#‘mortals fear me and I am proud’ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bloodlust-1 · 5 months

Note

Are you still taking requests? I literally cannot control myself when it comes to angst so I was thinking of a fic where Tav gets kidnapped by Cazadors spawns and is getting tortured by him, so Astarion goes crazy with worry and anger trying to get them back

Like I said i am insatiable when it comes to angst

The dramaaaaa.... LET'S DO THISS SHITT. I do love me some angst too :')

Hope you enjoy @blades-are-for-skating-ya-dingus <3

. Shackles .

Astarion x fem Tav — angst

T/W: abuse, blood

Notes: I’m so proud of this one ahh. This makes me hate Cazador even more.

Tav's body trembled as the shackles dug into her wrists, her bare skin exposed to the cold, damp air of the dungeon. She had been captured by Cazador one night by his spawns. Tav never returned back to camp that night, and the only thing that was left for Astarion was a note he found on a spawn:

-------

"My Dear spawn, how dare you to run away from me. Know that there will be consequences for your actions, and your lover will not be spared from my wrath. You will regret ever crossing me, my child."

-------

Her wrists were bound by heavy shackles, chains attached to the wall, preventing her from moving more than a few inches. The sharp metal dug into her skin, causing her to wince in pain every time she struggled against them. Her body was covered in bruises, cuts, and burns, the result of Cazador's ruthless torture techniques.

Cazador stood in front of Tav, a wicked grin on his face. He held a whip in his hand, the same one he had used to lash Tav's back until it bled. She could barely lift her head to look at him, her body exhausted and broken.

"Pathetic," Cazador sneered, his eyes filled with malice. "You thought you could hide from me? A mere mortal challenging a vampire? How foolish."

Cazador stood in front of her, his face twisted into a sadistic grin. "You think your lover, Astarion, will save you from me? He will help me ascend and be nothing more than dirt on the floor. And soon, you will be too. Tell me where is the boy."

Tav's heart sank at the mention of Astarion's name. All Tav wanted was to trade with a merchant to gift Astarion a better dagger. But now, here she was, captured and tortured.

"Never," Tav spat, defiant even in the face of her tormentor.

Cazador's grin widened. "We'll see about that, my dear. We have ways of making you talk."

He signaled to his spawn, Petras, and he poked at Tav's skin with a hot metal rod. She cried out in pain, her body bruised and bloodied. But she refused to say any information.

"You will never have Astarion again," Tav gasped, her voice weak from the beatings.

Cazador's smile turned into a scowl, and he grabbed Tav's chin roughly, forcing her face to meet his. "You wretched thing."

Cazador motioned for Petras to stop as he approached Tav, snatching the hot iron rod from Petras’s hand. Tav's eyes widened in terror as she realized what he was about to do.

"Please, no," she begged, tears streaming down her face.

But Cazador didn't listen. He pressed the hot iron against Tav's skin, causing her to scream in agony. The smell of burning flesh filled the dungeon.

"I will make you suffer until you give me what I want," Cazador growled, enjoying every moment of Tav's pain.

Tav's body shook with sobs as the torture continued. She thought of Astarion, their love, and their plans for the future. She refused to let Cazador break her, even if it meant her death.

"I said no, you bastard!," Tav cried, her voice hoarse from screaming.

Cazador continued to torture her, and Tav's thoughts became consumed with memories of Astarion. The way he looked at her with love, the cold touch of his lips on hers.

"I love you, Astarion," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

But as the darkness of the dungeon consumed her, Tav feared she'd never see Astarion again.

Astarion's heart raced as he crept through the dark and musty corridors of the dungeon. His mind clashed between anger and guilt. Astarion feared that Tav was somewhere within these walls, shackled and tortured by Cazador.

When Astarion reached Tav's cell, he caught sight of her. Tav's face was pale and bruised. She was shirtless and barely conscious.

But even in this state, Tav was still the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on.

His hands trembled as he quickly picked the lock, and with a loud click, the chains that bound Tav fell to the ground, and Astarion's heart swelled with relief and anger. He scooped her up in his arms, ignoring Tav's cries of pain from the bruises and cuts covering her body.

"Shh, my love. It's me," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "I've come to take you away from this place."

Tav's tear-stained face looked up at him, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Astarion? How did you find me?"

Astarion fixated his eyes on Tav's face, the sight of her hurt gaze ached his dead heart. "I will always find you, no matter where they try to hide you." He pulled the shirt off his back and covered Tav's bare chest.

Carefully, Astarion carried Tav out of the dungeon, making sure to avoid any spawns or traps along the way. It was especially hard when Tav winced to every movement.

Astarion stealth his way out of the palace and went back to camp. He felt anger gnawing at his chest. He should have been there to protect Tav, But he had failed, and now Tav had suffered because of his shortcomings.

When they got back to camp, their companions rushed to their side, relieved to see Tav alive. Shadowheart, Wyll, Gale, and Karlach swarmed around Astarion.

"Get out of the way! She needs to rest!" Astarion snapped in a fit of anger. His emotions were pouring out in the worst possible way, and whoever was in the way needed to move.

Astarion gently settled Tav onto his bed, frowning at the sight of her bruised and battered body. She winced in pain as he placed her down, but he quickly reassured her, "I'll take care of you."

He grabbed a small bucket of water and a cloth, carefully cleaning the dried blood and dirt from her skin. Tav winced again, tears streaming down her face as he touched her injuries.

Gods this is all my fault. Astarion gritted his teeth from the sting of remorse.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you like this again."

Cazador will pay for this.

Tav weakly reached out to wipe away the tears that had fallen from his eyes, a small smile tugged on her chipped lips. "Don't cry, Astarion. You're here now, and that's all that matters."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her stubbornness, even in her injured state. "Your wit amazes me, my dear."

Astarion continued to clean and tend to her wounds, his hands gentle and careful than anything he'd ever touched in the past 200 years. Tav winced and hissed in pain, but she never once pulled away. She simply gripped his hand tightly as he worked, her eyes shut tightly.

Tav winced as he tended to a particularly deep cut on her arm. "It hurts," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"I know, my dear," Astarion's eyes narrowed at her pain. "But I promise, I'll make it better."

After what seemed like hours, Astarion finally finished and leaned back, a satisfied look on his face. "There, all done."

Tav slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her now clean and bandaged skin. "Thank you..." The burn marks would scar her skin forever. It was something Tav looked past for her own sake.

"You are strong," he continued, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "And I will do everything in my power to protect you and keep you safe from Cazador."

Tav reached up and cupped his cheek, she whispered. "I trust you.."

Astarion leaned down and pressed his lips against Tav's, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss. Tav pushed against his lips gently, while his hands held Tav's shoulders. When they pulled away Tav could see the desperation in his eyes and it was heartbreaking.

"Rest now, my dear. I'll be here when you wake up." And with that, Astarion stayed by Tav's side, watching over her as she drifted off to sleep.

Any thoughts? Comment 👇🏼 I love to engage!

#bg3 tav #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #bg3 #astarion bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion acunin #astarion x tav #astarion fanfic #astarion x reader #astarion #bloodlust 1 #astarion angst #bg3 angst

590 notes · View notes

in1-nutshell · 7 months

Note

Hey, not sure if you're down for writing a continuation of the “Megatron 'accidentally' adopting human Buddy who fears nothing” post. But there was a line “Rung has a line of bots that express the same worry for Buddy one day doing something dumb and not being able to come back from it.” that I think should be expanded upon. Dangerous things are constantly happening to the lost light crew and Buddy must have the devil's luck to come out of everything that happens unscathed. I'd like to see that luck run out. I'd like to see the crew panicking because Buddy got hurt badly and there's been no news if they'll recover or not. I want to see Megatron deal with the impending mortality of his newly adopted kid poorly. And I want to see everyone on the lost light panic even more because if Megatron doesn't start a war if this kid dies, Whirl absolutely will. P.s please let buddy live, I may crave angst, but not that much.

Have a good day, love your writing

Ooooh! Have you been peaking at some of my drafts? haha! I have been thinking about what would happen if Buddy ever got hurt on Megatron's watch. But now more bots are going to watch.

Hope you enjoy!

Megatron and Fearless Buddy who gets seriously hurt

SFW, familial, platonic, angst but happy ending, mention of injuries but nothing graphic or detailed, Human reader

MTMTE/LL

As we all know Buddy fears nothing

And this put some stress on their friends and new dad, Megatron.

“Hey Megs!”--Rodimus

“Rodimus, don’t call me that.”--Megatron

“Yeah, not gonna happen. Anyways I was wondering if you’ve seen Buddy anywhere. They were supposed to show me something?”--Rodimus

“Show you what?”--Megatron

“Something about being a present for being Brainstorm’s ‘Guinea pig’?”--Rodimus

Buddy flying by on a jet pack.

“Hi Roddy! Hi Megs! Bye Roddy! Bye Megs!”--Buddy

“…”—Rodimus and Megatron

CRASH!

Both mechs start running

But as time continues to go on, their little antics are just normalized. Sure, there are still some bots that know the true fragility of the human life span. Such bots included but not limited to Ratchet, First Aid, Velocity, Swerve, Rung, Megatron, and Whirl

“Where are you going with those pilars?”—First Aid

“It’s nothing illegal, yet.”--Buddy

“What type of answer is that!?”—First Aid

But for the most part the crew thinks Buddy is almost as durable as they are. Yes, even Megatron has been guilty of this type of behavior. He isn’t too proud of that.

“C’mon Fleshy jump and do a flip!”—Random Bot

“Bet—”--Buddy

“I think not.”--Whirl

“Whirl?!”--Buddy

“If you break your dumb fragile bones who else is going to come with me on planet expeditions? Cyclonus? I think not. He sucks out all the fun.”—Whirl

��I am literally right here.”--Cyclonus

So, let the angst begin.

The place was being invaded by space pirates.

The pirates where taking the bridge and had successfully barricaded themselves in.

“Why can’t we just break the door down?”--Buddy

“The main room has delicate equipment. One wrong move…”--Megatron

“Okay that’s a bad idea then.”--Buddy

“We just need an opening from the main door and we can figure out the rest.”--Rodimus

“Hey, I’m tiny enough to fit through the crack under the door. I can open the door!”--Buddy

“Absolutely not.”--Megatron

“For once I’m agreeing with him.”--Whirl

“Hey, its not like we have many options here. Unless someone else has a better idea then I am quite literally the only thing stopping these guys.”--Buddy

“…go then…”--Megatron

He was going to regret saying it like that. The computers dashboard in order to unlock the door or at least give it an opening. So, when they were sure that the aliens weren’t looking, they sprinted over to the console by swinging up with a grappling hook to the chair and began running towards the buttons.

They had indirectly activated the plasma screens.

These were holoscreens all over the ship that would show what was happening on the bridge. Everyone had a front row seat to Buddy sprinting across the console. There where cheers as Buddy was coming closer and closer to the button

“They made it!”--Rodimus

“Way to go Buddy!”--Tailgate

“Just press the button.”—Ultra Magnus

“That’s my Amica—”--Whirl

It was right there…

The alien came out of nowhere…

“EW! A Rat!”--Alien

“A ra—"--Buddy

They swatted Buddy across the room in one swift movement. They’re tiny body hurdling across the room and off screen. A small sickening crack was heard.

It was barely noticeable.

But it caused a deafening sound across the entire Lost Light.

Good news for the crew, Buddy’s shoe came off from the force of the hit and successfully pressed the button opening the door.

Everyone is lined up to take these aliens down.

Megatron and Whirl are at the forefront of it.

Megatron is trying to find Buddy while Whirl is absolutely destroying everything.

Megatron spots Buddy slumped over in the far corner of the room.

No motion, nothing

He is just frozen in place.

“Buddy…”--Megatron

“…”--Buddy

“Megatron! Move!”--Ratchet

Ratchet snaps him out of it as he is trying to help Buddy.

Megatron snaps out of it a cover him.

Buddy is rushed out an into the medbay.

Everyone is waiting.

The sudden gravity of Buddy’s mortality weighs heavily on the minds of everyone involved.

Megatron sulks in his room thinking about how he failed them. He can’t bear to sit by Buddy in the med bay. Ratchet understands and tells him that he when Buddy wakes up.

Whirl on the other hand, stays by Buddy’s bed side the entire time.

“Hey Tiny. It’s been a hot minute since you’ve open those little eyes… You mind opening them up?”--whirl

“…”--Buddy

“Fine be like that…”--Whirl

“…”--Buddy

“Well, you’ve missed a lot since you took that hit. One you have a ton of inner most energon by your room and a growing number of get-well gifts. I personally made sure none of you’re a secret bomb. Megs is still in his room and its giving everyone the creeps.”--Whirl

“…”--Buddy

“… Don’t tell this to anyone… but we miss you, you scared the ever living Pits out of us.”--Whirl

“…”--Buddy

Whirl has lost every good thing in his life. He is going to make sure that this one thing does go so soon.

Buddy does wake up

“Hye Whirly Bird?”--Buddy

“Buddy?!”--Whirl

“Why you looking at me like that? Someone died?”--Buddy

“You nearly did Tiny!”--Whirl

“But I didn’t, huh? It takes more than a hand to stop me.”--Buddy

“…I guess huh.”--Whirl

Megatron is zooming over when he hears. Buddy is trying to play off their injuries to try and keep the peace.

“Hey Megs.”--Buddy

“Buddy…”--Megatron

“You okay? You look like you’re dying.”--Buddy

“… that was a poor choice of words.”--Megatron

“Yeah I guess— woah, Megs?"—Buddy

Megatron gently holding Buddy’s hand the best he can

“Just let me hold you please, just a little bit.”--Megatron

“Sure Megs.”--Buddy

As they are recovering Buddy is treated with a bit more respect than they had before. Good thing too, they did after all manage to save the ship after all.

#transformers #transformers x reader #idw mtmte #mtmte x reader #mtmte megatron #mtmte rodimus #mtmte whirl #maccadam #mtmte x platonic reader #human buddy

206 notes · View notes

anti-catradora-collection · 1 month

Text

TRANSLATING AND GIVING MY HONEST OPINION ABOUT THIS TWITTER THREAD:

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ DO NOT GO AFTER AND DO NOT HARASS THE CREATOR OF THE THREAD I'LL BE COMMENTING HERE. thank you.

"it pisses me off when ppl say they love enemies to lovers and then say that catra//dora is toxic.

like, ENEMIES is not when one person steps on another's toes and gets angry towards them"

keep reading under the cut:

yeah, "enemies" certainly is not when one person steps on another's toes and gets angry towards them. even google knows that. enemies to lovers is completely different from rivals to lovers.

however, c//a aren't enemies either. they have never been.

they were simply abuser x victim. and that's mainly because adora never really felt any hate towards catra. she even tried to make catra join the rebellion multiple times.

additionally, adora knew how to defend herself, but wouldn't do more than she needs.

catra, on the other hand, would relish on BRUTALIZING adora. she even tried to end the whole universe out of spite to adora, willing to kill them both in the process.

and let's not forget: catra did all this with a smile in her face, proud of being able to manipulate and control adora.

they were never mutual enemies. adora mostly viewed catra as someone to fear. most of the time, she felt powerless when the matter was catra. to be honest, even when the matter wasn't her, it's shown that she felt that way. damn, she even had a panic attack because of catra.

and let's not forget how catra and adora's fights are always viewed as "flirtatious/sexy" and, surprisingly (or not), they are always with catra on top while adora is unable to fight back for any reason (be it for an emotional or physical reason, temporarily or not).

the only exception for what i said above is this scene, where i don't even believe adora is being flirtatious (for me, she's simply being smug) and where she's not even talking to catra in person.

of course, there's times where adora physically hurts (or tries to hurt) catra back, but it's solely to DEFEND HERSELF/OTHER PEOPLE. catra takes advantage of adora's kindness cuz she knows she won't be able to cause the same harm as catra does.

"enemies to lovers is ALWAYS toxic in the enemies part. a relationship where you are the other person's mortal enemy is not even possible.we ship catra//dora precisely because they get to the lovers part, and when they get to it, there is no more toxicity."

I'm so sorry to break it to you, but C//A has been toxic before, during and after they were in opposite sides of the war. here is an example of this. catra always made it seem like it's adora who's always abandoning her, but it was catra's CHOICE to stay in the horde.

C//A relationship occurred on an existing pattern: adora accidentally says something that makes catra mad -> catra hits/insults her -> catra runs away, expecting adora to chase after her and feeling like she's rejected if that doesn't happen. it even happened while they were KIDS.

and let's also not forget about catra gaslighting and slapping adora in that one episode while she was going through another panic attack. "catra didn't know something was going on!!!" she literally had "flashbacks" about things that did happen and adora was clearly not okay.

catra could've been a good friend like glimmer was for adora in the hot springs episode, listen to her, try to help and properly calm her down even if she didn't know what was happening, but catra didn't. she insisted on her own view that everything was perfect instead.

catra also makes it seem like adora is the abandoner multiple times in season 5. like girl you're the one who literally abandoned her even in S5 plsss-catra CHOSE to stay in the horde, adora tried to make catra come with her since forever. catra was the one running away.

she even framed adora as being the violent one in their relationship with this scene:

"how am i supposed to fight my own friends?"

"it never stopped you before."

it's almost like catra wasn't the one always trying to hurt and murder adora all the time... lol.

"apart from the abuse that catra (and adora) suffered throughout her childhood AND her fear of abandonment, the only reason catra treated adora the way she did was because she suppressed her feelings in such an absurd way that she was even violent."

uhhh.. no?

you're telling me catra tried to kill adora multiples times and destroy the universe because deep inside her heart catra LOVED adora?

this is honestly giving me "he hits you because he likes you!" vibes. i bet if catra was a man, you wouldn't be saying stuff like this.

plus, shall i say something that may sound a bit... harsh:

THIS. IS. NOT. ABOUT. CATRA.

of course catra is traumatized.

of course catra is also abused.

of course all these facts helped building up catra's character.

but nothing justifies the way she treated adora.

"but catra was abused, she was raised in a harsh way, she doesn't know any better!" what about we stop making adora's abuse about her abuser...? everyone kinda seems to forget how catra was also a w4r crim1nal lmao. of course catra deserved love. but not in the way she got.

catra also needed to be held accountable for her actions, which she didn't. "she was brainwashed by horde prime which made her suffer a lot!" okay, and? catra also brainwashed and put adora into a lot of pain and that fact was never once brought up again.

i mean, catra literally was a gen0c1dal w4r crim1nal. she killed lots of people (including glimmer's mother). again, she tried to end the universe. she destroyed villages. she attempted to kill adora multiple times. was she even questioned about it?

no. the princesses immediately take catra in with them as soon as adora says "she's with us now". there was not even a proper discussion about it.

"as soon as she gets sufficiently comfortable in being vulnerable and admitting what she feels to adora, there's no reason for her to be violent because there's nothing else to suppress. the acception of her "true self" breaks the cycle of abuse and that's WHY +"

not gonna comment on it cuz i already said how catra has been abusive during the entire series - even after she has been rescued. "she was going through a lot" and adora was too. It just wasn't fair for catra to treat adora that way simply becuz "adora doesn't want mee! :(".

like, girl, this isn't about you. you ASKED adora to save the world but then you get angry when she decides it's something she NEEDS to do and states that no one else can do that. like ???

"they turn into a couple.

double trouble themselves tell catra exactly what she has been doing during all seasons to hide and deny her own feelings for adora. because these feelings made her feel uncomfortable."

excuse me, double trouble was also wrong about that. starting by the way they said "left you" while turning into adora when we know it wasn't what happened, there's also the fact that their speech wasn't only about catra's "feelings" for adora.

it was also about catra feeling abandoned and rejected by EVERYONE she knew: shadow weaver, scorpia, hordak... or are we going to forget the fact all these people were also in the scene?

but even the show itself tries to make it seem like adora was the abandoner only for the "just this once, stay" quote to make sense. another reminder: spop's writing is very far away from being the best.

"I would NEVER ship catra//dora the way i do if they haven't got a redemption and if the "enemies" part hadn't come to an end. at most, I'd think they have chemistry and potential for making out, but their healthy relationship is only possible due to their happy ending."

i don't even know what to say- this person lost me at "I'd think they have chemistry and potential for making out". why the hell do you think catra abusing adora would be hot, SPECIALLY in a scenario where they keep being "enemies"???? 😭

also, yes, they got a "happy ending". but at what cost?

catra lied to adora and insulted her even during her confession;

catra never really changed, this series simply tried to make it seem like she did (and failed to do so)

adora is now in a supposedly "happy relationship" with her own abuser and sister, while both didn't at least got therapy BEFORE that.

catra didn't need a romance with her victim in order to be happy. she simply needed time to HEAL, just like adora. "but can't they heal as a couple?" no. it just doesn't work like that. you can't love someone else without fully loving yourself first.

"that being said, catra is open to therapy with perfuma, already sees bow and glimmer as besties, says sorry with ease, happily participates on princesses hugs, isn't afraid to show love and care for adora. and that's when a good relationship is born."

catra may be "trying" to be a better person in canon, but she's far from achieving that. you all say "someone needs time to heal before turning into a better person", but then look at catra, whose "redemption arc" was up for half of the last season and applauds it as "the best character development ever". it also doesn't work like that. it doesn't matter how many times catra saves the world if she keeps treating adora like dirt while doing that (guilt tripping, insulting and beating her up, for example).

basically, saying "I'm sorry for everything" once doesn't mean anything if catra, herself, doesn't truly change.

the last tweet of the thread finished with the following sentence:

"kisses and go to therapy"

all i can say is: thanks, op. you too.

#spop discourse #spop salt #spop critical #spop criticism #anti spop #anti catradora #anti c//a #anti c/a #spop #she ra #tw incest mention #tw abuse

71 notes · View notes

thefallennightmare · 15 days

Text

Mercy-Five

*gif created by me. feel free to use, simply give credit*

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Fallen Angel!OC

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, smut, mythological talk, violence.

Summary: "Blinded by a fear of feeling, these are the kings we chose. Lost and looking for the meaning, I've been searching high and low" It came crashing down on him. This is the story of the highest banished angel from where she came only to find home in the arms of a mortal man. This mortal realizing he'd face Lucifer himself to keep her.

Lethia: Archangelus Oneironaut also known as Archangel of Dream Walking. Across worlds and dimensions, she walks within. Uncovering dangerous secrets, leaving her cast out, isolated- that is until she begins to learn what it means to feel.

Authors Notes: thank you to everyone who was incredibly patient in the long two and a half months it took for me to update this. I am so proud of myself for busting through this chapter this past weekend. I am VERY excited for what's to come! Huge thank you and shoutout to @thescarlettvvitch for all the LOVELY ideas. I had so much fun creating the gif.

Tags[OPEN]: @happi-goth @thescarlettvvitch @mitchhbitch @missduffsblog @hayleylatour @sleepyomens @loeytuan98 @artificialbreezy @marvelousmal @bngurngheart @lma1986 @dsireland86 @wild-child-7747 @calleyx13 @illmakeyousaywow @jaded-and-hollow-souls @exitwoundsx @shayzillaaaa @lookwhatitcost @badomensls @princesspeach-00 @burning-outx @shadowseve @klutzy-kay24 @sorrowsofsilence @shilohrosechicken @itsafullmoon @toospooktocute @thatchickwiththecamera @hoe-for-daddywise @whenthesummerdies @cookiesupplier @concreteemo @thisbicc @sammyjoeee @pathion @flowery-mess @tashka @malice-ov-mercy @respectfulrebel @themortaljessica @crimson-calligraphyx @blackveilomens @lyschko666 @iknownothingpeople @collapsedglasshouses @iamamatus

NOAH

With a sigh, I rolled over in bed and stretched out an arm towards Lethia, hoping to feel her warmth again but was met with cold sheets. I removed my head from underneath the pillow to see that the space next to me had been empty for a while.

“Lethia?” I called out while rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

Silence.

After I got into bed with her last night and we said our goodnights, neither of us said a word. Letting the silence that encased my bedroom be the eerie white noise we needed to fall asleep. My dreams were filled with all the information I had found out moments before coming to bed and the feathers tucked away in the studio's closet. I hadn’t told Lethia what I knew, I wanted her to be the one to tell me. It was her secret to tell.

If she ever did.

Slowly dragging myself out of bed, I let my feet guide me over to the bathroom across the hall.

Do angels even go to the bathroom?

I shook my head with a chuckle and peeked into the bathroom only to be met with darkness. Once I made it downstairs and through the quiet house, I noticed the back patio door open, the cool breeze wrapping around my bare legs.

“Lethia?” I called her name again when I stepped outside.

Just past beneath the trees to our backyard was a path that led down to the beach less than a mile away and something in my gut was telling me to follow the path. I only made it a few feet away when something black on the fence caught my eye.

One of Lethia’s feathers.

I hesitated slightly, not knowing if it was a good idea to touch it now knowing what I do. It would take me into a part of her memories and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see something else I couldn’t understand. It felt as if the memories were getting stronger, more intense, and there was a part of me that feared I might not be able to pull myself out of it.

“Fuck it,” I muttered.

With my fingers wrapped around the soft feather, I felt the darkness creep in, pulling away at my subconsciousness. My breath caught in my throat as my soul went through a black tunnel, throwing my body from left to right, and when the oxygen was constricted any longer, the white haze around my eyes cleared. I blinked rapidly before gazing around at my surroundings.

There was an eerie calm. But the ringing in my ear caused me to cover them for a moment. It was an annoying sound but after a moment, I got used to it and pocketed my hands in my sweats.

Movement from my right caused me to whirl around and what I saw took my breath away.

Lethia stood in front of me, in her old form. The exposed skin from her sheer white dress was clean and innocent; not a mark of ink anywhere.

The only way I knew it was Lethia was from her smile. It radiated comfort and solace, something I found myself falling for. There was a connection between us that I couldn’t explain and it drove me absolutely mad. I couldn't figure out why she felt so familiar.

Lethia was standing on a mountain's edge, the soft and quiet breeze blowing through the feathers of her wings. Her hair danced over the freckles on her shoulders and from my position behind a tree, I watched as a smile graced her face.

“I was wondering when you would show,” her angelic voice rang out.

My heart skidded in my chest and for a moment, I thought she was talking to me and I was ready to step out from behind the tree. But then another figure stepped forward, his wings breaking the branches as he emerged from the forest.

“It was hard for me to slip away, Lethia.”

She turned to face the man and I tore my gaze away from her to take in the sight of the angel. Large stone gray wings extended from his back but unlike Lethia’s, he had a design to them.

Gold lines, almost like veins, vibrated with color as he shook them out. His hair long and dark, pulled back out of his face, and Lethia brushed away a loose strand; tucking it behind his ear. From my position, I could only see the man’s back.

The white shirt clung to the muscles as he moved his arms around Lethia to bury his face in her neck. I expected to feel jealous at seeing how close they were but instead, I felt at peace.

“The King has you caged like one of his peasant animals,” she sighed deeply. “How can we ever be together?”

The man gave her a small smile. “It will all be worth it, Lethia. Soon we can go wherever we like. Leave the Kingdom.”

Her eyes widened. “Leave the Kingdom? Are you mad? Where would we go?”

“There are places outside of here. I’ve seen them and they are gorgeous. Vast fields of green, the colors here in the Kingdom pale in comparison to what I’ve seen there. The light creates a humming glow and the sounds of the birds make you want to dance.”

The two of them began to sway, dancing in the wind, and Lethia laid her head on the man’s chest.

“Oh, Knoa. This place sounds wonderful,” she sighed. “Can you take me there soon?”

He kissed the top of her head. “Soon. We can create a home there, rule the two of us. Anyone who is tired of the King’s ruling will join us.”

“How are you so sure?” Lethia gazed up at him.

“They’re all lost and looking for the meaning. I've been searching high and low for it. Some think that we will fade into nothing, going up in the smoke, and fail. Some may think we will beg the King for a mercy that we both know he would not show.”

Blinking rapidly, I looked around to see that I was back in my backyard and it took me a long moment of staring straight ahead to process what I’d seen. Lethia was with a different angel this time, not Lucifer.

Knoa.

Was this angel before or after Lucifer?

Pocketing the feather, I continued down the trail behind my house and towards the beach. The waves crashed against the rocks, echoing loudly into the dark sky above. There wasn't anyone on the beach and when I was ready to give up, I saw a flash of black off in the water.

Enormous wings lapped up the salty brine of the ocean water and the figure stood with their arms outstretched. Lethia’s face made my heart leap in my throat when I took in the euphoric bliss on the soft feature of her face.

Her wings looked heavy but the way she moved through the water at a rapid pace made it seem like they weighed nothing. I already knew what she was but seeing her in her true form silenced the lingering doubt that plagued my mind.

Lethia tip-toed out of the water, standing on the shoreline and that's when I noticed she was naked. Her perky nipples begging to be tasted and the water droplets between her breasts slipped down over her navel and towards her pussy.

“Shit,” I muttered while adjusting my cock.

Her crimson eyes snapped up at me and we stared at each other for a long moment, neither of us saying anything.

“I knew it,” I breathed.

Lethia’s lips twitched. “What?”

Taking a tentative step towards her, her wings shook causing a gust of wind to blow through my hair. They were even larger close up and the darkness of them felt like I was staring in the depths of someone's subconsciousness.

“I knew it,” I repeated without taking my eyes off the wings.

“How?” Lethia questioned, unmoving.

My eyes finally darted to her face. “I found some of your feathers and slowly things started to come together. I researched some things last night.”

Her shoulders went even more stiff. “My feathers. You’ve seen-?”

“Your memories,” I finished for her with a nod. “I’ve seen Oblivion, Lucifer, and Knoa.”

Her brows furrowed while shaking her head. “Knoa?”

“He talked to you about a new kingdom. A place where the two of you could rule,” I explained.

The confusion never left her face and that’s when I realized she had no idea who I was talking about. For a second, I thought I might have slipped into someone else's memories but I was certain it was Lethia who I saw in that particular scene.

“I saw you in your old form,” I closed the distance between us.

Her lips turned down in a scowl. “Oblivion. Do you still prefer what you see in front of you now?”

I cupped her cheek. “Definitely.”

There was a strong urge to run my fingers through the feathers but I was hesitant. If merely touching her dropped feathers dragged me into her memories, what would happen if I touched her wings?

“You can only see my memories from a dropped feather,” she answered my thoughts.

“Can you read minds?” I asked, not being able to hide the excitement in my voice.

She giggled. “No, but the hesitation in your eyes was clear.”

I raised my hand slowly. “Can I?”

When she nodded, I let my fingers brush along the softness of her wings and marveled at how they felt against the roughness of my palm. Lethia gasped which caused me to rear my hand back in worry.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she shuddered. “Touch them again.”

I did and she gasped once more.

“I can feel your touch. The roughness of your fingers on each feather,” her eyes sparkled.

“I thought fallen angels couldn’t feel humans touch,” I said.

Lethia nodded while linking our hands together. “I can’t feel you here but I can feel you touch my wings.”

They encased us, protecting us from the outside world, and I felt a sense of peace fall around me. I couldn’t stop staring at them, marveled at the sheer strength and power they could possess.

“You’re not afraid?” Her voice was quiet.

I raised my brows. “Why would I be?”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and I wanted to taste them so bad but refrained with the look of disgust in her eyes.

Not at me but at herself.

“They’re darkness. Evil. Every part of who I am now shows my transgressions,” she said.

“That’s not who you are anymore, Lethia,” I lifted her chin with a knuckle. “I don’t know the reason why you fell but think of it as a way to leave that part of you behind. Start fresh.”

“Fresh,” she repeated, as if mewling over the word.

We stayed like this for a long moment, letting the warmth of her wings block out the chill brought on by the ocean. It was then that I realized she was still naked and I let out a low cough, trying to keep my gaze on her face still.

“Did you want to get dressed?”

“Shit,” she cursed. “I almost forgot. I was taking a bath in the ocean. The salty brine helps my wings. They’re beginning to deteriorate from hiding my true form.”

Stepping away with the opening, I watched in awe as the large wings retreated into her back, hidden away beneath the slits of skin.

“Deteriorate?” I asked while she slipped on her clothes.

My eyes cast downwards for a moment and a flash of ink on her ribs caught my attention. A green snake.

“That’s why you keep finding my feathers. They’re falling off,” Lethia explained once fully dressed.

Linking her hand with mine, I brought her into my chest to lay a chaste kiss on her lips. Even if she couldn’t feel it, she still kissed back with equal force.

“You never have to hide from me, Lethia. I want to see all of you,” I said with a stern gaze.

Crimson eyes danced between mine and with a curt nod, she let out a long breath.

“I can’t believe you figured it out on your own.”

With a smug smile, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and began leading her back up the beach towards my house.

“I’m quite perceptive with these things,” I informed as we slipped back inside the quiet house.

It was nearing four in the morning and everyone was still asleep as we quietly ascended the stairs back to my bedroom.

“Let’s get some sleep,” I suggested while tossing back the blanket.

“Angels don’t sleep,” Lethia informed while sinking low beneath the mounds of blanket on my bed.

Once I was lying next to her, I brought her into my chest and shivered when long black nails dragged over the tattoos.

“Does that mean you can’t dream?” I asked.

“Well funny story about that. One of my powers is that I dreamwalk in others dreams. I actually walked in yours a few times, unwillingly. I go wherever I’m needed I suppose. I have this familiar that follows me in every dream; leading me,” she said.

“Wait,” I gazed down at her. “A crow? With a white stripe of feathers?”

She rested her chin in her palm. “You see him too?”

“In my dreams. So that means when I dreamt of you, that it was actually you?”

Her cheeks reddened, thinking back to the dreams I had of her. “Yeah. I don’t know why it was your dreams I always found myself in. There’s a lot of things I’m still trying to understand.”

“Could you feel it when we would have sex?” I asked slyly.

A darkness crossed her features, the one that I found myself gravitating towards.

“Right now, I can’t feel your heartbeat,” she placed a palm on my chest. “But in your dreams, I could feel every inch of you.”

Now Lethia’s hand dragged down my stomach, those sharp nails leaving red marks in their wake, and when she reached my cock, I hissed out in pleasure. She palmed my cock and I let my eyes flutter shut.

“I can’t feel you physically, but I get this feeling inside of me; almost like a fire. It’s urging me to continue because I know it’s making you feel good.”

Lethia adjusted herself so her mouth was hovering over my sweats before she hooked her fingers in the waistband, slowly dragging it down over my hips.

“You don’t have-,” I tried to say but my voice was seized from me when I felt her cool lips around the warmth of my cock.

She hummed but I couldn’t tell what it was for. I knew she couldn’t feel the way my cock hit the back of her throat but could she taste the precum that gathered at the head?

Did it taste bitter?

Was it sweet?

Fuck, I wanted to taste her so bad.

“Lethia,” I moaned, grasping at the sheets beneath me when her tongue flattened against the base of my cock.

Her movements were precise, like she knew what she was doing. Even if she couldn’t feel how perfect her mouth was on me, Lethia used my moans and sighs of pleasure to guide her.

“Just like that,” I snaked my fingers through the short tendrils of her hair to keep her in place.

Our eyes met in a blaze of seduction and the way those crimson pupils shined with curiosity of if she was doing it right, I dragged a finger over her cheek.

“So good. You’re doing so good,” I praised. “I don’t know how it’ll affect you but tap on my thigh three times if you need me to stop.”

Lethia winked and with both hands at the base of her skull, I kept her in place to fuck into her throat. My pace was relentless as the head of my cock reached the back of her throat with ease and when her fingernails grazed over my balls, I felt my body ignite. The base of my spine tingled as I let out a guttural groan, her name falling from my lips as I came into her mouth.

Her hums of tasteful pleasure intertwined with mine as I spilled every last drop down her throat. She let go of my cock with an audible pop and wiped away the drool from her mouth with a slick wipe of her finger.

“You taste so fucking good,” Lethia whispered while placing tender kisses along my stomach.

“You were able to taste me?” I asked, still breathless from my orgasm.

She nodded with a wide smile. “I couldn’t feel your cock in my mouth but I could taste you. Everything I feel with you, I feel it here.”

Her finger traced a heart over my own.

“That was better than any dream,” I mused as she tucked herself underneath my arm again.

“And no little friend watching us,” Lethia teased with a wink.

Just to add to the humor, I made a show of looking around my bedroom for the crow with the white stripe of feathers but breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank fuck,” I murmured while tucking us deeper underneath the blanket.

We were quiet for a long moment until Lethia kissed the tattoos on my chest. “Thank you for being so understanding and not running away after you found out about what I am. There’s still a lot I don’t understand about myself.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “One day at a time, angel.”

The lines in her forehead creased when the realization of what I called her sinked low in my gut.

“To on the nose?” I asked.

“No, surprisingly I like it,” Lethia patted my chest before laying her head there. “Goodnight, Noah.”

My face twitched at hearing my name on her lips but thought nothing of it as I brought the blanket higher up over us.

“Sweet dreams, angel,” I teased with a smile.

LETHIA

I was falling down to the depths beneath the earth.

My body felt weightless as the darkness underneath me started to creep without warning of when I would hit the ground. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as I reached up towards the space in front of me, hoping by some miracle I’d be able to latch onto something.

Just as I braced for impact, the scenery changed and no longer was I falling. Instead I was standing in this unknown darkness in my angel form and my wings shook with the uncertainty of what would jump out.

“Hello?” I called out cautiously.

The silence was deafening and I couldn’t tell which way was right as I spun on my heels, my wings not even making a sound in this unknown void.

“The faith and the fighter.”

I froze at the deep voice. It sounded far away yet at the same time like it was spoken right in my ear.

“Lighting up the streets, singing for the damned.”

I whirled around, the voice now sounding farther away but I could feel the breath on the back of my neck. There was something so familiar about the richness of the voice but ice cold fear crept into my bones.

“Confessing to the choir.”

It was as if the voice was right in front of me, the warm breath fanning over my lips and I shuddered when the familiar smell tickled my nose.

No, it couldn’t be. There was no way he could be here. He couldn’t have found me.

Although, Maraxa did know where I was hiding and she could have easily told him where I was.

The all too familiar heat spread in my veins that made my wings flutter, the noise absent in the darkness. He was so close now, the anger radiating off of him in droves and I nearly collapsed with how it crushed my throat, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly loud footsteps smacked on the ground at my feet, closer and closer. It came from in front, behind me, and on both sides. It sounded as if someone was running but I couldn’t figure out which direction.

A face appeared out of the darkness, bathed in a red glow but the even darker circles around those eyes made a broken cry fall from my lips.

“Bury every beast and we are born again!” Lucifer’s wicked smile spread across his face, showcasing the sharpness of his teeth.

The scene around me shifted, the warmth now overtaking me as I found myself standing in the middle of flames. It licked up my arms but I couldn’t feel the sting of pain. Through the lick of fire, a lone figure stood out and the pain from his screams stabbed me in my chest.

No.

No, no, no.

It isn’t.

A hand outstretched towards me, begging to be pulled from the fiery depths of Hell, and my eyes took in the sight of a tattoo; some kind of mandala flower.

“Lethia!”

I took a step towards the hand but hissed in pain when the flames caressed my skin.

“Please. Help me!”

Tears welled in my eyes as his name choked on my tongue. “No-Noah!”

“You can’t save him, my sweet Oblivion. His soul is mine,” Lucifer’s voice tickled my ear. “Just like yours is about to be.”

I woke up with a start, sitting up in bed and feeling the cool beads of sweat trickle down my back. My breathing was erratic and my veins were pumping the blood in my body so violently, I could hear it in my ears.

Noah stirred next to me and reached for me, wrapping the mandala flower tattooed hand on my thigh. I watched as his hand squeezed but felt absolutely nothing. Then that hand reached up to cup my cheek, dragging his thumb over the sharpness of my cheekbone.

Once again not able to feel anything.

I watched as his hand wrapped around behind my neck, bringing our lips together. The base of my spine vibrated, telling me that Noah’s tongue was brushing over mine. But the images of what I’d seen were hindering me, useless, unable to respond.

“What’s wrong?”

His voice was laced with exhaustion and there was guilt eating away at me for waking him up.

“I’m fine,” I dragged through my hair, trying to ease the pounding of my heart.

Noah sat up in bed, his own sleep tousled hair a mess, but he still looked gorgeous.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re fine. You’re acting like you had a nightmare?”

I thought about for a moment of lying, keeping up the ruse that I was fine, but deep down I knew I wouldn’t be.

“I don’t dream, so whatever this was,” I let out a shaky breath, trying to compose myself. “It felt too real. The flames when I tried to reach for you.”

Noah stiffened. “Flames?”

I turned towards him, pulling my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them. “I wasn’t in my own dream. I was in his.”

When Noah gave me a look of confusion, I bit my lip and said his name with fear.

“Lucifer.”

A bunch of different emotions passed through his face and I wasn’t sure how he was going to react.

“You saw me in the flames?” He asked.

I then reiterated the whole scene for him from beginning to end, not leaving any details out. Quickly, Noah left the bed to begin pacing his room and the red LED lights casted him in the same glow I’d seen Lucifer. I shuddered with that same fear, slowly sinking farther away from Noah.

“It sounds like an omen, Lethia. Lucifer shows up in your dream, tells you my soul is his. Am I going to die?” He stopped pacing to run a hand over his face.

Your lips parted to speak but hesitated for a moment to which Noah took the opportunity to speak again.

“Is that why you fell? You were sent here to tell me I’m going to die?”

“That’s not-,” I shook my head, still in my crouched position on his bed.

Noah chuckled dryly. “If that’s the case, why didn’t you tell me in the beginning? Why waste my fucking time with everything?”

My eyes narrowed. “I can assure you that I wasn’t wasting your time, Noah. It’s just that I'm still learning things. Figuring out why I fell into this time and not where Lucifer fell.”

Noah halted his pacing, dark eyes pinning me. “Is he going to stop looking for you?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed while resting my head against the wall next to Noah’s bed.

Silence fell between us for a long moment and Noah remained unmoving, eyes staring straight at me.

“What’s the point of this, Lethia?” He asked.

My eyes snapped away from the sharpness of my nails and sliced them into him. “Excuse me?”

“Lucifer won’t stop looking for you. He wants you back and it’s probably better that you’re with him instead of me,” Noah said with his hands on his hips.

I couldn’t figure out where the shift in attitude came from and it had me rising from the bed so I could stand toe to toe with him.

“This is pointless,” he continued. “You can’t feel my touch. You can’t feel anything about me. How would a relationship between us work?”

My face turned to stone, crimson eyes deepening with his words.

“That’s not fair, Noah. That’s not anything I can control,” I reminded him.

“Is that why you just magically dropped here?” He scoffed. “If I was going to fucking die you should have told me from day one.”

“I didn’t know. I swear,” I almost begged for him to believe me.

He didn’t say a thing, simply shrugged before crossing his arms over his chest. The silence between us was deafening and when I felt the tears burning in the corners of my eyes, I stood up straighter. I refused to cry for this mortal, no matter how I felt about him.

“Fuck this,” I grumbled while ripping my jacket from one of the hooks in his room and throwing it on me.

When I brushed past him, slamming my shoulder into his, Noah stumbled back but I gave no indication the push impacted me. But when the lone tear slipped down my cheek, I could hear his soft intake of breath.

“Lethia, I’m-.”

“Save it! I’m going to get some air,” I spat while slamming his bedroom door shut behind me.

By now, his roommates were awake and lingering throughout the house downstairs. As I reached the front door, Michael’s voice called out after me.

“Lethia, are you alright?”

But I didn’t bother saying anything. It wasn’t worth it. None of these mortals mattered anymore. My life wasn’t something that concerned them anymore and in the haste of my fight with Noah, I had one goal in mind.

Find Uriel.

However, my thunderous footsteps stopped when four figures stepped out of the dark street and boxed me in. My head snapped in all different directions and when the one familiar face stepped even closer, a low scowl pulled on my face.

“Ceecee,” I snarled.

The man adjusted the black bandana around his forehead before winking. “Nice to see you as well, Lethia. Although I must say, you’ve changed since we've seen you last.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

The man with spiked up black hair spoke next. “Do you know how long we’d been looking for you?”

“For all eternity, Jake?” I joked with not an ounce of humor in my voice.

“I never remembered you being such a jokester,” said Jinx, one of the other men.

I turned towards him with an unamused shrug. “But I do remember Lucifer always sending his little bitches to do his dirty work.”

The last man, taller than the others, wore a sour smile.

“Always the conversationalist, Lonny,” I faux sighed. “Nothing to say this time?”

His dark eyes never left my face. “I said everything I needed to say before.”

“Oh, that’s right,” I snapped. “You accused me of keeping Lucifer from his true potential. I was a snake in the grass.”

“Was I wrong?” Lonny extended his hands wide. “We all fell for your transgression.”

My upper lip recoiled. “Lucifer led me astray. It’s because of his betrayal to the King we all fell.”

Ceecee made a show of groaning while tying away the long strands of hair from his face. “You can come with us the easy way or the hard way.”

“NO! Please, not the hard way,” I overplayed my helpless voice before a dark chuckle fell from my lips. “We know all of you together are no match for me. I was higher ranked than you four up in the Kingdom.”

“Things are different now,” Jake said, his leather jacket slick from the earlier rain.

“You know, I’m surprised Maraxa isn’t here,” I clicked my tongue.

Lonny chuckled low behind me. “Lucifer was upset with her failed attempts so she’s chained in hell.”

I cocked a brow while glancing over my shoulder at him. “I take it as Lucifer is there, watching her beg for his forgiveness?”

“No, he’s actually been up here in the mortal realm for quite some time. Closer than you think,” Jinxed explained.

My arms were extended wide with a playful smirk on my lips. “I’m right here. Tell him to come and get me.”

“I already have.”

A voice inside my mind spoke and my wings exploded from my back as I turned towards that voice only to be met with darkness as it overtook all of my senses.

NOAH

I sat in my computer chair, knee bouncing so fast I was sure the guys could hear the floor shaking downstairs. I couldn’t stop biting the skin on the pad of my thumb as the worry began eating away at me. Lethia had been gone for almost an hour and with no way to reach her, I was at a loss of what to do.

I never meant the things I said. Us being together, whatever this relationship was, wasn’t pointless. I knew it was wrong of me to use the fact she couldn't feel my touch against her but when Lethia told me that Lucifer was not only after her soul but mine as well, I got scared. If you would have told me last month that I’d find myself falling for a fallen angel and had to worry about Lucifer coming after her, I would have laughed in your face.

My life had been soley Bad Omens until Lethia arrived. Now things changed and Lethia slowly became top on my priority list. For example, finding where she went.

Just as I sat up from my chair, ready to head downstairs and ask the guys for help, Jesse appeared at the open doorway of my bedroom.

“Hey,” he said. “Everything alright?”

No. Far from it. My girlfriend's, who's not my girlfriend, her ex-boyfriend is after her soul and mine.

I shifted on my feet while stuffing my hands in my pockets. “I don’t think so. Lethia and I had a fight. She stormed out of here almost an hour ago and I thought she’d be back by now but I’m worried something is wrong.”

Jesse nodded and held out his keys. “We can take my car.”

Quickly slipping on a sweater, I followed him down the stairs and filled in the rest of the guys in on our plan. To which Jolly and Orie said they’d go out looking as well and Michael would stay in case she came back.

Two hours later after scouring almost all of downtown L.A and our neighborhood twice, there was no sign of Lethia. But it wasn’t until we were walking back up the steps to the house that my eyes caught sight of the large black feather there.

How had I missed that before?

I gently covered it with my shoe as Orie, Jolly, and Jesse walked up.

“Have you tried calling her?” Orie wondered.

“Voicemail,” I lied, knowing she didn’t have a phone.

It was now mid afternoon and I knew the guys had plans to work on the studio for a bit so after thanking them for their help, I told them I was going to hang outside for the time being.

Once alone, I hastily picked up the feather beneath my shoe and felt that all too familiar feeling of my soul being dragged through the dark subconscious of Lethia’s mind.

I landed five houses down from my own to see a group of four men standing over the crumbled body of Lethia, who was protecting herself with her large wings.

“Hm, it’s a shame what she became. Are we sure he’ll even want her back,” a man wearing a bandana asked.

The tallest of the group and dark curly hair snorted. “If he doesn’t, I’m sure we could find use for her down there. We’re always in need of slaves.”

One of the men with spiky hair lifted Lethia’s body with ease and it was then I got a good look at her face. No marks indicating she was hurt but my heart stopped in my chest when I noticed how white and vacant her eyes were.

“Is Lucifer in the same place we left him?”

The man with the bandana nodded. “As soon as he found out where Lethia was staying, he refused to leave. He wanted to remain close.”

“Remember what he said Jake, not a hair on her head is to be misplaced. He wants her in all her glory.”

Jake rolled his eyes while adjusting his grip on Lethia. “How do you think he’ll react when he smells that mortal on her?”

“It will be a death that I cannot wait to experience,” The taller man smirked before all four of them extended their wings, all differentiating in size and color.

My eyes blinked a few times as I felt the earth tilt back on its axis, everything coming back to me with a force that had my breath shaking. Four angels took Lethia and they had plans to bring her back to Lucifer. I didn’t know where but what I did know was that they were close. And that once he found out Lethia and I had been together, it would only mean one thing for her.

Death.

“Fuck,” I raked a shaking hand through my hair. “Fuck!”

The sounds of fluttering wings echoed behind me and I swiftly turned on my feet, expecting to see Lethia but instead saw the crow. It was perched on a branch up in the large willow tree in our yard and its wings were extended wide, showcasing the white stripe between its feathers.

“Where is she?” I asked the bird.

Its response was a simple caw.

“You’re her familiar. You know where she is,” my voice raised.

Now the crow didn’t make a noise. Its dark eyes watched me intently as I did the same to it. I could feel the anger beginning to boil over that stemmed from my fight with Lethia and an afternoon spent trying to look for her, only to be met with this fucking bird that wouldn’t stop staring at me.

“If you’re not going to be any fucking help, then leave me alone!” I yelled while throwing a rock at the bird, hitting its left wing.

It cried out in pain before fluttering out of the tree and off into a direction I didn’t bother to follow. There was only one way I could possibly talk with Lethia and figure out where she was.

I needed to go to sleep.

LETHIA

My eyes slowly opened, a feeling behind them causing a slight groan to fall from my lips. This was a new feeling; pain. I hadn't felt something like this since I fell to earth all those months ago.

So why could I feel my insides burning?

Groggily looking to my left, I took in the chains around my wrist with a curious pull of my brows. There were markings all along the cuffs and my eyes doubled when I recognized those markings.

Ancient markings. Ones that hadn't been seen in eons.

Ancient markings that were created for one thing and one thing only. I knew because it was me who created them.

Power binding markings. To help keep an angel trapped in imprisonment.

"No, no," I whispered, trying with all my strength to fight against my bindings.

It was futile. There was no way out.

When I looked to my right and saw the same bindings, I did my best to remain calm. There had to be a way out of this. I was the one who created these sigils, surely I could find a way out.

I thought back to what happened moments before my capture. The fight, the accusations, and the hurt look in his eyes.

"Noah," I breathed while closing my eyes, trying to dream walk into his mind.

Blocked.

Cursing under my breath, I knew the reason why I was blocked had to be because he wasn't asleep.

A sudden movement from my left made my head snap up and the rage festered low in my gut when those four familiar men stepped into view.

"You were always the ones sent to do his dirty work," I chuckled while rising to my knees.

Ceecee smiled wickedly. "He was tired of waiting. Maraxa clearly wasn't the right one for the job."

I clicked my tongue against my teeth. "Right, you said she’s chained in hell. Was that before or after trying to get into bed with him?"

"No, malach. That place belongs to you."

I froze at hearing that name; it had been so fucking long since it was uttered in my presence.

Angel in Hebrew.

There was only one being that ever called me that.

No. No. No. It can't be.

The dark voice loomed in the shadows and I whirled my head to the right in time to see his face emerge from the darkness; those piercing blue eyes locking into my soul.

"Lucifer," I shuddered while pulling on the bindings, to no avail.

He cocked his head to the side, those eyes drinking in the sight of me before he bent low to his knees. Our faces were mere inches from each other and with one gaze down to those lips, memories of us lying together up in the Kingdom replayed in my mind on a loop.

I couldn’t figure out why he looked different from the images I had been seeing around town lately.

“I played with your mind, creating a different version of me. It was easy to control you, Lethia. Your mind has become weak since the fall,” Jinx said.

I snarled while rising to my feet, ready to attack, but was pulled back by my bindings.

“I should have known you were inside my mind, Jinx. This entire time, I thought it was Maraxa.”

He chuckled darkly while crossing his arms over his chest. “Please, she was weak before the fall. She couldn’t hold a candle to the things I’ve done.”

Lucifer held up a hand when I was about to have a witty remark.

“Enough!” His voice boomed throughout the small room I was held in.

The four men behind him slinked farther back into the darkness, like puppies who were just scolded for chewing something they shouldn’t have.

“Lucifer’s bitches,” I repeated my words from earlier with a smirk.

His hand gently cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at him in those blue depths.

"I haven't been called Lucifer in quite some time, not since the fall. Humans aren't too keen on it when you tell them your name is literally the devil. You can call me my mortal name."

I swallowed thickly. "Which is?"

The grin that spread to his face was a wicked one and made my heart drop with fear.

“You can call me Andy.”

#noah sebastian #bad omens #noah sebastian fanfiction #noah sebastian smut #noah sebastian angst #noah sebastian x fallenangel!oc #mercy noah sebastian

55 notes · View notes

viviennevermillion · 3 months

Text

Mortals and Fools — First Look #1 (Coming Soon)

Want to read a SFW coming-of-age fantasy novel with evil gods, two adult aspec protagonists and magic? Consider supporting this project!

Author's Note: After a total of 8 years of posting fanfiction on this account, I am excited to announce that I am finally starting my first long-term original work as an author! Goal is to get this series published as an actual novel but until then, I will be uploading chapters online as I write them, hopefully building an audience in the process! Mortals and Fools will be available on Wattpad and potentially other platforms. The first 4 chapters will be uploaded to Tumblr as well. Over the next few weeks I will keep uploading promo posts with new characters and more info! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me as a writer over the years and welcome to everyone who's new here!

Summary: In the land of Elsthess, brilliant but arrogant Dr. Immanuel Faust is doing his best to follow the teachings of the Goddess of Wisdom, live up to his late grandmother's expectations and hide the fact that he has been seeing strange, mystical apparitions all his life. When his pupil becomes afflicted with an ancient curse and the things he has seen turn out to be more than just hallucinations, Immanuel must forge a contract with Morgan, a being from another realm who's ready to humble him at every turn, and learn his religion's most despised art: magic. As he steps outside of the simple world he has grown up in, he slowly comes to realize that there is much more to learn for him still.

Themes:

The Meaning of Wisdom & Growth

Unlearning harmful narratives and prejudices

Religious Trauma

Healing from Abuse

Rebuilding trust in others

Learning to understand others

Navigating radical changes during adulthood

Elitism and class inequality

The problems with the ideal of meritocracy

Queerplatonic & Alterous Attraction

Addiction

Gender Dysphoria

What this story contains:

A variety of fun magical powers!

Evil Gods & Forces from other Realms!

Queer rep! (demisexual & aroace protagonists, a trans man and a wlw couple)

Mysteries to unravel

The coming-of-age fantasy adventures you're used to from YA novels but with characters in their 20s and struggles of adulthood

Humor

My blood, sweat and tears as an author

The Cast: Introducing 3 Characters

Here's some info on the three characters in the header, from left to right!

#1 — Dr. Immanuel Icarus Faust

❝ It wasn't supposed to be like this... I've failed... as both a doctor and a man of faith. I wanted to follow your teachings, dear Goddess, and guide those who seek wisdom and knowledge, as grandmother did... but I couldn't even save one innocent girl. Have I become godless? ❝

Raised by his grandmother, the High Priestess of Solbrynn's temple, Immanuel was taught from an early age on to aspire to be the best in everything he attempted to do and dedicate his life to wisdom, in order to make the Goddess Adira proud. Having become a renowned physician at the age of 28, Immanuel understands himself as his kingdom's ideal of a self-made man: a scholar who can achieve everything he puts his mind to, no matter the circumstances. As a result, he has put himself on a pedestal, believing that those who achieved less than him had all the chances and merely didn't use them. Fearing nothing more than failure and becoming anything like his absent, alcoholic father; Immanuel is bound for a rude awakening.

#2 — Morgan Miralaith

❝ While you were having your existential crisis in the mad scientist laboratory you call your bedroom, I took the liberty to read your grandmother's diary. The good news is, I finally understand where all the hubris comes from. ❝

Morgan, belonging to a long-lived species from the realm of Calliah, is the second-in-command for the Elsthess Resistance against the Plague Avatars. While the Resistance on Mhorunn regards her as a capable leader and a skilled fighter; using fire magic to blaze her way to victory; it is clear to most that she has many secrets and ulterior motives. She cares about others in her own way, yet hardly lets anyone close to her. With her mischievous demeanor and cynical nature, Morgan has made it her new mission to recruit Immanuel for the Resistance and, while at it, shatter his very distorted self-image and worldview. Upon forging a contract with her, Immanuel believes that he has sold his soul to a demon. It is only upon meeting others of her kind that he realizes that really is just her personality.

#3 — Mortis Grimm

�� People reject that which is foreign to them. You of all people should know this. Still, my personal aspirations and origins are of no concern to you. Remember that. ❝

While there are several people from the Realm of Calliah in Elsthess, the realm that Mortis Grimm originated from is unknown. He seems to be the only one of his kind and there is something sinister about him. Wielding powerful magic that matches no other in recorded nature, Mortis, despite being the leader of the Resistance, is a big mystery to all of its members. Usually donning a Plague Doctor mask, Morgan is among the few to have seen his face. He is Mhorunn's greatest ally, but hardly a trusted one. Most understand that he could just as well become its greatest enemy one day.

Interested in reading more and receiving updates as they're posted? Comment on this post and tell me if you'd like to be added to the taglist! Reblogs are appreciated to spread the word! 💞

Taglist — @gwaaaaar @silveryloneliness @noxochicoztliv @justletmeon12 @averytirednerd @letsallsleepoverwork @styrofauxm @non-pressurizeddiamond @mangoinacan13 @amateurmasksmith @kenobiblue @soru-dee @pictures-of-the-stars @elf-osamu @animusicnerd @jaytherat-hometothereblog @watcherofeternalflame

#fantasy novel #aroace #ace representation #aroace representation #demisexual #indie author #webnovel #wattpad #author #writing #authorblr #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr #indie fantasy #novel promo

64 notes · View notes

vaguely-concerned · 6 months

Text

Happy Grace/Pan Vibes For The Soul

"How can I, with you in the way?"/"(Laughs) The floor is yours!"

First of all I'm honestly just so charmed by how genuinely delighted Pan seems to be at watching Grace finding her voice and learning to enjoy using her power, I think that's where I started to take a shine to him. (also seems quite central to his character/romance in general because it's a thing that recurs through their relationship -- he tells her "I'm enjoying it if you're enjoying it" straight out at one point and that's definitely always there in the subtext). He buys a music studio for her just in case she ever wants to return to making music again even when she's not the muse anymore just because he loves her singing and has seen it make her happy before, how is that not the sweetest goddamn thing in the world??? Pan and Oracle in shared first place as stans for Grace musically

For real though, 'I Can Teach You' is sooo... even when you don't join forces with him Pan teaches Grace so many things in that song, it's a thematic tutorial as well as a gameplay one in many ways. For me I think the most impactful subtexts are 'This is a tricky situation, change is here and it's difficult, but you have more control and agency here than you think' ("You're in control!" "It's your song!"), and this sense that, y'know... there can be joy and playfulness and discovery in setting out into the unknown, not just fear and uncertainty.

dude... I wanna be in cahoots with & sing playful duets with you for the rest of my life bro (amorous intent)

Pros: Hell yeah look at her go! 🥰

Cons: Uh-oh look at her go! 😬

I love that Grace can bring Pan's motif into 'Challenging A Queen' and be called the fuck out by Persephone btw. why u keepin' your guard up girl uwu

'you gave up the only thing worth having -- for your little mortal friend' he says, giving up everything for his little once-again-mortal friend literally the next day fhsdkjfhsad who are you fooling buddy? not even yourself at this point surely??? (dialogue for if you save Freddie by giving up the eidolon)

my observations on the grace/pan dynamic across the different personality traits (yes I've done a run of each romancing him I am normal about it):

Clever!Grace: Pan seems to set out to be a trickster mentor of sorts, and Clever!Grace flips the uno reverse card on him and goes ‘Not if I trickster mentor you first bitch be honest about your feelings or perish challenge engage’. Probably the most birds of a feather combination (and indeed it’s the Blue version of the soundtrack that shows off his romance — also his tie and glasses are on the cover for that one :) ).

Charming!Grace: Performative puppy dog eyes-off whenever either of them wants to get their way. 🥺4🥺. Pan is provably a soft touch from the Charming option to find Persephone before Challenging A Queen so I feel he probably tends to buckle faster but it’s a close thing. Local trickster god completely disarmed by someone being nice to him.

Kickass!Grace: “Be real with me or Imma kick your ass”/”Promise? ;)”/"...>:)"

I am always thinking about the way he steps up in The Trial when romanced (and the way it's the only one where Athena is genuinely shocked and appalled fhskadj). there is something about him that's like... he keeps protesting against 'innocent' and he's probably right haha, but there is certainly an almost fundamental lack of any active malice there that he doesn't fully admit to himself or to grace until this moment. he is doing this for grace, but it is also a confession about something really deep in himself that seems to be very vulnerable for him in its sincerity -- that he really doesn't mean to or more importantly want to cause harm (I don't wanna dance/with blood on my hands). admitting to his own basically good heart finally seems to be the bigger, scarier thing for him, more than facing the prospect of dying. he's experiencing the mortifying ordeal of being known and I for one am so proud of him

"I'm just here for the dance"

the way he sings that just to her and completely changes the meaning of it from what he said with it before, from using it to keep her out to inviting her in...

also can you imagine how badly the kill bill sirens must be going off in Grace's head in all variations of this scene no matter who steps up, considering what happened to Freddie just days before....... oof!

*incensed whisper* are you fucking kidding me with this what am I supposed to do with myself here

love these too

I really like the visual repeats of crossing the pond to the tree and back as a metaphor for them getting closer (or rather, him letting her closer, it is very much His Space). he retreats back there towards the end of 'Share This Dance', and that's the point where Grace puts her foot down and essentially says 'no. you come meet me honestly in the middle this time or this isn't happening'. and in 'The Trial' he does and then some!

I meant what I sang. I'm not a good man. If Athena had taken me up on my offer, the Idols would have been better off But I can try to be better. You make me want to try.

fun fact: if you break up with him after The Trial (YEAH you can still break off the romances at that point! it's wild honestly fsjadk), Grace tells him he should try to be better ‘for himself’ not for her... and he calls that (i.e. himself) ‘not much of an incentive’. My guy don’t make me break out the ‘Have you tried therapy’ prompt again. He takes it very calmly and gracefully under the circumstances but he's also like. quietly resigned and subdued. I tried it once for Science and never will again but there you go I bring my knowledge to this altar of sadness lol

you see the thing is I would forgive him for just about anything too I understand why so many of the characters in-game can't stay mad at him for any length of time

he starts the game by asking her to take his hand and he ends it on asking her to take his hand (and she does)...

:') let's share this dance

#stray gods #stray gods pan #stray gods grace #grace x pan #better late than never! I said I would make this post and by god I meant it I love these two with all my soul #stray gods meta

74 notes · View notes

sauron-kraut · 14 days

Note

Sauwitchking …because they’re running out of time

Heheehehehheheeee, I'm rubbing my greedy little hands as we speak; thank you so much for this one.

Here you go!

Prompt list here

38. ...because they're running out of time

Mairon wakes up to a trembling body beside him. The Witch-King is shivering violently under the thick wolf pelt they are sharing, the parts of him that are exposed to the moonlight pale and sheening with cold sweat.

Mairon cups his cheek, making eye contact, his face wearing a look of concern. “Are you cold, dearest?”

The king can only muster frantic nodding.

“Come here; I will warm you,” Mairon says, and draws him close with ease. He has become frail. Mairon tucks the wolf pelt in around them and cradles the king in a tight embrace. He presses their bodies together, still naked from earlier that night. The king’s dwindling strength had been apparent.

The once proud Witch-King buries his head in the crook of Mairon’s neck. When he speaks, it is no more than a whisper against the Maia’s skin, but it is calm.

“What is happening to me?”

The ring, dearest, the ring. Where comes power comes sacrifice. A smile forms on Mairon’s lips against the Witch-Kings dark hair. You shall be mine, more than ever.

“Shhhh, it’s alright, it’s going to be alright. I am here.” Mairon is gently rocking him in his arms now.

“Am I dying, lord?”

“Fear not, for eternity awaits,” Mairon says and lifts the king’s head to press a kiss on his parted lips, tips of their tongues touching weakly.

Soon, the body in his arms will be no more, the lips and the warm mouth and the clammy skin. A thing to discard.

Mairon will take his hand and raise him from the ashes of mortality. Necessary, and a favour.

No, he will be better for Mairon, he will be stronger, and he will be forever. At last, he will be entirely his.

#asks #writing game #my writing #m writes #mairon #sauron #witch king of angmar #silmarillion #the silmarillion #silmarillion fanfiction #silm fanfic #tolkien #tolkien fanfiction #tolkien fanfic #mairon x witch king of angmar #cw illness #not beta'd #writing prompt #ficlet

27 notes · View notes

streaminn · 1 year

Text

Tongues & teeth reunion, where Wednesday sees the result of old werewolf teachings

"what happened, Enid?" just hearing Wednesday's voice has the once looming werewolf to slump closer, shoulders dropping and doing all but melt into the floor at the concern she can hear in that tone.

Enid smiles, all tight lips and bright happy eyes. God does she miss seeing Wednesday. All they've been doing is texting and Enid has been wanting for so long that she feared that she'd forget her voice.

"I got better!" is Enid's cheery reply. "the olden time werewolves are so weird, Nes but I learned during the winter and now here I am!" I'm better now, so much better- is left unsaid.

Wednesday stares and Enid can see the way her jaw tenses. She's contemplating, Enid gasps in her head and she's so tempted to grasp at that chin and ma-

"you're different," Wednesday cuts in, her arms crossing as she stares up. "What did they do to you?"

Enid is lost, her head tilting to the side as she wonders where Wednesday is getting at. She stares down at her jacket, a dark blue almost black color.

She's starting to worry a little. She didn't look that different right? She's wearing the uniform! And a jacket sure but it was just there for aesthetic purposes! It's just january after all, what if Wednesday is cold? Better to be safe than sorry yknow.

"I learned," Enid starts, her smile dropping to one a little bit more worried. "Is it the jacket? I thought you don't like color?"

Wednesday narrows her eyes and Enid gulps, straightening up immedietely as she stares back. A blink back is her answer and the shorter roommate looks away.

It should make Enid feel proud, to push off such posturing but it makes a part of her shudder in disgust at such easy forfeiting.

(where was the fire? The fight-)

Has she been coming wrong? Maybe it's her actions, werewolves have a whole different way of moving after all and Wednesday...

She's special, but she wouldn't understand.

"Mortals are different, Enid," Romulus says, his hand tight around her nape. "they don't know any better, so we have to teach them at times."

"I abhor color," Wednesday agrees. "but it suits you." a sigh. "do not alter yourself for me."

Too late, a part of her cackles. I'll become anything you need, Dear. Your sword, your shield, the hound to hunt and take whoever you wish-

Enid turns red, eyes widening and she steps up. It doesn't take long for her to shrug off the jacket and wrap it around Wednesday instead.

There's a flutter in her stomach and a rush of heartbeat against her ears. Is it hers? Wednesday's? She doesn't know.

A laugh comes from Enid's lips. The jacket hangs off Wednesday, way too big to properly fit the girl and it makes something akin to delight spark inside her chest.

Enid's hands lay near the hood, fiddling with the fabric as she speaks.

"it's for you anyways, " the werewolf's head is ducked and she knows of the symbolisms. Her neck chills at the lack of protection, open for any threat.

It's a sign.

Wednesday doesn't say a thing but Enid can hear the beatbeatbeat of her mortal's heart.

It makes Enid smiles, all teeth and delighted.

#Wenclair #Enid sinclair #wednesday addams #tongues & teeth au #Writing

187 notes · View notes

imminent-danger-came · 16 days

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/acoraxia/751189590385328128/i-do-want-to-like-macaque-but-the-way-the-only?source=share

I feel like this post is wrong, and not just bc I love macaque, just the shadowpeach relationship and the parallels they provide to other relationships and macaque parallels to other characters feels like such a vital part to lmk as a whole. But I'm not good at words, so asking for your imput

I don't want to, like, "gossip" behind anyone's back or anything, so I'll open this up to a discussion with @acoraxia! Hello, how are you, I hope you're having a good day.

(Here's the post if others are interested in readin' it!)

Now, I love Macaque, and I think he's one of the most important characters in the show. I presume "theater kid antics" is referring to Macaque's dramatic nature, but I'd hardly call that his defining characteristic. Macaque is a loser: he's spiteful, he's selfish, he's cowardly, he's paranoid, he's god awful at communication, he's obsessive (particularly over Wukong)...but we've also seen the ways he can put the world/others above himself (3x13, 3x14, 4x10, 4x14), and how he's capable of self-reflection and overcoming his past hurt/hatred ("Wukong was on a path of self-destruction...we all were"). We're, dare I say, at a point now where I'd even call Macaque reliable, in his own way. He'll show up for MK & Wukong, he'll "stick his neck out" for them, and I'm honestly so proud that he chose to stay till the end in 4x14 (versus his choice to run in 3x10). It's wild to me that he's the only 3 of the monkeys who has actually had a positive character arc, but that's just where we're at currently.

I think the claim that you could "remove him from the story and it wouldn’t change much" is greatly downplaying Macaque's role and importance to Wukong, both narratively/thematically and as a character. DBK and Wukong weren't close, but for Macaque, Wukong was his entire world. He (along with Wukong's fear of mortality) was the reason the great Monkey King reached for power in the first place. Both DBK and Azure had their own goals outside of Wukong (not that DBK particularly cared for SWK anyways)—what's important about Macaque as a character is that his motivation and loyalty was only for Wukong, and not towards any greater purpose or goal. Macaque and MK are very similar in that way: neither of them have lofty aspirations, and they are completely content with "quitting while they're ahead" ("Why didn't he just stop, right here? He was already so much stronger than anyone ever needed to be" ; "You're the one who wouldn't quit while we were ahead!"). Both hate change, and both have been hurt by their belief in Wukong.

I'm admittedly a bit...I guess confused, by this opinion, as entire episodes (1x09, 2x07, 3x04, 4x10, 4x11) are centered around Macaque and his relationship to both Wukong and MK. Macaque is there to show us the ways in which Wukong has both abandoned and hurt the ones he loves; he's a very important foil to both MK and Mei, as well as other characters like Azure. That's Monkie Kid's main theme right, the fact that you'll hurt your loved ones and they'll hurt you, but you love and care about them anyways (I have a whole tag around lmk's hurt/pain theme, for those interested).

Let's look at a few examples of this, particularly involving Macaque, Wukong, Mei, and MK:

Macaque: "Come on! Show me the real Sun Wukong! The old you would have leveled this whole mountain range to stop me, but you're scared of hurting some kid? Pathetic!"

(1x09 Macaque)

Sun Wukong: "STOP! If you hurt that kid I'll-" Macaque: "-What. Make things worse for MK?"

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

Mei: "Time and time again I've watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure out EVERYTHING on his own. Don't you realize you're hurting the people who care about you the most?"

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

MK: "Until I know what I am, what my destiny is? I can’t risk hurting the people I care about—the ones I have left."

(4x08 The Brotherhood)

(the 3x10 and 4x08 ones are direct parallels in particular, which I know I never shut up about them, but they're so, so important to understand for the Monkey's (+ Mei) arcs.)

In seasons 3 and 4, both MK and LBD have posited that no matter what you do, whether or not what you think you're doing is right, it all leads "to pain". That's an extremely consistent thread throughout the entirety of the show, going as far back as 1x01 ("Whenever I try to do anything, I just gunk everything up!" -> "No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain [...] it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!"). While Wukong never wanted to hurt his loved ones (for the sweet sweet "This isn't what I wanted!" Azure parallel), he did. He's a very flawed Monkey, but he does try and he has changed for the better, and that's what's important, right? That's something even Macaque has understood by the s4 special ("Monkey King really was a bad guy?" "That's what I believed...what Azure would have you believe. Then, he met him: the monk.")

You can't really...pawn-off Macaque's role onto other people. Structurally, we needed a tragic best-friend character who was deeply wounded by Wukong in the past, who has then come to accept/forgive him (for the most part, give-or-take). That way, you can have someone who has seen/experienced Wukong's flaws then defend him, both for MK's sake and in contrast to Azure having a literal world-ending breakdown over (his crush on) Wukong. DBK can't be that character, Azure can't be that character, and the Mayor is a much weaker antagonist for s3, unable to provoke MK + the main gang in quite the same way—as well as being completely removed from the themeing and Wukong's hero/warrior dynamic.

Macaque, as demonstrated in 2x07, views the "hero" as someone who leaves, someone who abandons their friends to the shadows. MK completely up ends that world-view in 3x10, refusing to abandon Mei "when she needs" him ("We're heroes! It's what we do!"). It's literally one of my favorite scenes in the whole show, and it completely hinges on Macaque being there and then leaving (much like Macaque's arc hinges on Mei being the fourth ring).

I'm just like...I personally can't imagine a version of lmk where Macaque isn't there to be a foil to both MK and Wukong. I rewatched Shadow Play just yesterday, and that episode is so delightful, let me tell you:

"Welcome, viewers, to a shadow play the likes of which have never been seen! It follows the tragic tale of a legendary Warrior, and how those who bring light into this world inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear..."

Ah you mean like...hurting the people you care about the most, perchance.

2x07 parallels 4x02, especially between the shadow-lamp itself and the scroll—while Wukong's MIA, Macaque regales his memories of Wukong, imprisoning MK's friends and forcing MK to fight "dark" versions of them? Sound familiar?

(familiar tales...new adventures...)

Which, that's a bit of a tangent, but I do think it demonstrates the ways in which Macaque is important to the foundation of this story. MK and Wukong, Wukong and Macaque, MK and Mei...those are the core dynamics of the show for me, you know. If Macaque wasn't there, I quite honestly don't know where we'd be

#I didn't get into Wukong V Macaque mentoring but I also didn't feel like it. Maybe another time #this is reminding me that I need to write my Macaque and Tang parallels meta...#Cause I like them...#3x08 really did so much for us we should all talk about her more #also *cough* about to be salty here #for the love of GOD the Mayor was not an important character. He was there to support LBD #And he's even a nice Azure parallel. But he's not significant. You know the reason the Mayor didn't go after the gang in s3?#Because Macaque needed that screen time. Because that Monkey is what was important to focus on #(<- coming from a place of annoyance that the Mayor is more popular than LBD)#lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk theme: hurt #lmk meta #lmk Macaque #hero warrior motif #asks #anon #mark my words eventually Macaque will defend Wukong from MK. Mark my fucking words

18 notes · View notes

didyoutrydynamite · 10 months

Note

Ok now I have to see how Thalestris reacts when she learns of Boldrei’s other shenanigans involving Jaune

Thalestris: *Honing her skills, slashing back against elementals shaped into warrior forms, until she suddenly hears a chime on the wind* My daughter, she prays to me! *Blindly throws her sword into the last elemental's face and it crumbles into rubble and dust. She takes a bronze chalice of wine and sits at a whirlpool's edge that shows a vision of her daughter, Pyrrha Nikos, kneeling in prayer*

Pyrrha: *Hands clasped* Oh, mighty warrior goddess, I come to you with a heart filled with both trepidation and excitement. As your daughter, I have always sought strength and valor in battle, following your teachings with unwavering dedication.

Thalestris: *Smiles fondly and sips from her chalice, thinking to herself* (And you have done me proud, daughter. You've already proven to be one of the most capable warriors of the mortal realm. Any obstacle the Demon Lord sends your way will be crushed, for not even they can deny their fate by your hands)

Pyrrha: But now, a new emotion has awakened within me, and I find myself drawn to a kind adventurer named Jaune Arc.

Thalestris: *Spits out her wine* WHAT?!

Pyrrha: Mother, I seek your guidance and wisdom, for I am unsure how to navigate these uncharted waters of romance. Jaune's spirit is gentle, and his smile brings warmth to even the coldest of battles. Yet, I fear my warrior's heart may lead me astray from the path you have set before me.

Thalestris: *Shakes her head in horror* (Jaune Arc, Boldrei's Pet! That halfwit that she's been whoring out all across the realms to impregnate every living sow is now seducing MY daughter?! He won't just lead her off the path, he'll drag her down and destroy her destiny and the world with it!!)

Pyrrha: In this moment of vulnerability, I turn to you, my goddess mother, knowing that your guidance will light my way through the shadows of doubt. May your divine wisdom help me find the courage to open my heart to the possibility of love while remaining true to the warrior you have molded me to be.

Thalestris: *Crushes her chalice in hand with ease, then her divine fury melting it into molten scrap. Her voice hissed with sulfuric vitriol* Fear not, my beloved daughter, for I am Thalestris, the goddess of wisdom and war. I promise to shield you from the allure of this snake in knight's armor. His honeyed words are are his venom and this feeling in your heart is the poison seeping in. This. Will. Not. Stand.

#dnd au #thalestris #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #boldrei

93 notes · View notes

applepiewinchesters · 2 years

Text

Ave Satanas, Bitch (Michael Langdon x fem!reader)

A/N: Michael Langdon is one of my favorite characters and I finally decided to write something about him to post! I hope you enjoy even if I did kill a few favorite characters (also my faves but a good story about the antichrist has to have a little murder). Anyway, thank you for reading and let me know what you think.

Word Count: 1,248

Summary: When the witches come knocking at the outpost, Michael underestimates what you will do to help him continue his reign of the new world.

You watched from your seat on the bed as Ms. Mead helped Michael into his red velvet jacket. He looked handsome, red truly did suit him.

When he turned, looking to you for approval, you smiled.

“Very handsome,” you reassured, standing up, your black dress skimming the floor as you did so.

It was Michael’s turn to smile, but he suddenly tilted his head slightly, listening.

“We have guests, I believe some of our residents have risen from the dead, powerful ones at that,” he spoke, turning to you again.

He came over to you, taking your face in his hands.

“Promise me you will stay here, this is not your fight,” Michael instructed you, making your brow furrow.

“I’m not leaving you to fend for yourself, I’m a big girl Michael,” you told him.

“That you are little one, but I am not the mortal in this relationship, and I cannot afford to lose you,” Michael spoke, sterner this time.

“Fine,” you pouted, making Michael chuckle.

“I’ll be back soon, and then we’ll go home,” he reassured, and you nodded.

Michael pressed a kiss to your forehead and let go of your face.

“I love you,” you told him as he made his way towards the bedroom door.

“And I you,” Michael replied, and with that, he disappeared out the door with Ms. Mead following faithfully behind him.

You sat back down, picking at your nails. If the witches were here, you couldn’t help but be nervous. They could be powerful, especially when all combined. But Michael had grown even more powerful since the fallout, practicing his skills daily.

You were confident in him but losing him was a deep-rooted fear of yours. You had no idea what would become of yourself if he was not by your side.

It seemed forever had passed before the sound of gunshots made your head snap up. You stood from the bed, quickly walking to the door, and cracking it open, listening.

You heard footsteps and hid behind the door as someone ran past. After they passed you snuck out the door, making your way to the stairs just in time to see Michael stand from the floor, covered in blood.

Madison Montgomery stood at the bottom on the staircase, before she could speak, with a quick flick of Michael’s wrist, her head exploded and her body collapsed to the floor, making you gasp, catching Michael’s attention.

He turned, almost shocked to see you there, “Get back to the room, now!”.

You opened your mouth to protest but there was a resounding pop and you were back in the bedroom. Cursing Michael quietly you moved towards the door and turned the knob.

It seems in sending you back to your room Michael hadn’t thought to lock you inside. Before leaving the room, you grabbed your bag, retrieving a dagger you’d brought with.

While Michael reassured he’d always be there to protect you, he seemed to need your help now more than you needed his.

Sneaking from the room once more you made your way down a hall, hearing a familiar voice you turned the corner, just in time to see Michael rip a women’s heart from her chest and take a bite.

Coco, a witch you recognized from the academy before the war, stood in front of Michael. You had no idea how powerful she was, so without hesitation you came at her from the side, plunging your dagger into her neck.

A shower of blood sprayed you, ruining your dress and painting your skin red.

Coco collapsed, blood pooling beneath her.

When you turned to Michael, he had a proud smile on his face.

“Evil looks good on you darling,” he complimented, making you giggle.

“I learned from the best,” you replied, reaching down, and pulling your dagger from the witch’s neck.

Michael smirked, “It seems I underestimated you, come, we have a coven to finish.”

You nodded and followed Michael down the hall, a pool of blood appeared halfway down, a trail following it, neither of you were bleeding, so that means one of the witches were wounded. Perfect.

Michael stopped suddenly, pulling you behind him, Cordelia stood at the end of one of the adjoining halls.

“How did you think this was going to end?” Michael suddenly asked. “Prophecy is inevitable. I was always going to win Miss Supreme.

“Not on your own,” Cordelia scoffed. “You’ve been led by the hand, coddled, the entire way. By your father, the warlocks. I look at you and I don’t see a man. I see a sad, scared, little boy so pathetic he couldn’t even kill me with a thousand nuclear bombs.”

“Oh, but I never expected to, like a cockroach I knew you’d survive the nuclear blast,” Michael retorted, smirking. “And now I will get the satisfaction of watching you die.”

“You still don’t get it do you?” Cordelia replied, wearing a smile of her own. “Even now. You think there’s only winning and losing, success and failure. But failure is when you’ve lost any semblance of hope…”.

As Cordelia continued, Michael leaned behind him, whispering to you, “Down the hall, the bathroom, kill her.”

You nodded and took off, sprinting down the hall, when you found the bathroom he was talking about you were greeted by Mallory, slowly fading in a tub full of water due to a stab wound to the gut.

Wasting no time you moved forward, grabbing the girl by her hair and yanking her up.

“Ave Satanas bitch,” you hissed, before easily sliding your dagger across her throat, before plunging it into her heart, making sure the job was done.

Blood stained the water red as Mallory sunk into the bath and you admired your handiwork.

“You bitch!” came a voice from the door, and you turned to see the witch with the wild red hair standing there.

She held out her hand but before she could harm you, her neck snapped to the side roughly and she collapsed.

Footsteps neared you and Michael appeared in the doorway. He looked around you to the tub where Mallory’s body lay.

“Now that’s my girl,” he told you and you smiled, moving to embrace him tightly, arms wrapping around his neck.

“They’re all dead?” you asked, looking up at Michael for confirmation.

He nodded, “Miss Supreme sacrificed herself just as you slit little Mallory’s throat.”

You smiled, reaching up to press a passionate kiss to his lips. He returned the sentiment, arms wrapping around you, pulling you closer.

When you pulled away you rested your head on his chest, “Let’s go home.”

Michael hummed in agreement, taking your hand and leading you from the bathroom, it burst into flames behind you.

As you walked throughout the outpost every room exploded, glass breaking, flames licking the walls.

The flames didn’t dare touch you, Michael made sure of that. You both walked out of the outpost, Michael still making sure the elements did you no harm, and onto what was left of the barren lawn to the carriage waiting for you.

Michael helped you up into it, forever a gentleman to you and only you. He followed suit and soon the carriage took off, taking you both back home to the sanctuary.

You were empty handed, but Michael felt like the richest man on earth, and with you by his side, hand in his, he could accomplish anything.

#american horror story #michael langdon #cody fern #michael langdon x reader #ahs apocolaypse #ahs coven #ahs #American horror story apocalypse #michael langdon x you #cordelia goode #madison montgomery #mallory ahs #billie lourd

770 notes · View notes

ladyhindsight · 11 months

Text

So, God definitely exists and Lilith is having her own fashion show whenever she appears. That’s cool. Anyway. It has taken ages to even summon any will power to finish the book, the whole year so far has been personal chaos, but now as the storm has ceased and I had couple days off to just lay down on my sofa to power through this monstrosity, all I am left with is a major what the fuck. Expectations were close to zero and Chain of Thorns still went right under it.

Just minutes before I finally finished Chain of Thorns and I don’t even know what it all was for. The major things holding this story together is everyone’s damn pride and fear of being pitied—obstacles which all of them have to overcome. James and Cordelia are both too proud to be pitied, but narrative-wise there is this perpetual pity party going on. All this ruminating over Things That Never Were and Stuff That Is Forever out of Reach is just whole lot of words for whole lot of nothing, especially when the ending to their relationship is nothing if not predictable. The purple prose doesn’t make me feel anything, doesn’t resonate with me on any level, and I can’t connect to it because in the grand scheme of the story, it is based on false perception created by the unwillingness to be truthful. In the end, all that angst and wondering about the feelings at every turn, it is a waste of time.

Every character is so driven by their self-loathing, seriously bordering on self-pity, and pride that all their motivations blur into the same mess. The unwillingness to be truthful, powered by the pride of each character, is the force for which the plot can even reach the points it wants. Clare truly is a master of creating this endless but absolutely done-to-death emotional circle she just keeps recycling in every trilogy she manages to publish. Writing is the same as ever, dialogue is a pathway to always just tell things, it’s also hand-holding and over-bearing: “It seems the Inquisitor has hurt his right arm.” “He was branded on his arm by Belial.” “So that’s why he was holding it like it hurt!” No shit?! Stop it. On a positive note, I think the series is more emotionally aware and intelligent compared to The Mortal Instruments and even The Infernal Devices, where the emotional awareness only encompassed Clary, Jace, Will, Jem, and Tessa. Not completely without its grievances, but when are these books ever?

The plot served its purpose, I guess. Cordelia becoming a paladin of Lilith served its role in saving James and defeating Belial. Others had their own stories and relationships but were helpful and sometimes integral for the story to progress. It’d be otherwise fine if the book didn’t forget the actual plot for a major part of its duration and exchanged it for useless inter-character dramatics and constant cliffhangers. Additionally, it’s just that the whole Watcher thing (like the Grigori?) was clear from miles away. Whenever Clare introduces a new but a very basic element to the Shadowhunter world THAT SHOULD HAVE EXISTED ALREADY and explains it through a character (this time Cordelia), it’s a dead giveaway. So the tease They wake + the Iron Tombs = waiting two thirds of the book for the characters to catch up with you. The story is so infected with repetitive narrative, drama and self-loathing, pseudo-profound ponderings on love and pride, and I am sick of even thinking about any of it.

Maybe one day I have something else to say about the book in general, but not today. My brain has once again been obliterated. So, as usual, some thoughts and notes and more in-depth grievances:

CORDELIA CARSTAIRS AND JAMES HERONDALE. They come together, because I have no coherent thoughts about James or Cordelia. They were there and did their protagonist duties. Of course there was a love triangle. Blah, blah. I just didn’t like Cordelia in this installment as much as the previous ones. Maybe her pride took so much center stage that her previous kindness and compassion were overshadowed by it and self-righteousness. Her bravery is no longer bravery but same thoughtlessness of every other Clare heroine. James was there, hoorah. No, but seriously. James’ trauma was so in-depth analyzed and told, his feeling of pain and anguish and anger relished in so much that the writing was incapable of coming up with anything new to say instead of regurgitating same things over and over again. Also, Cordelia was constantly aware of James’ bracelet when he wore it, but never mentioned it once he stopped wearing it for good?

THOMAS LIGHTWOOD AND ALASTAIR CARSTAIRS. They worked out, yay. Don’t know why they love each other, but okay. Their romance was a nice and carrying force through some bleak scenes in the book. Alastair becoming more open and comfortable in showing affection was lovely. Turned out great.

ANNA LIGHTWOOD AND ARI BRIDGESTOCK. See the above. Same sentiments. But much like with Thomas and Alastair, most of the development happened in this final instalment and pretty hastily too. And like the above pair, I feel like a lot of the progress came with transforming the characters into unrecognizable version of themselves too quickly. I was happy that Ari was able to connect with her mother again and Flora could flourish (lol) without the stifling presence of her husband, but I also feel like I’ve seen this setting where a bad and homophobic husband and father gets a metaphorical kick to his ass and goes away in order for the life to be better for his family without him.

LUCIE HERONDALE. Lucie was generally great. No hard feelings. It’s a bit contrived that it is precisely the canoodling of Jesse that brings her closer to the dead, but whatever. Love that her weapon of choice is an ax.

MATTHEW FAIRCHILD. Matthew’s story ends on a somber note. While Matthew definitely was not one of my favorite characters, I hoped he could’ve had something more to him than James and Cordelia. His journey to sobriety continues, which was great that it wasn’t over just like that, but the reason for his drinking was such a huge thing that was carried throughout the books, so it was disappointing to see it quickly addressed in the epilogue. Matthew deserved more than a hasty redemption in the end.

CHARLES FAIRCHILD. There are other people that are dying, Charles!! is what I am left with. I am absolutely aghast how Charles’ character was treated. I can’t believe that Clare still managed to write one more let’s push this character out of the closet because it is The Right Thing to Do scenario in her books. Charles has to brave the world and lose what he has to lose because his dreams and aspirations, according to the narrative, are worth nothing because he is more privileged than other people. Charles coming out with his sexuality is set against the choice of standing with or against his family as if there was no other way to solve this but guilt Charles into doing the right thing so he can’t be blackmailed anymore. Nobody cares, your family loves you—then what are the stakes here then, in their homophobic society that time and time again fails to deliver any consequence while existing as this ostracizing boogeyman?

I hoped there was some sort of ploy that Charles intended to execute in order to remove the thorn from his mother’s side and replace the Inquisitor with someone who was more fair and just and capable. At once, when Tessa said that Charles is just misguided, I knew it wouldn’t be because Tessa is never wrong. So all there is this dumb blackmailing plot whose only merit is to have Maurice Bridgestock removed from his position as Inquisitor. It did not serve Charles’ character in any way nor were his story with his family or Matthew in any way concluded.

GRACE BLACKTHORN. While discussing Grace, Christopher says that Grace was just a child when she was forced to act on James. Thomas says it doesn’t matter with anger and fury. Matthew equates Grace’s actions to a murder, as you do. While Will’s actions against Tatiana are in no way comparable to Grace’s, it is strange how Will being twelve is mentioned as if in order to act as an extenuating circumstance, while this doesn’t apply to Grace. It is also weird how everyone else’s torment is mulled over, used as an excuse for some type of behavior, but Grace's abuse and manipulation at the hands of Tatiana and Belial isn’t taken into consideration by anyone else than Jem? Also why did Cordelia get to vanquish Tatiana and not Grace? Grace’s treatment in this book, along with Charles, was just painful.

JESSE BLACKTHORN. Much like James, he is a stale piece of wheat bread. Only thing I have in mind about Jesse is that I found it a bit over the top, out of the little character he had, that he was so angry at Grace so that he left her. Jesse reacted exactly the way I feared Cordelia would react to Alastair. I was hoping for angry but sad and disappointed approach since Jesse knew better than anyone what Grace has lived through. Also, why Jesse (or Grace) wasn’t given time with his uncles who had wanted to get to know him for ages?

CHRISTOPHER LIGHTWOOD. My sweet cheese, my goodtime boy. Characters Clare writes most often only know the strongest of emotions. They always react with anger, defensiveness, and passion; by shouting, by self-righteous fury, by everything that is so exhausting to always read. Most of the characters are that, and am I so happy how Clare stayed true to Christopher’s temperate and serene nature, even when his cousin/best friend has been greatly wronged. And when everyone was so angry at Grace, Christopher was the only one to see reason. So, WHY THE FUCK HE DIED? No one, but most of all Cordelia herself never acknowledge that Kit died protecting her.

The “false” family tree lead the story on how Kit and Grace would probably become a couple, and would’ve made sense since they bonded over science and their minds were alike while they were so unalike in other ways, but boom. Kit dies, and Grace is left to figure out the fire messages on her own, because otherwise there wouldn’t be that obstacle of not being able to reach the Shadowhunters in Idris. Kit died for a shock value and so that a measly little plot point could work. Also great how the Lightwoods always have their children killed?? We never even see Gabriel and Cecily mourning?? Eugenia was weirdly chipper after just losing another one of her family members?? All these pages dedicated to romance bullshit that will solve itself but not for this.

TATIANA BLACKTHORN. Tatiana is a fiend, a terrible demon-worshipping, toddler-kidnapping fiend, but also a cartoonish one at that. It’s just overdone. She was made uglier and uglier, the machinator of evil things, and then she died. Voilà. There is one narrative aspect that was weird though. The Herondales and the Lightwoods insist on having tried their all to help Tatiana who always refused, but when Jesse confronts his mother, he says:

“I have come to know them by now. There is truth much harsher. One I think you know. They have not tried to ruin you over all these years. They have not plotted your downfall. They have barely even thought of you at all.”

Sick burn, but which is it? Adamantly trying to help her or not thinking about her at all?

MAURICE BRIDGESTOCK. A cartoon character with a cartoon ending. A homophobe bigot who got what he deserved, but a cartoonish character still. He was jealous of the Herondales and thus was an antagonist. Why is everyone obsessed with the Herondales in every damn book?

ESME HARDCASTLE. Esme was shoved in there in order to explain the “found family tree”, which at some point, I have no doubt, was how things were supposed to be, until Clare had more ideas for the Edwardian kids. No other characters in whole of TSC have gone through so many changes as these characters have. And as such, to keep the predictability at minimum—which isn’t a lot—the old family tree is made up by Esme, so Clare can spin this tale why it wasn’t accurate. Grace didn’t marry Christopher, Alastair didn’t have children (probably?). Then Clare had all these surprise babies coming because the way she chose to end the story for the Edwardian kids would mean no Emma, no Clary as we know them. So new Carstairs baby, new Fairchild twins.

i. The beginning of the prologue is over-saturated with flowery prose and similes that the narrative gets buried underneath.

ii. James is worried about Lucie, but more importantly needs to find her so he can go back to worrying about Cordelia and Matthew.

iii. The whole series has been a barrage of period typical social etiquette and decorum fed to you with a spoon. Even The Infernal Devices wasn’t this intent on it. Men did not usually accompany even wives or sisters into a dressmakers shop. What do you care about mundane decorum, you are Shadowhunters! Have some etiquette of your own.

iv. “…one of the modistes attacked the closures at the back of Cordelia’s dress without requiring any instruction—clearly she had done this before—and pushed and pulled at Cordelia as if she was a stuffed mannequin.” CcLeEaRrLy. You just told she didn’t need instruction, the rest is rather obvious. And I hope she knew what she was doing, she works there!!

v. Then there is this ridiculously complicated sentence: “Madame Beausoleil, who kept her salon on the Rue de la Paix, where the most famous dressmakers in the world—the House of Worth, Jeanne Paquin—were situated, was, according to Matthew, well acquainted with the Shadow World.” Like, what. Honey. Darling. “Madame Beausoleil kept her salon on the Rue de la Paix, where the most famous dressmakers in the world—the House of Worth, Jeanne Paquin—were situated. She was, according to Matthew, well acquainted with the Shadow World.” Or does that info about the location have to be there at all? Surely there were plenty other paragraphs where you could’ve stuffed that.

vi. Apparently this, apparently that, apparently everything! Whenever Clare uses such a word, it is a sign that she is unnecessarily feeling the need to justify why she is giving some particular piece of information or why a character is making an observation they could realistically make.

vii. Cordelia’s savings to pay Matthew for the dresses? What savings? From what and where?

viii. There are so many parentheses explaining things

ix. There is not a one scene in Paris where Cordelia doesn’t think how other people might see her and Matthew as a couple. Every time, which is in basically every scene they have in public, someone watches them and admires them and their “young love.”

x. “I have never heard anyone sound as if they were in such pain. Jamie, you must talk to us.” Yes, no one has ever been in greater pain than James Herondale, and that has the stamp of approval of Will Herondale so it really means something.

xi. a lot of the gray is gunmetal gray

xii. Having Tatiana comment on Jem’s appearance as Silent Brother and call it privilege for knowing the Lightwoods and Herondales doesn’t take away the fact that it is awfully convenient that Jem isn’t bald or his face isn’t sown shut. Though I get the intent behind this was to elicit such reaction as how awful of Tatiana! She doesn’t know anything Jem has suffered! It was not his choice! and the like. Blah.

xiii. What is it with these YA books in which waiters always give the characters their unsolicited opinions on people’s orders?

xiv. I assume Madame Dorothea of Brooklyn named herself after this famed Madame Dorothea of Paris. Why didn’t Malcolm go to her about Annabelle? I don’t remember if there ever was a mention of it.

xv. When Lucie tells the truth about Jesse and her powers to Magnus and Will, the PoV changes from James to Lucie with no indication of PoV change:

xvi. “James thought of the box of matches in his pocket, each one a sort of signal light that, when struck, summoned Jem to his side. He did not know how the magic worked, nor did he think Jem would tell him even if asked.” Just leave this part out, readers will think it’s just magic and that’s it. Now this just sounds that you couldn’t bother to think about it and just tried to explain possible scrutiny away. This instead just points more to the fact that you have no clue how the magic in your world works.

xvii. “James returned to the house, crawling into bed with his coat still on.” James can’t return to the house and crawl into his bed at the same time.

xviii. Take a shot every time the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal is said in TSC

xix. It’s annoying how Matthew speaks so lowly of Charles wanting to keep Alastair a secret when their own society supposedly sucks ass and enables shame and discrimination

xx. Cordelia only accepts Matthew’s affections once she thinks she has truly lost James. Why did she want to kiss Matthew if she didn’t even fancy him? She just selfishly used him and his love to forget her own mistakes, which I didn’t like about her at all. But that of course just fed into the love triangle that Clare is so insistent on writing in each one of her series, and the end couple is always obvious.

xxi. “…and James could remember, painfully, what kissing Cordelia was like, hotter and better than any fire.” I don’t think being burned by fire is good?

xxii. It’s torturous—and not in the good giddy way—how Clare finds even the tiniest excuse to prolong James and Cordelia finally getting together. “I should tell her the truth but Cordelia looked so happy with Matthew, so I didn’t.” Good grief.

xxiii. “Pity and kindness were not love. Only free choice was love; if he had learned nothing else from the horror of the bracelet, he had learned that.” Only a free choice to those who are free to love and go for that love and their dreams without having to make a choice between either. So fuck that.

xxiv. Ari didn’t bring any clothes with her when she left her parents. “She’d have to buy new things.” WITH WHAT MONEY? FROM WHERE? HER “STIPENDS” WENT TO LIVING EXPENSES! EXPLAAAIN

xxv. “At the breakfast table sat Anna’s brother Christopher, and, of all people, Eugenia Lightwood.” Yes, out of all the people in this world that is sitting at the table is Anna’s cousin. Truly odd.

xxvi. “The Institute is the safest place in London when it comes to demons; if he did somehow attack, the whole Enclave would retreat here as a matter of policy.” Not when it comes to the Jack the Ripper one in The Whitechapel Fiend.

xxvi. Will discusses Tatiana’s vengeance for being wronged: “Will sighed. “That was me. I read her diary out loud at a Christmas party, long ago. I was twelve. And I was quite severely punished, so in fact, the Enclave was on her side.”’ No, he wasn’t. And the whole Enclave punished Will? Please. There was no culpability, no apology, and no admission of guilt. And he also broke Gabriel’s arm. This is an attempt afterwards to alleviate the guilt on Will’s end when it comes to Tatiana’s madness. More realistic approach, less let’s-make-Will-more-shiny-and-not-at-all-a-participant-in-Tatiana’s-insanity would be something like: “That was me. I read her diary out loud at a Christmas party, long ago. I was twelve, but that’s on me.” And they would’ve gone on that it didn’t matter because in grand scheme of things it was such a miniscule thing.

xxvii. Take a shot every time the writing tries to stealthily prop up Will and Tessa as good and kind. Clare is really adamant at making the Herondales victims at every turn.

xxviii. “Benedict Lightwood brought down vileness upon his family, and Tatiana could not accept either his culpability or her own.” True, yet funny how the same does not apply to the ones who are on the right side of things. Accepting culpability on all that…

xxix. “He thrust the hand at James, who slashed an iratze across Matthew’s palm, followed by two Energy runes. He would not normally give Matthew, or anyone, more than one, but they would act as knives, cutting through any fog in Matthew’s brain.” One very profound problem (which I will bring up with TMI in time) is that this excerpt reveals that Clare thinks we know how runes work, when she has in actuality laid no groundwork for it. Is there a limit how many runes one can bear at once? What are the adverse effects of too many energy runes? What if you use iratze when you don’t need one? Are there runes that, when used at the same time, might hinder the effect of one another?

xxx. Take a shot every time a character narrates other characters on how much they have changed.

xxxi. “Now, Thomas has lost a sister and a friend as close as his brother, all in one year.” Weird way to say a cousin. You surely mean his cousin as close as his brother??

xxxii. “Grace said, not unkindly, “I’ve come to know Lucie quite well, you know, the last months. She was probably as close to a friend as I ever had.”’ Christopher was her friend, hellooo???

xxxiii. There seems to be a theme that whenever things are getting hot and heavy, something abrupt happens and interrupts the scene. Not that I am complaining, interrupt that awkward shit.

xxxiv. The bodies of the Iron Sisters and Silent Brothers don’t decay, but so what? Everyone else gets burned after dying, why not them also? Are they not inflammable? Also, what a great opportunity to mention Abigail Shadowhunter and David the Silent, but did we just once again wave at that opportunity as it passed by? Yes, we did.

xxxv. “Alastair waved his hand. “Yes, yes. It has been Roman and Saxon and now it will be demon. It has survived plague and pestilence and fire—”’ Best quote.

xxxvi. “It is easy to confuse monstrousness and power,” said Cordelia. “Especially when one is a woman, as one is not supposed to possess either quality.” Again, a weird fucking take for people whose numbers are dwindling and need all the fighting power they can get and half of that power are women

xxxvii. “he had been sure, somehow, that Cordelia would come after him, would find a way. And it did not surprise him at all that Lucie had not left her side.” James sure has faith in his sister to rescue him in dire need. No, Lucie came because Cordelia came. Whatever, what do I care.

What, in the end, was the true purpose of this trilogy? What merit is to it that it exists? How has The Wicked Powers become richer for having The Last Hours precede it? It’s actually devastating how inconsequential all of this is. The true Belial has been vanquished, but another demon has taken his place as Belial. Is this new Belial even a fallen angel or just some demon? Because otherwise he is not like the rest of the Princes at all. I would’ve hoped that at least one thing, like Emma getting to finish Belial with Cortana, would’ve given this trilogy even a little bit more purpose. 700+ pages and all is still left rather unfinished. Nothing at least feels concluded other than James and Cordelia’s love for each other being stronger than a Prince of Hell is capable of breaking. Blergh.

[Additional notes]

#Cordelia Carstairs #James Herondale #Matthew Failchild #Thomas Lightwood #Christopher Lightwood #Alastair Carstairs #Anna Lightwood #Charles Fairchild #Grace Blackthorn #Jesse Blackthorn #Lucie Herondale #Chain of Thorns #The Last Hours #Anti CC #Anti Cassandra Clare

73 notes · View notes