for the sheer fear of Ferid killing all his comrades- and the first thing he does when turning into a vampire? Ignores the free meal ( his dead teammates ) and goes straight into hunting down Ferid, only said to say when he eventually finds him years later he has become numb to emotions to where he found himself not sure why he was doing it anymore. And to finish it off, Crowley even broadly admits himself that he has killed more humans in his time as a crusader than he has done actually being a vampire. This points at a few things, Crowley doesn't seem to be the type to kill his victims/prey- and when the world went to shit, he seemed more of 'taking hostages' alive sorta person. Seen with the scene of Guren and Shinoa Squad going to Nagoya. Crowley is just a super interesting character and he always has been.

[pensoluv]

So my main team of favorites consist of Xiao, Albedo, Aloy, and Qiqi. And my thought process went with Rejected! Darling SAGAU.

I like the idea that some characters can tell it’s their Creator even though everyone else calls Reader an imposter. Because they know the Reader’s godly aura from anywhere.

Quick Headcannon: only Creator and those they favor can use Teleport Waypoints.

After Reader is chased out by Mondstat, they run into Aloy literally. But she knew the Creator and God the moment she looked at them. So Aloy figured out who Reader favored, in this case being the aforementioned characters, and seeks them out with the Reader’s help.

Albedo is the first one they look for, since he could hide Reader. No one thought to look on Dragonspine.

Aloy then went to get Xiao and Qiqi. Because she was an outlander and no one saw her with Reader, everyone pretty much ignored her. It worked in her favor as she could get to Qiqi in the middle of a crazed Liyue.

Qiqi went with Aloy no problem. She forgot about the supposed imposter and knew the Creator was in Teyvat somewhere. It felt like a gut instinct to her. Even if she forgot everything else, she would always remember the Creator and how they guided her with love and care.

Xiao was harder to convince. He had a feeling that the Creator descended into Teyvat as well. But Zhongli ordered him to kill the imposter of their beloved God. Aloy is only able to get him to Dragonspine with an agreement. “If the one I take you to is not your Creator, feel free to strike us down where we stand.” He was mostly convinced when Aloy suddenly teleported them all to Dragonspine.

They work together to at least get everyone else to stop hunting their Creator down.

Now if we go the forgiveness route, Reader never goes anywhere without Xiao, Albedo, or Aloy. They reject all other gifts and pleas for forgiveness. Reader only wants to stand by the ones who protected them.

If we go the vengeance route, they would absolutely tear down the three nations that tortured their god. And Aloy is the one leading the army of the Abyss into battle.

So that was a massive block of text. I may send more in the future, but this is the best I can do for now.

This is awesome! I’ve written the first part when Darling meets Aloy. It’s long, so I’m going to put it below the line.

SAGAO Work 22, fluff

TLDR: You finally bump into your first actual ally, Aloy. She heals you and lets you take shelter at her tent, inside a hidden cave.

You’ve been running for hours—almost the entire morning. Your original physical strength is not affecting you since your life now depends on your character attributes.

You’re only lucky that, as their Creator, you have incredibly high stats for Health, Stamina, and Elemental Mastery. It seems like the Attack and Defence stats are to be unlocked manually. [here’s the link to the bonus work expanding on this! <3]

It took multiple life-threatening situations to wake you up to the nightmarish fact that- it’s all real. You’re really in the world you once thought was wholly fictional, trapped and unable to return to your homeworld.

You rely on Teyvat’s spirits, yes plural, to guide you and warn you against sneak attacks and ambushes. Sometimes you barely escape, hurt but alive. The gashes and bruises still haven’t faded yet. You’ve been captured by one of the soldiers, but this world always assisted you to run away right before it escalated. Right before the vision-bearers come to cripple you further.

This whole day, Teyvat’s been urging you, in some sort, to a specific location. It’s constantly changing as if it’s a moving lifeform? You question. With nowhere left to go, you gladly oblige.

You chose to hide until night when most of your enemies are retiring to their beds. You start creeping away from the remaining manhunters.

As you finally near the destination, you continue to sprint to what you assume is a safe haven. In your urgency, you run into Aloy.

No, seriously, you literally rammed headfirst into her by accident.

She had suddenly sprung from her hiding spot to go collect her foul; at the same time, you were running past her bush. You fell back more than she did because of your defence stats. It’s by pure luck that your health was only barely chipped away by ten dmg. But then, you’ve already gotten slashed with Mondstadt swords before bumping into Aloy from the hostile citizens, so it hurt more than expected. You reflexively wince for what, the seventh time, today.

You were dizzy from the collision and bewilderment. When you look up, you see her freckled face gazing at you with a confused expression. After both of you stopped gawking, she extended her strong hands to pull you up. You cringe when she moves but shakingly extend yours as she heaves you up with both hands. You choose to trust Teyvat and the woman in front of you, seeing that her expression was more of genuine concern instead of the usual burning hatred.

When she’s in direct physical contact, your aura is transmitted and pulsed stronger. It eased her nerves, and it felt… so familiar.

Her green eyes lit up in shock.

You were them!

The Creator who had soothed her nerves and emotions when she was grieving her father figure’s passing.

Your aura washes over her once again.

Pleasantly, like a sacred hearth in Dragonspine. She was the traveller searching for heat, and you were the generous heat source she recognised at first sight.

Her rediscovering you in person was a refreshing revolution, the sensation only adequately described with exclamations of “Eureka!” by Archimedes as he burst through the rippling waters.

The relief caged birds feel when finally released into freedom in the skies.

The soft feeling of tightly hugging someone you care about, not suffocating, but just the thing you need to lessen your stresses.

An eternity passed in that single second, but she does quickly snap back to reality. She catches glimpses of your injuries through the tattered clothes you wear and how you winced as you stood up. “I’m Alloy.” As curt as usual.

She may be blunt, but she’s not dumb nor mean-spirited. She took note not to initiate any physical contact until you’ve eased around her. Instincts taught her to nod in acknowledgement instead.

She offers to heal and shelter you for the moment, compelled by your aura and the subliminal pleas from Teyvat. You agree since you need genuine help to avoid manhunts for the night. You’ve barely survived another morning today.

After settling you into her concealed tent/home, she starts making a plate of Satiety Gel with the spare mints and sugar she hid in the back of her cave. “Got something for you.” She passed you the plate and gave you a side-smile as you happily dug into the dish. Good. You needed the rest and health. It’s also nice for her cooking to be appreciated. You thank her, and she dismisses it, rising from her seating position.

While you’re gingerly eating the special plate of gel, she rummaged through her stocks of necessities. “Let's see, that looks edible... and this looks useful.” You’ll need a new set of garbs if you are to live in the wildernesses with her. It’s doubtful that the chaos in the cities signifies any chance of you having any semblance of safety in there.

She’d also need to hunt for more food and preserve spares. The life she leads is no longer solitary, and she’d have to keep you safe and fed until you are strong enough to protect yourself fully. She will be caring and loyal to you, in similar ways to how Rost had taken care of her.

You were the saviour they mistook as an imposter, and Aloy would be yours in turn for their wrongdoings. She’ll be your caring companion. She will be your first loyal follower, the one who’ll lead your future rebellions, wars, peace, comfort. She’ll be the knight by your side that’ll do your justified biddings.

As nightfalls, she tells you to stay inside and rest. She headed out to set traps for any intruders and went hunting again. Some animals and enemies lay dormant until the moon rises, and it won’t hurt to seek out any food, materials, or trustable allies. Not that she’d be looking for an army first and foremost.

“I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. I won't hesitate. I won't falter.” She swears as she rests her eyes on your curled-up form before leaving the cave. You’ve started slipping into the land of dreams from exhaustion. It’s good that you feel safe enough to doze off.

She’d stopped your bleeding gashes, and she’d be stopping armies of machinery for you. She only hopes that they’ll be unable to find you two until you’re prepared, bows repaired and arrows slung.

She hopes you’ll be using your future powers and aura for life, not for death. She’s here for you, partly in the hope that you’ll be a benevolent god/goddess. She’s more than sure that it’s needed for the sake of Teyvat-and that she has to care for its people no matter what.

You’ll both have to see what happens then.

[comiiical]

Kade Kinkade

38

Mutate

Elasticity (Mr Fantastic levels), Size manipulation, Psionic invisibility energy manipulation, Space perception (through psionic, thermokinetic and sonokinetic means), sonokinesis (sound manipulation, perception manipulation), flight (through wings, normally hidden thanks to his elasticity and size manipulation powers), ink manipulation and skin ink reality transmutation.

Kade received his powers during a experiment called Phoenix project, one that took missing in action soldiers as Guinea Pigs. Kade was once of the few survivors of the project, and also the only one to escape alive. During the project, HYDRA planned on copying the powers of different heroes using the canvases of these soldiers as a template. Kade’s DNA accepted with ease the powers of Mr Fantastic through whose his DNA bent to accept the others. In their attempt to control him, Kade’s excess and survivaibility caused him prevent being assimilated and later on executed, escaping the building with his life intact. 

In his survival, Kade killed every involved scientist  and wary project, and then began to hunt down everyone that knew about his involvement so he could go back to his life. Nowadays, and free from these remnants, Kade is a former soldier, properly retired from the army as he orchestrated being found in a prisoner camp and faked having lost his memories outside of knowing who he was. He also faked severe injuries that were treated after that. And lives as a hero known as Wonderman. He lives off of the state’s compensation, and offers psychological support to PTSD afflicted as he is a graduated psychologist.

[tearsfordean]

IDK if it was just me, but when I watched the Supernatural finale, I was beyond devastated that Dean died. I just felt like he deserved to live a normal life, growing old, maybe even retiring from hunting or being a mentor for a next generation of hunters. I don’t care if it was with Sam, or Cas, or alone. I just wanted him alive. To watch him learn to love himself, and to love to live his life however he wanted, like when he cooked, when he slept, and when he watched horror movies while eating fast food. And for weeks, months, a whole year, and even now, I feel so stupid for the grief the ending caused me to feel, because “Dean isn’t real, so [I] shouldn’t be sad about it”. But to me, since I was seven I watched that man sacrifice everything for those he loved because he felt he didn’t deserve to live, because he thought someone else deserved to live more than him. And then, he grew, he somewhat started to want things even though there were all these terrible things happening. Most of what I am, is because of him, and I love him so much. And then, WandaVision came out and I was just: “Wanda, I feel your devastation, that’s exactly what it feels like everyday when I think about what Dean should have gotten.” And then in Multiverse of Madness *SPOILERS* when Stephen said to Wanda: “all this for kids that aren’t even real,” I was like “YES! I so would do the same thing just for Dean to be happy and alive.” Anyway, Wanda really helped me to deal with that and made me feel heard. I know she did some crazy stuff and all that, but I truly empathised with her, idk lmao. I’m still not happy about the ending, and I miss Dean more than words can say, and I feel a bit delusional, really, for allowing a fictional event to get to me this way, but it does, and I don’t think I should feel ashamed of it. I’m just grateful that Marvel showed us how Wanda was feeling, I never thought I needed it, and I’ve just been bottling it all up inside me, and the pain truly does feel the way it it is portrayed when Wanda goes to that house where her and Vision were supposed to “grow old” together. It feels like this massive darkness inside me, the grief feels so consuming and drowning but it’s also “love persevering”. Like, on one hand it feels like the death of a star bursting inside me and it destroys everything around it, but it also feels like love: like the Big Bang that created the universe. I love that Vision said “what is grief, if not love persevering” because it changed the way I felt and the way I was dealing. With every burst of pain it really does feel like “hope, and… sadness… but mostly… love.” I also felt so much comfort when SPN fans started opening up that, they also felt grief because of the way Dean’s life ended, and that their therapists said it was normal and okay to feel that way. Seeing everyone’s hopes for what Dean should have gotten is something I appreciate so much, and if anyone is also ashamed for their grief, don’t be. I understand and I would just like to hear and see how everyone truly feels: angry, upset, etc. [y’all, I still feel embarrassed writing this like Dean is some real life person I lost 😭] anyway, I love y’all. — eris 🫧

TLDR: This is a rant about the ending of SPN, dealing with Dean’s death, and also an appreciation for Wanda (and Marvel) for portraying grief in a way that I related to. Feel free to say something as long as it’s not disrespectful, pls. 🤍

[charlie-minion]

Could the same SPN finale make a little more sense with some additions/changes?

I’ve had the idea for this post stuck in my head for days now, but with every new conspiracy theory and every new eventuality in the fandom, it became difficult to cool down enough to write something less ship-related and more narrative-focused.

What Supernatural and non-SPN fans have to understand is that a lot of us have expressed disappointment and frustration after 15x20, not because of Destiel (that’s just one part of the whole problem), but because the finale doesn’t make sense. Everything was leading up to something beautifully crafted until the end of 15x19. Beyond that, it’s hard to understand what happened. The story rendered all the character growth irrelevant, invalidated the themes of free will and “family don’t end in blood”, regressed to the original brother codependency they spent 15 years trying to overcome, made a queer non-binary character in a male vessel and a deaf female character basically disposable, and kept the show’s reputation of queerbaiting and misogyny until its very last breath.

That’s not going out with a bang! At least not a positive one. We all were ready to mourn Supernatural, but we wanted to feel proud of its legacy, and somehow TPTB managed to tarnish that legacy in less than 45 minutes. What a way to ruin the other more than 13,600 minutes of story!

It doesn’t matter who is to blame (The CW, Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb). It doesn’t matter why it happened (homophobia, censorship, marketing for Walker, bad writing). What matters is that at the end of the day, the finale that aired is what we got and that’s going to hurt for a long time. It hurts even more when we realize that the same finale could have easily made more sense, even without being perfect.

That’s what I want to do in this post. I want to show you how things would have been less jarring (for the fandom), while still keeping the goal to please the general audience.

Before I begin rewriting 15x20, I have to mention that I talked to my conservative boomer sister about the finale. She hasn’t watched the second half of season 15 yet (she’s waiting for Netflix to have it), but she’s been watching the show for a long time (she introduced me to it 8 years ago). She’s the perfect example of a viewer from the general audience. Loves the show but doesn’t give a second thought to it and definitely isn’t paying attention to character development or themes. Doesn’t engage with fandom, actors, or any of the show’s social media. Pure GA! When I told her the series finale had aired, she asked me about it and I refused to give her spoilers. Because of that, she told me the ending SHE wanted. She said she would be happy with either of two possibilities: the boys retiring and finally living a normal life OR they going to heaven and finding peace at last. She saw Sam and Dean as a unit, which means: both retiring or both going to heaven. AND she saw Cas as part of that, too. She wasn’t so sure about Jack. And for her, we could use the “Eileen who?” and it wouldn’t be a joke. She didn’t remember her.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WRITE A NEW VERSION OF 15X20 (KEEPING 15X18 AND 15X19 EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY AIRED). This will be a very long post:

The opening remains almost the same. No “Carry on my wayward son” to induce feels. Too soon and too predictable! (Reasoning: Everyone was expecting it to play right there, so it would bring more tears at the end)

In the opening, after the scene where Jack says “People won’t need to pray to me or sacrifice to me”, we also see the scene from 15x19 where he says “I won’t be hands on”. Then we see the rest of the opening as it was. (Reasoning: People needed to be reminded that Jack would NOT intervene and that’s why later on, he would NOT save Dean).

We get the same montage, but when Sam takes a break from his morning run, we see him reading a message on his phone. A simple: “Hey Sam, what’s new?” from Eileen. Sam smiles fondly and begins to type a response we don’t get to see. The next scene continues the same, Sam making breakfast. (Reasoning: A text was a very simple way to show that Eileen was alive and still in communication with Sam).

The montage slowly ends as Sam enters the library (not after he sits down). He seems to be talking on the phone but we only hear an “I’ll tell him. Bye”. As he walks towards the table, he tells Dean: “Charlie says hi. Mentioned something about Stevie’s perfect scrambled eggs we have to try.” Dean’s answer is “Awesome!” (Reasoning: Just ONE line was needed to unbury Charlie and her girlfriend. ONE LINE).

Sam sits down, opens his laptop and everything continues the same. The title card shows for the last time.

YOU SEE? In the first 4 minutes they could have acknowledged that THREE WOMEN were alive and safe: Eileen, Charlie and Stevie. It wasn’t hard! Don’t blame bad writing on Covid! Now let’s continue.

Sam and Dean arrive at the Pie Fest just the same. Dean goes to get some “damn pie” and Sam takes out his phone. He dials and when someone picks up, he says “Hey, Jody, how are ya?” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation. The scene moves to Dean coming with his 6 portions of pie. Dean sits down and Sam tells him, “Talked to Jody. The other hunters haven’t had much work lately.” “That’s good, isn’t it?”, Dean says. All we get from Sam is “Yeah.” So, Dean looks at him and asks “what’s wrong?” like it happened in the episode. (Reasoning: Again, a couple of lines to make sure the people that were killed in 15x18 are safe and remembered by the boys in 15x20. Why is this important? Because they’re family!)

The conversation about Sam’s sad face happens the same. Sam is the one that mentions Cas and Jack. (Reasoning: Because this episode was so Sam-centered, it’s obvious he was the protagonist in the finale. If we see him communicating with Eileen, Charlie, and Jody, then it’s NORMAL, even expected of him to be the one to bring up Cas and Jack). Without these additions, it’s harder for people to understand that most of the finale was NOT from Dean’s POV but from Sam’s.

Dean’s “if we don’t keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing” stays the same. (Reasoning: I believe it’s necessary that the show sticks to the importance of “letting go” and “what is dead should stay dead” for the first time ever because the message is “even when you lose someone you love, you can still find some form of happiness and keep living, for you and for them, because that’s what they would have wanted”. Bringing someone back means “I can’t live without you”, and that’s just more codependency. It’s how the demon deals began in the Winchester family –Mary being the first one to do it. This would explain why Dean didn’t ask Jack to bring Cas back, as he asked Chuck. He understood Jack was NOT going to interfere anymore and accepted it. Besides, when Cas saved Dean from hell, Dean thought he didn’t deserve to be saved. This time that Cas saved him, Dean finally feels worthy enough to accept that YES, HE DESERVED TO BE SAVED ALL ALONG, just as much as he deserved to be loved by that angel of the Lord. In this scene, Dean also says that the pain is not gonna go away, which means that from HIS PERPECTIVE, it still hurts that Cas is not there. The problem is that the finale is not showing his POV but Sam’s.  

Sam pies Dean on the face just the same. (Reasoning: That part was just to avoid ending the scene on a sad note).

Everything related to the case happens exactly the same. (Reasoning: At this point, people don’t really care about the MoTW, they care about Sam and Dean).

NOTE 1: The case is important to show that even when the Winchesters are finally free of Chuck’s influence, they CHOOSE to keep hunting. It isn’t something they do out of revenge or because it is their destiny anymore. Maybe they were forced into the life at first, but they’ve learned to find joy in saving people. Being hunters is who they are. However, the fact that a job application was shown on Dean’s desk is also important because it means he was willing to explore what else was there for him besides hunting. Maybe he could find a balance? Maybe he was thinking it was time to quit? We will never know! The thing is that Sam only finds out about it when he goes into Dean’s room after his brother is dead, so maybe that’s when it hits him that Dean wanted to explore his options, and Sam starts to think it’s time for him to do the same.  

NOTE 2: I believe the masks the vampires are wearing is something we can blame on covid. If they had their faces covered, it was easier to use people from the SPN crew for some scenes, instead of using more actors unnecessarily.

NOTE 3: When Sam and Dean arrive at the barn, we get 3 visuals to remember Cas in the same scene (those are for the fandom, not for the general audience): a) the barn, obviously; b) the bag that resembles Cas’ trenchcoat so much that many people thought that’s what it was; and c) two feathers hanging on Dean’s right when he opens the trunk.

The scene with the throwing star happens the same. (Reasoning: The episode is still told from Sam’s point of view, so it makes sense that he fondly sees his brother as a man child).

Jenny the vampire? Uhhh… I mean, it’s not the best piece of writing I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the worst, so okay. That stays the same. (Reasoning: There is none, but she’s not what really ruined the finale, so whatever!)

Dean still dies impaled on a rebar. (Reasoning: OK. HERE ME OUT!!! I hate as much as everyone else that Dean is killed. I think it’s lazy writing, but that’s what we got and I can’t change that in this re-write, so if killing Dean is what we have to work around, then, memes aside, death by rebar is better and here’s why. There’s no one to blame for Dean’s death: no Chuck (the boys were willingly hunting even after Chuck was defeated), no vampires (they were all killed and were no real threat, so it was impossible for Sam to begin a quest for revenge against all vampires. What was Sam going to blame? A rebar? Can you kill it? Hunt it? NO. It was an ordinary death, a stupid accident. Just like any person can die at any moment by slipping on a banana peel. Is it a good death? No, but it’s good to know he doesn’t die trying to save Sam or Cas, because Dean Winchester is NOT willing to give up his life in exchange for anyone else’s anymore.

Sam takes out his phone and says he’ll call for help, but his phone is more visible to the audience. He dials and it’s almost to his ear when Dean stops him and Sam hesitantly hangs up. (Reasoning: People have complained that Sam didn’t call an ambulance, but actually he tried to. It’s just that people missed that part, maybe?)

After Sam puts his phone back in his pocket and says “OK” to Dean, he adds, “I’ll pray to Jack”. Dean’s immediate answer is: “No hands on, remember?” “But Dean”, Sam says, and Dean interrupts him with “OK listen to me” and tells Sam what to do with the kids they rescued. (Reasoning: Jack is God now and how come Sam didn’t remember? The viewers remembered, so it was necessary to include a line that ruled the option out and that showed Dean didn’t want Jack to intervene. The rest was fine).

The lines “You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right?” disappear completely from Dean’s monologue. (Reasoning: This is the most problematic part of Dean’s dying speech. He fought God and earned free will, he is no longer controlled by fate or destiny. Accepting that he is supposed to die on a hunt regresses his character development and denies his desire to keep living. This was a total mistake and should be removed).

Instead, if going to heaven is the ending TPTB wanted to give Dean, at least he should say something more empowering. Sam tells him that both of them are going to take the kids somewhere safe. Dean answers and the scene follows like this: “No. Sammy, we made our choice, didn’t we?”, he smiles with difficulty. “We were free to write our own story and we did. We decided to keep saving people, hunting things. Because it’s what we love despite the risks.” (Reasoning: If Dean’s going to die it doesn’t have to feel like it was always meant to be that way. He should die knowing that he exerted his free will until his last breath).

The rest of the dialogue between Sam and Dean happens almost the same. Except that instead of Dean saying “‘cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me”, he says “’cause when it all came down to it, we’ve always had each other’s backs. Always.” And instead of Sam saying “Don’t leave me”, he says “I still can try to save you.” (Reasoning: It sounds way less codependent without diminishing the importance of their love and support for each other).

Besides, let’s change Dean’s “I’m not leaving you” for “You don’t have to be alone. You’ve still got family.” The rest stays the same word by word. (Reasoning: Dean reminds Sam that “family don’t end in blood” and there are still lots of people out there who love Sam and will be with him).

“I love you so much, my baby brother” stays exactly the same. (Reasoning: Dean always had trouble to express the big L word. I always believed and said many times that before Dean could say “I love you” to Cas or any other character, he had to say it to Sam. So, this is important as part of Dean speaking his truth).

The last part when Dean insists Sam tell him that it’s okay stays the same. (Reasoning: It’s the final moment when the codependency cycle breaks. No more running in circles).

The forehead touch between them stays the same. (Reasoning: I think I would do something similar if my sister were dying. I know there are w*ncest shippers out there, but it shouldn’t matter because the moment feels appropriate for that kind of goodbye). 

See? There are changes but not too many. That’s why I’ve been saying that it was easier to get it right, yet they still managed to screw it up.

The second montage stays the same. (Reasoning: Life goes on, but of course Sam has to mourn).

The call about a case in Austin remains the same. (Reasoning: It’s the only part of the episode where someone from the found family is mentioned, so I think that Donna’s name is perfect in that moment. However, without the other additions I’ve made in this re-write, that off-hand mention feels too little. Its purpose was to tell the viewers that if Donna was alive, so were the others, but the way the episode was executed gave us an isolated Sam, incapable of having friends and a family without Dean).  

After 30 minutes of Sam’s POV, let’s finally see the last bit of Dean’s POV that we’ll ever get.

Dean arrives in Heaven and Bobby receives him. All their conversation stays almost the same, except that after mentioning Rufus and before saying “and your mom and dad…”, Bobby adds an “Ellen and Jo let me borrow their place”. (Reasoning: If you’re gonna put the man outside the Harvelle’s place, at least mention them for Jack’s sake!).

Besides, after Bobby tells Dean that Sam will be along and that time in heaven is different, Dean gives a small smile and says, “Well, there’s no rush. I want him to have a long, happy life.” Bobby answers with: “I would expect nothing less from you, boy” and tells him he got everything he could ever want, etc., just like it happened in the episode, and finishes by asking “What are you gonna do now, Dean?” (Reasoning: It’s important we know for sure that Dean is NOT codependent anymore and that he doesn’t expect to have a miserable afterlife just because his brother is not there yet).

Instead of saying “I think I’ll go for a drive” Dean says, “I think I know what I want” and walks towards baby. Bobby still tells him to have fun. (Reasoning: “Know what I want” is ambiguous enough to help us introduce the last piece of the puzzle, the one thing Dean’s wanted for many seasons and has never been able to express).

 The biggest change is coming:

Dean gets on the Impala and has a moment of silence while he contemplates the wheel. He begins to pray: “Hey, Cas, you got your ears on? I hear you’ve been busy working on this updated Heaven with Jack. You were right about him, Cas. You had faith in him and he saved us all. You could always see the best in everyone, even when they couldn’t see it themselves. Even when I couldn’t see it myself. There’s so much I want to tell you. Maybe you can visit sometime. I hope prayer’s still a thing up here.” (Reasoning: Dean’s side of the confession was unaddressed and that was terrible writing. If there was no way to get him to speak his truth textually, at least take him as close to it as possible).

We listen to a flutter of wings and a “Hello, Dean” from the back seat. We don’t see Cas, but the camera shows us Dean’s cocky smile and he says “Took you long enough.” He turns around slowly. End of scene. (Reasoning: The flutter of wings confirms that angels have their wings back and ties that loose end. The final “hello, Dean” was highly anticipated and it made sense. If Misha couldn’t be there to film, for whatever reason, or if the problem was the kind of conversation Dean and Cas would have, then don’t show it, but leave the door open. Let us know that the two characters were reunited and will talk, but whatever Dean has to say is so private that it’s not for us to hear, only for Cas.  

We finally hear “Carry on my wayward son” and get a montage that begins with Sam playing with his kid. Then we see Dean driving, super happy, and Sam living his life to the fullest. We still get Sam’s Blurry Wife, BUT… we see pictures of Eileen in the living room (not just of John, Mary, Sam, and Dean). We also see photos of Jody, Donna, Charlie, and AU!Bobby. (Reasoning: FAMILY DON’T END IN BLOOD).

The scene where Sam is wearing the party wig and looks miserable inside the Impala is cut and nobody talks about it ever again because it never existed. We get a scene of Sam teaching his son how to fix the car instead. (Reasoning: First of all, don’t give Sam a life where years later he’s still in pain. Second of all, the fucking wig was a crime).

Sam’s dying scene stays the same. The only thing is that his son signs a couple of phrases to him before actually speaking. (Reasoning: More confirmation that Dean Jr. is Eileen’s son).

We hear the final “Evanescence-like Carry on my wayward son”. Again we see the photos and there’s family other than the Winchesters there. (Reasoning: Obvious at this point).

The rest is exactly the same. The show began with two brothers and it’s okay if the last scene is with the two brothers reunited in Heaven. At this point, the other parts of the story are acceptable enough for us to feel happy that they get to see each other again after years of a happy (after)life.

Now look me in the eye and tell me this was too hard to execute. I still think that bad writing is a thing we can’t deny here, adding to the possible meddling of the Network. Maybe Dabb wanted us to hate the finale because he couldn’t get away with what he truly wanted. If that was his intention, then kudos to him. He and The CW really gave us a finale that only 30% of the fandom liked.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this and it helps to give you some peace of mind. In my heart, this was the finale we got. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t drop the ball either.

[drwcn]

《 Without Envy 》 storyboard 10 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

Other snippets and storyboards can be found on [Master List]

Exactly 851 days - 2 years, 4 months and 11 days - after Wei Wuxian arrived at Gusu and began his mission as a sleeper agent, he was activated.

That chilly morning, he walked into the pastry shop - a front maintained by a decade-long Wen spy - a walk he'd done hundred of times on hundreds of mornings since he arrived. He breezed past the packaging counter, skipped through the faded cotton drapes, and rounded behind the back staircase to the room where Xue Yang always waited for him. Only this time, it was not just his candy-obsessed, murder-happy shidi, but a face he hadn't seen in many, many months. "...Shifu?" Wen Zhuliu's visit meant the end of his carefree days. It's time. That night, Wei Wuxian did not look at either Lan Wangji or Jiang Yanli when he bid "dianxia" and "Jiang-zhuzi" good night. He pretended to retire to bed early, after washing himself of his servant's exterior and donning his robes of night-black. He laid in the dark, waiting for time to pass, and reminded himself of his true purpose. He was never meant to care about these people; love these people. Jiang Yanli was not his doting foster sister; Lan Wangji was not his beloved wangye. I am Wei Wuxian of the great Qishan Wen. Nevernight is my home. I am a spy. Gusu is my enemy. Wei Wuxian kept his eyes closed, his breathing even, and his heartbeat slow. In the lonely quiet, he waited, and waited, and waited. Until the candlelight around the princely manor dimmed to nothing, until the night grew still and the moon shone bright and high in the dark, dark sky. Reaching under the floorboard beneath his bed, Wei Wuxian retrieved his life-long companion from its hiding place and released it from its sheath. "Hello, old friend." He whispered, stroking the blade edge. Suibian's steel glistened with cold malevolence in the stark, pale moonlight.

It would be another year before WWX's identity is discovered. During that time, he lived a double life. In the day, he was Lan Wangji's precious Wei Ying, and at night, he was the blade in Wen Ruohan's hand, stealing, killing and destroying on command. His assignments were not always murder; sometimes it required him to break into secure facilities and obtain copies of certain documents. He was never alone on these jobs; there was always someone convalescing with him from within. Slowly, he began to realize just how deep Wen Ruohan's spy network had infiltrated Gusu's foundation. In a way, it excited him, to know that the posturing and pretending would soon be over, that in the near future a quick war would sweep across the land and unite the two nations. In another way, it frightened him to the bones.

Wei Wuxian killed 37 individuals within the span of a year, 37 men and women of different ranks, status and stations. He did not always know why these people needed to die; in fact, he often didn't and preferred it that way. If he didn't know the motive, then he couldn't argue against the reason, and thus could go on believing that what Wen Ruohan did was ultimately for the betterment of everyone. The men of Gusu were weak - Wei Wuxian was always told - they were not fit to rule. The people of Gusu would be better served under a united empire. He repeated this statement to himself before every job, but over time, the mantra on his tongue began to lose its flavour.

In the meantime however, Lan Wangji and Jiang Yanli quickly formed a strong plan on how they wanted to live out the rest of their lives. Lan Wangji never quite enjoyed laying with women, but Jiang Yanli had just enough wickedness behind her demure exterior that things were... well, interesting. In any case, it was not long before she came to him all smiles and whispered the good news over luncheon .

"Truly?" Lan Wangji set down his chopsticks. "Hm uhm." Jiang Yanli dapped her mouth delicately. "Now, perhaps it's a good time to discuss how dianxia should go about winning A-Xian's affection. He's under the impression you've cast him aside on taishi's orders and has been giving him the cold shoulder." "I wasn't." Lan Wangji defended himself, distressed and slightly offended. "It's just, huangshu's been watching me like a hawk. I was afraid any further attempt to be closer to him would give my uncle reason to remove him from my household entirely." Jiang Yanli was sympathetic. "The summer hunt is in two week's time, and afterwards, since bixia always likes to finish the night on the river with fireworks, perhaps...." She let the sentence dangle, a knowing smile playing at her lips. Lan Wangji felt hope.

Unfortunately, a little hiccup happened before the hunt could take place. Jin Ziyan falsely believed that Wei Wuxian had fallen out of favour with Lan Wangji and was itching to show him his place. Poor Mo Xuanyu was caught in the middle. Jin Ziyan knew Wei Wuxian was an audacious one, but not so stupid that he could be easily goaded into committing a grave offence. Thus, Jin Ziyan planned to cause an incident in the garden whereby poor Mo Xuanyu would unwittingly "offend" him, and he would publicly announce a punishment that was harsher than necessary. He made sure that Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian were near by, as they usually took a mid-afternoon stroll after lunch. True to his predictions, Wei Wuxian could not stop himself for interfering on Mo Xuanyu's behalf. Then in their altercation, Jin Ziyan would fall into the pond, making it seem as though Wei Wuxian was the one who shoved him out of anger. Oh but a lowly servant shoving Hanguang-wang's deputy consort into the pond??! He was as good as dead. What's more, everything happened on the same afternoon that Lan Qiren was scheduled to visit Lan Wangji to discuss matters of court. If it was only Lan Wangji, Jin Ziyan knew Wei Wuxian would suffer little consequence, but taishi tolerated no insubordination or churlish behaviour of any kind.

Lan Qiren was incensed, livid, but he was not hasty to deal the punishment. Instead he turned to his nephew and asked, whilst fully knowing the answer, "Wangji, your household follows the regulations that govern all princely manors, does it not?" "It does, huangshu." "Then tell me what is the punishment reserved for a servant for daring to lay hands on a deputy consort and to cause physical harm to said consort?" "It....I - huangshu -" "What is the rule?" Lan Wangji knew very well that the punishment was death for any servant, maid or eunuch who dared to harm any member of the harem. But Wei Ying, his Wei Ying... "Wei Ying is very precious to Yanli and to Yunmeng-hou. As well..." Lan Wangji hesitated. "Yanli is with child again. It is still very early so we thought it best not to announce it lest we have a repeat of last time. It would not do to upset her at this time." Lan Qiren was extremely dissatisfied with his answer, but conceded for Jiang Yanli's sake. "I'm glad, Wangji, that you've found your way back to your proper companions. This Wei Wuxian clearly has been spoiled to the point of impropriety. His actions today are utterly unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go unpunished or else others would surely follow his example. Guards!" "Detain Wei Wuxian. Have him strung up on a post in the servants' courtyard and give him fifty lashes. No food nor drink. Sun or rain, he is not to be let down until dusk tomorrow." "Huangshu!" Lan Wangji's head buzzed, as though someone had struck him squarely in the temple. His chest felt tight, and his heart ached where it rebelled inside him. "Please -" "He has his life. That is mercy enough."

Wei Wuxian was stripped down to his trousers only and tied up to a post, his hands bound together above him and his bare feet never finding purchase on the ground no matter how he struggled. This fucking suck ass. Jin Ziyan you're a dead man. When all fifty lashes were dealt, even the guards were sweating through their robes. They left him dangling there in the blistering summer heat. A young maid dared to try and sneak him some water but was thwarted by an older momo. "What do you think you're doing, lassie? Did you not hear taishi, no food or drink until dusk tomorrow. Do you want lashes too? Go on! Go!" It rained hard all through the night, only easing up at dawn, but the aftermath of the storm left the air muggy and humid. Combined with the heat, it felt as though he was being steamed alive like a wheat bun. At some point during the second day, Wei Wuxian finally lost consciousness. He was not aware when Lan Wangji barged into the courtyard against Lan Qiren's explicit orders and cut him free.

Really tho, i just want this scene to happen (╹ڡ╹ ) "I'm sorry." Wei Wuxian blinked at Lan Wangji's hunched figure sitting at his bedside. "Whatever for? You saved me, dianxia." Lan Wangji, "But it was my attention that put you in such a position in the first place. Huangshu was looking for a reason to punish you since that day he saw us in my study." Wei Wuxian, "dianxia..." "I find you... lovely, Wei Ying," confessed Lan Wangji with a heavy sigh. His ears burned red not only with the embarrassment of a youth in love but with shame. "I wish for your company, even when you have no desire to be part of my harem. Now I know my mistake. I should have respected the boundaries. I should've known my attention on you would incite jealousy from the others, and as a servant, you have no means of protecting yourself. This is entirely my fault." Wei Wuxian's heart fluttered despite himself. He quickly shook his head. "No dianxia, please don't blame yourself -" Lan Wangji, "perhaps I should send you back to Jiang-fu; I'm sure Jiang-xiao-gongzi would be delighted to have your company back. You would be safe there." Jiang Wanyin had come to visit his sister the very next day after Wei Wuxian was sentenced to whipping. He was one of the most accomplishment young men of his generation, anticipated to be a great general. Nie Mingjue had thought highly of him and had expected great things from this youth. Though perhaps what the late feng-jun found truly commendable was Jiang Wanyin's complete lack of pretense and his short-fuse temper. That is to say, he did not hesitate to get in Lan Wangji's face. His sister would have chastised him, had she not been so preoccupied by her tears. Wei Wuxian, "Jiang...Jiang Cheng was here?" "He was, and he was very upset about your condition. He left many fine medicine and ointments for you." Lan Wangji sighed again. "I shall speak with Yanli. If she is amenable, then I shall make arrangements for you to go back to Jiang-fu. You would not have to put up with me any longer." Lan Wangji stood up. Wei Wuxian grasped his sleeve immediately. In that moment, he could not tell if his panic was derived from his worry that he would not be able to complete his assignment if Lan Wangji were to send him away or if he simply did not wish to part with the prince. "Dianxia - I - I don't want to leave. I - it's true I had once rejected you, but...would you think less of me if I said your attention … hasn't been unwanted for a while, that I have come to enjoy them." At Lan Wangji's widened eyes, Wei Wuxian continued quickly. "You need not give me anything, no elevation, no rank. I don't care about any of that. I am a man, I have no ability to give you children. Nor do I have any family who would benefit from your continued favour of me. I am an orphan, dianxia, I have no place to go. I just....don't send me away. Please let me stay! I'm not afraid of Jin Ziyan, or taishi, or anything!" Lan Wangji sat back down. His hand trembled when he laid it on top of Wei Wuxian's. "Wei Ying...?" Wei Wuxian smiled, still radiant despite his pale complexion. "Dianxia -" "Lan Zhan. No more dianxia, I only want to hear you call me by my name." Wei Wuxian flushed pink. The blush was real, as was the pleased little smile he tried to hide. "Lan Zhan, Wei Ying is yours, if you still want him." The worst part of that was that he meant it. Just the mere thought of being held by Lan Wangji, of being kissed by him, of... so many other wonderful possibilities, made Wei Wuxian want to hide his flaming face into his pillow. Lan Wangji smiled. Quietly, he lifted Wei Wuxian's hand and pressed a kiss to the inner side of his wrist. "Rest, I will be right here." Wei Wuxian felt his treacherous little heart soar: oh no … oh no no no no ….. (Xue Yang's voice in narration: and it was in this moment, that Wei Wuxian knew, he fucked up.) The cruellest thing Wei Wuxian ever did was give Lan Wangji hope knowing that one day he would take it all away.

[kingfritzhater]

If they lived...

AOT headcanons of how different ships would live if they were still alive.

Manga Spoilers!!!

Eruri:

They move outside of Paradis, Erwin always wanted to know if there were humans outside the walls and now he wants to know how different their lives are from what he knows.

Once they settle down and Levi opens his teashop, Erwin offers to help but Levi won’t allow him as he thinks the tea he makes is horrendous, in the end, Erwin manages the money and Levi takes care of the rest. 

They still spend a lot of time with Gabi and Falco, Gabi always insists in moving Levi’s wheelchair (since Erwin is still missing an arm), and Falco adores listening to Erwin’s stories about the survey corps and life inside the walls.

Eremika:

They live hidden in Paradis, they built a little cottage in one of the giant tree forests outside of where the walls were and are very careful to stay hidden, Eren feels guilty that Mikasa has to live hiding like she was when her family was prosecuted by the government, but she doesn’t care, she still has him and their friends.

The remaining members of the alliance visit them pretty often, bringing them gifts from all around the world, Armin sends them books and pictures of the places they visit by mail every time he can. 

Many years go by, and Eren still can’t believe that this is his life, the day he notices some grey hairs and wrinkles in Mikasa’s face he starts crying from just the realisation of how happy he is to grow old together.

Levihan:

Hange is pretty sad when titans stop existing, so to make them happy Levi helps them get their hands on any scientific information that the outside world has developed, no matter how much it costs.

Hange switched their passion for titans to the works of the human body (and they almost fainted once they found out about germ theory), so Levi became their test subject for any time she wanted to test something that they read in some book.

Hange makes it their life purpose to find a way to make Levi be able to walk again, and after coming up with a pretty good prototipe some previous members of the military come asking for help for their missing limbs, so now they make prosthesis for free to anyone who needs it.

Nicosasha:

They open a restaurant in the countryside, Sasha plants a garden to get fruits and vegetables and hunts for the meat and Niccolo does the cooking.

When Niccolo decided to propose, he asked her father for his approval, what he did not expect was having to get the approval of Jean, Connie, Mikasa, Historia and Levi, the old captain was just as terrifying in a wheelchair as he was before.

They usually babysit Historia’s child since they live pretty close and they get along pretty well, the first name she learned how to say was hers, though it sounded more like “asha”, Sasha will always brag that she is the best aunt in the world.

Yumihisu/Yumikuri:

The baby still exists, but the farmer is just a way to keep Historia safe, yet Ymir still finds similarities between them and jokes about if Historia isn’t sure that she isn’t hers.

Ymir always remembers how she didn’t even have a name as a child, so now every achievement of their daughter is recorded, in fact, she asked Historia to get her a camera from the outside world to be more efficient in this task.

They both are the kind of parent that likes to show off their child to anyone who will listen, no matter how ashamed she gets.

Mobuhan:

They never settle down, both travel the world discovering new places and wonders, it started when Onyankopon invited them to his homeland and now they can’t stop, unintentionally they’ve done more for Paradis’s international relationships than anyone else just by making friends wherever they go.

Moblit proposes out of the blue, even taking Hange by surprise, they were visiting some place and Hange looked the happiest they’ve ever been and with the excuse of looking for something he left, Moblit ran to the nearest jewelry store and bought a ring, asking the question that night, Hange said yes in tears.

Their wedding is the biggest event Paradis has seen in recent years, even when the current military does not like them they can’t do anything without risking a major international conflict, specially with so many important figures present.

Reibert:

They move away from Libero, Bertholdt’s father had died, and Reiner’s mother being there hurt him too much, so they go back to Paradis, enjoying their lives away from the city.

As a way to silently pay back to the people of the island, and also due to Reiner’s love for children, they often volunteer in orphanages or help local schools and families, it does not take them long to adopt a boy and a girl.

Gabi and Falco visit them constantly, Gabi is the only way Reiner keeps contact with the rest of his family and she adores their children, Falco almost fainted when one of them called him uncle.

Jeanmarco:

Marco lost an eye in Trost, even then, they both join the survey corps as a way to honor their lost comrades, any time he sees Marco during a mission Jean worries that he won’t be as lucky this time, and that Marco might die that day.

They were horrified when he discovered how deep the corruption in the military police went, more Marco than Jean, so once Historia becomes the queen they offer all the advice they can give about reforms to the military.

Post rumbling, they both settle down in a nice house where once was wall Sina, now tired from the battle, the only missions they do are negotiations between Paradis and the rest of the world, they are the first to retire.

Kenuri:

Uri punches Kenny in the face when he discovered that he hid the fact that he had a nephew and abandoned him, it took a week of Kenny begging for Uri to talk to him again, now he adores Levi and finds it amusing how similar he is to Kenny.

They both love Historia and try to help her in any way they can with her labours as queen, Uri gives her advice and helps her to gain the trust of many important figures in Paradis and Kenny takes a more aggressive approach, threatening to kill anyone who questions her authority.

When Historia’s baby is born they go in full grandfather mode, once they met her they could not stop crying and at one point Uri had to try to take her away from Kennys arms, a pretty difficult task due to their height difference

Petruo/Auretra:

They've been together for years, but only told their families after the female titan arc, Petra’s father felt pretty embarrassed about his earlier conversation with Levi, but didn’t tell their comrades as they felt pretty shy about it.

After the battle of Shiganshina Auruo proposed to her in front of everyone, holding a ring that belonged to his mother and had been holding on to for months now, the only one that wasn’t surprised with this was Levi.

Petra asked Levi to make a small speech at their wedding, which he surprisingly agreed to do, when he did he talked about how he knew Auruo liked Petra from the moment he saw them and how jealous he would get, and would intentionally assign them to the same tasks together by themselves so one of them finally dared to confess, by the time he returned to his table, both of their faces were completely red.

Mikenana:

While Mike managed to hide from the best titan and come out unscarred, Nanaba was not so lucky, losing one of her legs at Utgard Castle and having to retire from the military.

During the uprising arc, Mike joined the new Levi squad and went into hiding, Nanaba became essential to collecting information behind the scenes, as she could easily go under the radar, so she stayed with Hange and Moblit.

When Mike returned from the battle of Shiganshina, Nanaba ran to him in her crutches and jumped into his arms as soon as she was close enough, and didn’t let go until she could convince herself that he really survived.

Hilow/Hitchmaru:

Seeing as her efforts to convince him to not join the survey corps were failing, Hitch just directly confessed her feelings to him as a last effort to save him, Marlowe told her he felt the same way, but he knew his destiny was with the scouts.

Both Marlowe and Floch survived the battle of Shiganshina, when Floch starts talking very sharply to the families of the deceased Marlowe shuts him up, when Hitch asks him why he is so determined to stop him he says “Imagine if I died and he said those things to you”.

Marlowe is captured by the jaegerists and couldn’t join the alliance, once Hitch manages to free him he expresses his frustration with not being able to go to battle, yet he is still happy that he does not have to leave Hitch one more time.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Hello!

I hope that you're well!

I'm sorry to bother you and I don't even know if your ask is open but I have a little question (which ended up being a little long... I'm sorry for that...):

Why are Gai and Kakashi in a queer platonic relationship and not in a platonic relationship? Like why does it have to be queer? I don't understand... Like, it's just a normal platonic relationship no?

I'm sorry to bother you with that and I don't want to hurt anyone by asking that question (that's why I'm a coward and ask as anon) it's just that I am completely lost with all the terms because for me everyone is unique and has unique relationships with whoever they want as individuals and not as genders or whatever, and I don't personally see the point in using "categories" although I do understand the need for some people who don't fall into a category and feel rejected to belong to one and be appreciated for who they are...

But if we use the term queer as in strange or peculiar, I do think we all are queers since we're all unique... So, like, for me Gai and Kakashi are just in a platonic relationship which some could also define as deep friendship. but idk, that's why I'm confused about the queer term (to be honest my sister said I'm queer and even though I'm not sure what she meant I think it was because I have a very weird vision of things which doesn't fit the traditional norms of society...)

You don't have to answer me! It's really fine if you don't because I bothered you or because you find my question insulting or rude or anything.

I also wanted to say I love your writing and your ideas in general!

It's obviously not cannon. Cannonly, Kakashi and Gai are friends and that's all we ever see them referred to as. The story doesn't revolve around them so the snippets of their friendship we get are beautiful but minimule

Why do I think they're in a queer platonic relationship? The purpose of that term is to describe a relationship between platonic and romantic. One that stands out as different from what others in their society would view as 'strictly platonic' or 'romantic'. It of course doesn't have to be something everyone uses and you're just as valid saying 'they're relationship is platonic' cuz cannonly it is. That being said, when I look at their friendship I don't see the same platonic friendship I have with my bestie.

Kakashi' and Gai

Go on vacation together

As soon as Kakashi is finally free if Hokage duties and able to actually enjoy his retirement, what does he do? Does he relax in Konoha? Or just take a little trip on his own?

No, he goes on a detailed well planned vacation to see important places that hold special memories with one person. Gai. This isn't just a fun vacation with two best friends, but a deep and meaningful vacation. They have a goal to see amazing places that mean so much to them, and while the anime didn't really show it they do go to places like the filming spit for Icha Icha and you can see Gai's as happy to be there as Kakashi even though it's not his fav book

Gai eats Kakashi's none wanted food for him

Again, this could be totally platonic and mean nothing but the way Kakashi tells Mirai that Gai eats his tempura for him

Kakashi' is a picky eater. We see this over and over again, yet he still gets tempura with his food. Why get something you won't eat? Because your best friend will eat it for you. Kakashi's really sitting here with food on his plate he won't touch just so Gai can steal it from him. And when he's confronted about it he's like 'oh ya I don't like it so Gai eats it for me. He's nice like that'

Kakashi' would have chased a fairy tale to save Gai's leg

After the big bad is defeated and never reaches immortality by killing Mirai, we see Kakashi and Gai standing off to the side chatting. During this chat two things happen.

1) Kakashi admits that if there was someone telling him that there was a hot spring that could heal Gai's leg, he'd willingly go and hunt it down

2) Gai telling Kakashi 'i don't need my leg. I have you.'

In both these instances these men are showing a deep care for each other. Kakashi' would risk his life to give Gai his leg back, but Gai doesn't want his leg back. He doesn't miss it because all these years he has had Kakashi' by his side. Alive and happy. Is that super gooey and could be read as platonic? Yes. Could it also be read as deeply romantic and sweet? yes. Putting it somewhere in the middle cuz we know they're not a cannon romantic couple but they are closer. Like, I'm sorry I don't see Shikamaru saying that to Choji? Or Sakura to Ino? Not because they don't care but because their relationship is different. Kakashi's world revolves around Gai in a lot of ways and vice versa. They have built their lives around each other since the war, even living together.

This isn't the standard 'two best friends who have other spouses/friends'. By Boruto the only friend you really see these two interact with is each other. Everyone else is their old students. (And I am pissed about Yamato not being around cuz he deserved better than the shit he got)

They legit...sleep side by side

Look at this. Look at them. These two have a huge room to sleep in and not only are they side by side but their beds are overlapping

When Gai wakes up from a nightmare, he is able to calm down because of Kakashi's snoring.

Hatake Kakashi, nightmare mess, is able to sleep a peaceful night with Gai by his side.

This is borderline romantic af, but they're not a cannon couple. This isn't really something two friends would do (in my experience at least) and it's very rare to see two males friends depicted doing it. Like, Sasuke and Naruto are super close. They had the whole 'i will bear your burden and die with you' scene and I still don't think the anime or manga would ever show them actively sleeping this close to each other??? Kakashi' and Gai's relationship is depicted diffrently

At the end of the day, cannonly they're a platonic friendshiom

But I'm going to enjoy the fact that there are so many deeper more romantic linings to their friendship without them being a 'cannon couple' that I will call them a queer platonic relationship because by the standards of my society and their own around them

They don't fit strictly into platonic, and they're not romantic

They're somewhere in the middle, unexplained and a little weird to others but their bond is clear as day

And that's a queer platonic relationship to me

[undertakermybeloved]

As a person who experiences OSDD 1b, I've always headcanoned the Undertaker to have the same disorder. The way he so quickly switches between personas reminded me of how I experience my own disorder, and I decided to write this on it. Please note that is is not reflective of all disassociative disorders, and is based off of my own experiences!

Rating: Mature, 14+

Warnings: Mentions of death and murder, minor mentions of necromancy, necrophilia and sex

I wasn’t always like this. At first I didn’t even know. It seemed to happen so quickly, when really it was a slower process than trying to get your scythe registered with dispatch. 

Dispatch.

That's what caused this. It's all dispatches fault, of course. It's always their fault.

    I am the Undertaker. I’m sure you’ve heard of me. If that doesn’t ring a bell, maybe the name Legendary Death does. The most famous reaper to ever exist, loved by all and hunted by his own admiriers. Once a stoic man, unsympathetic, unloving, unattached. Wherever did he go? There is no possible way me, the kooky old mortician with a necrophelia problem, could ever be the same person who reaped Marie Antoinette and judged the soul of Robin Hood. Well, that would be because I’m not.. Partially.

    My body was indeed the vessel that completed those tasks, but I was not the one orchestrating them. I was in the back seat, an observer of my own life. I lived like that for so long, I didn’t even realize it was out of the ordinary. It was like sleepwalking. I did not control my own movements, did not hear my own thoughts, and did not speak my own words. Because they weren’t mine. They were Adriens.

    At least, that is what I have come to call him. I know what you’re thinking, and it is indeed ‘my’ old name, but I cannot seem to associate myself with it. My name is the Undertaker, that is who I am. Adrien is no longer me. A part of me, yes, just as much as I am a part of him.

    We are split. Two pieces of a whole being, separated into two seperate conciousnesses, to complete two separate jobs. 

    Being a reaper is a horribly taxing occupation. You commit suicide and are now forced to live forever for your horrible crime against the universe, against the very God all humans revere so. Your punishment is an immortal soul, and a job where you are forced to watch others finally achieve the peace you never good. It truly is the most clever and sinister punishment. 

    Being one of these criminals for over a thousand years, (I don’t care enough to keep track of the exact number,) I may be one of the oldest reapers who has not yet been forced into a medical coma to keep them out of the way, despite my frequent infringements against Shinigami rule. 

    Anyhow, I’m getting side tracked. Back to the point.

    Adrien. While that used to be my name, it is no longer me. I had to train myself as a reaper, not only physically but emotionally as well. Do not be sympathetic, do not become attached. Simply do your job and move on. But it takes a toll on one to, every day, watch the sick and the healthy, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, all laying upon their deathbeds. Especially the children. The poor, crying children. One cannot simply watch them sob as you take their soul and not feel some sort of remorse for the action. So, I put up an act. Played the part of an emotionless, stoic man long enough for my conscious to split. There was the reaper, the one who could handle seeing the dead and the dying, the one who didn’t experience the gut wrenching emotional grief.

    And then there was me. The weak one.

Weak. 

Too weak to do my own damn job, to the point I managed to split myself in two. A mirror image of myself, the same but better, better at his job, better at interacting, simply better. 

    I sat in the back for hundreds of years, stuffed away and watching my body be puppetted by one who was not me. I watched myself murder, I watched myself make love, but I was never there. I wondered sometimes, why did I feel like I was no longer in control? Well, it is simply because I wasn’t.

    It was like watching a movie where you play the main character. You see them, and it looks like you, but it isn’t. The way they act, talk, and even just carry themself is so drastically different from your own mannerisms that you can scarcely believe it is you who you are seeing.

    When I was finally in control again, it felt like I had just been saved from drowning. It was just a second, such a minor slip up of my counterpart, but it was long enough for me to realize I wasn’t alone, and had not been for longer than I’d ever known.

    That was when I left. I forced myself into control, and I had to make sure everyone knew I was no longer me. 

    One extravagant show of mass genocide later, I was free. I was free. Free from my own alter ego, free from the association, free from my punishment. Despite being part of the undead, I had never felt so alive.

    I traveled everywhere, released everything that had been hidden away in my own body for so long. Finally, I was the one to murder, I was the one to make love, I was the one to simply experience. It was me. 

    Eventually, I became weary of traveling the world. I was free enough. Free to control my own body, and that was all I needed. 

    I settled down, found a little shop on the market for cheap and took up mortuary studies.

    After my life as a reaper, most would think I’d prefer to stay away from death, but rather it brought me comfort, and continues to bring me comfort to this day. No longer having to watch people as they die, I am able to deal with them while already dead. And that is the difference between me, the Undertaker, and my own frgament, Adrien. 

    Being split like this for so long, the line between myself and Adrien is distinct and rather hard to miss. However, there are times where the line blurs, where we mix and entertwine into some sort of amalgamation pretending to be what we once were. The time on the Campania was where the line was blurred the most, to the point where there was hardly any line anymore. It felt like our subconscious was desperately trying to force us back together, despite being separated for much too long for such a thing to be even considered as a simple possibility. 

    Raising the dead was a combined effort between the both of us. Both of our anguish and grief, anger and despair, and sheer desperation to be one again came out in the form of necromancy. That is why we are better apart. The two of us are simply too different, too separate, by now to be able to merge without only causing problems.

    Being together again- or, as together as we could be- felt odd. I was both in and out of control at the same time. I could instruct our body to move, but I was only half there, and it was the same for Adrien as well. We were in control, but only partially. Our movements and speech wound together and created new movements and sentences, a new method of fighting, a new way of speaking. I’m surprised we weren't both a mess, being in control at the same time, but I suppose the half-assed merge was either to thank or to blame for that. We split again afterwards, which did not come as a surprise, and it was far from as dramatic as the first time. Trying to put us back together again is like cutting an apple in half, then carmelizing half of it and putting the other half in a pie, and trying to put the pieces back together once it's done. It simply doesn’t work, and it's much easier, more pleasant and more convenient to enjoy the two separately. 

    I don’t have much recollection of what it felt like to be whole, but it doesn’t bother me too much any more. Like I’ve said many times, and like I’ve come to realize after many years, is that we are simply better separate.

    Dispatch most likely already has a theory about my split personality. They always seem to know more about their reapers than the reapers know about themselves, and despite being retired, that rule remains the same for me. While I consistently refuse their ‘offers’ of a psych evaluation, (their offers being closer to not so gentle insisting and persuasion simply to have me in captivity,) they’re probably going to take me in by force eventually. I am old, after all. About a thousand something, I don’t care to remember. I can’t fight of these young, energetic reapers forever. They’ll reign me in, most likely sooner rather than later, and quite frankly I’m not particularly inclined to care what they do with me once they have me. Torture, questioning, what have you, I don’t much mind. They’re going to do what they please with me, whether I like it or not. If there's just one think I know about dispatch, it's that they always get their way.

    Oh well. If they somehow find a way to kill me, they’ll be doing me a favor. Maybe I’ll have my own body in the afterlife.

[robininthelabyrinth]

If you're still taking prompts could you do Jiang Yanli/Jin Guangyao?

Four Worlds in which Jin Guangyao Marries Jiang Yanli

1

Yunping was a bit out of the way for the Jiang sect, but it was still a city in Yunmeng, so when there was a large enough night-hunt in their region, that was where the Jiang sect usually stayed.

It was always an event for the city’s children, that loved to run over to marvel at all those beautiful purple-clad cultivators walking through the streets – they usually didn’t fly within city limits, much to the disappointment of all.

Meng Yao loved watching them most of all.

After all, his mother told him that his father had been a cultivator, even a Sect Leader; one day, he would return to claim him, or perhaps Meng Yao would need to go present himself to him, but one day, she promised him, one day, he’d have his father’s name and no one would look down on him again.

That promise was everything to him, and yet that wasn’t what really drew him over to the Jiang sect.

No, what he went for was all Jiang Yanli – the girl he’d bumped into by accident, then shown around at her request. He’d shyly told her about his father being a cultivator, and she’d looked so happy for him; she’d even promised to bring him a proper introductory cultivation manual the next time she came so that his mother could stop spending all her money on fakes.

He hadn’t really expected her to remember actually do it, but she had. She’d confided in him that she’d met her future fiancé for the first time, that he was young and spoiled and didn’t seem to like her much, but that her mother wanted the marriage – and saying no now would be a slap in the face of the Jin sect.

“Jin?” Meng Yao said, dazzled. “Oh – that’s the sect my father’s from. If you have to marry someone from there, why don’t you marry me instead?”

2

Everyone had expected the young lady from the Jiang sect to have taken refuge with the Jin sect. After all, the engagement between her and the heir might be broken, but Madame Jin had still been her mother’s good friend – it would be comfortable with them, and safe…although people would whisper about it.

Perhaps that’s why she didn’t go there.

Meng Yao found himself unwillingly sympathetic. Who knew better than he did how much whispers could corrode the soul? Who knew better the idea of being faced with the disappointment of Lanling, and decided instead to turn to Qinghe, where merit was prized over blood?

The iron-hearted Nie Mingjue agreed to allow Jiang Yanli to stay in the Nie camp only if she agreed to work, but she was willing – even eager – to lend a hand to the war effort, whether by helping nurse the sick, mend clothing, or help in the kitchens.

One day, she brought him soup.

“Sect Leader Nie has already retired,” he said, blinking down at it.

She laughed. “It’s for you. Sect Leader Nie speaks so highly of his hard-working deputy – it would be a shame if you collapsed from hunger because you were too busy working and forgot to eat.”

No girl had ever made anything for Meng Yao before.

“Mistress Jiang,” he said, staring down at it. “Is this – I’m not the right son, you know.”

“If I wanted to make soup for young master Jin, I’d be in Lanling,” she pointed out, eyes curving with a smile. “This has nothing to do with that.”

He’d almost hoped it was; it would spare him the need to say the other part of it. “I don’t know if you haven’t heard,” he said, and if he didn’t know better he might almost think it could be the case – Jiang Yanli was not the type to gossip. “But my background…I wouldn’t want the taint to spread to you.”

“The circumstances of your birth were not your fault, and should not taint you,” she said gently, and she meant it, too; he’d always been good at reading expressions. “It’s just soup, Deputy Meng; don’t think about it too much. Eat it and regain your strength.”

She brought him one every night from that point on.

(“Sect Leader Nie,” Meng Yao said one night, some time later, bold in his desperation. “If I were to propose marriage to Mistress Jiang, would you back me?”

Nie Mingjue’s eyes widened. “I thought you were going to wait until you were reestablished in the Jin sect for that,” he replied, which wasn’t a no, and that’s what Meng Yao cared about right now.

“Sect Leader Jin would never allow a bastard son to have something that should have gone to his legitimate heir, even if his heir has already discarded it,” Meng Yao said. He wouldn’t even allow for sharing, and Meng Yao had had the bruises from falling down the stairs to prove it. “The only way it would work is if there was already an agreement in place before I go to Langya. Sect Leader, please –”

“Don’t beg,” Nie Mingjue said hastily. “I will, I will; did I ever say I wouldn’t? You’re a good man, Meng Yao; I can see no reason for you not to petition for her hand. If the lady agrees, I’ll speak to Jiang Cheng on your behalf.”

“I won’t let you down,” Meng Yao swore, and for the first time since he came to Qinghe, he meant it.)

3

Meng Yao was good at remembering names and faces, but he had grown up far away from the cultivation world – he was always behind the others in etiquette, having to learn everything all at once when even Jin Zixun, who didn’t care about anyone, could recognize most of his peers on sight.

So when he asked the kitchen girl at Langya her name and she looked surprised, he resigned himself to another embarrassing incident and having to apologize for not knowing what everyone else did.

Instead, she laughed lightly. “Why don’t you call me A-Li?” she said with a smile. “And I’ll call you A-Yao, and we’ll be friends.”

“I can always use friends,” Meng Yao said, and smiled back.

He expected it to be little more than a joke, but she seemed to take it seriously: she spoke warmly to him whenever he came to the kitchens, and in the rare times they were both free, she would come find him and they would spend time wherever there was a refuge from people.

“People gossip about me rather a lot,” she confessed when he asked her why. “I had an engagement to someone in the Jin sect, and it was rather publicly broken, and then I came here anyway…it was very nice to meet someone who didn’t know about all that.”

Meng Yao could understand that very well. She knew who he was, of course, but she pretended she didn’t, and that suited him very well.

And so they were friends, anonymously, right up until Jin Zixuan humiliated A-Li in front of the entire camp, accusing her of stealing another girl’s credit, and she ran away in tears – it would have been impossible for him to pretend he didn’t know she was the young mistress of the Jiang sect after that.

“He’s an idiot,” he told her, voice unusually fierce, having found her in their usual spot. Even Qin Su, who liked his face, treated him with a touch of pity for his poor background; Jiang Yanli, who was of even higher birth, had never done so, not once – perhaps the unlikelihood of that was why he had managed to stay ignorant of her identity for so long. “One day he’ll know it, too.”

“I don’t want him to,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t even mean it like that! It was only that our mothers were friends, so I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Meng Yao said. He hadn’t planned on telling anyone his plans, not even A-Li, but after a scene like that… “I’m leaving the camp tomorrow, with a plan to earn fame and merit enough to force my father to recognize me. It’s risky, and I may not survive, but if I do, would you marry me? We could rub it in his face.”

Jiang Yanli smiled at him. “Meng Yao, I would marry you even without that.” She thought about it a minute. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t feel nice, though.”

Meng Yao laughed.

4

Jin Guangyao wasn’t expecting the knock on his door.

Jiang Yanli was still wearing mourning clothing, all in white; with her pale face, she looked like a ghost, and only the rosy-cheeked baby in her arms indicated that she was alive.

“Sister-in-law,” he said, not quite sure if a smile was appropriate at this moment. “It’s late – how can I help you?”

“You want to be Sect Leader, don’t you?” she asked, direct and to the point, and the pleasant expression on his face stiffened. “Don’t deny it, I won’t hold it against you. You weren’t the one that killed him; all you did was tell him about the situation, which even I would have done.”

“Why do you ask?” he replied, still unwilling to commit himself.

“Because I don’t have much else to offer,” Jiang Yanli said simply. “Your father is gathering up cultivators to go to the Nightless City, where he’ll demand A-Xian’s life, and never mind that it was just a horrible accident. I don’t want that to happen, but no one will listen to me – but you’ve never needed anyone to listen to you to get what you want out of them.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t known that Jiang Yanli was so perceptive. If he had, he might have been more cautious around her. “You want me to find a way to save your shidi’s life,” he said slowly. “Even after he killed your husband, and turned the vast majority of the cultivation world against him. And in return, you’re offering…what?”

“Legitimacy,” she said. “You’re the obvious next heir at the moment, yes, but Sect Leader Jin has dozens of children outside; he need only go and get one to put your inheritance in doubt. But if you marry me, even Sect Leader Jin won’t be able to resist the pressure of making you the heir.”

He stared at her. “I’m – engaged.”

“I don’t object to you taking Qin Su as a concubine,” she said. “Sect Leader Qin will be open to the idea if you’re the heir. But as a matter of dignity, I would insist that you refrain from intimacy before marriage during the time that you’re engaged to me – I know the two of you have been considering forcing your parents’ hands that way, but it would leave me with no face at all if you persisted with that approach.”

Yes, Jiang Yanli was far more perceptive than he’d previously believed.

Marriage to her would be – interesting.

“Very well,” he said. “I accept.”