#I THINK HE LITERALLY FOUGHT A WATERFALL AT ONE POINT

[levmada]

Hey how are you feeling?

Im glad your requests are still open. Loved the answer to my last request so I hope you don’t mind me sending in another one?

Some cute hurt/comfort with taller gn reader and postwar Levi. After the ackermanbond is gone I imagine Levi getting really sick for the very first time. Fever and everything also adding the flashbacks to when his mom got sick. And reader ofc nursing him back to health and also comforting him 🧡

im so so so so so so SO sorry😭i took literal months with this sari... i wish i had a good excuse, but i hope you like this :(

i took a lot of inspo from this eruri fic from ao3. stress cannn cause flu-like symptoms, and i wanted this to be the outcome of all those years of suffering for levi finally catching up to him.

probably not medically accurate: it's not very clear what the nature of levi's knee injury. it's seen partially crushed, but it's not clear what medical technology marley has (especially w/ the last volume cover in mind). i'm functioning on my idea that levi can't get around without a wheelchair, but he does have range of motion, partly based on the health of the cartilage/joints/bone, but mostly based how painful it is. it's more complicated than that, but i wanted to add a disclaimer anyway.

(tldr this is the levi torture hour)

➥ pairing: postwar!Levi x taller!gn!reader

➥ about: Not even Levi is invulnerable, both after the war and back then, so it's stupid to be scared when he gets sick.

Until it isn't.

➥ c/w: sick fic, post-war Levi, delirium/nightmares, reverse hurt comfort, implied past csa, happy ending (promise), medical inaccuracies, nightmares, established relationship (married)

➥ wc: 5.3k

In the comfortable, quiet rays of mid-morning, you hum to yourself, and sip your mug of tea. You watch a white cardinal with red tips toddle on the windowsill on the other side of the glass. That’s rare.

It takes off.

You trace the rim of your mug, sighing slowly but heavily through your nose. It’s getting harder not to think about it.

You want to think that—now that you and Levi are retired (what an odd word…)—it’s reached that natural time to start sleeping better. Sleeping in, not out of an absurdly rare indulgence, but to relax.

It’s been nine months, not counting the few Levi was cooped-up in the hospital.

Even for him, relaxation shouldn’t be impossible after some point. In fact, he hasn’t shot awake just before dawn for a while, anticipating a reveille that won’t ring out.

But you fought beside him; your bad habits and your happiness wrestle over the reality of your new life too.

But…

You reach across the small wood table and hover your hand over the cup of tea you poured for him; decent, but not piping hot and steaming like earlier.

This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity: you get to coax Levi out of bed late in the morning.

You stand, bringing your arms behind your head to stretch just a little as you walk to the hall, down to the bedroom. The door is cracked like you left it.

Like a tired waterfall, the vast majority of the thick covers lay spilled haphazardly to the floor, so you’re surprised even before you take a look at Levi, who’s still curled up asleep, facing your way. That leaves his back to the light glowing through the curtains.

He kicked them off?

Like the sheets, his sweater is white; his trousers are dark, loose and cut (with his knee brace on underneath). With his arms tightly crossed like that, and the harsh crease sitting on his brow, he almost looks awake and stressed out.

“G’morning, ‘Vi…”

Importantly, his pallor, normally as pale as snow, glows pink. A few strands of black cling to his forehead.

You stride over with a bit of a frown that wasn’t as deep when you were feeling just plain impatient, and take a sit on the edge of the bed.

“Are you feeling sick, baby…?”

That crease deepens. He twitches awake. "M-Mm?"

Now that you’re close, you notice his breathing is a little labored. You touch your knuckles to his temple. Eyes barely crack open.

"Sweetheart, ‘Vi… You definitely have a fever..."

You comb his bangs off his damp forehead, and they close.

The heat radiating off his skin—you grimace a little.

Actually... have you ever seen Levi so much as under the weather? You can’t even remember.

He shifts slightly, as your strokes rouse him.

"Do you feel sick?" you ask for the second time.

"Huh? I'm fine..."

His eyes finally blink open, fluttering once or twice. But then, a shadow passes over his face that seems to disprove that assertion of his.

He shoves his elbow underneath himself and starts to lift himself up. "Stop—fretting. 'm fine."

He gets most of the way; he’s resting heavily on one arm when he grunts, then leans.

"Stop, sweetheart," you huff, and take him by the shoulder. "What hurts? Your head?"

Looking dazed, like he’s not all there, he lifts his bad hand to his temple and, with his ring and little finger, feels his temple.

“Don’t know…”

"Lay back down, you clearly need some rest—even if this is rare for you, okay?"

“What?” He looks perturbed with you. “Don’t be stupid. There’s too much t’do. N’ I’m fine,” he grumbles, blatantly lying.

"Levi..." you warn.

"I'm just... tired," he mumbles. He rubs his eye with his thumb. "Fuck. Fucking tired."

His strength starts to evaporate as his eyes slip closed.

In an instant—before he collapses—you thrust your arms around him, and lay him back down on his side slowly.

It doesn’t quite hit you until you maneuver his arm out from under him, and listen to his even but labored breathing for a bit of time.

You stare down, eyes wide. Are you scared?—Or anxious?

Well either way—it’s not until you stopped being at risk for a violent death day-in and day-out for years that you even realized you were constantly anxious.

It’s not a nice feeling.

It’s okay. Though. You rationalize. Not even Levi is impervious to everything, and certainly not now. It’s stupid to be surprised.

You feel his forehead with the back of your hand one more time, and kiss your teeth. Definitely a fever, but an exact number wouldn’t hurt.

The thermometer and other simple medicines are shoved in one of the high kitchen cabinets, a second thought when you both moved into this quaint little cabin in the woods (aside from his prescriptions). You didn’t even say it out loud, even. 

Now pinched between your fingers, you stand back and stutter on your feet, unsure of what else you need. You want to need something more helpful, but the need to go and check back on him is most powerful. 

A short ways down the hall, you pick up on the unbelievable yet unmistakable sound of… crying. Unrestrained, and yet, the kind of crying that steals breath. 

You expect to wake up as soon as you reach the bedroom—some disturbing but absurd dream.

But you don’t. He’s curled up where you left him, eyes closed but now gasping sharply through his teeth with tears glistening on his cheeks. One drips off his trembling chin.

You drop onto the edge of the bed immediately, and try to speak, but find yourself helplessly stuck at a complete loss as to where to even start.

“Why…” You card your fingers through his hair, to no reaction. He must be asleep, right?—But how, why?

“Hey, hey, c’mere,” you coo gently, sitting so as to swaddle his back and caress his head.

You make it all not sound like a question. “Everything’s okay. It’s okay, sweetheart… Wake up.”

His eyes tightly shut, and tears squeeze through. He croaks. “Can wake up.”

It takes a moment for you to register that he really meant to pronounce it as “can’t”.

“…You sound sorta freaked out, and you want to talk to Falco?—Is Levi alright??”

You silently curse Gabi for being so observant.

“Which place? I have the books, um, right here…!”

“No…” You swallow a little, and coil the bright red cord to the phone around and around your finger. You wish it was as simple as some tinnitus, or nerve pain. 

“No?” Gabi asks on a high lilt; a question within a question.

“I know. He never gets sick, which is why I want to talk to Falco. I appreciate you trying to help, but please hurry?”

“Oh yeah, okay!”

You peer over your shoulder from your place stood in the hall and rock on your heels nervously. The only space of time you could find where you could bear to leave him was when he was quiet.

Falco has matured so much, even over the past year, and you trust him with this. He’s training to be a doctor; being a soldier never suited him much anyway. Levi was the first to say so, as usual the perfect judge of character. 

You speak slowly and calmly to him, encouraged by his own composure.

“It sounds like a flu, just with that added symptom,” he’s thinking out loud. Thin pages turn. “Severe stress can cause flu-like symptoms sometimes… Especially when it’s prolonged. Does that sound like anything?” 

 “No. No way.” You shake your head, your brow pinched tightly. In fact you laugh. “Haven’t fought any Titans lately, at least.”

His voice lowers, thinking as he talks. “True, yeah. Especially for you guys, nothing could ever really compare, right?”

“You have no idea. Not with Levi.”

“We can talk about it another time, maybe,” you amend quickly. You know almost for certain that’s not going to happen.

Falco hums. “Anyway, if that’s the case, that would explain why it’s been so severe, with the sudden onset. But think of it like a fever he needs to sweat out,” he explains.

“Y-Yeah?”

“Yeah.” You hear the light smile in his voice. “Don’t be too far away, though. It’s easy to tell, you know.”

You smile to yourself.

Even if the Rumbling somehow started back up above your head, you’d rather die. 

You write on a little notepad—some scrawl verbatim—Falco’s directions and words of advice, the phone trapped between your ear and shoulder. Most of it is generic, for influenza of course, but you write. 

A blunt but dense thump sounds not so far away. You even flinch, but just as quickly let Falco know you’ll be right back.

In the bedroom, the pale blue duvet and sheets spilled onto the floor looks like a stiff waterfall being wrenched this way and that by Levi’s attempts to sit back up, like a puppet trying to pull its own strings. He grunts in what sounds like frustration, but you can’t know for sure as his bangs obscure his eyes. His hair all over is a downright wreck.

Gaping, you fall down beside him and hurry working off all the offending fabrics he’s twisted in. 

“Lee—…”

Your help lets his shaky hand hover over his knee, like he can’t be sure if it’s his. He’s breathing hard; it’s ten times shakier than his hand.

“Come here.”

He doesn’t so much as twitch, but he doesn’t resist either. Then, when something in him registers that you’re there, he leans into you like you’ve just brought the weight of the world off his shoulders. 

You tug the soft pantleg up, and sigh at what you see. The scarring, like a row of pink and purple mountains stabbed into his flesh, is more inflamed than usual, leg minutely trembling when you raise it.

He must’ve tried to stand up.

“Does it hurt very bad?”

Not even such an obvious question gets you a retort of any kind. He whines softly when you have to brace that area to lift him back up, but no more.

From the dull darkened blue cotton in the shape of a V in the center of his chest, and coming down from his underarms, he’s burning up; you need to get started just as soon as you’re finished with Falco. For now, you wipe his clammy temples and brush his bangs back. He’s looking at you, but he doesn’t seem to see.

“Levi…” You press on his round cheeks under your palms, grimacing at the heat pelting off his skin.

He moans softly, some relief softening his features. “Huh. Take m’jack-et. Yer cold.”

You shake your head even though he can’t see, as, sharply and without warning, tears appear and stab at your eyes. He’s not even wearing a jacket. 

“Be right back,” you manage. “Okay?”

You don’t really expect a response, and you don’t get one.

First thing’s first, he needs water. You feel stupid not thinking of that first. That was at the top of Falco’s directions. 

You catch Levi in a moment of relative quiet—not peace, but quiet—and cradle the back of his neck, unhinging his jaw with your other. Easy enough. You tip the glass and feed him water with the utmost care and precision. This is some act terribly intimate, a type of intimacy removed from hand-holding or sex entirely while managing to rank above them both. Over all these years, his life has been in your hands a few times, but feeding him pills—something for the fever and something for the pain—and working his shirt off for something fresh and loose-fitting feels more reverent even still. You put him in shorts and practically fortify his knee with a brace and pillows wrapped up with the belt of a housecoat so even if he rolls over, he won’t.

He chokes on a sob while you’re tucking a cold press behind his neck, forcing you to stop. His eyes squeeze shut.

“Levi?” you ask softly.

Either he’s having a nightmare, or he’s in pain, or, both. He tightens his crossed arms. His first movement in hours.

“What hurts? Falco said it might be your head.”

Another sob bursts from him. “S’head’s all over the wall, looked, it… sorry….”

He continues mumbling, but none of it sounds like words. 

"Levi, it's okay, it's okay. Okay, baby? S'okay," you murmur; on and on. The washcloth has gotten smushed between his shoulder and the pillow—you set that somewhere aside. Then you lean over, rubbing with your thumbs the tears off his glistening cheeks, and messy black strands off his forehead.

Sometimes you will catch a word, sometimes you won’t. You will almost wish you didn’t the times you do. Yet you feel sworn to make sense of every mumble, a pervasive, unbreakable, urge. You’re sworn to it.

That’s how the rest of the day goes. He’s never lucid enough to eat; only enough to mumble when he’s freezing, or when he’s burning.

After dusk has bled into the sunset, and night has set in, you sit and watch over Levi religiously. To be fair, you don’t have anything “better to do”, but you hardly ate. If he knew, he’d be in your ear grumbling or otherwise dragging you by it to the kitchen, but does it matter, when he can’t know?

No, you decided, with some fucked-up determination. You want him to bitch at you when he wakes up. Not shivering trapped in an uneasy sleep.

When it gets late, you, arduously but carefully, do what you can for his knee.. He moves too much.

You wipe his face and neck of sweat, and lay a fresh, ice-cold and wet folded washcloth on his forehead. The fever is slowly getting worse.

You dote on him, carding back his bangs, and murmuring and repeating all manners of comfort you can think of. It’s becoming obvious when he’s having a nightmare.

…Finally, as Falco suggested, you’ve kept him hydrated; fever reducers every few hours. 

All that's left to do then, is sleep. This realization makes you nauseous with worry.

Nonetheless, you squirm under the covers on your side, close beside him with your face tucked in his shoulder. You take a slow, deep breath. 

It’s so discomforting; Levi can’t fall asleep flat on his back, ever, and yet…

Your head shoots off his chest before you’ve registered you even woke up—gasping, and a guttural cry from below. It’s pitch black, too dark to see.

That explodes him into motion. He repels you backwards as you grapple for his shoulders, and like fists closed around your throat, as he resists your every attempt to stop him hurting himself, as he whimpers tiredly, as his bawling stabs the most tender place inside you—you feel sick.

“Levi—! Stop. Levi listen to me!”

You’re louder than him, but nothing—his eyes won't open—and your stomach swoops just then as he almost succeeds in jabbing his knee in your stomach, an extra hard punch combined with the brace. That cry is a sob of nothing but pain.

Enough. Finally you bite the bullet, you drop your full weight down on top of him, if it means he’ll finally stop. 

At first, you’re as steady as a boat on rough waters. A huff of relief slips out when his writhing grows sluggish, quickly.

He squirms mildly under you, breathing still stubbornly labored. “Get… off me.”

He tries to raise his arms from his sides, but can’t. 

“I’ll, fuckin’ kill you.”

You viciously shake your head. “It’s just a dream.”

Are you telling only him that?

“S’ get off, you can’t, s’nough hurts ‘er.”

“L-Lee…”

You strain to make him out, as he sobs weakly. “Leave me alone already...”

His name escapes you over again like a prayer in the heat of a battle. Your determination crumbles right into dust; you fall beside him and sit up, unsure of what to do besides take his hand. You can’t bring yourself to switch on the lamp.

“It’s going to be okay.” You squeeze.

He whimpers. “…Please.”

You can’t open your foolish mouth and tell him or yourself that it’s just a dream anymore.

Falco was more correct than you gave him credit for.

Falco also warned you that it would get worse before it got better.

With the hours that keep passing—which have stretched out into two days so far—he more and more mutters in his sleep, other times under his breath, but most times he’s incoherent.

But, it’s all come to fall under one topic. 

And just like that first night, it doesn’t quite make sense, but it doesn’t have to. 

You don’t want to think about it; you just want to take care of him. Your anxiety is constant, and sharp. If only he’d wake up; you talk to him as if he’s awake—but to no response whatsoever, like you don’t even exist.

Moments you’re forced to leave him are the worst—for you and for him. Most times when you come back, the washcloth meant to rest on his forehead has drooped and sagged beside his temple.

At any rate, the difference between fever and tears has gotten hard to tell.

You just can’t stop from shaking, and your throat is tight, but Falco remains adamant that the flu is what he said it is. 

A lamp is still glowing on your side in the late night. The air is cool, and it’s quiet, but a rare moment of “peace” makes the sounds of your shared breaths obnoxious.

Your heavy eyes sting; despite that, when they creep closed you feel yourself fading in seconds, with Levi’s head tucked under your chin, upon your chest. Seemingly, any covers are too stifling for him at the moment; pressed against your collarbones, you feel his forehead is hot again. 

You cradle gently the nape of his neck, idly rubbing the knot of bone at the base of his jaw. As if you’re doing anything to protect him from anything…

He mumbles, slurring, “Y’have t’come back…”

You’re not dizzy with the shock or the horror, but it’s worse almost, to be confronted with the full magnitude of a rueless, unceasing pain that is just as lonely in its magnitude as it is devastating.

You rub his back as he buries his face in your neck, sobbing like it takes all his energy to do so. “I’ll be faster.”

“I don’ know where t’go, what do I do now?” he babbles over your soft hushes. “Wait, next time I’ll get it right...”

“It’s okay, love, it’s okay.”

“I don’ know why I even…” 

Trailing off, he starts to whimper, and can’t go on. 

He doesn’t stop, it doesn’t, not for a second while—all you can do—is hold and console him even though he may not know it.

Until he exhausts himself. Drifts. into a light sleep.

For it to happen all over again. Seeping into his sleep like crude oil, the next stress-induced terror to force his breathing shaky, labored.

"...Need," he whimpers, the first word you’ve made out in a while.

Your stomach swoops, the thought that you can do anything to help directly. "What do you need, sweetheart?"

"Don't sell it. Don't sell it, I need it."

You deflate, jaw wobbling. "Sh, sh, it's okay,” you soothe. You reach for the tray on the bedside behind you, and, using the cold cloth, you dab the sweat from his blushing temple and neck.

"S'gonna take away from m...me." He starts to pant, continuing to mumble, crying, a complete melting away. Lamenting, abject.

"Shh... Shh..."

His arm loosely draped around your waist—which you’d put there—tightens its hold, but in drifting bursts, like he keeps slipping.

“Please.”

You inhale sharply. "Please?"

"Don'. Leave me."

"I won't leave," you swiftly promise. "I won't leave, I won’t.”

He cries in his sleep for so many names that aren’t alive anymore.

Don’t go. Don’t go.

Wake up, Momma.

Wait... Just wait.

That wasn’t the worst point. Not even hunched, taken-over by so much stress and pain until he gagged was the worst point. None of what he had already said combined could amount to the last night.

You snap awake on your stomach at some blurry unknown instance, acutely aware you’ve slept like shit.

Did you even, only blink?—No. The most faintest shade of grey weakly gives your bedroom the suggestion of texture and shadow, but—your arms are empty. You reach over blindly, but the side where Levi should lay is empty and cold.

A pit bursts open in your stomach, filled with bright panic. 

You lurch up and shove off the covers, breathing hard. 

Where could he be??

If he was feeling better, then you would've woken up a while ago, because he would've told you. Not just... 

He can’t be far.

You shiver. 

On your feet, you cross the room in a few strides, and frown as you pull open the bedroom door. It's never left closed at night this time of year; it gets about ten degrees colder without the insulation. (But the chill pressing to the bottoms of your feet, you barely even noticed.)

"Levi!?"

The switch on the wall is right within reach, which lights up the hall. You look right and almost jump back; you might’ve tripped over him if you hadn’t looked first.

He sits hugging his legs—tightly folded against his chest, Levi, why?—there right outside the white doorframe. Shivering, glossy face red with fever, and most certainly in agony by now with all the abuse done to his knee, you’re not sure if he even notices you. Not from this angle.

You fall down on your knees. “Levi? Look, I’m here. Talk to me, please, okay?”

His bloodshot eyes are cracked open, staring ahead, but seemingly seeing nothing. Between the tears, you can’t tell if this is good or bad. 

"Levi..." You take his shoulder in an attempt to nudge his attention towards you. “Look at me. Please.”

He was already tense. His head turns, mostly looking at you sideways—emphasis on his pale eye—but looking at you nonetheless. Good.

"What's wrong?"

His brow knits together.

“C’mere.” You lean forward and card his damp bangs back to feel his forehead. The whole time, he just looks at you passively.

“Better... But this cold won’t help in the end. Medicine is in the bedroom, so...”

You huff very softly to yourself. “…You need more bedrest. I don’t know why you even came out here. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

He blinks.

“Let’s go back to bed,” you insist then, under your breath. 

Some clarity crosses his dark eyes, his voice then a cracked brittle rasp.  “…Not the bed.” 

His gaze sort of drifts away from you. 

You thought he was through with that habit. Confused, you ask, “Why not?”

“It’s ruined. It was always disgusting, but… this is worse.”

“I’ll change the sheets then. I know, it’s not—”

“You can’t do anything,” he says, tucking his chin to his chest, intent eyes focused somewhere down. “Corpse smell doesn’t come outta anything, it just smells worse the longer you leave it. It gets colder n’ heavier, then the smell, it attracts bugs. There’s a fluid,” he says quietly. Casually. “And then it shrinks. Getting eaten’s all the same. But I think that way’s worse.”

What can you even say to that?

“I won’t do th-at to you…” His brow furrows sharply, gripping his sleeves—you see now—with bright white knuckles. Even sitting up, he’s almost curled up into a ball.

You talk quickly, before the full gravity of all this can reach you. 

“You won’t do anything,” you insist. “How about the sofa? Would the sofa be okay?”

“I can’ go to sleep,” he hisses. “I won’t wake up.”

“That’s not true. Why do you even say that??"

"I'm sick."

"Yeah, but it’s not bad-sick!”

You regret the moment you raise your voice. That almost innocent passivity he exuded is crushed by complete and utter detachment. 

“…Denial doesn't help. Don’t be stupid. Don't even—shouldn’ touch me. It’ll end worse fer you.”

You tremble minutely, stewing in silence while in panicked, rapid-fire fashion, you rifle through explanations. He sounds so serious. And he's nothing but.

You know that Levi’s mother died from sickness. He’s called out for her, a lot.

In nightmares… A nightmare?

You guess that’s where it all started for him, as he always slips into a warm voice and delicate eyes those rare moments he does tell you about her. Being sick then, being sick with you here… It all clicks into place.

Okay. Fuck…

The real monster of it all is the fever—making him unglued like this.

You rub the bridge of your nose, swallowing thickly. Okay. 

A firm calm settles over you; for once, Levi is scared. That means you won’t be.

“Levi…” you console.

You reach out to his shoulder, only to flinch when he flinches before a push knocks into your chest. It sends you falling into your backside with an injured grunt.

Instantly, intrinsically, you know it’s going to bruise; all his strength, one hand.

Your eyes pop open to his own—uncannily—wide with his lips twisting into a grimace. 

Putting his eyes ahead again, he sucks in a choked breath and slumps. “Sorry, I thought you were… Sorry.” He gasps. “I’m sorry.”

You get back up on your knees, slowly, and settle down beside him without hesitation. You’re more frantic than ever to close this icy chasm-like space.

“It’s okay.”

He shakes his head as sharp and as fast as his rattling breaths. “I thought you were him. I don’t get it… it just kept hap-happening… Fucking…”

You see him still searching for the words to explain.

“It’s okay. It’s all okay.” 

The warmth in your voice is genuine. When it shakes, you just hate that he’s suffering with nothing you can do to lift it all away, like blood by steam. 

He grips his hair, having made himself as small as possible again. “I’m—s-sorry.”

“Shh…”

Slowly until now, you’ve been leaning in, and now you firmly rest your hand on his back, rubbing in long, consoling motions. This seems to help.

You stay like this while his breathing shudders through tears. It’ll only hurt you both to bring force into it again; either way, any way, it’s not his fault. You don’t know what he meant… but why would it be the man who came and chose to look after him?

“Sorry…”

Everything you see if one ruddy cheek and his temple glistens with either tears or sweat, and his eyes look painful.

“Look at me. Baby.”

An order seems familiar. He does.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

He understands slowly, but you know the answer. After a time, he blinks, and nods.

“Stay still, please.” You kiss his temple. 

“…Sure.”

One arm around his back, the other scooped under his knees, you lift him up into your arms with not too much difficulty. He goes tense, but leans into your chest nonetheless.

“It’s going to be okay,” you murmur as you walk. You want desperately to ask about his leg, but this feels too fragile, like if you bring up physical pain then the whims of the fever will take him back over. 

He’s trembling all over, it seems, before you lay him back down in bed, and once you do he clutches a bit of your blouse at the collar with a grip that confirms for you that he’s not letting go. You sit beside him with his waist pushed against the side of your thigh.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” he croaks out softly, staring at your sleeve which he now grips. “I wasn’t fast ‘nuff. I hesitated n’ it got ‘em killed for nothing after made the same mistake… Sorry i-was my damn pride…”

You let him talk, rather mumble. When there’s a lull, you rest your palms on his hot cheeks. Better than the last time you felt them. His eyes instantly flutter in relief.

It’s surprisingly easy to give him water, then the fever reducer. Meanwhile, he’s clearly fighting the weight of exhaustion pressing down on his eyelids.

“Don’t make me sleep…”

“I’m not. I’ll just stay by your side. Then”—you cup his cheek—“I’ll do it again.”

He hardly grunts, eyes closing.

You won’t sleep, and you can’t sleep (if there’s even a difference). In fact, you’ll bring in one of the kitchen chairs and sit by him with a novel; you’ll read by candlelight, with a handkerchief hanging like a tarp from the lampshade so maybe he can rest easy.

Being that the flu is a release of stress… He’s getting better. He’s getting better.

Hour-by-hour, more or less (but mostly less), you snap awake at the tiniest stirring from your husband beside you. Maybe mumbling a ghostly snatch of a word; mostly sniffling. It takes you half an hour to drift off again.

This unforgiving cycle obnoxiously persists until morning sunlight poking your sleeping mind wakes you. Suddenly, again. You see him.

It’s a mystery, how long, but Levi is gazing at you softly with bloodshot, but, maybe aware eye. You feel better when he glances away, like every time—if, not when—you catch him staring. Your legs are tangled slightly, his slow breaths brush your cheek.

"Baby," you murmur. "You’re awake?”

He looks annoyed. “No, I’m sleeping with my eyes open.”

“How do you feel? Be honest," you quickly add. You drape your arm around his waist.

He frowns at your tone. "...Like my head got hit with a sledgehammer.”

You say nothing.

His voice gets softer and gentler. “I don’t remember… And you look like shit. What happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“…So I’m going to be wrong,” he surmises, looking away. “I slept in too late.” 

He goes to rub his eye, and sniffs. The distress marring his expression grows. 

“It’s been a couple days, but it’s alright,” you say. You’re quick to explain as the realization seems to come over Levi that he hasn’t had a proper bath in that length of time.

Though, it’s hard to explain. It’s even harder to wrap your mind around the fact that he doesn’t remember how he’d cried, and—insinuated, what he did. What horrors he spoke of. 

You finish. Behind a thinly-veiled straight face, he stares into your eyes with the quiet accusation that you haven’t told the whole story. 

“It… was… bad,” you bear to admit. “That’s why I look like shit.”

The self-loathing that falls over his expression like a deathly shroud is instant. He looks away, glaring at nothing, but before he can think anything, you squirm much closer, tighten your hold, and kiss his chin.

“It’s not your fault. And if I had to, I’d do it all over again. So don’t start.”

He watches you for a beat, as if searching for some exaggeration, but soon looks resigned to the truth in your vow. At this long-awaited point in your lives, with some legwork to say the least, you’re relieved to know you’ve finally got it beaten into his head that you love him, whether he agrees or not.

You watch him swallow, and many emotions cross his eyes as he mulls your words over. 

“I don’t like that it’s just a flash for me,” he resolves.

“I know. But we can… talk about it?”

Honestly you’re shocked the words left your mouth. Levi also stares at you like you just spoke a foreign language. It’s pathetic, as he would say, sure, but—people like you and him don’t just talk about things like that which fueled those nightmares of his.

He looks away, considering. Finally, he brings hand up to yours, nestled deep under the covers. Your fingers clasp gently, foreheads brushing. His silvery blue eyes calmly watch yours. That’s his answer.

It’s so different, and not so comfortable right now, but you believe, now, that’s okay.

Levi masterlist | main masterlist

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman x you #levi x you #levi x y/n #levi ackerman x y/n #levi ackerman oneshot #levi ackerman angst #aot oneshots #aot fanfiction #captain levi x reader #captain levi x you #captain levi fanfiction

[jaspersspace]

Alice and Bella go Shopping <3

Most of the time dating Alice Cullen was a dream come true, her life felt more fantasy than reality since the tiny vampire’s arrival, but sometimes the terrifying reality of the situation Bella had gotten herself into would make itself salient. Vampirism wasn’t the problem. Bella already planned to join the Cullen family after her graduation in 3 months, she was only waiting for Charlies sake. Nor was she bothered that Alice was a thousand times more bubbly and extraverted than Bella would ever be, this was a plus since Bella was never left trying to fill awkward gaps in conversation. Bella never would have imagined that the real horror of dating a vampire would be that vampire’s obsession with shopping and irreverent spending.

Alice was obsessed with clothes while Bella had literally worn an old green work shirt to her first day at Forks High last year. Following future trends and keeping the Cullen family one step ahead of the latest styles coming out of New York and Paris was a key point of Alice’s artistic expression. While Bella always admired Alice’s adorable yet somehow elegant style and the way it enhanced the vampires beauty she had stubbornly clung to her worn jeans, bulky sweaters and khaki skirts.

Today that was all changing. After a year of whining, begging, and pleading Alice had finally managed to convince Bella to let her restock her closet. Yesterday the two of them had spent all day holed up in Bella’s room sorting through her scanty closet. Alice would have just taken it all to good will but Bella fought her tooth and nail over every article of clothing. In the end Alice had only conceded 2 items for Bella to hold onto - her favourite white eyelet lace shirt and the blue blouse Bella had worn when Alice took her to the Cullen house for the first time.

It was nearly impossible for Bella to refuse Alice too long in anything, what with her lovely wide eyes, adorable hair and the endearing way she looked while pouting. If Alice’s pleading face didn’t get Bella to capitulate a soft kiss and roaming hands did the trick sure enough. As she thought of this Bella’s frown turned to a soft smile. Annoying though the pixie might be Bella had never loved anyone more. There was no one in the world quite like her Alice.

Once Bella’s hair was smooth, running down to her mid back in a chocolate waterfall, Bella grabbed her purse and bounded down the stairs. Alice and Charlie were playing a game of cribbage while they waited for Bella to make herself presentable. At the station Charlie was the reigning champion but he hadn’t managed to beat Alice once which baffled and annoyed him. To Alice’s delight Charlie found her company charming enough that he continued to play various card games with her, no one else indulged her anymore since she won every time. Charlie, unaware as he was, still had hope that one day he might win.

Alice played a two of hearts and marked three more points on the board for her run then turned to Bella with a dazzling smile.

“You ready to go now love?”

Bella could never get used to Alice’s beauty. She was unable to answer for a moment as she walked to her side and ran a hand through Alice’s choppy black hair.

“Uhm… we can wait until you two finish the game if you’d like?” Alice was just across the skunk line while Charlie trailed pitifully behind.

“No, no. Please take her away Bella,” Charlie groaned looking chagrinned, “I don’t think I can take much more of the beating I’m getting!”

“We can leave the game here, but only if Charlie agrees to count it as my win!” Alice declared with a sly grin in Bella’s direction.

“Anything to end the torture! There’s a game starting soon anyways.” Charlie agreed with a chuckle as he got up from his chair and lumbered into the kitchen to grab a beer.

Bella frowned after him. She’d hoped to buy herself at least a few more minutes before the shopping begun.

“Oh don’t worry love,” Alice chirped seeing Bella’s expression, “it’s going to be fun! Besides, I have a special present waiting to reward you so long as you cooperate.”

Alice winked and stretched onto her toes to give Bella a soft but teasing kiss before gently nibbling the taller girls lower lip. Bella’s fingers hooked in the belt loops of Alice’s jeans as she pulled her closer and so their foreheads were pressed together.

“Alice,” she whined. Bella kissed Alice’s cheek, her pointed nose, the sharp angle of her jaw. She was just about to connect their lips once more when Alice suddenly danced out of her grasp and adjusted Bella’s hold on her so now only their fingers were linked. Bella’s broken complaint was cut short by Charlie.

“Okay, you girls have fun in Seattle now. Alice, drive safe and Bella, don’t be too difficult, okay?”

“Yes Charlie!” They chorused, though Bella sounded significantly more disgruntled.

—

Then they were out the door and in Alice’s bright yellow Porsche. As they turned onto the highway Alice got a gleam in her eye and turned to Bella with a smile that made her regret not demanding they take her old rusted truck.

“Now then, the first part of any fun day is not spending all of it in the car sooooo,” Alice drew out the word as her grin grew wider, “you’re not going to get upset when I spend correct?”

Bella pressed her body against the seat and gripped the arm rests in panic as they began accelerating. She glanced over just to see the speed creep past 100mph. The trees were a hazy green blur alongside the road. Cars going the other direction flew by them like bullets.

“Wrong! Wronng! So wrong!” Bella chanted, her voice tight with fear. “Remember Alice we talked about this? I can’t walk away from a Volvo - or Porsche - pretzel.”

“Ye of little faith! We talked about this,” Alice took one hand from the wheel to tap Bella’s forehead, “Fortune teller, remember? I’d see an accident coming from at least a mile away. That’s plenty of time to change course.”

“Nope, still don’t like it.”

“Listen love, I’ll hold your hand the whole way and the sooner we get there the sooner shopping will be over.” Alice encouraged, prying Bella’s hand from the arm rest nearest her and lashing their fingers together.

“I think I’d prefer you kept two hands on the steering wheel.” Bella grumbled though she tightened her fingers around Alice’s deceptively dainty hand. At this point Bella didn’t know why she even bothered protesting, captivating as Alice was she would always get her way.

—

All in all the drive hadn’t been that bad. Bella focused on Alice’s face as Alice detailed the plans she had to create a cohesive look for Bella’s wardrobe, in an attempt to forget about how fast they were moving. Alice’s goal was for Bella’s entire closet to go with each other well enough that no matter what items of clothing Bella chose on any given day she would still look put together. This was referred to this as “Bella proofing” much to her chagrin.

Bella could just imagine all the Cullens laughing at her, next time she saw Emmett she was sure she’d never hear the end of it. At least she’d be strong enough to take his pride down a few pegs soon. Alice had told her she’d win every arm wrestle or fight for at least the first three months of her being a newborn. Bella couldn’t wait to take full advantage of that.

Though the contents of her wardrobe weren’t of much interest to Bella she adored watching Alice’s excitement grow as they approached the massive mall. Seeing someone Bella loved so clearly in her element was always heartwarming even when the subject of their interest was entirely foreign to Bella herself. She had to hold onto Alice’s hand as tightly as possible to keep her from bouncing away at inhuman speeds once they had parked. Bella briefly contemplated getting one of those backpack leashes people used to keep toddlers from running off which earned a scoff and eye roll from Alice when she had a vision of that suggestion being made.

“If anyone needs a leash it’s you, darling.” Alice said in her characteristic lilting way. “How else while I get you into the stores without a tantrum?” She batted her eyelashes at Bella with faux concern.

Bella smirked, “You can get a leash for me if you want Alice, but you already know I’d follow you anywhere.” Just saying the words had a warm blush blooming across Bella’s cheeks but the way Alice’s mouth popped open in surprise at her response was worth it. It wasn’t often that Bella could catch Alice off guard so she nearly always took the chance when she had it, even if it meant embarrassing herself.

“Well come on then,” Bella tugged the hand of a still stunned Alice, “you wanted to shop didn’t you?”

Mention of shopping broke Alice out of her surprised stillness. A dazzling grin appeared on her face before she gave Bella a kiss then she set off through the mall. Now it was Bella’s turn to be stunned but Alice was much stronger and easily towed her along towards her first target, Chanel.

“First things first, we’re getting rid of that horrible bag!” Alice pointed accusingly at the brown leather purse Bella had slung over her shoulder.

“Aw Alice, not the bag too.” Bella whined, but Alice was unwavering.

“The only reason I didn’t make you throw it out yesterday is because you needed something to carry your wallet in today. In approximately five minutes and fifteen seconds you will be the proud new owner of a quilted leather Chanel handbag and that…” Alice paused as if deliberating which word to use, “unfortunate bag of yours will no longer be necessary. Remember love, we can do this the easy way or the hard way but you already agreed so either way it is happening!”

She sounded maniacal, Bella thought to herself, but she gave up fussing about it. This would be a long day.

—

Four hours later the girls stopped for a break in the food court so Bella could have something to drink while Alice considered how best to tell Bella about the surprise she had planned to reward her for making it through a full day of shopping. There was only one store left on the list and though it was the most exciting Bella was more bashful then Alice so she had to be sure to bring it up in the correct way.

Bella sat across from Alice, caught in her own thoughts. Every item of Bella’s clothing, save the undergarments, was different than what she had walked into the mall wearing. As they shopped Alice had her switch from what she referred to as “sorely outdated” clothes into their most recent purchases. Alice had kept Bella in the nature themed palate she was already accustomed to but elevated the style in a way Bella hadn’t known possible. Browns and cremes were used as base colours with deep blue, olive green and forest green accents. Bella was rather surprised to find she loved everything Alice picked out for her.

As she got rid of the clothes she had come in and switched to wearing the perfectly fitting designer items she began to feel more confident and more like herself. It has shocked her to find out that at a couple stores Alice had even called to get items made specifically to Bella’s measurements for them to pick up. Bella realized she had no idea how much time her wonderful whirlwind of a girlfriend had spend considering each individual piece, though she was sure it must have been months for everything to work this well together.

“Hey Alice?” Bella asked, breaking into the other girls reverie.

“Yeah, love?” Alice beamed, already seeing what Bella was going to say.

“I just wanted to say thank you for all this.” Bella gestured towards the mountain of bags beside where they sat. “I know it must have taken a lot of time and consideration for you to plan everything this perfectly and, well, I’ve actually had fun with you today. Also, I know I wasn’t keen at first but I really do like the clothes you’ve picked out. It’s all so kind of you.”

Bella blushed, embarrassed to be saying her feelings out loud but it was well worth it to see Alice’s delight. She hopped up from her chair and walked around the table to sit in Bella’s lap and wrap her arms around the taller girls neck.

“Thank you for tolerating it,” she grinned up at Bella. “I saw that you’d like it but there was a possibility that you wouldn’t enjoy the new clothes until a week from now. It means a lot that you’d indulge me with this when I know it’s not your favourite way to spend a Saturday.”

“My favourite way to spend a Saturday is with you, what we’re doing doesn’t matter much. Though, I suppose some things are extra fun…” Bella blushed as she trailed off with a suggestive smile.

“Speaking of that, I still have to give you your surprise.”

“Speaking of ‘extra fun’ you mean?” Bella asked intrigued.

“Mhmm but it’s a surprise!”

“Aw really Alice?” Bella whined.

“Trust me, you’ll love it.” Alice emphasized the word love in a way that made Bella’s stomach tighten with anticipation.

“Alright let’s go then!”

Alice laughed as she let Bella scoot her off her lap. “My, my, isn’t someone eager now?” She teased causing Bella’s blush to deepen.

Despite her teasing Alice could smell Bella’s arousal which sent her hurrying to grab their bags just as quickly as her partner.

“Okay, follow me!” Alice chirped as she took off in what Bella realized was the opposite direction of their car.

“Um Alice, shouldn’t we be going the other way?” Bella hesitated, maybe she had misunderstood what Alice meant by extra fun.

“Trust me, I’ve already seen that you’ll love this.” Alice turned back to her with a smile so seductive Bella nearly melted right there. Then she danced off through the mall leaving Bella blushing and rushing to catch up.

—

Bella stomach was tight with anticipation as she followed Alice into an unmarked store. There was a single counter in the centre of what looked like a small waiting room. Behind it a tall woman with perfect black ringlets and an inviting smile glanced up from her computer.

“Hello, welcome to Sensations by Arielle Dejour. Did you have an appointment?” She asked in a remarkably alluring voice.

Bella blushed nervously, unsure how to answer and glanced at Alice.

“Yes, thank you. We have an appointment for a viewing under ‘Cullen’.” The smaller girl responded confidently.

It never failed to amaze Bella how Alice seemed at ease in every situation. Perhaps it had something to do with almost always knowing what was coming, or maybe it was the vampirism. Either way, Bella desperately hoped that once she was an immortal she too would be able to carry herself with Alice’s casual confidence. At least she wouldn’t be able to blush. As Bella mulled this over the receptionist had gotten the two girls checked in for the mystery appointment Alice had planned.

“Okay, everything is set. You will be in room three today, everything is waiting inside ready for you to try. If you need any assistance don’t hesitate to ask.” She talked while leading Alice and Bella down a hallway to a door marked with the number ‘3’ in gold paint. “At the back of the room you will find a small changing room then in the main area there are surrounding mirrors which provide a 360 degree view of each item. Enjoy your time.” She beamed while opening the door a sliver. Then without another word she clasped her hands, nodded, and headed off back to her desk.

“Uhm Alice?” Bella shot her a questioning stare once the receptionist was gone.

“Don’t worry my love!” Alice opened the door with a grin and flourish, “After you.”

After a moments hesitation Bella stepped into the room, setting her shopping bags down just inside the door. There was a sort of entry way with coat hooks and a mat for shoes. Confused but trusting Alice’s judgement, Bella unlaced her new combat boots and hung up the wool blazer Alice had put her in. The click of Alice locking the door sent a strange shiver of anticipation down Bella’s spine. After Alice had removed her own shoes and the cropped motorcycle jacket she had been wearing she took her girlfriend’s hand and led her forward so she could see the rest of the space.

It was a relatively small square room, empty save for a plush leather ottoman in the centre and full body mirrors which had been placed near the walls in a circle surrounding the ottoman. In the back left corner there was a little dressing room with a thick black curtain that could be pulled across for privacy. Bella gaped, understanding filling her the second she caught sight of the mirrors.

She had told Alice a few months ago that she had always fantasizing about having sex while she could see every angle of it unfolding in mirrors. But she had never dreamed Alice would aim to fulfill that fantasy in a setting like this, she had envisioned a few mirrors placed around the pixies bedroom in the Cullen house, not something as extravagant as the room they were in now. Besides, the setting felt so public - but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing Bella conceded as she felt her arousal grow at what would be happening now.

”Well?” Alice asked as she wound her thin arms around Bella’s waist from behind and stood on her toes to nibble her ear. “What do you think?”

Bella turned in Alice’s embrace so the shorter girl could see the nervous anticipation of her expression as she shook her head, slightly dazed.

“I- I don’t… I don’t think, Alice. I…” She trailed off unable to find the words to express her desire.

Alice frowned slightly as if worried but before she could get the wrong idea Bella ducked her head to catch Alice’s mouth in a searing kiss, opting to show Alice what she thought of all this rather then trying to find the words. Alice gasped, tightening her arms around Bella until it was impossible to pull her closer as she pressed up on her toes to deepen the kiss.

For a moment Alice almost entirely forgot her mission, Bella’s scent was a thick haze in the air around her and it turned her usually iron will to jello. But then Bella pulled back slightly, needing to breathe, and Alice was able to refocus on the plan. She peppered a few kisses into the flushed curve of Bella’s neck and across her collar bones, trying to keep Bella open to experimentation while she calmed herself enough to speak.

”There’s one other part to your surprise,” Alice smiled suggestively.

”Oh?” Bella wondered aloud, “I’m not sure this could get any better. Though I am confused about how all this is legal and in a mall.” She gestured to the mirrored room around them.

“Well technically this is a store, love. Go into the dressing room in the back and you’ll see what I mean.” Alice shooed Bella towards the curtained corner.

Hesitating only slightly Bella pulled the velvet curtain aside to reveal a tiny dressing room with dozens of bra and panty sets hanging on the wall. Alice heard the gasp that escaped her and chimed in “They’re all in your side, specially made for you… or us that is.”

Bella could feel her cheeks turning pink and knew Alice would be able to taste the scent of her arousal in the air. Without another word she pulled the curtain closed behind her and began shedding her clothes as quickly as possible, for once eager to let Alice dress her up and do whatever she pleased. From this day forward Bella knew she would never turn down another shopping trip with Alice for as long as they lived.

#twilight #stephanie meyer #bella swan #alice cullen #fanfic #original fanfiction #charlie swan #Alice and Bella are meant for eachother and no one can change my mind #slightlynsfw #mild smut

[divinesouldariax]

Consider also, 75 from physical I Love Yous with Laudna and Imogen

75. Painting their fingernails because their hands are too shaky.

I know you said Laudna and Imogen, but Ashton just kinda snuck his way in here and I couldn't get them to leave lmao <3 Unsteady hands crowd, make some noise! Also whoops this was sent in literal months ago ~Martin

P.S. Apologies if tumblr nuked the formatting on this, I couldn't figure out how to fix it in the 10 minutes before I leave for work.

Word count: 1,770

Content warnings: mild internalized ableism

Send me these? (different prompt list but still)

*

Laudna had just about the steadiest hands that Imogen had ever seen. Maybe it was something about her heart rate being so low, or so many years of experience with detail work crafting and mending things, or maybe it was just a trait she had always possessed, but she could tend to the smallest tasks with exact precision.

Right now, that task was painting Imogen’s nails. Laudna had been so excited by the shimmery black nail polish they'd found in a shop they wandered into that morning, and Imogen had suggested that Laudna paint hers as well. Laudna had beamed. But Imogen didn't really want the same black paint, so she had bought a few other colors as well.

One of Laudna's cool hands was supporting Imogen's, and her delicate fingers held the small brush that was coating Imogen's nails in sky blue polish. Laudna was humming happily. Smiling, Imogen leaned her head against the wall and let her mind relax.

The rest of the group were in the room as well, resting in the heat of the afternoon. Chetney was sanding something in the corner, his thoughts focused and bent on a stubborn gnarl in the wood. Fearne was taking a nap on one of the beds, dreaming about swimming by a waterfall, and Orym was sitting next to her and stretching, the rhythm of the Zephra'atam flowing through his mind. FCG was by the window, peeking out through the crack in the curtains, watching for birds a little nervously. Ashton, who was sitting in the chair near where Imogen and Laudna were on the floor, was drowsy as well, and not thinking about much, but Imogen did pick up something a little strange. Jealousy, maybe?

She looked over at him. They were staring down at the hole in their vest that he was trying to patch, having turned down Laudna's offer to fix it with magic. But as she watched, Ashton glanced over at her and Laudna. His eyes widened briefly, and a spark of embarrassment flooded through his mind as they saw Imogen looking back. Quickly, he turned back to his work.

Imogen fought a smile. Ashton, she said softly into his mind.

For a second, they ignored her. What? he replied eventually.

She wiggled the fingers of the hand Laudna had already finished so he could see them. I bet she'd do yours next if you asked.

I don't-- An incoherent jumble of thoughts followed as Ashton put the mending down and rubbed their forehead. Imogen waited patiently as he gathered themself. Oh, you're awful, you know that?

I know, Imogen said, amused. Don't be embarrassed. You want her to paint your nails?

Ashton shifted. They were looking down at their hands now with a weird expression. Imogen felt nostalgia that was closer to sadness from them, and she frowned. I used to like having them painted, he said. I'd do it myself. Hands are too fucking shaky to do that anymore, though. Paint would get fucking everywhere.

Imogen had noticed the shakiness in his hands before, of course. Hers often trembled as well. Is that why you make a point of fixing your clothes by hand, even though it takes a while? she asked.

Just to prove I still fucking can? Yeah, pretty much.

You know, Laudna's doing mine 'cause my hands shake, too, Imogen said gently. She saw a little tension leave their shoulders. It's that part that you're embarrassed about, not that you want them painted, huh?

Ashton shrugged tightly. I don't like needing help for something that simple, they admitted, and Imogen got the feeling that it wasn't something he would ever say out loud.

I'm not gonna make you, Imogen told him. But I do think it would make Laudna happy if you asked her to.

"There, we'll let that dry and then do another coat," Laudna announced. "How does it look?"

Imogen held her hands up to the light. Several nails were a little wet, but it still looked lovely. The blue stood out against the lines of purple electricity that crackled under the skin of her hands. "I love it," she said sincerely. "We got a little time to wait, then?"

"Mm-hmm, we'll give it five minutes or so," Laudna said.

She's got tiiiiime, Imogen said, teasing a little.

Ashton didn't answer her in her mind. A few seconds passed, and she was about to drop it, but then he cleared his throat and said, "Laudna, want to do mine too?"

Laudna, Orym, and Chetney all looked towards him. Imogen felt a radiating defensiveness from Ashton, but she knew nobody was going to prove that wariness right.

"I would love to!" Laudna said enthusiastically. "What color would you like? Imogen bought several!"

Ashton squinted at the collection of paint. "I mean, I've got a whole thing going on," he said, gesturing at themself. "So, same color as you, I think."

"The black? Alright! Come sit with us down here?” Laudna invited.

They nodded and got off the chair, tossing the mending onto the seat and sat down on the floor in the corner next to Imogen, who scooted over to give him space to face Laudna. “Sorry if I move too much,” they mumbled. “Hands kind of do their own thing sometimes.”

“If the brush slips, we can just wipe it off,” Laudna replied easily. “Bring your knee up and put your hand down on it, maybe? Would that help it be steadier?”

Imogen smiled at how gentle the suggestion was–Laudna had said the same thing to her the first time they’d done this. She sent a wave of pure affection in Laudna’s direction and saw the corner of her mouth turn up.

Ashton pulled one knee up close to their chest, wincing, then rested their right hand down on top of it. When Laudna carefully slipped her fingers under his, lifting them up one at a time to apply the first coat of black paint, Imogen saw his forehead crease, and his hands twitched a few times, smearing the paint occasionally, but they were watching her work intently and didn’t pull away.

“There, done with that hand,” Laudna said.

Imogen reached her hand out. “I can clean up the edges,” she said, and when Ashton didn’t even hesitate to give her his hand, she felt a little twinge of pride. It had taken so long to get them to be okay with being touched, and it was a special kind of honor to be allowed to do so when she knew that it could cause a lot of pain. She prestidigitated the smudges around his cuticles while Laudna started painting the nails on their left hand.

That one seemed to be a lot worse in terms of the twitching and shaking. Which made sense, most of the injuries were on the left side of his body. Still, Imogen couldn’t help but wince when their wrist kind of jerked involuntarily away from Laudna.

“Are you alright?” Laudna said softly.

“Fine,” Ashton almost snapped.

Laudna paused, and Imogen tensed slightly, but then she just went back to painting. “You know, the black looks really good, but I bet purple would as well. Matching your hair.”

Ashton let out a little laugh even as their hand shuddered again, and Imogen relaxed. “Sure, maybe next time.”

Fearne had woken up from her nap, and was peering down at them from over the edge of the bed. “Oh, that looks like fun,” she sighed. “Laudna, will you do mine?”

“Of course!”

“Maybe you can do everyone’s!” Fearne added. “Fresh Cut Grass doesn’t have nails, but–”

“You could paint something on my hands anyway,” Letters remarked. “That could be pretty.”

“Orym, Chetney?” Fearne said hopefully.

“Nah, it’d chip off too fast on me. But I might borrow those paints and the tiny brushes,” Chetney said. “You got red?”

“Kind of a dark maroon?” Imogen said, looking at the little glass paint bottles. “Nothing bright.”

“Dark maroon works.”

Imogen sent the bottle floating over to the windowsill. Chetney gave her a nod as he snatched it out of the air.

Laudna had finished Ashton’s left hand as well, and as Imogen was cleaning it up, she grabbed the paints and climbed up onto the bed with Fearne. “I’ll come back for a second coat for both you and Imogen in a little while,” she told him.

Ashton nodded awkwardly, looking at his nails. “Thanks,” he said.

“Oryyym,” wheedled Fearne.

Imogen felt a spike of fond amusement from Orym. “What?” he said.

“Will you let Laudna paint your nails?” Fearne said.

There was a pause. “If you promise not to ever tell Opal, because if she finds out that I let somebody paint my nails and it wasn’t her, I think she’d probably murder me,” Orym said lightly.

Ashton was still examining their nails. Imogen couldn’t read his expression, so she reached out in his mind.

You alright? she checked.

Mm-hmm.

I think we’ve started a trend, Imogen said with a giggle. Just you wait, even Chet’s gonna give in eventually.

Ashton smiled slightly. Think the paint would stay on his claws as a wolf?

Imogen laughed out loud, covering her mouth. Oh, gods, that’s an image.

I bet that’s really why he doesn’t want to, Ashton continued. But I really want to know now. Think Laudna could paint them in his sleep?

Oh, Ashton, that’s mean if he doesn’t want it, Imogen giggled.

Just one, even! Fearne could do it, Chetney wouldn’t mind.

That’s probably true. Imogen got distracted by an increasingly heated conversation between Laudna and Fearne about whether Orym should go with the dark green or try to break out of his usual color scheme. Fearne was very insistent that he should try the purple, and Orym was just leaning back against the wall and wasn’t offering an opinion, but seemed to be enjoying the discussion.

Ashton looked like they were watching, too, but they spoke to her again in her mind a minute later. Thanks, he said.

What for?

Getting me out of my fucking head about it.

Imogen reached out for his hand. He let her take it. Careful of their nails, though they were probably dry by now, and she laced their fingers together. Both of their hands were a little shaky, and no less so for being together, but it was still nice. Side by side, the similarities of the gold scars and the electric purple veins were striking. I get it, she said simply.

Ashton squeezed her hand and said nothing. It was obvious anyway that he understood.

Send me these? (different prompt list)

#imogen temult #laudna #ashton greymoore #bell's hells #critical role fic #my writing

[condraws]

some more stuff from the xianxia campaign. god i love our idiots

#flashing lights #HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SO THE TEAM IS A GENUINE DISASTER APPARENTLY #CAN'T EVEN HAVE A COVERSATION WITHOUT SOMEONE TOUCHING A TRAUMA #i think it says. a lot? that my character has the best mental health out of everyone a week after he found out his brother turned evil #this is fine.jpeg #ANYWAY THE DANCER IS CALLED MEI DI AND THEY ARE EVERYTHING #I WILL DRAW THEIR STUPIDLY COMPLICATED HAT BECAUSE I LOVE THEM #the veiled one is our shifu #upon whose shitlist i lie. dead. waterlogged #THE GIRLS IN BLUE ARE MY SISTERS. WEEPS AT TOP VOLUME. BACK WHEN THINGS WERE GOOD HUH #WE WERE INVESTIGATING A MISSING SIBLING AND THINGS WERE GOOD HUH #o man i almost forgot about xx's power-up comic #our healer: i need 4 strength #we: why #he: don't worry about it #*gets struck by lightning* #OR SOMETHING #I THINK HE LITERALLY FOUGHT A WATERFALL AT ONE POINT #WHY #oc tag #others ocs #ylht #i give up on getting the captions to work but yes #that one panel is referencing that one panel of endo and kobayashi's something somethign villainess

[kyriolex]

The Chuunin Exams So Far: 221-222

So Boruto's second chuunin exams are here. They're "good filler" quality: they're not suspenseful by any means, but they offer nice world-building on occasion.

Take Spiderboy. He looks more like the spider user from the Village of Waterfalls than Kidomaru, but either way, those abilities didn't originate in the Land of Fire. It's a nice show-don't-tell piece revealing that Konoha has a welcoming immigration policy.

It's also nice to see that unlike the old exams, where children were sent into a literal slaughterfest, the exam practitioners here actually have medics on standby. That's really good for the Leeroy Jenkins Team, which rushes into the forest before Moegi even finishes her instructions and gets bodied by some unseen frogs.

Other parts of worldbuilding clearly fail. Case in point:

Is he an Aburame? He has no jacket or glasses! Come to think of it, we haven't seen any Aburames besides Shino in the new era. Is this dude the the sole Aburame with 20/20 vision, or is Shino the last holdout for Matrix-style outfits? I feel like the jacket/glasses combo is too important for the Aburames to give up, so I'm going to pretend this guy is a Kamizuru clan member and that those are bees.

Also, the 2nd trial had the most unnecessary plot twist ever. The instructors told the children that there was no third exam, leading children to believe the Forest of Death was the final test.

At the end of the test, Sai reveals that while there isn't a third test, there is a "final" test. The children will fight in one-on-one battles to become chuunin. This news is treated like a disturbing revelation, complete with the "scary mood" music and Boruto saying "Making us fight each other? How cruel!" Even though all of these kids fought each other in the last chuunin exams...

The preparation episode was nice fluff that showed moments from each team.

The picture of baby Team 10 alone was worth it. And it was incredibly sweet how Shikadai refuses to wear his vest until his teammates become chuunin, because he doesn't want to appear like he's better than his friends. You all know I don't care for Shikamaru, but I love his son.

Team 5's scenes use poor Metal Lee as a punching bag to make Denki look good. The show isn't being subtle about foreshadowing Denki's promotion. The writers even had Iwabe say outright "Denki's definitely going to make chuunin."

Team 25, meanwhile, is in trouble. Tsubaki has been called back to her homeland, so she'll be leaving our two favorite lesbians behind just like Sumire did. This team is cursed to repeatedly lose its strongest member.

Unrelated note: I love Wasabi's parents. Fans argue that Naruto and Hinata make the best couple, or Temari and Shikamaru, but they are wrong. Three seconds of watching these two tango has shown me that this couple has the best marriage, hands down.

#Boruto #chuunin exams: the sequel

[liamjamesbond]

*smol analysis on YNM/contains spoilers*

First of all. NEXT TIME, WE NEED TO FOCUS MORE ON THE OP AND ED SONG OF MORIARTY THE PATRIOT XD.

Anyways, in this first clip of the opening song. We all thought this was when the young moriarty trio burned the mansion together with the parents and the maids but there could be a chance this was actually the scene of Albert burning the mansion down. (Based on the recent raw chapters)

Next this clip. I literally thought this was just a reference to William's real death on Conan Doyle's book "final Problem" where he died in Reichenbach falls. But in the raws (Chapter 54) we see it was actually on the bridge where Moriarty and Sherlock met. And Moriarty shouted "you're the demon Sherlock"

Sounds familiar? Yep. It's in the first frickin page of the manga xD but this was a reference on the real book. So idk?!?! But in the interview the author did say he almost forgot about that panel in the manga 😅 and there's alot of mangas where the "future" being told in the manga is actually very different from the ending of the manga.

That also comes into this context. In the Real "Final Problem' book. We not talking about the Jim Moriarty okay cause that's a different plot xD. Anyways, in the opening song. We did see Liam pointing a gun. Hencr we all know, Liam will sacfricice himself for a better world. We all know that. The funny thing is in the Final problem book, there was no politics involve in terms of Moriarty's reasoning. Not only that, there was no solid reasoning for Moriarty's doing. Instead, Watson narrated that Both sherly and Liam fought and ofcourse seen their death saying that. At the bottom of this waterfall lies the crime genius and the detective. So there could also be a chance that the ending of a manga would come for William and Sherlock's demise. It could be that Sherlock might not save Liam so Sherlock goes with him instead. I mean, we know how mangas can be...

Thoooo. I can't stop thinking about the ending song. They literally painted the falls there. There's a chance I might be over analyzing it but come on, there's a reason why they put it there.

And after the falls, the next clip was the Moriarty trio. I mean yeah it does look like a broken down building than a falls but there's a chance the ending might go into a turn and instead of William or William and Sherly. It might be the Moriarty trio who's going to face death instead. I mean who knows right? But what if Sherly does save Liam? All happiness right? But I can't stop thinking about the "government" they won't take this lightly and just shove William into a cell. That won't happen. So there's also the fear of the British empire to kill Moriarty instead. Now that's shitty to be honest but can be possible. I mean, from what I'm seeing if Sherly does save him or not, one way or another, Liam will die cause the British empire won't take this lightly. I mean, Irene Adler snatched a document and wanted her dead. How much more of Moriarty's doings.

But ofcourse, I'm sprouting nonesense and remember my brain cells is tradh compared to Moriarty so yeah. All we should do is just honestly wait and see where all of the fandom's theory is going. But again, this might go into a Death note or Code Geass turn xD.

#moriarty the patriot #william james moriarty #yuukoku no moriarty #professor moriarty #sherlock holmes #yukoku no moriarty #sherliam #albert james moriarty #yuumori

[jbuffyangel]

The Domino Falls: Arrow 1x12 Review (Vertigo)

It’s officially 1 year today since Arrow went off the air and I thought what better way to mark the moment than by chatting about the show we all love with a review!

We have begun the slow and steady climb to more Felicity Smoak content 

and “Vertigo” is a monumentally HUGE moment in Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. One little meet up at Big Belly Burger is what tips the dominoes over for Oliver Queen.

Let’s dig in...

Olicity

Let’s get right to the good stuff. Of course, there’s other stuff that happened in this episode, but do we care? Only a little. Oliver is on the hunt for The Count – the man responsible for the Vertigo epidemic and Thea’s looming drug trial. The Count is in my Top 5 of best Arrow villains. Of course his first episode coincides with an Olicity milestone. That rat bastard worked the hardest for our ship.

The judge has decided to make an example out of Ms. Queen in hopes of deterring others from trying Vertigo. Seriously, does that ever work? 

So, he chucked Thea’s plea agreement right out the window. Big Bro in The Hood is hoping to serve up a bigger fish – THE FISH – to help get his sister off the hook. Oliver is generally anti innocent people dying from illicit drugs, so there are unselfish reasons at play too.

No one knows the identity of The Count, so after roughing up the streets and getting nowhere, Oliver reaches out to Alexi Leonov. We met Leonov in 1x03, but for those who need a refresher - he leads the Starling City chapter of the Bratva. This is the first time Diggle meets Leonov, discovers Oliver speaks Russian, is a captain in the Russian mob, and can fake kill someone. 

It was a big day for John.

Leonov sets up the meet with The Count and Oliver attempts to buy some Vertigo off him, sans mask and arrow. The cops show up and Oliver tries to run down The Count as he escapes, but is stabbed in the chest with two syringes full of Vertigo. 

Never fear, Oliver has his magic herbs from Lian Yu which apparently can cure drug overdose. (Maybe share with the rest of the world?) Vertigo makes him momentarily murderous (more than usual) and he screams a lot.

THE POINT OF ALL THIS EXPOSITION IS ALL ROADS LEAD TO FELICITY SMOAK.  

Diggle and Oliver think it would be wise to have someone analyze the Vertigo… for some reason. This leads our dynamic duo to Queen Consolidated and to our favorite blonde hacker. 

Felicity rambles about Oliver’s haggard appearance (re: see drug overdose) and a cat being tased (she connects those disparate dots, I assure you). He offers yet another ridiculous lie and we embark on one of the funniest scenes in Arrow’s history.  

Arrow struggled to find its footing for a long time, but “Vertigo” is the beginning of the writers settling on to solid ground. If you ever have to wonder why the show focused on Oliver, Diggle and Felicity as the core characters you only need to watch this scene for the answer. 

The chemistry between all the actors is amazing. Arrow is not known for its humor (especially in Season 1), but between Emily Bett Rickard’s perfect delivery of another one of Felicity’s awkward and inadvertent sexual slip ups,

Stephen Amell’s inability to stay in character as he laughs right along with us,

and David Ramsey’s stone cold straight man reaction –

this entire scene is comedy gold. 

I vividly remember watching it live, laughing my ass off, and wanting more of EVERYTHING these three have to offer. And that’s exactly what we’re going get. 

“I ran out of sports bottles” reigned as Arrow’s funniest scene for a solid two years (until this episode), but it also marks the worst of Oliver’s terrible lies to Felicity. It’s so bad even Diggle has to remark on it in the elevator. Oliver’s lies are horrible, everyone knows Felicity doesn’t buy a word of it, and their need for her help is increasing with every day. Something has to change.

As we discussed in 1x11, Oliver is prone to distrust and very reticent to change his mind – ever. He’s been burned so many times in the past it’s difficult for him to view anyone through a trusting lens. 

And yet, Oliver told his deepest and darkest secret to a man he’d only known for a few weeks. Yes, Diggle had soldier skills Oliver would find useful as a partner. He knew John could hold his own in the field, but it’s not just about his abilities. It was also about the person Diggle is. Oliver did his homework and realized he needed John to survive. There was a wellspring of humanity in John that Oliver wasn’t able to access inside himself. He was subconsciously reaching out for help - like a moth to a flame.

It is the same with Felicity. Yes, Oliver needs her abilities – perhaps even more than what Diggle has to offer. (It’s not like Oliver Queen can’t handle himself in the field). But he is also drawn to Felicity’s warmth, kindness, humor, compassion and openness. Oliver’s heart is encased in iron and welded shut. He doesn’t know how to open it back up. It’s been dark and alone for so long. And yet, Oliver returns again and again to this brightly shining light and why? Because he craves it.  

Something has to change. We need that final push, the first domino to fall, so Oliver can make that final step and tell Felicity who he really is. Diggle was easier. He’d fought a war before. Oliver also knew about Andy’s death. Remember – Oliver brought Diggle onboard when he needed help with Deadshot. Manipulative? Yes, but it worked.

Felicity is trickier. I’m sure Oliver has done his research. 

Well, yes that kind of research, but also into her background. There’s no dead family member requiring retribution. No war zone she’s recently returned from. She’s an MIT graduate with a penchant for hacking working at a global conglomerate as a wildly overqualified IT tech. The girl doesn’t have so much as a parking ticket. The leap to vigilantism would be rather big.

I also think a fair amount of his hesitancy to involve her in anything related to The Hood is the danger. Diggle can handle himself. Felicity is a different story. Oliver is constantly battling the need for Felicity’s help versus the risk he’s putting her at by asking for it. The lies are to protest Oliver’s secret identity, but also to shield Felicity from it.

Whether it is Oliver’s own distrustfulness, his inability to see an angle to reel Felicity in, his desire to protect her or all three – it doesn’t matter. He continues to lie to her. Oliver isn’t ready to make that big leap either.

Source:  yet-i-remain-quiet

Until… Felicity asks to meet him at Big Belly Burger. Oliver waits for her, looking out the window on a rainy night, thinking of Yao Fei.

Oliver feared Yao Fei betrayed him and was really working for Fyers, but neither was true. He convinced Fyers of his loyalty by pretending to kill Oliver. (So that’s who Oliver learned it from!) Yao Fei wakes Oliver just as he rolls his “dead” body into the waterfall. He also slips Oliver a map with a location marked with the words “Survive.” 

Oliver doubted his trust in Yao Fei, but in the end was shocked to find out he had it right all along. Yao Fei was exactly who Oliver thought he was – a good man. That final and literal push cemented Oliver’s belief in his friend and to trust his gut.

There will probably always be a debate as to when the writers began the shift towards Olicity. “We DiDn’T dEcIdE uNtIL sEaSoN 2,” is the standard story, but I’m a firm believer it began in Season 1 and often include this scene in my massive pile of evidence. The last scene in the episode either tees up the next or contains a lot of emotional significance. Felicity beings to carve out a lot of final scene time as the series progresses.

The last scene in “Vertigo” is romantically lit with rain drops shimmering on the window. Oliver and Felicity are meeting outside the office and ALONE.  Soft instrumental music plays in the background. It feels more intimate than any scene they’ve shared before.

Source: andjustforthismoment 

I still cannot get over Oliver “The Sex God” Queen waving at Felicity Smoak like a giddy school boy and then shaking his head over how completely uncool he looked. We watched this man leave a criminal suspended in the air with an arrow through his hand in the first scene and in the last he acts like a puppy. THE RANGE.

It’s clear Felicity is a little nervous as she exhales walking in. Is she nervous to be meeting with Oliver or nervous about what she has to say? Both. She tips her hand a bit by thanking Oliver for meeting her at Big Belly Burger. She did not want to have this discussion at the Queen mansion. (THE PLOT THICKENS).

It seems Oliver and Felicity are having similar conundrums about each other. Felicity is uncertain if she can trust Oliver and has been debating for weeks whether or not to tell him the full truth. SOUND FAMILIAR? Felicity has far more evidence of Oliver’s untrustworthiness. There’s no rambling this time. She lays out the cold hard facts which is Oliver Queen is a big, fat liar and she knows it. He knows it. They both know it. Felicity Smoak is nobody’s fool.

And yet, she trusts him. Even though Oliver has given her no reason to. Even though there are clearly things he’s not telling her. Even though Oliver has yet to show her the same trust. There is something Felicity sees in him which tells her Oliver is worthy of it. It is an unsubstantiated truth. Felicity is going with her gut and her gut says Oliver Queen is a good man.

This doesn’t stop her from asking him the simple question though. Felicity needs that little bit of reassurance before she makes the final leap. 

At first, Oliver plays it off in his smarmy, smart ass and flippant way. It’s the Ollie Queen façade that always works with L*urel, Tommy, Lance, Moira and Thea.

It’s an act that’s never worked on Felicity. She sees through it now just like she’s always has. Her smile fades. Felicity breaks eye contact with Oliver and doesn’t hide her disappointment. She is tired of the games and lies. Felicity wants to talk to the real Oliver Queen. That’s the only man she will share this secret with.

All it takes is five seconds of Felicity’s disappointment for Oliver to drop the façade like a hot potato. 

He even apologizes and promises Felicity he is worthy of her trust. Then, Felicity lowers the boom and hands him The List.

It is difficult to surprise Oliver Queen, but this one has him reeling. She hands the book to Oliver, the same book Robert gave him, but he hesitates taking it. He has no idea where this is going, so he defaults to his standard operating procedure and lies.

Oliver is not doing a stellar job covering his “my world is upside down” reaction, so I highly doubt Felicity believes him, but she lets it slide for now. 

The more information she shares with Oliver the worse it gets. Felicity begins to fill in all the missing pieces to Walter’s disappearance and the guilt is pointing directly at Moira.

This is not the first time Oliver has reason to doubt his mother, but every time he’s able to reason away her involvement in anything nefarious. If he can’t do that on his own then Moira provides very plausible explanations (LIES), which allow Oliver to continuing looking at his family with a blind eye. But this? This is impossible to easily explain away. Particularly since WALTER was beginning to suspect his own wife.

Source: green-arrows-of-karamel

If The List cost Walter his life then Felicity is risking her own by showing it to anyone, particularly a Queen. She is literally putting her life in Oliver’s hands when she handed him that book. The first domino falls, but it’s not Oliver who pushes it over. It’s Felicity. She gives Oliver the truth when he’s given nothing but lies. Felicity trusts him absolutely when he’s done nothing to show he’s deserving of it. She risks everything while Oliver continues to hide everything.

Felicity shocks Oliver no differently than Yao Fei shocked him.  We’ve been waiting all this time for Oliver to make that final step and in the end it is Felicity who gives their relationship the necessary push over the waterfall. It’s a cold awakening, but he can see things clearly now. She is like a flashlight illuminating all the answers clouded by his distrustfulness and hesitancy. 

Felicity reveals so much of herself in this moment. First, she is willing to take risks if the cause is worth it. Giving Oliver that book took real courage. Second, the girl can keep a secret. She never said boo about anything related to Moira or Walter during Oliver’s little visits. Not even a hint! Three, Felicity Smoak sees clearly all the things Oliver is blind to. 

This serves as an important lesson for Oliver. Felicity knows so much more than he ever gave her credit for. Most importantly, his gut was right about her and he was wrong to ever question it. Two mistakes he will never make again.

And now everything will change.

Thea and Moira

I’m not gonna sugar coat this for you guys. I was one hundred percent okay with Thea going to jail. Season 1 Thea is a pain in the ass. A couple episodes with her sitting in the slammer would be a welcomed break from the teenage ‘tude.

L*urel and Lance work out a sweetheart deal for Thea after the judge basically said he would throw the book at her. Thea will serve 500 hours of community service under the watchful gaze of L*urel Lance at CRNI. And Thea flat out refuses.

Now, typically I am a fan of anyone who tells L*urel Lance to go screw herself, but even this was too much for me. Thea wants to go to jail to stick it to her mother because she’s still convinced Moira cheated on Walter. 

She didn’t cheat on Walter, Thea! Your mom just kidnapped him. So it’s fine.

Oliver decides to drop the Robert “I’m not the man you think I am” Queen bomb on Thea and tells her their father was a big hoe. Thea refuses to believe him and Moira is ticked because Oliver told the truth. Queens don’t do that EVER. 

Moira: He loved you. No matter his faults. He loved you.

Thea wants to know why Moira took all the punishment for Robert’s sins and her answer is very simple. She was trying to protect Thea’s memory of her father. Moira Queen is as shady as they come, but her desire to protect her children is always the driving force of any decisions she makes – good, bad and the ugly.

Moira: One day I hope you’re lucky enough to have a daughter and then you’ll know why.

This is the essence of motherhood. We will serve ourselves up on a platter and take the brunt of their hurt and anger if we believe it protect or help our children in the long run. Right or wrong - it’s just the gig.

Source: queensarrow.

L*urel and Lance

L*urel and Detective Lance are really Thea’s only hope of avoiding significant jail time and, despite their history, Oliver has no problem groveling at their feet if it means protecting his sister. Luckily for Oliver, this week L*urel likes him, so she’s willing to do Thea a favor.

But her reason for wanting to help Thea turns out have very little to do with Oliver. It’s about Sara. When L*urel looks at Thea she sees all the wild abandon of Sara with all the red flags.

L*urel: For so long you and I have blamed Oliver for Sara's death, but Sara is to blame too.

Detective Lance isn’t too keen on helping Oliver or Thea, but L*urel calls out her father on his hypocrisy. He had no qualms about bailing Sara out after she shop lifted. The youngest Lance daughter seemed to get herself in to trouble long before she ever stepped onto the Queen’s Gambit and her father always helped her avoid the consequences of her actions. Until those consequences finally caught up with her.

This is the first time L*urel lays any blame at Sara’s feet. I find it wildly disturbing whenever I agree with L*urel, but damn it she has this one right. Oliver wasn’t the only one who cheated. Oliver wasn’t the only one who lied. Oliver wasn’t the only one who was selfish. Sara was all of those things too. Just because she paid for those mistakes with her life doesn’t erase the choices she made and the pain she caused. If someone held Sara responsible without destroying her life, like L*urel is trying to do with Thea just maybe she would have never gotten on the boat. Maybe.

The game of “What if?” is a torturous one. It never gives any definitive answers. But Detective Lance refusing to help Thea to stick it to Oliver isn’t fair. L*urel is right. Sure, it may hurt Oliver, but it won’t bring Sara back.

More importantly, it doesn’t hold Sara responsible in any way. Detective Lance is treating Sara the same in death as he did in life. She wasn’t a saint anymore than Thea is – no matter how much Lance romanticizes his memory of his daughter. L*urel and her father don’t resolve the Sara issue, but Lance helping Thea is an important step towards his acknowledgement of the truth and putting some of the blame where it belongs.

Stray Thoughts

Oliver is shirtless and handcuffed in the bunker is an absolutely wasted opportunity for an Olicity sex scene. Pretty sure I read a fic that started like it though. Source: @olivergifs​

Bratva Oliver is cold, calculating and stylish. I don’t know what it is about that jacket you guys. It doesn’t things to me.

I say this as a person who was very anti murder throughout the show, but sometimes it’s great to watch Oliver do a little violence.

“Whoever you fear, fear me more!” As vigilante lines go this was a damn good one.

“I’m not the one going to prison.” Give it time, Moira. Give it time.

McKenna Hall makes her first episode appearance as the rotation of female guest stars continues while show desperately searches for a love interest Stephen has chemistry because it ain’t Katie Cassidy.  (Psst! You found THE ONE already!!! Call off the search!)

Just for you multifandom folks out there McKenna is also Qetsiyah on The Vampire Diaries.

Why doesn’t Oliver give a sketch to the police of The Count? That could be helpful.

“I don’t need the bow.” Yeah, but you need to walk straight!

Musings of the Kiddo

Kiddo: How many times does he do this to her?

Me: Lie? A lot. She was very patient with him.

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

#arrow #arrow 1x12 #olicity #arrow reviews #arrow season 1 #arrow fandom #olicity reviews #olicity fandom #olicity 1x12 #arrow rewatch #oliver queen #felicity smoak #oliver and felicity #john diggle #thea queen #moira queen #anti laurel lance #detective lance #quentin lance #arrow season 1 review #arrow season 1 reviews #season 1 episode review #season 1 episode reviews

[twilightofthe]

Visions 1: The Duel (Subbed)

Think I’m gonna react to each episode in a separate post like with Mando.  Gonna start off watching it subbed and go back and watch it dubbed later.  Or maybe switch back and forth between dub and sub because that’s a habit of mine xD

Anywho, here we go!

So the studio is Kamikaze Douga, cool, this is the 3D-ish one, right?

Oh BOOOOO, this one is on Disney entirely but -100 points for no cool anime intro xD

and black and wHITE, ooooh I really like that, reminds me of the old samurai movies

So it’s the lone warrior with his droid, eh?

aaaaaa i LOVE THE ART STYLE SO FUCKIN MUCH

lookit this shit it’s GORGEOUS

OPE SITH SITH IN THE GIANT MOUSE DROID SHIP

So these guys are like stormtroopers, like their helmets are near identical, but they call them bandits and remnants of an old war?  So is this supposed to be set post-Empire then?  But that doesn’t make sense cuz these weren’t supposed to have at timeline idek?

aight village chief’s design is cool

ok i LOVE how blaster fire (and i’m assuming lightsabers) are the only things in color, like i already know i am Not gonna shut up about the artstyle in this

This dude is really just “omg let me have a drink-- ah FUCK, a Sith”

oh fuck this lady’s voice is hot

BAHAHA SITH LIGHTSABER UMBRELLA

EAT IT REBELS HATERS HAH--

Omg and his name is literally Ronin, I love it

hhhhhh sith lady Hot fuck me

ohhhh so her umbrella is removable!

HE CAUGHT THE LIGHTSABER daaaaamn has anyone done that before

OOOOPE HE’S A DARKSIDER

FUCK FUCK FUCK LOOKIT HER HAIR CAN I MARRY THE EVIL SITH LADY

I mean sorry my darlings Obi Wan and Anakin fought on a LAVA river but y’all are pretty badass for that

wait HOW did i just fucking notice he sheathes his lightsaber like a traditional sword.  LIke, does he ever turn it off?!?!?!

uh girlie are you a darkside newb?  Women and children don’t matter much to them xD

Aaaaand the droid has whistling birds, I love them

bitch how did you STOP the log from going over the waterfall

Oh yeah the Force

SITH TEMPLE UNDER THE WATERFALL SHIIIIIIIIT

aight that was real badass

I LOVE THE OLD TIMEY MOVIE FILTER

waaaaaaait he’s a Sith bounty hunter?!?!?

“Take this it wards off evil” oooOOOOOOH I CAN META/FIC THIS SO HARD

Shit shit shit fuck this episode was good.  Also I’m gonna need to go back and watch the English dub soon like asap because according to the credits Lucy Liu plays the hot Sith lady and my crushing heart cannot handle that

Anyway holy SHIT THIS WAS SO GOOD!  Favorite parts were definitely how it looked like a black and white older Kurosawa flick, everything about the Sith lady but especially her ridiculous over the top lightsaber umbrella, the ending duel, THE IMPLICATIONS OF A DARKSIDER HUNTING DARKSIDERS OOOOOOOOOOOOH

So yeah i am PUMPED to watch all the next ones!!!!!

#sw visions #sw visions spoilers #sw spoilers #star wars spoilers #the duel #sw visions the duel #star wars visions

[rtcrow]

today i fought the giant enemy spider. not really but also yes

me and my parents visited a waterfall we usually go to. and the problem is that There were spiders everywhere. their webs were immense and i'm not even being dramatic. they were enormous too. so my dad was scaring me all the time by saying stuff like they were coming down or how there was one right behind me. i just screamed all the time there like my life depended on it. but after a while we went home so i was finally safe lol

on the way home, after my little Funky rocks i found in the river fell on my feet, my dad shouted "DID YOU TWO SEE THAT HUGE ASS SPIDER?" and i just went Haha funny didn't see anything while looking at the ground oops! because we were already far from the waterfall yet he was still using the spider scare on me

i thought that until he stopped the car and turned around while telling us we had to see it.

(you rn)

AND HE DROVE BACK TO THE SPIDER SO WE COULD SEE IT?!??!?! he was actually so pumped to show us the spider that he actually fucking drove back

he told us it was crossing the road and where he saw it. he approached it slowly. my mom saw it first because i'm blind like a mole. then he got closer and closer. we had to drive past it because there was a car behind us, and it looked small really, then he turned around again so we could stop the car and go see it. he approached it slowly again and stopped where we could clearly see it.

IT WAS A WHOLE ASS TARANTULA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

and you might think "wow. you got fucked. holy shit. spent the entire day afraid of spiders and now there's a tarantula right in front of your car??"

right???????????????anyways i ran out of the car with my phone and took pictures of it while it was like 40 or 30cm away from my feet.

literally barged out with my camera app in hand and started taking pictures like it was a celebrity, and since i'm some lucky fuck, even when i walked around it, it didn't mind me, just making its way downtown, walking fast. probably a peaceful species, which is a blessing for me to run into while living in south america. i even put my phone back in my pocket and stared down at it. it was probably the size of my hand. i didn't touch it with hands or ANYTHING at all because i know their little hairs are very sensitive, so it could just bolt at any point if i annoyed it or made it scared. we watched out for cars until it was safe inside the forest.

and that's it. after i went back to the car i almost had a fucking heart attack while realizing what the fuck i had just done. i am stupid and crazy and i simply act on impulse.

#tw spiders #tarantulas..? #do i even tag them. #IF ANYONE WANTS THE PICTURES I'LL SHOW U LOL #neo rants #not a jerma reference i swear oh gid oh shit oh fuck

[atamascolily]

Okay, more Matrix re-watch thoughts.

The first movie is still perfect. I love everything about it. It’s like a carefully constructed jewel that works on multiple levels and everything holds up on re-watch--perhaps even better once you know the twists.

For instance, I realized the reason Smith says “No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead” at the beginning is because he’s tried to jump there and there’s no human bodies to inhabit because Trinity’s killed them--which is why she has to kill them in the first place, so the Agents would thus be forced to take the long way up to her.

Also, Cypher is a prime example of  why Morpheus and company should no longer liberate “minds above a certain age”--his age is unspecified but he appears to be much older than the rest of the crew (or maybe that’s just his world-weary attitude?) and he says he’s been out for “nine years” but... the irony is that no one on the crew realizes this until it’s Too Late.

Will Smith was originally supposed to play Neo, which is interesting to contemplate--especially since I then immediately think of Jada Pinkett-Smith as Trinity. Somewhere, there’s an alternate timeline with this movie and I want to watch it.

The actor playing Tank got written out of the sequels because of a dispute over salaries, which is why he gets an off-screen death in Reloaded. It’s too bad. Don’t get me wrong, Link is fine, but I really enjoyed Tank’s style.

I also really like Reloaded overall! I think the biggest problem is that audiences weren’t expecting the final twist--that the One’s apparent rebellion is actually a part of the system--particularly as it comes right at the end of the movie in a long speech. On re-watch, however, I think it works great and I love it. 

One thing I would like explained/elaborated on is how Morpheus can take on an agent in direct combat. There’s been a six month-ish time skip between films, and no doubt he picked up some tricks from Neo, but somehow we went from “no one’s ever fought an agent and survived” to “Morpheus fights an agent and survives” and even if we don’t see the Level-Up on screen, I would at least like some allusion to the work it took to get there??

I hate the Lock/Niobe/Morpheus love triangle so much, especially since it doesn’t go anywhere, sigh.

I like the Kid and the fact that’s that’s apparently his name, and his hero-worship of Neo is adorable. Neo’s denials that he had anything to do with it come off as modest, but according to the Animatrix, it’s literally true, Kid is supposed to have “self-substantiated” himself out of the Matrix on his own, and I’m... not sure how I feel about that?

I love the Zion fashion! The Wachowskis have such an eye for costume design, and you can really see that here and in Jupiter Ascending.

I love how Neo and Trinity are in that stage where they literally can’t stop touching each other--the elevator makeout made me laugh so hard.

Also, I like the Zion rave juxtaposed with the sex scene--not only is is great music and beautifully filmed, it’s also symbolic of the fact that given a choice between literally all of humanity and Trinity, Neo chooses Trinity, thus foreshadowing his earlier choice.

Everybody leaving offerings for Neo and projecting their hopes/dreams/fears onto him is so good. Also, I’m not sure what the point of the scene with Neo and the council member is--I like the emphasis that human beings still depend on machines, but I wish we got a reference/callback to that later on in the story, since they never meet or talk again.

Bane feels to me like knockoff!Cypher, but I appreciate the irony that Cypher was fully human whereas Bane is under Smith’s control. 

Seraph is described by the Wikipedia entry as “as the personification of a sophisticated challenge-handshake authentication protocol which guards the Oracle. ... As a challenge handshake authentication protocol, Seraph is effectively a login screen that fights the user to authenticate their identity.” I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

As much as I enjoy the fight scene between Neo and the Smiths--the One vs. the Many--I’m not sure why he doesn’t fly away at the beginning? Also, not sure why the Smiths can’t fly, given the end of Revolutions, where he’s shown doing just that. He must have gotten a power-up in between but I’m not sure where or how.

The Merovingian is such an asshole, and I really like the juxtaposition between him and the Architect, especially since they both emphasize casuality and determinism. They’re the two sides of the same coin, just as Smith and Neo are foils to each other--two white men in suits who believe they control everything in their facade of refinement.

Persephone is amazing, full stop. She barely gets any lines in Revolutions and what I actually want is for her to depose her terrible husband and rule the Matrix underworld in his place after their spat in Reloaded.

I think the whole point of the orgasm cake is to show us that the body within the Matrix--and without--can be manipulated, and also that the Merovingian is gross and that cake is delicious. I could be wrong, though. Also, this is an example of a program influencing a human--I think it would be interesting to see the humans turn around and do that to a program (i.e., literal hacking). The end result of that sequence is to convince me that humans and sentient programs aren’t so different after all, which is why Neo can influence both after going to the Source.

that bathroom is amazing and I love the waterfall!

I also love the Keymaker so much, even though he’s literally a walking macguffin for most of this. I’m so sad he dies at the end. DOES HE GET REBOOTED? REPLACED? HOW DOES DEATH EVEN WORK FOR A PROGRAM?

the fight scenes in Reloaded are so good! I think the one in the Merovingian’s palace is my favorite in the entire series because of its use of convenient background weaponry, but the freeway chase is also extremely epic, and both the teahouse fight and the square fight are memorable. Also, everything with the Twins makes them perfect antagonists.

I’m curious to see where Matrix 4 is going to go. The ending of Revolutions sets up the possibility that Neo will return in some fashion, but apparently Morpheus is not in it? This suggests it will be more Matrix-focused and the Zion storyline will be dropped, but still, I love Morpheus, and it’s sad to learn he’s not in the next movie.

#matrix

[hyliangrace-a]

oh, i ended up spending so much time on this, but - it’s done ! it’s far from perfect but i’m pretty satisfied that there’s a visual guide to my idea of hyrule, post-seven years war. & now, god help you all, i’m gonna talk about it lmao. click here if you want to see a full-sized version of the map, but i’m also gonna put it under the cut in this post with the original map for comparison, & go on for a bit about how hyrule has, in my interpretation, changed under zelda’s rule.

( this gets long. like, really long. like, over 4,500 words long. read at your own risk. i’d say i’m sorry, but i’m really not. & fuck drawing water features forever. )

first thing’s first - the map !

( apologies for the giant watermark underneath it all but i’ve had my shit stolen before & i’m not enthused at the idea of having it happen again. clicking it open in a new tab should make it bigger if the link above doesn’t work. )

so, it’s slightly bigger than the original map which is featured in the game, haha. here’s a comparison of the two, actually, with my map over the top of the original so you can see what’s been changed or added & where. i’ll talk about what got added & why in a bit, i want to speak just about the actual map, first.

i did my best to keep the main locations of hyrule as specified in the game in the same place, & i think did an okay job, tbh ! my biggest nitpick was just how many dang cliffs & rockfaces there are on the original map. i know they serve a purpose in-game, which is completely fair, but they limited worldbuilding a little by making the map so small, so i took some liberties. not with every cliff, of course - i kept some in the southwest to keep the border between gerudo valley & hyrule field intact, & kept the ridge the river runs through - partly for the sake of continuity, & partly because i’ve always loved the fact that falling into the river in the valley washes you down to the lake. expanding them into a new area was fun, too, because at least then they go somewhere, rather than just locking you in to a certain place.

my main point of contention, to be honest, was the giant rockface in south hyrule field. again, i understand why it was there, but, come on ! so i ended up just doing away with it all, letting it lead a path to two new areas i’d like to work into zelda’s canon. the map just fades out in certain places, too, particularly the gerudo desert, so i ended up expanding that a little more & having it lead into the cliffs above lake hylia - the river already runs from the valley to the lake, so why not have more of the desert lead into the mainland ? the mountains, too, got their range expanded, because they just seem so ... small, in canon, when they aren’t being used specifically as dungeon locations. i’d say the only place on the map i didn’t expand in some way is that little gap between zora’s domain & the kokiri forest - the forest is so hemmed in & the domain is literally inside a mountain, hidden behind a waterfall, so i was happy to just let that be empty space. if you manage to climb over the cliffs surrounding the domain, or break through the treetops in the forest, you get a view of the ocean, & that’s that !

it was fun to look at the maps of the games that came chronologically before this one & see how the position of things in hyrule change, but i’m kind of glad that there was only the three before ocarina of time, because the mountains alone move across the map at their leisure, good god. there was a bit of freedom in it, too, because in zelda’s canon timeline, the gods are going to flood hyrule anyway, so i could make whatever changes i wanted because it’s all gonna end up underwater & unseen in the end - plus, it meant i could add in more mountains to take up empty space on the map, because the hylians have to flee somewhere to escape the flood, & i don’t think the peak of death mountain could hold them all. most of the new locations were inspired by the minish cap, more than any other, so i’m going to start at the top of the map & move down to talk about them.

i always loved royal valley & the royal crypt in the minish cap, to be honest. it was spooky & cute, & i’m surprised it, or a concept like it, hasn’t made much of a comeback in later zelda games. the royal family’s tomb being in kakariko village never bothered me much as a kid ( other than the fact their headstone gets utterly destroyed & you get assaulted by what we can only assume are the zombies of previous hylian rulers ??? & then it’s just left open for anyone to stumble in & possibly loot slash get murdered by said zombies ??? actually, y’know what, this bothers me a lot more as an adult, what the fuck - ) but kakariko was a village founded by the sheikah, originally for the sheikah, so i did always find it a little strange that at some point, a ruler of hyrule went ❛ that’s cool, you do you, but make space for us in your graveyard. ❜ i know the history between the hylian royal family & the sheikah is implied to be murky ( thank you, shadow temple ) but that’s a meta for another day, so i’m not gonna go into too much detail, but it’s still something that sticks out as strange to me. call it the sheikah continuing to guard the royal family in death or whatever, but, hm. weird. anyway !

the point is, after the seven years war ends, zelda decides that what originally belonged to the sheikah should be given back to the sheikah. kakariko village was opened up to non-sheikah by impa prior to the rise of ganondorf, & that’s her perogative & not something zelda would ever dream of interfering with, but that applies to the living, & those who die within the village deserve to be buried in the same place. it takes time to get around to the rebuilding of hyrule castle & its’ town, but when it’s time to plan for it, zelda chooses to utilize the abandoned valley which lies behind the castle as the new home for the royal crypt, but not solely for that ! she establishes & sponsors a university on behalf of the royal family, with special consideration going to the preservation of hylian history ( a lot was lost in the hyrulean civil war prior to her birth, nevermind the seven year war following that so quickly, & we can see in other zelda games, such as twilight princess & breath of the wild, historical preservation within hyrule is ... terrible, to say the least. of course, it will all be washed away when the goddesses flood hyrule, but fuck, at least she tries. ) the university also covers a range of other subjects, but history is the one zelda takes an active interest in, & she spends a lot of time with scholars who specialize in it. the royal crypt lies at the very back of the valley, the university being closer to the castle, & then ... watch this space ! i’m likely to add more things to areas around the map in the future.

hyrule castle & hyrule castle town i’ve left in the same spots, pretty much - i imagine the castle is rebuilt to be something like the one we see at the bottom of the ocean in wind waker, but i intend to put my own spin on that, too. zelda wouldn’t be focused too much on getting a castle up agaiin ( i’ve mentioned in a thread before that two years post-ganondorf, she is still sheltering at impa’s house in kakariko village, as rebuilding for the civilians is her main priority, & whilst i haven’t figured out exactly how long that lasts for, it’s a safe bet to say a good few years ) & she definitely wouldn’t want to be living anywhere especially y’know, grandiose & opulent, if her people were still struggling day to day. the castle town bounces back better than ever, expanding a little more to the left over time, but that’s a gradual thing. no real change except a distinct lack of redeads, which is always a bonus !

death mountain & its immediate surroundings, i was happy to leave as they are - it’s marginally wonky in place compared to the original map but it’s not a severe drift from canon, so lets just pretend it sits a little more to the left, shhh. it’s a volcano built into a mountain with a network of caves both inside & adjacent to it, plus a place of worship built into the heart of it, & you can’t really go wrong with that, so i focused on all that empty space beyond them left on the map. minish cap came in clutch again, because by fuck, did they have a mountain range, so i ended up dipping in to it for the names of this one. the gorons are clustered at the forefront of the mountain because everything beyond their city has been mined to the absolute death by those who came before for its resources, & abandoned by the same in turn, but they still send patrols to make sure it’s fine. 

there’s a story of how, before the gorons settled into the mountain, a man of great strength climbed the mountain alone to make his home within it - he faced eruptions from a then-hostile death mountain, fought off the creatures who called the range home & weren’t fond of sharing, & forged on to what was said to be the edge of hyrule itself. it wasn’t, not quite, but it was far enough away from the central provinces of the kingdom that the mountains became capped with snow, contrasting the temperate mountains to the west. the story goes that the adventurer decided to call the furthest reaches of the mountain home, & singlehandedly carved out what would become the beginning of the mines, in order to gather materials for his forge. it’s been disputed whether said man was hylian or goron, as the biggoron family claim lineage from him, but the mountains he once inhabited are named for him now, & are one of the places zelda hid whilst on the run & masquerading as sheik - despite the extreme temperatures playing havoc with her & nearly killing her, it’s one of the harder to reach spots in hyrule, so it provided a measure of safety that other places could not. melari’s hold lies in the northeast, but the cold spot on the mountain travels further south than would be expected, resulting in a cold spot - the ice cavern - to the north of zora’s domain.

real quick, fuck zora’s domain. there was no way to make the water feature coming from here look decent, or properly portray the types of cliffs it’s surrounded by, so please don’t judge it too harshly. at the end of ocarina of time, zora’s domain is still said to be frozen, but recovering from the curse ganondorf placed on it, which, great ! i’m gonna say, i could be completely off here in how it works, but i wanted to change things up a little, so if i am, i don’t mind that much. i like a bit of artistic license. also, if we can have literal fish people, a genderless species made of rock, children who don’t grow up in a magical forest which horrifically warps those who don’t belong, & a giant fucking overworld field where the skeletons of what look like fucking children come out to fight you at night ? i’m okay with this reckoning being off a little.

so, eventually, zora’s domain unfreezes. i personally imagine, as ganondorf’s power ebbed from hyrule, that the process started slow, until one day, it wasn’t. it’s said that zora’s fountain is the source of all water in hyrule, with the domain lying under the mountain it rests on top of, & a few secret passageways here & there, which is fine, usually - the fountain never froze, just the domain beneath it. that becomes a problem, though, when the magical freeze put in place by ganondorf wears off, & the excess water from the melt ends up flooding the domain. not a problem from those who live within it, with the zora being essentially amphibian in nature, but when that excess water begins seeping out into the fountain, through cracks in the mountain, through the entrance granted to those affiliated with the royal family ? that all goes over the fountain, down the sleepless waterfall, through the river, & that river completely bursts its banks. the water level of the river rises significantly, washing away much of the path previously taken by those who wished to go to the domain on foot, causing minor flooding in hyrule field as it travels downstream, & resulting in the waters of lake hylia rising when the overflow reaches it, hence the lake being larger in my version of the map. the rebuilding of a path to zora’s domain ends up becoming one of the earliest projects zelda undertakes as queen but it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare for a while, considering that, with princess ruto ascended as a sage, zora’s domain is now in a succession crisis. does it have much bearing on zelda’s life ? not especially, but i thought it was a nice bit of worldbuilding, so here it is.

kokiri forest, the lost woods, & everything within doesn’t change much. with the dark magic vanquished from the forest, & the great deku sprout able to thrive, the forest continues to grow, & overgrow. it’s still dangerous to outsiders to go within, still dangerous for anyone to enter the lost woods without a fairy companion to guide them & save them from a grim fate, but the children of the forest do grow somewhat braver about stepping out from their home to see the rest of hyrule. it never lasts long - not all of the kokiri are as brave as link was, after all, & hyrule is so vast compared to what they’re used to - but it sparks their curiosity & their desire to explore hyrule which eventually trickles down to the wandering koroks.

the area to the south / southwest of the kokiri forest is entirely my invention. as i said, in-game, it’s just cliffs to hem you in & prevent you from breaking the boundaries of the world, but there’s none of that in roleplaying, so i just … did away with them entirely. part of this is lake hylia not being as hemmed in by these walls as it is in-game, opening up into a new river & streams which travel through the south & southeast. crossing this river leads to three paths - take middle path, & you may find yourself in what’s known as the rito village. now, i’ll say here, i know that the rito don’t technically appear in hyrule until after the great flood, when the zoras somehow sprout wings, but nintendo’s strange decisions don’t change the fact that there are many wonderful people in the zelda rpc who play rito characters with crossover verses that let them interact with those who play characters in other parts of the timeline. in order to better facilitate interactions with these roleplayers, i decided fuck it, rito village in ocarina of time. canon can be easily bent. if, however, i’m writing with someone who wants to adhere to strict canon, then it’s just other hylians who live within the village, & rito is just the name chosen for the village, with no connection to the as-of-yet-unevolved race, just a nice little coincidence. regardless of who lives in it, though, the village & its name are fixed here in a southern woodland, with the village nestled amongst the hills within.

cross the bridge to the south & take the third branch in the path, you’ll find yourself inside the bremen woods. i honestly haven’t got much to say about the bremen woods here, but it’s not because i don’t have ideas for it - i have another headcanon brewing concerning myths, fables & fairy tales within hyrule, because … i am just that type of nerd. about eighty percent of my blogs before this one involved fairy tale characters in some way. it is, as the kids say, extremely my shit, & i’d like to tie the bremen woods into that, so i’m going to save what i have to say for that headcanon, but don’t worry. it’ll probably be a lot smaller than this one. ( thank god, i hear you say. i know, i know. i’m still not sorry. )

cross the bridge, then, & take the first branch in the path, & you better have a sword with you. the castor wilds are a lawless place, which is fitting for the corner of the world where the last remnants of ganondorf’s forces lie. any that weren’t killed during the restoration of the kingdom were beaten back to the edge of the world, & it’s not a friendly place. the last of the monsters shelter in a run-down settlement known as dragmire’s hold, the last place where those who sympathize with the king of evil can speak freely, & it’s murder to get to. the entrance to the wilds is a marshy swamp, thanks to the run-off of lake hylia, but if you manage to get through the mire, the land begins to dry out until you reach the hold, where the earth struggles to bear fruit & it seems the grass refuses to grow. it is, in a few words, fucking grim, & as a result, the go-to place for banishments within the kingdom. zelda isn’t a fan of harsh punishments, but she’s no fool, not anymore, & she won’t abide those who plot to throw the kingdom back into chaos, be it in service of ganondorf, or their own selfish natures. it’s rare that anyone actually finds themselves wandering the castor wilds, unless they actively choose to adventure there, but it is a very good threat, considering its reputation as the land where the devils live.

jumping across the map entirely, we come to the cliffs of coroa to the left of lake hylia. another spot on the map which is notorious for being hard to reach, the cliffs are an inviting challenge to those who want to boast of their climbing skills & durability. if getting up the cliffs doesn’t kill you ( & there is a very real possibility that it will, especially if you fall, ‘cause this water ain’t soft ) the journey down might do it instead, & that’s if you survive your trip at the top. there has been rumours of a great treasure hidden away in the cliffs for years, though the debate on what it might be was pretty intense, if you got into it. for a time, some thought the legendary blade rested within the cliffs, & only those who could brave the rockface would be able to lay a hand on it; others argued that it contained more mundane, but still desirable, treasures, such as a great haul from a band of thieves, left behind when they were hunted down by the crown, growing only more valuable by the minute. some, with sense, said that the only thing atop the cliffs was certain doom for the morons who tried to make their way up them. the truth ? there’s nothing up there. sometimes, cliffs are just cliffs, & those who try to scale the ones facing lake hylia truly are fools. the gerudo people, however, had the right idea of how to get to them.

again, another aspect of canon i was happy to leave as it was. the gerudo desert is a vast, harsh swathe of land, continuously assailed by sandstorms, bordered to the north by what is called ❛ the great sand sea ❜ & to the south by the haunted wasteland, & it’s not hyperbole. spirit guides appear to those who seek the temple of the goddess of the sand, but very few have ever made it through the wasteland if they enter in pursuit of something else. one of the few who did was the gerudo heroine, ashai. a well respected warrior amongst them, ashai was the younger sister to the exalted rishika, the chief of the gerudo at the time, & one of the first to vow to conquer the wasteland & see what lay beyond the storm. though her sister cautioned against it, as tales of people becoming lost in the wasteland were not uncommon, ashai was a headstrong young woman, & she could not be swayed. she took with her a party of twelve, & in time, three returned to tell their story. ashai had forged a path through the ever-shifting sands & left it well enough marked that her companions were able to find their way back. it’s said that some succumbed to madness during the journey, tormented by the ghosts of the wasteland, whilst others fell ill whilst they traveled, choking on the sand which gathered in their lungs. seven of them made it through the wasteland to the valley which lay beyond, but ashai had grown sick during the crossing, & knew she would not make it back. instead, she spent the time she had left exploring the valley, & found a way through it to the peak of the cliffs of coroa. the legend says that is there she died, watching the sun rise atop the cliffs, speaking only of her sister, & her companions laid her to rest within the valley, which her sister then named in honour of her. whilst the gerudo are happy to let those who have proven themselves attempt the journey to the desert colossus, no outsiders are permitted to walk the valley of ashai, where a shrine was built for its namesake - it is considered sacred to them, & the journey to pay respects to ashai is now part of the trial given to those who wish to become chief of the gerudo, should the bloodline of the previous chief die.

that covers just about all the main areas & landmarks of hyrule, i think, so to move on to the last thing, the various settlements, villages, hamlets you see across the map. hyrule is a big place. yes, quite a few of the races are localized to certain areas, & yes, it’s entirely plausible the hyrulean civil war could have decimated the population, with the seven years war exacerbating that problem, but hyrule field just looked so … empty, once everything else was finished. so, rather than stick to a number of locales i can count on one hand, i threw a few more settlements across the map to try & make hyrule feel more like a real kingdom. not to breath of the wild’s extent, of course, but just something a little more than what was given. all those who survived the fall of hyrule castle town apparently fled to become refugees in kakariko village, which was opened to all by impa, which is fair, but i imagine as the world returned to something close to normality, & families started growing again, the village would quickly find itself overwhelmed. as queen, zelda would make it a priority to make sure none of her subjects go homeless - she knows all too well that struggle - & so she would begin a program to make sure there was enough villages or townships for every one of her subjects. those who volunteered would be given a set amount of money & plots of land across hyrule to build a home, which zelda would then personally visit to inspect, to make sure her people were thriving.

there’s little to say in detail about them all as of right now, as i’m still fleshing them out, but i have a few basic ideas. most of the settlements were named after the first to attach themselves to the project, but the names have the potential to evolve over time. they certainly won’t retain the hamlet / settlement status, that’s for sure. the offer wasn’t restricted to hylians, either - any other race in the land was free to join, though only a small number of gerudo accepted it, the others preferring to stay in their homes & travel as they need. ciela’s settlement was the one spearheaded by the gerudo who accepted zelda’s offer, hence its proximity to the valley. a lot of young men volunteered to go to this settlement, but zelda was happy to let ciela make her own call, & many were knocked back - only those with what ciela deemed viable skills were allowed in, & still, it’s very much a female dominated settlement, but it is thriving under her leadership, & blossoms into a successful village as time goes on. lon lon ranch is, well, lon lon ranch. with funding from the crown, talon was able to take on more staff & expand it at his leisure, but it is one of the very few places in hyrule which has stayed constant over time, & he was quite content to keep it that way, & zelda content with his decision. 

to the south of lon lon ranch lies damia village, the largest of all the settlements from its inception. led by a fearless young man who gave his name to the village, it is a hub of activity which could rival hyrule castle town. with damia came many like-minded people, all eager to forge their own path in the world & prove themselves as he had, as he had been part of the group which volunteered to help beat back the remnants of ganondorf’s forces. many of the families within damia village are the families of soldiers who work at the castle & it has gained a reputation for being a village full of strong, capable, trustworthy people. arborwood, which lies further to the south in a more rural location, is an outlier in that the one who volunteered to lead in this settlement didn’t wish to put their name to it - they didn’t want glory, just a place to call home where they could finally live in peace. arborwood is an agriculturally focused village, filled with farmers & those who possess green thumbs. a lot of trade is done between arborwood & all the other villages - everyone in hyrule became proficient at growing & hunting their own food in the past thirty years, as was necessary to survive, but it’s nice to have a place to get food from which specializes in high quality meat & crops. why hunt rabbits, when arborwood can provide venison ? 

last but not least, lynna’s hamlet, which settled at lake hylia at the request of the owner of the lakeside laboratory. as he was getting on in years, he wished to find someone to continue his work, & so specifically requested that any like-minded hylians settle close to the lake so that he could impart his wisdom & let them take over. he got quite a few more people volunteering than he bargained for, be they scientifically inclined, interested in cataloguing the history of lake hylia, or just desirous of a change in scenery. the smallest of the new settlements, lynna’s hamlet never truly flourished the way others did, but the buildings were never empty - as time went on & people began to move elsewhere, it became a popular spot for those who traveled the land to rest at when they came to the lake, with a very successful inn eventually being run by the lakeside, its doors open to any who wished to visit.

it’s not a lot of worldbuilding when it all comes down to it, compared to other things, but this is something that i’ve wanted to do for a long time. as i’ve mentioned in the section regarding the bremen woods, more headcanons are likely to follow regarding places on the map & how they change & evolve as time passes during zelda’s rule, but for now, there’s this ! something which makes hyrule feel less empty than what it was before, whilst still respecting canon, somewhat which was the goal all along. if you’ve made it this far, holy shit, go outside & feel the sun on your face. it’s been eighty-four years - but i can’t thank you enough for reading ! at least next time, the headcanon won’t be so long. i hope.

#⌜ ❛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ & ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴇʀᴍs. ❜ ⌟ ✦ ( headcanon. ) #( eight. eight pages & 4700-odd words of rambling in google docs #i can't believe i spent so much time on this oh my GOD #but it's done !! it's one am & i'm going to bed but i have to get this out into the world before i go #tomorrow i swear i'll get more actual roleplaying done but for now have ... eight fucking pages of THIS i guess #if this is incoherent please let me know good god )

[so-i-dont-forget-again]

So I Don’t Forget Again: A Breath of The Wild fanfiction

Entry 46: Zora’s Domain

 The Zora weapons are beautiful. Delicate looking yet powerful. The ones prepared for us appear to be made of metal but are actuality crystal. The blade of mine is made of diamond. I was also given a pair of Zora Greaves which would boost my swimming speed. The Prince showed concerns about my carrying a shield. Though my arm still hurts quite a bit, I can use it in battle! The Prince was not pleased with this considering we were going to fight in the most ferocious part of a thunderstorm. I assured him that should the arm get injured I’d fall back. Though reluctant he went along with this.

The Prince led me to the mountain and had me swim up the waterfall next to him. Once I got to the top, I shot up high into the air due to being light and due to the fact I couldn’t see at all with all that water crashing into my face. Thankfully the Prince was there to catch me. He asked how my arm was doing since it was just flailed into the air and thrashed about by the wind. Hurt but still usable. He said that if I was sure I could fight with my arm in this state then he’d believe in that too.

The Lynel is a fearsome beast and by far the toughest opponent I have faced. It’s part horse, part man, and part some other creature. It carries powerful weapons and is skilled in using them. I have no idea how, but it possesses the skills to shoot three shock arrows at the same time, and have his shots be unaffected by the wind. With pools of water strewn about due to the rain those shock arrows were even more dangerous. The Lynel’s weapons are somehow even more powerful than the Zora’s.

My best strategy was to make sure to stay in close quarters combat and not give it a chance to use it’s bow. I fought much more defensively than I normally would, and I didn’t underestimate it. I treated this as a challenge of winning the battle without getting hit once. It took a very long time, and there were more close calls than I’d like to admit, but I did it! The moment the battle was over I swiftly collected everything before it could be blown away. The Prince said I never cease to amaze him and that we should now go appease the Divine Beast as one!

I just had one last thing to do before facing Vah Ruta. Using the metal moving function of the Sheikah Slate I found a chest buried under a tree and retrieved the Zora Helmet.

The Prince led me to the peak of Shatterback Point. From there was a straight dive to where Vah Ruta was. As we were falling the Prince pointed out where exactly the orbs were. Just under the Orbs were waterfalls. The plan was for me to ride the Prince’s back as he swam and avoided any attacks from Vah Ruta, he’d then take me to the waterfalls so I could swim up them and launch myself into the air so I’d have time to shoot the orbs and lower it’s defenses enough so we could enter.

The moment we landed in the water we set the plan into action. As we started approaching Vah Ruta responded to our presence. The Prince is unstoppable and unbelievably fast in the water! He was able to avoid most of the attacks, but the Divine Beast began to hurl giant ice blocks that seemed to home in on us. The Prince was dealing with dodging the under-water attacks, so I took it upon myself to get rid of the ice blocks. One of the weapons that were prepared for me were bomb arrows, but I only had a few so I had to make my shots count. The moment the ice was gone The Prince was able to get me to a waterfall, the rest went just as planned. Each time I got back in the water after having shot one of the orbs Vah Ruta became more hostile, and it’s attacks more vicious with it. It’d lob more ice, some that even traveled along the surface of the water. Some were even in the shape of spiked spheres.

After shooting the last orb the Divine Beast stopped attacking, but instead began to rise out of the water. The Prince quickly spotted an opening, but it was already out of the water. He took a mighty leap and threw me on board. He said that everyone was counting on me. What did he mean by that!? “I came this far because of you, and I refuse to continue in any other fashion!” I swiftly leaned over the edge and held my hands out. I couldn’t see the Prince anywhere, then suddenly he burst from under the water. He was barely able to reach me, I got him to the edge and helped pull him up. He thanked me; he was devastated to think he wouldn’t be able to see this through to the end. He then asked me if my arm was alright. I hadn’t really noticed it, so I said it was better than ever.

Once we got inside, I heard a voice. Well not really hear it, more like it echoed in my mind. The Prince couldn’t hear it though. I was told directions to where a terminal was. At the terminal my Sheikah Slate got a map of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. I was told that to take back control I’d have to activate all of the terminals with my Sheikah Slate, then go to the main control unit. The main control unit will only activate when I activate all of the terminals. Each time I unlocked a terminal she told me how many were left and whispered encouraging words. As we activated terminals, we got some control over the parts that terminal was attached too so we used that to get to other terminals.

The control unit was at the back of a wide empty room. When I placed the Sheikah Slate on its control panel, darkness exploded from it throwing me across the room. It then formed into a creature straight from a nightmare. This thing is what killed Mipha. The room was locked, there was no escape. Like a Guardian it had that small eerie blue glowing eye. It even had the tiny red light which would track you. It almost appeared as if it wore a mask in which the blue eye was adorn. No matter how we fought it seemed to not take any damage. It’s body seemed as if it were made of mist. We quickly began our attack on the only solid piece of the creature, it’s mask. After breaking off a part of the mask the thing created an ear-piercing screech. In that moment when I shot it I managed to hit the eye which caused it to go into a frenzy. It crashed into the walls and flooded the room. I immediately got on the Prince’s back. Like Vah Ruta, it summoned blocks of ice as weapons. As soon as there was an opening the Prince leaped towards it giving me the opportunity to plunge my sword deep into its eye breaking the mask. It howled, it writhed, it attacked, it collapsed. The mist burst into purple flames then dissipated into nothing. The water drained, and the mist surrounding the control unit dissipated.

The Prince and I checked to see if either of us had any substantial injuries. After we were both satisfied, we approached the control unit. I placed the Sheikah Slate on the control’s panel, gaining control and restoring peace to Vah Ruta.

I heard her. Not in my head this time. I flipped around and saw her. She said because of my courage her spirit was freed as well as Ruta. She thanked me. She stood there and smiled. Her only hope was to see me again. Knowing I’m safe and that I survived she is now able to rest in peace. This was goodbye, her and Ruta had to go and fulfill their duty. We’ll annihilate the Calamity together. Then she left.

I awoke atop the Prince. He was floating on the water, his belly up. He was relieved to see me awake. Moments after I placed the Sheikah Slate on the control panel again I collapsed. The Divine Beast began to move, not knowing what else we could do the Prince took me and the Slate and leaped into the water. The Divine Beast marched up the mountain. It took position and it aimed a bright red light towards the blackened castle.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The warm sun with the cool water felt refreshing. The Domain is stunning when you can actually see it. Though it’s land it almost looks like an underwater paradise. The Prince was pleased to see my reaction to his kingdom. He lazily floated on the water’s surface for a while. It was a much needed reprieve from the intense battling and the literal storm we had just gone through. Though this peace couldn’t last forever.

We made our way back to the castle to give the King the good news. Everyone greeted us with nothing but cheers. They even followed us into the throne room. The King said he was awaiting our return. He and everyone else were grateful for what we had done. Muzu even apologized for his treatment of me and said he’d be overjoyed if I could forgive him, even if it were to happen in the far future. The King said that we must be rewarded. A banquet is being prepared in our honor. I’m planning on wearing my full Zora armor set since it’s the nicest clothing I own. The Prince wants to talk to me about something, but once he saw I was writing he said it could wait for later. So, I’m going to see what he wants now.

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#loz #botw #loz botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #legend of zelda breath of the wild #link #wild link #botw link #breath of the wild link #sidon #prince sidon #botw sidon #breath of the wild sidon #fanfic #fanfiction #botw fanfic #botw fanfiction #loz botw fanfiction #loz botw fanfic #breath of the wild fanfic #breath of the wild fanfiction #sidfa #so i don't forget again #soidon'tforgetagain

[simwoman2002]

Wrath

Summary: While the people of Fall's End are celebrating, Barbara Rook finally takes a look at both the physical injury and emotional injury left behind by John Seed. Fortunately, she does not have to go it alone. Jess Black and Junior Deputy friendship. Mentions of torture and light discussion of suicide.

  The hubbub of the bar surrounded the Junior Deputy as she surveyed the room. It was a happy day at Fall’s End, and Barbara had just managed to find some peace away from the people constantly coming over to offer a toast, pat her on the back, and congratulate her for killing one of the biggest menaces around.

  John Seed was dead and gone, never to bother anyone ever again. Everyone was ecstatic and Barbara herself would have been exceedingly happy as well if it were under normal circumstances.

  The soreness sprawled over her chest as well as the darkness that came with it was almost enough to dull any sense of joy she could have. Barbara looked around the room, quickly spotting Grace amiably conversing with Joey and Jerome. Jess was not too far from Barbara, leaning against the bar and trying to avoid any contact with anyone as she stared at her drink.

  She swiftly came to the conclusion that no one would really notice if she slipped away, especially with the amount of noise and activity everywhere. Barbara pushed off of the bar, striding quietly toward the bathroom. Unfortunately, she was not quite sure where it was, so she had to search around for a moment.

  She finally discovered it, however, and just as she began to open it, a familiar voice piped up behind her.

  “What’re you doing?”

  Barbara stopped and turned to gaze at who had approached her. It was none other than Jess Black, staring down the deputy with a strange glint in her eyes and her arms crossed. Barbara cleared her throat and replied carefully.

  “Going to take a look at the damage… What’re you doing?” Barbara echoed, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head slightly as she looked at the younger girl. Jess blinked, looking with those pretty blue eyes filled with uncertainty and hesitance before suddenly hardening her gaze by an act of force.

  “Well, I figured I’d come in here with you and make sure you’re not about to commit suicide or something,” Jess told her plainly, not sugarcoating the words whatsoever. Barbara just softly chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. She appreciated what Jess was trying to do. She knew the girl was obviously trying to be there for her in the best way that she knew how, and it was a gruff process by which she explained herself.

  Barbara wandered over and stood before the mirror. Jess shut the door carefully behind them, and Barbara took a slight breath, mentally attempting to prepare herself for what she was about to look at.

  She slowly hooked her fingers under the bottom of her shirt and pulled up on the red, white, and blue tank top, the layer peeling off as she removed it. She immediately choked as her eyes locked onto the word etched into her skin, angry red welts all around where the blade had offended her skin.

  WRATH.

  It broke her heart, and she hesitantly reached a hand up to touch the injured skin. She ran her fingers over the letters, her skin stinging like fire as her fingertips brushed along.

  “It hurts,” Jess spoke up, a knowing tone in her voice as she acknowledged the pain that was on the surface of Barbara’s chest. Jess was very knowledgeable about injuries of the sort that Barbara was handling. Jess’s experience was quite literally etched into her face.

  “Keep it clean and medicated. It should stop hurting quite so bad in a week or two,” Jess supplied helpfully, and Barbara nodded absently, her mind in a completely different place as she just gaped at the word.

  It was just so ugly. It was just barely scabbed up, and there was dried blood all around it. Barbara had not had the chance to even look at it. She had been so busy with taking down John and releasing all of the innocents from the bunker that Barbara was not thinking of anything else. Even the now festering and stabbing pain of her skin. She clenched her teeth as she accidentally pressed a little too hard on the H.

  She slowly let her hand drop and she stepped back, letting herself sit down on the closed toilet seat lid. She was quiet for a long moment, and Jess moved the slightest bit closer, not uttering a word.

  “I knew something was coming, Jess. I had a bad feeling about all of it, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. I had to save those people in Fall’s End,” Barbara muttered finally, shamelessly sitting there on the lid of the toilet with only a sports bra covering her torso. She could still easily see the welts and the word left behind in her chest, despite the fact that they were squiggly lines on the W and the H from where she had so desperately fought her fate.

  Jess just looked down at the word, not uttering a single word as she took in the sight of it with those strange and unreadable eyes that somehow always came across as sad when she was not blazingly angry.

  “You did what you had to and got out without being skinned. You’re doing better than most people, Barb,” the younger girl told her, and Barbara chuckled humorlessly, her gaze stuck on the word etched into her chest.

  “It’s so ugly,” Barbara muttered under her breath, but Jess was easily able to pick up the words. After all, she was the one that was always listening quietly and could quickly detect someone coming in a stealth situation.

  “Tell me about it,” Jess wryly spoke, gesturing at her own face with a relatively good-natured roll of her eyes. Barbara shook her head, looking up at the girl that she had befriended as she negated the girl’s statement.

  “No. Yours could be gotten from anything and looks like some kind of tough warrior thing. And it doesn’t make you look weak or ugly and makes you unique. Mine… Mine is definite evidence that I was captured by the cult, and it’s a mark of shame,” Barbara informed her, feeling a strange emotion that was somewhere between red hot anger and the deep pang of sadness.

  The letters left a mark deeper than just upon her skin. She was now marred, and it was something that she truly did not think about in her life. Sure, she thought that Eden’s Gate would capture her, but she never really thought that she would wake up to John Seed with a blade and carving a word into her skin.

  In fact, as arrogant as it might have sounded, she sort of naively thought that she was invincible to all that. She truly believed that she could defeat any of the siblings and if they did catch her, she would just escape. After all, she had managed to escape from John every time that he caught her.

  Except for this time. And that absolutely and utterly destroyed her sense of pride and respect for herself. With every line in her, she steadily lost a sense of victory in killing him. He would be with her forever.

  Her thoughts must have reflected on her face.

  “You can cry or… whatever. I’m not gonna judge,” Jess told her shortly, obviously quite uncomfortable with the situation as she shifted a bit in her stance, allowing her shoulder to press against the wall as she leaned and attempted to relax at least a little.

  Barbara could easily see that Jess felt terribly out of place. Jess was better when constantly moving. It almost seemed as if her movement was a coping mechanism. Perhaps it was how she kept from settling her mind on all the demons and the horrid memories.

  Barbara laughed humorlessly, the pain and the sorrow causing it to seem more like a sob. Perhaps it was.

  “A piece of me will always be his,” Barbara stated, the cold fact slipping from between her lips like poison and leaving a revolting taste in its wake.

  “Nah. That’s just proof that you won, Barb,” Jess expressed, and Barbara glanced up at her before looking down at the floor, swallowing hard as she tried to pull herself together. She should not cry. There was no time for tears. She had to keep moving and take these people down.

  But should not and would not were two completely different concepts.

  Despite her better judgement, the woman felt her heart constricting in her chest and her sensible reasoning shutting down as she completely immersed herself in the hurt inside of her heart. Barbara sniffed hard, placing a hand over her mouth as she tried to keep herself together.

  And so the tears began to fall. Helplessly and endlessly, the waterfall streamed its unleashed grief.

  She hiccupped, stopping abruptly as she suddenly felt Jess’s hand take her own free one carefully. Just barely among the sea floating in her eyes, Barbara could see that Jess had slid down the wall and was now sitting next to Barbara in the floor, holding her hand and looking around the room as she tried to avoid making any sort of eye contact.

  Barbara wasted no time in squeezing Jess’s hand as if it were her lifeline. Jess hesitantly returned the squeeze, obviously not sure what to do but trying her best to comfort Barbara nevertheless.

  “Y’know the good thing about this?” Jess asked, and Barbara immediately looked at her as she wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. It was a truly incredible day when Jess came up with a bright side, so Barbara could not help but immediately listen when Jess uttered the words.

  “That scar on you is not just proof that you won, but proof that John will never hurt anyone else. Your wrath overcame his insanity,” Jess pointed out, and Barbara slowed her tears, realizing that Jess was completely right. Barbara swallowed hard before blinking away whatever was let of her tears and wiping at her face carefully. She clenched her teeth, attempting to regain the control that she so desperately needed.

  However, she never released Jess’s hand as she attempted to pull herself back into some semblance of where she was pre-injury.

  “You’re right,” Barbara murmured, and Jess scoffed.

  “Of course. I’m always right,” Jess gruffly replied, and the response was just so typical of the girl that Barbara could not help but allow true and pure laughter to escape her. Jess chuckled slightly, and Barbara simply laughed even more, sniffing hard as she found her heart healing just the smallest bit.

  “C’mon, Deputy. Do something constructive, ‘kay?” Jess told her, getting up from her seated position and tugging a little on Barbara’s hand. Barbara moved up with the motion, and as soon as she stood up, she gently hugged Jess. Jess froze, but Barbara did not really care. She wanted to give the girl the affection she deserved for being there for her in such a time of need.

  “Thank you, Jess,” the deputy murmured, and Jess hesitantly brought her arms up and hugged Barbara in return. Barbara was about to let go, but she suddenly realized that Jess was actually leaning into the hug ever so slightly. Barbara smiled in spite of herself and embraced the younger girl a little more tightly.

  “Yeah, yeah… Can’t have you falling into some pit of despair. You gotta help more people,” Jess told her, letting go after a few moments as she almost seemed to wake up from some spell. Barbara forced a little bit of a smile as she started to follow Jess out the door.

  However, Jess suddenly paused, turning to look at her.

  “Might wanna clean up, though, before you go helping more folks,” Jess noted, and Barbara nodded, realizing that she was nowhere near ready to leave the bathroom. Jess nodded and started out again. But she stopped after only a moment, the door almost shut. Barbara could see the slight smirk on her face as she uttered her next statement.

  “And put on some clothes, would you?”

#jess black #deputy #junior deputy #far cry 5 #far cry #video game #video games #fanfic #fic #fiction #fanfiction #jess #barbara rook #rook #rookie #far cry 5 fanfiction #far cry 5 fanfic #far cry 5 fic #far cry fanfic #far cry fanfiction #far cry fic #original

[myherogroundzero]

happier (dabi x reader)

A/N: this is like OOC but for a reason! it’s like, he wouldnt be OOC with other characters but you grew up with him so it was different, dont question it. i worksd really hard on this and im proud of it. i hope you all enjoy and YES i am all for that Touya/Dabi theory. it makes perfect sense (edit: i literally forgot to mention that i totally changed his backstory LMAO but i felt like this fit my story better sorry 🥺)

word count: 1.8k

warnings: i mean, heated kissing? angst, parental abuse (verbal, but not really mentioned)

•••••

I.

you held onto his hands, dancing around the playground while your parents fought and his mom just watched. that’s what the two of you did every time your parents argued the way they did. he helped you escape from the hatred you listened to everyday so you could feel that glimmer of hope that they always tried to take from you.

“feeling better, y/n?” his voice was kind and soft and his smile made your fears disappear.

“yes, Touya, thank you.”

you grinned at him before you stopped moving and gave him the biggest hug you’d ever given. he giggled as he hugged you back. even though the two of you were only four, him wrapping his arms around you made you feel safer. what could go wrong when you were in the arms of your best friend?

“of course. you look better when you’re happier!”

II.

“you’re always at work, you never spend time with us!”

“maybe that’s because i’m trying to earn money to take care of this family!”

a 10 year old should never have to endure this. tears welled up in your red, puffy eyes as you remember the latest fight your parents had. you couldn’t take the screams and abhorrence so you ran. you didn’t know where your feet were taking you until you stood, shaking and sobbing in front of the Todoroki household. you wiped at your eyes before hesitantly knocking on the door. you stared at your feet and played with the hem of your shirt as you waited for the door to open.

when you heard creaking, you looked up immediately. your watery eyes met with the soft grey ones of Touya’s mother, Rei. she bent over to wipe off your tear-stained cheeks, the gentleness of her touch making you melt.

“are they fighting again, love?”

when you opened your mouth to respond, the only thing that came out was the quiet, pained sobs that you’d been holding back. that had been answer enough for her, and she quickly ushered you into the house.

you sat in the kitchen with her, your legs crossed as you sipped the tea that she’d made specially for you. the two of you just talked until you calmed down a little bit. soft footsteps brought you away from your current conversation and to the entrance of the kitchen, where you were met with a tired looking Touya.

“y/n? is everything okay?” he yawned and rubbed his eyes as he spoke, his voice mellow despite his exhaustion. you got up and walked to him, giving him a hug without uttering a word. he, of course, hugged back.

“dance with me, Touya?”

he smiled softly before taking your hands and dancing with you, his mother as your audience. the two of you spun around as though you were the only people in the world. nothing else existed in that moment, just you and Touya and your dancing. a smile had replaced the heart wrenching look on your face. dancing with your best friend made things better, even when life seemed to have been falling apart before your very eyes.

“you know, you should smile more often. you look prettier when you’re happier.”

III.

15 was not your favourite age, to say the least. your parents never stopped arguing and it’d become even harder to deal with. when they spoke to you, it was always short and harsh. they made sure you knew they didn’t want you, and they didn’t want each other either. you sat upstairs in your room holding a pillow over your head to block out the incessant screams from the voices that once soothed you.

you were at your breaking point and you knew that. nothing seemed to make you happy anymore. you kept headphones in your ears turned up at max volume to tune out the fighting every single day. it was the only thing that made you feel anything anymore. the romanticisation of life in songs gave you spurious hope.

you supposed it was easy to idealise life when you were living, but you were only existing. you vividly remembered the day the life had left your eyes, even though you weren’t dead. you were no longer who you once were. you felt like you were overreacting with your emotions. your parents never hit you or anything. sure, they fought nonstop, but you had a roof over your head and food to eat and clothes to wear. what right did you have to be upset with your life?

you sighed quietly before getting your phone out and sending a text to Touya, asking if he’d be willing to come over. he always knew what to do and say when you got like this. your phone buzzed in your hand and you smiled at his speedy reply before reading that he’d be right over.

☆☆☆☆☆

you walked to your window after receiving Touya’s text that he was there. you opened it and smiled down at him.

“there’s a ladder on the side of the house,”

he gave you a thumbs up before going to retrieve the ladder. you giggled softly, turning to go sit on your bed while you awaited his return.

minutes later, you saw disheveled red hair crawling through your window. he looked at you and grinned, going over to sit next to you when he’d made it through. you wrapped your arms around his neck while his were secured around your waist. the warmth of the hug made a funny feeling erupt in your stomach. likewise, Touya’s heart was fluttering at your touch.

“Touya, will you dance with me?”

he stood up, pulling you close to his chest. your arms rested around his neck like they had when you were sitting. the two of you swayed slowly, a comfortable silence taking over as you just enjoyed each other’s presence. you relished the protectiveness of his embrace. he rested his head gently on top of yours, making your heart pound.

he stopped moving abruptly before pulling away slightly to look at your face. his eyes scanned over every perfect imperfection that made up your beautiful appearance. his brows furrowed and he bit his lip, deep in thought. his eyes stared directly into yours, making you squirm. you got nervous under his unwavering gaze, so you shifted your head and looked to the side.

he gently held your chin and moved your head back to its previous position before placing a loving kiss to your lips. you kissed back with more force, the neediness exposing how deprived of love the two of you really were. his grasp on your waist tightened and your hands found their way into his hair, pulling gently. his tongue slid over your lip and you opened your mouth to allow him access. you pressed into him as much as you possibly could, a soft moan escaping your lips.

in that moment, nothing and nobody else mattered. it was only the two of you pouring your hearts out to one another, holding onto each other tightly out of fear that you might never see each other again if you let go.

when you pulled away to breathe, Touya took the second to look you over again. when he looked at you he saw his whole life in your eyes. he fell in love with you when you two were kids, and that love has only grown stronger since then.

“y/n, i want to make you happier.”

IV.

you were now 19 years old and you hadn’t seen Touya in two years. he disappeared when he was 17, leaving you confused and brokenhearted. you’ve felt this emptiness ever since he left, like you were missing one half of your already damaged heart. you missed him. his smile, his laugh. you missed his lips and his hugs but most of all, you missed dancing with him.

you didn’t think you’d ever see him again, but you remained hopeful that maybe your paths would cross once again. at first everyone thought he’d been kidnapped. however, as you thought more and more about it, you had come to the conclusion that maybe he ran away. you knew how his father treated him and his siblings, even Rei. you wouldn’t blame him if running way was his only option, but why didn’t he tell you? or better yet, why didn’t he take you?

you laid on your bed, still trapped within the hate and anger of your parent’s house. all you could do was wonder if things would get better. you wish, above all things, that you could go back to when things were better, when you were happier.

V.

by 21, your parents had kicked you out and with no job or house, you had nowhere to go. so you sat on a bench near the very park you used to play at with Touya. the darkness of the night sky was making you drowsy. your eyes were fluttering closed when the shadow of a tall man blocked the moon from illuminating your figure. your eyes shot open and you looked up, your eyes being met with familiar blue ones on an unfamiliar face. there were stitches and burns all over him, his hair completely black.

he stared at you, not knowing what to do or say. you felt in your heart that you knew him, but you didn’t recognise him.

“Touya?”

his eyes welled up with tears for the first time in a long time.

“y/n.”

you covered your mouth to muffle the sound of your quiet cries before you stood up and hugged him. he hugged back tighter than he ever had before.

“Touya, what happened to you? why did you leave? you didn’t say a thing to me, you just left!”

“i know—“

“you could’ve at least told me!”

“i’m sorry—“

“i felt so lost, Touya, you left me alone.”

“y/n, please. i didn’t mean to hurt you.”

tears spilled like a waterfall, your gasps for air breaking his heart. he really had no intentions of hurting you.

“y/n, i truly am sor—“

you cut him off be smashing your lips against his. he stumbled back slightly before regaining his posture and kissing you back.

“i missed you so much, Touya.”

“i missed you too, love.”

you held onto him like you’d lose him again if you let go. he held you with just as much protectiveness and love. the two of you swayed slightly, the moon shining, illuminating your tear stained cheeks. finally, for the first time in five years, your life didn’t feel like it was slowly crumbling before you. you wouldn’t say you were happy per se. but the two of you dancing in the light of the gleaming moon brought you back to when you were younger.

as crazy as it sounds, you missed who you were back then, when the two of you were dancing through the angry voices of your parents. when you were dancing through the mess you called your lives. he brought you back to those times, though. he brought you back to when you were happier.

#dabi #dabi x reader #touya x reader #touya todoroki #todoroki #villain #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #x reader #x you #reader insert #anime

[undertalethingies]

Judge and Jury

Set after a pacifist neutral ending. (Only Asgore is dead)

Not long after the queen returned, she called a meeting of all Asgore’s old employees. It made sense to, right? Gotta figure out who’s assigned to do what and who’s got tasks they weren’t supposed to chat about and all that jazz.

Sans very nearly didn’t come. But Tori knew he worked as a sentry, so if he didn’t show, she’d notice, and he really didn’t want them finally actually meeting to be marred by her disappointment at his work ethic.

...Or that was what he’d tell other people, if they asked. Truth was, Sans’ sense of duty ran a lot deeper than he let most people pick up on. He’d always cared deeply about the kingdom and the people in it. It was why he’d been chosen as Judge, actually. Because he had both the compassion to choose mercy when it was right and the resolve to fight when necessary.

He still didn’t know whether he’d made the right decision with the human, even though he knew both Asgore and Toriel would approve, if he explained.

Not that he could explain anything to Asgore, now. 

...Dammit, he missed the big guy. And the human would still have kept going even if Sans had fought them, sure. They had too much DT to do otherwise, but it didn’t stop him from feeling like even more of a useless shit than usual.

Anyway, the meeting. He went.

Looking around, he could see that not everyone had. Two of the Hotland guards had skipped, along with the Temmies. The latter might be for the best, in all honesty. Even Sans, who was probably the most informed monster in the Underground even before Asgore kicked it, had never been made aware what exactly the Tems did. The few cryptic hints they’d given him over the years had only made him want to know less.

The attendees included all of the Snowdin Guard (including him and Papyrus, the sentries), Undyne, two guards from hotland who he didn’t know all that well, Alphys, and a couple monsters from New home who served in administrative capacities.

Toriel made a speech about how, while she would be dismantling the Royal Guard, she had plans to keep many of them on the payroll as a police force, which shouldn’t be too big a change from their previous duties. (While the Royal Guard ostensibly existed to capture humans, they fell far too rarely for an entire force dedicated solely to capturing them to make sense, so they also acted as a disciplinary force)

Sans made plans to talk with Undyne about letting Papyrus into the new force, since he doubted she’d realize that this removed any reason to keep him off. (Papyrus was pretty much the ideal cop, in Sans’ opinion. Hard to be a criminal when he was so freakin’ nice)

Undyne would be remaining the Captain, apparently. Despite her actions in attempting to capture the human, she’d been acting for the good of her people, and so long as she didn’t let “the ends justify the means” act as an excuse for cruelty again, Tori had no issue with her.

Or that’s what she said, at least. Sans suspected that it was more because Tori didn’t know anyone well enough to appoint a captain who’d be better than Undyne, so she just didn’t bother.

Then she went through the administrators, having them explain their roles and their duties. She didn’t immediately change much there, probably wanting to get a feel for how the kingdom had changed in her absence first, which seemed reasonable.

She had a brief discussion with Alphys as well, and he got the sense that there was definitely more of that to come later. Toriel seemed like the type to expect regular reports from her Royal Scientist, and Sans wondered how long she’d be able to keep the DT experiments a secret with actual oversight.

Then came the part he’d been dreading, where Toriel turned to him.

“Forgive me, old friend, but I do not actually know all of the jobs you worked for Asgore?” There was nothing but polite curiosity in her tone, and he knew she probably wasn’t expecting him to say much more than “sentry”. He’d hinted a few times that his real role is a bit more than that, which was probably the only reason she was asking at all, but he knew she’d probably never guess his real role in her wildest dreams.

“eh, fair. i kinda do a lot,” he was being deliberately vague, unable to resist delaying this revelation for just a few extra moments. Alphys met his gaze, and he could tell she understood.

“Yes, but what, precisely?” Toriel asked, getting that glint in her eye he recognized from every parent he’d ever spoken to. Say what you will about people with kids, but they knew when you dodged a question. 

“well, i’m a sentry in snowdin, waterfall, and hotland,” He was, indeed, a sentry in all of those places. It wasn’t like he was lying, just… omitting a detail. Next to him, Papyrus narrowed his eyes slightly, because Papyrus could smell Sans fudging the truth from miles away at this point. He didn’t say anything, though, since he knew it was rude to talk out of turn in a meeting like this. (Sans had briefed him, beforehand, on the social niceties that would be involved)

Toriel just looked mildly startled, presumably thinking of the commute between regions, since he’d never really talked to her about his shortcuts. (He’d never really talked to anyone about his shortcuts, just used them and let them draw their own conclusions)

“You manned three stations? That seems like quite a lot,” Heh, she had no idea. 

“eh, i manage,” He could see from Tori’s face that she doubted that, but she was polite and didn't say so. 

“S-Sans,” Oh, great. Alphys was glaring at him the way she did when he was being an idiot, and he supposed that he kinda deserved it. No way Tori wasn’t gonna ask who the Judge was at some point, y’know? It wasn’t really a role the kingdom could do without.

“I-if. If you d-don’t tell her, she’ll, she’ll find it in the r-records and then it’ll b-be awkward,” Sans looked to the side.

“i mean, bold of you to assume i wouldn’t just doctor ‘em if i wanted it to be a secret,” Several people in the room looked mildly alarmed, and he wasn’t sure why. He was only implying he had the means to easily edit some of the most highly secured documents in the kingdom, after all. Lol. 

“Sans,” Alphys hissed. He knew she was being serious because she didn’t stutter on his name at all, and she only tended to forget to when she was totally pissed. Apparently this actually mattered to her, then. Or maybe she just didn’t want him to get caught in a lie the way she had been, which was a nice sentiment, if misplaced.

“yeah, ok. so i’m not just a sentry,” He admitted. Toriel’s eyebrows drew together into a slightly concerned expression.

“Sans, exactly how many jobs do you work?”

“well, if the sentries are all separate, that’s three. then there’s the semi illegal hotdog stand, but i do that at the hotland station, so i’m not really sure if it counts as its own thing. i also do comedy gigs at mettaton’s hotel sometimes, and then there’s, uh, the one alph was talking about,” His expression slid into something vaguely sheepish and he rubbed at the back of his skull with a gloved hand. He really didn’t want to talk about this, necessary as it may be.

“And what job would that be, Sans?” Toriel asked politely. She was being nice about it, but he could tell she was getting a bit annoyed at his evasion.

Sans placed his hands in his lap, looking her straight in the eye with a serious expression. He kept his tone serious, too, so she’d know he was telling the truth.

“I’m the Judge.” He ended his sentence with a period, even though he knew it wasn’t strictly proper. He’d always liked the finalty a period conveys.

Toriel’s eyes widened, along with Undyne’s. Sans had been pretty surprised when Asgore had said he didn’t want to disclose Sans’ identity to the Captain, but the late King had explained that, while he trusted her unconditionally, he knew Sans wanted to keep his role on the downlow, and Undyne wasn’t exactly chosen for her skills at subtlety.

Sans didn’t see even a speck of surprise in his brother’s expression, which filled him with pride. He’d never outright told Pap about his job, but he’d always been more perceptive than he let on, and Sans had been pretty sure he’d known. This basically confirmed it.

“You never mentioned that,” Says Tori, looking like she felt a bit betrayed but was trying to hide it.

“nothing personal, tor. i just, uh, strongly dislike talking about it,” Sans said, attempting to reassure her. It was the truth. Sans had always loathed people who used high status positions like Judge to get extra privileges or whatever, and he disliked the fear the Judge was regarded with even more. (He’d known the old Judge, and he’d seen the way the guy got treated by those around him. It wasn’t anything he wanted for himself)

Toriel looked mollified by his admission, meanwhile Undyne was still gaping like a fish because she knew both his stats and the things he’d done during his tenure as Judge, and was probably having difficulty reconciling the two seemingly conflicting accounts in her mind.

“I see. Well, we will certainly need to discuss this later, but perhaps it might be better to do so in private,” Wonderful. At least then he’d only be revealing the extremely personal information that had to do with his job to one person, rather than literally everyone employed by Asgore.

On that note, he was pretty sure that the news of him being the Judge would be all over the underground within hours of this meeting’s conclusion, so that was fun.

Man could he not wait for the reset.

#undertale #undertale fanfic #undertale fanfiction #this is probably the most words i've ever typed in one sitting #i don't know how to write satisfying ending so i just don't write an ending at all #sans #toriel #alphys #undyne #vague angst is my jam #along with communication #i'm probably not going to follow this up #obligatory 'people find out sans is the judge' fic #i'm also working on the obligatory 'genocide run judgement hall' fic so look forward to that i guess #and i have a rant i need to edit #because i haven't been finishing anything lately at all #judge and jury

[talesofphantombandits]

Zero to Six ~ Chapter Eight.

Hellllllooooooooooooo, am here! Sorry this took a while again, another busy week. All the support I’ve been getting is just so nice, I love all you’re comments. Also a HUGE Thank You to @raylan-c​ For the two wonderful Collages that you made (I’ll try incorporate them in here somewhere) and also the HC that you keep coming up with <3

Enjoy! If you want to be tagged just ask <3

warnings: Swearing, mentions of panic attack.

Tags: @i-am-sarah​ , @whothefuckstolemykeds​ , @drowsyrrog​ , @culturefiendtrashqueen​ , @rogue-barnes-16--main-account​ , @alliwantfromyouistomakelovetome​ , @valerie-weasley​ , @sueeatstheworld​ , @bleona2808​ , @pippin248​ , @myfatbottomedgirls​ , @httpfandxms​ , @cooliosmosh​ , @speckles-s​ , @walking-disgrace​ , @itsmeaudrieee​ , @fight-the-freaking-fairies​ , @irrelevant-pumpkin​ , @captain-sparkles-who​ , @podcasts-8-my-heart​ , @foulvintagenature​ 

Gif credit: mrbenhardys

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The elevator dinged signalling that I had reached the apartment. This was probably extremely stupid of me but I wanted to help out, I’d been useless for too long.

The doors opened, I raised my gun so I was armed and ready. Two guards turned at the noise of the ding, before they could even raise their weapons I shot them both in quick succession.

“ZERO GOD DAM IT.” One shouted at me. 

I didn’t listen, I wanted to concentrate on getting to Four and the dictators brother to get them both out safely.  

“We’re stuck on the stairway.” Two informed.

Bullets where ricocheting off every wall, I’d finally located Four but he was across the other side of the stairs. Getting to him would be extremely hard seen as the space between us was an open area. I decided to focus on helping Two and Three who were trying to get up the stairs.

A guard came bounding across the landing, Three totally unaware. I stepped out in front of the guy. Everything felt like it was in slow motion I raised my gun and just as he was about to make contact with me I shot him.

He crashed into me, I felt a sharp pain in my side. As we hit the floor hard he went limp. I groaned at the weight.

“Zero!” Three shouted concerned as he threw the guy off me.

“You okay?” I just nodded my head. “Thank you! I didn’t even see him coming, you probably just saved my life.”

“Yeah well no need to get soppy now, we still have a mission to complete.” I patted his shoulder and went back to my spot against the wall protecting the two that were trying to make a clear path to the zip line.

“Guys, I got a bad idea.” Seven said.

One chimed in sounding nervous. “What do you mean you have a bad idea? You’re only suppose to have good ideas.”

“I have a really, really bad idea.” I rolled my eyes.

“Get on with it Seven, It’s like hell in here.” I said wincing as a guard took a shot at me.

“Am improvising okay, You all might want to grab onto something.” 

I looked up and caught Fours eyes, I just shrugged at him.

Just then we all heard a cracking sound.

“THE POOL!” Two shouted and began to run back down the stairs.

“NO NO BACK BACK.” Three screamed wild eyed. 

Just then Seven took the final shot, the pool burst open. A flood of water came crashing down from the roof. Some how Four had managed to get the asset into a safe place then proceeded to sprint under the stairs just in front of me.

This was going to be a close call, I didn’t have much time. Four reached his hand out and was yelling at me to jump.

Just as the water reached my feet, I sprinted forward and leapt. Luckily he caught me, both crashing to the now wet ground under the stairs. At least we were safe from getting swept away.

The surge of water rushed through room after room taking anything in it’s path that wasn’t tied down. The glass all around us shattered and water went spluttering out.  From the outside the tower probably looked like a giant waterfall.

“You okay?” I didn’t even realise that I was still on the floor beneath Four, He was clucking my waist.

“Yeah am fine, thank you for catching me.” I looked up into his green eyes.

“Any excuse to touch you love.” He smirked, moved his hand from my waist. “Zero, you’re bleeding.” I looked at his hand to see the tiniest spot of blood.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch, I can’t even feel it.” I put on my best smile. 

We both sharply turned our heads to someone grunting, they then let out a little scream.

We scurried forward to the edge of the staircase just in time to see Two get carried away by the water.

“TWO!” I shouted ready to lunge after her, but Four caught my arm just in time.

We both watched in horror as she got dragged further and further away. Closer to the blown out window.

My heart stopped for a moment. “You’ve drown the whole freaking team!” One gritted his teeth.

When the water had all but drained I rushed forward, helping Two up. “Thank god.” I mumbled.

Three was safely securing the asset into the zip line when he decided now would be a good time to take his frustrations with how the mission went on the poor soul.

He started punching him. “Three come on stop.” I said.

Me and Two tried our hardest to get him to calm down but it wasn’t until One came that he eventually stopped.

When the asset, Two and Three were safely flying to the other building I secured myself to the line.

I looked around, noticing that someone was missing. “Where’s Four?” 

“Not my problem, now go.” One said un bothered.

“No am not leaving until he gets here safe!” I started to reach up to undo the harness.

One rushed forward and covered it so I couldn’t unstrap myself.

“One let go, am not leaving him!” I said through gritted teeth.

“You are going to do what I say, the rules are if someone gets left behind we don’t wait.” He was all up in my face and angry now.

“Your rules are fucking stupid.” I spit in his face.

“I don’t care what you think.” suddenly he let go of the top and pushed me off the building.

“NO!” I screamed, the wind battered my face as I flew across the skyline.

Tears had began to fall down my cheeks making them freezing with the wind whipping at them due to the speed I was flying at.

I didn’t wait for anyone when I landed. No one would have noticed anyway as Three had continued his assault.

I ran as fast as I could to the car that Five was waiting at. She was shocked by the state I was in, I told her everything and she was just as concerned.

“Three bullets.” I heard a soft voice come over coms.

“Four we’re moving.” One said.

“Just go, I can’t get across.” He said softly. “They cut the zip line.”

“Four, please.” I sobbed.

“Don’t worry Darling, I’ll be fine.” I could hear the strain in his voice and I knew he was lying.

“Am sorry.” One said, which only angered me more.

“It’s just bad luck.” A ring of shots was heard. I tuned to Five, she just seated me in the car then turned to wait for the others.

When the rest showed up we were off. The further away we got from Four, the more my heart broke.

The tears had stopped now, all that was left was a sizzling anger that was mostly directed at One.

Suddenly something crashed on top of the car, we all insistingly ducked.

“Was that a bad guy?” Three asked.

We came out to an open stretch of road only to be barricaded by a police car.

The sudden stop made us all jolt forward.

Shit.

The tension in the car was high, but that rouse even higher when the asset started to shout at the cops that he’d been kidnapped.

“Am going to kill him.” Three mused.

“Am going to let you.” One sang back.

luckily something else drew the cops attention away and they got back in their car, speeding off.

Three pulled out, following behind them.

Suddenly out of all the commotion going on in the car, a distant explosion could be heard over coms.

I was close to having a panic attack, thinking about all the situations Four could be in right now. We were just running away, leaving one of our family members to suffer by himself. I was enraged.

That’s when I realised something. 

I loved him.

We hadn’t known each other for that long, well we had but not in person. But some how he’d sneaked his way into my heart. No matter how many times he bullied me or we fought. And now I was never going to see him again, I was never going to be able to share my feelings with him.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when giant metal bars literally came raining down on us. Massive explosions erupted behind us, blocking the police cars.

“I made it across.” I sighed in relive, Thank god. “Southwest side.”

“Where are you? NO-” Suddenly Four was cut off.

I sprang forward in my seat, clutching onto the headrest in front of me.

I heard grumbling then a massive thud, and groans of pain.

“Stop the car!” Seven spoke up.

“No!” One said. “ Am not stopping the car. We’re leaving him.”

“We aren’t leaving him, You’re leaving him. You son of a bitch!” I screamed.

“He’s on his own.”

“STOP THE CAR!” Seven shouted.

Seven then pulled his hand gun out, pointing it out of the window right at Three’s head. Ones late reaction was to also pull a gun on Three.

“Don’t you dare stop this car.” One shouted angrily.

The car screeched, violently spinning to turn the way we just came.

“He got there first.” Three said agitated.

“Am not doing this again! am not leaving him behind.” The tension in the car was so thick that a knife wouldn’t cut it.

I just breathed heavy and tried to keep the fresh tears at bay.

I looked at Seven, relief passing over my face as he gave me a little smile. He then got out the car and proceeded  to set up his gun on the edge of it.

I stumbled out, looking up to Four’s location. The guy was beating him good, they were only on a tiny, very unsafe looking ledge.

“Come on Four fight it! we’re coming for you.” I tried to be calm at the sound of painful grunts each time the man landed a blow. “You still need to knock me on my ass remember, you can’t do that if you don’t come down from there.” 

I heard a pained whimper which sounded like he tried to laugh. It broke my heart.

Suddenly the guy pushed him and Four went flying over the edge, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Luckily is foot got caught on the orange material. 

I gasped.

“Seven please.” I whimpered.

Chapter Nine

#ben hardy #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy four #6 underground #6 underground four #6 underground billy #6 underground fanfic #6 underground fanfiction #billy #billy fanfiction #four #four fanfic #four fanfiction