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0aurelion-sol0 · 4 years

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SNK keeps on being amazing. ( A rant that is not really one. )

133.

Just this panel alone is able to confirm everything that I wanted from this manga.

Eren's condition has always been what I suspected.

Ever since he sided with his brother Zeke, who manipulated Marley in attacking Eldia to retrieve the founder and other titans. Something THEY DIDN'T WANT TO DO, because they were being pressured by many other countries and were not as powerful as before due to their lack of powerful weapons like the ones in the Middle Eastern Alliance which were able to PIERCE through the fucking Armored Titan.

THIS resulted in the fucking festival and we know what happened then. Dozens of people died including children continuing the cycle of hate that has been started for god knows how long. And Eren WILLINGLY took a part in it because he wanted his actions to be a little easier while he was going to genocide the whole fucking world.

INCLUDING his own island because let's be honest when Eren is done with the Rumbling, destroying every ecosystems. EVERYTHING that keeps a planet alive, his little island won't live for long.

"The ground... It's crying." CHAPTER 131 said by one of the goddamn kids he fucking killed.

Marley is now sure, let's fucking kill all Eldians.

He did his attack on Liberio, he betrayed everyone. Crushing Hange's every possibilities of finding a peaceful way of settling things down after having been hidden MANY useful informations by Eren, Zeke and his group but also the Azumabitos.

Sparking a civil war inside Eldia, leading to an Eldian supremacist group cause let's be honest when Floch killed that Marleyan and than gave his little first king Fritz speech, it was like seeing Hitler all over again and the Klux Klux Klan.

I MEAN... FLOCH OF ALL PEOPLE! A guy who has PTSD after seing dozens of his comrades died, their faces exploded by fucking thrown rocks. He bastardized Erwin's ideologies and no matter how good willing he was, he was just a dead man walking acting like a fool.

He also betrays his own party now, the Jeagerist by allowing the very people they tried to stop the power to stop him. By activating the Rumbling, he also caused the death of Eldians inside the walls as we've been shown with Hitch.

AND THE WORST... destroy every connection he has with his friends. Hurting them, putting them in danger by the very group he created and the Titans.

Oh but that's not all...

He uses the titan the same way Marley did it, with oppression and violence. He is not stopping the cycle of hate, he is continuing it. And it will have repercussions inside the very group of people he tried to defend.

People killed each other inside the walls and they will kill each other without it. Mikasa as shown us that when her parents got murdered and she almost became a slave.

And he killed Hange with these same titans. I don't care if they sacrificed themself. He didn't live up to what he preached. They died and Hange was someone close to him and was concerned with his well being. Maybe it was too late but they also had many other priorities as Hange was commander. They also fell into depression because of their position. One of his mentors and friends, one who tried to talk with him while he was in that cell planning to destroy the world...

talking to himself...

At this point, you know where I'm going with this. We've all suspected it, we all know it. Let's not be blind about it.

Eren is influenced by the Attack Titan. Not Ymir (at least I hope so and I think so), not Kruger and certainly not Grisha.

It's pretty clear now.

I mean Eren's change happens off screen, every time we see him he is completely different from what we used to know of him.

He barely cares about his friend and don't give me the bullcrap of (hE dOeS tHiS fOr tHeM.) If he was he would have secured them and put them in a place where they wouldn't interfere, he would have tried to convince them. HE WOULD HAVE COMMANDED FLOCH NOT TO HURT THEM.

He would have not commited genocide after knowing what it led to with Reiner, Annie and Bertholt.

That's not Eren. And the stupid argument of "hE's aLwAyS bEeN vIoLeNt". That's just bullcrap and it just destroy every bit of beautiful empathy we have seen of him. With Mikasa, Armin and Historia. Levi who he respected a lot.

It just isn't coherent. Every action he does is not coherent since the timeskip.

NOW HE'S CHALLENGING HIS FRIEND ? WTF ?

I mean is no one questionning this, doesn't it seem off from what we've seen of him.

Eren is no strategist BUT... he isn't stupid. Every sane person would know that these actions will not benefit anybody.

But... they still happened.

If we look back again, here is Eren being positive trying to put Armin in a good mood.

The outside world... endless possibilities. It's a man who wonders.

Yet, AT THE RIGHT MOMENT... he has a flashback of Faye. And his face just change.

Isn't it just weird ? Like at the right moment where he can have a positive outlook on thing. NOPE.

And this has been going and going and going...

Here:

Chapter 130.

Eren arrives in Liberio what does he see.

A flashback of his mother's death

I mean it's pretty clear now.

_________________________________________

Eren has been influenced and convinced by the Attack Titan that there's no way out. He's been reliving past memories of his and others, past memories that were traumatic. It put him in a state of depression and dread through 5 FUCKING YEARS. On top of that, he is able to see the future and what he saw will happen and has happened hence his reaction to Sasha's death.

A fucking mental breakdown.

Jesus Christ, I don't know if I've ever cursed that much in my life.

It's impossible to stop what is going to happen, because what is going to happen, needs to happen.

But as we know Sasha is in the afterlife with Erwin, Hange and the others. And we have been confirmed that this is the afterlife. So we have time-travelling, afterlife, 13 years curse, people who can turn into titans, parallel dimensions and Eren who can see through birds.

But the fandom said, no, the prospect of him being manipulated by the Attack Titan is impossible even after knowing it has special abilities.

I MEAN...

Umm... This has happened before. And I saw no one complain.

So why this ?

Is impossible ?

Especially when Eren's whole arc is about questionning his perspective of the world and becoming in control of his violence and rage. Having an agency. HELLOOOO!!!????

What better way of having the main threat of that being the very thing that causes all of his problems and his powers.

Doesn't this remind anyone of anything ?

Yep. The Uprising Arc. And who ? Historia, the girl whose all life, she couldn't act as herself or have any real agency.

Yes, you know the girl whose pregnant and decided to live the rest of her life Little House On The Prairie style. ( I mean I don't think it's her but... that's what it's looking right now. )

And who is a descendent of Ymir Fritz. With too much uncanney similarities between the two.

They could have said the Founder, Eren Jeager or something else but no they said... "It's the Attack Titan."

And it's not Ymir, if she was the one to control Eren. Why wouldn't she free herself on her own if she's able to do that ?

And in 131, she was clearly in a position where she was questionning her choice.

And perhaps she probably tried to stop Eren but the Attack Titan took over him and her. Using her powers as she is the founder.

And now just like Eren, she has no eyes. She is still a slave. Why ? I thought Eren freed her. So ? This is the only logical explanation right now.

I mean when is the last time we saw Eren.

He was sleeping inside his titan in 131. Having a dream about seeing his "sight" of freedom as a kid. And also potentially watching things with birds.

It's just weird. If he was fully in control, the characters wouldn't have questionned it and none of this weird shit would be happening.

He clearly doesn't have a free will.

This requires too much energy and Eren is a normal Eldian, not one of Royal Blood. Being both in Paths, watching this " sight ", communicating, watching with birds, moving his titan which is enormous and the thousands of colossal titans is clearly hard and too dangerous for only one person to do.

Isayama has fooled us all and me in the process.

All this time, it was that goddamn thing pulling the strings. And with the help of Isayama since he is the goddamn author of this series

In chapter 88, we learn the true meaning of Shingeki No Kyojin.

The beauty of the japanese language, as confusing as it is, can be translated by Attack On Titan, at least for us american and western audiences.

( yes because as someone pointed out in the comments, it's a mistranslation but since I don't understand how to give credit by linking because I don't understand how it works, i can't credit. So you can find the person in the comments. DO NOT JUDGE ME, tumblr is not the best place to post sometimes. )

But it's not the Attack on Titan anymore.

It's the Attack Titan.

( piece of shit is it's surname. )

#shingeki no kyojin #snk #attack on titan #eren jeager #snk eren #aot spoiler #snk spoilers #aot eren #the attack titan #I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK #THIS IS WHAT I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE #EUREKA #snk 133 #aot 133 #snk chapter 133 #ymir the first #ymir fritz

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themeaningofitall · 2 years

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Eternal Recurrence

Consider all that you have experienced in life so far, all the good and all the bad. Think of all your fortunes and misfortunes, all your blessings and all your miseries, all your triumphs and all your failures. Carefully weigh them all against each other; attempt to judge whether the desirable outweighs the undesirable, whether all your struggles have been equally rewarded, whether there is a bright side to all the suffering you’ve endured. Then, ask yourself “Would I willingly live this life all over again in exactly the same way?”

Frankly, my own life is full of mistakes, all of which are my own, and all of which I regret. Some mistakes are more difficult to escape than others, and some have even led me to hate my very existence. It’s those mistakes which often keep me awake at night, wishing that I could somehow go back and change them, or else imagining how much different my life would be if I had simply acted more prudently. Regret truly is a burden. I sometimes wonder why it is that we are able to experience it at all, but that is a question for another time. The message I want to share is that regret never solved any of my problems. No amount of regret can change the past.

Friedrich Nietzsche lived a very difficult life. No doubt, he made choices which he regretted and endured hardships that many people never will. Despite this, he made an effort to live his life in such a way that he would willingly live it all over again, entirely unaltered, infinite times over. He developed a theory by the name of eternal recurrence in which he claimed that all we know as reality has been recurring eternally and will continue to do so for all time. This theory serves not as an explanation about the true nature of reality, but rather as a thought experiment for an individual to evaluate their life. If you ask yourself whether or not you would willingly live your life again without any alteration and answer no, then you can be sure that you are not living correctly, as judged by your desires. While I will not claim that there is any one correct way to live life, I will assert that each individual must learn to love their life in its entirety, embracing both the good as well as the bad, so much so that they would be happy to relive it an infinite amount of times over.

I share this thought experiment because of the great benefit it has brought me. It has helped ease some of my burden of regret, and has allowed me to evaluate my life in its entirety, valuing all of my previous experiences, both positive and negative, since without them, I would not be who I am now. Perhaps my life would be better if I had acted differently or avoided some of the decisions I now consider mistakes. But how could I ever truly know that? Regret is often inescapable; as humans we sometimes can’t help but to feel it. However, for all its inescapability, regret is an unnecessary pain. My past mistakes lie beyond my control, I cannot change them, regardless of how much I may want to. My future choices, on the other hand, are mine alone to control. I must live life in such a way that the good outweighs the bad. And when misfortune arises, as it inevitably will, I will overcome it and move past it, with neither hate nor regret. This is the advice I give to all: love your life in its entirety, learn from your mistakes, but do not give yourself needless pain by dwelling on them, and live as if you would relive; for, a life which is not worth reliving is not worth living once, and the life which is worth living once is worth reliving a thousand times.

#journal #diary #writing #philosophy #thought experiment #literature #just a thought #my writing #life

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ddarker-dreams · 4 years

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Comfortably Numb. Yan Chrollo x Reader [COMM]

warnings: mentions of anxiety, just general uneasiness. word count: 2.6k.

Home is where the heart is.

It’s meant to be the sanctuary where you can unwind after a long day of work, dress in your most comfortable pajamas, and feel no qualms for the opinions of others. A safe haven of your own making. Granted, there was a time that you felt this way, no matter how long ago it seems. A coveted period of your life that you wish you could return back to. On a surface level, any onlooker might take a glance at you and think you are as normal as they are. If only that were the truth, you bitterly lament.

Now, what do you need to check on next? Milk is in good supply, not set to expire anytime soon. Hm… can’t say the same for the fruit. You jostle down some of your favorites onto the ever growing grocery list. What else is there? You’ve got to be missing something. Standing on your tiptoes, you open the overheard cabinet, that is now noticeably more barren than it used to be. The bags of tea that had once populated this area have vanished, all but a lonesome pack of matcha. Huffing, you close the cabinet doors, ready to voice your irritation.

Pivoting on your heel, you look over the kitchen counter and towards the occupied living room. “You drank all my tea?”

“Not at all of it,” your unwelcome guest corrects, much to your displeasure. “Besides, you never said I couldn’t have any.”

You raise an eyebrow at this conjecture. Who would’ve thought him a stickler for semantics. “Yeah, well, I never said you could have it either.”

“That’s a fair enough point. I’ll be sure to reimburse you for it later.” Chrollo ends the conversation before it even begins. His attention returns to his original activity of reading, freely helping himself to yet another one of your belongings. An exhausted sigh leaves your lips at the sight. If you somehow make it out of this situation unscathed, you may take on a more pious lifestyle, having survived way more than you should’ve. It’s a wonder that Chrollo hasn’t seen fit to strike you down where you stand. Where you lack self-restraint in the verbal department, you make up for it in your overall composure. Surely anyone else would’ve been crushed under the immense pressure of having a murderer crashing at their apartment.

That’s just about the best way to describe it, you think. How desensitized do you have to be to no longer shiver at the thought? In all fairness, Chrollo himself is treating this as the most ordinary arrangement in the world. At his own leisure he’ll start conversations with you, inquire about your day, and even offer insight that you never asked for. It’s gotten to the unfortunate point that you’re even starting to do the same. Treating him more as a peculiar roommate than the threat he truly is, though it could be your way of coping. That’s the explanation you’re going with.

Chrollo puts a bookmark into his read, and places it aside. “Is there anything you’d like for dinner?”

He asks the question as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Your normally schooled expression is broken, lips parting and eyebrows furrowing together. Is he being serious right now? There’s no way to tell for certain. Not on a lack of trying from your behalf, his countenance never hints at his innermost thoughts. You get the feeling what little Chrollo does reveal to you is intentional. How creepy.

“I was just planning on warming up leftovers,” you accentuate this by opening your fridge. On the shelves sits lentil soup, apples, and some protein yogurts. Shit. “Scratch that. I’ll be settling for yogurt instead.”

“You had that for breakfast, if memory serves.” Chrollo points out, as if you’re incapable of remembering that yourself. It’s odd that he feels the need to pay attention to every detail about you. How often is Chrollo observing you without you taking notice? You push the thought aside with a frown.

“What are you, my hostage-taker and nutritionist? Besides, this is what I like to call a struggle meal. Or, meals, technically. I’ll go shopping tomorrow to make up for it.” You grimace while picking up the gourmet cuisine for tonight. Strawberry cheesecake flavor. It’s better with stuff added to it for texture, but this’ll have to do. It’s doubtful someone who is hiding a stolen merchandise worth hundreds of thousands can empathize with your position. Not that it matters if Chrollo Lucilfer holds you in high regard, with all the blood on his hands. He’s got no room to judge.

“Hm, in the time we’ve spent together, I never considered you as dense,” he gets up from his seat, making his way towards the kitchen. You don’t get a word in edgewise before your dinner is plucked from your hands. Chrollo places it back in the fridge, while you stare at him with a slackened jaw. “I’m offering to buy you food, [First].”

How considerate of him to spell it out for you.

“Appreciative as I am for your gesture of goodwill, I’ll pass. I don’t want to be indebted to you.” You make for the fridge once again, scowling as he holds it shut with unnatural force. Damn, he’s strong. Maybe you’re playing with fire by provoking him, considering the power imbalance, but your tongue is faster than your brain. Both a blessing and a curse. Leaning more towards the latter, you muse.

“I insist. It’s only right that I repay you somehow, for allowing me to stay here. You wouldn’t be indebted to me.” Chrollo’s smile never reaches his eyes, you notice. Standing here in close proximity to him, there’s a lot more you can pick up on. Every little detail of his disposition is intentional. From his even keel tone, to his polite speech, and way of acting like you have any say in the matter. You’re all bark and no bite. Both of you are keenly aware of this, and still he talks to you as if he’s none the wiser. It’s demeaning in its own right.

“I guess it is sacrilegious to turn down free food. Alright, you win.” You throw your hands up in mock defense. This uncomfortable interaction helped you remember the position you’re in, how every breath might be your last. He’s broken into your residence, forced you to hide him from encroaching hunters, and made your past ten days a living hell. It was the threats to your loved ones that ultimately earned your compliance.

You can’t help the self deprecation that’s followed since that day. The law is what you’re supposed to be protecting, not protecting criminals from. Going to the station everyday with the knowledge that you’re harboring such a dangerous criminal is weighing heavily on your soul. Life sure is full of the worst ironies. Had it not been an A class bounty, you may have stood a chance.

Chrollo reaches into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out one of his many burner phones. “You’re being more agreeable than I expected, if I’m being honest.”

“What can I say? I become a bit of a yes man when my life is being threatened.” You respond with an empty smile of your own. Instead of earning any ire from him, he lets out an airy chuckle, of dubious sincerity. Whether it’s at you or with you is difficult to decipher. He pulls up a food delivery app, showing you the options. This was all prepared in advance, he must’ve taken the time to download it. So it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision to mess with you?

“Y-you’re really letting me pick?” There’s no hiding your incredulous tone of voice. This series of events is far too bizarre to fathom, like a nightmare stepping into reality. Just a week ago you were contemplating how to poison Chrollo without him taking notice. Now you’re ordering food together. There has to be an ulterior motive lurking around, your gut won’t tell you otherwise.

He tilts his head at your apprehension, and repeats himself. “That’s what I said, yes.”

Fuck it. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, or so the saying goes. You’ve suffered enough at Chrollo’s hands, it wouldn’t hurt to make the most of it. You take the cheap phone from his hands, scrolling through the options, and realizing now just how wonderful the variety of food sounds. Working up an appetite hasn’t come naturally with your uninvited guest skulking about. He has enough prepaid visa cards to cover what you want, so you hold nothing back.

After returning his phone to him, you can’t help but throw an additional sarcastic comment in. It’s second nature at this point. “Happy now?”

“Very much so,” Chrollo doesn’t mention your indignation, eyes raking over your expansive order. It’s not until he gets to the end that he quirks an eyebrow. “... A one hundred dollar tip?”

“Feel free to add some extra zeros to the end of that. It’s not binary code for ‘help me, there’s a criminal in my apartment’, if you’re worried about that.”

He hums in consideration. “I can’t say that came to mind.”

“Shit, looks like I went ahead and busted my own master plan.” Your response is notably dry. A headache is already in the works, courtesy of speaking to Chrollo for too long. He never fails to keep you on your toes. For all the sardonic remarks you make at his expense, anxiety has never stopped plaguing you. It’s a miracle that your heart is still functioning properly. You don’t even know why you ordered the absurd amount that you did, other than from pure spite, since your stomach is churning too much to want to eat. Maybe that’ll change when the food shows up. If not, your co-workers are going to be in for quite a treat tomorrow.

You return to your newfound favorite activity of ignoring Chrollo, busying yourself with anything that comes in sight. Watering your plants, putting mugs from the dishwasher away, menial stuff that keeps you busy. A new feat lies in your wake. Whoever designed this apartment didn’t do so with you in mind, your larger plates just barely out of reach. Not willing to concede to using a chair just yet, you keep up the gallant attempt, stretching as far as your body allows. Your fingertips graze just over the prized handle, only for you to fail again.

That’s when you feel an over looming presence behind you, a shadow encompassing your figure. Chrollo gets the plate you were reaching for with ease, his chest brushing over your back in the process. You feel your face flushing, your body going taut, standing still as a wooden plank. He sets it down beside you with a knowing smile. That bastard…! He’s doing this on purpose. Damn him.

“It looked like you could use some help.” He tells you. It takes every ounce of your self restraint not to lunge at him, instead taking a deep breath and nodding your head. Why is he so intent on getting a reaction from you? It’s exasperating, serving no practical purpose other than his own amusement. Inundated with your thoughts, you don’t realize how sour a look you’re sporting. This is what he wants, you remind yourself. To get you riled up. You refuse to play into his hands, and manage to get a grip.

Time passes by at a lethargic pace. After around forty minutes, your front door rings, and you pick up the order. Sitting at your counter, you help yourself to the meal, grateful that Chrollo has seen fit to leave you alone. There can never be anything good in this world, as he eventually joins you. You try not facing him as an act of defiance. The plan that seemed ingenious in theory has a rockier execution. Sitting in silence feels worse somehow, like a ticking time bomb. Shifting in your seat, you decide to strike up a half baked conversation.

“So, uh, about the whole being hunted down thing,” your voice wavers and you hate yourself for it, “Do you have an idea of when it’s going to be over? I’m starting to run out of excuses for why my friends can’t come over.”

This is true. There have been no more lively gatherings at your apartment since Chrollo’s unwelcome appearance, and you’ve been pestered about it. In between the lines is the prospect of your friends finding this reclusive behavior suspicious. In your optimism, you hope he takes it as a hint to get out of here faster.

Chrollo takes on a pensive appearance, his chin resting on his hand. “I’d been meaning to talk to you about that, so I’m glad you brought it up.”

How nice it is to be on the same page. This could be the light at the end of the tunnel, the last page in this awful chapter of your life. Ten days seems like a reasonable amount of time to lay low. Maybe he’s already packing his bags, planning to leave you far behind, so you can forget any of this ever happened. Maybe you’ll treat yourself to a vacation. From the gut wrenching anxiety Chrollo has inflicted on you, you feel deserving of one.

“They’ve stopped searching for me a while ago.”

Wait, what?

You look at him, silverware dropping from your lax hand. He’s never been into joking around. Does that mean he’s being serious with you? That all this time, you’ve been holding out for something that already happened? Fists balling by your side, you don’t bother hiding a sharp glare directed towards him. There’s no playfully wry response, no comeback, only disbelief and abhorrence. The bountiful meal in front of you is forgotten.

There’s no point in asking, but you still do, voice low. “... How long?”

“According to my sources, about a week.” comes Chrollo’s response, hammering the final nail in the coffin of your patience. His motivations have never been any less clear. You know you shouldn’t have taken the word of someone like him seriously -- you’re so painfully aware of this that it hurts -- but now leaves a final question. Why? What does he get out of this? You feel sick to your stomach, knowing that it’s going to bad no matter what. Your breathing has picked up, eyes dilating and body threatening to crumble under the tension. Everything feels out of place.

He responds as if he was reading your thoughts. “You’re an interesting person, [First]. You never cried, pleaded, or anything of the like. Instead you accepted the situation for what it was, all while staying true to your values. I find that admirable. I’d like to learn more from you.”

“Stop talking to me like I’m a -- a fucking -- science experiment, instead of a human being. How does any of that shit even matter?” You feel the blood draining from your face, every word coming out more forced than the last. Getting riled up here is the last thing you should be doing, but you can’t control yourself. All your negative emotions from your time with him are regurgitating into a final mess.

“I don’t know, truth be told.” Chrollo checks the watch on his wrist, and you gulp at the smile that forms on his lips. It feels like a sentencing, a foreboding omen. There’s bile rising in your throat, and you scramble away from your chair. You need to get out of here. You need to run, to scream for help, to alert your family, this is not going to end well, what is he planning--

There’s a hurried knock at your door.

“However, what I do know is that I have no intention of leaving this place without you by my side.”

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mindmeltonabun-blog · 3 years

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Tale of the Nine Tailed: Explanation of Lee Rang’s Death and Lee Yeon’s Ending Scene

Well folks...here we are once again. I did say that I would not write another TOTNT post unless there was anything worth discussing in the finale. I know many of you may feel utterly devastated or somewhat confused by how TOTNT ended, but I hope my post will be able to comfort you somehow. Anyways, let’s put on our thinking caps one last time for TOTNT!

Lee Rang’s Death

One of the biggest complaints many have had is the death of Lee Rang. Many said that the writer did him dirty while others wished that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah would’ve died instead. However, when we looked at his character arc’s as a whole, his death was justified. We mustn’t forget that he murdered hundreds possibly thousands in wake of his anger.

Yes, he did do some good towards the end of his life such as taking in Yuri and Kim Soo, but that shouldn’t discredit all the atrocious acts he had committed in the past. Saving the life of two people doesn’t make up for all of the lives he had taken. Additionally, it is noted that Lee Rang did also assist the Imoogi’s group to bring the Imoogi back to life which caused for a slew of horrible events to occur in the first place.

In the end, it was Lee Rang’s turn to sacrifice for the one he loved. Everything in TOTNT is cyclic if you think about it. First Ah Eum died to save Lee Yeon then Lee Yeon died to save Ji Ah. Therefore, it was only logical that it was Lee Rang’s turn to die for the one he loved which was Lee Yeon.

Everything in life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine, what matters is what you do despite being dealt a bad fate. Both Lee Yeon and Ah Eum/Ji Ah weren’t dealt with a particularly good fate, but yet they still remained good people. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Lee Rang. Yes, he was dealt with a bad fate with having been born with a mother who didn’t want him, but he was also lucky because he had been taken in by a brother who greatly cherished him. Instead of appreciating the time he shared with Lee Yeon and remaining a good person even after the events of Lee Yeon leaving for the Samcheon River, Lee Rang still decided to take a turn for the worst.

Over and over again, Lee Rang had escaped the punishment he so rightly deserved. For example, even after killing those villagers, Lee Yeon spared his life. Lee Rang had been basically living off on borrowed time. In a way, Lee Rang was lucky that during that borrowed time he was able to resolve the misunderstanding he had with Lee Yeon as well as have a small family of his own. Finally, if there’s anything TOTNT has taught us, it’s that if something is the will of the afterlife judges, it will be carried out eventually. One can’t escape their punishment.

In my opinion, things could have gone a lot worse for Lee Rang in the end. Meaning he could have been reborn as a shrimp. Instead, the afterlife judges granted him reincarnation as a boy who had a mother who cared for him and granted him his last wish which was to meet his brother again. He got all of wishes fulfilled. Thus, it was a satisfying ending for Lee Rang.

Update 12/07/2020: Does Lee Yeon Meeting Reincarnated Lee Rang Indicate Many Years Have Passed?

No, it doesn’t. The team probably wanted to use the same child actor (Joo Won Lee; DOB: 05/03/2011) as to imply that Lee Rang had been successfully reincarnated. Sure, they could’ve used someone who was a few months old, but how then would Lee Yeon recognize Lee Rang ? Remember that Lee Yeon only met Lee Rang when he was around 9 years old. There would be no way for Lee Yeon to recognize what a few months old Lee Rang could’ve looked like. Get it ? Again, Lee Yeon meeting reincarnated Lee Rang happened in 2021!

Why Does Lee Yeon Still Have His Gumiho Powers?

Initially, when I first watched this I was beyond shocked, left confused, and was rethinking my opinion of Lee Yeon as a good person. However, once I watched it with subs and then did a little research into how Gumihos can become human, the ending scene made sense. Again, everyone should’ve taken Jo Bo Ah’s advice of looking up myths and see to how they pertain to whatever happened in TOTNT.

Anyways, in legends, Gumihos can become human in the following ways:

1) Refrain from killing and eating humans for 1000 days

2) The human who found out a Gumiho’s true nature, must tell no one of its secret for 10 years

3) Over a period of 100 days (other versions say 1000 days or ~3 years), Kumiho must not be detected by the human they are married to. If the Gumiho fails on this quest, they will lose any chance of becoming human and will be a Gumiho for 1000 years

4) Gumiho must consume the livers of 1000 humans over 1000 years. If they do not do this by the end of 1000 years, the Gumiho will dissolve in foam/bubbles

In particular, the ending scenes was in reference to #3. When Lee Yeon had came back to life, he was still technically a Gumiho hence why he could enter the Office of the Afterlife. I know you might ask well why didn’t Taluipa or Shin Ju sense he was still a fox? Because at the same time Lee Yeon was human, but only during the day or nights when there wasn’t a full moon (read further below for an explanation). Additionally, Lee Yeon probably didn’t tell Shin Ju because he didn’t want there to be any possibility that information would get leaked to Ji Ah. Better safe than sorry was Lee Yeon’s personal philosophy!

Although, Lee Yeon did come pretty close to being discovered as a Gumiho when he let it slip that he knew that their child would be a daughter. This all goes back to the intro in Ep 1 where it is said that Gumihos have the “ability to see miles ahead”. Luckily for Lee Yeon, he convincingly tricked Ji Ah and played it off as he was just saying weird things.

Until his 100 days were up, Lee Yeon had to keep his Gumiho nature hidden from the only person who mattered which was Ji Ah. Let’s be honest here, it’s really hard to trick Ji Ah so Lee Yeon had to be super careful around her. Usually in legends, Gumihos fall short of reaching the 100 days because they are discovered by their betrothed. During Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional phase of becoming human, a situation arose that could’ve have caused Ji Ah to discover that Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho aka Mr Samjae entering into Ji Ah’s life.

This caused a problem because whatever misfortune befell on Ji Ah it would also inadvertently affect Lee Yeon too. Meaning that if Lee Yeon didn’t get rid of the Samjae, it could cause Ji Ah the misfortune of finding out Lee Yeon still was a Gumiho, thus ruining his plan of ever becoming human.

The only way anyone could tell Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho was to have seen him during a full moon. This was in reference to how in legends, werewolves (also in the same canine family as a fox) can only undergo transformation into a wolf when there was a full moon (symbolistic of metamorphosis). So while in the transitional state of Gumiho and human, Lee Yeon was able to take advantage of there being a full moon to be able to transform into a Gumiho. Subsequently, Lee Yeon then used his Gumiho abilities to rid of Mr. Samjae Spirit. Thus, Lee Yeon eliminated a potential threat that could have caused Ji Ah to find out his Gumiho nature before the 3 months of remaining undetected was completed.

Flash forward approximately 3-4 years later after Lee Yeon’s face off with the Samjae, Lee Yeon is now seen as having been successful at becoming a full human as well as having daughter with Ji Ah as seen here in the following pictures (family picnic). My only complaint is that the production/editing team ended up deciding to not include the following scene. I do not know whether it was their decision or the writer’s to not include this. There could be numerous reasons why such as they had wanted to leave the possibility of there being a season 2 or there was limited time allotted for the length of ep 16 or the writer had wanted to leave an open ending. Whatever the reason, I do hope we will eventually show this to us. In doing so, they would give so many of us the proper closure we needed for TOTNT!

Side note, it looks like Lee Yeon and Ji Ah did end up introducing their daughter to her adoptive grandparents. Awww!

Updated 12/07/2020: Timeline of Samjae + Lee Yeon’s Transitional Period

There were also a bunch of questions concerning when exactly the whole scenes with Ji Ah and Lee Yeon had occurred. This occurred in 2021.

Samjae is believed to occur over a three-year period, and follows calculations based on the twelve zodiac signs. The first of the three years is known as deulsamjae (Kor. 들삼재, lit. entering the three calamities), the second, nuulsamjae (Kor. 누울삼재, lit. middle of calamities), and the third, nalsamjae (Kor. 날삼재, exiting the three calamities). The first year in this three-year cycle is supposed to be the most unfortunate.

Source: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/4151

So doing a little math, one will be able to see what years the Samjae entered (deulsamjae), remained (nuulsamjae), and then exited (nalsamjae). So the Samjae entered into Ji Ah’s life in 1994, 2003, 2012, and 2021. The cycle of every 9 years refers to the time period from one Deulsamjae year to the next (not every 9 years from her year of birth). For example, 1994 + 9 = 2003, 2003 + 9 = 2012, and 2012 + 9 = 2021.

What the show was trying to convey is that when Mr. Samjae came into Ji Ah’s life, it also coincided at the same time as Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional period. Additionally, there were some who asked, “Aren't we to assume that many years have passed because Lee Yeon did say first root canal, first picnic, first snowfall, etc ?”. No, I took that scene as him mentioning things he either already did or will eventually experience.

Anyways, I really didn’t think I needed to point all of this out because I had assumed you all would’ve put on your thinking caps by now!

Last Remarks.

I hope that this post was able to resolve any confusion many of you may have had about the last episode. The writer did truly keep us on our toes until the very end. But with a little research into myths as well as analyzing everything as a whole, one should’ve been able to understand where the writer was coming from. Again, I want to give a big thanks to the cast, crew, and writer for all their hard work to give us TOTNT!

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thesunshinebunny · 3 years

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When the world falls apart, the only thing we can hold onto is ourselves (Part III)

Series Master list

pairing: canon Eren Jaeger x reader

content: Angst, unstable relationship, breakup, smut/nswf+18, major character death, violence, blood (obviously), war (pretty obvious)

Summary: War and hate. It’s what defined the world at this exact moment. You failed your comrades, and by failing them, you failed yourself. Your relationship is hanging by a thread and your enemies will not only be found on the other side of the sea, but also in the mind of the person you love the most. How will you take the reins in the face of so much destruction?

Chapter summary: It will take more than a betrayal and blood blath for the reader to stop protecting those who really need it.

Words count: 4.7k

I knew things were going to go from bad to worse when we returned to Paradis; but I never imagined that I would have a letter from the Supreme Commander on my desk. Days had passed since my fiasco conversation with Eren, spreading the word of my insubordination towards the lack of notification to the respective authorities. Sure, the guards had let me into the cell just because they knew me, but I never had the decency to tell Hange-san or even ask for a meeting with the Supreme Commander.

And here I was. Wrapped up in a much bigger shit roll since I decided to enlist in the Survey Corps, with a simple letter demanding my presence in his office for a little "talk."

The medical center where I could do my practices with ease was quite far from the justice’s court where the Supreme Commander was, having to go out to ride through the beautifully paved streets. A street I crossed, a street I saw citizens read the newspapers that had brought so much catastrophe to peace within the walls. People were revolting against the militancy, demanding Eren's immediate release, praising he was the only one who could lead Eldia to its ultimate glory.

If they could heard themself right now. They spoke as if Paradis itself had become an empire, a power on the verge of attacking and taking every country under its feet. It was as if they wanted to turn the game around, to be us the empire and our enemies the war slaves.

I was still far from my destination, but the crowd could be seen cowering above the barred court doors. Men and women with posters screaming without sense or unity, an angry mob demanding explanations, ready to use violence to make their way into the hierarchy.

I got off my horse when I faced the crowd, needing to get up front and through the secured gate and with my loyal traveling companion I wasn't going to make it. I left him tied up outside a local, asking the owner to take care of him, if necessary, I would give him a monetary compensation on my returned.

I tried to get through the mob, asking permission, even nudging some people, but no matter how hard I tried to take a step forward, there was always a bastard blocking my way or pulling me back; They even had the decency to grab my coat and throw me off.

"Excuse me, but I need to pass"

Empty words at this situation. If they didn’t listen to the specialized people of the militancy, it was obvious that they wouldn’t listen to me, a simple doctor in practice for the legion.

"Free the leader of the Eldian empire"

"Free Eren Jaeger"

"Give us some damn answer"

"Fuck off you cheap bitch"

The day wasn’t even beginning and I was already receiving hateful comments, typical of closed minds.

I looked around for a solution, I was wasting valuable time and starting to get irritated. If I was late for my meeting with the Supreme Commander, who knows what punishment he would give me apart from my insubordination.

Besides of the mob there wasn’t much more than a few elegant houses and shops, no other entrance except the one in the backyard, but to get there, I would have to go all the way around the building and it would take much longer. The walls were too high to jump alone and too smooth to climb, otherwise enough people would have sneaked in by now.

I turned my head towards my horse, which was still in the same position where I left him, patiently awaiting my return. Surely what I was about to do wasn’t going to please him one bit.

I ran as fast as I could and unhooked him from the wooden post, ignoring the comments of the owner of the premises who was indisputably claiming for his pay. Without turning my head to such scum, I motioned for the horse to turn around and run down the avenue, against the crowd. Being at a considered distance, I again instructed him to turn around and go as fast as he could.

"I'm sorry Phillip, you're going to have to forgive me for what I'm going to do"

We were a few meters from the mob, mentally preparing myself for the feat that was about to be accomplished. Almost arriving, about to impact, I gave him a little jerk to the right, guiding us towards the wall, and raised my legs towards his back, squatting against him, waiting for the right moment and the impulse he would give when braking hard.

When he was about to slam his trunk against the wall, Phillip stopped his galloping, propelling me forward and flying toward one of the door columns. I grabbed the stone as best I could, avoiding falling on my backside, and raised my legs towards the top, finally reaching my goal. Being already on top and looking at the terrified faces of the rebels, I went down to the other side of the door, slightly hurting my feet and hands in the fall.

"That was quite a show"

Hitch was already in front of me, malicious and proud on her face. She was giving a few applause to the air, trying to lift the spirits of the people of the military squad, even if her acting was a bit cocky.

"Desperate situations call for desperate measures." I waved my hands over the coat, looking at her with the same smug visage she was giving me.

I didn't like Hitch per se, but we weren't friends either. The way she acted and talked gave me bad vibes and I planned to stay as neutral as possible in her presence. Even her gazes seemed to want to pierce the soul of whoever she was speaking to, as if she wanted to undress you internally and seek your darkest and most shameful secrets. I would stick my hands in the fire by assuming that in her younger years she had been a bully or a blackmailer.

But it was better to keep those thoughts for yourself, before generating greater repercussions in the times that hugged us.

"Did you come to see Armin and Mikasa?"

Any thoughts I had of her dissipated.

"They ... are they here?"

I was fuzzy. Not because of the fact that I was uninformed about their actions when they left the legion barracks in the morning, which I was getting used to since last year, but because they were in the same place as me. What a coincidence.

To be honest, the two of them never owed me anything and it wasn't their duty to tell me where they were going every minute of the day, just like Hange. Each one of us had their own will to go where we were sung; But if the three of us were in court, and if they gave me the chance to guess, I would say that to see the Supreme Commander, it made me a bit suspicious.

"Yes, they are talking to the Supreme Commander to try to go talk to Eren"

I must have hit my head at some point in the battle of Marley, because lately every occurrence was quite impossible to believe. They were the ones who asked me to go talk to him a few days ago, they were the ones who questioned me when I returned to the waiting room where the few survivors of 104° Squad were;it was them who gave me a compassionate look as they saw I hadn’t accomplished much and I had ended any relationship that bound me with Eren.

And now here they were, demanding an audience with their childhood friend, while I would have to be judged for the same action. Something wasn’t fitting. I looked around trying to find them, or maybe to find an answer to the thousands of questions that were forming in my head, and finding no help, I turned to Hitch.

"What is going on? Why-"

Before I could finish my question, an explosion rumbled across the cobblestone floor, hurting our ears and knocking us to the ground. Fire and debris couldn’t only be seen in the air but also smelled, flooding our nostrils, causing us to cough and cover our eyes with debris.

I looked up to find a flare coming from one of the court offices and a heavy body falling in our direction. I couldn't make it out until it fell to the ground, leaving a stain of blood and ash around it, apart from leaving a trail of smoke from where it flew off. My eyes were opened with shock and amazement, since the person in front of me was nothing more and nothing less than the same militant leader, half of the body lost and burned by the explosion.

"Well ... that's new"

In all my years of service I have seen every horror inside and outside the walls. True, even the Survey Corps had acted against the law, but it was for the greater good, to expose the bastards who lived on the wall farthest from the sea. I had seen people hit and kick another for a piece of food when the wall Maria fell. I had seen how we were massacred one by one with bullets to the head as we tried to go beyond the walls.

But never in those years I had seen a rebellion like the one taking place, being willing to eliminate such an authoritarian figure as Darius Zackly.

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The chaos went unnoticed by a large part of the population, only those who were present at the time of the explosion and the military police were aware. Faced with such an atrocious event of treason, a small meeting was convened involving the most important heads of each faction; unfortunately I couldn’t be there, my presence had been required in a clinic a few meters from the court. There were quite a few injured.

Some had mild and harmless burns, others had large parts of the body with third degree burns. Some had splinters stuck in their arms and faces, some had a piece of wood stuck in their stomach.

A couple of hours had passed which seemed like weeks to me. I had been assigned the milder cases, but as I pulled the splinters out of a patient's eyes, I had the countless howls of people echoing in my head, listening as they took their last painful breaths. People who asked to die on purpose to ease the pain.

Hours passed and welcomed the next day. I had terrible black circles under my tired eyes, hands stained with dried blood and splintered; they’re fucked up and I needed to heal them as quickly as possible before they got infected. I grabbed the cutting tools and placed them on a metal tray, the cold of the surface soothing the pain in my hands, and although it wasn’t too heavy I felt like it trembled on my grip.

I heard the door open wide at the other side of my last patient's room, the front door, letting in multiple heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor. Apparently, the soldier who had entered was in a hurry or was about to deliver terrible news...I wish I had been wrong in the second option.

"Bad news, Eren Jaeger has escaped from the underground cell"

I dropped the metal tray on my feet, making the sound of metal and utensils rumble across the room. My hands were shaking even more and surely if I saw myself in a mirror I would see my face completely pale.

"If you want to free yourself from this cell, go ahead"

My words invaded my mind like a bucket of cold water, as if they wanted to make me see that I was to blame for his escape. I knew that sooner or later he’s going to free himself, his eyes showed it and by not getting an answer that contrasted with mine, it was perfect evidence of his plans. But even knowing it, even Hange knowing it, I didn't expect him to do it in a moment of such betrayal.

I cleaned my hands as best I could with a towel hanging over the room sink and grabbed my coat, rushing out of the clinic.

"I’m sorry, I need to go"

But where to go was the question. I had no idea where Eren might be, and even if I knew what he was going to win, surely he was with his followers and with the simple image of me approaching from the horizon, I would be dead in a matter of seconds ... or imprisoned, whatever happen first.

At the exit of the clinic, there were two soldiers of the military police standing guard and watching the justice’s court from the distance. I approached them with the intention of asking them about the whereabouts of the Survey Corps, but they looked at me like I had the plague and pushed me aside hostilely, almost knocking me to the ground. I kept my composure as best I could and looked for someone else to ask; I didn’t have to wait long, since a woman of my age with mahogany hair, extremely black and matted, pointed the way where my comareds had gone. According to her words, they’re heading towards a large and luxurious building in the middle of one of the main avenues, recognizing the word restaurant from the conversation between the riders.

The only place that matched that description was the restaurant where Nicolo worked.

I hurried out with Phillip galloping through people, avoiding stepping on them and apologizing on my back. If there was something clear to me in all this mess, it was that Hange would go to find answers among the working Marleyans of that place. Maybe something could be solved.

I was very wrong.

I rushed into the building, finding only a long entrance hall and a corridor that led to god knows where. No one was even around to see me panic and I didn't see a soul nearby either, the only thing if I could hear a heated discussion far away and heavy footsteps on the floor. I let myself be guided by the sound, running back to its origins and finding a bizarre and meaningless scene in front of my eyes.

The room that seemed to be the main one hosted the orphaned children of the Blouse farm as well as Sasha's parents, sad and anguished parents if I paid better attention. The children were just as sad, with tears in their eyes, especially Kaya; they were crying the same way as on the day Sasha's death was reported. They were cornered under a window all together, hugging each other and letting the rays of the sun streaming through the window illuminate their figures, as if those rays could replace the heat that Sasha had left behind.

That scene broke my still fragile heart. I would have liked to reach out to them and try to help them move on, as I would have liked to stay on the farm with them when we came back from Marley to help them get by; obviously I could never have replaced Sasha and they could never have replaced my family, but in these times of battle, what mattered most was healing the wounds between all of us.

I would have liked to talk to them, but my eyes shifted from the Blouse family to the figure of Hange carefully placing a child on the floor. The blond boy was very badly injured on the side of his head, he was bleeding and his clothes had stuck to his body due to the large amount of liquid that had flowed down his torso.

"Hange-san, Wha-" As I stared at the blond boy on the floor, I could see that he was one of the children who had sneaked into our war balloon.

“Isn't that one of the Marleyan children? Why is he here and why is he bleeding?"

Unconsciously my body leaned forward, resting on one knee on the ground and reaching out to the boy. My instincts as a doctor were screaming for me to tend to the poor injured boy regardless of his race and I was willing to do so.

"We will take care of him, go to the room continue with Mikasa and Armin"

I got up without hesitation, taking one last look at the room I was in and it was just at that moment that I recognized Nicolo and Jean in a corner away from everyone else. They both looked very distressed, but I didn't have the opportunity to ask why, they had given me an order and I had to carry it out. I would have to wait until got back to base to understand this terrible situation.

The room they sent me to was at the end of the corridor, the door was closed but every step I took I could hear the soft voices of Mikasa and Armin, apparently talking to someone else. Well, that conversation must have to get a pause because I was about to slam the door in and leave the doors wide open.

“What the hell is going on? Why is a Marleyan child unconscious in the kitchen?"

Upon entering, all excited, my eyes only saw the figures of Armin and Mikasa around a table. They both looked up at me in disbelief when they saw me standing on the threshold. For the second time that day, I looked back across the stage in front of me and spotted a small brown-haired figure sitting at the same table. With a little more attention, I saw that the small figure was trembling, perhaps from fear or from adrenaline, at the same time that its face was bruised and full of blood; and putting all my attention on that bloody face I realized that I recognized those eyes, those same eyes that I had looked at with contempt and had looked back at me with the same feeling the night of the invasion.

The missing girl from the Marleyan duo was sitting across from me staring with sheep's eyes.

All exaltation I had in my body dissipated, my gaze fell, leaving nothing more than a neutral countenance. But ... anyone who could see through my eyes, would know they reflected the fatigue and sadness of several accumulated days. Seeing the girl was perhaps a way of attaching all the harmful feelings in a single part of my body.

I let out a long sigh and closed the door slowly behind me. I walked slowly towards where the girl was, running Mikasa to the side and looked at her with the best possible adult countenance. She had a red nose, it looked like it had been hit right on her septum causing her to bleed and stain her dress, which I assumed was courtesy of the Blouse family. Her cheek was scratched and red too, traces of broken and inflamed skin could be seen around her wound, but without any bleeding. This girl would have a swollen face the next day if we don't give her some ice.

“You’re hurt. Care to explain me what happened?"

I reached my hand out to her, but was greeted with a flinch from her. I could tell she was scared and she had every right to be.Either way, way I brought my hand to her face, placing my index finger and thumb on her jaw to move her head and look for other injuries.

Her face was the one that received the most impact, nothing in her eyes which was a very good sign, and I didn’t notice any kind of fracture in the bones of her cheek or septum. Good. I looked around the room for something I could use, but I only found empty tables adorned with a classic tablecloth and a very well elaborated and cared wine cellar, apart from showing off one of the best wine collections in recent years.

"Armin, can you go get some alcohol to disinfect the wounds? Surely they have something in the kitchen "

The blonde gave me a slight nod and left the room, leaving me alone with Mikasa, who was absolved of the situation, but still maintaining an imposing posture. The girl was still shaking on my hand, so I pushed her away and inspected her body for more injuries.

The palms of her hands were stained with blood, I guessed from the bleeding from her nose, but they also had some slight scratches, perhaps she had fallen to the floor. Her dress didn’t seem torn in the area of the knees, so I assumed that they weren’t injured or it was a very slight scratch, almost no bleeding. Her arms seemed intact as did her torso. I turned to the back of her head, running her hair gently trying to find any trace of blow that could generate a contusion. I didn’t find anything that could be fatal or serious, but I did see something that caught my attention.

“You have marks on your head, diffuse, but they are there. What happened?"

"... A horse bit me"

Of all the situations that could have led to those brands, I didn't expect to hear this one. I didn’t expect it, not at all. It caught me off guard and I let out a giggle which I covered with the back of my hand.

"Sorry, shouldn't laugh… you deserve it thou" I gave her a little pat on the top of her head before ruffling it a bit and bending down to look into her eyes.

Armin returned to the room, alcohol in hand and a clean cloth. Thank God something was clean in this whole city, I was beginning to lose my faith in the cleanliness of this people. I reached for the items and I proceeded to apply a large amount of alcohol to the cloth and apply it first to the frightened girl's cheek.

"Why are you so good to me? I killed a one of your friends"

That comment made me stop for a second, just like I stopped looking at her wound. My gaze fell to the floor in search of an answer; I searched, searched and searched for answers to questions that didn’t have one or weren’t as simple as they seemed...or simply looked in the wrong places and the answers were always in my mind, only that my heart wasn’t prepared to face them.

"The girl you killed the night of the invasion was called Sasha Blouse and she was the best archer and sniper of the legion"

I turned my gaze to her, continuing to heal her wound on her cheek. When I saw that there was only a small pink stain left on the surface, I moistened the cloth further with alcohol and ran it under her nose, removing any trace of blood. The girl pulled back a bit when she felt it’s smell her nostrils and I had the opportunity to cover her nose for a few seconds to stop the bleeding.

"You know ... you remind me of a boy exactly like you"

When I saw that the bleeding stopped and the girl stopped moving due to the burning and itching that the alcohol was surely causing, I grabbed her hands and began to clean them with small touches avoiding tearing her skin.

“Just as intense and ready to fight for what he thinks is fair. You are just a little girl who was taught that we were the bad guys. It’s the way you were raised, the way you see the world. They taught us something else, but at the end of the day, apart from everything... we are the same"

It hurt. Yes, it hurt to see the one guilty of the death of my best friend, but it hurt more to see in her eyes the hatred and contempt they had taught her towards our race. The hate cycle we were getting into wasn't going to get us anywhere and it was better to nip it in the bud, even with baby steps.

When I finished cleaning all her wounds, I put the cloth on the table and looked at my performance with deep pride. It wasn't much, but it was enough; Not only had I cleaned a few simple wounds, but perhaps, I wished that perhaps, it would begin to heal her mind ... and mine as well.

I got up heavily, noticing how my knees creaked when squatting for a long time and I stretched my body generating more crunches, but noting at the same time how the heaviness of my back left and leave behind a much lighter load.

“Very good, you’ve been a good patient. Surely there is something sweet in the kitchen that I can give you” I patted her head again and gave her a sincere smile, one that I hadn't given anyone for quite a while. I headed to the door unconcerned about the situation I assumed was still going on in the main room.

"What's going to happen to Eren Jaeger?"

What will happen to him? And why does she ask me that?

"Don't worry, I'm not letting him put a finger on you" A sincere answer to a question asked out of fear. I reached the door and in the middle of the sentence I turned the knob wanting to make my way into the hall, but a tall figure blocked my way.

Eren was right on the threshold with the intention of opening it.

Well mark me impress

My body jerked back instinctively, avoiding taking my eyes off his. I moved to the right side, avoiding the figure of the Marleyan girl from being in Eren's point of view. I didn't know why he was here or if the others knew about it, but whatever the reason, he surely wasn’t alone and this wasn’t going to lead to anything good.

"Sit down"

He took a few steps forward, closing the door with his foot, not even paying attention to his surroundings, or maybe yes, now everything was a confusion when it came to the brunette in front of us.

"You can't tell me what to do" I planted myself in front of him, without taking a step back. We were both facing each other, him carrying me several inches tall, several dominating inches that made my legs shake and my heart race.

If it had been in any other situation, that trembling, that acceleration would have been very well received. It was impossible not to feel small next to Eren, the damn bastard had hit a big stretch and there was a great difference around the body between the two, a difference that I always loved to admire.

But not now. Not at this moment when everything was going to shit and I had to stand up to the figure of a little girl who was internally dying of fear thanks to him.

"Sit. Down"

Few centimeters separated us from each other, his chest too close to mine, I could feel how it swelled with each breath. He raised his hand to my face, letting me see his cut palm and dripping blood. Fear took hold of me, making me stand even more in my position, but I wasn’t going to give in so easily.

"You wouldn't" I looked him in the eye, defiant, longed for and everything in between.

"Try me"

It was all he said before grabbing onto my shoulders and pulling me back. My body collided with the table and instinctively I placed my hands on it. I heard how Armin and Mikasa tried to get closer to where we were, but a single glance from Eren made them stay still, submissive, as they lost in their positions. His gaze returned to mine. My breath hitched and I had to avoid with all my might thinking about the position we were entwined.

It wasn’t the time to think about how my hips were slightly elevated, just my butt up on the table and one leg dangling, his knee between my legs, preventing me from closing them and keeping the leg that was hanging in the air. His gaze wandered between our bodies and he returned to my eyes. He tightened his grip on my shoulders and pushed me to the side of the table, dropping me onto the chair next to the girl.

"I said. Sit. Down"

He took his hands off my shoulders, took the seat next to me and Armin and Mikasa sat with him, leaving an air of discomfort and tension in the environment.

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Tag List: @aestosia @amberciel @sof-yeager @iwony @curseofymir @etherealkatrina @teenageweaseldonutcash @mariaerdgzn @paypay0315 @despst @kisekinokishi @crazymar15 @futuristiccashstatesmansalad @gis21345 @urinejaeger @zhilon @dianacavendishh @lucielbinon-binary @cryingforwill @erensneedyslut @ryan249057 @stardustmonkey @asahinsunakinnie @obeymekookie @witchymermaid12

#aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot x reader #snk x reader #attack on titan x reader #shingeki no kyojin x reader #eren jaeger #eren yeager #eren x reader #eren jeager x reader #eren smut #when the world falls apart

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giftofwonder · 3 years

Text

The Tomb (Dabi x f!Reader) Part 1

A/N: So i watched a documentary on ancient Egypt and this happened. I’d love feedback, as I haven’t really posted any fanfics before. Please let me know what you think! This part doesn’t really have any NSFW, but does mention nudity, but other parts will be NSFW.

WARNINGS: contains brief mention of nudity.

You wandered through the tomb, alone and determined. Night had fallen, but your time left here was short. Soon the grant would end, and your funding would be stopped unless you and your team found something soon.

You needed to make a discovery here, and fast. Everyone else had went home to recover from the long day of work, but you were still giddy and restless.

A week prior, your team had discovered the entrance of the tomb. Cheers of joy had erupted from everyone, hoping whatever was inside would be enough for the government to give you just a bit more time and money. A bit longer to work.

You were an archeologist, a decent one too. You had made your share of finds, some small and some bigger, but it didn’t matter to you. The thrill of being the first person to touch something, sometimes after thousands of years, was always worth it. Even if your name was never known, the smallest of finds still spurred you on. It was the history, the knowledge. Like a puzzle where you got to find and place all of the pieces, trying to decipher the past.

That was why you were exploring by yourself at 3 in the morning. One hand held your flashlight, the other gently traced along the sandstone walls. Some areas needed cleaned, dirt and sand piled in over the years, making text and images harder to see.

This tomb was different, you noted. The layout was much larger than what you had come across before. At the entrance, the tomb opened to what looked like a hall. The walls decorated with text, sculptures and scenes.

You could tell a lot about someone from their tomb. The text and images often explained a bit about them, once translated. The statues were so the Gods could recognize who’s tomb it was, so there was no mistake in the afterlife. Sometimes it could reflect an ego as well, if there were many. The scenes are what they would take with them into the afterlife.

This tomb had only one name mentioned. It was carved into every wall countless times. There was only one image, one man, shown. That was the first strange thing you had noted. Normally, family was mentioned and depicted, but this tomb was only him. You were lead to believe that he was alone with no family, which was a bit uncommon, but not unheard of.

The other strange thing is normally tombs were for people who were very great, people to be remembered. A tomb was a lot of effort, and given to those with power, money, or who were found deserving or worthy of a great afterlife. Yet in this tomb, the depictions and what you had translated led you to have more questions than answers.

Who was Dabi?

It mentions him cast aside while young, hurt and sad. His family is not mentioned by name nor shown in images, but you assume they must have played a hand in it.

It leads to him, growing older and becoming powerful. He is feared, but he is not respected. There is some type of group mentioned that he was apart of. A league. They wanted to change society, to walk with the Gods, and to get revenge.

There were a few statues of him carved along the walls. You had stared at them, tracing his features into your mind over and over, hoping to burn an imprint so that they may last forever.

There was only one chamber in the tomb. Usually, there were a few. They were used for family burials, sometimes offerings of what they can take to the afterlife with them. But this tomb only has one. Your team had dug it out during the week, clearing to the bottom, and you had found that it hollowed into another room. The ladder had been left in place, so you had taken tools and climbed down. Now you were exploring the chamber below.

You were the first to enter after probably four thousand years. You saw depictions of gods, the God of Fire, the God of War, and the God of Revenge. From what you could see, Dabi was a man who was bitter, so the question still plagued you...why give him a tomb?

As you walked, you noticed inscriptions talking about beasts of men. Of Godly power and destruction. Of hatred and evil.

The walls had squares carved into them, like a false window, the ledges decorated with images and text you couldn’t quite make out.

You brought your brush and tried to clear it, but the language was unfamiliar. This area was different than the rest of the tomb. Even the energy inside felt suffocating and dark.

You took a sip of water and went deeper.

At the back of the chamber, was a sculpture, a false door. It allowed the dead to go between the afterlife and their tomb, a portal between worlds.

Scenes were depicted around the false door,

The only thing written that you could translate was “I will be amongst the judges.”

The ancients believed that when you past, you would be judged. Your heart would be weighed, and it would decide your fate in the afterlife. If it was balanced, the gods would grant you an enjoyable afterlife. If not, you could be fed to a demon or thrown into a lake of fire.

To place himself with the judges means he has a hand in deciding his fate.

You took note of his statue in the false door. You could tell it was the same man, the features were the same, but it was different. You couldn’t tell what covered him, but there were perhaps bindings around his arms and legs, and on his face as well.

You studied it for a moment before you heard the sounds of movement behind you. You turned quickly, looked back through the tomb, seeing nothing.

Your heart raced and the air felt hotter. Your flashlight danced around the chamber until you were sure there was nothing, and then you turned back to the statue.

The same markings were around it that were on the cut outs in the wall. Your brow furrowed in frustration as your fingers trailed across them.

“Just who are you?” You questioned aloud.

“Dabi.” A deep whisper came from behind. You gasp and turned quickly, seeing nothing at the end of your flashlight, but convinced you could see movement in the shadows surrounding. You took a few steps forward.

“Hello?” You called out, hoping someone from your team had just come to check on you, perhaps playing a joke.

Your voice echoed, but no answer came. Your breath came out heavy, worry brewing in your stomach. Churning. The feeling of needing to leave was growing, as were your fears. You could feel that you were not supposed to be here. You took another step, but heard the movement again, directly behind you.

You turned quickly and froze. The figure was watching you. He stood, back against the wall, right in front of the false door. You took a few steps back, your flashlight moving toward him when his voice came out harsh.

“Don’t.”

You held still. In the dim light, you could see him still. Ink black hair, pale skin that met purple scars. His ears were decorated with piercing as was his nose. He wore a white knee-length linen kilt, that was pleated and belted. It was decorated with gold thread, and a bit of bead work.

He wore chunky gold jewelry that had lapis lazuli and turquoise within it, a necklace, cuff bracelets on his wrists and ankles. His upper arm help a gold band around it. His bare feet held firm on the ground below.

“Who are you?” You asked, your voice cracking.

“You already know that.” He smirked, his blue eyes still vibrant even in the dim light.

“Dabi.” You said, feeling a shudder run through you.

He grinned and took a step toward you, and though you wanted to step back, you were frozen in place by fear.

He stopped directly in front of you, toe to toe. He stared down at you, amusement reflecting in his eyes.

“It’s rude to enter ones tomb without an offering.” He said, his voice holding a slight rasp. His hand lifted to your neck, and your blood ran cold as you felt his hand on your skin.

“This will do.” He said with a sneer as he ripped the chain from your neck. You gasped as your hand flew to your throat, your eyes wide with fear.

“Why have you come?” He asked a few moments later when you remained frozen and silent.

“To...to learn.” You whispered.

“Learn?” He questioned, leering at you.

“To understand. To learn about you. Your tomb has been buried, we found it.” You whispered again.

“Is that so.” He said, his voice low as his hand reached out again. You flinched as it cupped you’re cheek, his fingers gently rubbing across your skin.

“What do you want to know?” He asked, his eyes meeting your gaze and holding them there.

“Everything.” You breathed out. You were frightened and overwhelmed, unsure if maybe you had hit your head on the way down, but even if this might be a dream, you wanted to know more. The quest for knowledge had lead you this far, and he hadn’t killed you yet, so you supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try and get more information. Who better to get it from than the spirit the tomb belongs to.

“Fine. But not here. You will follow me.” He said, and turned back to the wall. He held his hand out to you, and you felt compelled to take it. He pulled you behind him, leading you closer to the false door.

“Wait! I can’t go through, that’s your portal. The living cannot go between worlds.” You said, tugging back on your hand, though his grip didn’t loosen. He pulled you forward once more, through the portal.

Once on the other side, he glanced at you with a grin.

“Someone owed me a favor.” Was his only explanation.

You took in your surroundings. You were in the tomb still, everything looked the same.

“Did we really pass through?” You wondered.

“We did. Come on.” He said and began to walk forward. You followed, not wanting to get left behind, and you were sure that the portal would not allow you through without him.

He led you up and out of the tomb, and finally it sunk in that you were not in your world anymore.

Looking out, where you had always saw desert and some excavation sites, there were buildings and tombs lining, not yet touched by time. Where highways had met city, now there was just trees and sand.

“Get on.” Dabi’s voice called behind you, and you found him atop a camel. He pulled you up onto his lap and you began your journey.

Eventually, you found yourself at a wall, near the entrance to the city. Dabi hopped down and helped you off, then guided you into the city.

People stared at you in awe, but then shrunk back at Dabi’s gaze. Fear in their eyes, you noted, and wondered just what he had done.

You passed markets and shops, homes with families and children playing in the streets.

Everyone was dressed in linen cloths and dresses, it was like you had walked onto a movie set. All of the structures that would be gone when you returned home, standing before you in all of their glory.

You made it to a house, made of mud brick and papyrus, and a limestone gate way. The door to the house was pushed aside and Dabi let you step in first.

It was small, and fairly empty. Two rooms that you could see, the first you had just entered was a living room of sorts. A small wooden table with reed mats and pillows around it. The other a bedroom with a mattress on the floor and woven baskets holding Dabi’s possessions. Small windows were cut out and covered by reed mats. There was a bit of pottery here and there as well.

There was another doorway covered by a hanging reed mat, much like the front of the house, and you assumed it led to the outdoor kitchen area.

There were stairs, one set leading down to the bottom level where crops were usually kept, the other leading up to the roof.

There was incense burning, giving a nice smell to the home. Dabi took a seat at the small table and you walked over and sat across from him.

You were a bit shocked, honestly. Dabi’s tomb was so large, his clothing decorated so nicely that you had been sure he must have been royalty or some higher ranking official. Yet, his home was common. He had more than average, more than the poorest for this time, but he did not have a lot. However, you bit your tongue. The inscriptions of his power and destruction told you it wouldn’t be wise to insult him, and you figured you would get your answers soon.

Dabi leaned against his hand, elbow resting against the table, as he stared at you. You blinked at him and gave a nervous smile and waited for him to speak.

“So you want to know everything about me.” He sighed, his eyes searching yours. You nodded, the small smile never leading your face.

“Please.” You answered back. He grinned.

“Alright, ill tell you whatever you want to know...for a price.”

Your smile faltered, and you felt the same tension as you had felt in the tomb.

“What do you want?” You asked wearily.

“I will ask you for two things. One now, and the other before I return you to the world of the living. If you agree to the first, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. But once I tell you, you must do the second thing I ask.” His eyes held a look of mischief.

You swallowed thickly, weighing your options in your mind.

“What is the first thing?” You asked cautiously.

“You’ll stay here with me for two weeks.” He said.

“I can’t! We don’t have much time left, if I don’t get back by the morning, they won’t continue the dig. My men need this, otherwise they will be out of work.” You plead.

“Don’t worry, doll. Time here is...different. When you go back, it will be as if no time has past at all. Time only ticks forward when you are inside the tomb, since that is where it connects to your world.” He said leaning forward.

“What would you have me do while I was here?” You asked, biting your lip.

“I was thinking, I wouldn’t mind getting some information from you, too. You’ll have plenty of time to ask anything you want, I’ll take you into the city and let you explore even. Plus, the afterlife can be lonely, I wouldn’t mind the company.” He winked and you felt your face flush.

“Well, I don’t know about that last part,” you started with a mumble, “but I suppose, I can agree to that...but I want to know the nature of the second request.” You asked, looking at him sternly.

He lifted his hands in defeat,

“It’s not much, in fact, I just want you to find something for me and bring it back to the tomb once you’re back in your world.” He said with a shrug.

You thought it over, this was a gift, really. You have spent your life looking at the past, trying to figure it out, and now you could live it for a few weeks. See things first hand and hear the stories told from the spirits themselves.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” You said with a nod. Dabi grinned, in a way that made your skin crawl, and you wondered if you had made the wrong choice.

“Perfect. Tell you what, we’ll start with your questions over dinner. How about that?” He asked, and you gave a smile and nodded your approval.

“By the way,” he asked, “what is your name?”

“(Y/N)” you answered.

“Alright, (Y/N), just give me a few minutes. I need to grab something. In the meantime, make yourself at home.” He said as he stood and left through the front door.

You waited, but after ten minutes had passed, you stood and went to snoop through his bedroom. Woven baskets lined the walls of the room, filled with clothing and bindings, thin blankets, trinkets and some jewelry (though nowhere near as extravagant as what he wore).

You pulled off your jacket and placed it inside of an empty basket, along with your socks and shoes. You let down your hair that had been pulled up into a ponytail, and leaned back on the mattress. To say it was comfortable would be a lie, and you found yourself missing your bed back home.

The heat of the room lulled you to sleep.

You were pulled from your dreams at the feeling of a warm hand caressing your side. Fingers trailed across the skin of your stomach and up to your ribs, pulling the material of your shirt higher as they danced across you.

You sighed, content, as your eyes slowly fluttered open. Then you jumped up as you saw Dabi kneeling beside you, eyes focused on your body as his hand traced your skin.

“What are you doing?” You snapped at him, blushing as you pulled your shirt back down. Dabi pulled his hand back and crawled closer, his breath fanning against your lips.

“Dinner is ready, and I brought you a gift.” And with that, he pulled back and left the room. You were flustered as you pulled yourself up and rushed to follow. In the sitting room, he held a basket out to you that was filled with cotton fabric.

You took it and inspected it with awe.

“You looked out of place.” He said as an explanation, but you were too excited, smiling at him and holding the basket close to you.

“Thank you! Can I go and put it on now?” You asked eagerly, and he snorted a laugh.

“Yeah, meet me on the roof when you’re done.” He said and walked off to the doorway that led to the kitchen.

You went back into the bedroom and through the door that led to the bathroom. There was no shower, there was only a toilet, a foot bath, and a jug filled with water for hand washing.

You found a stack of clean linen cloths in a basket to the side and wet one with the water from the jug so that you could rinse yourself off.

You pulled a skirt and a sash from the basket. The dress was white with gold threading, much like what Dabi wore. Quickly, you undressed and washed yourself off before you pulled on the skirt. It went from your just below your ankle up to just below your breast, and it had a bit of pleating. You used the sash to tie it in place. The sash was decorated with beautiful blue beading.

Next, you pulled a sheer shawl and wide collar from the basket. You draped the shawl around you so that it covered your breasts, and placed the collar on top. The collar was decorated with more of the blue beading, as well as the same gems Dabi had set in his jewelry.

There were a few gold bangles in the basket as well which you slipped onto your arms.

You still had another four or five dresses and skirts inside of the basket, which you had glanced at, and they were all equally beautiful.

You had looked at garments like these your whole life, but never did you imagine you would be inside of one.

You took the basket and your clothing back into the bedroom and then made your way up to the roof.

Dabi had the food laid out and was sitting on a pillow, waiting for you. When he heard you approaching, he looked you over and grinned, though he stayed silent.

“Well, how do I look?” You asked, beaming.

“Beautiful, doll. But you might want to take a seat before the food gets cold.” He smirked.

You made your way over and sat to eat. You had wine with your dinner, which Dabi was happy to supply you with.

He asked questions first, of the world, his tomb, what you did, how the times had changed. You answered them all, happy to fill him in.

Dabi’s tomb had felt so dark, but here sitting with him, he wasn’t so bad, you decided. He was sarcastic and snarky, but charming in his own way. You still wondered about the elaborate dressing you were both wearing, and why his home didn’t match, but you left those thoughts for later. Soon the food was finished, the wine jug was empty, and Dabi lead your drunken self back into the house and to the bedroom.

“In the morning, Well go to the bathhouse.” He said, pulling off his jewelry and setting them inside a basket. You hummed and did the same, reaching for your basket to find a simple tunic to wear to bed.

Dabi grabbed the blanket off of the mattress and threw it over him as he laid down. You stood to go to the bathroom to change but stumbled trying to get up. Dabi laughed at you as he watched your failed attempt to stand, making jabs at you under his breath when you had instantly plopped back down onto the mattress. He sat up behind you as you huffed, his hands reaching around you to untie your sash and skirt. The collar and shawl had already been discarded, but with the alcohol flowing in your system, you found it hard to remember exactly when that had happened. Your skirt pooled under you as the cold night air danced on your skin. Dabi was warm against your back, and you relaxed into him subconsciously.

He lifted you up enough to pull the fabric out from beneath you and tossed it to the corner of the room. The tunic laying forgotten at your feet as he pulled you back into the bed to lay beside him. The blanket was thrown over you and Dabi’s arms held you close to him. You relaxed into him and fell asleep quickly. __________________________________________

You glanced up at him to find him still asleep, so you allowed yourself to take in his features. He was attractive, and his presence screamed power, though you had yet to see him display it.

Your hand slowly lifted so you could gently trail your fingers across the soft skin of his cheek to the scarring on his jaw. His eyes flew open as his hand quickly snatched yours, pulling it from his face. His eyes were wild, until he registered that it was only you, and you saw him visibly relax. He breathed out a sigh and leaned back, the hand on your back rubbing small circles. The early morning was still fairly cool, and you felt yourself being pulled in by the heat that radiated from him. Soon your cheek was back onto his chest.

“It’s strange, you have a heartbeat even though you’ve died.” You said.

“I’ll live forever here. When I died, it just took me to the next place.” He said with a shrug.

“How did you die?” You asked quietly.

“That’s the end of the story, how about after we bathe I start from the beginning instead.”

You sighed, but nodded, lifting yourself up. The blanket fell and you noticed your nudity and quickly pulled the blanket back up to your chest.

Dabi regarded you with both confusion and amusement.

“What are you doing, doll?” He asked with a light chuckle.

“Covering up, what does it look like?” You spat back flustered.

He laughed, then raised himself up and climbed off the mattress, much less embarrassed by his state of undress.

“So what, do you just pull girls to the afterlife and woo them to bed with you?” You mumbled, picking up your discarded dress from the night before.

“No, it would seem that you’re the first.” He laughed.

#dabi x y/n #dabi my hero academia #bnha dabi #mha dabi #dabi x reader #bnha x reader #mha fanfiction #dabi #dabi au #dabi boku no hero academia #dabi fanfic #dabi is touya #dabi is a todoroki #dabi league of villains #dabi smut #dabi x you #dabi x female reader #The Tomb (Dabi x f!Reader)

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magaprima · 3 years

Text

While I hate Sabrina saying ‘what a terrible, weak reason’ in response to Lilith being vulnerable and honest, I don’t think it comes from a place of dimissiveness or disgust etc, I feel like it’s her misguided 16-year-old attempt to sort of....give Lilith a kick up the ass. Like saying ‘you’re better/stronger than that, so get up and leave’, but it shows an utter lack of understanding of what Lilith went through, of what it is to go through thousands of years of abuse and gaslighting.

But, Sabrina reacting this way is something people do in reality; they always go ‘why didn’t she just leave him?’ or ‘who would put up with that?’ and ‘once he hits you, you leave’ without any understanding of the mental health of the person in question, their experiences, what their life was life before meeting their abuser, what techniques their abuser uses etc, all things that can add up to someone feeling not only that there’s no escape, but that there isn’t anything better to escape to, because their abuser convinces them that everyone else is worse (or if it’s not, then they (the abuse victim) are not good enough to be worthy of those better people).

The phrase ‘It’s all I’ve ever known’ is one of those moments (of which there are several) in the show that outright and openly displays Lilith as an abuse victim, and it’s as heartbreaking as it is revealing, but all Sabrina sees is the ‘Who would put up with that?’ mentality society has. And she’s not the only one; Zelda dismissing Lilith as too much of a wild card to help in Part 3 is another case of someone misunderstanding just what Lilith has gone through and where she’s coming from.

And then Sabrina (again) when she says ‘Lucifer and Lilith, the dream team, back together again’, shows even more lack of understanding, that she has totally dismissed the fear for her life Lilith blatantly showed her when she discovered Lucifer was free, and shows that even in their time together as Queen and Regent, she still doesn’t understand Lilith’s dynamic with Lucifer and how abusive it is.

But while we don’t see Sabrina’s opinion and understanding grow and change (at least, not yet, I’m not saying it wouldn’t be possible in the future, but we have very few scenes with Lilith and Sabrina in Part 4), we do see Zelda change in her understanding...and it comes from the moment she finds Lilith pregnant and about to give birth on her doorstep.

And while I do presume Lilith later explains to the Spellman sisters how and why she got pregnant and the circumstances around it, it seems to me that Zelda immediately understands from the moment on the doorstep when she says ‘What baby?’ and Lilith answers ‘Lucifer’s’. Because the last time Zelda saw Lilith she was wanting to hide from the Dark Lord, trying to seek asylum, and Zelda is definitely intelligent enough to be able to understand that someone doesn’t have a child with the person they’re running from...unless they were caught,

But I think it’s this understanding as well as Lilith’s presumed explanation of everything that is the reason why not only do they open their home to her (the other reason being they all clearly bonded in physically helping give birth to Adam and sharing that pain, and basically they’re all a unit now whether they admit it or not) but why it’s offered indefinitely. It’s not just ‘Oh you can stay here until you get back on your feet’, it’s offering her a place to stay for as long as she likes, and when Lilith asks about the Dark Lord’s wrath (showing her own understanding has changed, as she’s grown from demanding asylum to understanding the risk and not wanting to force them) it’s dismissed as unimportant, that it’s more important to keep Lilith and Adam safe.

There is clear understanding of the danger Lilith is in, and why she was trapped, and why she had to get pregnant, and why she’s here...and so she’s given a home and protection indefinitely. It’s so nice to see her experiences and suffering finally understood and it’s not a coincidence that the moment she is understood in this way, we see a genuine, wide and happy smile as she says ‘do you hear that, little Adam? We’re gonna be safe here”

And I do think that from this point on, Lilith shares a lot more, and is a lot more honest about what she’s been through and what she’s feeling, because you see how close she and the Spellman sisters become (it even transcends the AU where she’s part of the Resistance). We see how she doesn’t hide things from them, not even her ‘weaker’ moments like singing to Adam, she doesn’t even hide what she’s doing from Zelda when she finds her with the dagger (and Zelda doesn’t even act awkward about it, she just immediately says ‘we’re all being tormented’ and quite frankly Zelda treats Lilith in that moment with the same affectionate dismissiveness she does her family), and when you consider how worried Hilda looks when Lilith says she plans to talk to the Dark Lord, it can’t be denied that she has not only told them everything...but this time, she’s been understood.

(But, as an extra note, I feel that Sabrina could possibly grow enough and come to this level of understanding after her resurrection, because her experience with the Void clearly had changed her and made her more self-aware and to mature and grow, but also the whole experience of dying and coming back is going to make you look at things more closely, to perhaps have a deeper understanding and not be so quick to judge. And just be a bit more...aware).

#headcanons

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seyaryminamoto · 2 years

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Just saw your “Thanos sucks” post and you couldn’t be more wrong. Thanos was a “hero” despite everyone claiming him to be a villain. If you look at our real world; there is strong evidence that a lot of humans, a LOT of people really should die and we’d be all the better without them. Thanos wanted people to learn how to control overpopulation and be grateful, but because as in our real world people are idiots; no one cared. It’s humans who are the problem; not Thanos. And he was right to be (1)

(2) angry in Endgame; there were still a lot of people still living. Tony Stark was the only sensible character living in a cute home with his wife and daughter, until he decided to join the stupids and reverse the snap. Thor was especially whiny; you’re gonna live a thousand years, find a new brother and just get over it already! And as the Falcon and Winter Soldier showed, society went to hell because the Avengers undid the snap; poverty and all. The Avengers are the real villains not Thanos.

... Thanos, is that you?

Oh. Guess not.

Look, dude. Really, dude. Mr. Anon. Whosoever you may be.

Let me really unpack what's going on here, can I?

You're a fictional-genocide apologist. At the very least, fictional one. I dare not say if you would be an apologist for it IRL, but it's weird enough to hear about anyone who genuinely thinks genocide would be the answer in any setting, fictional or otherwise. This is not a good look in any sensible human being. This already is enough of a bad point that I really could just stop here because you're very happy to share with us how appalling your morals are, but you know what? I'll keep going.

You're a Thanos fanboy. I get that. Clear as day that you are one. But you know what? You're probably a more disturbing one than expected for reasons that I really want to illustrate to my audience, however large it may be: you're in my inbox with two fictional-genocide apologist asks over an ask I answered... on August 10th, 2019. Your asks turned up in my inbox on November 30th, 2021. This offers two possible explanations as to how you came across that post: first, you somehow dug this post out from the mcu or thanos tags which I used carelessly because I assumed there was so much content posted to those that my little ask wouldn't even feature there, and that means you went back two years and about three months in those tags AT LEAST, looking for any criticism and anti-Thanos takes so you could barge into inboxes with an unwanted and unfounded opinion, trying to justify an intergalactic mass murderer. Second possibility: you singled me out in particular, hell knows why because I've deliberately NOT talked about the MCU in ages, especially in my blog, because a certain movie I hate and its influence in later content has almost killed every shred of love I had for the MCU altogether. Thus, you... somehow came for me, hell knows why, specifically hung up on finding one Thanos post buried in the depths of my archives, to defend, again, an intergalactic mass murderer. Again: this is not a good look. It's actually kind of worrisome. I have a hard time believing my Thanos post is the only one that offended you to this degree... so you probably went to every inbox you could find to defend this fictional character with your edgy explanations as to why mass murder/genocide is completely justifiable. Uh-huh. Okay. Sure. Your morals are worrisome, but you do you as long as you don't actually start enacting this insane set of beliefs in real life.

You are here giving me Kira-like justifications for Thanos's choices. I, actually, brought up Kira from Death Note in my original post to say that, had Thanos done THAT, maybe his crusade would make more sense as a morally-driven one, but I still argued that he has no way of truly being a jury, judge and executioner when it comes to who's a good or a bad person. How the hell does he know? Especially when he targeted such a large group of people. It defies reason, logic and sense. You can't seriously believe that he looked into the hearts of every being in the universe and cherrypicked who was good and who was bad... because hey, if he'd done that, your argument falls and crumbles upon itself, doesn't it? You said the Avengers are the bad guys: why didn't Thanos kill all of THEM? :'D had the snap been easily controlled and targeting the tRuE bAd GuYs™, why the hell didn't Thanos kill all of the Avengers and everyone who could have posed a threat to him, and then left nothing but powerless farmfolk in every planet he wrecked across the universe, for instance? I mean, seriously, what's your reasoning for this? You don't have one, do you? Yep, you don't. Moral superiority argument: denied. Thanos didn't select people because they were good or bad, the snap is 100% random and a bunch of good people died and a bunch of bad ones did too. It's plain stupid. It doesn't resolve shit. And THAT is what I was calling him a dumbass for :') it's not that I don't want villains to be villains, my dude... is that I want my villains to MAKE SENSE. And Thanos does NOT make any sense. That's what my post was about. But apparently you only read the bold lines going "THANOS IS A DUMBASS!" and ignored everything else I talked about, huh?

You have zero arguments regarding what I was REALLY arguing about in the post. I don't even remember if Thanos explicitly says that he's trying to "teach" people "population control", because man, I only watched Infinity War and Endgame once and I honestly don't care to revisit them. But, again, you're talking about apples and oranges while I was discussing whether I liked a mountain or beach vacation better: it has no relation with my actual grievances. What did I bring up? That Thanos's plans make no sense. And that's not Infinity War's plan, which is utterly idiotic, whether you ate it up or not, it's THE LONG GAME. We're supposed to think this guy was plotting for the events from Infinity War since, at least, the first Avengers film: look at every single one of Thanos's appearances in every movie between that Avengers and Infinity War and tell me at which point in time did he do ANYTHING that benefited his cause up until Infinity War itself? Hahahahaha never. He TRIED? Yes, and failed every time. Hence, I insulted him because his plans were actually utterly stupid. Giving the only Infinity Stone in his possession to a Loki who got his mind twisted into wanting revenge on Thor was such a stupid concept I can't even wrap my head around who'd ever DO that. Asking a crazed fanatic like Ronan to get one Infinity Stone for him instead of picking it up himself (or sending his genuinely loyal minions like the ones from Infinity War who died in 10 seconds :'D) is so ridiculous I, once again, can't even wrap my head around it. Everything he did failed because none of his plans MADE SENSE. It's stupid. He could've achieved the goddamn snap offscreen for all we know: he could've just taken advantage of the Tesseract's portal opening himself to take the damn thing during Avengers! He could have used the Tesseract to reach every other Infinity Stone's location and take them from whoever held them (not sure if Strange had the time one yet but who the fuck cares, if Thanos had enough stones when he went for the Time one, he totally would've taken it). He could have sacrificed Gamora since before we even KNEW her, well before she could even join the GoTG, because that would've gotten him his damn stone, apparently. Please, enligthen me as to WHY none of this happened? Oh, because Marvel needed to make more movies? Hahaha, that's not a narrative argument. That's external and unrelated to the subject at hand. That's not a way to explain a character's behavior. This is not consistent with the concept of a guy who somehow is "englightened" the way you see him and a genius who found the perfect solution for the universe's problems: this guy is a six-time-sanctioned DUMBASS and I stand by this belief, not because his ultimate goal was stupid, which it is... but because he took like 10 years to achieve said ultimate goal when he could have, arguably, reached that goal in 2 months if he had just bothered to TRY. So, using your words, which I ironically never used in my post, Thanos SUCKS! :'D

The snap is plainly the most ridiculous concept for "population control" that could have been proposed. I'm reading some articles about how this is based on some edgelord philosopher who believed that the food production in the world would always be too little compared to the constant growth of a population, a belief that now seems completely out of place because, while yes, global hunger is still very much real, there's certain places in the world where food waste is ASTRONOMICAL, the problem is in distribution rather than lack of resources in many cases, you could even argue corruption. But it's not impossible to do the opposite damn thing Thanos did, which I'm not even the first person to bring up: MAKE MORE RESOURCES. This guy has the power of the universe at his disposal: he can outright create galaxies, planets, EVERYTHING he wants... and yet he made the harebrained decision to ax everything by half instead. And yes, it's EVERYTHING. Come here with whatever nonsensical argument you want, but here's Marvel proving you wrong: he cut all resources by half too. This is the word of Feige, a guy for whom I don't have a ton of respect due to how he's handled a lot of things in the MCU, but in general, if he approves? It's canon. And so, this is canon: Thanos resolved NOTHING. He killed plants and animals just as much as he killed humans and higher lifeforms of which we're not even aware of. It's plain idiotic to think that this could be a solid solution when the ratio of population and resources is effectively THE SAME after the snap. This is really the brilliant plan you're trying to defend? Because it's honestly laughable. I repeat: this guy has the power of the universe in his hands. He can do ANYTHING with those stones. He could probably even rewrite reality so that populations are somehow self-sustainable and no longer need to eat! No more resources needed whatsoever! :'D He could have rewritten people's MINDS into not being the monsters you gladly accuse everyone of being so that they'd all be nice and share resources properly and devise better systems of resource production! This guy literally can do WHATEVER HE WANTS... And this is it? This is his brilliant choice? This is what he was going for since day one? Congratulations: you're stanning a dumbass.

Anon... this is possibly the most ridiculous argument anyone has tried to have with me. I am partially hoping/believing that you were just trolling around and wanted to rile up people who don't like Thanos. If that's how it is, consider me trolled and consider my time wasted, go cackle like a Disney villain because you achieved your wicked goal... but if that's not how it is, and you SERIOUSLY believe everything you said up there, I'm gonna be pretty harsh and say... stay out of my inbox. Quit embarrassing yourself. Go support fictional genocide elsewhere. I'm not here for this. I'm really not here for this. I'm here to love the things I love, to create content I care about, and occasionally to throw shade at badly written characterss, and your so-called hero, like it or not, is one of the most cringeworthy characters in the entire MCU. And, again: I don't even CARE about the MCU anymore. Practically every new thing I see of it makes me want less and less to do with it. Find someone who actually wants to argue with you endlessly about Thanos because man, I've got plenty of better things to do but roasting you one time honestly sounded like a good time. Doing it again would lose all the novelty, so stay in your fictional-genocide-apologism club and hang out with the reduced population of nasty human beings who believe everyone should get wiped out because they're morally heinous, without realizing how morally heinous you sound by spouting that kind of drivel :'D I mean, let's be real: if the snap was indeed codified for bad people alone, can you be 100% sure you WOULDN'T make the cut? :')

#anon #thanos #mcu #:')#deliberately tagging those again because #haha #maybe that's really how you found me #my god this is surreal #I've had ridiculous asks to deal with in my time here but this one...#it really wants to take the cake #I am still reeling #from the day you sent it #yes I am judging you very hard #I'm not even going to pretend otherwise anon #like... man I've seen genocidal characters in fiction who actually have reasonings that #while I disagree with them #make sense for who they are and what they represent and where they're standing #Thanos sure as fuck ain't one of them #so if you REALLY want to stan a genocidal maniac?#at least try to find one that's a tad bit more interesting than the boring titan #and yes I used that What If gif despite I don't love What If either #but it's the best gif to shoot down a Thanos apologist so eh...

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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S5 Ep13: How to Get Away With Cheating in the Card Olympics

It’s been a little while since Pegasus made a card that screwed us years after it was developed...and so it’s time for it to happen again. Good ol Pegasus, screwing us all and not even knowing he’s doing it.

First off, it took me until this episode to realize that Leon and Zigfried are German and Leon is playing a Grimm Brother’s deck. I guess I didn’t notice before now because Leon was hiding his identity. But now that I know his deck is because he’s just German it’s like...well OK. That’s kind of cute. Better than that time they had the American play a deck filled with guns.

And that actually...fully explains why they are all dressed old timey. I didn’t pick up on it until just now...they’re referencing old ass fairy tales. But wtv, I still like my reaching theories of why Zigfried dresses like...that.

PS, my twitter just notified me that lots of people are getting a ‘Hime Haircut’, which is exactly the doo that Zigfried wears this season with the cropped side bangs. And like...are we sure? I see Kpop wearing it and Tik Tok kids wearing wigs but...I have yet to see a Hime in the wild. Course I haven’t gone outside in like a year so...maybe tens of thousands of people really did do a Hime Haircut during the Quarantine.

But, damn it, I decided to look at some photos, and a bunch of them looked pretty bad, but a couple looked pretty dope, and now I’m a little bit tempted to get a Hime...but I feel like it took a decade to get out of my bangs phase and like...Do I need two layers of bangs? I have naturally straight hair, I could do this, this haircut was made for me, but...

I just don’t know if I should get a haircut that looks like I’m an anime cosplayer when I can’t back it up. Nope. Cannot get this haircut. I know this haircut was made for teenagers or artists in their 30′s, and literally no one else, but no, this will be a mistake just like the side bangs I gave myself in 2006.

(looks over at scissors)

(read more under the cut)

(get it? Cut?)

Leon recalls that his brother very nicely gave him a card, and he’s so excited to finally do any activity involving his crazy ass family, that he just blindly does it.

This entire episode is about Yami not doing a hellscape when he witnesses cheating, and like...it is S5...it’s been a little while since anyone’s done a real good cheat on him, and he opened the door to darkness, and they got devoured by their own Tamagachi. It’s been a while.

And like the curse of Episode 13 was just a theory I had--but this particular Episode 13 is probably the most tame of all the 13′s (and yet, the most un-tame of this arc, which is a pretty chill arc, overall)

Yet...while this episode still fits in with their universe because the Kaiba’s are very proud so they can’t admit their duel disk has a flaw and therefore can’t forfeit the game, it kind of stretches the imagination a bit for the sake of the plot. Straight up we have a LOT of characters in this arc and they all just stood there and watched it happened.

It could have been also because this is like...televised...that no one wants to start throwing this little boy off the nearest blimp. I just wish that was addressed in the episode, other than “listen...Kaiba must allow this card to be played...or all his Duel Disks are lies.”

His Duel Disk almost caused the end of planet Earth a few weeks back, so I think it’s fine. I think this is a negligible problem to have when your disk shoots projectiles out of each end and has sharp folding edges in the shape of a blade--almost attempting to slice your face off every time you wave that thing around.

Yes, he’s trying to restore his reputation after the whole Dartz thing...but this is like...not that bad in the scale of things that have happened in the past several seasons. Maybe it’s just the last straw that broke the camels back here? One thing too far--’your disk played a broke card, Kaiba, I am pulling my investments and I refuse to go to your theme parks. I was here when you blew up that island. I was here when your company was literally bought out by the illluminati...but if that duel disk can’t play cards correctly--we’re done here.’ And TBH...that’s a very Yugioh mentality to have.

Like remember that time that Elon musk threw a brick at one of his new weird looking cars and the windshield cracked? But he was like “Oh...that was just a...listen the windshields don’t shatter, you saw nothing.” and still released the car anyway? Was kind of reminded of that.

Now...he didn’t actually go into the Dev room, we’ll go into how the hell he got this card, but first, a visit to the Kaiba Dev room.

OOOOOOooooooooh

That’s so bright!

It reminds me of how in the 90′s, the only real thing I knew to do on my computer was change the colors of the UI, so I just used the ugliest ass UI known to man for my family’s computers. I hope these computers have a mouse that leaves a tail behind and I hope that mouse is in the shape of a flying sparkling dragon.

Anyway, Duke speaks what’s on our minds:

Meanwhile, Pegasus, watching this happen over a glass of wine from inside his bathtub at Castle Pegasus, takes one very long sip while sinking into a pile of bubbles.

Seto at first is like “I literally own this tournament so thanks for losing? I don’t know why you threw it out into the trash but thanks?” But Zigfried pressured him so hard that everyone on Earth would judge his ass, and tried so hard to change the definition of what cheating even is, that Seto relented almost as if to shut Zigfried the hell up.

Zigfried explained that, technically, it’s still reads as a legal card on the disk and isn’t reaaally against the rules. Even though the rules say it’s against the rules--what are rules anyway?

Thankfully we have the King of “I dictate what the rules are AKA the rules of the universe, which I would show you, I just don’t feel like it right now, and I’m a little worried about opening that Pandora’s box, but I clearly know the rules of this card game, as stated on this Home Depot plaque that Seto gave me after I won the last tourney.”

Leon gets pretty upset about this--not so much screwing Seto Kaiba, but over the fact his brother stole his only chance at trying to beat Yugi Muto fair and square. So, trying to retain what little card honor he has left, Leon tries to self sabotage so everyone can just go the hell home.

OK so...do you think he put a floppy disk into the paper card? Like straight up how did he do that? Feel free to post your theories because like...how do you hack a paper card? Like do we even have a canon explanation of what these cards are or what they are made out of and how they theoretically work?

Anyway, now that they’ve spent a good portion of this episode discussing if this card should or should not be played, and the ethics and philosophy surrounding that, we find out that none of this matters because Zigfried was actually just stalling.

(He hacked the card so it had a virus like straight up how did he DO that without making a new card?)

Huh.

Y’all, what if I could just delete Google?

Can you imagine?

Like I know this is a kid’s show so it follows kid’s show logic and I will absolutely allow this ridiculous master plan and I will not question it, but think with me for a sec:

What if you could just delete Disney?

Damn. That’s some Y2K scare tactics propaganda right there. That’s some good YA dystopian fiction stuff.

Yo is Zigfried the good guy? He’s not, but if this were a YA novel he would be, right? Good on him.

I...do not know how the logic in Zigfried’s brain works, but if someone deleted all the files in my collaborators company and showed up at my front door and was like “I heard you were looking for a new collaborator?” I’d stick him face first into a blank paper card.

Which is, logically, the next step to Zigfried’s plan that no one has bothered to tell him yet. You just don’t mess with Pegasus, especially after all the stuff he went though with getting murdered by Mai, and Dartz showing up, he’d be so pissed right now. He might not be technically magical anymore--but it’s clear after last season that he’s still magical enough. This is a man who’s let out into the wild maybe a couple of scary cards--but hell knows how many are buried in his huge ass castle just waiting to do a murder.

This is just Zigfried hassling a hornet and the hornets nest is like...right there.

And so next episode we are going to...destroy the card? Hell, next episode might be entirely a card game and I might only have 2 caps.

Anyway, just letting you know that I typed this last night, and then had dreams that I got a Hime Haircut and hella loved it, woke up at 5:30 AM thinking about that haircut, and have since been just...

...I mean I shouldn’t do it...I cannot give myself unironic Von Schroeder hair...

...

...but what if it’s dope though?

(and here’s the link to read these from the beginning in chrono order from S1. Wish I categorized in seasons but alas I did not have that forsight back when I thought there were only 3 seasons of Yugioh total. I have since learned.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#yugioh #YGO #yu gi oh #episode recap #photo recap #S5 #Ep13 #Yugi Muto #leon von schroeder #zigfried von schroeder #seto kaiba #grandpa muto #mokuba kaiba #and literally everyone else who stood there and just watched it happen #Just thinking about how one hacks a card and I feel like that's totally possible but how though?

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raziroo · 3 years

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Chapter Four | I Take A Liking To Lilac All Of A Sudden

Pairing: Lotor x Reader (There you go)

Genre: Angst? I don't knowww

Warnings: Mentions of cancer, mild swearing

Word Count: 1,676

Author’s Note: This is kind of a filler? I can't write long shit in one sitting, so. It's important to reader and lotor's relationship, tho.

‘Good luck. Come back alive, all of you, alright?’ I asked, my eyes roving over the three people standing before me – Matt, Pidge, and Shiro. ‘It’s, like, one of the simplest things you could do. You give Lotor, you get Mr. Holt. Simple. Very simple and easily doable. Right?’ My gaze dragged over all of them once more as I picked at my nails nervously. As much as I was aware of the fact that this trade wasn’t simple and easily doable, I knew that I would legitimately have a nervous breakdown if I didn’t spew lies through my teeth.

Shiro smiled at me lightly. ‘Of course. I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong. You guys take care too.’

‘If, however, anything happens,’ Allura chided, ‘the other lions will arrive as soon as possible.’

‘Yeah,’ Pidge said with a wry smirk, ‘so try not to pass out.’

‘Okay,’ I nodded my head rapidly, ‘yeah, okay, I – I can do that.’

‘Good. Well, we’ll get going then,’ Shiro announced, and turned around, the others following him.

Hopefully, all would go well.

. . . . .

You know what? Everything actually went relatively well. Yes, my hunch turned out to be correct and Zarkon chose to go through with the ‘I was lying all along! Bwahahaha!’ route and ended up getting himself killed at the hands of his son, but overall, I’d say it was a win-win, seeing that we got Pidge’s father back (thank God, who knows what havoc she’d wreak if we ended up not getting Sam back) and the evil maniacal tyrant who’d been ruling over the universe for ten thousand years died.

The one downside was that now there needed to be a new Emperor, because following Zarkon’s death, not only the Galra empire, but simultaneously the entire universe had gone into a state of chaos too. There was no doubt that underlings and generals would try to take over smaller parts of the empire, and once that happened, Voltron being able to do anything would be a stretch.

And, according to Lotor, a ceremony to crown the new emperor, the Kral Zera, would now be taking place. Once he said that, he really didn’t need to say more – it was obvious what his implications were. A new emperor was to be crowned, and if Voltron was to achieve peace, Lotor would have to go and secure the throne. It was a sensible thought to be had, no problem. The thing was, to reach the Kral Zera, which was taking place in two days, in itself was a decision to be taken with utmost thought. The Paladins just didn’t have enough time to decide.

On the one hand, Shiro and Lotor were adamant that the latter be crowned emperor; the other Paladins, however, were justifiably hesitant. I had been standing there listening to them going back and forth, not saying a word myself, like always.

To be honest, I just wanted to go sleep. For some reason, I’d been feeling overly anxious these past few days. White was still not responding to me, I was having regular dreams about the day I woke up here. It was always that one day, that first conversation I had with Shiro. It was as if my subconsciousness too wanted me to reach out to Shiro because there was clearly something weird going on with him.

My suspicions only solidified when I heard Shiro’s voice boom through the room. My head snapped up. Lance with a look of shock and the slightest bit of fear on his face, Shiro’s visage twisted with uncharacteristic anger.

‘Shiro. I think you should just relax a little.’ The man turned to me, brows pinched.

‘I am relaxed -’

‘No, I really think you aren’t… so, like… take it easy, yeah?’ I asked, jumping my eyebrows, arms still folded in front of me, maintaining a calm yet defensive posture. I could feel the entire room’s gazes on me. After all, I almost never spoke in such discussions, or any discussions, really, and indirectly opposing Shiro, of all people, was way too brave a thing for me to do.

Shiro looked at me with slight disbelief, a glint in his eye challenging me to speak up. ‘You want me to take it easy? Take it easy? The fate of the universe depends on this, taking it easy is really not an option right now. I’ve put my foot down – as the Leader of Voltron, I’ve taken this decision. You aren’t someone befitted to oppose me.’

Ok, wow. Everyone shared the same opinion apparently, as now the silence seemed piercing. Clicking my tongue, I tilted my head. ‘Well, maybe not as a Paladin, which I’m not, or a member of the coalition. But as a friend, Shiro, you’ve been acting strange. Everyone realises this. You realise this. … Maybe, I don’t know… maybe all this reflecting on you’ve been doing, maybe the role of leader is taking a toll on you? I, heh,’ I chuckle, ‘I really am not sure. But you’re not relaxed, and you’re not acting yourself.’

‘Could you please not tell me how to be a Paladin?’

‘While you all waste time squabbling, sinister forces are conspiring to fill the Galra power void. If I don’t return to claim the throne, there’s no telling who will.’

Does being royalty instantly make you a hundred times more dramatic? Sinister forces? Deadass?

I walked out.

. . . . .

Shiro went behind our back.

Yeah.

Acting like a complete bitch, he took Lotor to the Kral Zera, where, for your information, he could’ve been blown up. By Keith.

I wanted to deck Shiro. Instead, I visited White. I had hopes she’d respond to me, since I’d been brave and spoken my mind. I prayed on all the Gods and Deities above that my expectations became reality.

Yeah, they didn’t. She didn’t budge. The whole entire two goddamned hours I sat in front of White, she ignored me. Frustrated, I ended up punching her, resulting in bleeding knuckles. Lotor saw that, by the way. He seemed to always be keeping an eye on White, regardless of me being there or not, which I admit is a little strange, but I wasn’t judging. These aliens seemed to worship the Lions.

Lotor also invited us to the Galra headquarters, and lord oh my lord, was it fancy. Allura had gone off to do research with Lotor (I’d been about to make a joke about what “research” those two were really about to do, if you catch my drift, but then I saw Lance looking at the pair glumly, and thought better of it. I’d lightly punched Lance on the shoulder, and raised my eyebrows so as to say ‘They’re gorgeous aliens who could give Bella Hadid and Harry Styles a run for their money, it can’t be helped.’ He laughed.) I accompanied Hunk, Lance and Pidge in their shenanigans for a while, but ended up wandering around the place.

Space was beautiful. Even through a window, I wanted to just stare at it for as long as I could, enjoying a show more realistic than ever before. It was really similar to all the Marvel movies I’d watched; I felt a weird sense of pride at that realization. I remembered how I’d cried at the end of Infinity War, my friends clinging to me and bawling as well; how loud I’d squealed at an absolutely steamy piece of Kakashi fanart Cory had drawn; how happy I’d been when Sasha, my neighbour and childhood friend, had come out victorious after battling cancer for years.

I hadn’t realized when the tears had started slipping down my cheeks. I wiped at them, but they wouldn’t go. Sniffling and wiping so furiously my skin would get burned when I heard footsteps, I turned to see Lotor approaching me.

‘Hey -’ shit, my voice was so thick. Clearing my throat obnoxiously loud, I greeted him again. ‘Hey, uh… what… how’s yours and Allura’s research going?’

‘The research has been going quite smoothly.’

‘Hmm. Nice.’

Lotor was staring – no, correction - scrutinising me. I could feel it, his intense as hell eyes burning into the side of my face. I wasn’t going to give up, though. I stared at the window with as much concentration as he me.

He was the first to speak up. Ha.

‘You’re not of the Paladins.’

‘Really? I didn’t know, thanks,’ I still wasn’t looking at him.

‘Deepest apologies if I offended you -’

‘You didn’t, it’s okay.’

‘…’

‘…If you wish to answer, why do you appear… distant, compared to the other Paladins? You say they are your friends, but there’s such scarce interaction… you seem acquaintances at best.’

‘… They are my friends. I like to think so, because, well… because I don’t have anyone to go back home to.’

‘Oh. My apologies, I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘You didn’t pry, chill. It’s not that my family’s dead or anything, it’s just that… no, well, my family is dead, but… like, they’ve been dead for around three hundred or so years…?’ I turned to Lotor, brows furrowed. He looked less confused than me.

‘Sorry, no, that’s – that’s shit explanation, um… you could say… I… I’ve lived past my time. I’m alive when I’m not supposed to be.’

I didn’t explicitly mention, as you can see, that I was a time traveller, because I wasn’t really one with that fact yet. I’d accepted it, yes, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable with it. It was still a foreign truth, something I didn’t take great joy in talking or thinking about.

When I turned to Lotor, I felt like he’d understood what he needed to already.

It was bizarre. A lilac alien was the last person I would expect to understand me so easily, but it was what it was.

#vld #voltron legendary defender #lotor #lotor x reader #shiro #takashi shirogane #hunk garrett #lance mcclain #pidge gunderson #katie holt #keith kogane #galra #allura #coran #honerva #haggar #altea

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years

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Some Reasons I Love One Piece

So I set up a poll to ask what I should do for my 4000 follower milestone, and something like 85% of the responses to my poll said you wanted me to do a compilation of stuff I love about One Piece! So hell yeah, get ready for me to talk about pirates for way too long (a sentence that could also serve as an accurate blog description).

Before that though, lemme just say- thank you all! Seriously! When I started this blog I figured I’d be extremely lucky to end up with like a thousand followers, and now I have four times that and it just keeps growing, which just constantly baffles and amazes me. I adore every one of you, and you’re providing me something fun and productive to do in quarantine, and I love you for that.

Anyways! Let’s talk good shit.

Let’s start with Luffy. The whole story starts with him, after all.

I love Luffy, just as a character. He’s one of my favorite protagonists in anything, ever, when ordinarily protagonist characters don’t really appeal to me all that much. I genuinely think he might be my favorite character in One Piece now that I sit down and really think about it. I love how unconventional of a main character he is- he actively shuns the idea of being a hero and is in fact the most chaotic neutral motherfucker on the planet, and yet he’s so friendly and loyal and fun that you straight up can’t not love him both in-universe and out.

I also love the Strawhats just in general, both as a group and individually. Found family is one of my all-time favorite story tropes, and they do it better than like, the vast majority of stories out there. They’re all so completely unique from each other and play off each other so well and they really do feel like a family. I love how often Oda just shows them fucking around and hanging out. (One of my only gripes with post-timeskip is how much time they spend split apart.) I think it says a lot about them that I struggled so much when someone asked me to rank the Strawhats a few months back and had to rearrange the list like four times. I just!! Love them all!!

One of my favorite things about One Piece is that it’s the story of Luffy’s rise, and that it occurs in a world that’s so solidly scaled and well-developed that all progress he makes actually feels tangible and impactful. Some of my favorite moments in One Piece are the ones where we can see how far he and the crew have come and see other people’s reactions. His reappearance at Sabaody after the timeskip is my favorite scene in the manga, full stop. His entrance at Marineford and all of the Decks of the World cover stories delight me for the same reason.

Speaking of the worldbuilding, god it’s so good? I think one of the greatest potential strengths of a long manga is that its just got so much time to establish and build on so much information, and sometimes that leads to mangaka kind of tying themselves in knots with too much lore and explanation, but Oda just fucking nails it.

I recently read a conversation during Zou where the Strawhats are talking to Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and the Wano folks about all their mutual acquaintances on the Roger Pirates- Brook asks about Crocus, Franky mentions Tom, etc- and I had a moment where I realized how in pretty much any other series all those connections might seem contrived, but in One Piece it works so well. So much time has been dedicated to establishing all these facts and characters and connections over years and hundreds of chapters that when they do come together, it just feels so satisfying.

Like, at Twin Cape Crocus mentions he was a ship’s doctor and then mentions Roger as the Strawhats leave, at Thriller Bark we find out he’s Brook’s friend, at Sabaody in conversation with Rayleigh we find out for sure which ship he was a doctor on and that he joined them to look for Brook’s crew- and it all just falls together so nicely. One Piece is maybe the strongest series I’ve ever read in terms of how it establishes its characters and concepts and how they all fit into the world and cross over and connect with each other. The world of One Piece is huge, but it also feels so alive and interconnected, and that’s just wonderful.

I love how hopeful One Piece is. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago who doesn’t watch it, and she kind of dismissed it as ‘a show where nobody dies.’ Which- setting aside the fact that that’s just not fucking true- my first response to that was, “So?” I think it’s nice that we can all know for pretty much certain that the Strawhats will achieve their dreams in the end. There’ll be a happy ending, and Luffy’s going to be Pirate King, we’ve known that from the start. The fun is in seeing how they get there.

Aside from a few specific cases, I also really like how Oda does his character writing just in general. The female characters in One Piece generally get a bad rap, largely from people who haven’t watched the show and judge it on the (admittedly exaggerated) artstyle, but fuck if I haven’t seen such a widely varied and developed and flawed female cast writing-wise since- I don’t even know. Oda does a really good job of giving his characters, both male and female, unique and memorable personalities, which is super fucking impressive considering just how many there are. Similarly, I’m impressed by how new characters are introduced without getting repetitive or annoying, and very often those characters are really fantastic. I could talk about all the different One Piece characters I love and why, but we would legitimately be here all day.

I also love how unlike a lot of long-running series like this, characters don’t just go away when their time in the spotlight is done. In just about any other series, characters like Buggy and Coby and Crocodile would just be gone and never to be heard from again after they’ve served their purpose. Instead you have the stupid clown villain from the second arc becoming a fucking shichibukai several hundred chapters later, and it makes sense in the context of the story! The whole concept of the cover stories works really well towards this aspect of One Piece, letting us see what all these other characters are up to without taking attention off the main story. This fits in with the interconnectedness I mentioned earlier, too.

And I like how (and I know there are people who will argue this, I have had them in my inbox, but I do not care) One Piece has stayed so strong for so long. I’ve mentioned before that both of my favorite big arcs are pre-timeskip- Alabasta, for the civil war storyline and great supporting cast and villains, and W7/Enies Lobby, for the epic emotional highs and lowers + ANOTHER great supporting cast. But like, I’ve been enjoying the more recent arcs just as much! Honestly, now that I’ve finished Dressrosa, I think it definitely ranks up there among my favorites as well, for how chaotic and fun and high-stakes the whole thing felt when I was binging through it. I’m only a few chapters into Whole Cake Island so far but it seems very promising, and I’m really excited to get to Wano from what I’ve seen of it.

I haven’t even really touched on the art yet, either. I know the artstyle turns some people off of the series, for how kind of cartoony it is sometimes and how different it is from most other series, but honestly I just love it. I wasn’t sure about it at the start but it grew on me very fast. Hell, I have a whole tag (which I should use more) dedicated just to appreciation of pretty panels.

And the action scenes in One Piece are so fun and expressive and creative and almost always at least a little silly just by the nature of Luffy’s powers. I don’t think I’ve ever been bored during a One Piece fight. And the splash pages are frequently just breathtaking. I’m a writing person, not an art person, so I’m bad at putting this kind of thing into words nearly as well, but- yeah. One Piece Art Good. (My friend Narramin also has a really, really good series of posts about how great the visual storytelling in OP is starting here that I highly recommend, if you’re interested.)

Finally, I think my favorite thing about One Piece is that it’s all one story, start to end. I kind of touched on this above with the worldbuilding thing, but you can see what a ridiculous degree of thought and planning Oda has put into his story, and how well everything comes together. It’s the main aspect that got me to give One Piece a try in the first place- I heard how good and thought-out the long term storytelling is, and I just eat that shit up. I don’t think I’ve ever had the level of trust in a creator to handle and end their story satisfyingly that I have in Oda. It’s a good feeling.

#took me so long to write this post that im now like #a third of the way to 5k #which is ridiculous #feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of this!!#i write better meta when i have a single topic to focus on fjdsh #which is one of the reasons this took so long #so yeah ask box open!!#jonny talks #one piece #not japanese #long post #opmeta

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softboywriting · 4 years

Text

Can’t Hurry Love | Peter Mendes

Summary: You and Peter have been best friends for years and one day you wake up to realize you’ve fallen for him. When he finds out you’ve never been kissed, he decides to offer himself up as practice. One thing leads to another and well, maybe you’re meant to be more than friends. [friends to lovers] [first kiss]

Word Count: 2k

|Masterlist in Bio|

Note: None of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted fics.

No one tells you that falling in love with your best friend is the most terrifying feeling and simultaneously the best and most freeing relief. You don't know when it happened, what changed in you. You don't know why it happened. There is no pin pointing the moment you realized that your best friend Peter is the only person you want to share your life with. There wasn't a dynamic shift, a romantic gesture, a heart felt confession of love. Nothing. One day you woke up and met him at the end of the block to catch your bus to the college campus and your heart did a little flip flop when you saw him.

Perhaps you had been dreaming that night and you don't remember. That was your initial explanation for your new found feelings. You know, those temporary feelings that come with a dream about someone. It has happened before, not with Peter, but with other friends, crushes, random strangers you met in classes. But the feelings never went away, they became more insistent and every touch, every joke, every gesture became more than just a friendly feeling. They became soul crushing, heart clenching emotional moments that you replayed in your head every night before sleeping.

So here you are, three months later, walking up to Peter's house with your friend Haley. It's been hell, living with this secret and you've only told Haley about it. You're here for a party that Peter's brothers are throwing. They are going to the college hockey championships. It's a big deal around here. You brought Haley since she is absolutely gaga for Raul and she's been begging you to get her in with him since his last break up. She will be a good fit, and a far better girlfriend than any of the other girls Raul has dated. That is, if Haley can hit it off with him.

The moment you get in the front door the house is packed with people. Wall to wall partying. You part from Haley as she wanders into the kitchen and you head up the stairs. You know just where Peter's room is, you've only been here a couple thousand times since you were thirteen. Up the stairs, to the right, across the guest room and up the stairs in the closet to Peter's room in the attic. Could he have the guest room as his bedroom? Sure. But where's the fun in that? The attic is bigger and way more private.

You push open the door at the top of the stairs and you're hit with a gust of cold air. Typical. The balcony doors on the far side of the room don't latch properly because the frame broke years ago. He's gotten used to the freezing cold room in the winter, it's nothing new. He has a heater, a desk top thing he got online but it doesn't do much.

"You're here!" Peter cheers and gets up from his desk, discarding his console controller on the seat. "I've been wondering when you'd show up."

"Sorry, I was late because Haley was getting ready." You sigh softly. "She really wants to hit it off with Raul."

Peter chuckles. "Is she pretty?"

"Yeah of course. It's Haley. You remember? Blonde, short, great clothes."

"Oh! Yeah. She's going to school for fashion design right? Yeah she's cute, way nicer than his last girlfriend. Raul will probably like her. Did you introduce them?"

"No, I ditched her and came up here. She knows how to flirt."

Peter laughs. "You're so mean."

You shrug. "I don't like parties and I'm not playing matchmaker."

"I know." He puts his arm around your shoulders and walks you to the massive beanbag chair at the end of his bed. "I have my own bottle of whiskey. We can have our own party. Its even the apple kind."

You sink down into the soft beanbag and he drops next to you, reaching for said bottle on the bookshelf beside it. You haven't drank together since the feelings started, and you know it's a bad idea to start.

"You want to play never have I ever?"

"Uh, sure. But I know basically everything about you?"

"Not everything."

"Yeah okay." You laugh and he puts his legs over yours. "Alright, never have I ever accidentally stolen something."

Peter takes a drink from the bottle and grimaces. "That's not fair. You know it haunts me."

You smirk. "Well, I told you I know everything."

"Alright fine. Never have I ever had a first kiss." He drinks and passes the bottle to you.

You don't take a drink and pick at the hem of your shirt. This has taken a sharp turn very quickly.

"Wait, what, for real?"

You shake your head. "I've never been kissed."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Peter takes the bottle from between you and sets it aside on the floor. "How? Why?"

"It just hasn't happened."

"But you've had a boyfriend?"

You shake your head. "Never had that either. I just don't like getting close to people. I thought you knew this?"

"So you don't know how to kiss?"

"I know how! I just haven't done it yet. It's not that weird okay?"

Peter leans forward to look at you. "Do you wanna know what it's like?"

"Yeah, one day I guess."

"I mean, I could be your first kiss. I'm someone you trust and I'm not going to judge you if it's bad."

Your heart stops, a cold sick feeling grips your stomach. Does he know about your feelings? No, he's just trying to be nice. He wants you to be comfortable. He doesn't know. He can't. You're going to have to play this off. "I don't know. We're friends, what if it's weird?"

Peter repositions himself so he is sitting in front of you. "Never have I ever wanted to kiss my best friend." He takes a drink and hands you the bottle.

You roll your eyes, stomach aching. "That's not fair."

"Drink."

"I don't-"

"I know okay? Shawn told me. He said he overheard you talking about me with someone. I know you have a crush on me."

"What?! Shawn doesn't know anything!" You shove the bottle at Peter and get up. "I can't- you just believe him?!"

"Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Because! It's not- I don't- I'm scared okay?!" You ball your fists in your hoodie pocket and stare down at the floor.

Peter shifts and stands up, you see his sock covered feet in front of yours. "Can I talk now?"

"Yeah, sorry." You mumble.

He puts his hands out in front of him, palms up for you to grab them. "Hold my hands."

You do as he says and he closes his fingers around yours.

"It's okay that you have a crush on me. We've been close for years now. I know you have a hard time opening up to people and that's why you don't date. It's normal that you'd develop feelings for me since I'm someone you trust and you're comfortable with."

"But you don't like me like that."

"Actually," he chuckles and squeezes your hands. "I do. I'm sorry I brought it up like this, that wasn't fair."

"It's okay."

"Look at me, please?"

You look up and he leans in and kisses you quickly. Just a small press of lips before you can fully register that it happened. Your body reacts nonetheless. Heart pounding, a cold sweat on your neck. It feels like a dream but more like a nightmare.

"You okay?"

"I think I'm going to puke."

"Oh." Peter steps back and grabs his trash can, holding it up for you. "That's not reassuring."

"No. It's not you. It's me. I'm freaking out."

Peter sets the can down and wraps his arms around you as you start to shake. "It's fine, everything is fine. Take a deep breath."

"Peter no!" You feel it happening and then it comes up onto Peter's chest, not quite throw up but still gross like bile. "No no no."

Peter steps back and sighs shakily. "This isn't the worst thing." He pulls his hoodie off and tosses it aside into the hamper. "It's fine, don't worry. It's fine."

You sit down on the bed and cover your face. "It's not fine. I just upchucked on you!"

"You did and it's fine." Peter hands you a water bottle from somewhere and sets the can by your feet. "I'm washable and so are the clothes."

"I'm so sorry."

"Why? Because your body reacted? I've done worse." He sits down on the floor across from you and stretches his legs out. "Maybe if we keep talking it'll get easier."

"Or I'll puke more."

He bumps his foot against yours and strokes it over your ankle comfortingly. "Are you scared we can't be friends? Or are you upset about something else?"

"I guess I've never been in this situation and I'm scared we won't work out if we go for more than friends. I don't want to ruin my friendship with you. You're my best friend, I can't lose you."

"That's okay. We don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just because we have feelings doesn't mean we have to act on them."

"I know but...we... everything is messed up now. I'd rather go back to suffering in silence." You take a big drink and rinse your mouth out.

Peter pushes up off the floor and kicks the trash can aside. He crawls on the bed behind you and pulls you back against him. "Let's just start slow. We'll test the boundaries and figure out if we really want each other."

You tuck your feet against his and he pulls the blanket from behind him over the both of you. "Cuddling?"

"Mmmhmm. The most basic form of affection."

"I don't know about that." You grab his hand on your chest and put your fingers through his. "I feel like there are more basic things."

"Oh shh." Peter chuckles and presses his nose against your hair. "Can I confess something now?"

"Yeah."

"I've wanted to be more than friends for over a year now. So, you're not alone in feeling conflicted about everything."

You turn in his hold and face him. His arm falls on the bed between you. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He laughs.

You reach up and touch his nose. It's so cute when he laughs and it crinkles up. "I was scared."

"So was I."

"Do you think we should be together?"

"Yeah. I think knowing everything about each other and yet we still have these feelings means something. I think it's special. You can't hurry love and we definitely haven't done that."

You nod. "Can I kiss you? I want to try."

Peter nods.

You take in a deep shaky breath and scoot closer. "Close your eyes."

He does as you say.

You press your lips against his and he doesn't react. It's just lips on lips.

"Can I kiss you back?" Peter mutters.

"Uh-huh."

Peter slides his hand into your hair and cups the back of your head. Suddenly it's not just an awkward lips on lips situation, it's a real kiss coming from your real best friend. He licks against your lip and you freeze. "It's okay," he says into your mouth. "We can stop, just say when."

"Stop."

Peter pulls back and looks at you, a smile spreading across his face. "How was your first kiss?"

You lick your lip and feel a flush rising up your neck. "Good. You're...you're pretty good."

"Are you sure? Maybe I'm really really horrible but you have nothing to compare to." He teases and you shove him.

"Peter! That's not funny!"

He cackles and gathers you into his arms. "Okay okay. I promise I won't tease you about it. I'm glad it wasn't bad."

You tuck your face into his shoulder and wrap your arms around his back. He smells good, like laundry and body wash. "I'm not so scared now."

"Good." He rubs his hand up your back and plays with your hair. "I'm not going to let you feel unsafe. I promise, I'll be everything you need."

"Pinky promise?"

Peter laughs softly and hooks his pinky with yours. "Pinky promise."

End

----------------

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted fics.*****

#peter mendes #mendes triplet #mendes triplets #mendes triplets au #peter mendes au #peter mendes fic #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes au #shawn mendes imagine

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solalunar-eclipse · 3 years

Text

Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 12

Chapter title: Beliefs

Word count: about 4100 words

Author’s Note: How did I write over four thousand words?? Mostly I’m just grateful this chapter got out in time, but still. Wow.

First | Previous | Next

...

Over the next few days, Team Sonic dedicated their time to helping their counterparts recover from the exhausting ordeal of the past couple weeks. Tails worked to replace some of Omega’s burnt-out wiring (from his attack on G.U.N.), while Knuckles and Sonic...well, they wanted to take care of Rouge and Shadow, but it was very difficult when both Mobians kept insisting that they were “fine really, don’t worry about us so much” despite looking like they could collapse at any second.

The general stress level on the island was only raised upon a second call from the president, since she requested that a few of them come see her to discuss what should be done with G.U.N. at her office. Shadow and Rouge obviously weren’t going. Neither of them were ready to deal with the president, let alone the press (even if the latter continued to insist otherwise). The sheer idea of being in the same city as G.U.N. had especially shaken Shadow, even if he refused to say so.

Sonic had seen how he cringed at the mere idea.

Since Knuckles absolutely refused to leave his island, it was decided that Sonic, Tails, and Omega would travel together to see the president and hear what she had to say. She seemed pretty trustworthy, and if any of her staff wasn’t...they’d be able to handle themselves just fine.

While Tails helped haul Omega into the back seat of the Tornado (an impressive feat considering that he’d used to struggle with lifting Sonic in his early years) and prepared for takeoff, the hedgehog in question was zipping all around the island, trying to make sure everything would be okay while he was away and unable to defend his friends.

“You guys are sure you’re gonna be alright?” he asked for what was probably the fifth time, after Shadow had needed to physically stop him from starting a mini-whirlwind.

“Yes, Blue, we’ll be fine. Now go! You don’t want to keep the president waiting!” Rouge insisted, pushing the worried hero towards the Tornado.

He twisted around, trying to make eye contact with both of them. “You’re really, really-”

“Sonic.” Shadow said calmly. “It’s going to be alright. I promise.”

The hero could practically feel his body untense, finally willing to jump onto the top wing of the biplane and prepare for takeoff. Before Tails fired up the engine, he took one last look at his friends.

Knuckles had walked up beside Rouge and looked like he wanted to put his arm around her waist without being awkward...which just made him look awkward anyway. The bat took the initiative herself, leaning against him comfortably. Her eyes were back to teal again, since she and Shadow had both taken out their contacts pretty quickly.

Rouge had taken off her leather jacket by now, and Sonic could see it lying on the altar next to Omega’s generator- Angel Island was pretty warm, after all. Shadow was still wearing his hoodie, though he’d taken off the glasses. Omega had tried them on once out of curiosity and nearly broken them in the process...so the hybrid simply hadn’t bothered with it after that. His quills were still in a ponytail, which Sonic wasn’t complaining about in the slightest. (It was a good look on him, that was all!)

He switched on his earpiece and settled into his ‘flight’ position once again. “You guys read me?”

“Loud and clear, hon.” Rouge said. “Now go!”

The Tornado’s engine kicked up a roar as the plane wheeled down the clearing and began to lift off the ground. Knuckles and Shadow both waved, while Rouge opted for a mock-salute, which Sonic returned cheerfully as the plane pulled up above the altar.

He crouched low on the top wing as Tails pulled into a turn, angling the plane so that their course was set for Central City yet again. The fox switched on the turbo engine, too, but it would still take them about an hour and a half to reach the city at this rate.

To pass the time, Tails and Omega started talking almost immediately about how they needed to take some time in the workshop to fix up the latter’s various dents and scratches. Both of them seemed pretty excited about this- the former because he’d get to return to his workshop, the latter for style reasons, and both because they’d get to spend time together. Somewhere along the way, Omega insisted loudly that Tails “must return me to my original color as soon as it is possible to do so.”, clearly less than happy about his current paint job.

Sonic sighed as the conversation turned to advanced technical terminology, feeling a little bored. It was a little funny for him to say so, considering that he was blasting through the sky on a biplane going at speeds rivaling advanced jets...but here he was. Bored.

He tapped his feet, trying to look for shapes in the clouds or enjoy the feeling of the wind on his face, anything to avoid checking how long they’d been up in the air….

Too late.

The hero sighed loudly upon discovering that it had only been ten minutes since takeoff. How could something that was usually so cool be so...just...not?

Sonic quickly decided that he had to call up Angel Island right now so that he could find somebody to talk to. As the earpiece patched through to the other end, he heard a sudden “Ngh-” followed by a loud sigh.

“Hey, everything okay there?” he asked, resulting in a startlingly high shriek from the other end.

“Sonic! Don’t do that!” Shadow hissed at him. “Give me a little warning next time!”

“There’s, like, actually no way for me to do that without talking.” Sonic shot back cheerfully, feeling more upbeat already.

“Ugh.” the hybrid groaned, before some sort of thud came through the mike.

“Seriously, though, you okay?”

Shadow sighed. “I’ve spent the past four minutes walking through a tangled, vine-filled forest in any direction that is away from the altar. It could be worse, but it could be better too.”

Sonic frowned, worried. “And why were you walking away from the altar? Are Rouge and Knuckles with you?”

“No.” the hybrid muttered. “They’re kind of busy making out. At the altar. Which is why I’m not there, obviously.”

“Aw, man...they probably just missed each other a lot.”

Shadow sighed. “I know they did, and I’m not judging them. But they deserve some privacy, and I really deserve to not have to watch that.”

Sonic grinned. “Hah! That’s fair. So whatcha doing now?”

“Lying on the ground next to a lake and watching some Flickies on a tree. You?”

“Sitting on the plane. And bored. Or, at least I was. Bored, I mean.” Sonic amended quickly.

The hybrid snickered. “I’d hope you’re still sitting on the plane.”

His smile only grew. Talking with Shadow was always fun- he didn’t know why he hadn’t called sooner!

“Soooo...you feelin’ any better after those power naps of yours?” he asked curiously.

“Actually, yes. Mostly it helps to not be looking over my shoulder all the time.” Shadow sighed again. “It’s…” he trailed off, clearly embarrassed.

“Hey, you can tell me!” Sonic said encouragingly.

“It's difficult to adjust. I...still catch myself looking over my shoulder only to see it’s a fly buzzing, not a plane, or something like that. I shouldn’t be, but I am.”

Sonic wished he was back at the island already so that he could give Shadow all the comfort he deserved. “There won’t be any planes there, Shadow. I mean it. And none of that ‘shouldn’t’ talk, either, ‘kay? It’s alright to be a little stressed, just remember everything’s gonna turn out fine.”

“That means a lot...thank you. Again.”

Sonic could feel a grin spreading across his whole face. “No problem! Now, what I really need to tell ya about is……”

He spent the rest of the flight chatting with the hybrid, catching him up on all the jokes, memes and random news he’d missed over the past couple of weeks. Shadow was eager to listen, and Sonic was so glad to finally be able to tell him everything that he swore he’d never take his friend’s presence for granted again.

Eventually, though, he was pulled back to reality in the middle of a particularly passionate explanation of why exactly it was so cool that the Tomatopotamus 2 movie’s release date was finally out when Tails tapped on his shoulder. “Uh, Sonic? We’re here now.”

“What?” The hero glanced down, only to discover that yes, Central City was in fact right beneath them. “No way, that was like twenty minutes!”

Omega shook his head. “Correction: it has been an hour and twenty minutes.” He sounded smug for some reason, and Sonic glowered at the robot irritably.

“I guess I gotta go for now, sorry.” he sighed into the earpiece.

“Good luck to all three of you.” Shadow said. “I’ll be listening in, and I’ll go break up Knuckles and Rouge now.”

“Good luck to you.” Sonic snickered. He could practically hear Shadow roll his eyes at that one.

They coasted to a stop on the back lawn of the president’s home, the hedgehog pointedly ignoring Tails and Omega’s conversation about the theory of relativity, or something along those lines. Even though he didn’t know what exactly they were talking about, he could guess, and he didn’t approve. At all.

Sonic hopped off the wing of the plane before it had even finished landing the moment he spotted someone on the grass, waving hello as the president herself walked over to greet them. He rushed over to her, taking her hand and shaking it happily.

He and the president had spoken a few times before- being a hero meant he ended up talking with quite a few famous people, but she was one of his favorites. She was relatively young compared to most of the others who had held that title, but she handled herself with the confidence and strength she deserved (and needed) for this station.

“Hey there! How’s the job?” he asked with an understanding grin, knowing all too well how it felt to be responsible for large groups of people at a time.

She dropped his hand (and the remaining air of formality) in favor of running copper fingers tiredly through her hair, letting out a long sigh. “These last few days have been tough, but I know it’s probably not as much stress as you guys have been dealing with. Still sorry about that, by the way.”

Sonic looked up at her, still sympathetic. “It’s not your fault. I bet you’ve probably got a lot on your plate too- dealing with this fallout ain’t gonna be easy.”

“I know, but it’s what I have to do. For your friends, and for everyone.” she said, squaring her shoulders determinedly.

Tails rushed over not long after, having parked and shut down the plane by now. “Hi, Ms. President! How are you?”

“Hello, Tails,” she said. Impressively, she was one of the few adults who refused to talk down to the young fox, instead treating him like the mature person he was. (This definitely earned her a few extra points in Sonic’s book.) “I’m perfectly alright...I hope you all aren’t doing too badly.”

The president had the thoughtfulness to at least look a little awkward at that, clearly embarrassed by the fact that some of the United Federation’s most famed heroes were now essentially unable to live in the country without being in serious danger.

Omega greeted her as well as he made his way over, clearly alright with being at least somewhat decent to the woman who had helped shut down G.U.N.

“Would you like to come inside?” she asked politely. “I promise, there’s nothing inside but some Secret Service...and hopefully cake, if I requested it early enough.” she added with a warmer smile.

“What are we here for?” the robot asked bluntly, unprepared to trust as easily as the two Mobians were.

“Right!” she said, taking his question in stride. “I’m working on a new set of rules with the congressional branch that deal with some of the problems within G.U.N. so that they don’t crop up in the future, as well as trying to figure out what to do with them in general- so I wanted your opinion on both of those subjects! As long as that’s alright with you?”

Shadow spoke up in Sonic’s ear. “Rouge is interested and so am I.”

“Totally!” Sonic chirped, following her inside. Omega agreed with Rouge and Shadow (somewhat reluctantly), having tapped into the hero’s communications as they were landing.

Halfway up the stairs to the president’s office, the first lady came rushing in the opposite direction, apologizing all the while for getting in their way. “Hi, Sonic! Hi Tails! Hello, Omega! So nice to see you! Sorry, the cat’s gotten loose again…” she sighed, sagging against the railing briefly.

“We really need to get him a tracking collar, don’t we?” The president shook her head, her soft Afro bouncing as she pinched the bridge of her nose briefly. “Good luck finding him, anyway.”

“Have fun in your meeting!” the first lady chirped, winking overdramatically at her wife for emphasis before rushing off in search of their cat.

Tails grinned up at the president. “I know how you feel...sometimes I want to get a tracker chip for Sonic when he stays out too long on a run.”

“Hey!” the hero protested, but nobody seemed to be terribly worried about his pride. He could hear Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge laughing in his ear, too, and he pouted, wishing more than anything that he could offer a snappy comeback- but he couldn’t give away the fact that he had an earpiece in.

The president invited them into her office and began to lay out her plans for how to improve the country. The legislative body was working with her on some sort of complete shutdown and restructuring of G.U.N.- it seemed like there were going to be new leaders, new hiring processes, review systems, a different set of priorities…and that was just the start.

It was a lot, but Sonic was glad that she’d at least given them the opportunity to hear about these plans. Shadow and Rouge got to provide their input as well, which was great, but only through Omega, not Sonic. They would’ve trusted the president with that information, for sure, but the two members of the Secret Service behind her desk?

No way.

Especially not when Rouge recognized one of them from G.U.N.’s special training programs. They might not be close enough with the organization for it to really mean anything, but the group definitely didn’t want to take chances.

Partway through the meeting (not long after the cake arrived), the main phone on the president’s desk rang, startling everyone out of their conversation. She picked it up with a calm “Hello?”, but her eyes quickly widened as the person on the other end began to speak.

“Thank you.” she said quickly, before putting the phone down. Her eyes met Sonic’s, and he felt his stomach drop. The hero suddenly wished he hadn’t eaten just yet…

“Three representatives of G.U.N. are at the front gate.” the president said quietly.

The hero heard a gasp in his ear. He wasn’t sure who had done so, but the sound made his surprise morph quickly into defensiveness. “Omega. Tails. Do you guys want to meet with them?” he asked coolly, his face losing most of its expression.

��I would...like to do so.” the robot said.

Tails met Sonic’s gaze. “Yeah, same here.”

They moved to the main conference room, and the three heroes stood at one end of a long table, waiting for the members of G.U.N. to appear. It didn’t take long before they were buzzed in, and Sonic could feel himself shifting into a more confrontational stance, prepared to fight if necessary.

The commander was the first one to enter the room. His presence immediately raised everyone’s tension levels- at the very least, he seemed to be aware of it. He almost looked...a little embarrassed?

The silence on the other end of the communicator was near-deafening.

He was followed almost immediately by an agent that Sonic didn’t recognize, a wolf who seemed more than a little bit awkward and apologetic. She sat down to his left, sneaking glances at each of the three heroes in the room.

After that, a skinny, pale sort of guy entered the room, looking incredibly full of himself. Sonic wasn’t usually one to get bad first impressions of people, but this person irritated him almost immediately. Omega obviously recognized him- and not in a good way- as he began to make several loud clicking noises not unlike those of guns loading. On purpose, of course.

The commander sat down last (still seeming less than comfortable), cleared his throat, and looked up at the other three. “Before I speak, is there anything you would like to say?”

Sonic, Tails and Omega regarded him in stony silence.

He shuffled some of the papers in front of him and sighed quietly. “I would like to begin by apologizing for the distress I and the organization I serve have caused to you and your friends. All of you. I wish...no, I should have handled this in a different manner- requested a meeting, spoken with you first, done something to ensure that my intentions did not appear malicious. But instead…

“...instead I have distanced myself from three of the most skilled people ever to serve under my command, as well as further tarnished G.U.N.’s already ruined reputation. I…” The commander sighed here. This speech was already taking a lot out of him, Sonic could tell.

“I fear that my father’s views have heavily influenced my own, to say the absolute least, especially regarding my job and what needed to be done to serve this organization. ‘Shoot first and ask questions later’ was a favorite motto of his, and one that I accepted for a long, long time...my family has discussed with me lately (and quite gently, perhaps more so than I deserve) about how that ideology is problematic, to say the least.

“I liked to think I was not a bad person. That I was being more open-minded. But now I see that I was foolish to believe as much. I chose to try and salvage G.U.N., to cover up the mistakes as others have done before me because it was ‘for the good of the country’, because ‘other people wouldn’t understand what needs to be done’, and more. My guilty conscience wishes I would blame my father for my mistakes, but at some point, one must take responsibility for one’s own failures.

“Particularly…” and here he looked directly at the three of them, though he almost seemed to be searching for someone else instead, “...having alienated the last person on this planet who truly can comprehend the life I have led.”

Sonic realized with a start that he was talking about Shadow.

“All I can say now is that as of tomorrow, I am resigning as commander of G.U.N. I clearly have not succeeded in improving this organization at all, so I believe a new, younger face...someone without prior biases or contacts...would be better for us now.”

The hero heard gasps in both his ears- one from Rouge and Shadow, the other from the wiry man in front of him. Said human immediately started stammering at the commander, asking him why in the world he thought this was a good idea. The older man in turn merely waved him off with a stern word or two, forcing the other human to sink back into his seat with an obviously displeased expression.

The lavender wolf, the president, Omega, and Tails, on the other hand, all seemed to approve of the commander’s decision, as did Sonic. The hero felt nothing but relief now, hoping that finally, the big things could start to change for the better.

They spoke a little longer, the tensions mostly eased now (with the exception of the skinny guy, of course, who Rouge irritably identified as the less-than-respectful PR officer that the team had spoken to way back in the beginning). The conversation wasn’t very important, just polite nonsense about how change should be made soon and all that.

Things weren’t comfortable by any means, and they shouldn’t have been, but...Sonic felt a little lighter at the thought that someone important in G.U.N. at least accepted what was going on.

As the three heroes left, the commander asked them for one favor. “Could you please tell Shadow and Rouge that I apologize for the way G.U.N. has behaved? The way in which I have commanded this organization is wrong...I can see that now.”

Sonic offered him a quick flash of a grin, realizing that the commander truly didn’t know about his earpiece, nor Omega’s connection. “Hey, being able to apologize says a lot, too. I’ll be sure to let them know, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, and safe travels.”

“You too, alright?” he replied politely, before hopping onto the Tornado with a wave.

The flight back seemed to take forever (really, this time), partly because Sonic was dying to get back and partly because his friends seemed too busy talking seriously to chat. He tried his best to bask in the feeling of hope, but it was difficult to focus when his excitement was rising with each passing second.

As soon as they landed, he jumped off and ran over to his friends. “It’s gonna be alright now, guys!” he said, grinning at them. “You’re gonna go home soon!”

Rouge gave him a big smile back, before rushing over to Omega to celebrate. “Did you hear that, Omega? We’ll be home in a couple of weeks, max! Shadow-”

She trailed off, watching him carefully. The hybrid was staring down at the ground, his hands trembling slightly. “It’s...done? Then what now? What should we do?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and failing miserably. Sonic’s ears drooped a little as he heard the shake in his friend’s voice.

“Now you get to rest. You’ve earned it, you know that? I know it’s tough to just...go back and chill after everything, but you gotta know when to let other people carry on the work ya started, alright?” Sonic said carefully, stepping closer and closer to Shadow. His hands hovered slightly over his friend’s arms, unwilling to touch the hybrid unless he was alright with it first.

Suddenly, Shadow leaned into Sonic’s chest, his eyes shut tightly, clearly fighting back some sort of emotion. The hero held his friend tightly, sinking to his knees in an attempt to comfort Shadow better. Rouge and Omega rushed over, holding him tight as well. “Hey…” the bat said gently, “Shadow, we’re all going to be okay, I promise. We can stop now.”

“How do we know? What if something happens and it all goes wrong-”

Sonic stopped him right there. “We can set up whatever you need to feel comfortable, but trust me, we’ll all make sure nothing goes wrong. I’ll hold the president to her word, and so will everyone else here.”

“But...nobody’s ever really been able to stop G.U.N. before...not even me.” Shadow said quietly.

“There are more people on your side now, Shadow.” Omega replied, looking down at him. “You are not alone in this fight- so many others want this too.”

“I’ll have to wait and see before I can believe that.” he muttered, sighing.

Tails and Knuckles walked over too, the former offering him a hopeful smile and the latter clapping a hand on his shoulder. “You guys can stay here a while longer, I guess, until everything’s sorted out.” the echidna said, trying his best to help.

“Yeah!” Sonic cheered. “We’ll make sure this all gets fixed up properly, alright?”

Shadow smiled faintly at him. “I’ll hold you to that, Sonic.”

The hero couldn’t help but grin back, all his hope for his friend bursting through. And when Shadow’s smile grew just that little bit more real, he was determined to do absolutely whatever it took to make the hybrid smile properly again and again, without any fear holding him back.

He knew, without a doubt, that Shadow was more than deserving of all the happiness in the world.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #whoa that's a lot of people #scars you can't see #sycs #sol's fanfiction #i almost thought i wouldn't be able to get this out in time...#life has decided to throw lots of work at me so the last chapter might be a couple of days late #we'll see #also a few clarifications:#the commander is beginning to realize that his father taught him about the world in a very very biased way #and feels pretty bad about it #i didn't know how to end this since it was the chapter with the least planning behind it #so hopefully it turned out alright #and finally #i tried to make it clear that the president is Black but in a respectful way #if i failed to do that then please please please let me know and i will change it #also hopefully shadow wasn't too ooc at the end there #:S #hope you enjoyed the update and have a wonderful day!

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ruensroad · 3 years

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o(≧∇≦o)

another sleep deprivation prompt!!! for rencheng!!! "What? Sorry, I'm having trouble focusing..."

Thank you! sorry for the delay, life got a little crazy!

From this prompt list and from this RenCheng AU :)

He could still hear her laughter, some days. Everytime he sat too straight, poured his tea too perfectly, she was there to chide him in his mind. Lan-xiong, so strict! Lan-xiong, so perfect!

While he could say with true honesty that he hadn’t fallen in love with Cangse Sanren the same way Jiang Fengmian had, a part of his heart still fully belonged to her. Which wasn’t too uncommon. Despite her carefree, chaotic nature, she had been beautiful and bright, and nearly everyone that she’d met had fallen in love with her to some degree - a sentiment that, no doubt, would have amused her greatly.

There had been a time that she’d been the bane of his existence. She was everything he wasn’t, everything he’d been taught was incorrect. She was wild and mischievous, unafraid to speak her mind. She laughed often and loudly and started duels because she could. Knowing now that feelings had formed for her explained some of his early reactions, his quick anger and frustration.

She always had left him flustered, not only with her forwardness, but also her depth of kindness and understanding. Even when he had nearly gotten her and Jiang Fengmian killed, she had forgiven him. And sure, it had resulted in the loss of his goatee, but their friendship had been strong and forthright forever on, and even now touched his heart in ways not much did.

He felt, most days, like his heart was a house built of different rooms. One room was for his nephews, large and important. One was for his friends and family, whom he guarded like treasure. One was for Cangse Sanren and all other friends he had lost along the way. And one for-

“Shufu?” Lan Xichen asked, and by his tone he had been saying it for a little while. Lan Qiren blinked out of his stupor and realized he’d been stroking his beard, giving the illusion of deep thought. Judging by the concern on his nephew’s face, he must be quite the sight, frowning and thinking in his sleep clothes. He’d just awoken from his rest and lost himself to thoughts, which he never did. No doubt, Lan Xichen was ready to call for Wangji at the first sign of illness in a panic.

The thought made him smile, which probably helped nothing. “Forgive me, Xichen,” he murmured, trying to find some of that containment he was so known for. But he was soft today, lost in memories of a golden time. For they truly were tinted gold, those days where he and Jiang Fengmian had been pulled by their sashes after a laughing Cangse Sanren, who promised adventure and no end of trouble. “I did not hear you.”

Every memory he had in each locked room of his heart was colored differently. For his nephews, it was a somber, beautiful blue, and sometimes he could almost imagine the world actually tinted so when he was with them.

“I simply remarked on how long you slept, shufu,” Lan Xichen said with a smile that let Lan Qiren know he’d worried him. “And that I hope you are feeling better.”

Lan Xichen was kinder than the world deserved. Lan Qiren, soft as he was, took in the beloved planes of his face with pride before his eyes flickered down the root of the issue: an untouched cup of tea. Ah, no wonder.

He took the tea and warmed it back up with a wash of qi, sipping it gratefully. Lan Xichen’s smile warmed in relief to see it.

“I am rested,” Lan Qiren promised and set the cup neatly back down, which only made Lan Xichen calm down further. It was always in his habits, he’d found, that Lan Xichen paid the most attention to. As did Wangji, and he smiled to himself at memories of a frowning, silent child worriedly pulling on his sleeve because he had not finished his tea. He would make sure to finish this cup for both their sakes, no matter how he truly felt. “Just in my thoughts this morning.”

Lan Xichen nodded and sipped his own tea, the movement graceful and perfect. He looked so much like his mother that the room in his heart where he’d secretly locked Madam Lan away ached. That room was coated in roses and black thorns, and he pushed her memories from the fore of his mind, but it was a little too late. He was already bared open, so the next words hit him like barbs, a thousand arrows to yet another room of his heart, colored in purple and echoing with distant thunder..

“Sect Leader Jiang has been asking about you,” Lan Xichen said and there was a tiny laugh in the words. “As has Young Master Jin. I haven not seen you play with anyone since Wangji, shufu.”

“He is a child, Xichen,” Lan Qiren defended easily, “and his uncle was sick. A simple decision to keep him calm.”

Nevermind that there were nannies here, and other children. It would have been just as simple to hand Jin Ling into the care of one of them and let him play away his worry with A-Yuan and A-Yi, and other boys and girls his own age. But that stubborn room in his heart had not let him, for it was beginning to sprout with golden peonies too, and already he could hear Cangse Sanren’s laughter.

Lan-xiong, so fearsome! If you scowl like that, no one will marry you!

His ears went hot and he sipped his tea to stave off any teasing. Blessedly, Lan Xichen took the hint.

“Of course,” he agreed, because he was a better nephew than Lan Qiren deserved, but his eyes were still going over Lan Qiren quizzically, a look he knew far too well. It was the same face he wore when he puzzled through a game of chess, or a painting, or a new piece of music, an inevitability that it would be solved.

Lan Qiren, for once, didn’t know what to say to dissuade him. Thankfully, a knock sounded before he could try and a young disciple bowed from the door.

“Old Master Lan, Sect Leader Jiang and Young Master Jin are here to see you.”

He wanted to laugh, almost, because of course Jiang Cheng had wasted no time. A storm opened in that heart room, fluttering with lotus and peony petals, and he realized he was stroking his beard again. It went unnoticed by Lan Xichen this time, given he was politely excusing everyone away, and Lan Qiren could hear her laughing again, goading him on.

Lan-xiong, be brave!

“No,” he said over Lan Xichen and looked up at the disciple. “Let them in.”

“Shufu, you’re not dressed,” Lan Xichen argued immediately, the surprise on his face making his eyes wide and his voice a little high.

“I am aware,” Lan Qiren said evenly and took a sip of tea just so he could set the cup down in a more final motion. “Leave us please, Xichen. Sect Leader Jiang and I have something to discuss.”

“Of… course, shufu,” Lan Xichen said, and his confusion made him look like a lost little boy. Lan Qiren ached immediately to pull him into his arms and guard him from the world, but the moment was gone quickly and Lan Xichen slipped past the door.

The very air seemed to crackle with lightning as Jiang Cheng stepped inside, and even with a five year old on his hip, he looked imposing and handsome and all of Lan Qiren’s world tinted to a stormy purple.

“Old Master,” was his greeting, voice low and rough, but full of confidence, if only for the moment.

“Sect leader,” Lan Qiren gave back, like he wasn’t in sleep clothes with his hair down, like this was just any other meeting between them and not the most important talk of his life. “Young Master Jin.”

“Old teacher!” Jin Ling wiggled to be put down and Jiang Cheng obliged him. The boy hurried over to Lan Qiren with what looked like a mess of paper in his hands, but was actually a folded paper dog that he handed over with happiness. “Are you feeling better? I made this for you. Jiu-jiu showed me how to do the folds!”

The offering was simple, but made him ache. He nodded seriously and took the little dog, setting it on the desk. “I am well, Young Master,” he promised and got a luminous smile for his words. “Thank you.”

“A-Ling, go play with your boat. Old Master Lan and I need to have a talk,” Jiang Cheng said, pulling the wooden toy from his sleeve. Jin Ling grinned and took it, then retreated to a spot near the go board. He might as well not have been there at all with how intensely Jiang Cheng was staring him down and it took all of Lan Qiren’s will not to shake as he poured the man a cup of tea.

It was silent and heavy as Jiang Cheng folded himself into the place Lan Xichen had been, and Lan Qiren felt his mind flicker back to golden days, even as his eyes were entranced by the vision of violet and silver before him.

Cangse Sanren was as close to a first love as he’d ever gotten, and she had been his opposite in every way. Jiang Cheng, the one whose room in his heart knocked the loudest, was more like himself, strict and perfunct, bitter of the world and tethered only by the love of a nephew. He was a study of what was proper and expected of any sect leader, warrior, and ally. He was fierce and stalwart, a wall all bad things had to break down before anyone else was hurt.

Lan Qiren had been in awe of him a long time and let it show in his eyes as he set down the cup. He knew Jiang cheng expected words, expected an explanation, but like Jiang Cheng himself, he was not a man made of them. The only words he knew were rules, which were armor and guidance. But words from the heart? He might as well have been an illiterate fool.

The only consolation was that Jiang Cheng seemed to be having as much trouble as he. As the silence stretched on, he watched the irritation and embarrassment only grow as they both tried and failed to speak. Finally, Jiang Cheng simply swore under his breath, and though it broke a rule, it lit a fire in that room Jiang Cheng owned in his heart and made him laugh.

Like ice breaking, Jiang Cheng huffed a brief chuckle to join him and his shoulders slumped. “This is stupid,” he said, and Lan Qiren had to agree. “We talk all the time. We should be able to do this.”

Lan Qiren nodded and stroked his beard, a movement Jiang Cheng watched with dark eyes. “I do not speak plainly of what is in my heart, Sect Leader,” Lan Qiren said, and it was the bravest he’d ever been. The heat in his ears trickled down into his neck, plain for the man to see.

“Your heart?” Jiang Cheng echoed, incredulous, and he too looked like a lost child, hopeful and aching for things that were always ripped away. Lan Qiren felt the same instinct to hold him and guard him from the world he felt with his nephews. “That would imply that I am in your heart, Old Master.”

It was a challenge, and a plea. Lan Qiren looked down at his cup of tea and saw his own smile. “You are.”

Simple, could it really be that simple? He met Jiang Cheng’s eye and waited, watched a valiant struggle flicker in those eyes and over his expression. It settled on more of a scowl, in the end, but that was just armor too.

“You… too,” Jiang Cheng swallowed, fought the words out with all the same intensity he gave in every battle fought before, steadfast, yet ready to be struck down at any moment. “For me it’s the same.”

Jiang Cheng went tense afterwards, as though just hearing the words would make Lan Qiren reconsider. He was tempted, in truth, if only because it was so unusual, and that he did not wish for Jiang Cheng to be trapped by someone just like him, but even more unbending. Surely, Jiang Cheng deserved more? Surely this miracle was not meant to last?

Lan-xiong…

He closed his eyes and breathed, then took a sip of tea to settle his nerves. There were so many things he wished to say, but didn’t know how to. He had never been gifted in that way as Cangse Sanren had been. But then, neither was Jiang Cheng, and in that he found his answer.

Love through action, his only method. He prayed it would be enough.

“I expect a proper courtship,” he said sternly. “There are rules for this kind of thing and expect you to heed them all.”

Internally, he winced, because why did he sound like a chiding teacher? But for some reason, it seemed to settle well, and Jiang Cheng sat all the straighter, with an ease that had not been there before, and nodded once.

“So I will,” he promised and that part of Lan Qiren’s heart was utterly lost.

#ruenwrites #rencheng #jiang cheng #lan qiren #jin ling #catching lightning au

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