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doctenwho · 3 years

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Gestures and Evasion

Hello! Welcome to a new DT fic! My deepest apologies that it’s been so long, and thank you so much for waiting so patiently! Life’s been a bit of a rollercoaster recently, and I’ve needed a bit to recuperate, but I’m back again!

This prompt didn’t have a specific character mentioned, but luckily, since it wasn’t anonymous, I was able to shoot pistachoz a DM and they’ve confirmed it’s a Tenth Doctor request! :D

Warning: None, I don’t think?

Word Count: 3,514

Summary: Check out the prompt above! :)

(Gif doesn’t belong to me, credit to the creator! :D)

The Doctor doesn’t really remember the first small act he’d committed to try and get his companion to notice him. To notice him on a... well, on a more personal level?

It’s a general memory, nothing pinpointed, but he knows it happened long ago.

It was something small—mundane. (Y/N) had more or less brushed the gesture off with a light laugh and a smile that made his hearts hammer away in his chest, but (Y/N) had really seen if for what it had been.

It wasn’t very often that the Doctor had these sort of feeling about anything, but there was just something special about (Y/N). Something he couldn’t put his finger on.

He’d been trying for just about as long as the companion had been travelling with him to send little messages, or gestures in hopes that maybe (Y/N) would see what he was doing for what it was instead of brushing it off like she tended to do.

If he’s honest, he’s never really had this kind of problem before. He’s had many companions, and more often than not, those companions tend to want more from him than he’s willing to allow himself to give. Rose, and Martha—Jack, even—they were all looking for more from him, and being what he is, and what he does, it’s not that simple to reciprocate feelings.

They’ll all age and eventually die, whereas he’ll just move on to his next bout of regeneration with a broken heart he’ll have to try his hardest to keep under wraps.

The Doctor knows that maybe (Y/N) showing such little interest in him is almost a good thing. Less heartbreak down the road when (Y/N) decides not to accompany him any longer, or, worse, when old age takes (Y/N) away like every other human before her. It’s inevitable, and he really should have a stronger hold on human life compared to TimeLord life, but the loss always knocks him down for a while.

It should be a good thing, but he just can’t seem to bring himself around to believing that it’s a good thing. Not when every time (Y/N) brushes off a gesture he’s thought over, and put time and effort into, it fills his hearts with an unfamiliar pain he hasn’t felt since losing his family and Gallifrey alike.

It had taken him a while to notice he was even trying to win (Y/N) in a sort of courtship way. And it had taken even longer to realize he’d been doing it for about as long as he’d known (Y/N). It hadn’t seemed like it at the time, but looking back now, he can see how all the little comments and gestures were more than just friendly.

But she’d been brushing his attempts off since early in their travels. Shooting him a smile, but turning away when anything too even the slightest romantic turn. Avoiding his eyes when he stared fondly, or laughing it off when a compliment slipped past his lips.

He really didn’t understand it.

He could see the Gallifreyan romantic gestures confusing (Y/N), but the few earth gestures he’d picked up barely stirred anymore of a reaction than the Gallifreyan ones. He didn’t know where he was going wrong—how it was all being perceived the way it was. The wrong way. He wasn’t getting the reactions he wanted and... well, it hurt.

Both his pride, and his hearts.

It had started small with flowers—or, a flower. They were on a foreign planet, but he knew giving small gifts like a flower was one of the human gestures. So, he’d searched around while his companion was busy exploring, and located the loveliest flower he could find. It was mixtures of blues and purples; native to the planet but incredibly rare considering they only bloomed twice a year, for no longer that three days at a time.

The flower had a sweet smell; one similar to those of sweets from earth. For a while, before he’d remembered Earth didn’t have this specific species of flower, nor were they advanced enough in space travel to find one, he’d assumed they’d used the attractive scent of the flower as a marketing technique to sell their sweets.

The sugary smell Earth sweets had would always come second to the scent of this specific flower.

The exchange had been short, and less than pleasurable if the Doctor’s honest. He’d found (Y/N) sitting on the ground, just taking the calming atmosphere of the planet. His heart stuttered in his chest before he finally took those last few steps towards her, where he settled at her side and cleared his throat to gain her attention.

He’d held the flower out, rambling out facts as (Y/N) took the flower into her hands. She gave it a sniff, and fiddled with the stem and petals for a second before smiling down at it. She stared down at it, before looking back at him with an appreciative smile. He’d thought he’d won her over, but instead, she settled the flower on the ground beside her.

His hearts had cracked as his companion’s hand fell away from the flower, leaving it on the ground as she returned her attention to the world around her. He’d swallowed thickly before sitting himself beside her, not bothering to mention the fact his gesture had gone unnoticed.

It was the same ordeal when he’d ordered (Y/N) a space delicacy from one of his favorite planets, where his companion had taken the treat into her hands and tasted it without a second thought. Smiling down at the treat, before shooting him light smile as she licked her lips.

He didn’t know why he’d been expecting—hoping for—anything more than the usual ‘Thank you’ he always received when he did something out of the ordinary for his companion, but the mumbled words had filled his with a sense of sadness.

It was silly.

But he kept trying.

The gestures just kept coming. It was barely a forethought anymore. An unconscious effort to try and win over his companion—seeking this relationship (Y/N) quite obviously didn’t want. It was a sad downward spiral, but he really couldn’t imagine not trying to woo her. He’d been at it for so long, not trying sounded foreign.

He tried just about anything he could to get any sort of reaction. Any hint that his companion knew what he was trying to do. Any acknowledgment that she understood that he was trying. He’d prefer blatant rejection to this... whatever this evasive attitude (Y/N) was expressing.

Dinner in the stars.

Unique gifts from distant planets.

Various treats and snacks from wherever they happened to be.

He even tried to learn more about human things on earth. How humans went about stuff like this, and how it all differed from his Gallifreyan roots. Human courting was quite the oddity.

He didn’t talk to many humans who weren’t his companions, or people he’d saved in some way or another, but the man who ran one of the shops had taken some time to educate him, but the Doctor had come out of that conversation more confused than he’d gone in.

But on the bright side, (Y/N) had enjoyed the bag of sweets he’d awkwardly bought to stand at the register and chat with the friendly shopkeeper.

He was still at a loss. Nothing seemed to be working. Nothing wooed his companion. He didn’t understand—couldn't see how not one single thing he’d tried had gotten (Y/N)’s attention.

But he still had one more thing up his sleeve.

“Where are we going?” (Y/N) asked cautiously from the seat in the console room. The Doctor was doing his usual laps around the TARDIS console to what should be six TimeLord’s jobs simultaneously. He’d gotten good at it over the years, but there was still, occasionally, some rough kickbacks when he couldn’t be everywhere at once.

“It’s a surprise,” the man shot his companion a grin, pulling a lever. At this point, (Y/N) should be used to the surprises. He never got the kinds of reactions he was looking for, but he was still hoping that... maybe sometime he would. That something he planned would be the special one that could win his companion over.

(Y/N) didn’t reply, but continued to watch the Doctor how around the TARDIS like a madman.

They weren’t far from the next greatest surprise the man had planned. They’d been travelling a little under an hour, and (Y/N) had only joined him in the console room ten-ish minutes prior, but he’d still refused to tell her where they were heading.

(Y/N) was still quiet when the Doctor stabilized his space and time machine, checking everything twice before finally tugging his companion up by the hand and leading her towards the doors.

He threw the doors open, grinning widely as he gazed around. Just as promised.

It was a phenomenon really. A collection of heart shaped carbon monoxide ice chunks. No one was quite sure how they’d been formed, or whether someone had carved the hearts and left them to float in this tiny orbital pull in the middle of nowhere.

It was a sight few saw—the Doctor had only heard of this place from chatter on a nearby planet, but he had to admit it was just as beautiful as he’d imagined. The ice glistened as the light casted from the TARDIS hit it, making them twinkle just as brightly as the stars in the background.

It was about as romantic as you could get.

“Woah,” (Y/N) gaped at his side, and the Doctor turned to look, smile slowly lighting up his face as he watched his companion’s eyes travel from heart to heart. “What... what is this?”

“It’s carbon monoxide ice,” the Doctor informed softly, the smile on his face widening as his hearts thrummed in his chest. His companion had an astonished look on her face, eyes wide with childlike curiosity. “Like that of Mars in your solar system. No one’s really sure how they take shape but... well, they’re quite the sight.”

“It’s beautiful,” (Y/N) breathed out, almost like her breath was taken away by the sight.

The Doctor had been told by many, had seen for himself as beauty takes away people’s breath. He’d been there too, once or twice with his current companion.

He barely even caught his words as they left his mouth—his heart speaking before his brain had a chance to filter his words, “Like you.”

That was his moment of error, the Doctor noticed.

He frowned to himself as his companion slowly pulled themself away, shying away from his side and retreating back into the TARDIS with one last lingering glance at the ice. The Doctor’s hearts froze within his chest, as he watched uncertainly—unsure just how he’d managed to mess this one up as well.

“It’s late,” (Y/N) muttered softly before leaving the Doctor alone in the TARDIS doorway, the man’s gaze locked on one lone heart with a barely noticeable crack down the center. It wouldn’t be long before the orbit around them pulled the frail pieces apart, severing the heart into two.

The TimeLord forced a breath, squeezing his eyes shut for just a moment as he resided completely with the cracked heart.

He didn’t understand.

The clumps of frozen carbon monoxide made his hearts hurt the longer he stared, so he was quick to follow on his companion’s footsteps, spinning on his heels and shuffling back inside, making sure to shut the doors behind him.

He wanted to flee this place, this failed attempt, but he couldn’t bring himself around to flying the TARDIS at the moment. He didn’t have the energy too. Like expected, (Y/N) had disappeared into the TARDIS, so the Doctor plopped heavily down on the seat.

Maybe it was time to accept the fact that his companion did not reciprocate his feelings. That he was barking up the wrong tree. He’d thought that they were... but maybe he was wrong.

The Doctor stared up at the TARDIS ceiling, his space and time machine giving a little hum as if she could feel his worries and mood. His hand patted the back of his seat halfheartedly as a promise that he was okay.

It had never been this hard with any other companion. There was just something so special about (Y/N). Something he wanted to get closer too, even though he knew he’d end up hurt in the end. Something he wasn’t sure he’d ever get now.

Maybe it was time to settle this once and for all. His gestures were overlooked, or, maybe even ignored. As much as it hurt to admit, (Y/N) didn’t seem very enthused with anything he’d done. Maybe it was the human not understanding what he was trying to do—but humans tended to like words.

The Doctor from (Y/N) in her room, perched on the edge of her bed. (Y/N)’s attention raised when the Doctor announced his arrival with a sturdy knock on the slivered-open door. The knock pushed the door in enough for the Doctor to poke his head in.

“Do you, uh, have a moment?” He asked cautiously, almost ready for the rejection he’d been living with for the better part of travelling with (Y/N). He’d grown used to it, but it still tugged at his heart strings. She’d never deny him conversation, but he could still see and feel her pulling away from him.

“Of course,” (Y/N) sat up a little more, giving the Doctor her full attention. “What’s the matter?”

He hadn’t thought this far ahead, the Doctor realizes as he shifts from foot to foot in (Y/N)’s doorway, mind vacant of any thoughts. (Y/N) tilted her head at the Doctor’s odd silence, studying him from her spot, “Doctor...? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” the man cleared his throat. Then did so a second time before continuing, “I wanted to, uhm, know what you thought about the, uh,” he gestured broadly behind him, hoping his companion could piece his question together.

“The ice hearts?”

It was a good thing his companion was so clever.

“Yes, the hearts.” The Doctor nods, fingers tapping awkwardly against his side. “Did you... did you like them?”

“They were beautiful,” (Y/N) repeated once again, fidgeting with her own fingers, “it was a bit unexpected, but... yeah, I did. Thanks for showing me them.”

The man gave a nod, but didn’t voice anything. If he thought his voice would’ve come out naturally instead of the anxious waver he was sure would be there, he definitely would’ve replied with a soft ‘My pleasure,’ because it really was his pleasure to introduce (Y/N) to the beauty of the galaxy.

There was an unsettling moment of silence where neither really knew what to say.

It was the Doctor who broke it, staring at his shoes as he finally allowed the words he’d been stewing over out, “do you... not like me, (Y/N)?”

“What?” the surprise was prominent. The word rang out for a second before the Doctor lifted his gaze to settled on (Y/N)’s shocked, tense frame. Her muscles were stiff, body sitting up straighter and more alert than she had been when he’d first asked to talk. “I like you plenty,” (Y/N) assured quickly, “what gave you the idea I didn’t?”

There was a list, really. He could count things off on his fingers, but he wasn't here to be petty. The man bit his lip, leaning against the doorframe to support his weight. He honestly just wanted to know why (Y/N) was so evasive every time he so much as tried to woo her.

“You... well, uh, you never seem to care,” he made sure to word it carefully, “I... I’m not sure if you even notice, or ignore it, or what. I just, I need you to be honest with me. Why haven’t you... reciprocated any feelings?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Doctor,” (Y/N)’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and one ankle crossed over the other as she leaned forwards in interest.

“Since I met you,” the Doctor swallowed, “I’ve been... I don’t know how to say it but, trying to court you, I suppose? That’s not really something humans do, but it is something TimeLords do. It’s just that... every attempt I’ve made... every try I’ve made to do something cute, or romantic, you brush it off. You’re evasive, and... I’d just like to know if that’s because you don’t reciprocate my feelings. If you don’t feel the same, we can just put this all behind us.”

“It’s not like that,” (Y/N)’s voice was quiet, a near whisper, “please don’t think it’s because I don’t like you. I do, Doctor. I just... I wasn’t sure.”

“Weren’t sure?” The man furrowed his eyebrows, “sure about what?”

“I didn’t want to risk our friendship. I noticed everything, the flower you gave me, the sweets. All the dinners, and the... the dates. Today with the ice hearts even. I didn’t know how to admit I liked you when there was a chance you didn’t like me back the same way. I don’t know what I’d do if I ruined this.”

“But the gestures and dates?” the Doctor frowned, finally stepping into (Y/N)’s room and sitting on the edge of her bed beside her. He’d thought he was being obvious.

“Very obvious,” his companion let out a little laugh, “and I should’ve known, but I was scared. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me. This adventure is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I didn’t want to compromise that by admitting my feelings.”

He could understand that, a bit. “So... you do like me too?”

“Of course,” (Y/N)’s smile was soft, “a lot, Doctor. I just... didn’t know how to reciprocate it without there being a possibility that everything could fall through, and we’d ruin our relationship in the process. I know you were offering it, but I was nervous. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” the Doctor chastised quietly. He paused for a second before speaking again, “I’m having a hard time believing this is real,” he admitted with a tilt of his head, “you really acknowledged it all? I... never noticed.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) smiled softly, “and I have proof it wasn’t all in vain, Doctor.” (Y/N) stood up from her spot on the bed, and moved towards her book shelf. It housed a few books, and some trinkets she’d found on their travels and liked. She continued speaking as she searched through the books, “I really enjoyed everything you put together for me since I met you. I wasn’t sure you were really doing it all to be romantic at first but... the hearts today really summed that up for me.”

The man watched as she tugged on one of the book’s spines, pulling it from the shelve and holding it in her hands for a second before she waving to retake her seat. She started flipping through the pages, so the Doctor leaned over her shoulder to watch.

“Here,” she stopped on a page towards the middle of the book. The Doctor refrained from gaping as his companion carefully pulled that singular flower he’d given her all that time ago from the book. The room was instantly filled with that sweet, alluring scent and his hand shook as he took the pressed flower into his fingers by the delicate stem.

“I thought you left this,” he admitted softly, studying the vibrant colours that had stayed even after being pressed into the book. He hadn’t noticed her bringing the flower back. Had really thought she’d left it on that planet and ignored the gesture entirely.

“I couldn’t,” his companion sighed, “it was selfish, even if I didn’t want to ruin what we had, I wanted to keep it to remember the moment. To remember you, even if we did at some point part ways.”

“You’re brilliant,” the Doctor breathed out, finally passing the flower back like it was as precious as a crown jewel or something. “So incredibly brilliant, (Y/N).”

(Y/N)’s cheeks flushed and she ducked her head away from his gaze, but it was different than the usual brushing away of his gestures. Something was different now.

They hadn’t cleared it all up, that was for sure. He still had questions, and she still had doubts. They didn’t quite understand each other yet, but it hadn’t all been in vain like he’d thought. She’d seen it all. Acknowledged it, even if not to him. His hearts swelled as he smiled lightly.

There was still a lot they needed to discuss, but for right now, the Doctor just wanted to spend a bit of time with his companion—without all the hassle of their rightful doubts and insecurities.

“Do you think we could... spend a little while longer looking out at the frozen carbon monoxide outside before we leave? It really is quite pretty, and... maybe we can talk about this more later?”

“I’d... love that, Doctor.”

“Good. Uh, great,” he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His companion giggled at him, but he didn’t mind in the slightest, “allons-y, (Y/N).”

<><><><>

Once again, sorry this took so long! I’m hoping to keep this momentum going and keep getting out the requests in waiting! I hope you all liked this fic, it was a bunch of fun to write! I thoroughly enjoyed creating the frozen carbon monoxide hearts, so I hope you all liked that as well!

As always, feel free to prompt me again if this wasn’t what you were looking for (though it might take a while to get around to it if you do!) and thanks once more for requesting. Hoping everyone had a good morning/day/night!

#Tenth Doctor #tenth doctor x reader #tenth doctor x you #ten #10th doctor #10th doctor x reader #10th doctor x you #10 #doctor who #doctor who 2005 #TARDIS #writing prompt #writing requests #reader insert #fanfiction #fanfic

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wheezyandchesterwrite · 3 years

Text

"Please don't leave me" ~ Peter Parker

Summary: When you are injured in battle Peter begs you to stay

Word Count: 3.4k

Pairing: Peter Parker x Fem!Speedster!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of violence, death, injuries, and blood. Just overall sad. (If we missed something that you feel should be tagged and/or mentioned let us now and we'll include it)

A/N: Hey, so as you can see we are not dead! :) (I don't know why I did that it hurt me too ok?) Since there was no post in March we are going to try our best to post two other one shots this month, but we'll see how that goes. Hope you all enjoy this and have a great morning/afternoon/night! -W&C :)

Also major thanks to @apotatoinabigfield and @too-attached-to-fiction for proofreading and beta-reading this!

*GIF IS NOT OURS* (We got it off of Google, but if anyone knows who the credits for it belong to let us know so we can rightfully tag them)

5 years ago:

“Something’s happening,” said the girl with the antennae, Mantis. At least, that’s what she had said her name was. Suddenly after, she turned to dust. She just disappeared. In shock, you got closer to Peter, looking for some kind of safety or comfort. Everyone was shocked; no one could understand what had just occurred before your very eyes. Before anyone could say something or even gather their thoughts, it happened again.

“Quill?” was the last thing Drax said before suffering the same fate as Mantis. We lost. That was the only explanation you could fathom. The Avengers had lost and Thanos won. You tightened your grip around Peter, fully embracing him now. You were all desperately trying to decipher who would be next, fearing it being yourselves or your loved ones, but it was pointless. Whatever was causing this came and left without a warning.

“Steady, Quill,” said Tony, but it was to no avail.

“Oh, man,” sighed the man who had introduced himself as Starlord, dusting away defeatedly. You looked up at Peter, who had wrapped his arms around you in a protective manner. He was scared, that much you could tell, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes, determined to conceal the unsettling fear of not being able to hold you for much longer. You tried to convince yourself it was done—that no one else would be taken—but it was pointless. Deep down, you knew this was far from over.

“Tony,” the man turned to look at Strange, “there was no other way.” Stephen Strange took a couple more breaths before dusting away like the others had. Although Strange had said he saw over sixty-three billion outcomes, you couldn’t see how this could be the one you won in. It definitely didn’t feel like it.

Suddenly, breathing became hard. You saw dust particles floating from your hand and the reality of what was going to happen hit you. “No,” you whispered anguishly.

“(Y/N)?” Peter brought your attention to him instead of the particles which declared your fate.

“Pete, I—” you started as you reached up to stroke his cheek, but before you could come in contact with his skin or finish your declaration, you faded away in his arms.

“I know,” the boy said softly as he watched the wind carry what was once his lover.

Tony was at loss for words. He felt like the universe was playing a sick, twisted prank on him. As Tony sulked, Peter felt it. He felt his spidey sense warn him that something was going to happen. He could feel his body struggle to keep him in one piece, to keep him together, to keep him alive. No matter how quickly his body fought, it was destined to lose. “Mr. Stark,” the boy called out to the man who was more than his mentor, the man who had become like a father to him.. “I don’t feel so good,” he painfully admitted. Peter started stumbling around, his legs struggling to keep him up.

“You’re alright,” defied Stark. More than an attempt to console the boy, Tony Stark was trying to reassure himself that the universe, as cruel as it had always been to him, wouldn't do this—that it would not take his boy away. But alas, the genius man was to be proven wrong.

“I— I don’t know what’s happening. I— I don’t understand,” countered the Spiderboy hurriedly. His feet gave out, and he would’ve fallen forward if it hadn’t been for Tony catching him and holding him up. More and more particles could be seen emerging from the boy, and in that moment, the only thing Tony could do was hold on to Peter for as long as he had left.

“I don’t wanna go,” Peter pleaded. “I don’t wanna go, Mr. Stark, please.” His voice was cracking and his legs couldn’t support him any longer as more particles escaped him. Peter’s pleas wouldn’t cease much like the cracks in his voice every time he spoke. Tony lowered him to the ground not daring to say a word. Peter, with teary, bloodshot eyes, looked at the man and whispered an apology before finally letting his body dissipate.

Tony couldn’t speak; he couldn’t even think. “He did it,” said Nebula. Yet the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist didn’t respond. He just looked at his hand, which was covered in dirt—dirt that had once been Peter Parker. Tony let himself cry, allowing grief and shock to take over him. After all there was nothing else he could do.

***

Present day:

“Love you—wait, what happened?” You find yourself reaching up, but the person you had been trying to touch no longer stood in front of you. Your body was slowly regaining feeling, but your mind felt as numb as ever. You had so many thoughts running through your brain at such a speed that you couldn’t focus on any of them.

“I love you too, Speedy.” You heard a voice answer from behind you. You felt some of the anxiety subside once you put a name to the voice, which was easy since only one person in the entire world called you Speedy.

“Peter,” you exhaled in relief. Turning around in an instant, you ran into the arms you had chosen to call home. Peter embraced you tightly, not wanting to release the other in fear of permanently losing one another this time. You didn’t know how much time had passed from when you lost your consciousness, but that didn’t matter for Peter. Seeing the person he had deemed to be his soulmate dissipate in front him had been more than enough for him to feel like the amount of time that had passed between then and now had been an eternity. Suddenly, Strange spoke up, answering the question plaguing everyone’s minds.

“It’s been five years. Come on, they need us.” He stated commandingly. You all shared looks of dumbfoundment and bewilderment. Five years? How could that have been possible? The only one on the planet you stood on who looked at ease was Stephen, his calm demeanor never faltering. You looked up at Peter confused, but he simply shrugged, not wanting to believe such time had passed yet knowing better than to contradict Dr. Strange.

“Okay, everyone, this is it. Activate your badass stances!” exclaimed Quill.

“What did you say about my ass, Quill?” Drax started charging towards him, visibly offended. You raced to wedge yourself between the two men, struggling to keep them apart.

“Hey, no time for that. Look!” You called over their attention to the portal Strange was opening in front of you. Peter swung his way to the front, landing elegantly. After making sure Quill and Drax would not try to go at each other's throats, you swiftly made your way to the front and stood beside Peter.

Glancing around what was going to serve as your battlefield for today, you grimly recognized the location. What was once known as the Avenger’s Headquarters was now no more than a field of scattered debris. Clouds of dust littered the air, the remains of mass destruction visible wherever you looked. You gave yourself a chase to take in the sight of Thanos’ army, and as you did so, fear and worry tried to etch their way into your brain as you realized what you were facing. This was an enemy that had already defeated you once, and when you had fought him, he hadn't even had an army backing him up. Your determination and will to fight and live to tell the tale overpowered those negative feelings. The sight of the spaceship filled you with spitefulness instead of dread, and you knew in that moment that you would do whatever it took to win. The Avengers would not lose again; you were going to make sure of that, even if you had to lay down your life for it to become a reality.

“Is that everyone?” Strange asked Wong.

“What, you wanted more?” Wong yelled back in disbelief, and Strange shrugged nonchalantly in response.

As everyone settled into position, Cap’s voice was loudly heard, like thunder rumbling through the field, “AVENGERS.” This was the moment of truth—your last chance to save humanity. You could feel the seconds pass before Steve gave the signal, “Assemble.” And with that, everyone was off.

A beautiful and empowering mess of battle cries could be heard around you. You, on the other hand, were silent as you ran, calculating your every move. Using all the knowledge you’d gained over the years about hand-in-hand combat, you started to hastily assassinate those monsters. You would jump at one, taking them down, and godspeed to your next target, sending each one you came in contact with on a one way trip to meet their maker. Near you, Peter was also taking out some of the Chitauri, at times propelling you onto your next target or eliminating some of them when you got surrounded. After clearing out most of the aliens near you, Peter tapped you on the shoulder and pointed to Tony. Understanding his intentions, you nodded and made your way towards the infamous Iron Man.

As you slid into the crater where Tony lay, Peter landed from his swinging. Tony stared at the two of you in disbelief, doubting whether or not to believe you were actually there. When his expression softened, and tender affection spread across his factions, Peter began rambling, and you shook off some of the concrete dust from your suit. “Hey, holy cow! You will not believe what’s going on,” Peter exclaimed as he helped Tony stand up.

“No?” Tony asked sarcastically, but it only encouraged you.

“Do you remember when we were in space? And we got all dusty? I guess we must’ve passed out because when we woke up, you were gone.” You now stood beside Peter as you spoke, your hands increasing their pace as you rambled on, making them impossible to follow with the human eye.

“But Doctor Strange was there right? He was like ‘It’s been five years. Come on they need us,’” Peter said as he tried to make an impression of Strange, mimicking the way the man had moved his hands when opening the portals.

“Yeah, and then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing he does all the time.” You took over from Pete when he gave you the chance.

“He did? Oh, God!” Tony exclaimed with feigned incredulity. He started walking toward you and grabbed you both by the shoulder, pushing you into him.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked, bewildered.

“Huh, what’s this?” You questioned, confused as Tony engulfed you both simultaneously. He held you tightly, and when the shock passed, you and Peter hugged the man back even tighter.

“Oh, this is nice.” Peter sighed, earning a light chuckle from Stark.

“Listen, kids, we don’t have a lot of time right now, but I’ll catch you up on the latest trends once we take this bitch down. Okay?” Tony assured as he released you, holding on to your forearm to look the both of you in the eyes as he spoke.

“Yes, sir.” Peter saluted.

“See you on the other side of the war.” You smirked, knowing Tony and Peter must have caught that reference. Tony shook his head as he took off, the ghost of a grin barely noticeable on his lips.

Peter nudged you. “Be careful, okay?” His eyes showed genuine concern.

“Alright, I solemnly swear—” Peter gave you a warning look. “Okay, fine. I’ll try my best to be as careful as possible in the middle of a battle.” You finished, your tone a weird mixture between sarcasm and affection.

“Good.” He pressed a quick kiss to your temple before taking off.

“Alright, Chitauri, give me your best shot.” You smirked at the unsuspecting figure that was currently fighting off T’challa. Having speed and regeneration to your advantage, you zig-zagged around Thanos’ army, ducking and killing as you went. You moved with precision, only stopping when you were sure to have a clear shot at the enemy you were targeting.

You went on that way until you weren’t able to dodge a body that dropped in front of you, making you trip over it. The collision made you roll down a mountain of debris, hitting your head dangerously hard several times, as well as getting a couple of cuts along the way from the exposed, sharp metal.

“That’s sure to give me a concussion,” you grunted to yourself. The throbbing of your head distracted you from the burn of the cuts that now littered your abdomen, some deeper than others. It wasn’t until you brought a hand to your head, that you noticed the crimson liquid that coated it. “Oh, shit,” you exhaled. The pain was starting to catch up to you as the adrenaline subsided. You tried to use your powers to find yourself a safe spot until you recovered, but your attempts were futile seeing as the pain coursing through your body rendered you immobile.

“Is that Peter falling?” The figure you saw was indeed Peter and the sharp spiderlegs of his suits were still out for blood. You managed to move just enough that you were barely graced, another gash prompting blood out of your system. Peter tumbled in the opposite direction, clutching what you assumed to be the gauntlet you were supposed to keep out of Thanos’ hands. The sudden movements to dodge Peter hadn’t come without consequences. You felt like your surroundings were spiralling around you, dizziness overtaking you as you started to cough up blood. You managed to stubbornly sit up and when you looked to your side, you saw Peter giving the gauntlet to a glowing woman.

“I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all that,” you heard him admit to her out of breath.

“Don’t worry,” Wanda stepped in.

“She’s got help,” Okoye finished, her hands wrapped tightly around her spear. Soon the rest of the women joined and took off together. It was a powerful moment to witness and one you would’ve loved to be a part of, if it weren’t for your current situation. You closed your eyes in a somewhat successful effort to ease off the pain pulsating in your head.

“Man, those are some badass women,” Peter muttered as he sat down. “Wait—” He quickly looked around, but missed you completely. “Where’s my badass woman?” Peter frantically shuffled to his feet, hoping to see a flash of yellow zoom by, but no such luck. You tried to call out to him, wanting to let him know you were there, but your voice got caught in your throat, replaced by a cough that was followed by blood. The sound caught Peter’s attention, his gaze trying to find where it came from. His heart constricted in his chest when he finally caught sight of you and the state you were in.

In a flash, he was hovering over you, putting your own abilities to shame given the speed at which he got to you. Your eyes were still closed, as you relished the relief it gave you, but you were drifting off at this point and didn’t have the energy nor strength to open them again. That was until Peter started shaking you awake. “(Y/N)? Oh God, come on, please be okay.” You could hear the panic and desperation in his voice. Your eyes felt so heavy, it was almost impossible to open them, but you managed to do so, just enough to see Peter exhale in relief after seeing you respond.

Tucked away behind blood and dryness, you managed to find your voice and you raspily told him, “I’m okay, Peter. It’ll heal. Go help the others.” You took ragged breaths between each sentence, your lungs struggling to keep up. Peter could very much tell you weren’t okay and knew that with the amount of injuries you had suffered it was almost impossible for your regenerative abilities to save you.

“(Y/N), we both know that’s not happening; it’s too much. I mean, it might heal, but there are too many things to heal for you to survive waiting and—” He abruptly stopped his own rambling after he noticed you had closed your eyes again. “(Y/N)? (Y/N), please, stay with me.”

His voice was breaking and his eyes were starting to swell up with tears. It broke your heart to hear him like this. You fought to stay conscious, for his sake, but the blood loss and pain was becoming too great to bear and you felt yourself falling into a deep slumber once more.

Peter was getting desperate, tears freely flowing down his cheeks now. “Please, (Y/N/N), please don’t leave me.” He held your body close to his, burying his face in the crook of your neck. Sobs rocked his body as he kept begging for you to stay. His voice and your tear stained neck was the last thing you registered before you let go and fell into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

***

“Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn’t always roll that way. Maybe this time, I’m hoping if you play this back, it’s in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there was ever such a thing. God, what a world! Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren’t alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean I wouldn’t have been surprised. But come on, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And for better or for worse, that’s the reality Morgan’s gonna have to find a way to grow up in. So, I thought I’d probably better record a little greeting... In case of an untimely death on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn’t untimely. This time travel thing that we’re gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it’s—it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all—that’s the thing. Then again, that’s the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I even trippin’ for? Everything’s gonna work out exactly the way it’s supposed to. I love you 3,000.”

Pepper walked out of the cabin she and Tony had called home, holding a wreath that in its middle held Tony’s first arc reactor. Everyone stood out in front of the lake, waiting as she gently placed it on the water. She took her place beside Peter, who was silently crying as he held your emotionally devastated self in his arms. Having passed out when you did had ultimately saved your life, your body using its remaining energy in healing you rather than keeping you awake, but that meant you missed the events that led up to your victory and were therefore unable to say a proper farewell to the man who served as your mentor for years.

Waking up to the news that the man who had taken better care of you and had looked out for you more than your own parents was dead didn’t settle in easily. It took a while before you were able to accept he was gone.

Peter had been there for you every step of the way, holding you during all the sleepless nights you had spent crying and shaking you awake when your dreams became plagued with nightmares from the battle. Guilt had made a home in your heart, the feeling never leaving as you thought of ways you could have avoided getting injured, ways you could have fought better, ways that could have resulted in being able to say goodbye to Tony Stark, the man who sacrificed himself for the universe.

Everyone stood silently as you all watched the wreath float out of sight, before turning to share your condolences with each other. You held on to Peter tightly, as if he too were to slip from your fingers at any moment. You stood there mindlessly listening in on the nostalgic conversations between the people who cared for Tony. Looking around at everyone gathered, it became clear that the arc reactor which was now floating off in the lake was not the only proof that Tony Stark had a heart. All his friends, colleagues, family and adopted students were walking proof that not only did Tony Stark have a heart, but that he had the biggest heart a human could possibly have.

Taglist: @steveisherdaddy @apotatoinabigfield @xlostinobsessionsx @izjustafaze @yourlocalwhitemanwhore

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rachelbethhines · 3 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - The King and Queen of Hearts

The existence of this episode just baffles me, as it undermines so much of what season three was trying to accomplish.

Summary: Rapunzel continues to try and restore the memories of her parents, King Frederic and Queen Arianna, and hopes to use the journal of Herz Der Sonne to remind them, but they do not understand the significance. Arianna still lusts for adventure, while Frederic cannot get over his obsession of egg collecting. Rapunzel recruits her friends to try and set up the perfect date for them and while they cannot find anything in common personality wise, they share a mutual love for Rapunzel. However, King Trevor arrives with the intent to woo Arianna using an ocean crystal he found.

So What Exactly Is the History Here?

We have no context for this sudden love triangle. All we know is that Trevor hates Frederic because he’s still in love with Arianna who wound up marrying him instead.

But like, I don't know why Arianna married Frederic. I don’t know why Trevor is still hung up on her years later. Did she actually choose Frederic or was it an arranged marriage cause that’s what royalty did back then? Was she having an affair with Trevor this whole time but couldn’t/wouldn’t leave because of duty? Was she and Trevor pining star crossed lovers, or is Trevor just an incel?

I know what the story wants me to assume; that Arianna deeply loves Frederic and that Trevor is just a jackass loser; but the series has done such a poor job of making Frederic likable and giving him and Arianna any sort of chemistry that I’m inclined to side with Trevor.

For all we know, he may be trying to rescue Arianna from both her memory loss and her abusive relationship while at it. Especially now that she’s no longer needed as a ruler and has no reason to stay in Corona.

Why Not Just Use the Potion from Rapunzel: Day One?

While any Varian cameo is appreciated, it doesn’t add thing to the story. In fact it only raises more questions. We already had a cure for the memory loss, why aren’t we using it?

Even if we write it off as Rapunzel no longer having that particular Saporian spellbook on hand, she still has a whole dungeon full of actual Saporians who know magic that she could gain information from! There’s also Xavier, who already knows everything under the sun about Saporian/Coronian history and magic and owns spellbooks galore. You’re telling me he just has mood potions lying around but can’t brew up a cure for memory loss?

Then there’s also the fact that the amnesia spell doesn’t work on Rapunzel’s parents the same as it did on Rapunzel and we’re never given a reason why. Like just some basic consistence is all I ask show.

I also can’t figure out what Varian is even trying to do here. Where’s is the science to this? What does strawberry goop and lighting have to do with memory? It’s just a cheap reference to Frankenstein and nothing more.

We’re Already Pass Seven Months Since Rapunzel’s Return.

Ok, I have gotten into frequent debates with people about the timeline of season three. Many a story board artist and writer on the show have came forward and stated that season three was only one year. But the very existence of this episode disproves them!

If you remember season one, Hearts Day took place after the Goodwill Festival, but before Queen for a Day. Even when putting episodes back into their intended production order that still remains true.

Hearts Day has to be at least seven months past Rapunzel’s birthday, if not eight months, because the Goodwill Festival is six months past and her parent’s anniversary (QfaD) is nine months past.

Now Rapunzel’s Return has to be Rapunzel’s 20th birthday because season two was a full year, and even if you say it’s not, then that still doesn’t explain Once a Handmaiden (the Goodwill Festival) coming after this episode.

And no you can’t move the episodes around, Once a Handmaiden has be the second to last episode of the series and Under Raps always comes after Rapunzel’s Enemy in any order you watch the series in.

No matter how you slice it, we’re missing a birthday episode for Rapunzel and season three has to be more than a year; a year and a half at the very least, if not two full years.

Look I’m not trying to be disrespectful of the talented artists who worked on this show, but their word isn’t law. The very fact that they’ve had to tell us the timeline after the series was over with indicates bad writing, and the very fact that the show itself contradicts them indicates either a lack of communication behind the scenes or a lack of editorial oversight. Either option is just poor management.

We Have Yet Another Failed Narrative Promise!

Are we seeing a pattern yet?

This is the third time in a row where the episode flat out states that Rapunzel needs to learn something and then, just, never has her learn it; four if you count her non-apology to Varian. Instead the show rewards her for her bad behavior by just giving her want she wants on a sliver platter for no adequate reason.

In fact, one could argue that this episode is the worst offender in the show because divorce is a real thing real kids have to go through. Children that will undoubtedly watch the series.

How upsetting would it be to such a child to watch Rapunzel force her parents back together with zero consequences and realize that they can’t do that in real life? It can potentially feed into misplaced delusions or make them even more bitter, either way it’s unhealthy and super irresponsible to tackle such subject matter in this way. Even Sesame Street handled the topic of divorce better than this supposedly ‘mature’ show.

It’s a Castle! Why Can’t Frederic Get His Own Room?

Frederic is the king. He still technically owns everything even if he’s not the one still in charge. He could have his pick of any room so why is he forcing himself on Eugene? Hell he doesn’t even have to stay in the castle. As pointed out during The Return of the King review, there’s other accommodations within the kingdom that’s suited for royalty. Why not head up to that mountain retreat?

This is a Really Bad Message

I understand that this is meant to be a joke, because of how ridiculously over the top it is, but because the series gives Rapunzel what she wants in the end without ever having her acknowledge how she is wrong here, it winds up validating her toxic world view anyways.

Divorce is not inherently a bad thing. We should be working towards both normalizing it and promoting healthy coping mechanisms for those that go through it, adult and child alike. What Rapunzel is doing here is just repeating puritanical fearmongering. And while I can understand why she might behave in this way, I don't understand why the show refuses to call her out on it. Or any of the other million bad behaviors she displays repeatedly through out the show... like the example below for instance...

Why Am I Suppose to Like Rapunzel Again?

It’s like the writers don’t understand that a joke can damage a character, especially if it’s overplayed. Super sweet upbeat Rapunzel snapping because she finally met someone who was annoying or a situation she couldn’t just solve with a positive attitude was funny maybe like the first time; but we’re three seasons in and this is supposedly her closest loved ones.

Look at them! They’re fucking terrified of her! All they did was point out that she maybe should do her job and deal with real problems instead of poking her nose into her parents business where it doesn’t belong! And this brat is now the ruler of the whole kingdom!? No one can legally stand up to her.

Like where’s the Eugene that stood up to her in Under Raps for trying this same bullshit? Why hasn’t she learned her lesson? She also pulled this same bullying tactic on young Lance and teen Eugene two episodes. Cass left her ass, supposedly, because of her bossy thoughtless ways. And this is also the same woman who abused a child back in season one and still has never acknowledged it.

Yes characters should be flawed, but they should also face real consequences for their actions, and if they’re a protagonist they need to learn and grow past their flaws.

I actively started to dislike Rapunzel after this scene. I already felt something was off way back in the season three opener, but this is the point where I stopped and went “What the fuck?” She used to be my second favorite character behind Varian. I didn’t go into this wanting to hate her, even after this episode I still held out hope that they were trying to purposefully lead up to some sort of falling out with everyone and with Rapunzel having to own up to her bullshit in order to win. You know like a classic third act “the hero is now alone due to their past mistakes” type story. But Nope!

There’s no pay off for any of this. Rapunzel is just mean for the sake of being mean in season three, and no one is aloud to call her out on it. She’s now the same type person as Frederic, a tyrant. That’s not a good development!

She’s Literally Bullying Her Own Parents Now, and I’m Suppose to Find that Funny?

Yes, Frederic is her abuser, and yes some people might find this scene cathartic if they hate him. But this isn’t actually calling out his past abuse. It’s just Rapunzel treating a now powerless old man with that same abuse and denying him bodily autonomy. An old man who has both less political rights and less power within the relationship than her; since due to his memory loss he is now dependent upon her.

In the real world it’s the equivalent of picking on an Alzheimer's patient who is in your care. I don’t give a shit how much of dick they were before the illness set in, you don’t fucking do that!

Why Should I Want Arianna and Frederic To Be a Couple?

The show has done nothing to sell this relationship. In fact one could argue that the show is trying to purposefully sabotage it.

Before the memory loss Frederic was proven to be abusive, to the point where even his own wife was afraid of him and wouldn’t stand up to him. Meanwhile Arianna was shown to be a shell of her former self who’d all but given up upon the things she actually enjoyed in life. And now that they both have had a second chance they have even less motive to stay together.

Look at Arianna up there? She’s clearly not enjoying her time with him. While he doesn’t want to engage in anything that she likes. I mean a couple doesn’t have to share their interests in everything, but there still has to be some sort of connection and the series just does not give us that connection.

There’s no reason why they should stay together. They no longer have any commitment or duty to fulfill as rulers and their daughter is fully grown. Contrary to what Rapunzel says, the kingdom isn’t going to fall apart if they separate. It actually would probably better for everyone, including Rapunzel, if they got divorced. At least then she’d have to grow up somewhat and stop being a controlling asshat.

Why is Attila Here?

I thought Attila got a job running his own bakery and that it was Lance who became the new cook at the Snuggly Duckling? Even if you argued that Attila was just doing Rapunzel a solid that still wouldn’t explain who is running the place when Lance isn’t there.

If you’re going to set up developments like that then you need to either stick with them or give an on screen reason for why these previous developments are no longer relevant. Flat out ignoring them like this is just lazy.

Lance’s New Outfit is the Best Thing About the Episode, and It’s Also a Complete Waste.

Lance deserved a new outfit because the team was too lazy to give him one for season two, even during the island arc. This however is a waste because it doesn’t add anything to the narrative. People were paid to make this thing for it to only show up for a few seconds of screen time.

This Whole Exchange Is Gross.

Oh let me count the ways in which this is so, so stupid.

Neither Rapunzel nor Frederic has ever proven themselves “thoughtful and responsible.” In fact both of them being irresponsible is intentionally a plot point in the main story arc.

How would either Frederic or Arianna know any of this? Not only have they lost their memories, but they didn’t raise Rapunzel themselves and those traits aren’t inherited; they are taught.

Gushing over your grown daughter isn’t a point of connection!

Why would anyone be compelled to kiss a practical stranger, that they previously didn’t even like, just because they both admire some woman they also barely know and happen to be related to? What is the thought process behind this? “Oh we made that? Then lets make another one!” What the fuck show? I’m ace and even I know that’s not a normal thing to get titillated over.

The Series Turns Frederic Into a Literal Baby In a Last Ditch Effort to Make Him Likable

The whole point behind the amnesia plot was to absolve Frederic of his past wrong doings. You can’t call out an old man with Alzheimer's for being a dictator, I suppose. (not like that’s ever stopped me from criticizing Ronald Reagan, tho) But from there the series then takes it one step further and actually infantilizes both Frederic and Arianna, because Chris assumes that if he makes Fredric as pathetic as possible the audience won't hate him any more. Well guess what, it didn’t work. Frederic isn’t suddenly a poor woobie just because he’s useless now. That’s not how that works.

Rapunzel Literally Physically Assaults a Person, Kidnaps Them, Threatens Them With Even More Bodily Harm, and Causes an International Incident; All Because They Asked Her Mom Out On a Date!

You can’t hear it in the screen shots, but there’s very clearly a clanging sound to indicate that Rapunzel just wacked Trevor upside the head and knocked him out.

Let me repeat, a Disney protagonist just committed armed assault against a guy, simply because she doesn’t respect her own mother.

What the Fuck!!!???

Arianna is fully grown woman. She is perfectly capable of making her own choices and she agreed of her own volition to go out with him. In fact she’s the one who asked Trevor if she could come along on his sea voyage. It’s not Rapunzel’s place to interfere with that.

Secondly, Rapunzel shouldn’t get a free pass to attack people just because she’s doesn’t like them. And she most assuredly shouldn’t get to write off her cruelty as justice because she's royalty! What the hell? You just turned one of your official princesses into a literal tyrant for the sake of a joke, Disney!

Where the fuck was the oversight on this show!?

And to top it all off, Trevor is a ruler of a competing kingdom. This could easily have been deemed an act of war. Thankfully for everyone involved Trevor has far more sense and compassion than Rapunzel and doesn’t push the matter.

Yes that’s right! The intentionally annoying prat and comedic antagonist is a more upstanding person than the main heroine! Let that sink in!

Wait, If Laws Don’t Apply Out In the Ocean, Then Why Did Eugene and Max Have Jurisdiction to Arrest Lady Caine in Peril on the High Seas?

Max shoved this same rule book into Eugene’s face when Eugene rightfully questioned if it was his job to arrest the mutineers. This book said that it was not only his job, but that he was also legally required to stop any and all ‘wrongdoing’ no matter where he was at nor whether he was on duty or not. While also failing to specify what ‘wrongdoing’ entailed.

Now that’s very problematic and ridiculous for a whole host of reasons that I’ve already covered back in my review of Peril on the High Seas, but this scene now adds a whole new layer of stupidity to the mix.

If zero laws apply out in open waters than yes, Eugene and Max were acting out of their jurisdiction. Not only that, but the pervious dumb rule regarding their duties is also now null and void. So, Justice For Lady Caine!

Oh, but were not done yet, cause it gets dumber.

If laws, including marriage don't apply, then getting married while out at sea also would not apply. Thereby rendering Trevor’s plan useless, unless they got married back in Equis. Which if they did that, it would bypass the entire pointless rule book completely because Equis is not subject to Corona’s laws anyways.

There’s not even any ‘inter-kingdom’ laws that they would be subject too because Equis isn’t a part of the seven kingdoms. Any treaty they did previously have with Corona would be something else entirely, and Trevor would be within his rights to end such an agreement.

Also Trevor is a king. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. Same goes for Arianna.

Ummm, No You Don’t Rapunzel

Trevor can’t marry Arianna without her agreement to it. It’s already been established that she’s physically capable of taking care of herself and she’s also mature enough to make her own decisions. If she did wind up marrying him it’d be because it’s her fucking choice to and Rapunzel has zero right to interfere with that.

There’s no one to rescue here. Rapunzel has no reason to go chasing after her mom. All this is doing is denying a grown woman agency over her own life. Why should I or anyone, root for Rapunzel here?

You Do Know That Arianna Has More Than Just Two Choices Here, Don't Ya Show?

Arianna doesn’t have to be in any relationship. That’s also an option. While I personally like Trevor, this shouldn’t be a choice between him or Frederic. The show should be asking what Arianna, as a character, would want for her life, instead of just shoehorning her into just being a wife for someone else.

I still don’t know what Arianna really wants in life, but I do know that being a domestic housewife and a queen does not suit her. She doesn’t actually like being tied down with commitments and responsibilities. She’s repeatedly indicated over and over again that she feels uncomfortable in her role.

But the show reduces her into trophy to win and turns her into a damsel in distress multiple times. Then it further neuters her so that she complacently walks back into that life over and over again for no logical reason. She’s treated not as a person but as a prop.

Really, Arianna? Are You Really Sure About That?

These aren’t Arianna’s words. They’re Chris’s.

Arianna has shown zero interest in Frederic up to this point. The closest they got was during that creepy boat scene where they just jumped to almost kissing for no real reason. While before now Arianna was making actual goo-goo eyes at Trevor earlier, before Raps stepped in and broke them up.

They actually do have things in common and had a genuine point of connection. They even almost kissed themselves until Raps started being a dick. No forced and icky conversations about their grown children needed here folks!

While I still firmly believe Arianna should just be single, the show does far more to convince me that she and Trevor should be together more so than her and Frederic. Everything about this scene on the boat feels forced and hollow because it doesn’t ring true to what was previously established.

This just isn’t good writing. It’s the animation equivalent of a six year old smashing their Barbie dolls faces together and shouting “now kiss!”, all because a middle aged man couldn’t get over they fact people didn’t like his self insert.

No, wait, I apologize. That’s being mean to six year olds. They usually have more interesting plots and established characterization than this.

Hey, Remember When the Series Villainized an Orphan For Stealing This Stupid Book?

Yeah, stealing the book was treason and the mains ruined a child’s life over it, but apparently it just doesn’t matter any more cause no one seems to give a shit about Trevor taking it. Like, yes, as the king of another kingdom, Trevor isn’t beholden to Frederic’s bullshit, but you would think that the characters would treat this as a bigger deal than what they do, given how they responded previously to it being taken.

Unless Rapunzel was just talking out of her ass back during The Alchemist Returns. That’s also quite possible.

This Literally Has Nothing To Do With You Rapunzel

Just because Rapunzel herself is a woman, doesn’t mean that stealing the agency of another female character isn’t misogynist. Especially when their both written by primarily men.

Every guy who was involved with the writing of the episode, should be fucking ashamed of themselves!!!

So What Exactly Has Trevor Done Wrong Up To This Point?

Yes, the story board artists and voice actors do a lot of heavy lifting here to try and make Trevor seem like a creep. Arianna’s body language and tone of voice when dealing with him here will be very familiar to a lot of women, I’m sure. I know what it’s like to have a stalker and not know how to turn them down because you’ve been trained all your life to ‘be polite and nice” to people, and I’m not unique in that regard.

But here’s the thing, it’s not set up properly. There’s nothing backing this sudden shift in the characters’ dynamic. Up till now Trevor has been a perfect gentlemen. Sure he was over the top as always, and you could call it an act when regarding his politeness to Frederic, but he seemed to genuinely respect and admire Arianna and clearly desires genuine affection in return from her. Why would he suddenly stop behaving in a way that worked for him and start talking over her instead?

Also why wouldn’t Arianna just tell him no to begin with if that’s what she wants? She had no trouble speaking her mind before now. But that begs the question why she wouldn’t return his feelings as well, because as stated above, she clearly showed interest in him previously.

This is So Fucking Forced

Yeah, okay, you’re daughter has no reason to be here to begin with, disrespected your wishes, and attacked Trevor first. At this point I’d argue he has a right to retaliate. Especially since, if Rapunzel was allowed to board, you know she’d just attack him again, because she knows no other way to resolve conflicts other than to hit people very hard.

Arianna’s actions here only make sense if she’s kept in the dark about what an awful human being her daughter really is. That’s poor writing.

Also, having a woman just punch people while denying them actually agency and choice within the plot is not ‘girl power.’ It’s fucking misogyny!

How Does Doing the Bare Minimum, and Just Showing Basic Human Decency Count As ‘True Love’?

What was she suppose to do? Let him drown? I mean I wouldn’t, and I despise the man. Not to mention anyone else could have done the same thing. They’re all right there. If Lance had jumped to the rescue would Trevor have proclaim them lovers too?

Trevor Is Still the Better Man Here

Here he is rescuing Rapunzel even after she treated him like shit.

Best. King. Period.

This Still Doesn’t Redeem Frederic

So through out the episode Frederic has inexpiably shown an obsession for eggs. He now collects them even though this was never an established trait before now. But whatever. He’s just been through something traumatic and looking for something to ground himself. Far be it from me to make fun of someone else’s special interest. If you like to collet eggs than good for you. Go live your life to fullest.

That’s more respectful than how the show handles it, as everyone dismiss his interest and it’s treated like a joke through out the episode. Only to have said obsession save the day. But this isn’t here to teach the others about respecting other people’s hobbies, oh no, it’s here to try and give Frederic a big hero moment so you’ll cheer for him.

Except one nice thing does not erase his past actions! I don’t care what your hobby is, if you deliberately try to cause grievous harm to people you’re and asshole! And you will continue to be an asshole until you can admit what you’ve done wrong and try your best to make up for it.

I Hope You Made Back Up Copies of The Tunnel Maps

A bunch of people are more upset over this development than I am, because it is a historical artifact and preserving the past is important. But the only story function the book held was a map to the tunnels, and said tunnels were never utilized properly through out the entire show.

To this day people still don’t understand that they’re meant connect the island to Old Corona or that Herz Der Sonne is the one who built them into order to invade Saporia because the show is so bad at its world building. And come season three, they’re all but irrelevant anyways. Such a wasted concept.

Once Again the Whole ‘Memory Loss’ Subplot Is a Copout

Ok that’s not how the spell worked previously, but that’s not what I’m taking issue with here.

If the whole point behind the amnesia plot twist was to sweep Frederic’s awfulness under the rug, then I expect his past actions to be addressed once he’s regained his memories. They are not.

This episodes reverses the very thing that the season was trying to achieve and just hopes the audience is too stupid/attention deficient to notice. Well guess what, we noticed and we’re far smarter than you Chris.

Conclusion

I don’t understand the point of this episode. It shoots everything season three is trying to do in the foot. It screws up the timeline, makes Rapunzel even more of an irredeemable dickhead while preventing her from learning yet another needed lesson, undermines Arianna as a character once again, and it puts Frederic back in the crosshairs of the audience’s scrutiny.

Oh and look, it’s written by the same guy who wrote Rapunzel’s Return. Why am I not surprised.

Anyways another one down and only 15 more to go. You can support my continued marathon by dropping a tip in my ko-fi if you wish. I’m currently back to job hunting yet again and anything you can give is appreciated.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#Rapunzel #rapunzel's tangled adventure #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #ferderic #arianna #tangled #tangled the series

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notspazztrapavacado · 3 years

Text

'Flu-shot Fiasco'

Dr. Clef x they/them! scp! reader

(This AU belongs to supercasey, I'm hoping I'm understanding it right)

It had been nearly twenty-two years they'd been stuck in this place, saved from the streets as a young teen the first time they had died. Nothing was really special about them save for the fact they regenerated at a supernatural rate and was not stopped from it by death, but it was worth noting that every time they'd been put with a family, the general lack of self preservation made them too weak stomache to keep them and gave them back.

It's not all bad, though, this place was kind to them. It was like an animal rescue center and a hospital and an orphanage had some kind of weird hybrid child center. Simply put: It was home.

Right now, however, they were clinging to the ceiling fan in their basic human enclosure for dear life, dread pooling in the pit of their stomach as the small team of researchers beneath them looked on.

"(Y/N) it's time for your flu shot." Kondraki was not having this at all, not today.

"No! Do what you with me, put me through a meat grinder, dip me in acid, but do not come anywhere NEAR me with a needle!" They shouted down at them and he sighed, facepalming as he heard the answer he'd gotten every year.

"I expected better of you." Gears sighed and Iceberg crossed his arms.

"You're 34, can't you act like it once?" Iceberg huffed his point in this.

"Technically, I'm 25." They noted the age they stopped at, regeneration covering the loss of cells and giving them the look of a much younger individual.

"Still an adult. Now get down." Iceberg argued. (Y/n) only scrunched up their nose at him and stuck their tongue out.

"Bright. You're up." Kondraki motioned to Dr. Bright, who looked very pleased he got the chance to do what he wanted here.

"Haha, watch this." He strode over to the doorway and flipped one of the two switches next to it, powering the fan on with success.

(Y/n) remained attached to it, spinning at an increasingly rapid pace until the motion leveled out. They looked on with a mix of amusement and utter disappointment.

"Have you practiced this??" Gears squinted, baffled, but not surprised.

"Only every day of my life!" they cackle maniacally. This was the year they finally won. No shots for (Y/n)!!

"I didn't want to have to do this." Kondraki picked up his walkie-talkie, and Bright flipped the switch for the fan, watching it come to a stop with a certain amount of respect for the art of chaos.

"You won't be reasoned with, you won't be bested, we must resort to cheating." Dr. Bright gave his speech, lips pressed into a firm line in standing his ground.

"You're not my dad!" They shouted at him.

"I'm old enough to be!" he shouted back.

"Clef, (Y/n) is stuck to the ceiling this year." Kondraki spoke into the small, boxy device. It gave a distorted, sharp sound.

"Got tired of the kitchen table gambit?" Clef's voice came through almost clearly.

"We took the handcuffs away last week to prepare for that. I don't think we should have." He was more than tired.

"I'm already on my way." Clef replied.

"He can't do shit! Watch this!" (Y/n) had managed to get their leg securely over one of the blades, swinging their torso up and successfully laying over two of the five.

"You're lucky we make those out of steel." Iceberg was further unimpressed.

"You're lucky I'm not as bad as Kain with his shots." They argued back.

"We can sedate Kain, you're just awful!" Iceberg exclaimed loudly.

"Have no fear, Clef is here!" The ukulele man strummed a couple notes before tossing the instrument onto their couch and cracking his knuckles.

"Good. I'm going to go get coffee. When you get them down, the shot is on their kitchen counter." Kondraki left with Bright tagging along to bother him.

"I will be back shortly to help with the shot. I promised to walk Iceberg home." Gears had his arm looped with Iceberg's, who looked happy with the arrangement.

"Just you'n me, sweetheart." he looked up at his partner in crime, feeling cocky.

"I'm gonna raid your fridge." He immediately turned and went right into the kitchen, earning a great bit of objection.

"What? No! Get outta there!" they shouted.

"Come stop me." He stuck his tongue out at them, matching their childish game.

"No way!" They stayed stubborn.

"Then the price of redemption for your crimes is your fruit snacks." He stated.

"Haha! Ate them this morning." (Y/n) felt triumphant and Clef pouted.

"Damn. I didn't think you're impulse control had gotten that out of whack." he said.

"You'd be surprised how bad my impulse control can be." They boasted.

"You leave me no choice." He grabbed a kitchen chair and walked into the living area with it, earning a smug grin.

"What're you gonna do with that, shorty? Reach the top shelf?" They mocked.

"Imma fucking get you 's what imma do." He grumbled, irritated at the nickname, and clambered on top of the wooden chair.

"You'll never reach me." they mused.

"Watch this." He eyed the fan like a cat, his parkor legacy would begin here, he's the greatest jumper to walk the face of the earth, he's-

His internal monologue of a pep talk was cut short when he wobbled.

"Yep. Not doing that." he climbed off, instead grabbing the multi step stool they had in the closet beside the door.

"I hate this thing." He set it out with more effort than one should ever have to use, the stool old and rusted at the ends.

Less than gracefully, he started to ascend, making it most of the way up.

"I feel so bad for you right now. I jumped up here." They chuckled spitefully.

"Not everyone was born with fabulous legs and the ability to gain superpowers once a year at flu season." he grabbed the fan, finally, and they applauded him.

"Great. You're mostly here." they snickered mischievously as he attempted a pull up.

He failed that pull up terribly.

Nearly sent plummeting, he knocked over the stool and yelped when he was left to dangle from the metal blade.

"I didn't wanna go out like this!" he yelled.

"I don't want the shot." They retorted.

"You win! You win! Help me, please!" He conceded defeat and, in seconds, he was grabbed by his shirt and hoisted up and over the side of the fan to lay over it and catch his breath.

"(Y/n), you fool." He grinned a sharp toothed, wicked grin.

"Oh no…" They shrunk back.

"You've trapped yourself!" he exclaimed, drawing the syringe from his pocket.

(Y/n) screeched with horror, scrambling back and falling off the fan thoughtlessly.

"No you DON'T!!!" He threw himself down to them, landing with a loud Thump! on his knees and immediately screaming.

"Fuck, shit, goddamn, fuckfuckfuckfuck-" his kneecaps were taking their time recovering, his regeneration a much more painful process than theirs.

"You've betrayed me! You deserve your broken knees!" they tried to dislodge themself from his hold.

"I will put this through your eye!" He held the syringe menacingly and they froze.

"..." He was regretting that.

"You know I'm a liar, why do you even humor the thought I'd do that?" He stuck them in the arm and they whimpered.

"See, not so bad?" he finally removed his thighs from either side of their torso, standing. They only remained rigid.

"It was a joke." he nudged them with his shoe and sighed.

"It's over now, you want ice cream?" he offered. "Hello?" he waved a hand in front of them, and finally got a response.

"Aghuuubfvbbfy!!" their whole body convulsed and shuddered a moment before they sat up, looking at him with more pain than he'd ever seen on them.

"I am never going to let you near me with a syringe again." They stated, horrified.

"I still have it. It'd be cruel of me to stick you for fun." he rolled it in his palm.

"But I am rather cruel." He made a sharp noise and elicited another screech from them as they backed into the wall.

"Another joke, jesus christ, calm down." he tossed the used plastic syringe behind him, just letting it land wherever.

"You calm down, I'm gonna be scared from this!" They exclaimed.

"That's what you get for acting like a child." He crossed his arms and nodded.

"If childishness attracts karma, you're really in for it." They argued right back.

#scp #scp fanfiction #scp foundation #dr clef #reader insert #fanfiction #fanfic #cute #funny #needle tw #i loved this idea too much not to write this #im trash #fandom

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cosmicjoke · 3 years

Text

Alright, and now I’ve reached the final chapter of “No Regrets”, so let’s just dive right in!

There really is so much more to unpack from this story than I think people realize.

Firstly, just a few, truly devastating observations I want to talk about.

The first one being how, even after Furlan gets swallowed by the Titan, Levi still believes he can save him. The fact that he cuts the Titan open from the chest down to his sternum, and free’s Furlan’s arm, and the panels which show Levi reaching out for his hand and ripping him from the Titan’s stomach is just… so heartbreaking. The way too that he gently carry’s him back to the ground and lays him out, only to discover that his entire lower half is gone, and he’s dead, just the level of trauma you know this must be causing Levi is immense, and beyond tragic. This is one of only two, true friends in his life, and he’s so desperate to have been able to save him, that he clings on to the possibility to the bitter end, until he’s forced to face the bleak reality. Levi’s devastation is really brilliantly depicted in how he wobbles, as if his knees are weak, when he stands back up.

And then of course comes Levi’s rage, and how he takes it out on the Titans, expressing his grief and pain in the only way he knows how, through violence.

But maybe the most heartbreaking moment here comes once he’s through killing every Titan there, and he starts to stumble away, and his foot comes into contact with Isabel’s severed head. This is, once more, another area in which the manga improved hugely over the visual novel.

Levi’s reaction here is just… the most heartbreaking thing ever. The way he stares when he realizes he’s looking at Isabel’s head, and then falls to his knees, his overwhelming grief here is just so beautifully depicted in these panels, as he reaches out a hand to cover her eyes, and then slides them closed, in an attempt to give her some sort of dignity in death. The way he can’t even look at her, just doubled over in his grief, just killed me to see. It’s so unspeakably sad, and conveys to us readers the true depth of Levi’s despair, I think.

And then we move on from this horrific grief, to the climactic moment of the story, when Levi and Erwin again come together, and we see Levi’s overwhelming rage. Again, this entire scene was a massive improvement over the visual novel. Well, for starters, in the visual novel, they had Levi cut Erwin’s horse down to bring him to the ground, and again, that’s just so out of character. Luckily, they fixed that here too, with Levi simply leaping up and dragging Erwin off his horse.

These panels really are amazing too is showing Levi’s intense rage, as he warns Mike to back the hell off, and brings his blade to Erwin’s neck.

What’s really interesting here is what Levi says.

After the struggle of the choice he made, before Furlan and Isabel were killed, after giving so much consideration and choosing based largely on their own dreams and wishes, Levi tells Erwin here “I’m going to kill you, you bastard. That’s why I’m here.”. And Erwin responds, after studying Levi a moment, “So they… all died? I see.”. Erwin gleans here, both from Levi’s words and expression, that his friends have died, and what he says indicates that he knows the only reason Levi hasn’t tried to kill him before now is because Furlan’s and Isabel’s own well being and their own dreams were the only thing holding Levi back. Levi made no attempt on Erwin’s life before because he was placing Furlan’s and Isabel’s wishes above his own, but now that they’re gone, there’s nothing to keep Levi from acting out his revenge.

This is also where we get Erwin’s full reveal of just how in control of this entire situation he’s been this whole time, and how he manipulated every player and outcome to his desires.

This really isn’t something I see get discussed a whole lot when talking about Levi’s relationship with Erwin, and how it started out. But, unquestionably, Erwin used Levi and his friends against their consent, to achieve his own ends. He set the whole thing up, from first spreading rumors about having some sort of evidence against Lovof’s embezzlement, to then spreading the information that he was looking to recruit Levi and his friends from the Underground, thereby giving Lovof the very idea of going to them to obtain his own proof of the evidence’s existence, while simultaneously leading Erwin to the definitive proof he sought by following the messenger Lovof sent and intercepting him. At the same time, giving Erwin a means of throwing Lovof off by using Levi, Furlan and Isabel for cover. It really is incredibly impressive, but also heartbreaking, the way Erwin used Levi and his friends to his own ends, but of course, perfectly in character for Erwin too, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. It begs certain questions though about the equality between Erwin and Levi, at least at the start of their relationship. Erwin clearly had the control and power in this situation, and though clearly he never meant for Furlan and Isabel to die, still, his decision to rope Levi and them into his plans to catch Lovof and also to gain their strength and skill for the SC, did lead indirectly to their deaths. Surely, if Erwin had never meddled in their lives, and used them as tools, they would have all still been alive in the Underground.

But of course, this leads into a really interesting clash, then, between Levi and Erwin, and where we see Erwin win Levi over to his cause. This is, as is becoming a redundant theme of my analysis here, a giant improvement over the visual novel. There, it makes it seems as if Levi decides to follow Erwin only because Erwin has something Levi lacks, and until he can figure out what that something is, he won’t be able to “defeat him”, implying that Levi is still somehow obsessed with beating Erwin in some way. Like he isn’t joining Erwin to fight for his dream of a better world, but because he wants to figure out what Erwin has that he doesn’t, so he can become superior, or whatever. But here, in the manga, Levi’s reasons for deciding to follow Erwin are much more complex, and tied in with his own personal drive of wanting to help and save others, and into his relationship with Furlan and Isabel.

Levi tells him “It wasn’t worth throwing away their lives! They were nothing but pawns in your worthless game. Well, you lose.”, right before he means to take Erwin’s head off.

What’s interesting here is Erwin’s response. He doesn’t try to deny to Levi that he used Furlan and Isabel and Levi himself as pawns. He doesn’t argue, or try to defend himself on that front. What he takes issue with is Levi calling the reasons for it a “worthless game”.

Erwin’s entire speech to Levi here really builds off of the feelings Levi had already started to develop, about feeling like he had maybe found a place to belong, where he could maximize the good he could do. This wasn’t yet a fully formed idea in Levi’s head, up to this point, but the seeds of it had started to form.

Erwin asks Levi who’s responsible for killing his friends. He asks if it was him, if it was Levi, and then he asks if he really thought that if they had come together to attack Erwin, that they would have made it out alive.

This is what Levi is beating himself up over, of course. The belief that he made the wrong decision, in leaving Furlan and Isabel behind, thinking to himself if they hadn’t split up, they would still be alive. He blames himself for how he came to that decision, and starts to say as much to Erwin here, saying it was his conceit and his pride that was to blame, no doubt thinking of how it was his memory of Erwin and the humiliation he caused Levi that was the final tipping point which decided him in favor of going after Erwin himself, and also how he simply convinced himself that he would be able to shoulder all of the responsibility himself in such a dire situation, remembering how he told Furlan “I can do it by myself!” so insistently, asking him to trust him, to trust essentially in Levi’s strength. To Levi, in this moment, his own strength must have seemed worthless suddenly, his belief in it leading to nothing but abject failure. But then Erwin cuts him off and says, emphatically that, no, it was the Titans who killed them, before beginning to talk about how little they know about the Titans, and how if they continue to remain ignorant like that, they’ll never win against them. He tells Levi to look around himself, and points out how, for as far as the eye can see, there are no walls, and then suggests that, in all that open space, there might be something they can find to free humanity from its despair and imprisonment. And then he reminds Levi that there are people who want to stop this from this from happening, only concerned with their own profits and losses, content to stay where danger can’t reach them. He shows sympathy, saying it’s understandable why they feel that way, because they’ve been blinded by the walls for a hundred years, and can’t see past their own survival.

And then he asks Levi if his eyes have remained clouded too. He’s asking Levi here if he only knows how to live for himself, and if he’ll kill him and return to the Underground to continue to do so, after losing the two people he cared most about in this world.

But of course, Levi’s already learned how to live for people other than himself. That was his whole reason for coming to the Surface in the first place. In support and dedication to the hopes and dreams of his friends. Levi’s eyes HAVEN’T been clouded, he’s already discovered and embraced what it means to give your life for others, already able to see past his own benefit.

Erwin reminds Levi of that here, and tells him they won’t give up on going outside the walls, before asking Levi to fight with the Survey Corps, telling him “Humanity needs your skill!!”. He reminds Levi, even after the loss of the two people whom he had been living for up to that point, that he can continue to live for others still, that he can still fight for the hopes and dreams of others, and that he doesn’t have to return to the life of isolation and loneliness and futility that he once lived, that he doesn’t have to return to simply surviving, or fighting only to survive. He’s reminding Levi that his life can mean more than that, just like he realized when he became friends with Isabel and Furlan. That his life can have purpose, and that, if he lends his strength to the SC, he can do more even than help a few people. He can, in fact, help all of humanity.

The following panels show Levi coming to this realization. He remembers Furlan and Isabel at his sides as they rode out into the open for the first time, into the first, true sense of freedom they had ever known, and their shared awe and wonder at the sight. And Levi is realizing here, just as he had fought for his friends dreams of freedom, and of a better, more hopeful life, he can continue to fight for the same, only for everybody, for all people. He can make the most of his abilities, and help the most people, by staying in the SC and fighting at Erwin’s side, fighting for Erwin’s vision of something beyond the walls, of a kind of salvation for humanity.

What Erwin gives Levi here, really, the thing Erwin gives Levi that he before lacked, is a sense of hope. A belief in his own ability to make a meaningful, positive impact on the lives of others. It’s like Erwin’s own belief in that hope for humanity’s salvation is so strong, that Levi finds himself able to believe in it too, and he decides then and there that, for the sake of that hope, for the sake of the vision of something better, Levi will stay by Erwin’s side. Because it’s what Levi’s always wanted to do, to fight for the hopes and dreams of others, to fight to make the lives of other people better, and Erwin has shown him the way to do so. He shows Levi that Furlan and Isabel didn’t die for a “worthless game”, but for the sake of all human kind, and that’s why Levi is able to let go of his anger towards Erwin and follow him. And that really feeds into Levi’s need, later on, for every soldier’s death to carry meaning. If he can believe Furlan and Isabel died for a truly important reason, he can accept it and cope with his grief. Like Isabel expressed herself before, these people genuinely believe their cause is worth dying for, and Erwin reminds Levi of this again.

So he forgets his anger and pain, and chooses instead to follow Erwin, and dedicate himself to the cause of humanity’s salvation.

The final panels of the manga are incredibly moving, with Levi slowing down behind Erwin and Mike, and glancing back one last time to where he lost his two, best friends, before looking away and riding on, as the sun shines through the clouds. Like one, final acknowledgment of their lives together, and the sacrifice they made, before committing himself fully to his new life ahead.

I’m going to be compiling all of these chapter analysis’ into a single, master post, which I’ll have up soon. Anyway, I hope whoever took the time to read them found them worthwhile in some way, and thank you so much if you did! And remember, if you have anything to contribute, or just want to make a comment of any sort, feel free!

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #No Regrets #Levi Ackerman #Furlan Church #isabel magnolia #erwin smith #snk analysis

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ariesrondeletia · 4 years

Note

If you're still doing the yandere alphabet, may I request L, X, and Y for Kenma? If not, I understand and I'm sorry for bothering you! Please have a nice day!

Honestly, I have so many requests that I should be doing right now, but I felt like doing a soft yandere and kenma is such a sweetheart so I couldn’t resist.

Kenma Kozume: Yandere Alphabet(L, X, & Y)

Love Letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Kenma is very shy, so he’d start by watching you. He isn’t bold enough to approach you at first, so he’ll stalk you. It starts slow, him just watching you between classes, but it’ll soon grow to a point where he’ll follow you home. From there he’ll begin taking things from you. Nothing you’d miss, and certainly not enough for you to notice. He’d love his growing collection of chap sticks, pencils, charms, anything that he could find. All of this will happen long before he’s become your friend. He’ll still be just a classmate to you. Maybe he asked to borrow a pencil once or twice, or let you copy down notes when you missed the day before, but he didn’t stand out too much if you were honest.

He’ll start talking to you likely because Kuroo caught onto the crush and urged Kenma to talk to you. Kenma isn’t good at conversations, but he’ll try his best. He’ll compliment how your hair looks today, but from there he’s kind of at a loss, so you’ll have to hold most of the conversation. If you do make an effort to keep the conversation going, he’ll be very pleased. He’ll ask a lot of questions, most that he already knows the answer to in order to make you rant. He loves hearing your voice, so he won’t talk nearly as much as he’ll make you.

He has your schedule memorised, so he’ll make sure to coincidentally show up where you are. If you’re out to get groceries, he’ll be at the same supermarket. He’ll offer to help you figure out what to buy and he’ll carry them home for you. It’s a perfect opportunity to talk to you and up his standing in your eyes. He desperately wants to be on your good side and this is one of the few things he’ll show motivation for. He doesn’t want to be too clingy, but he can’t help how much he craves you. Soon he’ll be bumping into you too often for it to just be a coincidence. His behavior gets stranger and stranger the longer he’s known you, but never to unnatural for you to worry about your safety. He’ll still lie under your danger radar.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length will they go to win their darling over?

Kenma adores you. You’re a goddess in his eyes, so of course he worships the ground you walk on. He never wants to cause you any unhappiness and he’ll try his best to make you happy. He’s good at analyzing people and combined with his stalking, it doesn’t take him long to find out what you love. If you happen to love a certain book series, a copy of the newest volume will somehow make into your hands. It you’re a fan of flowers, the most beautiful bouquet will show up on your doorstep. You get the idea. Poor boy is too shy to give it to you directly, so he leaves them in places he knows you’ll find them. You’re lucky if he even writes his name on the card, mostly leaving it unsigned.

He does take your stuff in return. If you ever showed the slightest hint of missing anything he took, he’d give it back immediately, but for the most part it belongs to him now. He didn’t mean to make a sort of alter out of things he’s gathered, it just happens. He needs a place to put everything he’s gained on display, he doesn’t realize just how perverse it looks to anyone else. He takes good care of everything he’s stolen too. He hardly touches anything of yours, only gazing at it, glad that he has something that has actually touched you.

As for how far he’d go, it depends. He won’t kill someone for you, unless you specifically request it. But it’s not something that he does because he wants to. That takes far too much work, it’s so messy, and it’s easy to get caught. But for more traditional methods of wooing someone over, he’ll try his best. Anything you want, he’ll get it. He’s desperate to make you happy. If you so much as smile in his direction, he’ll treasure the memory and think about it every night before he goes to sleep. Although his outward appearance is nonchalance, he would die for you.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

It’ll take a lot for him to ever snap, and if he does it’s not ‘kill everyone stealing you away’ it’s more guilt tripping to keep you from leaving. He’s a patient boy, he can wait as long as it takes for you to love him back. He won’t kidnap you or do anything that could ever upset you, he values you far too much. If you push him away, he won’t take it out on you or anyone else, but he’ll isolate himself. If you fall in love with someone else, he’ll cry into his pillow every night, but he won’t try to destroy your relationship if you are truly happy. He’ll only step in if there’s a risk of you getting hurt by whoever you were dating. Even if you never loved him back, if you were happy, he’d be too.

As for what actually makes him snap, it would be moving to an entirely new country. Someplace where he can’t bask in your presence. He’ll have so much anxiety about you leaving, he won’t have a second thought about self harming himself until you pity him enough to stay. You’re so sweet, you’d stay if you knew just how much he needed you. So he’ll have to show you. He doesn’t really want to hurt himself, but he’ll do whatever it takes to get you to stay. He needs you so much, he’d die without you. You can’t let him kill himself because he misses you so much, so just stay, alright? You’ll cave, it’d be cruel to just leave him like this. He’ll make you happy, he swears. So long as you’re with him he’ll do whatever you want.

From there, he’ll wedge himself into your life as best he can. Having your sympathy is a great tool for him to use. You’re so desperate to make sure that he’s happy and safe so that he won’t ever think about doing something like that ever again. Chances are, you won’t dare try to leave again. Even years in the future it’ll remain in the back of your mind, a silent pressure to keep you with him. When he suggests that you move in with him, you’ll do as he says. You’ll adjust to living with Kenma, he makes it as comfortable as can be. Your room is modeled just like your dream room. Everything you’ve ever wanted is at your fingertips. There’s no way you’d even want to leave, right?

#yandere #yandere x reader #kenma kozume #kenma #haikyuu!!#haikyu #yandere haikyu x reader #haikyu x reader #yandere haikyuu!! x reader #kenma x reader #yandere kenma #yandere kenma x reader #yandere alphabet

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ladyleahcat · 3 years

Text

Seraphine’s Lore Rework

So.. I have to say that I was really hyped for Seraphine. I followed her in social media and I really liked her design. But, after her lore and abilities were revealed, it just felt... out of place in Runeterra. Her in-game abilities don’t make sense with her natural gift. She doesn't have a grand purpose, or breaking point in her story that motivates her to be... you know, a champion. So, I tried to fix the lore. Please be kind, and let me know what you think (English is not my native language, so there may be some redaction mistakes).

I don't have an extensive knowledge of the LoL universe, so here goes nothing! (I took the official one and changed a little bit too much... I kinda throw away the dream of unity between Zaun and Piltover. And knowing that the Brackerns communicated through MUSIC it´s a fact too rich to ignore. I did a little reseach and took some terms and ideas from Skarner’s short story).

As a child, Seraphine always loved music, especially her father’s lullabies. The songs were beautiful, but sad. He and Seraphine’s mother—two lifelong Zaunites—always dreamt of a better life in the City of Progress. But poor as they were, they did everything they could to give their only child a decent life in Zaun.

Leaning out the window of their hexcoustics workshop, where broken sound tech was made to play again, Seraphine sang along with the dark streets. The constant sound of the leaking pipework, working machinery and wispered conversation was her companion.

Over time, Seraphine realized she could sense songs too private, too personal, for any ordinary person to hear. And as she grew, so did the intensity of her gifts. She heard every person’s soul, loving or cruel—turning the streets she’d once loved into an overwhelming cacophony of conflicting desires. How could she make sense of the voices if none of them harmonized? Some days, she hid shivering in a corner, hands over her ears, unable to hear herself above the chaos and feeling her sanity slowly escape.

Seraphine’s parents couldn’t bear seeing her struggle. Even scraping together their savings, they knew it was not enough to help her. Risking their own safety, they made a deal with powerfull mechants in Zaun´s black market to purchase a shard of a rare hextech crystal. And so, they crafted a device that dampened her magical hearing. For the first time in years, there was silence.

Within that quiet, though, Seraphine heard something—someone. The crystal had a consciousness. But it was hard to hear, and harder to comprehend. Seraphine, awed, asked for guidance. But the crystal refused communication. She made her goal to achieve understanding of this rare soul, but her attempts were interrupted by tragedy.

The debt of the crystal was greater that what her parents could pay, and the mechants, tired of waiting, decided to claim the price in their own way. On the darkest of the nights, the rumbling sound of incessant knocking on the door accompanied by violent threats awoke the family. Taking their few possessions, they intended to flee, but, Seraphine´s father knew they would be followed. Giving his wife and daugther one last kiss, he ordered them to run and never look back, while he faced their attackers. They did, and in the distance the sounds of gunshots rang out. Seraphine was ten when she saw her dad for the last time.

Full of sorrow, the broken family got to Piltover with almost nothing. There were difficult days of cold and hunger until Sera´s mother could grab a job at a hextech workshop, as she refused to sell the crystal, see her child suffer, and let her late husband´s sacrifice go to waste.

Seraphine refused to sing the first months in Piltover, as it didn´t feel like home anymore, and it hurt to much to remember, while she also felt all their disgrace were her fault. One day, through her pain, she finally heard a distant voice. The lethargic soul hidden in the crystal slowly opened up to her. It told her stories and songs of the old brackern race. About how it once was big and respected, and how the greedy softskins destroyed it to gain the power of the crystal namestones hidden within their bodies. Horrified, Seraphine realized how the city that surrounded her was powered by the brackern, and so, she asked the voice why it had decided to share all that information with her. With a kind voice, it answered that she had a unique talent to hear souls and songs, and, that she could understand the pain of loss after what she had been through, just like it had lost its kin a long time ago. Then, the soul inside the crystal proposed a way to help them both.

The brackern knew Seraphine had a gift, and he could teach her to amplify it with magic. To give her voice power, potency and purpose. She could ease, enchant and thrill the crowds, gain fame and fortune, and give her mother a better life. But she could also inflict pain, make suffer and bring death to those who took her father away. The soul only wanted something in return.

There was an old ritual that brackerns knew about. The content of their namestones was to precious to get lost, and they designed a way to bring their race back if something ever went wrong. The proccess requiered to gather a great amount of brackern crystals in a hidden temple within the deserts of old Shurima. But it demanded a great price. The same amount of souls of a single different race in exchange for the awakening of each soul of the dormant one. The brackern wanted them to be human, as it seemed as a fair exchange. The enchanting dreamsong to fulfill the process had to be sung by a representative of each of both races. And she was the perfect candidate of her kin to do so.

Seraphine felt dread all over her body and refused, at first, to cooperate with the crystal; imagining the amount of people she would be required to slay. But as the weeks passed, and she and her mother keep on struggling to survive each day, Seraphine decided to agree to the plan. The brackern teached her a melody to seal their agreement, and with it, theirs souls were bounded to commitement, while allowing their magic to flow and combine. Their practice together begun. Each night, Seraphine grabbed her crystal and escaped to the superficial sewers of Zaun to rehearse. Slowly, she learned to manage the noise. Seraphine felt the crystal´s influence as it helped her understand how to resonate with a crowd, to sing with them, using her dampener less each day. Soon, she realized her full potential, and started to develop dangerous skills as well as the brackern teached her magic enchanting melodies of old. It took them years of practice. When she felt ready, Seraphine asked her mom for help to turn her dampener into an amplifier to test her full abilities.

The first time she performed in front of an audience, testing her skills, she was sixteen, and nervous beyond words. She choose a poor street of Piltover to start. With simple clothes and just her amplifier made of old recicled hextech, she started singing. And soon, a crowd gathered enchanted with her lovely voice and bewitching melodies, as she could take all of their personal songs and hopes to turn them into heart touching harmonies. The first day she collected so many coins that her mother and her were able to buy new things for the first time. With each passing day, the crowds were getting bigger, the profit was growing, allowing her little family to slowly achieve the life they always dreamt of. Still, something was missing—in the crowds, and in herself. She knew her father’s crime was still impune and with each song, his memory was painfully revived. She wanted justice.

Using her newfound richness, Seraphine located the merchants that took her father's life and (by her crystal's indication) collected a vast amount of a very special type of mineral, native from the Shadow Isles. Taking advantage of the cloak of night and her growing abilities, she descended into Zaun to make them pay. She infiltrated their place, lured the group of men and their leader with a beautiful melody and then took their lifes with one of the most complex ancient songs the brackern had teached her. Following the elaborate instructions, she absorbed the bodies and souls of the criminals into some shards of the minerals she brought with her, trapping them forever. These were the first souls she would need for the ritual. Taking advance of her accomplishment, she took all of the remaining brackern crystals keept by the band, and then, her mission started.

Although she felt guilty about her actions, she knew that, finally, she had made justice by her own hand, and had found a purpose for her gifts. The brackern's namestones had been waiting for a long time for someone that could listen their dreamsongs and help, and that was exactly was she was about to do. She was born for it. Seraphine knew there was no way she could take all of the brackern crystals in Runeterra, and that not all human souls are aware of the horrors behind the powerfull fuel of hextech, but there were enough gilty ones that she could execute.

Armed with a platform to keep her precious brackern crystals hidden and safe, and also her trapped human victims, she has become the premier star in both Piltover and Zaun. In the public eye, she uses her playful apearance and beautiful voice to enchant the crowds and win their hearts and favor, while she listens for the brackerns old voices slowly awakening inside their cores and calling out for her, singing gladly their dreamsongs. In the shadows, it´s her duty to retrieve them to safety and trap the souls of those who are greedy enough to collect them. She knows one day, she will gather enought of them to make the journey into Shurima´s desert, looking for the one called Skarner that the ancient spirits talk about and being able to, at last, fulfill her destiny.

(I know it’s not that great, but let me know your thoughts and suggestions :3 ) Disclaimer: These characters belong to Riot Games. I don’t own them, I just did this for fun.

#league of legends #seraphine #lore #skarner #riot #riot games #lol #seradotwav #I just did it for fun and the lolz #I think Sera would be cooler with a better backstory #Skarner deserves better #fan lore #please dont kill me #fangirling me

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amyltia · 4 years

Text

Dark side, hope and redemption : Anakin and Ben

After watching the behind the scene of TROS, it was said that one way to differenciate Kylo from Ben was hopeful/hopeless. I didn’t realize that, but it does add a new light on the saga for me (maybe what I’m about to say has been obvious for a long time - like 42 years - but it never struck me clearly).

The dark side is emotion uncontroled, pain, selfishness. The light side is control, moderation, giving. Works pretty well with the 3 main couples of the saga (a meta I’m working on). I still think that’s true, but there is a another perspective possible : hope is light side and dark side is hopelessness. Let’s analyse what it means and focus on what it says of Anakin and Ben’s redemption arcs.

1. “Surrender to it” : The dark side is the side of hopelessness

A. When all is lost, “surrender to it” : the dark side’s motto

Characters fall to the dark side when they have lost hope of being good.True villains don’t even have that wish, but Anakin and Ben “surrender to it” when they don’t believe they can be good again or that something good could happen for them. Let’s not forget that Vader and Kylo, while being those persona, are in constant pain and their life is misery, they surrender to the dark side because they have lost the hope that things could change, they are hopeless.

Darth Vader lost the life he had built, his love, his statut, his friends, etc all impossible to retrieve. But in recent comics we learn that he did try and had hope to bring Padmé back, but is that the same hope we’re talking about ? Then all sith have hope, Palpatine more than anyone, but we call that ambition and it is. What is the difference between hope and ambition ? In SW at least, I think hope is something good you can do (saving someone but for the saved one good, not the idea of Vader when he tries to bring Padme back - in ep 3, Anakin wanted Padmé to rule with him on the path of the dark side, nothing says it has changed). Hope is that you can be good or that something good that you wish for could happen. The real question is what is good then ? It’s a vast question indeed but let’s say good is “what doesn’t hurt anyone”.

Kylo Ren feels abandonned by his family, feels like it’s too late and he already is a monster. It even shows in The Rise of Kylo Ren comics, that he turns when all hope is gone aka [SPOILER when the temple is destroyed, when he believes Luke is dead, his three camarades too and especially Tai the only one telling him he could come back. Tai dead, Ben “surrenders” to the dark side and kills Voe, becoming the leader of the knights of Ren], from there there is no coming back (...until Rey!). He has became hopeless and had to surrender to the dark side and he “can’t come back to [Leia] now” as he says to Rey in TROS. He has lost his family and has no hope of finding them again, and that is what differenciates Kylo Ren from Rey : she has lost her family too but she maintains the hope of a family reunion. Tho being a delusion it is ambiguous but it still kept her alive.

When something bad happen, sinking in despair is what leads characters to the dark side.

N. B. There are then two types of characters : the jedi who turn to the dark side (Anakin, Ben) and those who become ermits and exile themselves (Yoda, Obi wan, Luke). It’s not the same reaction, it seems like experienced jedi who have failed as protectors and teachers of others don’t turn dark side but exile themselves. But young characters whose own life is ruined (at a very personnal level) turn to the dark side. Yoda, Obi wan and Luke decision to exile is not so spontaneous, and Obi wan and Yoda even had time to look for a solution : they have been desperate when Anakin turned to the dark side and after order 66, but they made up a plan (to separate the twins, protect them, etc).

For Anakin and Ben, they can’t look forward and give in to despair. But sometimes they try to move on from what happened, to rebuild their life with the hope that things could get better. This is what Ben begins to do in TLJ, leading to the hesitation of the legacy saber in the throne room.

B. The case of Ben in TLJ : finding “a new hope” and reaching the neutral area

In TLJ Ben is torn apart, his attraction for the light side rises and he finds hope again : he turns to the future, he wants to repair his life, his has this HOPE that he can, with Rey, move on and “let the past die”. I always wondered why when he says this it doesn’t sound like a dark side thing, and it’s disturbingly neutral (neither good nor bad) while being the “main villain”’s big project [it’s like Palpatine main goal being not full wicked and having us think “oh maybe, yeah it could be a good idea to destroy planets and rule the galaxy with fear under a sith’s command”]. The good/evil rate of the character main goal IS the character’s position on the good/evil spectrum, that’s why Palps is full dark side and Ben in TLJ gets closer to Rey’s position on this spectrum, closer than ever while he is Kylo Ren : that’s why the legacy saber hesitates between the two. He has at this moment a hope for his future.

In TLJ, Kylo and Rey both move on this spectrum and meet in a neutral/grey area (on the spectrum below, Palps works as a control sample)

Dark side : Palps (ruling), Kylo in TFA (surrending to the dark side)

Neutral (aka grey) : Kylo in TLJ (ruling with Rey for a new order, moving on : hope of a future), Rey in TLJ (she lost hope on her family but wants to be good)

Light side : Rey in TFA (being good and hope of finding her family)

But hope is found and hope is lost for Ben in TLJ : right after the throne room scene, because of Rey’s refusal he goes full dark side back (aka trying to kill Luke and the Resistance) because he has lost what made him reach the grey area in the first place : the hope that Rey could help him move on.

In their last force bond in TLJ, after Crait, he has one last moment of hope...only to be rejected again, destroying the last bit of hope and of light side in him.

My guess is that that is why we see him so determined in TROS, he sunk back into despair but like in TLJ he still wish to move on from it with Rey, only he wants Rey for selfish reasons (just like Vader tried to bring Padmé back to help himself).

2. The light side is hope

Luke was "the new hope" of the galaxy. At the end of TLJ, his projection and implication has brought once again hope in the galaxy (as the broom boy shows us)

Ben has hope again. (SPOIL COMICS in those we may assume while he was Ben Solo that tho he felt it difficult to belong to the Jedi Academy, he had hope he still could fit in, it’s the loss of that hope for the reasons shown it those comics that makes him turn). TURNS because he believes he’s gone too far, can’t fit in and won’t be accepted. Believes it’s too late. TURNS again because he understands it’s not too late and he can still save Rey and do good, hope in himself that he is not the monster he thinks he is.

Anakin : he wants to be good and has the hope he can (and he does great until the end of episode 3). He has hope to stop being a slave and win the race in TPM, to become a Jedi and win Padme’s love in AOTC, to save her in ROTS....until one point. TURNS because he lost hope to save his mother and then to save Padme. TURNS again because he has hope to save Luke and to be good again, once again hope in himself to not be the monster he thinks he is.

Rey has the hope her parents will return. When she lost this hope in TLJ she could have went full dark side but she succeeds in the trial and stays in the light. But in TROS when the trial, like in a fairy tale, presents itself for the second time, she almost fails : learning that she comes from darkness makes her slowly lose hope in herself, therefore falling to the dark side. She doesn’t completely but she does get close.

There goes the second spectrum :

Dark side : Palps (ruling), Kylo in TFA and TROS (surrending to the dark side), Darth Vader (lost hope in life and himself, believe power will compensate his despair)

Darkish : Rey in TROS (on the process of loosing hope in herself)

Neutral (aka grey) : Kylo in TLJ (ruling with Rey for a new order, moving on : hope of a future), Rey in TLJ (she lost hope on her family)

Light side : Rey in TFA (being good and finding her family), Luke, Anakin, Ben (hope they can do good)

N.B. This meta is not about Luke so I won’t complete his journey on the spectrum (in TLJ I mean)

N.B 2 A meta about power and dark saide/light side could be a good addition to this one.

3. Hope for redemption : Luke and his father in OT VS Rey and Ben (TLJ VS TROS)

In ROTJ, it was Luke who had hope he father could be redeemed, in TLJ it’s Rey who has hope for Ben. So far it’s the same

But in TROS it changes : Rey succombing slowly to the dark side has (according to the theory I just explained) lost hope on Ben. Still can debate on why she healed him right after stabbing him (hope ? love ? regret ? no wish to kill ?). And Kylo Ren who didnt have hope, after the stabbing and healing and scene with Han gets hope again. Her compassion makes him gain hope in himself and he understands that “as long as he’s with her he is on the right path” (quote from the Making of of TROS).

So while TLJ repeats the dynamic of hope and redemption of the OT, TROS breaks it (but I think it’s a good thing). Rey has lost hope in Kylo Ren and in herself, or at least is in the process of losing it.

1- As she is surrending to the dark side, she looses hope on what she believed (herself and Ben) : the correlation is there. So far the theory works.

2- So the hope of Ben’s redemption still comes from Rey (the compassionate act of healing him, but it is not her first motive like it was for Luke or in TLJ, it is only a side effect), Leia and the memory of Han, but from himself too. Vader saves his son and it redeems him, but Ben is redeemed before he does anything, his turn is mental, it is a decision : he decides to go save Rey, and from that decision, due to his resurgence of hope in himself, he turns good again. It’s a small difference but it’s important because it’s the difference between Ben and Anakin redemptions : Anakin acts spontaneously and this good act redeems him, Ben has to FIRST forgive himself to be redeemed, his redemption is much easier, it only takes him to forgive himself and have hope in himself again, just with that he is Ben Solo again.

Conclusion

Anakin and Ben have very similar arcs but the differences are important. First, in the third movie of each trilogy : while Luke actively saves Vader, Rey doesn’t and it’s up to Kylo himself to complete this function on himself. Secondly, it takes a spontaneous action to Vader to be redeemed, while Kylo just has to gain hope in himself. Ben litteraly was his own biggest enemy. It’s not saving Rey that makes him turn, he already had, while Vader understands afterwards that he has turned. Ben’s redemtpion is a mental and psychological process, a decision, a choise consciensously made, while Anakin understands afterwards that he had turned, after his spontaneous act. Two different redemptions for two different journeys. But both show the HUGE importance “hope” has and always has had in the Star Wars universe - it’s not for nothing that the very first movie is titled “A New Hope”. The PT, OT and ST have this core thematic continuity about hope being the way to the light side, and despair and hopelessness leading to the dark side.

There are three types of characters according to this hope distinction. Wether it is to fight this despair, to find hope again thanks to someone or from within, Ben and Anakin have the most complex relation to hope and display the spectrum of intention the most extreme. On the other hand, Luke is the representation of hope in the OT and he regains that status again at the end of TLJ. Third type is Rey, she seems to be like Luke but absolutely isn’t (which is great). She is much more greyish and is always fighting to maintain her hope (in her family, in herself, in Ben), because she is aware of her weakness and choses denial to maintain this hope. That’s why it’s very intersting in TROS to see her loosing this hope from time to time, but not enough to be surrending to the dark side. Because she understood the primary lesson of Star Wars : that the best way to remain in the light side or to get to it is to have and to find hope, I think that’s my favourite lesson from Star Wars.

Others main meta

(1) Force jump/flying (TROS meets The Rise of Kylo Ren or Kylo Ren finally meets his peer in Rey) :

(2) TROS’s Ben as a mirror to Anakin’s arc or what is a Skywalker ?

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megatraven · 4 years

Note

Forbidden to interact with a Titan. :o

GREAT!!!!! i wrote this almost 2k thing in response to this! it got out of hand! :D

AO3

__________

They pine.

Of course they pine.

They’ve loved her for so long that it hurts to think about.

They were both young, once. She was human, completely, and she was their best friend.

But the gods- they didn’t really understand mortals, and they didn’t want to. They didn’t have the same morals, they didn’t care.

It only took MC’s mother one too many times, butting heads with Zeus, for his anger to grow too big for him. He spat a curse down on her, and Aphrodite and Hades intervened- of course they did, they loved her.

But if the curse didn’t land on her, it had to go somewhere.

And they don’t discover it right away, weeks passing without anything weird or unusual cropping up. But it comes eventually.

MC is beaming when her mother gets home, but there’s only dread on her mother’s face when she takes in the scene: an aura of a bird, making a mess flying through their living room.

“I’m just like Alex!” she says, but that’s impossible.

She goes to Aphrodite and Hades, and brings MC with her, worried for her daughter. Humans don’t just gain natural auras.

The gods look at MC, then her mother, and finally each other, a great sadness in both their faces. Hades breaks the news to them, and MC doesn’t really understand what’s so wrong with being a half-titan, but her mother is devastated.

They go home.

And MC doesn’t see Alex for a long time- the only exception being when her mother passes. They’d pulled Aphrodite closer to her when she and Josh cried, down on the surface where she was buried.

After that, it was radio silence.

No phone calls. No texts. No emails.

MC adjusts to her life as a non-human on top of her schoolwork. She makes friends with local monsters, and even a couple of titans that chill out in the city from time to time.

She grows up.

She grows up, and she doesn’t have much of a direction in life; HERA wouldn’t accept her application, with the titan blood in her veins, not even when she argues that it was Zeus that put it there in the first place.

She gets bitter, but more than that, she mourns her dream of walking in her mother’s footsteps.

Her monster friends trade tales of the gods, and she learns that they’re not so great, anyways. They’ve done so many terrible things, to good people. To her.

She learns that if she wants to make a difference, then she needs to go above the gods’ heads and do it herself. If they won’t even speak to her, then she’ll carve her own path out, without their permission or help.

Somewhere along the way, Alex catches wind of her need to make the situations of monsters and titans better.

They laugh a little; of course that’s where she ends up. Of course that’s what she decides to do. It’s totally in line with everything they know about her.

And they know a lot!

They haven’t kept in contact with her, forbidden by the gods to do so, but... they still cared about her. They kept tabs, made sure she was alright, talked to Josh about how she was doing.

They did little things- sent anonymous flowers when they’d heard she had a rough day. Left a birthday gift at the door each year. Helped pay for the college courses she took when her father left and Josh couldn’t support her himself.

It wasn’t much, but it was all they could think to do without breaking the rules.

Really, it was only a matter of time before they ran into her again. They ran in similar circles now, both frequented the Boarback... both still cared about and thought of the other.

And when they do run into each other- it’s literally. They’re not paying attention and Alex walks right into her as they’re leaving the Boarback and they both fall to the ground at the impact. They don’t notice right away, just who it is, and an apology is on their lips before it dies when they look at her.

“...MC.”

They’re more than a little dumbfounded, but she’s in a similar state, just. Staring at them.

“Alex.”

She scrambles to her feet and offers them her hand, and they’re not even thinking when they reach out to take it.

But she is, and she pulls back before they can.

“Sorry. I should- I have to go.”

And she turns around and leaves them there, and it takes them another minute to realize they were the one about to leave the bar.

After that, they see each other more, here and there. In line at the same coffee shop. Visiting Medusa’s bookstore. Getting a drink at the Boarback. In the streets.

It hurts them both every time, but they’d rather have those little moments than nothing at all. Getting cut out of one another’s lives... nothing hurt worse than that.

They exchange little words. ‘Hey’s and ‘Hi’s and ‘How are you’s. They catch each other’s eye, too often, and look away just as quick.

In the bar, Alex will stay longer if she shows up, or for as long as she’s there. Her laugh helps them breathe easier, and the way her voice carries across the room warms their heart. Sometimes they just watch her from across the way, blushing when Eryn nudges them and winks.

And MC- she just likes to know they’re still there, doing okay. She wishes they could be friends again, maybe something more, but she’s content to be where they are.

Slowly, slowly they get closer. The distance between them in any given place starts to close. They have small talk that last longer than a quick greeting. They ask about each other’s lives, their jobs, their families.

They start to warm back up to each other, and sometimes they forget about the boundaries between them, slipping back into easy conversations and warm smiles.

Eventually they’re sitting next to each other at the bar, just barely keeping themselves from touching one another. They’re sharing stories and Alex is laughing harder than they’ve laughed in years, tears stinging the corners of their eyes. They can barely breath through it, and MC is laughing with them.

She doesn’t even think about it, when she reaches forward and wipes one of their tears away.

Both of them freeze, hold their breathes-

but nothing happens.

One minute passes, and then another, and everything is fine.

There’s a mutual sigh of relief and MC pulls back, flustered. She apologizes for doing it- it just felt so natural.

Alex hesitates to say anything, but looking at her just then, their heart beats painfully in their chest, and before they can stop themself, they reach out and take her hand in theirs.

She gives a little gasp and looks up at them, but when they only smile back, she squeezes their hand.

“I missed you,” she says, voice a little watery. There are tears in her eyes that threaten to fall, but Alex knows they must look and sound the same.

“I missed you, too.”

And as time passes, they grow closer and closer- they kiss, they dance, they sing together. MC stays at their apartment, and they stay at hers. They hug in greetings and goodbyes, and share kisses late into the nights.

There’s always the lingering fear of what will happen, when the gods find out. But they’ve both spent too long mourning the loss of their friendship, too long yearning for something.

It all comes to a head when the tensions between monsters and titans and gods are larger than ever, and a riot breaks out.

(MC knows it’s what her mother would do. She knows that it’s what her mother did do. Her monster friends told her everything; she knows what the gods did, and how their ignorance and inaction led to her mother’s death.

If she dies, if she lives... she’ll finally be walking in her mother’s footsteps.)

Monsters and titans both demand better conditions; some human agents even join them in the riot.

It’s enough to bring the gods down from on high, and it’s what brings Zeus and MC face-to-face at last. He meets her eyes immediately, and in them, in her face, sees the woman he killed, no matter how indirectly.

The child who endured his curse.

Zeus insults her, and all of the monsters and titans, but she doesn’t rise to his bait. She doesn’t care what he thinks of her humanity, or her titan blood. She won’t stand for the injustice any longer.

Zeus’ lightning starts to spark, and MC’s ring warms up in response. She didn’t wear it for a long time, the reminder that it belonged to her mother painful. But she grew into it. There was a connection to it that she didn’t understand, but its power merged with her own aura.

When Zeus’s aura materializes, she’s about to summon hers when a silver stag and doe interrupt them.

Alex rushes from the elevators, breathing heavily, thanking the stars that they made it to her in time. They surprise Zeus and their mother both by siding with MC. They reach for her hand and take it, and she knows they can win the day, now.

Zeus’ anger rises at their contact, at a demigod choosing a half-titan over their own blood. His aura shoots out, and Alex’s aura isn’t enough to stop it-

But hers is.

A great, golden peacock forms, its feathers molten and flaming. (Her titan aura had been a phoenix- the peacock came from the ring.)

Zeus’ aura breaks on it, but the strength left it the moment her aura appeared. He steps back, shocked, and the same expression is seen on the other gods present, as well as the other monsters and titans.

There are whispers, but MC can’t hear them over the pounding of her heart, the fury that Zeus would attack one of their own just for holding her hand.

Alex has always been a calming presence, though. They help ground her, and then she lets her aura fade, finally hearing the name on every tongue.

“Hera.”

Zeus looks like he wants to be angry- he probably is. But even he wouldn’t risk hurting Hera like this. His queen, in the vessel of a half-titan woman, cursed by his own hands.

It’s ironic.

That Hera, the queen of the gods, goddess of family... rests within the daughter of HERA’s founder, cursed with the blood of the gods’ enemy, lover to Aphrodite’s child.

She doesn’t know what will happen next, now, as everyone stares at her.

She squeezes Alex’s hand, tight.

They’re with her.

She has all of her friends fighting by her side.

And she’s suddenly sure of one thing: there’s never been a better opportunity to change the world.

#I ALMOST LOST THIS BC INSTEAD OF CLICKING POST I FUCKING WENT TO THE DASHBOARd........ GOOD THING I ALREADY POSTED ON AO3 #lovestruck #lovestruck voltage #alex cyprin #alex x mc #afk mc #astoria #my fic #afk to tag #death mention

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tetrakys · 4 years

Text

Behind the Mask

This is the story I wrote for BV zine. It’s set in Eldarya around episodes 16/17.

---

The moment I stepped outside HQ, I felt like I’d been teleported to a new, magical world. Again. This time no mushrooms had been involved.

What was usually the busy, messy and kinda dirty market square, was now a ballroom out of a fairy tale. Long, scarlet drapes surrounded the area, giving it an air of sumptuous elegance. Small flames floated in the air, looking like sparkling chandeliers. Musicians played strange instruments that reminded me of violins and flutes of my world.

But nothing surprised me as much as the people. Everyone was impeccably dressed in amazing gowns and suits, their faces covered in colourful masks. Alajea and Karenn had told me that faeries took very seriously the festivity of Samhain, the Gaelic precursor of our Halloweeen, but I had no idea how seriously.

They’d explained that, when their people still lived on Earth, it was the one night where they could walk freely among humans without fear of being recognised. Human believed that during this night the walls between different worlds thinned and could easily be crossed. They all wore masks and costumes to blend between the faeries and demons they assumed travelled the Earth during that night. Once Eldarya had been created the faeries kept the celebration as a reminder of the life of hiding and fear they’d left behind.

I looked down at my elegant but simple white gown. At first, I thought I might be overdressed with the soft tulle skirt and the tight corset that Purriri had persuaded me to buy. She’d even offered the mask that currently covered half of my face at a discount. Now I was happy I’d spent a big chunk of my savings on this dress, at least I didn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

I walked slowly around the edges of the dancefloor trying to spot people I might know. At some point I thought I recognised Karuto, those horns kinda gave him away, but he looked too busy handling the food to care about chatting with me.

A dancing couple caught my eye. It couldn’t be… yes! Karenn and Chrome! Despite the mask I could tell he’d turned five different shades of red and was stuttering something I couldn’t hear. She looked cute in a blue dress and was smiling at him cheekily. Also, she was leading. I didn’t know what she had in mind, but poor Chrome.

“Mmm…” a soft, smooth voice whispered at my back, “you look lovely tonight my lady. May I offer you a drink? Or maybe you could offer me one?”

I turned around to find myself face to face with a tall, black haired masked man, dressed in a Victorian style.

“N-Nevra?”

“I’m not Nevra, my lady. Tonight I’m the blood-thirsty Count Dracula,” he replied with a fanged smile.

A moment of silence went by while I tried to grasp the situation.

“Let me get this straight. You, a vampire, dressed up as a… vampire??” I asked incredulous.

“Brilliant, isn’t it? This year I’m definitely going to win best costume.”

“B-but… how? Why?”

“There are so many definitions of vampire in your world. At first, I wanted to go with the sparkling one, but then I decided that you can never do wrong with a classic,” he explained. “You humans are so funny. Why would vampires live in isolated mansions, we like to PAR-TY!”

I genuinely didn’t know how to reply.

“Ah you found the kid!” said a falsely rough, deep voice, which belonged to a man with long blue hair, beard and moustaches. “Here is my dinner! Oh-oh-oh!”

“Ezarel? W-what are you dressed as?”

“Mph… you’re so stupid. Can’t you see the bag full of presents? I’m clearly Bluebeard!”

“I understand the facial hair, but… the presents?”

“How could you not know the fairy tales from your own world,” he replied irritated. “Don’t you know that Bluebeard brings gifts to kids and, once they sleep, eats them?”

“I think you’ve mixed up three of four different characters here. Have you even read the fable?”

“Nah,” he replied with his usual big, devilish smile. “Who has time for these things.”

“Wait…” I said, finally grasping the situation. “You just wanted an excuse to wear your fake beard again, didn’t you?”

“BINGO!” he laughed. Since I’d thought him a few Earthling slangs he kept using them whenever he had a chance just to annoy me.

“It wasn’t funny the first time,” I said remembering how he’d tried to trick me into believing that I’d been in a coma for hundreds of years, “and it’s not funny now. Bluebeard is a horrible character, basically a serial killer, he murdered his own wives!”

“Uhm…” he looked surprised. “I didn’t know that.”

“Isn’t the point to look scary?” Nevra said patting Ezarel on the back, ”even though you look more hilarious than scary. Now, Valkyon got it right.”

“Where is he?” I asked scanning the crowd without recognising him. I wished I could chat with Valkyon for a bit, I loved spending time with him, he always made me feel at ease. “What is he dressed as?”

“I’m only going to give you a hint: It’s furry.” He laughed.

“Uh…?”

“You’ll see.”

I was scanning the area looking for Valkyon, when my eyes stopped on someone else. A man, dressed in a dark suit and black cape. He was wearing a white mask covering half of his face and I recognised him as the Phantom of the Opera. I didn't know the story was also famous in Eldarya, but apparently many of Earth's legends and fables had some sort of connection to faeries folklore.

The man was looking at me from the other side of the improvised ballroom, and even from afar I could see his eyes, which were of an impossible light shade of blue. I could tell his skin was dark from his chin and the strong line of his lips, the only parts of his body not covered by his outfit.

He was imposing, mysterious and his gaze completely unnerving.

"We have to go now." I almost jumped on the spot, suddenly remembering I was talking with the guys.

"Why, is something going on?"

"Well, we shouldn't really tell you this but… do you remember the knowledge-eating monster?" Nevra asked.

"The one who ate all the library's books and whose escape I was unjustly accused of?" I replied drily, "I have a vague recollection, yes."

"Well,” he continued, ignoring my sarcasm. “What you don't know is that those monsters come in couples. There was a second book, and we have found out today that it’s disappeared."

"WHAT?" I cried out alarmed.

"Shhh" Ezarel gestured for me to shut up. "You shouldn’t have said anything, Nevra."

"Don't worry Erika, Miiko asked us to keep our eyes open but the book has probably just been misplaced. Everything is going to be fine."

I wanted to believe him, but it wasn’t the first time I doubted the Guard’s judgment on important decision. Who would ever hide a monster who ate knowledge… in a book… in a library?

“The library is still mostly empty. If this monster really escaped, he would try to eat people’s memories like the previous one tried to do with me,” I pointed out nervously.

“Nah, this one is different, they are complementary. While one erases the stories it feeds on, the other makes them real. Anyway, we must run, see you later.” Ezarel said while they walked away.

I was left dumbfounded, what did it mean that the monster made the stories real? I kept ruminating on that thought for a while until someone broke me away from my thoughts.

“May I have this dance?”

I smiled at Leiftan, offering him my hand as he led me to the dancefloor. A slow, soft music was playing, and I tentatively put my arms on his shoulders, while he held my waist. It was probably the most intimate we’d ever been with each other, but it didn’t feel awkward. It felt right.

“I like the wings,” I said after a moment looking at the white attachments behind his back, “they’re so beautiful, they almost seem real.”

“You look really pretty in your costume.” He said changing the subject, slightly tightening his hold on my waist. “What is it?”

“T-thanks…” I said feeling some heat rise to my cheeks. “Have you ever heard of the white swan? The story is called Swan Lake.”

“No, will you tell me about it?” he asked looking genuinely interested.

“It’s about this princess, Odette, who is cursed by an evil sorcerer to live her life as a woman during the night and a swan during the day, unless she finds someone who swears to truly love her forever.” I explained. “I’ve always loved this story, since the moment my parents took me to the ballet when I was a child. But I… am a little embarrassed to admit that I also cried in the theatre.”

“Oh… is it a sad story? She doesn’t find love?”

“She does. As in many fables, a beautiful prince falls madly in love with her. But there are different versions of the ending. Sometimes love is not enough to save them.”

The music was about to end, but he hugged me closer, almost unwilling to let me go. I felt a little embarrassed and tried to keep the conversation going.

“I’ve always felt bad for Odette. Having to live a half-life, hiding, not being able to be herself completely. It would be so difficult to find true love, someone who could love her real self. What a terrible fate.”

He didn’t reply, as if lost in thought.

“I-I’m sorry, Erika. I… have to go check…” he stuttered after a minute, when the piece we were dancing to ended.

“The library monster,” I helped him, he was probably struggling to find an excuse to keep the secret. “I know. Nevra already spilled the beans. Do you need help…?”

“You’re kind.” He smiled his usual, sweet smile. “There’s no need. Please enjoy the party.”

Bowing down, he took my hand, leaving a small kiss on its back, and walked away.

"That wasn't very aengelic of him," replied a mysterious and somewhat ironic voice at my back. I turned around to find that man, the Phantom. "Running, leaving his dance partner all alone on the dancefloor. But a man’s loss is another man’s gain, may I?"

Without waiting for my reply, he took me in his arms and led us through the next dance. The music was slightly more upbeat, and there was something wild in the rhythm, almost primordial. I was strangely intrigued by this unknown man, there was something familiar in him, but I wasn’t going to drop my guard. His eyes meant danger, and his hold on me felt vaguely predatorial.

"The Light Guard is always busy, even during festivals.” I replied. “Do I know you?"

“Ah yes, the Guard and its mysterious business. I bet they have a lot of important, questionable tasks to attend to.” He commented, ignoring my question.

His answer surprised me. I knew not everyone at the village, and even in the Guard, was a big fan of the way things were handled around here. I knew I hadn’t been most of the time. No one was always vocal about it though.

“Mysterious business? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“We all know the Light Guard is not very forthcoming with the rest of the people here.”

“Yes, but…” I tried to play devil’s advocate. “They have their reasons most of the time… Safety and…”

I noticed then that he had led us to the refreshments area. Breaking his hold on me, he turned towards the pitchers of strange liquids.

“So, do you think the Guard cares about everyone’s safety?” He continued, while mixing odd coloured drinks.

“Of course,” I replied carefully, accepting the amber coloured drink he was handing me. It tasted sweet, almost like honey.

“So, let’s say there was a threat in the City of El, they would share the news with everyone?”

“It has happened in the past.” I pointed out.

“Only when the problem was too evident to hide. But what if that wasn’t the case. Let’s say there’s a monster running around right here, right now. Would they stop the festivities to keep people safe or would they keep up appearances until it was too late?”

I felt my blood getting cold in my veins. An awful suspicion started forming in my brain.

“Who the hell are you? What have you done?”

“A friend.” He simply replied, his lips twisting in a cruel smile. “I’ve done nothing really, except borrowing an old book from the library. Just an innocent prank. A little naughtiness should be expected during this night.”

“But…” I started to protest, looking around panicked. That’s when I noticed something strange was going on. A nearby boy dressed as a ghost, went to grab a glass and his hand passed through it without being able to touch it. He’d become incorporeal. A girl I had noticed before who was wearing beautiful, colourful make up that made her look like an Alfeli, turned into the companion right before my eyes.

“People think that when the mask drops you can see the real nature of who’s behind it, but it’s not true. It’s when you wear a mask and you’re not forced to fit in that you are really unmasked. You can be yourself and follow your instincts, go after what you really want.” I felt frozen on the spot, his words made no sense to me. “And you… what is it that you really want?” He whispered almost seductively in my ear. “You’re welcome for the drink, by the way.”

When I finally managed to turn around, he had disappeared. I didn’t have time to look for him though, because that’s when all hell broke loose. Everyone started turning into the very thing they were masked as. Most people had chosen to dress up as companions or characters of famous fables, but other had picked bolder and scarier options. I could see zombies, witches, monsters of different kinds.

OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod….

I had to do something, but I had no idea of what. Was I about to turn too? It didn’t look like it, I was feeling fine. You’re welcome for the drink he had said, had he given me a protective potion? Why?

It wasn’t time to ask myself questions I didn’t know the answer to. It was time to run.

I took off without really knowing where to go, but soon stopped in my tracks.

I should’ve probably gone looking for the guys, but where could I find them? I knew they had been on patrol and I knew the spot each of them was usually assigned to.

The beach, the edge of the forest, the gardens or the cave.

All these places… I didn’t know what to expect. I knew there were things planned for this evening. I’d heard rumours of a haunted house, a maze and other unknown spooky surprises.

And what if the guys had also been turned? Was it safer if I went back inside HQ and tried to solve this problem by myself? But I had no idea how.

That moment an image popped into my mind. His face. No matter what, I had to find him. It was what my heart was telling me to do.

Now I knew exactly where to go. Without wasting another moment, I started running.

---

This story has 5 different epilogues, each corresponding one of the LIs.

#beemoov fanzine #eldarya #lance #ashkore #leiftan #ezarel #nevra #valkyon #my writing #behind the mask

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astrogone · 4 years

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* ﹙✧﹚ : ❝ @godbanes ❞ / . . .

all donovan can do is listen as sobs wreck jack’s body, as he slowly begins to control his breathing, eyes melting into donovan’s. softness and an unnamed feeling glaze his own as he keeps wiping away the tears, his own heart beating rapidly in his chest as the claw of anxiety reaches in with its poisonous thoughts: you made him cry, you’re at fault, you’re disturbed, he’ll leave you now, he’s sick of you. even as jack kisses his hand, as he repeats the word never, donovan doubts it. he’s ready to retract within himself and begin to ignore the overwhelming emotion that takes over; unlike anxiety, it actually makes him sick. relief. he’s overcome with relief. jack’s kisses on his skin feel cold and refreshing and donovan wants to feel them with his own, wants to wrap his arms around jack again and hold him there and make him promise to never fucking leave.

“ the world— ? ” confusion takes over before he can pull jack into his arms. he doesn’t expect the rage, the loss in control. complete stillness controls him and he’s left staring at where jack was sitting next to him, barely hearing his steps as he exits the garage. again, the claw wins and his heart begins racing once more as his thoughts run wild, faster than the rain hitting the ground, faster than the lightning colouring the night sky in silver tendrils. donovan flinches when jack’s voice raises above the wrath of nature and he sharply turns his head to see him screaming at a god who did nothing but wrong him. the demigod never dared to ask more than what jack offered to tell him. most of the stories he knew from bedtime stories, from cartoons and proverbs, though donovan always reminded himself that there is more to jack than a fun story to tell before sleep; the confirmation is right in front of him, ringing in his ears like a drum.

when jack falls to the ground that’s when donovan raises from the mattress, rushing to the other but ultimately freezes again just outside the door. jack is in love with donovan and he’d yelled it at a god. donovan feels every bit of divinity inside of him boil to surface, ichor filling his mouth. his heart calls out for jack and makes every nerve in his body ache for jack’s touch, makes him want to hear it again. and again. and again. there is someone in the world who loves him. there is someone in the world who would take down a god out of love for him. donovan’s knees buckle as he steps closer, welcoming the rain. its drops hide how his own eyes burn when he rests an arm around jack’s shoulders and whispers, “ we’re both free. ”

donovan never knew love. ever since he was young, the people supposed to protect him turned out to be the ones hurting him most. his mother opened the door to so many strangers and allowed them to cause him pain, to make him fear everyone. silenced, beaten, thrown, touched when he wanted nothing but peace – all of these added to the poison his father let him inherit. the one good fucking thing dionysus ever did was give him the power to free himself from nadya’s leash. madness, madness, he always felt one step away from falling into unbridled madness. when him and jack found each other, donovan was held together only by the maenads who struggled to understand him and give him comfort. jack appeared into his life just before donovan was about to lose all hope.

now they are both free. from gods, from fears, from everything.

“ come on, ” a quiet but firm command as he forces jack up on his feet. when jack is standing up, donovan grabs his cheeks and rests their foreheads together, burning determination in those mismatched eyes of his. “ look at me. you’ve always been free. no fucking god can control you, or me. ” donovan runs his thumbs over jack’s cheeks, not caring for how the rain drenches them to the skin. he’ll give jack everything he has, even if it’s not much. a bruised heart, a broken sense of self, a twisted sense of affection. but jack will have it all. “ and so long as i’m here, i’ll fucking kill them with my own hands if they hurt you. you got it? ” the words are almost a low growl, a threat to any gods listening. a sober donovan is a deadly weapon, enough to make a god look away and shudder. poison boils in his blood and he has to breathe deeply to control the rush of power. his hands tremble on jack’s face but he doesn’t pull away. instead he pulls him closer and seals his lips with a hard kiss, hands snaking up to jack’s wet hair and holding it tightly. the rain slows down as their lips move together, warmth and cold melting together, and they do not stop until the storm slows to a sweet pitter-patter. only then does donovan pull away, every inch of his body shaking with the cold, with the emotion and desire that fills him.

“ you have me, jack. you have me. ” all of me. i love you, too.

𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒. That is all Jack feels as he stares blankly at his twitching fingers, his sore skin that is covered with useless dirt and emerald stains from torn out grasses. It has always been that way. ( WITH THESE TALES, THESE SONGS, THESE TERRIBLE “WHAT IF”’S, THE WORLD MADE ME BECOME THE WINTER, THE THIEF OF SKIN AND FIRE. I WAS MADE TO STEAL THE LIGHTS AND BURN THE BODIES, AND ALL I CAN FEEL IS N O T H I N G. ) Perhaps, his aches speak in the whimpers of desperation, yet while the thunders only tear the sky apart, he expects some sort of glory from his outburst at God. He had never once dared himself to look at the sky and smile, laugh as if there are no eyes in the stars, the clouds, anywhere where there are heavenly homes for the powerful, trembling hearts. ( The deities were the ones to had invented abandonment, and it is tragically beautiful for what it can do to anyone so easily. )

Though there is nothing out there for Jack to gain. Nothing but r a g e. He continues to slaughter the plants beneath his body, wash his hands with more of nature’s haunted colours, shaken with violence at the sinking realization that no matter what he will do or say to God, hymns will only be water to the dried throats, sacrifices will only be food to the starving bellies; he soon learns that to become a God means to be forever hungry for what can not be defined as enough to their celestial mind. Why would God want to create the Universe? ( To create what will simply devolve into things for Him to feast on before the apocalypse. ) A dark limb reaches over to his shoulder and he flinches at the sudden contact, heavier than the rain it is, it is skin and warm and terribly familiar, yet he can not find himself moving away from it. Instead, he whimpers loudly, believing that this will be the moment God have enough of him. He shuts his eyes and meets the darkness, his final end.

Then a voice comes.

“We’re both free.”

Jack slowly turns and finds the man on his knees beside him. He stares in confusion when, at first, he does not recognize Donovan; the absence of his shit-eating grins, the ever consuming mischief in his eyes. There is only understanding from a place he does not know fully of, but can still sense its loneliness and suffering. It reminds Jack that he is not alone... that Donovan is here. Remembering how he had let him go at the garage, he gasps, now recognizing Donovan at last. He clings onto him once again, whispering only apologies to him for making him think that he would leave him, for making him believe that he would even think of abandoning him; then eventually, for existing. Though the burning words die down in his throat at the command as he is placed back to his feet. The world sways with everything spinning while he is standing perfectly still, and suddenly, Jack finds his forehead resting against Donovan’s and his gaze melts into the determination that is made out of love.

With widen eyes, his pants heavy and painful, he listens to Donovan, looks at him like he only matters to him in this damned universe. Donovan does matter to him. The world Jack stands on is no longer a place where he can find anything familiar to him, yet there is Donovan, his shadows, his dreams, his home. Donovan has always been a reason why he can endure the endings of the days, the beginnings from something tragic, because he had taught him believe in himself through the light to darkness, despite the harshness in his words. Still, they belong to love so twisted and distorted, and that will always be enough to Jack. So he nods furiously when asked at the end, unable to speak when he is amazed at how hellbent Donovan is to protect him from the world, both mankind and deities. From Hell to Heaven, Donovan would be there for and with him, and as Jack let his hands on his cheeks, he hopes Donovan knows he would do the same to him, regardless of anything.

They are truly free, and because of the love they have for each other, they are unstoppable.

Jack kisses Donovan back, softly moaning at the grip in his hair. His hands land on his back, clenching his shirt and skin as he presses his weight against to him, wanting to be held more closely to his heart. Listen to it sing out of joy while the deities watch their act from the above and the below. This is love, he thinks, feeling the rush of euphoria through him from Donovan who have done nothing but given kindness to him. This is love, he believes, and there are tears dwelling in his eyes again, though not out of pain, but joy that he can relearn what love is. Understand it better that Donovan, and only him, is what love means, and nothing and no one can ever take that meaning away from him. Not when Jack is still standing and breathing, despite it all. ( LET THE DEITIES WITNESS US AS WE SPILL OUR BLOOD IN THE NAME OF DEVOTION. WE WILL MAKE OUR OWN WORSHIPS, TURN THEM INTO WARMTH, AND WE WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH IT FOR EACH OTHER TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER. )

“Jack... have Donovan t-too,” he replies to him, breathless, feeble, but the words still stand as a promise. He notices how the rain slows then and when he glances at the sky, he weakly smiles, feeling only the eyes of Donovan on him. Nothing and no one else, but just Donovan. His shadows, his dreams, his home. “Let’s go - let’s go home,” mutters Jack, looking back at Donovan and himself. He winces, fully taking in how soaked both of their clothes are. He wonders if Donovan have any extra clothes. Though to think he would wear them, he shuffles his feet in shyness while absently, he takes him by his hand, letting his warmth take him in the gentlest way possible. He leads themselves back to the garage, neither of them being in front of or behind each other, but they walk by each other’s side. They are together now, so together, they will live, and together, they will be okay in the end.

Donovan Dobroshtan and Jack Alez, the Universe’s impossible lovers.

#abuse cw #child abuse cw #long post cw #//#( BRUH BRUH BRUH BRUH SDHJSJDKSKSKS )#( UNLESS YOU GOT SOMETHING TO ADD I THINK WE CAN END THIS THREAD!?!!? )#( THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL I REALLY JUST AM CRYING OVER THESE TWO FUCKERSSHDHSJDJSJDJSJD... . . . . . . .. . . )#˚* ੈ✧ ‧ ( ic . ) maybe paper is paper ; maybe kids will be kids #( * jack . )#godsbane

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darkpoisonouslove · 4 years

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“Steel Becomes Stronger Wrapped in Flames but What about Your Soul?” Chapter 1

Summary: Valtor is fighting Oritel on a missions his mothers sent him on to retrieve an artifact for them. But only when he admits to himself that it isn't them he's fighting for he manages to gain the upper hand. He is faced with a hard choice when winning the battle would mean losing his reason for fighting it in the first place, though.

I'm... not sure what really happened here. The original direction of this was perhaps lost a little but hey, we get Valtor x Griffin angst from Valtor's PoV for a change so...

The blades clashed and the sound entered his body, his veins to tangle with the adrenaline flowing through them. It was exactly what he needed, what he’d craved for so long now. Training didn’t have the same effect when there was no opponent against him and he wouldn’t waste his time sparring with any of his covenmates who couldn’t rise to his level no matter how hard they tried. Not that Oritel was a match either but it was all he could hope for nowadays. Marion was not on the battlefield now that she was pregnant and Griffin was obviously avoiding him which he preferred to keep that way. He didn’t need the feel of her magic all around him when a physical fight was so much more rewarding and helped focus his restless energy and pour it into the battle.

“Feeling tired?” Valtor mocked when Oritel barely blocked a swing that would’ve cut him in half a moment later. He was bursting with energy, not only because he had the power source Oritel could only get to feel when his wife was around, but also because he had undying anger in him to fuel him through everything and he knew how to use it, too. It would take extinguishing his rage to beat him and nothing could do that. Something impossible would have to happen to defeat that emotion that had turned more or less into a companion, a home when he had nothing else. “I may let you die with Marion and not make her suffer your demise if you surrender now,” Valtor pushed to even the playing ground as much as possible. It wouldn’t be a challenge otherwise.

“I’ll never lose to you,” Oritel seethed just like he’d expected he would, the self-righteous anger coming out on cue as just another proof he was so easy to manipulate and steer right where Valtor wanted him to go. And once he lost himself in the raging sea he didn’t know how to navigate, he would lose his control too, throwing caution and planning to the wind and diving into battle headfirst to seek his death and prove Griffin had been wrong to join him and his friends in their hopeless quest to win against the Coven, to win against him. “My resolve is stronger than yours and so is my sword,” Oritel growled like a madman and pushed him away before attacking with all the force he could muster while Valtor’s words were in his mind and were doing their job of tearing his confidence and any beginning of a strategy to shreds.

Valtor evaded the strike with ease, making Oritel look like a fool as he lost his balance and almost fell, the force he’d wanted to hit him with becoming a rock that was weighing him down instead.

“Your sword won’t save you no matter how special you believe it to be,” Valtor taunted, hiding behind the smug sound like Mother Lysslis had taught him to. It wouldn’t do to show his own outrage at the fact that Oritel dared to challenge him just because he had a spark of the Dragon Fire woven in his weapon. That power belonged to Valtor only and he’d make sure to take it from Marion too. “The Dragon Fire isn’t yours to use,” he said, unable to contain himself. He was done with having things taken away from him. It was him who’d take from now on.

“It’s not yours either,” Oritel bit back. “It’s Marion’s and you’re just a fraud, an experiment gone wrong that should’ve never happened in the first place but those three witches don’t have any sense left, just their pursuit of power,” Oritel spoke, making his inner flames burn and reach to get out to prove him wrong. His Dragon Fire was just as natural as Marion’s and even more powerful. It was the winning side of that opposition and he’d show them all how wrong they were to think otherwise. Death was always stronger than life and he’d teach them that lesson the hard way as they didn’t leave him any other option with their refusal to see it and accept it.

“Even your wife won’t be able to save you,” Valtor glowered at him, giving himself a pause for a second to let the words sink in before attacking again. It was time to put an end to that fight. He’d drawn it out to entertain himself but he was getting bored, not to mention annoyed by Oritel’s point of view on the matter that he neither appreciated, nor had the desire to hear. They weren’t in a romance novel, that was for damn sure.

Oritel blocked his strike with ease this time, his gaze pushing into Valtor’s just like their swords were as they were trying to cut through each other. “That’s where you’re wrong,” Oritel said, his voice too calm as he was too sure of himself and Valtor didn’t like having the balance of power being tipped away from him as if he’d had the rug pulled from under his feet. He’d fallen too hard already to do it once again. “Marion is my strength and as long as I have my family to fight for, you will never be able to defeat me,” Oritel said, the fire in his gaze so familiar it made Valtor wish to break his eyes to pieces so that they wouldn’t be able to harbor what had once been a reflection of his own but was now only a broken memory that cut through him and made his muscles weaker, and especially his heart. “My sword will always be stronger than yours because it’s forged and yielded with love.”

“We’re not in high school, Oritel,” Valtor said, choosing to focus on the naivety and ridiculousness of the words instead of on the feelings they carried. Keeping your focus on what mattered was key for winning and he couldn’t forget that lesson after his mothers had made sure to drill it into his head. His education may have been more unconventional but that was exactly what would bring him victory. “Save your speeches for the drama club,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to keep out the memories of the words that could’ve passed for poetry–the most beautiful poetry in the world–he’d been saying himself some time ago. The element of past was the important part in that thought. It was all behind him now and he was a weapon himself now just like he’d always been. And he would gladly go through Oritel if that was what he needed to do to accomplish his goal.

Valtor pulled back, just for a moment, just to gather the momentum he needed, and jumped right back into battle with a series of smooth, swift strikes that had enough force in them to cut through a fortress but Oritel had no problem avoiding or blocking them, sending sparks flying from their clashing blades. Sparks that only set Valtor on fire with the rage surging through him and almost made him release his magic to see Oritel burn as well but that would be a hit against himself and his own ego so he held back, holding on to the last ounce of respect he had for himself.

“You’d think differently if you’d felt anything similar,” Oritel said, allowing himself the smugness over the trap he’d pushed him into, daring him to prove him wrong when he knew he couldn’t. Or rather, he wouldn’t. There was an easy way to prove him wrong but it would mean sacrificing his pride and he’d already lost too much to all of his enemies, old and new. “But I don’t expect you to understand,” Oritel spoke again, daring to insinuate he wasn’t human enough to have love flowing through his veins and it made him wish to let out the demon in his essence and make him regret ever challenging him and trying to make him admit things that would unravel him or choose to accept the monstrosity being pushed on him from everywhere. “I’m fighting for a cause, and you’re just fighting for yourself,” he threw in his face, so lost in his tirade he didn’t realize he’d pushed him past his limit. But that was okay with Valtor. It gave him the power to make him pay for it.

He used the energy, the madness he got from the image of her invading his system and put it towards defeating Oritel and making him cower away rather than on keeping the memories of her warmth and his desire to give her everything out of his head. It made him reel, the feeling of pain and sadness intoxicating and charging him with determination because without her he had nothing and he’d never been satisfied with that. So if he couldn’t have her, he’d have what he’d wanted for the two of them.

He’d have the world at his feet and everyone begging him for mercy and he’d have none for them like they hadn’t had any for him. He would make them all regret ever getting in his way and hurting him. And he would make her see her mistake, would make her wish to come back to him, would make her give him her heart again. And he’d prove her wrong, too, by keeping it safe even when he had all the power to destroy her and tear it to shreds. But he’d never been the monster she–and everyone else but that hardly mattered to him when it was the judgment in her eyes that made him bleed and threw him in pain–had tried to make him out to be.

He was so fast, like a lightning, almost like Mother Tharma’s winds, and Oritel didn’t even see him coming, his sword forced out of his hands before he could comprehend what was happening. Valtor had him pinned against the wall, the dangerous edge of his blade pressed against his throat and needing just a little push to sink in and spill his blood. And Oritel had already pushed him too far. Not to mention the poetic justice in it for all that Oritel had dared spit in his face.

He was more than tempted to see the look on his face as death took over him and realization of the pain Marion would have to go through sank in. And the thought of having Marion suffering the same fate he’d had and being weakened by the loss of her partner had him convinced to press the sword harder in Oritel’s neck and see him bleed out slowly, his nostrils flaring from the smell of the first drops of blood as he nicked the skin and the widening of Oritel’s eyes to accommodate the immense terror that filled them luring him even more into the idea to have someone else in pain other than himself.

“Valtor,” Griffin’s cry cut through him worse than Mother Belladonna’s frost that was always so striking against the heat of his inner flames. It made his hold on his control slip, his hand shaking and forcing him to withdraw the blade a little to make sure he wouldn’t make a mistake. He couldn’t let her see him so lost in his thirst for vengeance. It would give her the wrong idea. And she already knew how much she’d hurt him so his last argument to hold his position and let his intentions play out crumbled under the logic that had been her religion and she’d made him believe in as well, taught him how to control his impulses and use his brain, be smarter and more strategical. And his plan would crumble if he affirmed her belief he was a monster like the three that had raised him.

She wasn’t supposed to be there. He couldn’t explain her presence, couldn’t find a logic to her showing up only now if she’d been there the whole time. Had she been hiding from him or had she not sensed his presence? Which answer was less terrible? And what had made her come out? Worry for Oritel or worry for him and his soul, worry for their love that would die if he allowed himself to kill now?

He let go of Oritel and threw his sword on the ground, for it was useless to him. He wouldn’t need it ever again because he’d proven he was stronger than Oritel but he couldn’t fight him, couldn’t hurt him if he wanted to keep the source of that strength alive. Her eyes were already full of too much doubt, and the pleading... The pleading had that edge of confusion that ripped through him with the uncertainty of being able to give her what she wanted. Because he couldn’t tell what she wanted anymore. She’d told him she’d wanted a better world for dark magic users and she’d told him she’d wanted him, but she’d ran away from him when he’d tried to give her exactly that and she was now begging him, silently, her eyes torturing his soul with the watery agony in them, not to hurt their enemies. But maybe they were just his enemies now. And he had no idea how to deal with the fact that they were her friends because that put them on opposite sides and made him fight her when she was what he was fighting for.

“Griffin,” he said, allowing himself to say her name with reverence at least once more because he wasn’t certain he’d be able to do that the next time he saw her. She was avoiding him and the fires she’d set in his soul when she’d left him were burning bad enough to churn even the love he held for her so he wasn’t certain he’d be able to keep it alive for much longer. It was the last time he could promise her he wouldn’t hurt her and everything that came in the future was more than uncertain and unstable like he hadn’t been used to it being when she’d been in his embrace, grounding him and showing him what he truly wanted to have.

He left without the artifact he’d come for. He couldn’t make himself fight her for it when he knew that could be the last time he was capable of making that choice while he still wasn’t blinded by the fire burning in his core. Even if he risked having it extinguished by his mothers. Perhaps that would be better as it would leave him no opportunity to hurt her. Even when she was the one thing that had the power to hurt him worse than any sword would ever manage.

#winx club #winx valtor #winx oritel #winx griffin #griffin x valtor #marion x oritel #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my writing

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 5 years

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Why Arya?

@elaspn asked me my opinion on why it was Arya to kill the Night King when everyone expected Jon to do it, as Jon was always the character who focused on fighting the Night King. Now, I am a humble barely-more-than-casual fan of Game of Thrones, I never read meta or theories, but if you care about my opinion then I’ll try to figure out why I think it makes sense.

I think that Arya was the one to do it because she was the only one who wasn’t afraid of death.

The Night King represented Death, obviously. While the Night King isn’t Death, because Death isn’t something or someone, because Death has many faces and it will always have new faces, of those many faces the Night King was clearly one of the most important ones. He was one the most important and, well, blatant agents of Death in the current picture (although not the only one. Who is, after all, the real winner of the battle of Winterfell? Who was gleeful when the dead breached the Wall? Who wanted and expected the battle to go exactly like this, with “monsters” dead and her enemies weakened by great losses? The narrative seemed to paint people like Cersei and Sansa as sort of stupid for caring so much about politics, but Cersei played her cards right...)

And Arya trained with the Faceless Men, who worshipped the Many-Faced God, a god of Death. While she didn’t stay with them and eventually embraced her identity as Arya Stark again - because she just couldn’t align with death... - she learned Death there. By the end of her journey, she wasn’t afraid of Death, because she knew it intimately. She wasn’t just flirting with Gendry when she told him that she knew Death, and was looking forward to seeing this one face of Death. She meant that.

Everyone else was scared. Gendry and Sandor Clegane both had lines where they said that their enemy was Death, and how could they defeat Death? Jon, too, has always been extremely brave, but brave doesn’t mean he’s not scared. Theon got the closest (and in fact stalled the Night King long enough to allow Arya to arrive before he could kill Bran) because while he was afraid of death, now that he had Bran’s forgiveness, gratitude and acknowledgement that Winterfell was his “home”, that he belonged there with the Starks, he was no longer as afraid of dying as he ever was before, and instead of running away he ran at the Night King, and stared into his eyes. He’d been a coward before, but now he could look at Death in the eyes right before he died.

Arya was a stubborn little girl who never cared for what others said she could or couldn’t do. Ever since her first mentor from Braavos, she was fascinated by that culture from far way that didn’t believe in the multiple gods of Westeros, but the one god of Death. She went on a journey that made her know Death, and she became Death herself, wearing some of the faces of the Many-Faced God. (It’s likely that everyone who’s ever been on her list, even the ones who she later took out of it, will die before the end of the show. I don’t think it’s a coincidence Sandor Clegane and Beric Dondarrion recently referenced being on her list, we’re supposed to remember that Arya is herself an agent of Death against those who hurt or endangered her family. There’s some kind of magic in her list, a magic that comes out of herself. She is a manifestation of the Many-Faced God - after all Death is not just the enemy, Death is a facet of life.)

During those seasons, I was a bit confused by Arya’s storyline, because it didn’t seem that they had a real significance for the general storyline, and it almost seemed that the important thing of her storyline with the Faceless Men was the end of it, when she rejects being no one and embraces being herself again. Sure, she learned tricks and became skilled at fighting, but it seemed to me that the storyline was kind of redundant after a while. But I guess that it makes sense now, because all of that was a journey that allowed Arya to know Death enough that she wasn’t afraid of it anymore. Not in the sense that she was emotionless in front of Death and accepted it calmly, like the Faceless Men wanted her to be, but in the opposite sense. She didn’t give up her anger or her protectiveness for her loved ones, instead she directed those into telling Death “not today”. She has learnt to acknowledge that Death is just a facet of life, that it’ll come tomorrow or the day after or the day after, so she’s not afraid of it anymore... but she is still too stubborn to accept it today. Saying “not today” to Death is the first lesson she learnt...

What about Jon? Now, let’s make a little detour. The episode wasn’t just dark because the director of photography hates people with a bad tv, but because it was really a fight of darkness versus light, and darkness almost won. The Night King wanted to bring an endless night to the world, and the living won thanks to a fundamental help from the Lord of Light. Who only gives the minimum contribution possible, of course, but was still fundamental. The Lord of Light brought Beric Dondarrion back to life a fuckton times because he needed to serve his purpose of protecting Arya in the end (in a way reminiscent of Hodor’s death, I might add, which makes it even more heartbreaking).

The Lord of Light also granted Melisandre what she needed to be there to fulfill her purpose. I wonder whether the power to fire up the Dothraki’s swords was because she gained the trust of the people there and they let her inside the castle, where she needed to be to encourage Arya... She also was able to set fire to the trenches only when she was about to get killed, because she couldn’t die yet. She died once her purpose was fulfilled, just like Beric. (And I wonder if ser Davos forgave, or at least understood, her at the end, as he realized that nothing she’d ever done had been out of malice, but she was really inextricably chained to a mission that she could see only a few glimpses of it but that she couldn’t understand in its entirety. She made mistakes because she went through her mission through trial and error, never knowing who exactly had which role in the picture until the very end, only knowing that she needed to fulfill the mission and that she’d die once she’d fulfilled it. She wasn’t a fanatic, she was an agent of the Lord of Light, and her destiny was a tragic one, because while everyone else has the possibility to say “not today” to Death - or to choose not to, like Theon -, she never had that possibility. Someone like Theon knew he’d die today because he made choices that brought him there to sacrifice his life for Bran, but those choices were for him to make.)

I wonder what that means for Jon, because the Lord of Light also brought him back, but obviously his purpose wasn’t just to set things up so that Arya and the Night King would be in the same place, at the same time. If that had been his sole purpose, he would have died before the dawn, too, like Beric and Melisandre. Then again, just because the Night King has been killed doesn’t mean that the fight of life against death, of light against darkness, is over. It’s never over, because one can never win, one exists with the other.

Of course, Jon has just discovered his real parentage, and that probably projects him straight into a fuckton of other prophecies about dragons and Targaryens. I wonder if it’s symbolic that he was unable to reach Bran and the Night King because of the dead dragon... (it probably is.)

#game of thrones #got spoilers

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alligaytorrr-reviews · 5 years

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A Retrospective on Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

Being someone whose online presence began in 2006, gaining a peripheral knowledge of the Ace Attorney series was unavoidable. Still, I knew relatively little for quite a while: I knew that there were attorneys, and that two of them were named Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth; I knew (from the many memes) of “Objection!”; and I knew that at one point, Phoenix cross-examines a parrot. This, along with its popularity in general, was enough to give me a mild interest in the series, but not one strong enough to inspire me to ever make the effort to try it out, at least not until that effort became considerably easier with the release of a free demo for Dual Destinies on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Everything about this demo instantly endeared the series to me: the immediately charming characters, the excellently funny writing, and the series’ hallmark rush of endorphins from uncovering a lie and watching a cornered witness squirm. I had been in the market for something new to play, as I would shortly be spending three months studying abroad and knew in my down time I’d want the comfort of sitting in bed with my 3DS, and this demo solidified Ace Attorney as that something new. Being about to leave the country, I unfortunately had no time to track down a physical copy of the then-nine-year-old first game in the series, limiting my selection to what was available through the 3DS eShop: Dual Destinies.

Dual Destinies, being the fifth main entry in the series, is by no means an entry point. But it was mine, and I fell in love with it. My first playthrough was overwhelmingly positive. I was enamored with everything about it, completely surprised to learn that beneath the often wacky exterior, both of the characters and the plot, there was a real depth to the game. I even considered it among my top ten favorites of all time. Later in the year, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy would release on the 3DS eShop, and I would also acquire a copy of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Through playing them, I would learn that this depth is the core of the series’ identity – that is, fun, lighthearted, and clever murder mysteries hiding truly emotional storytelling and excellent character arcs. I would also learn that all of those games were better at this than Dual Destinies, as my second playthrough of it was overwhelmingly unremarkable. My third playthrough, just recently completed, seemingly confirmed this and resulted in a 3,500 word critical essay exploring how the game shoots itself in the foot by attempting to do to much and succeeding at none of it. Yet, unbelievably, as I spent this time elaborating on my negative feelings, I found I had more to say about my positive ones. This doesn’t mean the game doesn’t do too much, because, oh, it does. But there’s just enough good in Dual Destinies that the end result is not one that entirely fails to succeed at what it attempts, just one that fails to capitalize fully on its potential.

To understand Dual Destinies, it’s necessary to understand where the Ace Attorney series stood just before its release. The original trilogy of games is frequently and rightfully lauded for its stunningly well done ending, which manages to neatly wrap up major plot points and give nearly every character arc a satisfying conclusion – namely, that of main character Phoenix Wright. For all intents and purposes, Ace Attorney could have ended right there, and series creator Shu Takumi indeed intended as much. When it was decided that a new game would be produced, however, Takumi smartly breathed life into it by introducing an almost entirely new cast for what became Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: newcomer lawyer Apollo Justice, along with a new investigation partner, detective, prosecutor, and… Phoenix Wright. Phoenix’s inclusion came at the insistence of Takumi’s colleagues and against his wishes, but I’m of the opinion that the final product works. Thanks to a seven-year timeskip, the game avoids stepping on the toes of his character arc from the original trilogy while managing to still do interesting things with him. His role as mentor to Apollo creates a fine (if not strictly necessary) through line for the series, and the overarching plot of him having been set up to lose his attorney’s badge and working to prove his innocence is a good one. Some complain that Apollo himself never really does much in the game, and this isn’t an inaccurate assessment, but a protagonist whose agency is constantly usurped by people with a better grasp of what’s going on is a great setup for interesting character development. Only, the game never really feels like it’s making that point (and, spoiler alert: Dual Destinies does nothing with that, specifically, either). Rather, the problem is not that Apollo lacks agency in and of itself, but that he lacks agency specifically because at the end of the day, this is not his game – it’s Phoenix’s.

It’s for this reason – that Apollo Justice is not really a story about Apollo Justice – that Dual Destinies raises eyebrows with its first moments. Granted, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is not so much about Phoenix as it is about Miles Edgeworth, but unlike Dual Destinies, its sequel, Ace Attorney: Justice for All, doesn’t immediately introduce a new playable character. This character is Athena Cykes, a fledgling attorney who stands out well enough, being more energetic and chipper than Phoenix or Apollo. The setup for this case, Turnabout Countdown, is one of the more interesting for an introductory episode: a courtroom has been bombed, Apollo’s injuries sustained in the bombing make him unable to lead the case at the last minute, and Athena is thrust into the courtroom alone with her childhood friend’s freedom on the line. The game uses the same shortcut as it has in Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice to help the player connect with Athena (that is, making her terribly nervous) and as a whole, she’s a fine character. It’s nothing about Athena herself that causes unease – it’s the fact that her existing at all begs the question of whether or not Apollo with get justice (pardon the pun) in this game, and if Athena is doomed to suffer the same fate that he did in his debut. The game spares no time compounding these fears, as Athena, struggling in court, is soon saved by none other than Phoenix Wright, who takes over as the playable character halfway through the episode. Not even a full episode into the game, it begs the question of how it will manage to be all that it wants to be: sequel to Apollo Justice, introduction of Athena Cykes, and return of Phoenix Wright. Already, it feels like Apollo has been shoved aside for Athena, who is soon shoved aside for Phoenix. The game will eventually do interesting things with all three, but it never quite assuages the suspicion that it could’ve done better had it narrowed its focus.

Turnabout Countdown now moves Athena into her alternate role as co-counsel (and investigation partner in later episodes), which causes the unfortunate shelving of Trucy Wright, whose relationship with Apollo after the previous game had plenty of unexplored territory that this game is uninterested in touching. For this loss, Athena offers something to gain: the Mood Matrix, this game’s new gimmick. This is a step up from Apollo’s Perceive ability as it involves some amount of critical thinking, but not much. The Mood Matrix is an admirable attempt to innovate and provide new gameplay for trial chapters, but unfortunately only seldom amounts to more difficult thought processes than “a witness wouldn’t normally feel happy when something bad is happening” and “a witness wouldn’t normally feel surprised when nothing surprising is happening.” Additionally, the explanation for how Athena makes it work is a bit goofy – it relies on her “special hearing” and “listening to a witness’ heart,” which feel like clunky ways to describe hyper empathy. Coupled with the sensory overload she’s described as having experienced as a child, it seems obvious Athena could be autistic, but the game doesn’t confirm this, which is a missed opportunity, especially when it results in such awkward ways of describing her “special ability.” The Mood Matrix has no penalty for wrong answers, so in the few instances where there’s a semblance of a challenge to these segments, a guessing game suffices, which doesn’t help it feel like any more of a worthwhile addition to the game. While on the topic of penalties, this episode provides the first opportunity to experience the excellent quality of life improvement to Game Overs, no longer bumping you back to the last save point, but simply starting over from the point where the player failed. Having to hold the B button to skip through a mountain of text you’ve already read has always been more of an annoyance than a fitting punishment. The penalty system is effectively meaningless because of this, but it can still serve as a personal measure of skill, which is ultimately for the better.

The Monstrous Turnabout turns the clock back to show how Apollo (playable this time – a relief) and Athena first meet. Like all “filler episodes,” this provides an opportunity to enjoy some character interactions and have their personalities shine. It feels the most like it belongs in a sequel to Apollo Justice out of any episode in the game, starting with Apollo and Trucy taking a casual trip together, before Apollo is once again turned into errand boy, tasked with tracking down new hire, Athena. The fact that Phoenix has been traveling and looking out for new recruits is a nice detail that fits well with the mentor role he took on in Apollo Justice, and as Ace Attorney has always had a found family aspect to it, seeing the Wright Anything Agency expand is welcome. Plus, Apollo and Athena play off each other well, so though it’s unfortunate to see Trucy out of the spotlight, this episode is an overall win in terms of characterization. The case itself, despite featuring the novel premise of a murderous yokai, is mostly unremarkable. It, like all second episodes, begins the inclusion of investigation chapters, which are disappointingly neutered in this game. While other entries have occasionally whisked you away to your next destination, much of where to go and who to talk to was left up to the player. This game constantly ferries you around to exactly where you need to be, which may have been an attempt to streamline and avoid frustration, but ends up robbing the player of a sense that they’re leading the investigation on their own. None of this is helped by the fact that the Examine option is now restricted to only vital areas, especially a shame because all the scenes in the game are beautifully rendered and look great with the 3DS’s stereoscopic 3D turned on too. This case is also the first to show off the new Revisualization mechanic, which tends to come at the end of a case where a previous game would have had a character talk through “turning the case around” and is a fun way of adding visual flair to those moments.

The most important contribution from this case, though, is the debut of new prosecutor, Simon Blackquill. As with every prosecutor following the first game, he’s equal parts actual character as he is gimmick. This time around, the gimmick is that Blackquill is a convicted felon, standing in court with shackles and having to rely on his pet hawk to deliver evidence and harass others in the room, as opposed to, say, a whip or a cup of coffee. It’s a fun new idea, and the moments where he inevitably breaks out of his shackles in each episode are consistently entertaining. He’s additionally accompanied by his minder and new detective for the game, Bobby Fulbright. It’s unfortunate to not have endlessly unhappy, but always amusing Ema Skye return from Apollo Justice, but Fulbright is a solid replacement. His “commitment to justice” schtick is grating, but in a good way, making him sufficiently annoying but easily enough manipulated into being valuable for the defense’s investigations.

Now is the best time to talk about the DLC case, since after the second episode is the best time to play it. For Ace Attorney’s first foray into paid DLC, this is definitely a success. It enriches the main game, but the five episodes that comprise Dual Destinies are by all means a complete story on their own. For its price and length, it’s certainly worthwhile, especially given that Turnabout Reclaimed is the best case in Dual Destinies. It tells the story of Phoenix’s first case after regaining his attorney’s badge, so I’ll take this opportunity to say that this is a great plot point. The ending of Apollo Justice hinted that it would happen, and it just feels right to see Phoenix back in his iconic blue suit (especially with a spiffy update that helps sell his role as an older, seasoned mentor). As with everything in this game, though, it feels like a plot point that would have been better served by having more time and focus devoted to it, rather than sharing the stage with the development of two more protagonists. Ignoring that, it’s an excellent case on its own. Taking on the defense of an orca in court feels like only a logically step for Phoenix, and in an obvious callback to one of the best moments in the first game he even cross-examines the whale, though an earlier fake-out where you can either request to do the same, only to have your request shot down by the judge, or choose the correct option and have the judge express surprise that you didn’t make the request, cheapens its impact a bit. Sasha Buckler, the second defendant in the case, is the most likeable defendant in the game (besides Athena, anyway), and Marlon Rimes is the only culprit with any degree of pathos this time around. A revenge plot against a whale is a little silly, but at least it’s something, and it’s nice to see Rimes’ coworkers sympathize with his grief and welcome him back to the aquarium openly. More than the rest of the game’s episodes, it feels like it tells an impactful story on its own, something that makes for the best Ace Attorney cases. Pearl Fey also makes a return here, with welcome confirmation that she and Phoenix have remained friends over the eight years since her last appearance, but her personality is bafflingly untouched despite having last been seen as a nine-year-old. Considering the traumatic events she experienced at the end of Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, this is disappointing. Truthfully though, exploring her character any further would have only made an already-bloated game feel even more stuffed.

Periodically, Dual Destinies has been making references to the so-called “dark age of the law.” This is ostensibly a major plot point, but in practice is more the vague idea of a plot point. The game cites the fact that a felon is serving as a prosecutor as evidence of this “dark age,” but this fails to sell the idea well when Blackquill doesn’t particularly stand out among the series’ existing cast of equally wacky prosecutors. It also claims that Phoenix’s case at the center of Apollo Justice’s story, where he presents forged evidence, helped usher in the “dark age,” which at least means that these two games have something to do with each other, but Phoenix never appears to feel any responsibility for this until the end of the game, so it too falls flat. The only time the game actually properly shows what this “dark age” entails is during Turnabout Academy, which is the episode’s strongest point. Professor Aristotle Means, with his “the ends justify the means” preaching, feels like an embodiment of actually tangible ramifications of the “dark age.” That attorneys shamelessly forge evidence to win their cases is bad, but that Means is successfully indoctrinating high school students into his mindset shows the sorry state of the Ace Attorney world’s legal system far better.

Means is instantly hateable, and his ideological differences with victim Constance Courte make him particularly suspect, but the writing does a good job of forcing doubt that anyone could have done it but Juniper Woods, Hugh O’Conner, or Robin Newman. The case constantly jerks you around as the three friends pile lies upon lies in their attempts to take the fall for each other. This is never as emotionally impactful as the game desperately hopes it is, but it makes for a fun case where it’s hard to find your footing, and it’s satisfying when you prove they’re all innocent and get to take down Means, the true culprit. This is chronologically the first case where Athena leads the defense, though it feels as though the themes and character beats could have been the culmination of her character arc. Means frequently sowing doubt in her that she’ll be able to save all three friends without resorting to his underhanded tactics is a fitting challenge for her as a brand new lawyer. It makes for great character development as she remains determined to do things the right way and proves her capabilities to herself when she succeeds.

The game now moves on to its penultimate case, though in actuality The Cosmic Turnabout and the next, Turnabout for Tomorrow, are one large case cut in two. The only notable parts of The Cosmic Turnabout specifically are that it’s the second instance of a bait-and-switch where one lawyer (Apollo this time) starts out the case only to have Phoenix come along and take over, which is frustrating even if it makes sense for story reasons, and the reveal at the last minute that Athena is the only suspect that fits your argument, which is an excellently disheartening moment. Besides those points, these two episodes are best talked about as a whole. Wrapping up the game, they attempt to do nearly all of the legwork for character development, which is far from a new occurrence in Ace Attorney, but no finale has ever had three attorneys and a prosecutor to tackle all at once. Despite this, it’s a great case that, through what could only be a divine miracle, manages to do all of this to some satisfactory degree, though it begs the question yet again of what it could have accomplished if only Dual Destinies would ever stop trying to do so much. In a way, it’s a microcosm of how the game holds itself back.

Turnabout for Tomorrow begins with an investigation chapter featuring Phoenix and daughter Trucy. This is wonderful – Phoenix has always felt like he fit the role of a dad since as early as Justice for All, but it’s nice to have this dedicated father/daughter bonding time, something that hadn’t happened yet. They eventually come upon Apollo conducting his own investigation, having taken a leave of absence from the Wright Anything Agency to pursue the killer of his friend, Clay Terran, alone due to his personal connection to the case. This is the game attempting to provide a backstory for Apollo, but for the most part, the game is content to do little more than say that Apollo did indeed have a friend named Clay, show a brief flashback of the two as middle school students, and hope that it suffices. It doesn’t, but it serves as an excuse for Apollo to potentially be at odds with Phoenix, which provides decent drama and facilitates good development later in the episode. At this point, Trucy decides to stay with Apollo because she’s worried about him, which is an appreciated reminder that the two have a meaningful relationship, even if the rest of the game doesn’t care to explore it, but it does unfortunately cut short the time Phoenix gets to spend with her.

After this, Phoenix returns to the office alone for one of the best moments in the game. He’s lost the trust of one of his employees and his own argument in court helped implicate the other in a crime. It’s a low point, by his own account the loneliest he’s felt since the start of his career, until he finds a letter from his friend and former assistant Maya Fey, reminding him that even without anybody physically by his side, he’s not truly alone. It’s a moment that could only happen to Phoenix now, as he reminisces about years gone by and reflects on how he’s handled his role as a mentor, which is what makes it so spectacular. It feels like proof that there are still interesting things to be done with the character. The strength of this scene is dampened a bit when it turns out that Maya’s letter doubles as an excuse for Pearl to show up. Having Phoenix investigate on his own, determined to do right by his employees, could have been powerful, but Pearl is here instead, presumably for no reason other than that fans like Pearl. Soon after, another familiar face returns, in the form of Miles Edgeworth. This is more forgivable, as it makes sense that the chief prosecutor would involve himself in a case concerning an international spy, and he’s a more fittingly challenging final opponent for Phoenix than Blackquill would have been.

The investigation ends with Athena producing five black Psyche-Locks, a moment that feels like a genuine defeat. Despite spending the game with her, she’s still a relatively new character that the player doesn’t really know too much about, and it’s hard not to question if she may have just been responsible for her mother’s murder after all. It’s a fantastic setup for the excellent trial chapters making use of Edgeworth that follow it. Somehow, after all these years Ace Attorney has never managed (perhaps intentionally) to unseat Edgeworth as the prosecutor who is most in control and confident, and the way that he constantly turns Phoenix’s logic back around to prove his own assertions creates a lot of tension between the player’s attachment to Athena and uncertainty about the truth. It’s a direct reflection of Phoenix’s feelings, and it’s times like this where the player’s and the player character’s emotions are in sync that are Ace Attorney at its finest. The focus of these chapters is an exploration of Athena’s past and her trauma, which isn’t the most nuanced, though probably best for a game that wants to stay mostly relatively lighthearted. Besides, it’s already heart wrenchingly painful to watch her have what appears to be panic attacks throughout the game. The bulk of Athena’s character development comes from this, with Phoenix helping her to overcome her trauma. It’s good enough, but for a playable character, it feels like too much of this development comes at the hands of Phoenix powering through the case to uncover the truth. It feels more befitting of a supporting character, which Athena is not.

Prosecutor Blackquill also receives his backstory here, revealing that he intentionally accepted a false conviction for the murder of Athena’s mother in order to protect Athena as well as the evidence that would help him take down the elusive true culprit. His concern for Athena makes him an immediately more likeable person, and his method of laying in wait for seven years to take down the criminal who wronged him draws obvious parallels to Phoenix and Kristoph Gavin in Apollo Justice, which sets the stage well as the two work together in the final chapter to put an end to the “dark age of the law” that their cases ushered in. The parallel, and even Phoenix’s culpability for helping cause the “dark age,” is never elaborated on as much as it could be, but this conclusion ties together Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies with an overarching plot that works. At this point it’s also revealed that the real Bobby Fulbright is dead, and has been impersonated by the spy and murderer of Athena’s mother known as “the phantom” all along. This twist isn’t particularly impactful as it doesn’t recontextualize much about Fulbright’s behavior aside from his willingness to help the defense.

None of this, however, comes before Apollo gets his development too. This sequence is excellent, which makes it something of a tragedy. If Apollo’s arc had been laid out more gradually and his backstory fleshed out more, rather than it all coming at the tail end of the game, this might have been even more powerful. Still, what’s there is great: this is Apollo’s moment to decide what being a lawyer means to him, and it helps to define him more clearly as a character apart from Phoenix. This is Apollo’s answer to Phoenix’s Farewell, My Turnabout from Justice for All, which is to say it pushes his beliefs to an extreme and challenges him to reexamine what he stands for. For Phoenix, his unwavering belief in his clients is put to the test when he learns that he’s defending an unquestionably guilty man, forcing him to learn to balance that belief with the pursuit of the truth. For Apollo, his endless pursuit of the truth narrows his view to the point that he doubts even his own friend’s innocence, something he shows he desperately doesn’t want with the best line in the game: “It’s fine, Mr. Wright… even a bluff would suit me just fine…” This singular moment does more for Apollo’s character than the entirety of his own game and the rest of Dual Destinies, and it’s ever so satisfying.

It was at this point when originally writing this essay that I realized I had made a terrible, terrible mistake. I had set out to discuss every way Dual Destinies sets itself up for failure in its lofty hopes of doing more than it was capable of, yet as I went through, case-by-case, and examined what worked and what didn’t, I discovered that there was a solid story here and that each of its protagonists is developed – if only a little. Originally, I had thought Apollo got the short end of the stick, receiving only one case that didn’t contribute to any sort of character arc and a paper-thin backstory. What I didn’t see was that the game does manage to use it to facilitate some amount of meaningful growth, even if it comes at the very end of the game. I started to think that maybe Athena was the worst off, and given that she’s supposed to be a main character on par with Phoenix or Apollo, I’m inclined to maintain that view, but as a character, divorced from expectations, her story is a touching one. And as for Phoenix, the game shows that his continued relevance has value.

With one final, fist-pumping-ly exciting triple objection from our lawyers, Dual Destinies just about reaches its end and demonstrates what the game is really about. To some extent, it’s the continuation of Apollo Justice, challenging Apollo to develop as a lawyer. To some extent, it’s the introduction of Athena Cykes, exploring who she is and how she comes to stand confidently in court. And to some extent, it’s the return of Phoenix Wright, as he learns to serve his role as mentor and right the wrongs of his past. Maybe it should have been only one of those things – a more focused story might have made bigger strides for the characters’ development. But above all, Dual Destinies is a story of all three as a team. Unlike how Apollo Justice centered Phoenix over Apollo, no one character outshines both the others this time; each character’s growth is built off their relationships with the each other. Regardless of if this was the right direction, it was the direction nonetheless. In the end, for all its unused potential, Dual Destinies is at the very least, an Ace Attorney game through and through. The themes of discovering who one is and figuring out what one stands for are as present as they’ve ever been, even if they don’t get exactly as much time and attention as they deserve. The game is overly ambitious, certainly, but it crams enough goodness to just barely make it work – that, if nothing else, is an admirable feat.

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iamfina5 · 6 years

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Sigr Edda

Summary: Sigyn of Asgard is the Goddess of Victory and wife to Loki. Or so humans have mistakenly believed for a thousand years. In truth, she is a peasant living in the shadow of Asgard's palace with power she's yet to understand. After inadvertently gaining the affection of the God of Mischief over the course of a few decades, it's not long before she is forced to choose between her loyalty to Asgard and her love for Odin's traitorous son. Her journey in doing so will take her to Midgard, where her reputation as a hero won't save her from a prophecy that spells death for herself and half the universe. Events span from before the first Thor movie to past Endgame.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Marvel Studios.

Part One: Asgard

Chapter One: The Warrior’s Arena

The first time Loki lays eyes on Sigyn, she’s getting her ass kicked.

Or so it seems.

Thor had woken him up before dawn to show him some stupid new move with Mjolnir and dragged him to the Warriors’ Arena, only to find that it’s occupied.

As they step outside the Mead Hall, they notice Haldana, a friend of theirs and sole heir of the Lord Andor. She stands against the wall of the edifice, nervously tapping her foot as she watches the two fighters in the large, sunken arena.

With the colorful rays of light from the sunrise raining over the ring, Loki sees Sif and a woman about his age exchanging vicious blows. Sif continuously knocks the other woman onto the ground, but can never seem to pin her opponent down long enough to end the spar.

Inspecting Sif’s adversary closer, he wonders who she is. She must be a warrior—she’s in the training grounds designated only for warriors, after all—and only nobility can rise to such a position. He knows all the Lords and Ladies of Asgard, so why doesn’t he recognize her?

She’s awfully pretty, too. He can’t imagine he’d simply never noticed her before.

His brother’s booming voice pulls him away from his musings. “What do we have here,” Thor inquires, addressing Haldana as he regards the display before him.

The young goddess turns to look at the men joining her on the side of the arena, apprehensively twisting a lock of her long, golden hair around one finger. Her lips turn down in an anxious frown. “I brought my sister here for a spar because I thought no one would be around at dawn, but then Sif showed up, flew into a rage and challenged her to a duel.”

“Ah, so this is the bastard sibling, then,” Thor remarks, chuckling. “I have heard many a complaint from Sif about her.”

Loki raises an eyebrow at the revelation of the woman’s identity, a bit confused. He had heard Andor’s spurious offspring was a soldier and simply assumed that the child was a man. There were very few female soldiers, after all. Less than a dozen in the entire army.

It’d be awfully impressive if this woman is indeed a soldier. Likewise, it could explain why she’s been able to keep up with Sif for so long. Usually the warrior finishes off her opponents in a matter of a few short minutes, but from what Loki can tell, they’ve been engaged in this skirmish for quite some time.

“Yes,” Haldana sighs. “She’s loathed her ever since we were little. I believe my mother spoke so ill of her that Sif grew to hate her before they even met.”

Both Loki and Thor nod in understanding, knowing well how stubborn Sif can be, but Haldana isn’t looking at them anymore, too engrossed in the fight between her half-sister and best friend. The brothers follow suit, turning their attention back to the arena.

Sif delivers a series of harsh, overhanded blows with her spear. The smaller woman manages to block all of them with her blade, but the force of the hits sends her to the ground, and her longsword slips from her grasp, flying across the ring.

With a victorious cry, Sif beams and spins around to give an extravagant finishing blow. However, as her back is turned, Haldana’s sister duplicates herself and leaves behind her doppelgänger.

Suffice it to say, Loki is floored. He certainly hadn’t expected to share the skill of illusionary magic with an illegitimate peasant girl. Although, he realizes her abilities are clearly lacking as she dashes away from her duplicate just outside of Sif’s peripheral vision, unable to blend into her surroundings.

However, the trick works just as well. Sif brings her spear down on the woman’s copy. By the time the illusion dispels, Haldana’s sister is standing behind Sif with a dagger to her back.

“Ha,” she shouts, a grin of victory across her face. “I’ve got you! Now, yield, you s—”

The woman’s voice breaks off with a howl of pain as Sif’s elbow snaps back and slams into her face. She stumbles back, raising her arm to deflect a stroke from her opponent’s weapon. Once again, they begin trading blows.

Rather loudly, Thor acclaims, “That was quite impressive! I almost thought she’d had her.”

For the first time since their arrival, Loki speaks up. “What are the stipulations of this duel,” he asks, though not quite sure why he’s interested.

“If my sister wins, Sif has to allow her to finish training here for the day,” Haldana discloses. “If she loses, however, she must never return to the Warriors’ Arena and cut off her hair.”

Sif must truly despise this girl, Loki thinks. Asgardian women of all backgrounds prefer to keep their hair long. Short hair is often recognized as a symbol of servitude and low-birth. To make her cut her hair is to rub her nose in her loss in a surprisingly cruel fashion for a mere sparring duel. Besides, such terms seem very disproportionate.

Thor looks as though he too believes it’s a bit harsh of a punishment, but says nothing.

At this point in the match, the soldier has had not one but two daggers knocked out of her hands, and she’s scrambling to avoid the swipes of Sif’s blades. Eventually, her inferior speed gets the best of her, and Sif lands a kick square in her chest. The strength behind the punt is enough to send her crashing into the wall in the space between the crown prince and her sister.

However, Loki notices that she seems to slow down ever so slightly just before she makes contact with the hard surface, somewhat lessening the impact of her collision. It almost appears as though she’s using telekinesis, but the moment before he can really process it, Thor steps in front of her, asking, “Are you alright? I know the Lady Sif can—”

Sif shoves him out of her way before he can finish whatever he was going to say. She raises one pointed end of her spear to the other woman’s neck and yells, “Yield!”

The woman merely smiles with surreptitious satisfaction. Sif snarls in outrage. Just as she parts her lips to bark out something else, Haldana’s sister comes up behind Sif—it’s now clear to everyone that she had by some means made another duplicate of herself sometime between hitting the wall and this very moment—and places a shortsword at the warrior’s throat.

“No,” she puffs out, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “You first.”

It looks as though she’s won, and Loki can’t help but feel oddly pleased with the outcome.

Withal, Sif suddenly bends and twists her body with the grace only a seasoned fighter could possess, once again turning on her opponent. She pushes the other woman down onto the declining steps that lead to the arena below and holds the blade of her metal lance to bastard’s neck once more, gritting out, “Yield.”

The woman’s chest heaves with effort for a few seconds before she finally hangs her head, softly muttering, “I yield.”

Momentarily appeased, Sif smirks and deactivates her weapon. “About time, peasant. You could have saved yourself a lot of pain if you had only surrendered earlier.”

“My name is Sigyn,” the woman declares savagely as she gets to her feet.

“Whatever,” Sif sneers.

Now that she’s so close, Loki takes a moment to examine her more closely. She has dark, mud-colored hair and eyes to match. Some of the characteristics of her form match her sister’s—her nose and brow, for instance—but for the most part, her features are more ordinary than refined.

She’s not quite short, most likely thanks to her mixed parentage as Asgardian nobility stand at roughly a foot above the lower classes, though she’s not exactly tall either. She wears a short dress typical of female fighters, but it’s noticeably threadbare, betraying her station in life.

Loki thinks she is utterly unremarkable, like any peasant he has ever seen.

He watches as Sigyn grasps her long braid at the base of her neck and brings her dagger behind her head to cut it off from the roots. Her freshly-cut chocolate locks spill past her ears, coming to rest above her shoulders in disarray. Eyes hard, she tosses the thick plait at Sif’s feet and brazenly lifts her chin, face set in defiance and covered in drying blood.

Loki thinks she is utterly gorgeous, like no goddess he has ever seen.

As if she can hear his thoughts, her eyes suddenly snap to meet his, losing their fury all at once. Instead, they shine with surprise, as though she’s only just noticed that the two sons of the Allfather had watched her lose a fight in a place she didn’t belong.

He’s practically certain she can hear his thoughts when those same sepia-brown eyes widen in overt embarrassment. Before he can even think to say anything, she lets out an inscrutable squawk, turns tail and promptly runs away at full speed, her uneven mane fluttering in the wind as she goes.

Sigyn, he thinks, is a rather lovely name.

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