#and he betrayed her trust and nearly killed her. and even though she said she didn't blame him when the party tried to redeem him

[specialagentlokitty]

Zuko x reader - the right side

Hi! I just recently discovered your blog and I’ve been loving your writing so much! I would like to request a part two to your Zuko x Reader - The Right Side. It’s so well done and I’m curious to see what happens after Zuko and the reader reconnect :) - Anon💜

Part two:

He slowly stood up and stepped out from the group, he looked at you, and you stared at him intently. It made him shiver the way you looked at him.

Your gaze was so full of fury, hatred, sadness, betrayal.

So many things Zuko thought he would never see in your eyes again, he never thought it would ever be directed at him.

“Why are you here?” You spat.

“I’m here to help, I swear. I want to teach Aang Fire bending.” He said

You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest as you carried on gazing at him.

Zuko gulped a little as he dared to take a small step forward, and then another.

He kept going until you kicked your leg out, sending a line of fire directly in his path which he barely managed to dodge.

“(Y/N) don’t!” Aang rushed out.

You turned to Aang, frowning heavily but you lowered your hands and took a few steps towards the avatar.

You were furious with Zuko, and they all knew it.

“Go calm down.” Katara whispered.

“Come on, I’ll come with you.” Toph said.

She led you a way from everyone and Zuko watched in sadness as you left.

“She hates me…” he mumbled.

“She doesn’t hate you, she just needs time, that’s all.” Katara smiled.

“Yeah, (Y/N) can’t hate anyone, trust me!” Aang beamed.

Zuko looked over at them then turned to Sokka who gave a small shrug.

“I’ll be honest, she could hate you. You nearly killed her, betrayed her and just left her. She’s pretty mad man.”

“Sokka!” Katara hissed.

“No, no. I need to hear the truth.” Zuko said softly.

Zuko left, and for the rest of the night no one saw him, or you or Toph.

The earth bender came back before you, saying that you decided to head back to your room last night and she decided to go to bed, but she hadn’t heard from you since then.

Everything went to hell pretty quickly, from the killer Zuko hired showing up, and Azula appearing out of nowhere you guys had to fight for your lives to get out.

And you decided to sit up with Aang away from the fire Prince.

“Just talk to him.” Aang spoke softly.

“Not a chance.”

“(Y/N) he’s really trying. He feels bad for what he did and he wants to apologise, the first step to moving forward is to forgive.”

“I love you Aang, but you’re to oblivious to how to world works. It’s all good and well to pretend everything can be fixed with a simply apology but it can’t.”

Aang sighed, turning to look at you.

“You’re right, it can’t. But it’s a start, right? It will be great to be able to take some of that weight from your shoulders and throw it away. No one says you have to talk to him after that, you just have to hear him out.”

“I’m sorry Aang, but no.”

Even as you guys landed, he tried to keep convincing you to talk to Zuko, but you weren’t having it.

Sokka and Toph had asked asked you to just listen to what Zuko had to say, though Toph’s only reason was so she didn’t have to hear him complaining about it anymore.

Katara came over and sat next to you on the rock you had perched yourself on.

“If you’re here to tell me to forgive Zuko don’t bother.”

“I’m not.”

You turned to her slightly shocked.

“I understand why you’re angry, why you don’t want to talk to him or forgive him. You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thanks Katara.” You smiled.

She nodded and left, and you carried on looking out over the horizon.

Someone else sat next to you and immediately you stood up and started to walk away.

“Please! I’ll do anything! Just let me explain!” He begged.

“You want me to listen to you? Fine. I challenge you to an Agni kai.” You snapped.

“No!” Aang yelled.

The trio rushed over, trying to stop what was about to happen.

“If that’s what you want then okay. I accept.” Zuko nodded.

No one could stop this, they knew the rules, they couldn’t stop it, they couldn’t help either of you, they just had to watch it play out.

And they knew there was only so many outcomes.

Either you hurt Zuko bad enough for him to feel your pain, or you would be so blinded but your anger for him you would try your best to kill him.

You and Zuko stood opposite each other, and you stripped yourself of Iroh’s cloak before handing it to Katara to look after.

“Please go easy.” She whispered.

Saying nothing, you stepped back in front of Zuko, and he just stared at you.

You threw the first attack, pushing your hands forward to create a massive surge of flames straight at the Prince.

He easily deflected your attack, and carried on standing there, so you attacked again.

Kicking your leg in the air you sent attack after attack after attack.

All of which he deflected.

“Fight me you coward!” You yelled.

“No.”

You yelled and ran over to him, attempting to punch him but he dodged it, and so you tried to knock his legs from under him, but he dodged that as well.

“Fight me!”

“No! I won’t hurt you!” He yelled.

Zuko breathed heavily as he dodged your attacks.

Usually you were so well coordinated, you thought your attacks out carefully that you were able to knock him down easily.

But this time you were so blinded by your emotions that you were just attacking blindly, you were messy and desperate.

“Why won’t you fight me!?”

“Because I refuse to hurt you!”

Zuko grabbed your arm as you lunged at him, spinning you around so you were behind him and let go.

You stumbled a few steps and turned around.

You were heaving for air, hands on your knees as your eyes locked with his.

“Why not? You already have, May as well finish the job right?” You sneered.

“N..no.. no that’s not what I want…”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you turned around and started to walk away.

“Fine.”

Zuko sighed with relief, as did everyone else.

The battle was over, Zuko never once threw an attack, and you had finally called it off as you started to walk away.

In a split second, you spun around, kicking your leg up in the air, you sent a rope of fire at Zuko.

He barely managed to dodge it thanks to everyone calling his name, and he fell to the floor.

Running over, you took a deep breath and stared down at him as you stood above him.

Slowly you raised your hand towards the sky, crackling sounding at the tips of your fingers, and blue lightening started to build up.

“(Y/N) NO!” Sokka yelled.

“DONT!” Aang and Katara begged.

Toph tried to put up a wall between you and the Prince but she couldn’t, you were stood right over him, and she couldn’t put the earth between you both.

Zuko looked between you and the lightening in pure horror.

For you to do this it meant that you were sound of mind, you knew what you were doing, and you knew exactly what it was you were about to do as well.

As you stared at Zuko, you could register the fear in his eyes, the fear and regret.

The same thing you felt on that night he had attacked you, the pure fear running through your veins.

You had promised yourself you would never hurt anyone, you swore to yourself that you would protect people and keep them safe.

“If you want to do this… then that’s okay…” Zuko whispered.

You pointed your other hand at him, the charge was nearly finished.

Zuko gave you a sad and broken smile.

“Tell uncle I’m sorry…”

He closed his eyes and something in your snapped.

There was a loud crash, and everyone slowly opened their eyes to see what horror waited before them.

The trees in front of you had been blow down, a small fire in the centre where the blast was aimed.

You had fallen to your knees over Zuko.

He was still pinned below you, your knees rested on the dirt and you had your head cast down.

Zuko flinched when he felt something fall on his face, and he opened his eyes when he felt it again.

His eyes gazed up at yours, watching as the tears slowly slipped free as you stared at him in pure horror.

His heart pounded in his chest, his breathing was ragged and he was shaking.

Your tears fell on his face as you slowly fell to the side, resting your hands in your knees as you bowed your head down to hide your face.

“I’m.. I’m a monster…” you chocked out.

You swore you’d never hurt anyone, you’d protect people and keep them safe.

And out of pure, unresolved emotion you nearly killed Zuko.

You nearly killed a person.

A person you once trusted with your very life, a person who you had grown up with and whom you loved with your whole heart.

And he nearly died by your very hand.

Slowly Zuko sat up, turned to look behind him at what was left of the trees before he turned to you.

He reached out and hesitated, then finally reached out fully, placing his hand on your head before he quickly pulled you into him.

You wrapped your arms around Zuko, all the hatred and anger you felt was gone, you were scared, upset, ashamed.

Your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as you cried into his shoulder.

He held you tightly against his chest, burying his face into your neck as he let a few tears slip free.

Aang and Katara ushered Sokka and Toph away, leaving the pair of you alone.

The worst of it was over now, whatever happened now was up to whatever you and Zuko decided to do about what had happened on that night

#avatar the last airbender x reader #avatar the last airbender #avatar x reader #avatar #avatar the last airbender imagine #avatar imagine #avatar the last airbender x you #Zuko #prince zuko x reader #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #zuko imagine #prince Zuko

[cupids-scream-queen]

A Little Murderess °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀*

❀ female!murderer!reader x poly!ghostface ❀

Part 5 // 2.8k words

-> Part 4

Warnings: stalking, breaking and entering, p in v, actual sex (woo), choking, slight daddy kink, cheating, idk there's SEX in the SLASHER fic it's not gonna be vanilla 😭💀

A/N: No threesomes yet guys, sorry 😔

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀*ੈ✩‧₊˚⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Summary: You've just moved to a new town after the death of your little brother and stepfather with your mother. You're not ashamed of what you do to cope with the deaths; especially when you make two new friends who you might have more in common with than you thought...

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀*ੈ✩‧₊˚⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

“Y/N,” Sidney hissed, tapping her pencil on the desk lightly. “Whatcha doing this weekend?”

“Not much,” You whispered back, looking up from your paper. It was Mrs. Tate’s day off, which meant worksheets upon worksheets and you were getting increasingly bored from it. Sidney was too; she was bugging you nearly the entire time, asking you various questions or pestering you about your weekend plans. You almost wanted her dead. Almost.

“Do you want to sleepover at Tatum’s with me?” She asked, and you shrugged.

“I’d have to ask my mother,” You replied, knowing that you’d just tell her your mother said no. You weren’t really in the mood for Tom Cruise this weekend—you were more interested in something more sinister. That Sidney and Tatum most definitely weren’t going to want any part of.

“Damn, any chance she’d say yes?” Sidney looked at you, almost pleading with her eyes for you to say anything that would convince her that you’d make it. You weren’t sure why she was so clingy, especially to you, of all people—she should be running away from you, not towards you.

“I’m not sure,” You tapped your pencil against your face, watching the substitute teacher read a book about Sherlock. “It depends on her mood.”

“When doesn’t it depend on her mood?” Sidney joked, and you shrugged. It was something that wasn’t quite the truth, but also wasn’t a lie—your mother was relatively passive about your whereabouts in general, but sleepovers were another game entirely: she preferred to keep you at home overnight.

“I honestly can’t answer that,” You admitted, and she looked sympathetically towards you.

“You’ve got a lot in common with Billy,” she mused, and you took a note of that—a piece of information about Billy that you could use against him should he betray you. You hadn’t really gathered anything on Stu; he was more of an open-book, and you could assume what he didn’t want people to know about he simply didn’t talk about. He had money to pay people to forget.

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have said anything, but he’s got it real bad at home. Mom left him and stuff, dad’s a bit of an alcoholic,” Sidney said, and you almost had to strain to hear her voice. You took a mental note of this, though—Mr. Loomis might be key information for blackmail against Billy, should he try anything with you. You were more afraid of Billy than Stu—Billy was quieter, and seemed to ponder over things more than Stu ever did. Billy thought meticulously, Stu acted impulsively. Together, you couldn’t quite imagine what they were capable of.

“My mom’s an alcoholic, but she’s not that bad,” You told her, and you could see her almost loosen her borders around you. Good. She’s trusting you, that’s something you could use to your advantage later.

“Good lord, that sounds awful,” Sidney’s sympathetic nature was something that you were going to try to capitalize on. You didn’t want to kill her, but simply use her. She was a useful alibi, stupid and naive. Trusting people. People like you, who shouldn’t be trusted.

“It’s not that bad once you get used to it,” You tell her, and you could tell she was wondering if she should ask you something. “Why?”

“Maybe you could talk to Billy about it,” She said quietly. “Tell him how to cope. I think it makes him upset, even if he doesn’t let people know.” There it was. Bingo. Permission to hang out with her boyfriend without her, even though you’d do it anyways, you felt like it’d cause less issues if she told you that you could.

“Maybe. I’m not sure if he likes me, he’s kind of quiet around me,” You tell her, and you could practically see the gears in her head turning.

“You could probably give him a call, I’m sure he wouldn’t care. Or you could stop by Stu’s house, he’s usually there,” Sidney told you, and you nodded your head.

“I can try to help him, sure,” You could see the grateful smile she gave you, and you could see that something with Billy’s behavior put a strain on their relationship—which you weren’t even sure was real on Billy’s end. You saw the way he looked at other girls, in ways that he didn’t look at Sidney with, and you knew that he wasn’t thinking of her at night, he had someone else in his thoughts. Be it Stu or somebody else entirely, you knew that Sidney was not the one he had in his heart. If he even had one.

“That’d be great,” Sidney’s hope and trust were placed in you, officially. She was going to trust you, and you wanted to learn everything about Billy through her. The only other person you’d need now on your side was Tatum, but you figured if you went to the sleepover, they’d have to talk about boys eventually. That’s how sleepovers work, right?

“Maybe I will go to Tatum’s,” You mused, and Sidney had an excited gleam to her eye that you hadn’t really seen before.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Ever since you figured out the identity of Ghostface, Billy and Stu hadn’t tried calling you again. You were kind of sad about it—the phone calls were fun, but you guessed they figured out someone else they’d try to murder. You sat on the edge of your bed, and decided to dial the phone number for Billy Loomis, killer extraordinaire. Before you could entirely dial the number, you heard a knock at your window. And then popped the head of Billy Loomis, on a ladder, straight out of a scene from Heathers.

“What in the name of JD—”

“Thought you were schemin’,” Billy said, grinning wildly. “Figured I could help you.”

“Where’s Stu?” You asked, bemused at the fact that Billy’s conjoined twin was missing.

“At home, his folks are home for once,” Billy didn’t look sympathetic for his friend at all, which you chalked up to him being a fucking weirdo. “I came here out of boredom.”

“Not out of admiration for your Knife Girl?” You joked, and you could see a glint in Billy’s eye that you hadn’t seen before.

“Maybe it was out of admiration,” He said, going through your window. He walked closer to you, and you could smell the desperation.

“Oh? And why would you admire the Knife Girl?” He smiled at your question, and got closer. You could see every pore in his face.

“Because you’ll let me do this,” He said, and pressed his lips against yours. You didn’t move at first, your body was stiff as a board. But Billy put his arms on your shoulders, grounding you to reality, allowing you to realize that this was happening, and nearly unprompted. “And you’ll like it.”

You couldn’t respond with words, just with actions. You knew Billy was attractive—and maybe a part of you even found him attractive, but you weren’t going to do anything about it. And maybe he was using you, but you’d use him back, and his body pressed up against yours made you really think of that. You began to melt into the kiss, and Billy moved his hands to your hair, forcing you closer. You could feel the tip of his tongue dance on your lips, and his other arm beginning his way up your shirt, tenderly asking permission.

“What about—”

“Shh, don’t say her name,” Billy said on your lips, and you obliged. You didn’t want to think of her, this was your moment. And Billy was seemingly enjoying it as much as you were. He held you against him, breaking the kiss. You could hear his heartbeat in his chest, and it was practically reaching out to touch you.

“You do this. You make my heart like this. Why?” Billy asked, and he suddenly ripped you from his chest. “Why?” His grip was tight, and you didn’t know what to say. “I—I don’t feel like this. Nobody but you and St—” He grew silent, and you reached out and touched his cheek.

“It’s alright, Billy. You’re fine. You’re human.”

“Am I? Are you?” You didn’t have the answers. You were certain of you being human, despite what you’ve done. And Billy, well, he was human—he was lustful. Prideful. Everything a human was and could be. “What am I even doing here?” He hung his head in shame, and you had no words of comfort.

“I’m not sure, but you’re here for a reason, aren’t you?” You watched as confusion, anger, hatred, embarrassment, everything cross over his face in the span of seconds. He wasn’t making an attempt to hide his emotions, and you were grateful for that.

“Maybe, I don’t know—I came here on an impulse,” He held you, gently. You weren’t sure of what was happening, your head fuzzy and confused. You weren’t thinking clearly, and neither was Billy—something alien to both of you.

“Are you lying to distract me?” You said quietly, and Billy looked at you with puppy dog eyes. You were afraid of what he’d do, but then he crashed his lips into yours.

“Does this feel like I’m lying?” Billy asked, pressing you against your bed, his figure on top of you. He moved your hands above your head, holding them down with one of his hands. He used the other one to hold your face still as he kissed you roughly, his body grinding against yours in a way that you hadn’t felt before. He moved down to your neck, kissing the exposed skin and sucking lightly. He playfully bit you, and you moaned, the sound driving him to continue to bite and suck his way down to your collarbone.

“Can I take this off?” The question made you pause, before you nodded your head. He pulled your shirt off, tugging at the fabric impatiently. He took your bra off in one sweeping motion, leaving you to ponder if he’d done this before, before he expertly took your nipple in his mouth, biting and sucking at the sensitive bud. He then moved his way back up to your mouth, a clash of tongues became the next move, him releasing your hands and burying his arms around you, holding you close to him. You moved, your hands wrapped around his.

“Is it alright if I…” He asked, and you nodded. You wanted him. And he clearly wanted you.

“I’m on birth control,” You whispered, and the glint in his eye let you know that he wouldn’t have cared either way. You giggled as he struggled to take off his shirt, his hips clashing against yours, his skin against yours. He hushed you, playfully wrapping his hand around your throat; a warning.

“You’re gonna be good,” He said, and then started to nip at your neck. “And I’m going to enjoy fucking you, aren’t I?”

“Yes, Billy—”

“Daddy. Call me Daddy.”

“Daddy. Yes Daddy,” You said, your breath hitching. Billy started moving his hands lower down your body, and you could feel his fingers tease your panties. “Oh god, please.”

He laughed, and obliged to your request, his cool hand slipping into your panties. You could feel him circle your clit, his hand large and rough.

“You’re so wet…” You shuddered, and he laughed, staring you directly in your eyes. “I’m going to make you forget about everything.” He put one finger in you, and without warning, he added another. He was furiously fingering you, pleasuring your clit with his thumb. You didn’t have any time or warning before he did this, and he ducked his head to suck on your tit. You moaned, your thighs clenching around his hand, your hands finding their way to his hair, pulling softly.

“Keep quiet and I’ll reward you,” Billy drawled, and you quietly tried to not make any noise, as he was furiously trying to leave hickies on you, in places only he’d see. “You’re gonna be a good little murderess for me, aren’t you?"

You said nothing, your body being stimulated by Billy’s fingers. How your body craved his; how he recipricated everything you felt tenfold. Billy took his fingers out of you, and you whined at the loss. You gyrated your hips against his, and to your dismay, he held them down, preventing you from moving against him.

“Look at me, doll,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I want you to look at me.” You did as you were told, and your breath hitched as you felt the head of Billy’s cock against your folds. “I want you to remember this, babe.” You nodded, your body responding to every touch like you were lit on fire. Billy’s warmth engulfed you, it was everything that you could think about.

Billy kissed you as he slipped himself fully in, and you felt your eyes prick with tears at the sudden intrusion. You tried to get used to the discomfort of his cock, stretching and prodding places you hadn’t even explored yourself. Reaching into every part of you, taking you as his.

“You…you feel so good,” You said breathlessly, your hands tangled in Billy’s hair, his thrusts becoming more and more bearable as you got used to his size.

“You’re so tight, but so wet for me,” He growled, and you nodded. Just for him. Only for him. He was pleased with your body, it was a work of art to him. He started to thrust faster, his rhythm rougher and less capable of placing. His pattern was losing control. He slipped a hand on your clit, and started playing with the slick on it. His mouth was slightly agape as he watched you, enjoying the look of pure pleasure that came across your features.

You felt yourself coming closer, but you weren’t sure if he’d let you come. You needed to, the tension burning up in your lower abdomen. You could feel the warmth starting to take over your body, your head nothing but an empty void devoid of thought; the only thing on your mind was the pleasure Billy was giving you.

“You’re close, aren’t you, love? Your pussy is practically squeezing the cum out of me,” Billy said, his tongue slightly out of his mouth as he concentrated. “I want you to cum after I do, understand?” You nodded, anticipating his release into you.

You wouldn’t have to wait long. He started going faster, his cock practically digging itself deeper and deeper within you. He moaned, his body pressing up against yours as he came, his hot seed spilling everywhere, filling you up. You came only seconds after, your pussy clenching down on his dick, milking him of every last drop. You needed more of him. All of him.

He grinned, and you smiled back, your eyes clouded over, your face nothing but pleasure, and he felt satisfied knowing he did that to you, knowing that you’d think of Ghostface and think of the Best Fuck of your Life.

“Billy?” You asked, and he smiled at you, almost begging you to tell him what he wanted to hear. But you didn’t tell him what you wanted to hear. “We should…we should clean up.”

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

After thirty minutes of taking time to collect yourselves (and your clothing), you and Billy arrived at a pretty stable plan, all that was needed was Stu.

“He’ll be available to talk probably tomorrow, his folks don’t stay in touch much,” Billy explained, circling the address. “I guess if we do everything right…we should be able to knock Sidney and Tatum off in one go, and have you as the sole survivor of a vicious attack. Pretty grim, ain’t it?”

“I guess. Who’s going to call, who’s going to kill?”

“I’ll call, Stu’ll kill Tatum. Then Stu’s gonna call, and I kill Sid. You’ll just be battered and confused, you could say you went to grab a film or some shit.”

“Not a bad alibi, but what if we’re questioned why we didn’t go together?” You mused, and Billy paused for a moment.

“Tatum and Sid were scared because of the attacks, and you volunteered to go,” He finally said. “And since you’re new, you would’ve barely heard of any of the attacks, so it’d make sense why you went.”

“Works for me, I guess. What do I get out of this?”

“The enjoyment of killing? I dunno, you’re the one who asked to be included on this.” Billy started gathering his things, glancing at the time. “I gotta go, my dad’s gonna kill me if he finds me out past curfew.”

“The Billy Loomis has a curfew?” You raised your eyebrow, tauntingly. He hushed you, and started to inch his way towards your window where his ladder was.

“Yes, I do, doll,” He said, kissing you on the lips. “I’ll call you tonight, yeah?”

“Sure. Will it be you or Ghostface?”

“You’ll find out.”

Enjoy my writing? Please like, reblog, or follow me! The support is super encouraging, especially since I'm going to make this a longer fic and post nearly daily 💕

-> Part 6

♡ Want tagged every time I upload? Just send me an ask 💕💕

Tags:

@citrusbunnies

#billy loomis x reader #ghostface #ghostface x y/n #billy loomis #ghostface x reader #scream #stu macher #stu matcher x reader #stu matcher x you #slasher community #slasher fucker #slasher smut

[michaels-office-hours]

What if Dogday was best friends with Catnap, and was maybe having feelings of “is there more?” (Catnap definitely was, but was too nervous to make a move) But Dogday is so “everyone is my buddy” coded, that he didn’t wanna mess up their friendship by saying anything.

And what if Craftycorn was Dogday’s blatant crush? Like… “oh crap you’re cute… HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN STARING?!” Kinda crush. He doesn’t really know her that well because of it even. Cause anytime he tries to talk to her it just comes out as

Dogday: H-hi! I’m- Dog. You- you

Craftycorn: Yes, I’m Craftycorn. We work together, live together, and have been doing this for at least a year. You don’t have to keep introducing yourself. *rolls eyes and walks away sassily

Dogday: Y-yeah. Hehe. I’m Dogday. She talked to me.

Catnap: You ok man?

Dogday: hehehe. She said we work together.

Catnap: … you need help man.

And then when the Hour of Joy happened? Most of the smiling friends went with Dogday. (I think Bobby Bearhug went with Catnap though. And got left behind cause they couldn’t keep up.And Bubbabubaphant died in the chaos on one side of the other. Not sure which. Leaning towards Catnap) Tempers flared because tension was so high you could cut it with a knife. Kickin Chicken and Hoppy Hopscotch went off to try to help kids get out, and never came back. Making things worse. Craftycorn then betrayed the whole group when she realized Piggy Piggy was eating more than her share. Craftycorn went absolutely nuts, getting a full monster form like Catnap and everything. So Dogday watched as kids, smaller toys, and nearly himself, were killed by yet another of his friends. Before Catnap, hearing the commotion, came to end things.

Craftycorn didn’t last long. Already wounded from the other toys fighting back before they were trampled and skewered on her horn. Catnap toyed with her, took his time. Got out some aggression since… “He chose YOU.”

When her carcass had finally stopped twitching, Catnap sat back on his haunches to look at the wreckage. See if anyone else was alive. Dogday, around a corner, had watched the whole thing dead silent. Now seeing what all of his friend had become? He couldn’t help it… he choked. Sobbing and retching. Catnap turned and was on him in a flash.

Unlike with Craftycorn, Catnap was fast this time. Too fast for a distraught and surprised Dogday to handle. A searing pain ripped through his torso the second Catnap’s dead eyed face loomed over him. Thankfully he blacked out before much else. Although he did catch the sudden shift in Catnap’s expression. Was that… regret?

Dogday was left hanging for the rest of his life. He didn’t know how long it was. It felt both like a blink, and an eon. Catnap only came by to gloat. And to put him to sleep. That horror filled sleep with nothing but nightmares and pain, where he had legs but couldn’t run. His friends needed him but he didn’t help. Then he’d awaken hours or days later to the lower appendages gone. The pain a constant reminder of the fact he should have used them when he had the chance.

At least he can warn you to do what he should have done. Save those you can save. Help those who are help-able. And when you are met with horrors beyond your comprehension? Or someone beyond hope? Run. RUN!

RUN AWAY NOW!!!

(Anyway those post started as “haha I headcanon bi failure Dogday.” And then… this happened. :D Cause what if everyone he trusted either betrayed him? Or he thinks he betrayed them. Who knows. He might blame himself over Catnap and Craftycorn too. :3)

#poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #dogday #catnap #craftycorn #smiling critters #this became a low key fic #wow

[undreaming-fanfiction]

With This Ring (13)

Chapter 12 here, Ao3 here

The whole rush to the church was a blur to Steve. He was distantly aware of Eddie’s sped up summary of the last day that sounded more like a drunken nightmare instead of something that could have ever happened. He didn't bother adding any details, instead focusing on the feel of Robin and Eddie’s arms under his. Steve had originally started speed walking and tried to keep his pained expression at bay, but a few whispers behind him put a prompt end to that. They both grabbed him, supported his weight enough to lessen the pain in his ankle and off they went.

Robin, to her credit, remained mostly quiet. Maybe it was the shortness of breath - as Eddie had said before, not needing any oxygen had its merits - but she took the whole story in literal stride. Only when Eddie finished with tossing the tape in the mail did she say something.

“I wish I could have seen Dick’s face when you did the stabby thing. He deserved that. And more.” Her tone didn’t betray much, but there was a hidden sting.

Eddie laughed. “Damn right he did. Although you’ve surprised me, Buckley. You seem pretty chill with the whole living dead thing.”

She kept her eyes on the road, carefully synchronizing her steps with Steve. “Trust me, I’m freaking out on the inside. But I saw you up close. You…don’t look right. Having a crazy explanation is better than guessing and coming up with an even crazier one.” After a few seconds of silence, she added, “and also I don’t have time to faint, scream my head off, or do whatever you’re expecting. Nancy’s about to marry that douchebag, and I can only handle one crisis at a time.”

“Wise.”

As they arrived at the church door, Steve turned to face them. “How do I look?” 

It wasn’t really a question. He was disheveled and for how crazy his heart was beating, he was dead tired. No pun intended. 

Eddie smirked at him and tucked a rogue hair strand behind Steve’s ear. “Perfect, like always.” 

“Yeah yeah, but you also look like someone who was supposed to crash the wedding five minutes ago,” snapped Robin and pushed him towards the door. “Let’s go!” 

That was an order he could easily follow. Steve straightened his back and pushed the heavy doors open. 

He was met with dozens of pairs of eyes. Frightened, relieved, confused…but mostly judging.

The church wasn’t nearly as full as Steve expected, but his stomach still gave an uncomfortable squeeze, as if it begged him not to draw any more attention to themselves. But he had to do it, had to be in the spotlight again. Especially when Nancy was about to have her life ruined in a way much worse than had been in her stars just a few days prior. 

Swallowing down the rising panic, Steve took a deep breath. “I object!” 

If Brenner’s stare could kill, Steve would be hanged, stabbed, stoned and set on fire all at once. 

But as cheesy as it may have sounded, he was afraid of nothing when he had Eddie by his side. 

“You’re late, young man,” Brenner said. “You had your chance already, you squandered it. Isn’t ruining one wedding enough for you?” 

“Not at all, sir.” Steve was marching ahead, still holding Eddie’s hand and focusing on not letting his pain show. This wasn’t a place to show weakness. “This one is far more enjoyable to ruin. Because the bride actually doesn’t want to marry him. I doubt God looks kindly at coercion.” 

Nancy smiled at him with so much warmth and disbelief it made his heart jump. “Steve, you came! You’re okay!” she whispered. She bit her lip when she saw Robin behind his back, sneaking to the side and making her way to the altar. To do what, Steve wasn’t sure, but he would support her no matter what, even if she tried to abduct Nancy by throwing her over her shoulder. 

But before he could respond, another voice interrupted them. “You dare to speak about God when you keep this company?!” 

Jason Carver was shaking. He stared at Eddie with a look so hateful and terrified that he must have seen through the ruse, even though Eddie was still far away. Eddie wasn’t facing any of the wedding guests, but Carver’s expression betrayed that he knew. 

“I don’t know what dark entity brought you back, freak, but you don’t belong here. You can’t be in the house of God! I won’t allow you to ruin more lives than you already have!” 

Nancy took a step back, watching Jason with confusion. “What are you talking about?” 

“Don’t you see? He’s dead! His…his eyes are all wrong. He was gone for over a year and now he’s come back…different.” Jason was pale under his usual tan. He was licking his lips between sentences, staring at Eddie as if he’d been sent to drag him to hell. “You should be dead and I don’t care what black magic you are using, you will return to the grave. The dead have no right to walk amongst the living!” 

“Ooooh, scary!” muttered Eddie, but Jason wasn’t listening. His focus had shifted to the wedding guests.

He turned to the seated people of Hawkins and raised arms. “I wouldn’t lie to you. I know how preposterous it sounds, but take a single look at his face and tell me, is this the Eddie Munson you knew?!”

More people turned to Eddie, studying him and flinching as the realization hit them. “No,” was the resounding answer. 

Jason continued his speech, turning to pastor Brenner. “Pastor, you are a man of God. Will you allow this? Will you allow this abomination to disturb this joyful day?!” 

“No!” shouted one of Jason’s friends. Steve recognized him - it was Patrick, Jason’s teammate and a constant sidekick. “Not in this town!” 

There it was, that famous magnetic personality. Jason could rally crowds, inspire bravery and righteous anger with his speeches, just like he had when Chrissy disappeared. Steve could see the wedding guests stirring in their seats, some slowly getting up, moving towards him and Eddie. He grasped his hand, disregarding its coldness – it provided much more warmth to him than many had in life. So what if he was supposed to be dead! 

Dead…

Steve took a deep, sharp breath. Was this…?

The mob in fancy clothes was approaching. 

“Steve?” whispered Eddie and tugged on his hand, urging him to follow him out of the church. “I’m pretty sure this is our cue to leave. Maybe run. Fast. I’m sure the bride to be will follow.”

But Steve shook his head and let go of Eddie’s hand, a single caress on his knuckles as a promise of return before he took a step forward. 

“How do you know, Jason?” 

The groom stared at him, confused. The charm was temporarily broken and people stopped in their tracks, glancing between the two men. “How do I know what?” asked Jason.

Steve couldn’t help himself, he felt his trademark bitchy smirk tugging on his lips. He might not have been academically smart, but he knew people. And that right there? That was a man sweating underneath his expensive wedding suit, and not because the church was too warm, oh no. 

He took another step forward and motioned for the people to sit, no struggling for confidence this time, no wondering if he deserved the attention, the respect he felt when they returned to their seats, confused but obeying. Because this wasn’t about him – this was about Eddie in every single way. If he was honest with himself, he couldn’t really remember when things hadn’t been about Eddie. 

“How do you know Eddie is dead?” he asked again, loud and clear. “Because that was an impressive monster hunt speech. And yet…no one could have told you Eddie is dead. He’s moving. He’s breathing, when he remembers to. Sure, I told my parents and Robin too, but I know for certain none of them told you. My parents would never say something so preposterous aloud, and Robin didn’t know until just a few minutes ago. The point is - Eddie does look alive if you don’t see him up close. But you are so certain from the second we walked in that he’s dead. Or at least…that he was dead at some point.” 

Jason grew several shades paler, if that was even possible. He was gripping Nancy’s elbow so tightly that she bit her lip in pain and yanked her hand away. Staring at Steve, he was stammering, searching for words. “I…of course he is, I mean look at him, look-“ 

But Steve just shook his head, making his way to the altar. The carpet felt soft under his feet and he had to stifle an urge to laugh – he was dreading this day so much, avoiding it like the plague, and yet joining Nancy at the altar now felt like the most natural thing in the world. It was almost liberating, saving her from a monster that for once wasn’t their forced marriage. 

“Look at what, Jason?” he stretched his words, enunciating and raising his voice so everyone in the church could hear him. “Please enlighten me. Or maybe some of you esteemed guests can!” He turned around and addressed the wedding guests, taking in their faces – Ted Wheeler’s pasty face, trembling in silent rage, confusion in others, fear…but only one face showed what he was looking for. 

Karen Wheeler was clutching her purse so tight her baby blue nails made tiny indents in them, but her mouth was open. She couldn’t hide the horror of the growing realization about who her daughter was to marry. 

Steve smiled at her, motioned for her to speak up. “Tell me, Mrs. Wheeler. When you look at Eddie Munson, the man standing there – sure, he might look a bit tired, maybe pale, but would your immediate thought be…this man is dead?”

She shook her head slowly and Steve didn’t have to look behind him to sense the pride that was swelling from Nancy. The women of this family were strong, after all. “Absolutely not,” she answered, voice loud and clear. “Not unless…I already knew he was dead.” Her eyes bore into Jason, accusing him. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler. My thoughts exactly.” Steve turned back to the guests and extended his hand towards Eddie in a silent plea to join him. “You see, Jason is right. Eddie is dead. As in no heartbeat but still moving, reanimated dead. He’d be able to describe it more eloquently, maybe even present it in a rather disturbing way. But Jason couldn’t have known that – Eddie was assaulted about a year ago and left for dead, buried in a shallow grave…”

That was the first time Steve’s voice faltered, the anger, sadness and injustice of it all squeezing his throat, but Eddie’s cool hand was there again, rejoining him and grounding him as he went on. 

“A shallow grave a short walk from here, in the woods. There was no headstone to see, no indication what happened. As far as everyone knew, Eddie just left one day. And it was so convenient to believe that he ran away after all the rumors about Chrissy Cunningham, about his assumed role in her disappearance. Even if his uncle knew Eddie would never leave his guitar, his beloved books, hell, especially him. He wouldn’t leave Wayne Munson behind, not without a goodbye. But if you asked, someone had an answer…a convenient witness who saw Eddie leave the town.” 

Steve turned to Hopper who stood there with his usual unreadable expression, frowning at the guests and at the world. “Chief. Can you please confirm for all of us here who informed you that Eddie left the town, that he wasn’t missing?” 

Hopper stayed quiet for a moment, fingers looped behind his belt as he considered his answer. “It was Andy…Andrew Conner,” he said gruffly, stabbing Jason with a sharp glare – Jason, who was still grasping what was happening. 

And there it was, the final discrepancy. Nodding, Steve addressed the guests again. “There you have it. The only reason why Eddie Munson wasn’t considered missing was the word of a single young man…a young man who happens to be Jason’s close friend. And yet, before even seeing Eddie up close, Jason immediately believed that Eddie was the spawn of Satan, an unholy zombie or whatever he wants to call his current state. But if his best friend witnessed Eddie leaving the town, how come Jason immediately jumped to this conclusion?” 

Hopper made a sound of reluctant agreement. “Young Harrington here makes a good point. Care to explain that, Carver? Because I’ve been here for the whole shitshow and while you spouted a lot of stuff about black magic and what not, that young man doesn’t look dead to me.” 

Before Jason could respond, Patrick stood up again and pointed a finger at Eddie. “This is absurd. What reason would Jason have to kill Munson? Sure, he didn’t like him, but it’s not like he’d risk prison to get rid of him. You don’t go to jail for vermin.” 

Before anyone could answer, an unexpected sound broke the silence – Eddie started laughing, loud and unrestricted, echoing between the tall church walls. “Oh, but he had a reason,” he growled at Jason, staring daggers at him. “I didn’t really suspect him, didn’t think he had it in him. Or at least I hoped that the Hawkins’ next golden boy wouldn’t do something so utterly stupid. See, Nancy Wheeler isn’t the first woman Mr. Perfect here is about to make unhappy. Do any of you remember who used to date Chrissy Cunningham?” 

The groom grew even paler. “Don’t you dare talk about her!” 

“Oh, but I will!” Eddie uttered, and his eyes were cold, angry. “I will because she is an incredible person that never deserved what she got from you. She felt suffocated by this town, by you, by her family.”

Eddie took another step towards Jason and each word sounded like an accusation. “I know all about you, Jason. She told you about the pain she suffered under her parents, their criticism, their demands, the threat to her health that they were. She decided to confide in you because she thought you cared about her. And what did you do? You told her to be patient and understanding. You told her that this must have been their way to show love, that they were her parents after all and they would never hurt her. All the while she was starving herself for their approval. After that, she came to me for help.” 

Hopper tilted his head. “To you?” 

“Yes, to me. How bad do you think it must have been, to trust the local outcast instead of her perfect shiny boyfriend? She was afraid of everything and everyone, but the night her mother told her that she had a month to lose weight into her wedding dress when Chrissy barely ate enough to function, that was the last straw. She was so weak, so hungry. She told me that the stale cafeteria müsli bar I had in my van was the most delicious thing she’s ever had.

She knew some of my friends had moved out of Hawkins and wanted a starting point for her new life. Someone to crash with. I helped her plan everything, gave her my friend’s number and directions. I made sure I was on that bus with her, I went to Indy with her, helped her find the place. Then I went there to check on her again…because she trusted me. And I would never betray that trust.” Glaring at Jason, Eddie’s fists were clenching and unclenching as the realization sank in - that he finally found the cause for his untimely demise, his murderer. “But I never thought that you’d kill me for it, Carver.” 

Steve expected many things, most likely a fight to break out, for Carver to deny everything, maybe for Hopper to step in and arrest him for…what exactly? But the one thing he never saw coming was Carver’s hands dropping, hanging limply by his sides. What was written on his face was pure shock.

“Chrissy…Chrissy’s alive?” he whispered. 

Once again Eddie’s chuckle echoed in the church, but no matter how many times the sound was brought back, it held no joy, no amusement. It was bitter, so bitter that Steve’s insides felt like ice. “Wait. Fucking wait. I thought that all the shit you were saying about me killing Chrissy was just your way of punishing me for letting her escape your clutches. Are you really…are you telling me you really believed that I murdered her?”

Jason was sweating, shaking even more than he had been before. He looked like he was about to be sick, clutching his mouth and taking deep breaths through his nose. “What else was I supposed to think?” he whispered. “She said she’d be back the next day. You wouldn’t talk to me. She never…she never mentioned wanting to break up, how was I…”

“Of course she didn’t! She told me everything, Jason! How you shut down her attending college, for her own good of course. How you asked her parents to marry her even when she told you she wasn’t ready. And you have the fucking gall to question why she ran away instead of talking things through with a guy who bulldozed over everything she wanted? Who told her to keep starving herself to keep the peace?!”

That snapped Jason out of his stupor. “I loved her, you freak!” he shouted, his voice breaking at the last word. “As if you could ever understand that! She always understood that I wanted only the best for her, she knew it was the right choice when we discussed things. I would have made her happy! It would take only a while. We would appease her parents and she’d be free. She didn’t…she didn’t have to run away from me…”

Eddie’s anger dissipated, and he just seemed sad. Rubbing his temples, he let out a deep sigh. “Look, I can handle being murdered for doing the right thing, but being dead because you’re dumb and didn’t bother to think of other options? Because you’ve got a…murder tunnel vision? I’d be better off not knowing.” 

Jason was staring at the floor, and Steve thought he saw tears in the corners of his eyes. “I never wanted to kill you,” he whispered. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

Eddie’s eyes snapped back towards him. “What? Care to explain this,” he gestured at his own face, his body, “because how do you fucking accidentally murder someone?”

Steve could have sworn he heard Chief Hopper mutter, “yeah, that’s what I’d also like to know.” 

Still talking to the floor, Jason wrapped his arms around his middle. Cornered and finally forced to reveal the truth, he seemed much younger. “You wouldn’t talk to me! You’d always leave when I tried to question you, or you’d say that I’d better get used to Chrissy being gone because it wasn’t changing. So I thought I’d make you talk. I saw you going to those woods, and I followed you. I just wanted to knock you out. I wanted to restrain you, question you. But I…I hit you too hard. You just collapsed and…when I checked, you weren’t breathing.” 

Steve felt sick, and from the look on her face, Nancy did too. She was taking short steps away from Jason, not daring to turn around. Robin, on the other hand, was petrified. Nancy had to tug on her hand several times to make her move. 

But Jason wasn’t stopping them. He was full on crying now, sobbing into his palms. “I was so afraid. I tried to revive you, I swear. But you weren’t getting up, and I thought…I can’t get arrested, not when Chrissy’s still missing. I buried you there and told Andy I saw you leaving on that bus. He’d repeat anything I told him. I thought I’d confess once I found her, but…I never did. I couldn’t stop looking for her because if she wasn’t found, then what I did would have been for nothing. And now you’re telling me that’s exactly what it was. I killed someone for nothing.”

Apart from Jason’s lingering sobs, the church was quiet. Eddie stopped moving and stared at the stained glass window above the altar, at the tinted rays of sun that had no business looking so cheerful. “A mistake until the end,” he said flatly. “How fitting.” 

Steve barely registered the steps behind him. Chief Hopper got up from his seat and, not unkindly, grasped Jason’s arm. “That sounded like a murder confession to me, Carver. You know what that means.”

Jason nodded through his tears, meeting Hopper’s eyes with something that hadn’t been there for years - acceptance. “Yeah. I do. I’m coming with you.”

There was a sudden rush of movement from everywhere - Jason’s parents throwing themselves towards Hopper and being blocked by his officers, Karen Wheeler rushing to Nancy and Robin, Mrs. Henderson and the Sinclairs ushering all the kids outside despite their vehement protesting…it was a lot. But Steve could only concentrate on one thing - Jason Carver stopping in front of Eddie.

“For all it’s worth…I’m sorry,” he said. Glancing towards Nancy who was in a joint embrace with Robin and Karen, he added, “to both of you.” 

With his and the kids’ departure, the church finally went quiet.

Chapter 14 here

#steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie #steddie au #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #jason carver #corpse bride au #corpse groom eddie #with this ring #steddie big bang 2023

[takadasaiko]

A Flicker of Light Chapter Twenty-Four

Story Summary: A canon divergent AU in which Luke Skywalker is raised within the Empire to be either his father's heir as a Sith Lord… or his replacement.

Chapter Summary: Mara confronts Luke about his time on Jedha and Palpatine makes an unexpected power play.

FFN II AO3

She had been moving through a fog of questions whose answers only produced more questions. The Alderaanian security in Organa's ship hadn't taken Mara long to bypass once she'd dealt with the angry little droid. She'd hoped to find communications with known rebel cells or perhaps dealings with other connected individuals that the Empire suspected, but hadn't found proof against yet. What Mara hadn't expected was an encrypted communication with an old Corellian freighter. One that she herself had been on.

She'd followed the threads of information because that was her job. Unravel the senator's lies.

From Jakku she had found that the Millennium Falcon had landed on Jedha. She'd moved carefully from there, only barely talking herself out of physically going to see if she might catch them. She wouldn't. Her instincts told her she wouldn't, so she had to rely on sources on the ground.

There were plenty to choose from, she found, and more secrecy surrounding a project there than she would have expected for yet another dust ball planet. It took her time to track down a contact she could trust - time she spent moving back towards the Core - and she had been just hours away from Coruscant when the vid was transmitted.

Sand kicked up by wind left the images grainier than they would have been otherwise and some angles were entirely useless. She caught sight of a golden protocol droid first, then the petite princess second, a tall figure that she was certain was Solo, and a smaller man next to him. He had a hood pulled up around his face, the sand-coloured cloak leaving her blind at most angles. Then he turned and she caught a glimpse of his face.

For just a moment, Mara Jade had forgotten how to breathe.

It was possible that Luke was simply on a mission for the Empire, though something deep inside of her whispered that wasn't true. The fact that there'd been some kind of accident at a classified dig site on Jedha in the time he'd been there was either a very strange coincidence or he had helped the Rebel princess destroy an Imperial mining facility. As little as she believed in coincidences, she might have tried that day just as she knew she'd been trying for years now. All those moments - the early morning questions about leaving to all of the times he'd spoken as if his father and she were his only true allies within the Empire they all supposedly served - and the actions surrounding them. Padme Amidala's sister and the Rebel pilot he'd asked Mara to release for saving his life. Even the more recent incident of the intelligence they'd been after and that had been lost along with what should have been two high-level prisoners.

There were too many coincidences, and if she'd been tracking down these threads of information linked to anyone else, it wouldn't have taken her nearly this long to come to the truth. Luke had betrayed the Empire.

And Palpatine would kill him for this.

If he knew. Only if he knew.

By the time Mara's boots met the permasteel where she'd landed on Coruscant, a plan had formed. Those same boots carried her into the palace, through winding halls, and to the large doors the Red Guard opened for her. She steeled herself and her resolve, refusing to think of those three dangerous and unspoken - at least on her side - words that might be the death of her if this went wrong.

Mara felt the beckoning even before she heard her master's voice. "Come, child. What news of Leia Organa do you bring?"

I love you, Luke had said. I'll protect you.

It wouldn't be enough to simply look the other way this time, not if she wanted him to live. And Mara couldn't - wouldn't - imagine a galaxy without him. She could protect him.

"My Emperor," she greeted, bowing lowly. "I tracked the Senator's movements to the planet Jedha. The lies you spoke of were more dangerous than we thought."

They spoke, and Mara reported the half-truths as confidently as if it had been the whole. He waved her through points he cared little for until she reached the dig site. Mara admitted to not knowing why the site was important, but the princess' arrival, the timing of explosion, and her exit left her at the right place at just the right time while she'd received high-confidence reports that she'd been seen with Jedi sympathizers while there.

"And where is the Senator now?"

"I put a tracer on her ship. Its trajectory was taking it towards Alderaan."

"You've done well, my child," Palpatine said, those Sith-gold eyes peering out from beneath his hood. "Very well indeed."

With the dismissal she turned, pushing back at the guilt. It wasn't as if the princess was innocent, but she'd never knowingly shifted blame in her time serving as the Emperor's Hand. She'd served with honestly and dealt fairly until it was his life on the line.

There was no fair outcome with the choices Luke had made, and now she'd find out why.

With each step, the rage built. She kept a careful lid on it through the halls and finally to his apartment that he'd slipped out of to go on a treasonous trip with a princess. She waited. And waited. If her calculations were right, it'd be close to morning before he sauntered in there. Going back to her own quarters would have been a waste of time, though. There'd be no sleeping until she had answers.

The sun wasn't quite peeking up at the horizon when the door finally slid open and the lights motion-triggered lights snapped on at his entrance. She felt the briefest flash of surprise for him, even as he covered it with a smile. "Hey, Mara."

She should have played him. Led him down the path and let him hand her the information she needed. It was a tried and true method - one that he knew well as both an observer and a co-interrogated over the years - but that would be as pointless as his attempt to act so utterly nonplussed by her presence when he returned. "Luke," she greeted tightly. "How was Jedha?"

His façade broke with the question, surprise flashing across his features. He didn't deny it. Instead he stood there, blue gaze studying her and she felt the barest probes against her mind. She shut him out. Hard.

Luke raised his hands, palms outward in mock surrender. "I'm just trying to get a feel if I need to be ready for the Red Guard or not."

So much for keeping a cool head. The anger exploded faster than she could keep control of it and it physically pushed Luke back against the door as she burst to her feet. "You bastard," she hissed, her voice low and dangerous, and she gave him an intentional shove for good measure. "I have always been on your side. Through every questionable action and every treasonous murmur, I've kept it to myself. For you. To protect you!" She watched the words slice through him like a lightsaber. Good. He could feel a fraction of what she was feeling right now. "And then you go behind my back with her and you betray everything we've helped build!"

The words hung in the air between them and Luke loosed a soft breath. "I was trying to protect you."

"Look where that's gotten us."

He flinched at that and moved further into the apartment. He was limping, the bad break of his leg in the final stages of healing, but clearly overused on his little adventure. She watched him as he made his way slowly past the couch, shrugging his cloak from his shoulders to toss over the back of it and unclipping his lightsaber from his belt. He set it down on the table and took a heavy seat, toeing his boots off as he did. There was a long and heavy silence, her rage mixing with his indecision. He pursed his lips together and, finally, turned to look at her. The next words rang in her mind rather than out loud.

Is it safe?

"Of course it is. I used a loop on the listening devices."

He nodded, accepting that without further question, though it didn't alleviate the deafening silence as quickly as she would have anticipated.

"I know how you feel about him and about his Empire," he started slowly, his voice soft. "I know how you see him."

Mara crossed her arms where she stood. "He raised me. Trained me."

"I had to be careful. Not just for me, but for you. He's more dangerous than I think even you know, but….he's the closest thing to a father you can remember." It wasn't an accusation or even a simple statement of fact. There was something deeply personal in his words, and as he continued, Mara felt her chest tighten. "I know that asking you to choose isn't fair."

"Then don't." The words escaped her despite the pang of guilt. Wasn't that the task Palpatine had given her: force Luke to choose between his own father and the Empire? Or, perhaps a bit more realistically: between her and his father. She'd pushed it as far as she could because she didn't want him to have to face that pain. Choosing to be Palpatine's apprentice rather than his father's would be the most difficult decision he'd have to make, but what decision was there, really? The Emperor Saw things in a way few others could. Even Luke wasn't capable of seeing the future as Palpatine did. If the Emperor wanted him, he'd Seen it, and that meant it would come to pass. That, or he'd no longer be alive to fulfill that destiny.

"Mara," he breathed her name like his world was ending. "You don't know what I do about him."

She wasn't sure when she'd crossed the space between them, but she was close enough to lean down and press her lips against his. He reached up, finger tracing against her cheek and she didn't move away even as they parted. "If you go, he'll kill you. I can protect you here."

"And where will that get us?" he murmured similar words to her own spoken just a few minutes before. His eyes flickered up and his gaze held hers. "If we can't leave, we're not free."

"You could choose to stay. With me. I believe in the future we're building." She would find a way to help protect Vader if that was the way to keep him there. She could convince Palpatine to let him live.

"And if you didn't?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let me show you what he's built - what he plans to do. If you still believe in what the Empire has become…."

"You'll let this go?"

"Yes."

She nodded, feeling no true relief in it. But there was hope that they could put this behind them. That had to count for something.

—-

If he thought he'd get away with it, he would have taken his time putting a plan together. Quiet, subtle moves that would ensure that he and Mara were the only people of note that would have known they were there.

But Luke knew he didn't have that kind of time. Less than a full rotation later he'd secured a shuttle and hoped that he'd sense the danger in a more concrete way than the anxiety that was quickly taking up residence if any real trouble lay ahead. He had no choice now. No time to wait for the perfect moment. Mara had to understand why he was making the moves he was making and she'd have to see the corner he was backed into. If she didn't… Well, he didn't know what would happen. She wouldn't leave, that was for certain, but he also wasn't certain that she'd turn him in, despite his immediate questions. More likely she'd get caught in the middle and get herself killed. No. That wasn't right either. If she stayed, he would be the one responsible for getting her killed.

Which left him with little time and a lot of urgency.

He'd gathered what he needed and had clipped his lightsaber to his belt as he started out of his apartment. The doors slid open to reveal two red-clad guards. Luke could feel their gazes on him from behind the masks and he forced the surprise firmly behind a mask of irritation. "Yes?" he snapped, even if he knew they wouldn't - perhaps even couldn't - give him a verbal answer. Instead one motioned and they both turned. The message was clear with or without words. The only reason the Red Guard would come unbidden to his rooms was if Palpatine himself had sent for him. Great. Just great.

As they walked silently down the empty halls, Luke pulled on every lesson he'd learned over the years to bury his thoughts and feelings and fears as deep as they would go. By the time they reached the throne room he was the outward picture of calm, and not even the Emperor would know what had been spinning through his mind for the last rotation. The doors swished open and Mara straightened just a little from her place next to Palpatine. Her presence wasn't abnormal, and not necessarily a cause for concern, but seeing his father standing there without even knowing he was on planet was enough for a flicker of surprise to make it through the calm.

And in turn, a satisfied look flashed through Palpatine's shrouded, gold eyes as he turned that strange gaze on Luke. "Ah. Young Lord Natus," he greeted.

Luke wasted no more time dropping to a knee by way of greeting, his own blue eyes focused on the dark permasteel beneath him.

"Rise, my boy. I trust the medical staff has taken good care of you."

"Yes, my emperor," he answered easily, pulling a chuckle from the old husk of a Sith as Luke straightened.

"Your father too holds little regard for them." Interesting. Palpatine wanted him to know that he knew how little the younger Skywalker thought of Coruscant's best. But did he know that Luke had slipped out and where he'd been? Force knew there were layers to every word he uttered. It kept people guessing as to just how far his visions took him, just how much he Saw, and if they could truly get something past him. Just because he hadn't been hauled out for the first public execution didn't mean that he was in the clear. Or Mara. Or his father.

"I fear I don't have the patience for medical staff in general," Luke answered and that seemed to amuse his father's master.

"Or for protocol."

Luke found gold eyes focused on him and he felt his father touch his mind over their bond, looking for what this might all be about.

Palpatine's focus remained solely on Luke though. "Did you not think I would discover that you have been making moves to undermine Grand Moff Tarkin?"

There it was. He had two choices: grovel and beg for forgiveness or stand firmly by his decision, protocol be damned. Not that anyone in his position would have been fool enough to choose the former. Few found forgiveness from the Emperor.

Luke squared his shoulders and tilted his chin a little higher. "Tarkin's own hubris was delaying your weapon, my Emperor." Palpatine motioned for him to continue as he studied him intently. Any word could land him in an early grave and everyone in the room knew it. "He wants the credit for a project that he doesn't have the technical knowledge to scrape the surface of what's been created. Krennec knows that, and knows that once the project is done that Tarkin would toss him away for the glory."

"But not you?"

Luke shrugged as nonchalantly as he could manage. "I convinced him that I see his worth. He'll complete the weapon with confidence that he'll receive assignments following its completion."

"And if he does not?"

"The decision is ultimately yours, my Emperor. My intention was simply to move a project that Tarkin had stalled forward."

Palpatine flashed a smile of rotten teeth and nodded. "Good. Very good," he offered. "Come closer, Natus. Lord Vader."

The two men moved closer and Luke caught Mara's gaze very briefly. She didn't seem to have any more insight than he did.

One thin, bony hand reached out and a Red Guard approached, setting a device down for all to see. As the robed figure moved away, Palpatine's fingers twitched and the device whirled, an image leaping up from it to show the bridge of the Death Star. Tarkin stood waiting, Krennec sulking behind him, but it was the scientist that the Emperor spoke to. "Director Krennec, Lord Natus speaks very highly of the weapon you have built for me. Are you prepared to prove its worth?"

A startled expression was shared by both the Moff and Science Director, but the latter stepped forward, bending in reverence as he spoke. "At your command, my Emperor," he answered, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

"You may fire when ready."

The image flickered out to provide the same view the Death Star showed through its own viewing port, giving all four in the throne room a clear view of the planet Alderaan. Luke felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

"You seem ill at ease, Lord Natus," Palpatine said quietly.

Luke clamped down on his emotions with everything he had in him. Not only did his, his father, and possibly Mara's life depend on it, but Leia and her adopted family's too. "Confused, my Emperor," he answered. "Half of the palace is furnished with goods exported in large part from Alderaan and the minerals found in their forests are used to power comms and control panels across the galaxy. Not to mention how much of the trade moves through their ports. Destroying the planet -" he felt Mara tense at the phrase - "would throw entire systems out of balance."

"Adjustments can always be made. They are far from irreplaceable."

"Forgive me. I'm just… trying to understand why Alderaan specifically was chosen." He tried not to cringe as the crew on the Death Star counted off the steps until utter destruction.

"Of course. You have been healing from your injuries," Palpatine murmured in a way that left Luke questioning if the Sith believed that or not. "Their young senator has been discovered as a traitor. An example will be made of her with the very weapon she'd hoped to cripple." He turned to Mara as if she'd spoken to him through their connection. "Billions may die to save trillions more, my child," he answered her out loud.

Luke opened his mouth to argue - to beg, if that's what it came to, but the firing sequence commenced, and if the thought of it had felt like a punch, the act sent him reeling. Billions of voices screamed out through the Force and for a fraction of a moment he could feel all of them. The utter terror ripped through him like lightning, burning through his veins and threatening to shatter his heart. And then nothing. Billions of lives snuffed out on the word of one man.

And now the whole galaxy knew what Palpatine was capable of.

Focus, his fathers voice broke through the all-engulfing silence and Luke swallowed down the bile in his throat. When he looked up, he found those thin lips spread wide to show off rotting teeth while Sith-gold eyes bore in as if their owner was looking to take hold of his very soul.

Luke's fingers twitched at his side, his lightsaber tugging lightly on his belt. He had the element of surprise. If he moved fast enough, he could kill him.

"Good," Sidious murmured, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as if he were inhaling a scent. "Your rage, their fear….. Let their cries fuel you until you no longer hear them. I have Seen how strong they will make you."

Surprise pulled him to the outer edges of his murderous rage. "You Saw this?"

"Of course, my boy. There's nothing I do not See."

And then he lost it. The element of surprise along with the drive to act on it. Instead he felt only pain and he turned, not bothering to wait for a dismissal as he stormed out.

Just before he hit the door he heard Palpatine speak. "Let him go. You've done well in raising him, Lord Vader. He will be…"

What the Emperor Saw him to be didn't matter. Nothing did. His sister was dead and his father or he would be next. There was no stopping Palpatine now. They had lost.

—

There are no fair trials in Palpatine's Empire. That was what Los had said to her. He's been so certain that she'd been fool enough to assume that a Rebel had fed him a plate full of lies to turn him. She'd never dreamed that he could be right.

But Leia Organa hadn't received a trial, only an execution along with billions that had dared to share a planet with her. If she hadn't seen the Death Star's capabilities and hadn't witnessed her master's command, she wouldn't have believed it. She wasn't sure she agreed with the way Luke had gone about this, but she was starting to understand the reason behind it at the very least.

It was everything she could do to remain where she was after Luke left the throne room. The Emperor continued to shower Vader with praise for his son's actions in supposedly pushing his project forward to completion. Both would be rewarded, of course. They would be reassigned to the Death Star to ensure that they had everything that they needed to continue. Whatever Luke and the Organa girl had destroyed on Jedha didn't seem to phase Palpatine's expectations. Everything was moving forward… just as he's foreseen it.

Mara wasn't dismissed with Vader, much to her frustration. She buried it down and didn't dare allow her mind to wander — either to what she'd seen or what that truly meant.

"You have done well, my child," Palpatine said once they were alone. "Young Natus' trust in you grows by the day. The time has come to make use of that." Gold eyes slipped closed for a long moment. "Should he stray, it will surely mean his death."

She took a moment, weighing her words carefully. "You seemed… pleased, my master. With his anger towards you."

"Do you think that Lord Vader always followed my commands without doubt? Such loyalty is forged through trial and fire."

Mara swallowed the questions born out of his answer, nodding instead.

"And until he has reached true loyalty to me, he will have you to guide him. Go."

The sudden dismissal added a bit of surprise to the fear his predictions brought, but she didn't dare linger.

—-

The Senate chamber was empty, just as he'd known it would be. The silence weighed heavy on the large room that had once been the center of galactic democracy. From what he knew - from what Leia had told him - few Senators had attended the sessions in recent years. Luke wagered even fewer would now. Palpatine had never cared to hear the will of the people he ruled over, but until now he'd needed a clever way to keep them in line. For those willing, he bought off their representatives with lavish homes and expensive gifts. For those less willing, well… that's what he, his father, and Mara had been for. To dispense Imperial Justice. But with the Death Star not only operational, but on open display… no one would dare go against him for fear that they'd cost the lives of an entire planet. The Rebellion was essentially over, as was any hope Luke had had to escape with the people he loved.

A familiar flicker in the Force warned him of Mara's approach. Luke didn't bother to look back, but instead ran his fingertips along the dusty permasteel of the pod that hadn't been used in some time now. Anger flashed through him, twisting up with guilt and helplessness that were both much less useful to him, but seemed determined to burrow deep into his chest. His fingers tightened as she stepped closer. "Now's not the time," he bit out.

"Luke…"

He spun, his words clawing up his throat and off his tongue before he could stop them. "What did you think he'd do, Mara? Arrest her? Put her on trial?"

"I didn't think he'd kill an entire planet with her," she murmured. She was still in shock. Still reeling. Luke didn't care.

"She was my sister!"

Green eyes blinked in confusion. "What?"

"My sister," he repeated, his own voice threatening to break. "We were separated when we were born. I don't know the details, but I know who she is. Was." He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to swallow back his emotions.

"I… had no idea."

"Would it have changed anything?"

"It would have made more sense."

He snorted. "What did you think it was, Mara?"

There was a beat before she answered. "I did what I could with the information I had. It was her or both of you, and you're not the only one that gets to protect the people you love."

The confession took a moment to break through the next sharp retort that was piecing together in his mind. She loved him. He'd known it even if she never actually said it, but he couldn't even revel in it now. Instead of joy, all it did was deflate his anger and leave him feeling hollow and exhausted. He caught her gaze and saw fear tangled up with her own flared temper.

Somewhere below, one of the lower chamber doors opened, the sliding door scraping across the permasteel with an unmaintenanced squeak. Luke loosed a breath. "I know," he admitted after a long, tense moment. "But right now I have to go find a way to tell my captain that his family, friends… his entire planet was just destroyed. By us."

He turned to make his way down to the lower levels and Mara caught his wrist, but she couldn't seem to say whatever it was she'd stopped him to say. So he leaned in, pressed a brief kiss to her forehead, and squeezed her hand. "I love you too. I just need time."

Mara nodded and released him to move towards a conversation he wasn't even sure that he knew how to have.

----

TBC

Notes:  This took a bit different turn than I expected at the end of the last chapter, but I'm glad it did. It's funny, while I know where this story is going, I can't always predict how it's going to get there. Makes it fun ;) 

Next Time: Luke and Vader find themselves under scrutiny overseeing the Death Star project while Mara makes a discovery that will change the course of their lives.

#star wars #star wars fanfiction #Luke Skywalker #Mara Jade #Sheev Palpatine #Darth Vader

[autcnomy]

the breathless joy....with which he greets clark....the way he promises to tell no one about his secret abilities....the way he begs him to help him....but the thing is Lex really DOES need therapy and time in a psychiatric unit (a good one tho lol jesus), even though he isn’t clinically psychotic.  he could GET there very easily, given the LONG list of trauma he’s undergone since he was a little kid. 

like. how many things can i list as of mid season 3? some of them are just really painful ways to erode lex’s sense of safety and trust, others are full-blown traumatic episodes. and most significantly, MANY are CHRONIC, and NONE are ever ADDRESSED PROPERLY. 

--lionel’s incessant narcissistic abuse and neglect 

--health scares connected to asthma (don’t you dare @ me on this, i have lived through several family and friends having asthma and attacks are unpredictable and scary asf, no matter how rich your parents are)  

--the smallville meteor shower and the physical and mental trauma of being caught in a kryptonite explosion 

--julian’s death (and lex believes he’s at fault even though he was a small child) and lex’s subsequent nervous breakdown

--significant bullying from childhood peers over his appearance, the breakdown (it happened at excelsior/prep school in the “belltower”), and socio-economic privilege 

--surely knowing lionel was unfaithful to lillian multiple times 

--lillian’s death, unexpectedly, of cancer

--the way lionel’s abuse and neglect doubtlessly intensified thereafter 

--the nanny, the closest thing to a proxy mother, abandoning lex shortly thereafter

--the club zero incident and fallout, and lex’s attempt to take the blame for his friend

--the “bad things” lex did in college, and their consequences

--being “exiled” to smallville to run a seemingly doomed fertilizer plant

--the infamous car accident and near-death experience 

--the whole bullshit with pheromone girl trying to marry and use him 

--the whole bullshit with that victoria chick and her dad 

--the hostage situation over level three

--the nanny resurfacing, and dealing with her death being like reliving lillian’s death

--being kidnapped, hung upside down, and threatened in the dark at gunpoint by the guy who looked like the guy lex’s friend killed in club zero

--multiple professional assassination attempts on lex’s life, including by his own father and by one of clark’s vigilante classmates, who sees lex as a “meteor freak” 

--the whole thing with the clairvoyant old lady who DIED because of how scared she was by seeing what was IN HIS FUTURE!!!!! (and we’re surprised he’s paranoid????) 

--the entire tornado thing, where he had a chance to let lionel die (he fucking should have, he probably would never have become a villain if he had, i said what i said) but didn’t, and then had to deal with his fake-blind dad gaslighting and guilting him while invading and monitoring and BUGGING his own personal space

--closely related, the luthercorp buyout of lexcorp: it’s a form of assault and disrespected boundaries, it’s a denial of autonomy, it’s toxic!!! it counts!!!! 

--learning and forgetting (even if he forgets, the damage is there) several times that his best friend is a powerful alien and never told him

--repeatedly trying to show the kents respect and affection and repeatedly being judged by jonathan kent based on lionel luther’s actions

--being lied to and then learning the truth about what happened to his grandparents (his dad murdered them in a rigged tenement explosion, with a best friend who is apparently a notorious mob boss, lmfao) 

--falling in love with helen and nearly losing her to a stalker’s attack

--marrying helen and being betrayed and left for dead on a tropical island because of her

--realizing he’s had a psychotic episode while on that island COMPLETELY ALONE FOR 3 MONTHS--one which revealed his (understandable tbh) desire to commit patricide--and realizing he can’t even trust his own goddamn senses

--realizing the woman he genuinely loves and trusts did try to kill him and that his ABUSER! was RIGHT!!!! about her!!!! 

--trying to win back his ABUSER’S!!!!! respect by becoming a luthercorp employee again and being  gaslit into further self-doubt by said abuser (”are you SURE you’re okay son uwu” fuck a cactus lionel) 

--learning clark’s good friend chloe was researching and working for lionel behind his back

--ALL the events of “Shattered,” including learning he accidentally mortally wounded lana, who’s probably been kinder to him than anyone else

--after it all being stuck in a horrible mental hospital and realizing his best friend won’t help him (in his own admittedly warped perception) 

Holy shit that’s 33 things. 

#ooc #Lex Luthor #smallville meta #smallville #meta

[mdhwrites]

Gonna just re-ask the big question and add paragraph breaks this time:

Did you find it odd how Sasha kinda was forgiven pretty quick by everyone?

In Turning Point, the Wartwood citizens are super quick to trust her and take her word for things (and even when Sasha comes clean about Anne and the Plantars' whereabouts, they still trust her in the end despite knowing she lied to them again) despite Battle of the Bands showing they didn't like or trust Sasha that much. Heck, they show FAR more resentment to Marcy (whom they weirdly don't even bother asking for her whereabouts like with Anne and the Plantars) in New Wartwood even though she did nothing wrong to them at that point so seeing them be a lot nicer with Sasha (who actually did cause trouble for them in Reunion) just feels so weird.

And even when Anne and the Plantars come back, the Plantars are pretty quick to forgive and trust her despite her trying to kill Sprig and Hop Pop in season 1 and The Dinner & True Colors showing they still didn't think very highly of her with Sasha never even interacting with them directly in season 3.

Anne's parents are friendly with her in All In despite Sasha being the reason why Anne acted so disruptive before Amphibia.

And after Sasha's Angels (and before that, Anne flat out hugs Sasha when first reuniting with her in Commander Anne, as if their friendship fallout in True Colors never happened), Anne more or less 100% trusts her despite how bad things were in True Colors where she tried to murder Sasha at the gate (with the crew confirming she was aiming for Sasha's vitals in that fight) and outright ended her friendship with her with nothing in season 3A helping that (since Anne hardly even talks, worries for, or thinks about Sasha in the Earth episodes) so you could say Sasha's forgiveness does feel like the speed ran it a bit.

Like compared to Avatar season 3 where it took a while for Aang, Sokka, and especially Katara to trust Zuko after he spent the first two seasons trying to hunt them (with Aang nearly dying at the end of season 2 because of Zuko betraying them).

Or Rainbow Rocks showing the entire school hating and treating Sunset as a social pariah for her previous actions when she was an evil and mean bully (and even the Rainbooms, the only ones willing to associate with her, have their awkwardness with her too with the constant "no offense" comments and the fact they didn't include Sunset in their band (the Dazzlings' comments when they bring it up to Sunset and Sunset's reaction to said comments indicate she feels hurt from being excluded from the band)).

When put next to those examples, it feels like Sasha gaining forgiveness was way more speed run compared to them.

Is this better formated now?

YES! Thank you, this was much easier to reread with the breaks. The big thing is that your eyes start to swim when there's too much text and so you have to constantly refocus to find your spot over and over again and it only gets worse the longer you have to do it. ANYWAYS: Before I get into whether Sasha was forgiven too quickly, I want to refute the statement that Anne didn't think about or care about Sasha in S3A: "Sasha! You're alive!"

That one sentence says VOLUMES, especially when paired with the fact that Anne struggled so much with even grasping the scope of True Colors afterwards. She's 13. She CAN'T process or think about the fact that for all she knew, Sasha and Marcy were both dead. I think, especially for the sake of the tone of the show, it's REALLY smartly handled, especially so as to allow Amphibia to feel like itself in S3A rather than getting mired in the climax of S2.

Anyways, moving on. I will grant that New Wartwood actually does throw a bit of a wrench in a bit of this... But not as much as you think. New Wartwood was literally the first time Wartwood had met Marcy and in S1, they made it clear they don't like strangers. They're slow to trust... But that had already changed somewhat by the time Marcy showed up. They're still not friendly but they aren't as ready to murder her like they were with Anne. It's part of Wartwood's overall arch and actually prepares them for when Sasha and Grime show up. They aren't happy... But by then, a friend of Anne's is FIRMLY a friend of Wartwood. They see Sasha effectively as just a third Anne, especially after Battle of the Bands (which actually makes them choosing Sasha in Commander Anne even more powerful because it's recognition that they like Sasha for more than just being associated with Anne).

So what about when she returns? Well, first there's the fact that they don't know what's going on when she arrives. They only have her word for context and between name dropping Anne and the Plantars, and claiming her aims are altruistic, that's all it takes for them to be okay with trusting her, especially since her request doesn't actually ask anything of them. Wartwood coming to support them was optional, not part of Grime or Sasha's demands which is VERY important. After all... Sasha only ends up having lied about WHERE her purpose in Wartwood came from.

After all, when it's revealed she lied, she hasn't broken her word yet. She is still there to protect the town. Not only that but after the reveal, both her and Grime put their money where their mouth is. They are ready to die for these people and they don't have to. They could have cut and run and let this all be a lie. They didn't and so Wartwood saves them as part of saving their own town.

After that... desperate times call for desperate measures. Amphibia is changing after all and in a way that is bad for Wartwood. They're going to need warriors... But we also don't see them immediately put Sasha in charge. Instead, what we likely don't see, and don't need to see, is a rough period of about a week or so where Sasha and Grime aren't being included in plans and the like and Wartwood comes close to the brink of destruction without anyone who knows how to conduct war and combat. It becomes the wasteland that on top it is... And then they go to the two who actually know how to fight and strategize since they're not used to this but the toads are.

We don't have to assume they literally made her commander the next day. She had MONTHS to earn that title. And that is half of what plays into the Plantars and Anne being okay with Sasha in S3B. She arrives with the support of LITERALLY ALL OF THEIR FRIENDS AND CONNECTIONS. Literally the entire town now trusts her so that's at least enough to make one pause. For the Plantars, the town's survival matters more than a couple betrayals, helped by the fact that Sasha didn't abandon them during True Colors when things went to shit. Is it smooth? No, I think the complaint is a valid one that something for the Plantars could have been done there and been warranted for it, especially with how much Sprig holds a grudge about things (though arguably Grime's Pupil is that moment, it's just with Grime instead of Sasha and that's okay, especially because the Plantar's personal problem is honestly more with Grime than Sasha) but it's not majorly detrimental to the story. It's one of those things that would be a lot worse if the rest of the writing either wasn't entertaining or didn't have a point to it.

What about Anne? Well, I already brought up that part of this is that she did assume Sasha had DIED and regardless of her current feelings, they've been friends for at least half a decade. That fucks someone up. But more importantly perhaps... Anne is Heart. The fact that Sasha IMMEDIATELY tries to give up power, shows how she's grown as a person and how she's helping people that Anne cares about, means she deserves a second chance, at least in Anne's eyes. Not a scot free one as Sasha's Angels shows doubt and worry is still at the core of Anne's heart but that enough of her wants to believe Sasha can be better to trust her like Wartwood does.

But also it's out of convenience and you will let things slide more with someone you HAVE to work with. They NEED Sasha's tactical skills. Sasha's Angels actually proves this somewhat because when they're alone... Anne is on edge. As someone who keeps up a good relationship with his twin brother nowadays almost purely because it makes my parents happy... I get it. She's spent so much time with Sasha, gotten so close, that it's easy to default to how things used to be when you have to do something together or have to keep up appearances. When you're alone though... It's harder to ignore those scars. By the Beginning of the End, she is still ready to call out Sasha for the fact that she did wrong which is the excuse for Marcy being given a second chance. That none of them are without fault but they can all try to do better.

And the final point I have against comparing Sasha to Zuko or Sunset is... Sasha isn't a main character. Bare minimum, she is VASTLY less a main character than Zuko or Sunset are in their respective works. She's a good supporting character, don't get me wrong, but that's still very different from being a core pillar of the show. Honestly, one of the oddest choices in Amphibia's narrative is the fact that while the trio are the ones to get super powers, they are NOT the main characters. Anne, Amphibia, The Plantars as a unit and Wartwood as a whole are probably the people you can genuinely call the main characters of the show, if anyone other than strictly Anne. That inherently changes the narrative pacing you can allow for a character's arc. Zuko and Sunset ARE main characters of their stories as both are primary and ACTIVE antagonists in their respective pieces before their redemption and so they get much more time, with both Rainbow Rocks and Equestrian Games being mostly with Sunset as the main character for both movies as they work on her full redemption. Almost half of Book 3 is spent solely on Zuko's redemption from how my memory serves me.

Sasha is, at best, the primary antagonist for two seasons but is an absentee villain for the most part who effectively isn't around for 90% of the time (she literally only has 2 episodes in s1 and then is VERY backloaded in S2) but does her job well in challenging and contrasting Anne whenever she does show up. When she becomes a good guy... She honestly doesn't get much more time, or importance, than many of the folk in Wartwood or the ancillary members of Amphibia they recruit. She's just another member of the community who has slightly more connection to Anne than most which actually fits her arc of letting go of control really well because she was constantly around, it'd feel like she was still trying to micro-manage things.

I'm not going to say Sasha's redemption is perfect, part of it leans on the looser, more over the top writing of Amphibia in general, but I think the narrative payoffs outweigh the problems by a very firm, large margin.

And hey, if you think she needed more time... The characters themselves agreed as when all was said and done and no cause was forcing them together... They decided they needed more time to process everything. Almost like the season was preparing for the ending. For them to need to figure themselves out before they could entirely forgive each other and be the same sorts of friends they were in the past.

======+++++====== Side Note: Someone asked me what asks I deleted due to formatting and while I don't remember most of them, I have an ask in my box about Polly and her role and I do want to talk about her because it's a fair criticism that Polly is the least important Plantar. Short answer to that btw: She's like King in S1 of TOH where she is obviously the comic relief character and using a normal trope for such characters to fill that job. In her case: The weirdly adult child.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#Amphibia #sasha waybright

[simplegenius042]

Betrayal, Mistake and Monster for Silva 😊 Please !

Jumping straight to the angstiest of angsts I see. Into the devastating life of Silva we go!

Also this kind of becomes like rambling because I'm very invested in my stuff. Also it's long... so read if you want, take breaks if you must.

TW: Mentions of child abuse (in all forms), a really fascist and shitty society, massacre, death, grooming (in all forms) and cult stuff. Father Adam Omar is officially his own warning. It gets kind of dark sometimes but thankfully not in the FULLEST of details. Continue below:

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

On the receiving end of betrayal there's only been two major ones and two minor ones. It's not in entirely detail and is slightly a summary since there's a lot more to this.

I make no subtlety in the fact that Silva and Elsa's father, Adam Omar, is an abhorrent individual who deserves to die. He is a danger to his current children, the predecessors he sired before them, and literally everyone else. Anyone who was not under his cult and dictatorship could have looked at Adam and the society he lead and immediately notice the red flags surrounding him. With that said, Silva had been born in the Congregation of Adam's Guard, so what would be deplorable and unacceptable to us was the norm to Silva and Elsa growing up. Adam was Silva's primary caretaker and the one person (barely) keeping her alive and healthy, even if it was clear that he despised her and favored Elsa. The problem was, Adam's delusions and extreme control freak nature often lead him away from his intended purpose for Silva (his plan to groom her into the "Judas" who would be the embodiment of sin and activate the Collapse vs his sick desire to groom her into the role to be his "Eve" and/or kill her for existing... neither great options), so he gave very mixed signals on how much he "cared" for Silva. His constant swings from disdainful neglect and abuse to pride, compliments and reward caused Silva to both crave for his touch and love but also to fear it. But despite his malicious intentions, Silva was caught in his narrative that he did care for her but her "sins" made it difficult, and only he could "fix" her. Silva trusted her father... what child wouldn't? Even though Adam's betrayal had come years before (nearly killing her as an infant, nearly drowning her during her first (of many) baptisms, his neglect and abuse, his grooming, forcing her to witness graphic violence, etc), the most significant events that made Silva realise she had been betrayed by Adam came in three parts; first, at the age of ten, she noticing Adam's (age 52) attention shift from her to Elsa (age 9) and overhearing his plan to get rid of her, second discovering the pile of bodies of her half-siblings (or as he called them, Silva and Elsa's failed predecessors) upon been thrown down into the cellar to be killed later, and lastly, at the age of 18 during the Tumultite Massacre, confronting Adam (age 60) in his palace seeking answers for why she didn't love her as a parent should (as Paul had shown her a parent should), he made it clear that, in the grand scheme of the Lord's plan, while Elsa and her predecessors were merely a means to an end that he could tolerate, Silva herself meant absolutely nothing to him but a constant reminder of failure that fueled his justification to be a raging, bigoted and hate-filled asshole towards her all the while blaming her for not being what he wanted (both as his "Judas" and his "Eve")[<- NOTE: This entire sentence is merely an abridged summary of what he meant and had said to Silva, Adam himself would never admit any wrongdoing nor call himself anything insulting to his self-perceived character]. Then he proceeded to chase her down in an attempt to kill her once again. Thankfully Silva, Elsa (age 17) and Persephone (a week or two old) managed to get to a boat and got away from the Archipelagos and the Congregation.

That was one major betrayal Silva had to deal with and one that still haunts her. The second major betrayal was with her adoptive father, Paul Yellowjack. Five years after escaping the Tumultite Massacre and making residence in Hope County with her sister and daughter (though the former only gets to spend the first two years with them before dying in an accident at age 19 or 20 haven't decided), Paul (age 51) visits Silva (age 23) at her residence, five years after she thought he died during the massacre that pretty much wiped out their entire community (with the exception of Kamski and Ezekiel, who survived but Silva wouldn't know that until she encounters Kamski later that year and Ezekiel during the New Dawn Arc). Despite the warm reunion, he insists for her and Persephone (age 5) to join his cult (the Apostles of Zachariah) which she refutes, because the Congregation was traumatizing and Eden's Gate has been harassing her over her late-sister's floristry. Paul initially accepted this and swiftly left... then later the next day ambushed her with the rest of the Heralds of the Orchestrator, kidnapping Persephone, and forcing Silva to go on a six-month travel across the globe hunting down these heralds looking for her daughter. So for context... Paul went a little mad after the massacre and joined a cult whose whole premise was "the individual cannot grow nor live without suffering and must be traumatised to better adapt" (plus a whole bunch of other ideals). The ultimate betrayal comes when (eventually) Silva corners Paul with Kamski's (age 55) help, though Paul (out of a combination of feeling betrayed himself, a punishing retribution to avenge his fallen adopted children, pure spite for ruining his operations and slight envy towards his granddaughter) had murdered Persephone right in front of Silva (something that would shake and reshape Silva's character drastically and lead to Paul's own life-long self-loathing and regret for his selfish actions). Paul pays this betrayal with his life upon the final month (though as you will learn in the New Dawn arc, this only ends Paul on the material plane, and grants him a doorway to a supernatural state...)

The minor betrayals Silva experiences come from Eden's Gate (a hostile takeover is not taken well by Silva, especially if the one/s committing it are pretending they aren't in any wrong) and Denise Lapis (unfortunate forced wife to Captain of the Enforcers, Oscar Lapis, who had been taken in by the Tumultites after finding her near death, though she betrays them by tipping off the Enforcers to the planned rescue mission for Elsa. Though Silva was (justifiably) mad about this at the time, especially when it gave the Enforcers an opportunity to surprise her community with a massacre that killed her lover, Persephone's mother and Kamski's daughter, Irene Neon, five to eight years later after having to reflect upon her life, Silva understood Denise was as much as a victim as she was and only did what she did out of fear, rationalizing that, had she still been under Adam's thumb and in Denise's position, she would have probably done the same thing).

Now, Silva herself betraying is only very minor, and from the (questionable) perspective of others and herself. Adam would obviously think Silva to have done this to him, even when he tried to set her up as this to the Tumultites (which failed), but from Paul's perspective, this may be the case, especially during the six-months she hunted down Paul and the Apostles, but eventually years later he realises this to be false and that he was definitely at fault for his own actions. But for Silva herself, thanks to her survivor's guilt and self-blame, she believes that if she is unable to help another community overcome an oppressive force who is way too similar to the Congregation for her to even be able to disassociate the two, if she fails in saving more lives than she could in the massacre, or worse, gives in and joins Eden's Gate (which to her, regardless if they're morally better than Adam's Guard will ever be, will never provide a safety and belonging that she wants to have with the residents of Hope County), she feels then that she would be betraying the values of Jannah's Principles, tarnished the memory of the community who gave her freedom and an opportunity to live a normal life (at the cost of their own) and breaking another promise to her loved ones, leaving their sacrifices in vain. There's also the part in which in Silva's Hope, she has a moral crisis over whether or not to keep John, who she had spared and kept as a prisoner in her bunker, alive as an opportunity to end the Reaping at the potential cost of her friends and new community's trust in her for withholding the fact she didn't kill John despite all he had done, or to kill him to legitimize the lie as truthful and keep her friends at the cost of her own morals of killing a defenseless and imprisoned enemy who she actually started to view more positively and with more sympathy and friendliness (especially after Joseph's broadcasted eulogy, something that both reaffirms her belief that Joseph is a fraudulent prophet and the Collapse truly did happen in the Archipelagos in the form of the Tumultite Massacre, and also something that sours her view on Joseph even more and actually allows her to humanize John by recognizing herself in him). There's her eventual reoccurring meetings with Faith, which is a whole other can of worms that has some people (like Tracey, Jess and Virgil) pissed at her (in Silva's defense... she tried to be manipulative to give the Resistance an advantage... but it somehow turned from vibing-tolerance trying to get the other to crack a mask and gain any information that contributes to their respective factions into bickering enemy-friends who might sabotage their factions behind their leaders back just to help the other out once or twice into some kind of amalgamation of a messy friendship that leans on borderline romantic situationship but both parties don't know how to admit they like each other nor do they think they can so they just suffer in yearning thinking if they make the first move they'll ruin whatever comfortable relationship this is... among other things).

...Moving on.

mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on?

I'd say there is two major mistakes Silva makes in her life.

First and foremost is not killing Adam Omar when she had the chance. She had him at gunpoint and he may be a 7'1 sixty-year-old giant built like brick empire states building, but he was still a man who could die from a gunshot (when the Voice's charm wasn't protecting him that is). It's the facts that Silva was a) hesitant to kill her father, even when he should be on an offender watchlist (preferably past tense) and b) she's eighteen and wanted answers to just why he is the way he is/did what he did/hated her from the very beginning despite being faithful and subservient (not a good thing). Unfortunately Adam is a self-righteous and victim-blaming dick so he said a breaking speech (that I will not post here) which was complete BS and gaslighted Silva into losing confidence enough to give him an opening but with still enough determined will to have the rationality to get away from him. She managed to fix that mistake with the Apostles and Paul (but is unsuccessful due to unforeseen events out of her control) and is trying to do the same with Joseph and Eden's Gate. Though, spoilers, she might be able to confront Adam once more in the main story... a day Adam will be determined to ruin. Her entire story is trying to move on but being unable to.

Second major mistake, in her POV, was not joining Paul and the Apostles, especially if it meant Persephone got to live. She knew the cult was wrong (slavery, torture, organized crime, chemical warfare, not really good things) but they managed to ingrain rules to follow in the Apostles that Adam's Guard just didn't care about. Like no sexual violation to the body or mind, everyone is equal and valuable, and kids are off limits (the last one Silva finds is being bent by the heralds Gaius and Zhan Tiri, the former finding a loophole of what ages define a child and adult in certain countries to put them through death playgrounds that end with a sacrifice and the latter isn't discriminate on who ends up on the receiving end of her poisons) [NOTE: While Paul does kill Persephone, unlike Adam, he feels immense guilt about it and doubles-down on the rule later]. They're evil, but there is standards and a certain nobleness to them (for lack of a better phrase). The only reason she didn't was because it went against her morals to let innocent people be taken from their lives to live one that was miserable and just plain suffering (is it likely Paul would have changed the cult up a bit if it made Silva more open to joining? Zachariah be damned? Perhaps. Though whether or not Silva would have still joined him then is another question with an unknown answer).

monster: Is your OC monstrous in any way? Is there something that makes them monstrous? Are they aware of their own monstrosity? Do they accept it or reject it?

I suppose desensitization to violence and death and the lack of empathy towards her enemies may count, considering she has a very high kill count and over the course of the stories she feels very justified in those deaths. She doesn't actually like it but no one has ever told her (in her very black and white view of the world) that its wrong so she's very aware its apart of her in some way, shape or form. Though this line of thought is muddied by her fight against the Seeds and Eden's Gate (including Nadi and Alexander) which introduces her to the gray in morality, something I'll explain another time. She accepts it at first but ultimately decides to reject it to not be like Paul and the Apostles or her father's Enforcers in the end.

Sorry this was long and not as refined as I would have wanted it to be, but I hope it gave enough insight. I do hope it is as understandable as I could make my ramblings be. Chow!

#far cry the silver chronicles #far cry 5 #oc: silva omar #oc ask game #whump asks #trigger warnings for a lot of stuff

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: The Princess in the Tower (Arianne II) [Chapter 40]

Hers was a gentle prison.

Arianne took solace from that. Why would her father go to such great pains to provide for her comfort in captivity if he had marked her for a traitor's death? He cannot mean to kill me, she told herself a hundred times. He does not have it in him to be so cruel. I am his blood and seed, his heir, his only daughter.

You know things are broken when you believe your father is capable of killing you.

+.+.+

If need be, she would throw herself beneath the wheels of his chair, admit her fault, and beg him for his pardon. And she would weep. When he saw tears rolling down her face, he would forgive her.

Snort.

"Tears," she said scornfully to Sansa as the woman was led from the hall. "The woman's weapon, my lady mother used to call them. - Sansa VI, ACOK

+.+.+

Ser Manfrey took her arm and marched her up the steps, up and up until her breath grew short. The Spear Tower stood a hundred and a half feet high, and her cell was nearly at the top. Arianne eyed every door they passed, wondering if one of the Sand Snakes might be locked within.

A princess in a tower!

+.+.+

There were Myrish carpets on the floor, red wine to drink, books to read. In one corner stood an ornate cyvasse table with pieces carved of ivory and onyx, though she had no one to play with even if she had been so inclined. She had a featherbed to sleep in, and a privy with a marble seat, sweetened by a basketful of herbs.

Arianne, I believe Doran Martell wants his heir to study the game.

+.+.+

"Someone told," Hotah had said. The memory still made her angry. Arianne clung to that, feeding the flame within her heart. Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt. Someone told, someone she had trusted. Arys Oakheart had died because of that, slain by the traitor's whisper as much as by the captain's axe. The blood that had streamed down Myrcella's face, that was the betrayer's work as well. Someone told, someone she had loved. That was the cruelest cut of all.

But who would want to hurt Myrcella?

He said we had the Imp to thank, for sending us Princess Myrcella. She is so pretty, don't you think? I wish that I had curls like hers. She was made to be a queen, just like her mother." Dimples bloomed in Tyene's cheeks. - The Captain of the Guards, AFFC

Could it be the creepy girl?

+.+.+

She paced around her tower, twice and thrice and three times thrice. She sat beside the cyvasse table and idly moved an elephant. 

Moving the Golden Company's elephants, are you?

All eyes on the game pieces in this chapter.

+.+.+

Someone told, she thought. Someone told. Garin, Drey, and Spotted Sylva were friends of her girlhood, as dear to her as her cousin Tyene.

Sure, awkwardly throw Tyene's name in there.

+.+.+

She could not believe they would inform on her . . . but that left only Darkstar, and if he was the betrayer, why had he turned his sword on poor Myrcella? He wanted to kill her instead of crowning her, he said as much at Shandystone. He said that was how I'd get the war I wanted. But it made no sense for Dayne to be the traitor. If Ser Gerold had been the worm in the apple, why would he have turned his sword upon Myrcella?

Good point, we need the (wo)man behind the curtain.

+.+.+

Someone told. Could it have been Ser Arys? Had the white knight's guilt won out over his lust? Had he loved Myrcella more than her and betrayed his new princess to atone for his betrayal of the old? Was he so ashamed of what he'd done that he threw his life away at the Greenblood rather than live to face dishonor?

That's a bingo!

+.+.+

During the daylight hours she would try to read, but the books that they had given her were deadly dull: ponderous old histories and geographies, annotated maps, a dry-as-dust study of the laws of Dorne, The Seven-Pointed Star and Lives of the High Septons, a huge tome about dragons that somehow made them about as interesting as newts. Arianne would have given much and more for a copy of Ten Thousand Ships or The Loves of Queen Nymeria, anything to occupy her thoughts and let her escape her tower for an hour or two, but such amusements were denied her.

Arianne, I believe Doran Martell wants his heir to read the books.

Blah, I'm always troubled when a character I like is choosing not to read history. That's never good.

To be fair, I'd prefer original ship girl over the boring newts as well.

+.+.+

No visitors were permitted her beyond the servants; Bors with his stubbly jaw, tall Timoth dripping dignity, the sisters Morra and Mellei, pretty little Cedra, old Belandra who had been her mother's bedmaid. They brought her meals, changed her bed, and emptied the chamber pot beneath her privy, but none would speak with her. 

[...]

Yet none of them had a word for her, nor would they deign to tell her what was happening in the world outside her sandstone cage. "Has Darkstar been captured?" she asked Bors one day. "Are they still hunting for him?" The man only turned his back on her and walked away. "Have you gone deaf?" Arianne snapped at him. "Come back here and answer me. I command it." Her only reply was the sound of a door closing.

So she wept, pleading through her door for them to tell her what was happening, calling for her father, for Septa Mordane, for the king, for her gallant prince. If the men guarding her heard her pleas, they gave no answer. 

[...]

They were fed—hard cheese and fresh-baked bread and milk to break their fast, roast chicken and greens at midday, and a late supper of beef and barley stew—but the servants who brought the meals would not answer Sansa's questions. - Sansa IV, AGOT

+.+.+

Is this my father's notion of torment? Not hot irons or the rack, but simple silence? That was so very like Doran Martell that Arianne had to laugh. He thinks he is being subtle when he is only being feeble. She resolved to enjoy the quiet, to use the time to heal and fortify herself for what must come.

Let's see how you're doing in a few weeks.

+.+.+

Instead, she made herself think about the Sand Snakes, Tyene especially. Arianne loved all her bastard cousins, from prickly, hot-tempered Obara to little Loreza, the youngest, only six years old. Tyene had always been the one she loved the most, though; the sweet sister that she never had. The princess had never been close to her brothers; Quentyn was off at Yronwood, and Trystane was too young. No, it had always been her and Tyene, with Garin and Drey and Spotted Sylva.

+.+.+

Nym would sometimes join them in their sport, and Sarella was forever pushing in where she didn't belong, but for the most part they had been a company of five.

Like the Citadel?

+.+.+

They splashed in the pools and fountains of the Water Gardens, and rode into battle perched on one another's naked backs. She and Tyene had learned to read together, learned to ride together, learned to dance together. When they were ten Arianne had stolen a flagon of wine, and the two of them had gotten drunk together. They shared meals and beds and jewelry. They would have shared their first man as well, but Drey got too excited and spurted all over Tyene's fingers the moment she drew him from his breeches. Her hands are dangerous. The memory made her smile.

They sure are.

Can you imagine losing your virginity in a three-way? That's confidence.

+.+.+

Prince Oberyn had armed each of his daughters so they need never be defenseless, but Arianne Martell had no weapon but her guile. And so she smiled and charmed, and asked nothing in return of Cedra, neither word nor nod.

Guile! Arianne's got more than two weapons.

+.+.+

"Please," Cedra finally whispered, after Arianne had painted a vivid picture of Garin throwing himself from the window of his cell, to taste freedom one last time before he died. "You have to help him. Please don't let him die."

"I can do little and less so long as I am locked up here," she whispered back. "My father will not see me. You are the only one who can save Garin. Do you love him?"

"Yes," Cedra whispered, blushing. "But how can I help?"

"You can smuggle out a letter for me," said the princess. "Will do you that? Will you take the risk . . . for Garin?"

Cedra's eyes got big. She nodded.

I have a raven, Arianne thought, triumphantly, but who to send her to? 

You precious, I love how much you underestimate your own father.

+.+.+

Half of the Ullers are half-mad, the saying went, and the other half are worse. Ellaria Sand was Lord Harmen's natural daughter. She and her little ones had been locked away with the rest of the Sand Snakes. That would have made Lord Harmen wroth, and the Ullers were dangerous when wroth. Too dangerous, perhaps. The princess did not want to put any more lives in danger.

Laying some foundation on House Uller.

"Lords and ladies, let us all now drink to Tommen, the First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms."

[...]

The white knight did drink, as was only courteous. His companions likewise. So did the Princess Arianne, Lady Jordayne, the Lord of Godsgrace, the Knight of Lemonwood, the Lady of Ghost Hill … even Ellaria Sand, Prince Oberyn's beloved paramour, who had been with him in King's Landing when he died. Hotah paid more note to those who did not drink: Ser Daemon Sand, Lord Tremond Gargalen, the Fowler twins, Dagos Manwoody, the Ullers of the Hellholt, the Wyls of the Boneway. If there is trouble, it could start with one of them. - The Watcher, ADWD

+.+.+

Lord Fowler might be a safer choice. The Old Hawk, he was called. He had never gotten on with Anders Yronwood; there was bad blood between their Houses going back a thousand years, from when the Fowlers had chosen Martell over Yronwood during Nymeria's War. The Fowler twins were famous friends of Lady Nym as well, but how much weight would that carry with the Old Hawk?

More non-drinkers.

+.+.+

"Give the man who brings this to you a hundred silver stags," she began. That should ensure that the message was delivered. She wrote where she was, and pleaded for rescue. "Whoever shall deliver me from this cell, he shall not be forgotten when I wed." That should bring the heroes running.

Look at all these weapons you have.

+.+.+

Cedra hid the message in her bodice. "I'll find someone before the sun goes down, princess."

"Good," she said. "Tell me how it went on the morrow."

The girl did not return upon the morrow, however. Nor on the day that followed. 

Lol, Arianne's got to work on not getting other people in trouble.

+.+.+

The freedom that Prince Oberyn allowed his bastard daughters had never been shared by Prince Doran's lawful heir. Arianne must wed; she had accepted that. Drey had wanted her, she knew; so had his brother Deziel, the Knight of Lemonwood. Daemon Sand had gone so far as to ask for her hand. Daemon was bastard-born, however, and Prince Doran did not mean for her to wed a Dornishman.

You never know, he might be a Targaryen.

Her father did not mean for her to wed a Dornishman. We'll see what happens when Doran and Aegon have left the story.

+.+.+

Arianne had accepted that as well. One year King Robert's brother came to visit and she did her best to seduce him, but she was half a girl and Lord Renly seemed more bemused than inflamed by her overtures. Later, when Hoster Tully asked her to come to Riverrun and meet his heir, she lit candles to the Maid in thanks, but Prince Doran had declined the invitation. The princess might even have considered Willas Tyrell, crippled leg and all, but her father refused to send her to Highgarden to meet him. She tried to go despite him, with Tyene's help . . . but Prince Oberyn caught them at Vaith and brought them back. 

One of them is still available?

+.+.+

Grandison had seemed a pleasant fellow, less querulous than Estermont and more robust than Rosby. She would never marry him, however. Not even if Hotah stands behind me with his axe.

Vows made at axe point are not valid.

+.+.+

Days came and went, one after the other, so many that Arianne lost count of how long she had been imprisoned. She found herself spending more and more time abed, until she reached the point where she did not rise at all except to use her privy. The meals the servants brought grew cold, untouched. Arianne slept and woke and slept again, and still felt too weary to rise. 

Remove all the context and this is a retelling of Sansa's time in Maegor's Holdfast.

The only thing that's missing is Arianne opening the window and thinking about it.

+.+.+

I am frightened, she realized, for the first time in my life, I am frightened of my father. That made her laugh until the wine came out her nose. When it was time to dress, she chose a simple gown of ivory linen, with vines and purple grapes embroidered around the sleeves and bodice. She wore no jewels. I must be chaste and humble and contrite. I must throw myself at his feet and beg forgiveness, or I may never hear another human voice again.

Snort.

She found a cedar chest full of her clothes at the foot of her bed, so she stripped out of the travel-stained garb she had slept in and donned the most revealing garments she could find, wisps of silk that covered everything and hid nothing. Prince Doran might treat her like a child, but she refused to dress like one. She knew such garb would discomfit her father when he came to chastise her for making off with Myrcella. She counted on it. If I must crawl and weep, let him be uncomfortable as well.

+.+.+

Instead he delivered her to the prince's solar, where they found Doran Martell seated behind a cyvasse table, his gouty legs supported by a cushioned footstool. He was toying with an onyx elephant, turning it in his reddened, swollen hands. 

More elephant contemplation.

+.+.+

"A strange and subtle folk, the Volantenes," he muttered, as he put the elephant aside. 

The elephants are on the move!

They claim the Golden Company is making for Volantis. - Cersei IV, AFFC

+.+.+

"I told them to place a cyvasse table in your chambers," her father said when the two of them were alone.

"Who was I supposed to play with?" Why is he talking about a game? Has the gout robbed him of his wits?

"Yourself. Sometimes it is best to study a game before you attempt to play it. How well do you know the game, Arianne?"

"Well enough to play."

"But not to win. My brother loved the fight for its own sake, but I only play such games as I can win. Cyvasse is not for me." 

I love Doran, but if my father constantly spoke to me in code, I'd do drugs and have unprotected sex.

+.+.+

She seated herself across the cyvasse table from her father.

Guys, you're on the same team.

+.+.+

She touched one of the cyvasse pieces, the heavy horse. "Have you caught Ser Gerold?"

He's on a horse in the mountains.

+.+.+

Hotah made no reply, except to grunt. Arianne could feel his anger. Darkstar had escaped him, the most dangerous of all her little group of plotters. He had outraced all his pursuers and vanished into the deep desert, with blood upon his blade.

x

He shook his head. "Would that we had. You were a fool to make him part of this. Darkstar is the most dangerous man in Dorne. You and he have done us all great harm.

Not that I want to see something bad happen to the characters I like, but George better deliver with this Darkstar character. Too much talk. So far the guy couldn't even manage to kill a little girl.

+.+.+

Arianne was almost afraid to ask. "Myrcella. Is she . . . ?"

". . . dead? No, though Darkstar did his best. All eyes were on your white knight so no one seems quite certain just what happened, but it would appear that her horse shied away from his at the last instant, else he would have taken off the top of the girl's skull. As it is, the slash opened her cheek down to the bone and sliced off her right ear. Maester Caleotte was able to save her life, but no poultice nor potion will ever restore her face. She was my ward, Arianne. Betrothed to your own brother and under my protection. You have dishonored all of us."

+.+.+

"I never meant her harm," Arianne insisted. "If Hotah had not interfered . . ."

". . . you would have crowned Myrcella queen, to raise a rebellion against her brother. Instead of an ear, she would have lost her life."

I mean, yeah.

+.+.+

"If? The word is when. Dorne is the least populous of the Seven Kingdoms. It pleased the Young Dragon to make all our armies larger when he wrote that book of his, so as to make his conquest that much more glorious, and it has pleased us to water the seed he planted and let our foes think us more powerful than we are, but a princess ought to know the truth. Valor is a poor substitute for numbers. Dorne cannot hope to win a war against the Iron Throne, not alone. And yet that may well be what you have given us. Are you proud?" The prince did not allow her time to answer. "What am I to do with you, Arianne?"

Honest assessment, but the author will punish him for wanting those dragons.

+.+.+

"Now you have. I want to know who informed on me."

"I would as well, in your place."

"Will you tell me?"

"I can think of no reason why I should."

"You think I cannot discover the truth on my own?"

"You are welcome to try. Until such time you must mistrust them all . . . and a little mistrust is a good thing in a princess." 

Trust no one, I once told Eddard Stark, but he would not listen. - Sansa I, AFFC

+.+.+

"As it happens, I agree. Aside from Darkstar, your fellow plotters were no more than foolish children. Still, this was no harmless game of cyvasse. You and your friends were playing at treason. I might have had their heads off."

"You might have, but you didn't. Dayne, Dalt, Santagar . . . no, you would never dare make enemies of such Houses."

"I dare more than you dream . . . but leave that for the nonce. Ser Andrey has been sent to Norvos to serve your lady mother for three years. Garin will spend his next two years in Tyrosh. From his kin amongst the orphans, I took coin and hostages. Lady Sylva received no punishment from me, but she was of an age to marry. Her father has shipped her to Greenstone to wed Lord Estermont.

Many have theorized that because Sylva Santagar received no punishment, and married above her station, she was the one who told Doran. He's a corpse, how is that a reward?

I'm more inclined to believe Doran is putting his pieces where he wants them. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you what the plan is.

+.+.+

As for Arys Oakheart, he chose his own fate and met it bravely. A knight of the Kingsguard . . . what did you do to him?"

"I fucked him, Father. You did command me to entertain our noble visitors, as I recall."

+.+.+

It was her turn to flush. Her seduction of Ser Arys had required half a year. Though he claimed to have known other women before taking the white, she would never have known that from the way he acted. His caresses had been clumsy, his kisses nervous, and the first time they were abed together he spent his seed on her thigh as she was guiding him inside her with her hand. 

Arys had known other women before taking the white. She would never have known by how nervous he was.

I try not to make everything about jonsa, but taking the white is rarely used in these books. You tell me what that reminds you of.

+.+.+

"No," Arianne said. "Say that he died defending his little princess. Tell Ser Balon that Darkstar tried to kill her and Ser Arys stepped between them and saved her life." That was how the white knights of the Kingsguard were supposed to die, giving up their own lives for those that they had sworn to protect. "Ser Balon may be suspicious, as you were when the Lannisters killed your sister and her children, but he will have no proof . . ."

". . . until he speaks with Myrcella. Or must that brave child suffer a tragic accident as well? If so, it will mean war. No lie will save Dorne from the queen's wroth if her daughter should perish whilst in my care."

He needs me, Arianne realized. That's why he sent for me.

One lie leads to another and so on. They don't have a choice, but you can see this is not going to end well.

+.+.+

She gave him no chance to reply. "I know it is my duty to provide an heir for Dorne, I have never been forgetful of that. I would have wed, and gladly, but the matches that you brought to me were insults. With every one you spit on me. If you ever felt any love for me at all, why offer me to Walder Frey?"

That's so regressive. Don't marry, and have no children instead.

+.+.+

"The pact was sealed in secret. I meant to tell you when you were old enough . . . when you came of age, I thought, but . . ."

"I am three-and-twenty, for seven years a woman grown."

"I know. If I kept you ignorant too long, it was only to protect you. Arianne, your nature . . . to you, a secret was only a choice tale to whisper to Garin and Tyene in your bed of a night. Garin gossips as only the orphans can, and Tyene keeps nothing from Obara and the Lady Nym. And if they knew . . . Obara is too fond of wine, and Nym is too close to the Fowler twins. And who might the Fowler twins confide in? I could not take the risk."

Me thinks Doran Martell just told us how he found out.

Garin -> Tyene -> you decide.

It's possible Tyene told him directly, but I can't deny . . . Obara caught my attention. I kind of love the idea of crafty Doran harnessing the power of wine.

+.+.+

"It makes no matter. He is dead."

That left her more baffled than ever. "The old ones are so frail. Was it a broken hip, a chill, the gout?"

"It was a pot of molten gold. We princes make our careful plans and the gods smash them all awry." 

You should be thanking the gods for that one.

+.+.+

Her father plucked up a cyvasse piece. "I must know how you learned that Quentyn was abroad. Your brother went with Cletus Yronwood, Maester Kedry, and three of Lord Yronwood's best young knights on a long and perilous voyage, with an uncertain welcome at its end. He has gone to bring us back our heart's desire."

She narrowed her eyes. "What is our heart's desire?"

"Vengeance." His voice was soft, as if he were afraid that someone might be listening. "Justice." Prince Doran pressed the onyx dragon into her palm with his swollen, gouty fingers, and whispered, "Fire and blood."

Can you use another word? You have to use another word, or it will go to shit. I don't make the rules.

Doran giving her a black dragon is used to support fAegon theories by the way. I don't mean to irritate people, I'm only sharing.

Final thoughts:

Sometimes Arianne is written like she's 18 years old.

Another princess in a tower has the next POV (who would have guessed?), and it's the largest chapter in the entire series. I require more than a day.

-> return to menu <-

#operation stumpy re-read #affc #the princess in the tower #arianne ii

[dbgdbw]

220화

220화

탑에 갇힌 왕 (1)

Tower-Bound King (1)

It looked as though a typhoon had just swept through. 

There wasn’t a single person that had managed to escape unscathed. The same went for those with the flight Skills. Because the broadcasting equipment had been thoroughly secured beforehand, things had turned out well in the end, but the feed might’ve been cut otherwise.

“Ahjussi, you got a good look at the way I clearly won, right?”

Yerimie said, flying over to us once she was back on the ground.

“Yes, you were spectacular! You avoided using your Skill on purpose?”

The latter part, I asked in a lowered voice. Quickly picking up on the cue, Yerimie nodded her head. 

“If I’d used that, too, it would’ve been over too easily. It seemed like a waste, when I had both the seaside, and an S-rank Hunter as an opponent.”

Yerimie returned in a similarly lowered voice. Then again, there really wouldn’t be very many opportunities where she could practice her Skills as much as she wanted against another S-ranked Hunter. And on a perfectly tailored stage to go all-out, like this. There were oceanic environments inside Dungeons as well, but nowadays, the Dungeons… really didn’t seem stable enough for that. Since, if another error occurred, a high-rank monster might pop out right after your mana reached rock-bottom. 

“Master of Water-nim, congrats on your win!”

Moon Hyuna said teasingly, and Yerimie burst into giggles. She—as well as Sung Hyunjae, who had approached with her—were soaked through. Myungwoo and Noah were in a similar state. It was a good thing that the weather was on the hotter side, at least, since if it had been late fall or so, then colds… wouldn’t have affected anyone but me. Since everyone else was inordinately hardy.

“Shishio-nim!”

Just then, from over there, Gakuto’s bellowing voice could be heard. When I turned my head to look, wondering what was happening, Gakuto was kneeling in front of mister Lion King. The Lion King was soaked too, huh. Maybe it’d been swept away by the water, because his beard was nowhere to be seen. 

“This Iwahata Gakuto, for the sin of having betrayed Shishio-nim’s trust! Will make amends with my life!” 

The fuck. Like anyone would be crazy enough to kill a precious S-rank Hunter over a matter as slight as this. They may have been foreigners, but the esteem of S-rank Hunters was indisputable. 

“Iwahata Gakuto.”

Mister Lion King spoke solemnly. It was like I was watching a play. 

“Winning or losing is of little consequence; such things can happen on the battlefield(1). Have I not proclaimed, that even if you were to lose your comrades and be forced to use a gate stone—so long as your life is preserved, the Dungeon can be attacked once more. For as long as you hold breath, an opportunity to redeem oneself from disgrace will be granted. As it is thus, commit the span of time you would grieve your defeat, to reproving and honing yourself instead.” 

“My thanks! Shishio-nim!”

Gakuto shouted, his head shoved nearly level with the ground. It’s, he wasn’t wrong, but it did make me prickle with goosebumps. Saying that being able to return alive was more important, mister Lion King definitely did seem like an improvement over the Japanese government, though. 

Seeing the Amaterasu guild members around me make deeply moved expressions, I wanted to quietly take my leave. Or was it that I should clap, or something.

“...let’s return quickly and wash up.”

Because it was seawater, it was a bit objectionable. In any case, it felt as though I’d spent at least half of every day submerged in water since I’d landed in Japan.

---

After returning to our lodgings and showering, I checked on the ambiance of the broadcasts airing in both countries. Korea still seemed to be in a celebratory mood. Along with re-run clips of the fight, they were showing the citizens’ reactions as well.

[ Yes! That, right there, is the scene! The Izu peninsula, being swept away with just one gesture from Hunter Bak Yerim! Now this is what you would call an appearance befitting of one who holds the title of ‘Master of Water’! ]

[ Woah-oh-hoh, no matter how many times I see it, only exclamations of awe come out! How extreme~ly cathartic! ]

‘It seems like Yerimie’ll be busy for a while.’

All sorts of requests would probably pile up. The PR team at Haeyeon were likely trying to put out the fires on their phone lines at the moment. It might be troublesome, but if you handled these sorts of situations well for a brief bit, they returned dividends on investments. 

On the other hand, the Japanese broadcasts were playing up a different angle following the defeat. Several times, they emphasized how the match being set near the sea had been too big of a disadvantage, and noted that the Black Forest Dungeon’s monsters were fairly low in value without a rearing Skill, which made for a non-significant loss.

[ That the first international S-rank Hunter match took place owing to Japan’s leadership, and opened on Japanese ground, is a meaningful outcome in itself. ] 

[ Yes, yes. I do opine that Amaterasu Guild’s influence and ability were clearly demonstrated, as a result. ]

Ah, of course. Please do enjoy at least this small moment, while it lasts. Since it’ll become a funeral hall once word of the stamina potion gets out. If only because I was curious about what kind of justification they’d have to use for their mental gymnastics, I’d have to catch the Japanese broadcasts. 

“Hunter Han Yoohyun-nim, Director Han-nim.”

While we were in the living room, eating tea cakes and watching TV with Peace squeezed alongside us, an Amaterasu guild member came calling. 

“Shishio-nim would like to speak with you, regarding the care of the Black Bull Forest Dungeon.”

Since it was still being considered a Dungeon that was none too big of a loss, it didn’t seem like he’d be trying to renege on things now, so was it because of the Items. The loss of the Thunderbird’s Attire would be several times more regrettable than the Dungeon’s. When I made to enter my room to change my clothes, the guild member informed me that it would be fine to show up casually.

With Yoohyunie, we set off after the Amaterasu guild member. The location we were escorted to was a building attached to one side, like an in-law suite. Sitting on the spacious drawing room sofa was Shishio, and another man I’d never seen before.

“I am Sato Kiyoshi.” 

He introduced himself as the Amaterasu Guild Leader’s advisor. He looked very young, to be acting in the capacity of a counselor. Only about his early forties, or so? Though the ones who worked in Hunter guilds tended to be on the younger side, since it was better to have someone who was well informed on Dungeon-related matters, with additional raid experience if you could help it. 

“First, I will congratulate you on Hunter Bak Yerim’s victory. It was a clean loss on our part. Hunter Bak Yerim’s ability is most outstanding indeed.”

Shishio said, spreading his hands.

“The Dungeon, I will hand off without regrets as well. The issue lies with the Thunderbird’s Attire.”

“The original intent was to announce it was given as a gift to Haeyeon in a conciliatory gesture, following the transfer of the slime Dungeon after Hunter Iwahata Gakuto’s win.”

Kiyoshi said. They would’ve collected the slime Dungeon while making a show over it, and perhaps would’ve used it as leverage to try and pressure us about the matters related to the horned flame lion Dungeon. Since we gifted you a piece of SS-rank gear, despite winning the slime Dungeon in a fair-and-square match, surely you should fork over at least a horned flame lion baby as a goodwill gesture, was probably how they would’ve come out. 

But we’d won. And since we’d already received the Attire, with the illicit agreement having drawn its conclusion, we could simply wash our hands of everything. But then, it’d become a bit bothersome to openly make use of the Attire. Since many people were already aware that the Thunderbird’s Attire had been in the Amaterasu Guild’s possession, if they were to start coming out with something like what’s your relationship with Japan, that would become troublesome. 

‘In the end, having the Amaterasu Guild clearly announce that it was gifted to us would be the better option.’

Having to fork over the Dungeon, as well as a piece of SS-rank gear. This would really make him seem like a pushover, but.

“Since things have turned out this way, why not simply present it as a commemorative gift? Amaterasu is the top guild of Japan, you claimed. You would be announcing to the world just how much you can afford, how deep your pockets can go. It may have been labeled a Korea versus Japan matchup, but as the first officially broadcasted S-rank Hunter match, the world over will be watching to see how things turn out. Then, the day the Haeyeon Guild Leader sets foot back in Korea, he’ll appear with the Thunderbird’s Attire draped across his shoulders and reveal that the Amaterasu Guild Leader had gone to the extent of gifting an SS-rank piece of equipment. Not even S-rank, but SS-rank, just like that, an incredible generosity that knows no bounds!”

He was an incredible pushover.

“Hoh.”

Shishio made a contemplative expression. That’s right, you re-ally enjoy putting on a production, don’t you. 

“To think that he would be this generous, it’s naturally befitting of the Lion King! Would not the boldness of presenting an additional gift, despite having lost the Dungeon in battle, indeed be a gesture reminiscent of ones made by heroes of ancient times. Rather than becoming grieved at having to give one thing away, you instead graciously offer yet another—that kind of magnanimous, benevolent heart would be something the populace could truly revere.”

I’d just tossed out anything that might stick, but the Lion King was smiling in a pleased fashion. It was nice that he was so simple. 

“Of course, I possess a great deal of generosity and wealth both. This meeting certainly wasn’t called just because we feel regretful about having to give up a piece of SS-rank equipment!”

“But of course. I assumed that would be the case.”

“But to hand over an SS-rank piece of equipment, without any sort of recompense……”

That Kiyoshi guy tactlessly interjected. He might’ve just been doing his job, but both myself and Shishio wore faces that indicated he’d ruined the mood. Even so, Kiyoshi determinedly forged ahead.

“At the very least, that is to say, even if as an unofficial exchange, a remuneration of some kind should be in order… wouldn’t you say.”

You have it rough too, huh. Well, since if we came on too strong here, even the theatrics-loving mister Lion King might start to feel adverse to it.

“Ah, well, receiving too many things for free would leave us feeling somewhat troubled. Haeyeon’s Guild Leader-nim.”

I turned to Yoohyunie, who was sitting beside me, and spoke.

“How would you feel about extending an offer for priority in the first choice of a new baby horned flame lion, in repayment for the favor that the Amaterasu Guild Leader has shown us.”

“Priori, ty?” 

Looking to me, Yoohyunie awkwardly stumbled through the formal language(3). It was fine if you lowered your speech, though.

“Yes. To be precise, the right to be the first to negotiate. There are an immeasurable number of guilds in the world who would covet a young S-rank magical beast, and the battle over it is sure to be fierce. In fact, as Amaterasu’s Guild Leader does not possess a fire-type Skill, without sufficient rationale, the likelihood that he will be pushed out of the runnings is fairly high. Therefore, the offer of priority would not be found lacking as recompense.”

When I asked him how he felt about it, still looking stiff, Yoohyunie nodded his head.

“It should be, as Director Han-nim’s said.”

Though it’d be fine for you to just speak informally, like that Lion King guy. At any rate, with Haeyeon’s Guild Leader-nim in agreement, I turned to face forward again. 

“As a bonus, even from us at the rearing facility, I will provide priority in caregiving as well. You’ve certainly heard of the way all the foreign guilds have lined up out the door by now, correct? Since Amaterasu Guild is lavishing us with so much, well, it makes me want to help out in this and that sort of way as well, I suppose. The capriciousness of a human heart, really.”

See, we’re being very considerate towards you. Of course, we’d make sure to collect everything we were due, and it basically amounted to putting on a charade. When a baby horned flame lion would appear—if one would even appear—was uncertain to begin with. 

Despite all that, Shishio wore an extremely satisfied expression. Beside him, apparently quicker on the uptake with better noonchi(3), Kiyoshi had a deeply shadowed face. 

“Then it’s decided! It will be thus! In fact, we’ll make the announcement straight away!”

That was even better.

“We were hoping to enter the Black Ox’s Forest Dungeon right away tomorrow for inspection, would that be possible?”

Shishio easily agreed to order the arrangements be made. However, he cautioned that a proper raid might not be possible, as not long had passed since it’d finished being reset. 

If you went in too quickly after a Dungeon reset, occasionally a boss monster would fail to appear, rendering the raid impossible. An exit Gate would appear once all the regular monsters were eliminated, but the raid instance would fail to complete. Therefore, in order to avoid expending unnecessary manpower, Dungeons that were A-rank or so would be given a grace period of a week after reset before another raid would be conducted.

---

After sorting out the mundane details, we reemerged outside. Returning to the guest room, I spoke to Yoohyunie in a lowered voice. 

“After we get back from the Dungeon, you can do as you want. Since he said he’d announce the Attire’s status as a gift immediately, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Even then, we’d still be fighting right after we’ve received the gift—will it be alright?”

“We just need to do a good job of baiting mister Lion King into biting. He’s not exactly the type to shy away. And we can always hold it privately. This place has a lot of islands, right? We can just use a deserted island that seems abandoned enough. Instead of being given priority to negotiate for a baby horned flame lion, frame it as certainty in the choice, for the bait. Yeah, let’s say that we felt too badly about just accepting the Attire, and suggest a light bout between the two of you with that as the reward, in recompense.”

“Mhn.”

Answering, Yoohyunie smiled. He seemed to be looking forward to it already, from his expression. What would we be able to get this time. Was there an S-rank weapon. Or something like an S-rank overcoat that would fit Yerimie.

---

“Be careful, going and coming back.”

Myungwoo said, holding both Chirpie and Velare. It had been decided that, apart from Myungwoo, the rest of our company would be going into the A-rank Dungeon, the Black Ox’s Forest, together. At first, we’d been planning to leave at least one or two people with Myungwoo at the hotel; but Myungwoo had turned it down, saying that it would actually become a hindrance to have others with him in case of an emergency. 

Something about it being unlikely that he would come to harm, and that being alone put him more at ease, since he could escape to the Forge at any time. Since dividing our team in two meant that the Japanese S-rank Hunters would outnumber us, moving together really was the better option.

“Be careful of Velare’s poison. Then, I’ll be leaving them in your care.”

“There are antidotes included among the poison-resistance equipment, so don’t worry.” 

Saying that, since poison was weak to fire, he could call on Ismoire for help in a pinch, Myungwoo lifted his arm to show Velare wrapped around his wrist. Chirpie let out a cheep, and lifted one of its wings as well.

---

The Black Ox’s Forest Dungeon was about a three hours’ distance away from Tokyo by helicopter. Escorted by an Amaterasu guild member, we entered the Dungeon building. 

“Please be careful while we’re separated in the forest halfway. You for sure, Yoohyunie, and Sung Hyunjae-ssi, you cannot use your Skill as well. Since everything might burn up with one slip.”

“Got it.”

“I shall bear that in mind.”

The Dungeon raid itself didn’t look like it would take long. How many S-rank Hunters did we even have. Even a fly probably couldn’t have approached my vicinity, but I still set Eunhae to about A-rank level before stepping inside the Gate. 

Along with a thick, earthy scent, a forest spread out in front of my eyes. Just when, as though telling me to ride, Peace had sized up and nosed his way to my side.

The space distorted. Before I could even react, my surroundings shifted as though everything around me was melting away, and my vision went dark. 

‘What is this!’

Taken aback and without knowing what to do, I fumbled around the area around me for a moment, before my sight cleared up again. What came into view wasn’t a dense forest, but a vast, empty, room-like space. 

There, everyone except for me, including Peace, were sprawled unconscious on the floor. For a moment, my heart dropped. The fear resistance message popped up in front of my eyes.

“Yoohyun-ah!”

I half-ran, half-stumbled over and all but fell next to my dongsaeng. Thankfully, he was still breathing. His heart was still beating. 

“Yoohyun-ah, are you alright? Try to wake up!”

It didn’t seem like anything was wrong with his body, in particular. He just seemed like he was sleeping, but he didn’t show any signs of waking. After thoroughly checking over his condition another time, I checked on the other people as well. Yerimie, Noah, Moon Hyuna, and Peace—they all seemed like they’d just fallen asleep. Their coloring was unchanged, and they were breathing well enough too. 

And Sung Hyunjae, too. 

“...how unfamiliar.”

Seeing him stretched out in sleep felt awkward. He was actually unconscious, right?

“Look here, Seseung’s Guild Leader-nim.”

I furtively tapped the side of his face, but he didn’t so much as twitch. He really was irritatingly good looking. Even when I pinched his cheek and pulled on it, he didn’t move at all.

“Oi, Hyunjae-ssi, Hyunjae hyung, Hyunjae-yah, Hyunjae bastard.” 

It really did look like he was out cold. Now, what should I do. Should I at least try using a potion, or should I just wait for them to wake up. While I was contemplating. 

“Honey!” 

A youthful, unfamiliar voice rang out.

-----

(1) 병가지상사(兵家之常事)

(2) 이즈 반도(伊豆半島)

(3) v much a situation where yh is trying his best to be on good behavior in front of hyung, so he’s reading the 눈치 of the situation/yj’s state (emotional+body language) to take cues on what he *thinks* he should be doing. 

“우선권을, 요?”

유현이가 내 눈치를 살피며 어설프게 경어를 썼다. 

in this context, ‘내 눈치를 살피며’ means that yh is carefully choosing his words while watching how yj reacts to see if he’s chosen ‘correctly,’ (and awkwardly attempting to use honorifics simultaneously (‘-며 어설프게 경어를 썼다’), which is why the ‘-yo’ is hastily tacked on at the end). yh is also being v passive in this scene, letting yj take the lead in negotiations, though ostensibly the negotiation is over haeyeon’s resources.

(4)  경어 敬語 → honorifics, bc yh is switching from intimate informal language to polite formal while replying, in deference to the ‘lead’ he thought yj was taking when yj addressed yh ‘formally’ as haeyeon’s guild leader. considering yh’s been speaking informally the whole time he’s been in japan until now, def stands out as something he’s doing intentionally, for brownie points. that’s why yj notes that ‘[yh] doesn’t have to do that,’ bc yh does have the social status to continue to talk informally with yj in this ‘casual enough’ setting (like shishio is doing), even if yj is speaking ‘up’ to him in public (but prob equally bc he believes yh shouldn’t have to talk to him formally, period). otherwise, typically yj → yh (해라체), yh → yj (해체), which is what they immediately swap back to once outside the room

+ch title is ‘탑에 갇힌 왕’ →  ‘[The] King Locked(Trapped) In [A] Tower’; i actually needed it to be ‘five words(syllables)’ for reasons that will be revealed soon, but ultimately it’s meant to be read as a moniker, hence the decision to ultimately use ‘tower-bound king.’ just know that’s the reason when the ‘five words’ part comes up, since it is meant to correspond w the ch titles for the arc

room dialogue: 

yj → shishio, polite formal; → yh, polite formal; → kiyoshi, polite informal

yh → yj, polite formal

kiyoshi → polite formal

shishio → 하게체 (neutral, medium formality; way of speaking used only among older generation, though his sentence structures differ from shj’s due to differences in speaking pattern), 해라체 (informal casual)

#220화 #the s classes that i raised #tsctir #sctir

[missindietennessee]

The Peakiness Of Him

Chapter 1

Cillian Murphy x fem!OC

Summary: Muireann O’Dwyer was a former spy for the government who turned into an assassin for hire; hasn’t been top priority for five years, as she hasn’t killed since. But, after coming out of her five year dormancy, agent Cillian Murphy must go undercover to get as much intel as possible to put her away. But what happens when they both seemingly fall for one another? Will he or will he not follow through with his mission?

words: 1349

warnings: swearing, mentions of death (assassination)

a/n: not the best i’ve wrote, but it was pretty fun to write. chapter two will be up sometime soon! 

⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕❈⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕❈⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕⚘⁕⁕

In front of her sat an estranged man. Their eye contact never broke in the nearly two hours she was there. The only thing in the room that had been broken was her trust in him. Everything he’d ever told her had all been lies. Or maybe, not all of it.

As they sat and stared, the tension grew stronger in the room. He knew he’d fucked up and that she’d never forgive him. But, there was nothing else he could do, he did what his job asked of him. He felt terrible for what he’d done, but there was no other way. 

She could hardly look at him anymore. Nothing was as she thought it to be. He opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could come out of his mouth, she scoffed. “Look, Muir-” She instantly cut him off.

“Don’t give me one of your shit excuses! You fucking betrayed me. And for what?! To ensure that your job title was still secured to your name?!” To say she was infuriated was an understatement. She sat up very quickly and hit her hand on the metal table where she sat. 

“Muireann, just calm down. Listen to me,” he said, trying to be as calm as possible. Well, as calm as he could be considering that the woman he loved was cursing at him. To say he was mad at himself was an understatement. She wasn’t the only one who hated him now and he knew he’d never forgive himself for all he did. But most importantly, he’d never forgive himself for falling in love and then breaking her heart.

Nine Months Previous

The wind blew against him as he walked into his office building. It was a cold January morning. His thick wool coat was buttoned all the way with a wool knit scarf wrapped around his neck. All around him were people from work talking while eating their breakfast. He never had much time to do anything other than work, and at times, that was frustrating. He was never able to do much, but that was part of his job and after a while, he began to not mind after a few years.

Without saying anything to the receptionist, just a simple nod and smile, he walked into the elevator. He pressed the button for the twelfth floor. No one was in there with him, leaving him to loathe with the absolutely terrible elevator music. But luckily, the ride was never too long even though he was on the twelfth floor. And as the doors opened to his floor, several people who worked the late night shift were waiting at the shiny metal doors. They let him step out before stepping into the elevator themselves. 

As he made his way to his office, he began to remove his scarf and managed to undo two buttons of his double breasted wool coat. People all around him were working at their respectable jobs and places. On his way to his office, he was stopped by one of his higher-ups. “Cillian, we need to see you in the conference room in five. We’ve got a new assignment for you,” the other man in a suit said. 

Cillian nodded and the two men walked away in different directions. And in the quickest way possible, Cillian made his way to his office and took off his coat to reveal a black two piece suit with a black tie. He sat his coat and scarf on the back of his chair and sat his briefcase on his desk before leaving in a hurry to the conference room. 

He walked with confidence and stride, and people always moved out of the way for him when he walked, and right now was no exception. He used to get nervous when he would go to the conference room, but over time, he grew used to it. Most everything that was said in that room was confidential and could not be uttered to anyone who wasn’t ranked high enough. 

The dark wood door was opened by Cillian, two men, the one from before and a different one, were standing on two opposite sides of a large table with many seats around it. “Tom, Jamie, what did you need me for?” Cillian asked, walking to a seat and sitting down. Tom and Jamie sat down as well. 

“We’ve got another job for you,” the man named Tom said, taking out a file folder from his own black briefcase. Tom handed Cillian the folder. Cillian opened it to look through it all. 

“Her name’s Muireann O’Dwyer: trained assassin, spy, intel collector. She’s been dormant for the past five years, though,” Jamie said.

“Then why do you need me? If she’s been dormant then she poses no threat, right?” Cillian asked, scanning through her file, or what little they had of it. 

“That would be the case if she hadn’t just come out of her dormancy,” Tom said. Cillian’s head shot up, his eyes going wide. “We found Jenivive Duncan dead in her home. She was a key witness in the Winchester case. And as we learned several years ago, Andre Winchester was O’Dwyer’s main employer,” Jamie added on. 

“Why did she go dormant for five years? A-And why come back now?” Cillian asked, curious.

“We … don’t know,” Tom said. “But, this time around, she screwed up. She must’ve not studied the house enough to find out that there were cameras and she showed her face very clearly multiple times and we were able to get a clear picture of her face. And not to mention we were able to locate her,” he added, bringing a bit of optimism to the conversation.

Before Cillian could ask how, Jamie began to talk again. He began to explain how they were able to locate her. She’d kept her first name, but changed her last name, which Cillian found strange. She was a trained spy who could easily disappear whenever she wished. It just didn’t make sense to him. According to Jamie, through a process that was done overnight, they were able to scan in her comfort zone for living for women in their late thirties to early forties named Muireann who came from a French mother. And, unshockingly, there was only one match, who just so happened to look like the photo they got on the camera.

At this point, Cillian was still curious as to why he was needed, they seemed to have everything figured out, including her address. Jamie and Tom could see that Cillian was confused as to why they called him in. “Now, let’s get to why we called you in,” Tom started. “We need you to go undercover and get as much intel and or evidence as you possibly can. We need all of it to put her and her employers away for good,” he added. 

Cillian should’ve known this was coming. They always needed all the evidence to make sure whoever they were putting away would stay away and were sure to never get out again. It was always like that, no matter if they already had enough to keep whoever they needed to put away. 

“And one more thing, there’s a promotion for a new operations coordinator. If you complete this assignment, that title is yours,” Tom added. Cillian heard what he said but only semi-processed it, too lost in his thoughts about what he’d just been told. All he heard and processed was that if he completed his assignment, he’d be promoted to a job he had been wanting for years.

 As Tom and Jamie kept talking about all Cillian would need to do, Cillian began thinking of why she went dormant. Why go dormant for five years and just come back now? Jenivive Duncan had been in protection for six years, so why now? Tom obviously noticed that Cillian wasn’t paying much attention. He said his name twice, snapping Cillian out of his thoughts. 

“Any questions, Cillian?” Tom asked, raising his eyebrow. Cillian sat up straight.

“When do I start?”

#cillian murphy #cillian x oc #cillian murphy x oc #peaky blinders #thomas shelby #tommy shelby #anna 2019 #lenny miller #spy #assassin #love #romance #jonathan crane #robert fischer

[goblinbugthing]

Exile — Kirby AU/OC lore

She broke when she heard the news. She wasn’t there to witness the ceremony, so she couldn’t stop it from happening.

“Galacta Knight has been crystallized.”

His apprentice, Auberon Knight, had told her. They seemed upset about it, even though they were the one who brought him to the Altar, and told Yama of Galacta Knight’s “betrayal” in the first place.

Hara was beyond destroyed. She shouted and cried, telling off the younger knight, more upset than she’d ever been before. Galacta told Auberon that he used Soul Crystallization because he trusted him. And he broke that trust, that unspoken promise, just minutes later.

“Betrayal?!” Hara shouted, digging her heels into the floor. “What do you mean betrayal?! Galacta is an honest, kind-hearted man! He wouldn’t ‘betray’ anyone, let alone US!” Auberon’s ears lowered, and he pulled the hood of his cloak up slightly in an attempt to muffle Hara’s shouting. “I know it’s hard to believe, Miss Hara, but it’s true,” they said. “He used Soul Crystallization on Void Termina—“

“Because he had to!” she cut them off. “What other wonderful ideas do you have, huh?! What else could we have done?!” Auberon looked away. He seemed embarrassed to keep talking. He never liked being lectured. Hara continued when they didn’t answer. “No ideas, hm? That’s what I thought.” Her voice cracked when she spoke. “I’m going to speak to the High Priestess. Stay out of my sight, backstabber.” Auberon looked down sadly and mumbled, “Yes, ma’am.” They were hurt by Hara’s words, but she couldn’t care less. There were larger problems at hand than that lying excuse of a friend.

—————————————————————

Footsteps thundered through the halls of the church, alerting High Priestess Yama to someone’s presence. “Must be Blast Knight,” she thought, rolling her eyes. “Pest. Of course she’d be vocal about Galacta’s punishment.”

The footsteps became louder as they grew close. “No matter. I can punish her too, no big deal.”

The door of Yama’s office was slammed open by exactly who she expected. Hara stormed through the doorway, fists clenched tight, face filled with rage and grief. Yama put on her usual sugar-coated mask of calmness and spoke. “Blast Knight. Auberon Knight must have told you about Galacta Knight’s betrayal, yes?” Hara slammed her hands down on the dark wood. “It wasn’t a betrayal!” she protested, voice cracking, tears welling in her eyes. Yama sighed. “Blast Knight Hara, Soul Crystallization is a strictly forbidden practice. I, and by extension, the Ykka, will not allow any usage of it.”

Hara growled, her wings twitching. “You’re a hypocrite,” she said. “You won’t allow anyone but yourself to use magic you don’t even naturally wield. It’s disgusting.” Yama’s mask nearly slipped, but she held tight to it. She sighed. “Soul Crystallization breaks three Laws of Ykka. Anyone who uses it is to be crystallized as well. That’s how it works, Blast Knight. I am not a hypocrite.” “It shouldn’t be,” Hara retorted, getting angrier by the second. “You’re breaking those laws as well, Yama. Just because you’re the High Priestess doesn’t mean you get to kill my closest ally.”

“It’s High Priestess Yama to you, Hara,” she hissed, her mask temporarily dissipating. She cleared her throat, and resumed her usual calm guise. “Secondly, the Ykka specifically ordered me to crystallize anyone who uses Soul Crystallization without permission. Third, he is not dead. He is simply in an eternal state of rest. His heart still beats.” Hara’s tears fell, tapping against the wooden table. “Eternal rest and death are essentially the same thing. He may still have a beating heart, but he is definitely anything but alive.” She tightened her fists. “You’re a selfish, lying, hypocritical fool. You do not deserve the title of High Priestess.”

Alright. That was the last straw. Yama snapped. “Excuse me?!” she exploded, her wings extending, tail flicking back and forth. “You understood me. The words I speak are words of truth,” Hara responded, looking her dead in the eyes. Yama growled, ending with a wordless shout. “Yooouuuuu….. you dare speak like that to me?! This is a crime! A crime! CRIME! You insolent scum! Worthless excuse of a warrior! Star-burning piece of WASTE! YOUR BETRAYAL WILL NOT BE IGNORED, NOR EXCUSED!!!”

Yama stepped up to Hara, grabbing her wrists suddenly, and clasping them together. She knew this would happen, but she didn’t necessarily care. Since Yama loves those laws of hers sooooo much, she wouldn’t be able to do anything, really, aside from throw her in the dungeon for a while. No matter, Auberon should at least have the decency to take care of her son while she’s locked up.

Well, she figured that’s what was going to happen to her, until she realized Yama was dragging her to the Starship hangar.

Oh no.

“Blast Knight Hara, as of today, you are hereby exiled from this planet!” Yama shouted. “You have two days to pack your belongings and leave. Good riddance, you rebellious waste.”

—————————————————————

….Two days have passed. Hara had her luggage prepared. She gave one final goodbye to her son, eyes filled with tears. He didn’t understand what was happening. Of course he didn’t. He was only two weeks old.

He was only two weeks old.

Two weeks.

She had spent less than two weeks with her son. Now, she was never going to see him again.

She put him to bed before leaving her quarters, setting him in his crib, singing him a lullaby she wrote herself. She called it “Starlight of the Heavens.”

He always loved the stars.

Soon, he would be sleeping among them instead of watching them in the sky with Hara and her lover.

“Funny how just a week ago, we were stargazing together, and now we are just shards of what was once a family.”

She stepped into her Starship, but before closing it up, she turned to Auberon.

“Auberon,” she said. He looked up at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Tell Kirby that Mommy and Daddy love him, okay?”

—————————————————————

A soul once so bright is now darkened with grief and hatred. I wonder, how will she live on after such an incident?

More importantly, what will make of the remnants of her family?

(Such a shame. Galacta Knight’s imprisonment has hurt Hara in unimaginable ways.)

#kirby #kirby au #kirby oc #oc #au #my oc #my au #kirby au lore #au lore #oc lore #galacta knight #kirby galacta knight #writing #my writing #oc: yama #oc: auberon knight #oc: hara #buggie’s characters #buggie’s stories #BOOM NOW YA KNOW MORE OF KIRBY’S PAST!!!! #AND MORE ABOUT HARA!!!!!!

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

Zuko and Aang were prepping items on Appa in some sort of hurry. The rest of the Gaang checked them out.

Katara: “Going somewhere guys?”

Aang: “Yes, we don’t care if you come with us or not so decide quickly, we’re on a clock here.”

Katara: “Do you have enough time to tell us where you’re going and why you’re in such a hurry.”

Aang: “It’s Vaatu, he’s captured Azula. We’re going to get her back.”

Toph: “Really, after everything, you’re still-”

Aang: “I know what you guys are gonna say, I don’t have time. She’s scared, alone. I can feel it. I gotta get to her before he does something terrible to her.”

Katara: “Do you think by doing this, we’ll become fast friends?”

Aang: “I don’t know, I don’t care. We can’t leave her like this.”

Katara: “Aang, don’t you remember what I said about me swearing I’d never forgive the man who killed my mother?”

Aang: “Unfortunately, yes, how is that relevant?”

Katara: “I hoped that would tell you something.”

Aang: “Tell me what?”

Katara: “That not everyone deserves forgiveness.”

Aang: (Heavy sigh) “Look, I’m sorry I was forceful about forgiveness. I completely misinterpreted the concept for my own selfish reasons. That doesn’t mean I’m wrong though. You have every right to be angry at those who wronged you, but you eventually have to let that anger out and then let it go.”

Katara: “Aang, he was willing to sell out his own mother’s life just to save his own. He may not have been as monstrous as I imagined but he’s was selfish, a coward and he had no regrets for what he has done.”

Aang: “You think Azula’s the exact same way?”

Katara: “I think she’s even worse. I saw her as she shot you. It reminded me of seeing my own mother die, Azula did not even blink and she even had a wide smile on her face. She almost shot me. Zuko, her own brother, nearly died protecting me from her and she had no care in the world and even tried finishing what she started. Does that sound like someone worth forgiving to you?”

Aang: “I have a bond with her, I can feel her true feelings and experiences, this helps me able to know when she’s lying, in a way Toph never could. If you don’t trust her, you can at least trust me.”

Katara: (To Zuko) “What are your reasons for doing this? She tried to kill you several times, didn’t she?”

Zuko: “Maybe, but she saved me just as much. It was her who helped protect me from my grandfather when he forced his own son to kill his own grandson. She kept her promise to clear all charges and bring me back home, with the avatar or without him, she kept quiet and said I should be more careful when speaking to my uncle even though she knows its treachery and she could’ve easily ratted me out. I don’t think she’d make such a big deal of Mai and Ty Lee betraying her if she didn’t really care for them. I owe her just as much as she owes me.”

Aang: “We’ve got to get going, any volunteers? Speak up.”

Sokka: “Oh we’re coming with you, what she’s just saying is, be prepared for anything. Now let’s go save your psycho girlfriend I guess.”

Aang: “She’s not my-”

Sokka: “Whatever.”

#text #atla #atla headcanons #dark avatar #azulaang #spirit bond #the gaang

[walkawaytall]

When there was nearly enough light outside to safely tear down the shelter and catch up with the rest of the group, Han touched her elbow gently. “Hey, we need to talk before we head back,” he said. His tone left little room for argument.

Leia eyed him quizzically. “Okay. What’s going on?” He took a breath and Leia got the distinct sense that he was working out how to word something. “Just say it, Han. You’re not going to hurt my feelings.”

That invitation apparently gave him the ability to proceed. “What you did, runnin’ off like that, was stupid and reckless.” Chewie interrupted with a growl of protest in Han’s direction, but Han held up his hand to stop him. “No, let me finish.” He focused back on Leia. “You spent half the trip out here telling everyone to stick together and stay near camp for safety, and then you went wandering off on your own in the middle of a snow squall. You could’ve gotten yourself killed and you put anyone willing to go looking for you at risk, which is the last thing I expected from you leadin’ a team.”

Leia realized very quickly that she’d been wrong about him not hurting her feelings; the words he used stung and she found herself torn between trying to defend herself and actually absorbing what he said. His tone was firm but not harsh; he didn’t sound like he was lashing out. His face betrayed a mixture of worry and frustration, but not anger.

“We do well to listen to those we trust, Leilei. Especially when they’re brave enough to disagree with us.” Echoes of Breha’s voice rang in her head. Leia didn’t think Han needed to possess any particular type of bravery to chastise her — he’d clearly never thought much of station or title when regarding an individual and he was rarely shy about making his thoughts known — but, as she’d confessed earlier in the morning, she did trust him. And though his delivery lacked even the slightest hint of tact, he wasn’t wrong. She could’ve died; he and Chewie had been at risk. If anyone else had decided to look for them, they’d have been at risk as well.

#fanfiction excerpt #fanfic excerpt #excerpt #author: walkawaytall #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction #leia organa fanfic #wip wednesday #my fic #title: purpose of heritage

[saintofswords]

tell me abt ur scorpion boy 🔫🔫🔫

Oh wow, I'd be happy to! I'll try to post some highlights of the current adventure the group is wrapping up under the cut!

Alright, so my character is a Shosuro courtier named Maekawa Kenji. A big thing for him has been the tug of war between wanting to be a good, dutiful samurai and of being as decent of a human being as he can. As you can guess, a lot of issues have arisen during our campaign because of this. He's slowly been moving more towards the side of goodness, likely in no small part due to the influence of the Lion shugenja in our group. Said shugenja is a pretty noble samurai and an all around decent person, so he's been a great influence. A big thing for Kenji in most of the previous adventures has been balancing secretly doing the right thing (helping the commonfolk, the downtrodden, etc), while also accomplish whatever tasks the Scorpion have for him.

This conflict has all come to a head in the current adventure we are playing, in which he needed to solve an issue with a certain lord of one of the Imperial family's castles being unable to pay their taxes. The Imperial Family sent Kenji (He rescued a lost child of one of their nobles awhile back) to fix this, with no clear instructions about how to do so; he was simply told to get the castle to paying the taxes again. Upon his very first day at the castle, he learned that a coup was being planned, and set himself in alliance with one of the leaders of the coup, the Steward of the castle. Lots of social manipulating later, The big conflict between the insurgents and the lord of the castle's forces is going to occur, with Kenji having played the field the entire time, unsure of what to do, having simply pushed and pulled here and there in the hopes of pulling out as much corruption as he could.

Lost, he goes to secretly meet with the other Scorpion in the party to discuss what should be done. She believes the lord of the castle should be killed, and Kenji reluctantly agrees that it's for the best. They agree to plan more later that night. Kenji is dragged off by the rest of the party to help with something, and she heads off on her own. She often does that.

Some more things happen and we are brought in to the chambers of the castle's lord afterwards. His court shugenja has been doing a terrible job of his duties for a long time (he was in with the Steward, it was intentional sabotage), so the party's Lion is just doggedly pursuing him with evidence from our investigations, trying to get the court shugenja locked up or executed for his crimes. Kenji, wanting to keep that piece on the board, urges the lord towards mercy when the Lion is out of earshot. He's now, unbeknownst to our Lion, betrayed the trust he has for Kenji. It's not come out yet, but I think the Lion is on the cusp of potentially discovering that. Even if he doesn't though, Kenji really regrets doing that to his friend.

Fast forward to the morning, and there is an invading force outside the castle-the Steward's allies! Kenji worriedly slips away from the party and goes to check on the lord of the castle (He later realized the man was not NEARLY as bad as his reputation had suggested), only to find out from the lord's niece (his heir) that the lord of the castle and his wife were slain in the night. The other Scorpion is also missing. Kenji, worrying about where his fellow Scorpion is, and what she has or hasn't done, sets out towards the battle in hope of negotiating. This doesn't happen, and Kenji will be forced to align himself in the mass battle about to occur.

Unsure of what to do, but feeling that too much of his honor is at stake to simply abstain from fighting, Kenji looks to our Lion. He hopes the Lion will choose a side, and Kenji can follow after him. The Lion abstains, instead waiting in the castle to serve as a medic for the wounded after the battle is concluded one way or another. Kenji, feeling that he needs to do what is best for his Scorpion ally, allies with the coup. As does the ronin in our group, simply wishing to join what he thinks will be the winning side. One mass battle and the coup has succeeded, with the niece slipping out of the castle unnoticed at some point. A new daimyo is immediately installed by the lord above the castle's last lord, and she promptly has the Steward executed for being such a treacherous snake. Things seem good! The party (minus the one missing ofc), are called into to meet with the new daimyo and they advise her about the situation of things and how best to move forward. Finally dismissed for the night, after one of the longest days of his life, Kenji returns to his quarters to find a letter.

"I expected more from my friends. The way of the Scorpions is to serve the best of the empire. Putting traitors, murderers, and backstabbers at the head of power is not the best for the empire. I will see you all after [niece] and I meet with the Imperial Family. Goodbye, Kenji."

The trust of two close friends has now been lost.

We stopped at that, so I have no idea what is going to happen for my character next, but he is NOT feeling happy right now. Mission accomplished, and all he had to trade for it were two of his only true friends and comrades!

#thanks for the interest! #he's been interesting to see in action #went with a unique family name because of some backstory stuff haha #I'm sorry this ended up so long #The amount of miscommunication that occurred between the two Scorpions here is comical to us out of character but man #character drama in the house!!!

[callmeoops]

Light in the Dark - Chapter Twenty-Three

Warnings: Dixon Potty Mouth

“Merle I swear to God if you bring it up one more time I’m going to cut off your other hand and beat you with it.” Olivia threatened the older Dixon from the common area.

Glenn was glad that Olivia stayed back. Ever since she’d brought her feral animal home with them, she’d been responsible for keeping it on leash and making sure it didn’t attack the humans. If Glenn was feeling generous and forgiving, he’d say she was doing a decent job of it.

Why she did it, he had yet to understand. Merle brought the girl to a man who violated her. If Maggie had ended up going in Olivia’s place and the Governor had done that to her…Glenn knew he couldn’t be as forgiving as Olivia was of Merle. Hell, even Daryl held more a grudge. And that was his brother.

Whatever her reasons may be, she kept Merle close. Especially now.

He’d asked Glenn about ambushing the meeting place and killing the governor. Glenn had obviously shot down the idea for fear that their people get injured in the process. But Merle was stubborn.

Dixon stubbornness, as Olivia had called it.

“And it’s a real pain in my ass.” She told Merle with a side glance.

“Yet ya date a man with it.” Merle had quipped back.

Olivia shook her head, handing a bag to Merle, “Oh, he doesn’t have nearly the amount of Dixon genes that you do. Come on, we’ll go down and hide ammo in the yard.”

“Could hide a bullet in the Governor’s head.” Merle told her, but he grabbed the bag and followed.

“Trust me, I hope I’m the one that gets to hide the bullet in his other eye socket. But that day will not be today Merle Dixon. What’s your middle name by the way?”

He narrowed his eyes at her, “Whatcha askin’ for?”

“I don’t have a water bottle to spray you with, so yelling your full name like an angry mother is going to have to do for now.” She flashed him a wide grin.

She wasn’t sure he was going to find her joke funny, but after a few second he chuckled, “You’re a damn surprise, you know that? Get left for a few months and everybody’s different.”

“What do you mean?”

“The old lady, Carol. She’s different. Used to be a mouse afraid of her own shadow. Your different. Feisty now. Though you gotta be to put up with my baby brother. Hell, even he’s different.”

Olivia couldn’t disagree with that. They all were different. “He’s more secure in himself.” She said of Daryl. “Of who he is. Of who he wants to be.”

“He’s more whipped.” Merle nodded towards her, “Wonder who did that.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. She got down on her knees beside her secret hiding spot. “Hand me a couple boxes of ammo?”

“Girl, ain’t nobody gunna be able to get at that ‘scept for you an’ the kid.”

“You have long arms. I have faith in you.” She took the boxes from him and hid them under the catwalk, pushing them far enough back that they were hidden in the shadows.

She stood up and brushed her knees off before continuing onto the next spot.

“When ya think he’s gunna stop bein’ pissed off at me?” Merle asked after she hid the second couple boxes across the yard.

Say what you wanted about Merle, but he did care about Daryl. Just in a really weird way.

“Well, he does have that Dixon stubbornness.” Olivia teased, giving him a small smile. “I’m not sure. He doesn’t talk to me much about what has gone down or is going down between you two. I think he feels betrayed. You crossed a pretty big line with him that day.”

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want it to go down that way. Jus’ wanted my brother back.” Merle sighed, looking down at the ground between them. For a brief second she saw Daryl in him; apologetic and shy with his actions.

Olivia rubbed his forearm, “I appreciate that. I know you were worried about him. Might not hurt to tell him that too though. I’ve been telling him, but it always feels better coming from the person who did it. More of a recognition of mistakes that way.”

.--.

Rick and company returned that afternoon with bad news. The governor hadn’t been there to negotiate at all. And now they were prepping for war.

“You think we can win?” Olivia asked Daryl one morning while she was trying to steal a few more minutes of cuddles from him.

He nodded, “Wouldn’t keep ya here if I didn’t.”

“Daryl Michael Dixon.”

Daryl’s eyebrows shot up, “Who the hell-…Merle!!” He jumped out of bed, leaning over the hallway railing to try and find Merle.

Olivia ran past him down the stairs into the little kitchen area, “Merle! Run!”

“Yeah, you better run! ‘Cause when I catch yer ass yer dead!”

The group watched Merle try to sneak out of the room, only to have Olivia and Daryl appear right as the door was closing. Olivia sprinted, trying to get to the door first. Daryl grabbed her by the waist though as she hit the stairs.

“No!” She squealed, pushing and thrashing against Daryl to make it more difficult for him to get to the door.

“Woman! Let me kill my damn brother.” Daryl growled. He got a good enough grip on her arm to pull her backwards and let her go where he didn’t think she would fall.

“Need a knife Daryl?” Glenn asked. Of course, Glenn would ask.

Daryl shook his head, yanking the door open, “Nah. Gunna use my hands. More satisfying.”

“Daryl!” Olivia’s feet slid as Daryl shut the door with her holding onto the handle. She tried to pull back against the force but was nowhere near as strong as he was. Once he released his side of the handle, she stumbled through the door and ran outside.

It wasn’t hard to find the two brothers, rolling around in the dirt like a pair of kids. Olivia laughed at the sight before her and looked up to the sky, “Mrs. Dixon, you were a saint.”

Rick stepped outside, peeking around, “Is everything okay?”

“Just boys being boys.” Olivia nodded towards Daryl and Merle. Daryl was now on top of Merle, trying to get a good swing in at the man’s face. Merle got Daryl by the back of the vest and threw him backwards.

“Is that the good version of that phrase or the bad?”

Olivia shrugged, “Merle told me Daryl’s middle name and now they’re doing this, so…it’s fine I think. Hell, if they work out a few other issues during this little mess, that’s fine too.”

“Well, don’t let them get too messed up.” Rick turned to head back inside, “I need them for some jobs today.”

Olivia couldn’t help but be interested in that sentence. “Merle too?”

Rick looked back at her. He stared for a long second before nodding.

Merle didn’t tell Olivia what his super-secret mission was. As far as she could tell, he was doing odd jobs as normal. Most of which included bothering her.

But then she didn’t hear from him for a bit. Usually, she let him go an hour before peeking in to make sure he behaved himself. She’d been pleasantly surprised thus far. Daryl’s cold shoulder towards his brother seemed to be fairly effective in getting the point across that Merle needed to shape up a bit. Olivia was grateful for that. Daryl never said anything to her, but she had a sneaking suspicion that he missed his older brother.

This time, however, Merle had a rifle in one hand and a bag on his back. That was not a good sign. She grabbed her own rifle and a box of ammo from under the catwalk and followed him. Looking back to make sure no one else was watching or following, she rushed into the woods so as to avoid detection from Merle and the group.

He didn’t stop. Not as the prison disappeared from view, not as the woods thinned out to a suburban area, not even as he called out to Olivia. “Ya know. You talk about this Dixon stubbornness, but ya got the same damn thing in ya Peach. Startin’ to think it’s abused child stubbornness.”

Olivia came out from her hiding spot behind a house, jogging to catch up to him, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, just goin’ for a stroll.”

“On your own? With a rifle and a bag? Are you leaving? What about Daryl?”

Merle chuckled, patting her back, “Well, Peach. With a little luck, I’ll be able to pull this off and ole Merle will be back by sundown.”

Olivia didn’t like the sound of that. “Pull what off? What are you doing?”

“I got some business to take care of Peach. Now you head on back and keep lil’ Darylina in check. I’ll see ya tonight.” He stopped walking then, looking at her expectantly.

Joke was on him because she wasn’t going anywhere. “Nope. Try again.”

Merle sighed, “Peach. Don’t make me knock yer pretty little head out and leave ya here for Daryl to find on his own.”

“Merle. Don’t make me shoot you in the leg and drag your ass back to the prison.”

He looked at her for a long moment. “I put you in danger again and Daryl’ll have my ass.”

“So then don’t get into danger.” She scoffed. It was fairly simple. What the hell was he doing that would be dangerous? Looting for weapons?

Merle turned around and kept walking. So, Olivia kept following.

They walked for a few miles in silence. The sun slowly went down behind them, day turning into afternoon. Her mind was racing, flipping through different things they could be doing. She wondered if she could leave a breadcrumb trail for Daryl. He was an excellent tracker. He could probably find her. The real question was, could she leave a trail without Merle noticing? To be determined.

“You ain’t gotta leave an obvious trail for ‘im, Peach. He’s good enough he don need it.” Merle told her another mile in. “Sides, point was for him not to follow.”

“You really think Daryl would let you just walk away without going after you?” Olivia challenged. Even Merle had to know Daryl better than that. Daryl was angry with him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. And she told him just that when Merle replied that Daryl was pissed at him.

He didn’t talk to her again until he found a decent vehicle to hotwire. She watched him work under the steering wheel, pulling out the three bundles of wires to find the ignition and battery bundle.

“Try that one,” She pointed to one in his left hand. “It’s got purple wire and usually starter wires are purple in Chevys.”

Merle raised his head, looking up at her, “You know how ta do this?” Olivia just shrugged. He sat up, sliding out from under the car, “You got two hands. Give yer ole pal Merle one.”

Olivia crawled under the dash and started working. Battery cables were red, starter cable was purple, which meant this green one was probably the ignition.

Guess she’d find out if she died from electrocution.

She stripped the red and green cables first to twist them together. Before she put her fingers completely on the green cable, she poked it. She didn’t get electrocuted, so she considered that the ignition cable.

“Hey Peach, no rush, but got some biters out here.” Merle called to her. The sound of knife slicing flesh filled her ears next, confirming his warning. Shit.

After twisting the ignition and batter cable together, she grabbed the starter cable. Here went nothing.

She tapped the two together. Nothing.

Her eyes found the other bundles of wires, but they didn’t have a purple wire in them. Starter cables in old Chevrolets were purple. What the fuck! She found the screwdriver Merle used to pry off the cover and pushed it into the ignition. Her eyes scanned the car for something to use as a hammer.

Upon finding nothing, she sighed. Guess her gun would have to do. Holding a screwdriver while trying to smack it with a gun was next to impossible. Over the dash she could see a small horde of walkers closing in. Merle was shooting them down with a pistol, but there was no way he could take them all. Come on, Olivia.

A couple adrenaline-induced smacks later and the tool was wedged in far enough that she could turn it. Hopefully the ignition in that position would help. If nothing else, she broke the steering lock so they could drive it.

“How’s it comin’ Peach?”

“Peachy!” She called back, shaking hands grabbing the two wires again.

“Don’t hear no car runnin’. Can’t be that peachy.”

Olivia tapped the wires together again, holding them together a little longer than last time. The engine roared. She tapped the gas with her elbow to stop the car from stalling.

“We gotta go!” Merle yelled. “Move over.”

Olivia shifted so she could get up in the driver’s seat. Her body was not meant to bend this way. Once she was up off the ground, Merle pushed her into the passenger side, sliding in next to her and slamming the door. She fell sideways into the seat, fumbling around to upright herself. Not an easy task as Merle sped away.

“Even broke the steering lock for me. Hell girl. Like a little Darylina without the dick ain’t ya?”

She took that as a compliment.

“Merle. Where are we going?” Olivia tried to keep her voice firm. They were miles from the prison, going farther away now in a vehicle. She was tired of spinning her wheels. She had to know.

“We,” He looked at her, “ain’t goin’ nowhere. You, Sweet Cheeks, is goin’ back to Daryl.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not going back without you. If you want me to go to the prison, then you have to come with me.”

“Listen Peach. Someone’s gotta take care of my baby brother. That ain’t me no more.” Merle chuckled to himself, a short bitter sound, “Hell, never did a good of it when it was me. But you,” Merle glanced at her again, “ya do a hell of a better job than I ever did with ‘im. He likes you…. Nah. Loves you-“ “He loves you too.” Olivia argued back. Her stomach twisted uneasily at the tone of this conversation. Was he completing a suicide mission?

“The day my little brother starts lookin’ at me with those heart eyes he makes at you is the day Imma gouge them out his head. Now I got somethin’ I need to do. Alone. You wanna help me, you keep takin’ care of my baby brother for me, ya hear?”

“No.” Olivia paused. Wait. “I-I mean yes. Obviously, I will always take care of Daryl, but no. You’re not doing whatever this suicide thing you’re doing is alone. I’m coming with you. You’re not thinking straight-“

Merle cut her off, “Straightest I’ve been thinkin’ in a long time, Peach.” He pulled over into a parking lot. “Now, get out the car, ‘fore I have to kick yer teeth in.”

“Kick my teeth in then.” Olivia looked him in the eye to show him she was serious. “I’m not going without you.”

To further prove her point, she buckled herself into the car and pulled the strap tight.

Merle looked down at the seatbelt latch and undid it. “That was stupid.”

She smiled, a little giggle escaping. “Safety first, Merle. Half of all deaths from motor vehicles involved people not wearing their seatbelts.”

Merle sighed. He thought for a moment, then started driving again. “Keep that shit off. Ain’t gunna wanna wear it for what we doin’.”

Merle opened his door and stepped out, stabbing a walker that had gained interest in him. Olivia followed obediently, staying close so he couldn’t bail on her.

He didn’t go far, just into the bar whose parking lot they’d been in. Olivia wasn’t sure how she felt about Merle being drunk while doing this plan. She was pretty sure he needed to keep his few remaining wits about him.

While he was digging through the bar for a favorable drink choice, Olivia found something far more interesting.

Merle had just settled on a smooth whiskey when he was hit in the face. Not with a fist or a bottle, like he usually was in bars. No, this was…wet.

He opened the eyes that had closed instinctively at the attack and turned to see Olivia holding a water bottle. “Bad Merle.”

“’Scuse you? The hell is that?”

“I told you I’d find a water bottle for you.” She grinned, proudly holding up the little thing. “I poured a water bottle in it.”

Merle scoffed, wiping his face with his sleeve, “Damn waste a water s’what it is. Get yer ass-”

She sprayed him again, “Language.”

The face he gave her, completely unamused by her punishment, was hilarious, well, to her.

“Gimme that!” He reached for it, but she sprayed him once, twice, three, four times before he retreated and wiped his face, “Damnit Peach-“ Water hit him again.

“Language!”

“Darylina ain’t gonna have a girl ta be pissed ‘bout if ya don’t stop.”

Olivia shrugged, “All you have to do is behave.”

He glowered at her. As he went to grab the whiskey, she pointed the bottle at him again. He slowly lowered his arm with a shake of his head. “Man can’t have a last drink?”

“I thought we were trying to come back alive.”

“Are, but jus’ in case.”

Olivia lowered the bottle of water and took his arm, “Come on, no death thoughts today, sir. We gotta go do something fun.”

“Ain’t fun, Peach.”

“Well how do I know? You haven’t told me what it is.”

.--.

Yeah, she was definitely going to die. This was the stupidest plan she’d ever heard of. But she couldn’t let Merle do it alone. That was Daryl’s brother. In a weird, fucked up sort of way, that was her brother too.

She had often thought that Merle was nothing more than a heartless asshole. He was brash, racist, piggish…the type of man Olivia could never like.

But he was more complicated than she gave him credit for. He had a heart. A heart that couldn’t kidnap Michonne. A heart that cared about Daryl more than life itself.

She guessed that was something they had in common.

“Do me a favor?” She asked as the car rolled forward towards the governors meeting spot. Her hand was on his arm, watching the walkers behind them in the side mirror.

“’Spose I owe ya one.”

She held up her phone. “Daryl will recognize this. He’ll grab it if he sees it. Just thought, if things go south, that maybe we should leave him something.”

“Whatcha got in mind?”

She turned on the camera and shifted it, so it was on herself and Merle. She looked up at him, smiling.

“Sure, you wanna do that? Ya look like shit.” Despite his words, he threw his arm around here and smiled at the phone. She rolled her eyes, putting on her best smile with him.

Then she snapped the picture.

Tags: @azanoni

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