#but it's hard to fully accept cause I wonder how many of them are assuming I was shunned the same way growing up. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bingusbongu · 4 months

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Hey can I Request a hc of Luz and friends meeting a Discord reader?

Plot: Luz and friends are wandering the forest until they discovering a statue of the reader. They went up to it to get a closer look but for some reason they all decided to argue on something and Because of that, the statue started to crack setting free the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Some chaotic wacky hijinks happens and now they're pretty good friends and the reader wants to help get them back to the boiling Isles.

Sorry if the plot sucks

♡A/N: RAAAAAAAAA OMGGGGGG i love discord so much he is so silly!!!!! I would absolutely love to write for this!!!! Im assuming this is when they were in the human world when you say 'help get back to the boiling isles, so thats what i did!!!! I also didnt add vee in this one- sorry!!! This ones alittle short, but i had to write for this!!!! Abit ooc!!!! Tysm for requesting!!!!!!♡

Luz, Amity, Gus, Hunter, Willow + GN! Discord reader!

☆ the moment you burst out of your stone prison, you already had spells thrown at you left and right, having startling the group, who completely forgot about their previous argument and now were focused on the new entity

☆ You hardly shown any phase as you flickered your hand and their attacks just flew into the nearby statues of the yard. Before yawning and asking if they were done

☆ of course, the gang did not like you to begin with, not one bit. A weird myrhical... beast infront of them that reflected their magic with a single flick of a wrist. Not onlt that, but you had such insane abilities that put them oj edge... immediately thinking that you're like the collector in disguise

☆ Luz was the first to react to you without hostility. You were a beast with magical power, magic power that she had never seen before. If you were possibly here, then maybe there was a way that you could help them back! She was desprate for anything, and despite her girlfriends protests, she was the first to accept you

☆ she also was very curious and intrigued by you. So you told her what you were, a draconequus. And you tried to answer as many questions as you can that flabbered out of her mouth. But had to let her down when you told her you didnt know a way back, that you had been stuck in stone for such a long time that you couldnt even remember how toy made it to the human world. Despite her sadness, you reasurred her that youd help in any way that you can

☆ Gus was the second. The illusionist already took great wonder to your weird form. It was almost immediately after Luz and you had your conversation, Gus was already up in your grill and interviewing you with Luz. Both of them were fascinated! So you caved in abd showed the both of them some of your abilities

☆ after that, Gus would find ways to wrangle you into certain activites, whether it be games or lil friend pranks! Gus quickly took a liking to you, and the fact that you can cause illusions, but REAL illusions! He definitely tried to ask you to make certain things from his and hunters favorite series

☆ Willow was third. She was weary, but seeing how Gus quickly took quite a liking to you, she let lose some of her concerns. Enough to let Gus drag her over to meet her properly. You were very nice to her, which caught her off gaurd, but she decided you were fine, especially since you didnt try to attack her or gus or anyone else in tjat manner. You and her strike up lovely conversations!

☆ asks you sometimes what plants you can make, and when you shown her you can basically make your own, she was astounded! She taught you how to take care of plants properly without smashing them as soon as you touch it<3

☆ Hunter was the fourth. Especially after dealing with so much trauma, he didnt like you, neither did he like how your power was so similar to the collecters. That any moment you could take apart the world and bend it together in your own reality of play. It was hard get Hunter to fully trust you.

☆ though, seeing how gus and willow took a liking to you and talked to you, Hunter let his gaurd down abit with you. You noticed how he would give you these questioning looks, or feel him watching you. It wasnt until you poofed a wolf puppy into your hands he decided he liked you. You gained his trust stupidly, because you poofed a wolf pup in the room and he got to hold it until you poofed it away. He was over the moon about it!

☆ Amity was the fifth. Out of all of them, she was the hardest to crack. She didnt trust you one bit, she didnt like you. Youd always walk into a room and she would immediate be glaring at you. You really didn't even know how you could get her to trust you. Everything you tried she would brush of her soilder. Your magic set her off edge, and she was destined to protect her friends, aswell as your big and looming appearance

☆ she protested against Luz getting near you, being the protective girlfriend she is. But the way you were kind to the rest of her friends, she softened. Though, she still had a hard time striking a conversion with you, but, the fact you shown no hostility to them, she deemed you.... okay, for now. Until you usr your magic to help them, she woukd accept you as an ally

☆ When you actuallt started helping them find their way back to the boiling isles, you were valuable. Out of the group you had the strongest abilities. Which ment you were probably the biggest hope for them to get home! They depended on you, and instead of uding your magic badly, you did your best to impress your friends and help them in any way you could

#the owl house x reader #the owl house #luz noceda #hunter toh #amity blight #willow toh #gus toh #toh #toh x reader #reader insert #gender neutral reader #discord reader

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convxction · 2 years

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Peace had been brought to the lands of Ylisse, Ferox, and Plegia after the defeat of Grima. Years had gone by from Grima’s defeat and it seemed that some weren’t content with the peace. It was time for another ball in Ylisse and all of the royal family had to attend. Rebecca was getting the final preparations done with getting the kids into their outfits. It wasn’t hard to get Chloe into hers as she always wore this but Lucina and Thomas would fight her a little wondering why they had to dress up and grandpa hunter got to keep his armor on. Rebecca explained that when they were older and had a power suit they could wear it at the balls they went to but for now this was what they had to dress in.

With everyone in their fancy outfits, Rebecca went to go find her husband. The kids were sent with their grandfather and Uncle Frederick to the ball. She was in a more frilly dress than her queen attire typically was. It was a poufy ball gown that was the latest in Ylissian fashion. She gave Chrom a kiss after seeing him and the two went down to the entrance hall and began to greet everyone arriving. There were diplomats from all over. Chon'sin, Ferox, Plegia, even some local Ylissian diplomats arrived.

This was going to be a ball and a feast afterwards. It was a joyous time. Rebecca had been dancing with other diplomats as was expected of the queen but the best dance of the night was when she could finally have the dance with her husband. When it was finally time, Rebecca walked over to her husband and gave a curtsy before taking his hand in the dance. They twirled and spun as the music played. It was like a fairytale to Rebecca. She even caught glimpses of Hunter and Frederick dancing with the kids.

The feast was where things started to go wrong. Everyone was lead into the grand dining hall for the feast. The royal family were seated next to each other minus Hunter who preferred to stand guard. Servants had come out with the food. It was divine tasting as always. Rebecca had to make a note to thank the cooks for a splendid job. It was when the second part of the meal came out that Rebecca thought that the Dining Hall was getting a lot more stuffy than it normally felt. She put a hand to her forehead and felt it burning. Trying to stand up, she felt her legs wobble like jelly.

“Honey. I don’t feel so…” Her words were cut off as she felt a tightness in her throat.

As she collapse to the ground, she grips at her throat trying to gasp for air. There were a couple of screams and shouts as Rebecca fell to the floor. Hunter had rushed over to the family and has to move them from Rebecca.

“Chrom. Keep the kids close. I need room to help Rebecca.”

Reaching into his medical pouch, he grabs an injector and plunges it into Rebecca’s leg. The blue serum slowly drains from the injector and into Rebecca. Her gasps slowly dissipates and her breathing had returned to normal. All of this had caused Rebecca to pass out. It seemed that someone tried to poison the queen.

unprompted | accepting | @pieman1112

If only balls were gone when Grima was too. Alas, it was one of his duties to attend to these parties as the now fully ascended Exalt. Before the battle with Grima, he was only the representative of Ylisse, honoring his late sister who only passed away not too long. Now, years passed and it was right for him assume his full title. A bittersweet experience for sure but it is a must, unless he wants to throw this on Lissa, which he won’t.

Chrom was standing with Gaius, who was relaying some intel on a few missions he was tasked with when the thief whistled and pointed to the queen coming towards her husband. The king turned around and was stunned when he saw his wife. No matter how many times he sees her in pretty dresses or outfits, she will always make his heart skip a beat. Gaius elbowed Chrom then bowed to the queen, complimented her look and slipped away. “You’re...beautiful...as always.” had it not for the party, he would’ve took her away ...

The two went on greeting their guests and thanking them for coming. The ball continued on, everyone was enjoying their time and that’s what the exalt and queen hoped for. Music echoed in the ballroom and pairs were dancing happily. When music was changed, Chrom took notice it was his time as the host to dance with his wife and Rebecca was already on it, taking his hand and guiding him to the center of the ballroom. God...he loves her. They were the image of harmony and love, everyone praised the couple. Even some folks who were single, were sighing around, wishing they have what the two are having right now. The two exchanged flirtatious words here and there, smiles and wishes to good time to everyone here. Seeing their children participating in dancing with both Hunter and Frederick, the two chuckled at the adorable scene. As the music died down, their final dance came to an end. The cheering and the clapping rained the ballroom before Chrom announced the feast is now on hold and the guests are free to move to the dinning hall.

All is good until Chrom noticed Rebecca sweating more than usual. “B, are you okay?” he whispered but at first, she shook her head saying it was alright. But as time progressed, she definitely did not look good. When she got up, Chrom quickly pushed his chair to stand by her side but he didn’t manage to catch her when she fell because it happened so fast. Crouching to pick her up, Chrom panicked seeing her in pain, “Rebecca! Rebecca!! What’s wrong!?” Hunter instructed Chrom to see for the kids quickly while he looked at what is wrong with Rebecca. “R-right... please...” his voice was shaky.

Gathering the children around him, the knights had already secured the exists and Frederick had sent a word to lock down the kitchen and prevent anyone from leaving, or even tossing out any food.

“It’s going to be okay...it will be... Mommy will be fine,” he had to wrap an arm around Lucina to stop her from wriggling out of his hold to run to her mother. Thomas yelled and thrashed to go to her and Maria dropped crying while Chloe was in shock she stood there staring. Maribelle and Lissa quickly came to move the children away, leaving Chrom fighting the urge to draw his blade and head to the kitchen to question whoever was there for answers.

When Rebecca breathing stabled, Chrom pushed his ill thoughts aside and ran to sit beside her. “Rebecca...Becca...honey ... I’m here. It’s alright...You’ll be alright...I promise.” the king glanced back at hunter, he tapped his shoulder and said, “I’ll leave her in your care ... “ Hunter could see there were no light in his eyes. The look of a man who is ready to slaughter everyone in the room if he was ticked off now.

“Everyone, I apologize for what transpired right now. The Queen is alright now. I beg your pardon to excuse me. Please, follow what Frederick instruct. I apologize again. If you will excuse me ...” turning on his heels, he existed the room and went down the hall to the kitchen.

Someone will tell him what happened.

#pieman1112 #𝐂hromx𝐑ebecca.⚔no matter how different our worlds are what binds us is real⚔ (❤pieman1112)#⚔verse.⚔ (the sky travelers)#⚔ic.⚔ (let my action prove my worth)#[ehehehehehehehe #[u evil.

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homosexuhauls · 3 years

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15 JUNE, 2021 by Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie

IT IS OBSCENE: A TRUE REFLECTION IN THREE PARTS

PART ONE

When you are a public figure, people will write and say false things about you. It comes with the territory. Many of those things you brush aside. Many you ignore. The people close to you advise you that silence is best. And it often is. Sometimes, though, silence makes a lie begin to take on the shimmer of truth.

In this age of social media, where a story travels the world in minutes, silence sometimes means that other people can hijack your story and soon, their false version becomes the defining story about you.

Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it, as Jonathan Swift wrote.

Take the case of a young woman who attended my Lagos writing workshop some years ago; she stood out because she was bright and interested in feminism.

After the workshop, I welcomed her into my life. I very rarely do this, because my past experiences with young Nigerians left me wary of people who are calculating and insincere and want to use me only as an opportunity. But she was a Bright Young Nigerian Feminist and I thought that was worth making an exception.

She spent time in my Lagos home. We had long conversations. I was support-giver, counsellor, comforter.

Then I gave an interview in March 2017 in which I said that a trans woman is a trans woman, (the larger point of which was to say that we should be able to acknowledge difference while being fully inclusive, that in fact the whole premise of inclusiveness is difference.)

I was told she went on social media and insulted me.

This woman knows me enough to know that I fully support the rights of trans people and all marginalized people. That I have always been fiercely supportive of difference, in general. And that I am a person who reads and thinks and forms my opinions in a carefully considered way.

Of course she could very well have had concerns with the interview. That is fair enough. But I had a personal relationship with her. She could have emailed or called or texted me. Instead she went on social media to put on a public performance.

I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. But I mostly held myself responsible. My spirit had been slightly stalled, from the beginning, by her. My first sense of unease with her came when she posted a photo taken in my house, at a time when I did not want any photos of my personal life on social media. I asked that she take it down. The second case of unease was her publicizing something I had told her in confidence about another member of the workshop. The most upsetting was when she, without telling me, used my name to apply for an American visa. Above all else was my lingering suspicion that she was a person who chose as friends only those from whom she could benefit. But she was a Bright Young Nigerian Feminist and I allowed that sentiment to over-ride my unease.

After she publicly insulted me, it was clear to me that this kind of noxious person had no business in my life, ever again.

A few months later, she sent this affected, self-regarding email which I ignored.

Friday September 15 2017 at 4.35 AM

Dearest Chimamanda,

Happy birthday. I mean this with all my heart, even though I know I have fallen (removed myself?) from your grace. It would be impossible for me to stop loving you; long before you gave me the possibility of being your friend you were the embodiment of my deepest hopes, and that will never change.

I think of you often, still – stating the obvious. I grieve the loss of our friendship; it is a complicated sadness. I’m sorry that I caused you pain, or to feel like you can no longer trust me. There’s so much that I wish could be said.

I pray this birthday is the happiest one yet. I wish you rest and quiet and abiding stability, and of course more of the kind of success that means the most to you.

I hope mothering X is everything you hoped and prayed for and more.

Have a wonderful day today.

Love always.

About a year later, she sent this email, which I also ignored.

Thursday November 29 2018 at 8.42 AM

Dear Chimamanda,

I realise this is long overdue and vastly insufficient, but I’m really sorry. I’ve spent so much time going back and forth in my head and my email drafts; wondering whether to write you, how to write you, what to say, all kinds of things. But in the end, this is the thing I realise I need to say.

I’m sorry I disappointed and hurt you by saying things publicly that were sharply critical, unkind and even disrespectful, especially in light of all the backlash and criticism you experience from people who don’t know you. I could have acted with more consideration towards you. I should have, especially given the privilege of intimacy that you had offered me. There are many reasons why I chose to behave the way I did, but none of them is an excuse. And I clearly realise now, after many, many months of needless sadness and angst and hurt and actual confusion, that I did not treat you as a friend would—certainly not as someone would to whom you had offered unprecedented access to yourself and your life.

You’ve meant the world to me since I was barely a teenager. It’s been very hard navigating the emotional fallout of the past several months, knowing you were displeased with me but truly not quite understanding why, then deciding I didn’t care, then realising that would never be true. I’ve always cared. But I was too mixed up about the situation to be able to make sense of it, or properly see past my own justifications. I’m sorry it took me so long to grasp how I let you down.

I realise that I don’t have room to ask anything of you, but I would be grateful for a chance to say this in person. Still, even if I never get that, I really hope you believe me.

Congratulations on restarting the workshop, and on all the other amazing successes of the past several months. I think of you often; it would be impossible not to. You look so happy in your pictures. I really hope you are well.

All my love,

I hoped never to hear from her again. But she has recently gone on social media to write about how she “refused to kiss my ring,” as if I demanded some kind of obeisance from her. She also suggests that there is some dark, shadowy ‘more’ to tell that she won’t tell, with an undertone of “if only you knew the whole story.”

It is a manipulative way of lying. By suggesting there is ‘more’ when you know very well that there isn’t, you do sufficient reputational damage while also being able to plead deniability. Innuendo without fact is immoral.

No, there isn’t more to the story. It is a simple story – you got close to a famous person, you publicly insulted the famous person to aggrandize yourself, the famous person cut you off, you sent emails and texts that were ignored, and you then decided to go on social media to peddle falsehoods. It is obscene to tell the world that you refused to kiss a ring when in fact there isn’t any ring at all.

I cannot make much of the hostility of strangers who do not know me – fame taints our view of the humanity of famous people. But the truth is that the famous person remains irretrievably human. Fame does not inoculate the famous person from disappointment and depression, fame does not make you any less angered or hurt by the duplicitous nature of people. To be famous is to be assumed to have power, which is true, but in the analysis of fame, people often ignore the vulnerability that comes with fame, and they are unable to see how others who have nothing to lose can lie and connive in order to take advantage of that fame, while not giving a single thought to the feelings and humanity of the famous person.

And when you personally know a famous person, when you have experienced their humanity, when you have benefited from their kindness, and yet you are unable to extend to them the basic grace and respect that even a casual acquaintanceship deserves, then it says something fundamental about you.

And in a deluded way, you will convince yourself that your hypocritical, self-regarding, compassion-free behavior is in fact principled feminism. It isn’t. You will wrap your mediocre malice in the false gauziness of ideological purity. But it’s still malice. You will tell yourself that being able to parrot the latest American Feminist orthodoxy justifies your hacking at the spirit of a person who had shown you only kindness. You can call your opportunism by any name, but it doesn’t make it any less of the ugly opportunism that it is.

PART TWO

When I first read this person’s work, which was their application to my writing workshop, I thought the sentences were well-done. I accepted this person. At the workshop, I thought they could have been more respectful of the other participants, perhaps not kept typing dismissively as others’ stories were discussed, with an air of being among people below their level. After the workshop, I decided to select the best stories, edit them, pay the writers a fee, and publish them in an e-magazine. The first story I chose was this person’s. I wrote a glowing introduction, which the story truly deserved.

They sent this email.

Fri, Aug 7, 2015, 8:20 AM

Thank you so much for that introduction. It means so much to me and I’m going to keep reading it to get through the rest of my stay at Syracuse. I sent it to my mother and she got nervous about the piece because you said ‘it disturbs’, said she’s not sure how she’s going to feel when she reads it. But she’s also one of those ‘let’s leave the past in the past’ people. My sister approved, which meant a lot because our childhoods were each other’s.

All that to say, I’m so grateful you gave me the space to write the short version of this piece, the encouragement to write the longer piece, and now, a platform for it. I definitely have plans to write more about Aba.

Thank you, with all my heart.

PS- I wanted to sign off gratefully + gracefully in Igbo but I said let me not fall my own hand 🙂

About a year later, they sent another email to let me know that their novel would be published.

Wed, Jun 8, 2016, 8:20 AM

Greetings!

I hope all’s been well with you this past year. Belated congratulations on the baby’s arrival, I hope she’s being a delight (I’m sure she is), and on the Johns Hopkins honors.

I was thinking about how this time last year, I’d just received the email from you about Farafina and I wanted to reach out with a quick update. I’ve just accepted an offer for the novel I excerpted as my application and it feels like the workshop was a catalyst for the events that’ve led me here. So, thank you, for the workshop and your words and the Olisa TV series and listening to me babble on about my story at the hotel. I deeply appreciate all of it and you.

All my best,

Before the novel was published, I spoke of it to some people, to help it get attention. I had not been able to finish reading it. I found the writing beautiful, but the story false-hearted and burdened by bathos. When I spoke of the novel, however, it was the former sentiment that I expressed, never the latter.

After I gave the March 2017 interview in which I said that a trans woman is a trans woman, I was told that this person had insulted me on social media, calling me, among other things, a murderer. I was deeply upset, because while I did not really know them personally, I felt they knew what I stood for and that I fully supported the rights of trans people, and that I do not wish anybody dead.

Still, I took no action. I ignored the public insult.

When this person’s publishers sent me an early copy of their novel, I was surprised to see that my name was included in their cover biography. I had never seen that done in a book before. I didn’t like that I had not been asked for permission to use my name, but most of all I thought – why would a person who thinks I’m a murderer want my name so prominently displayed in their biography?

Then I learned that, because my name was in the cover biography, a journalist had called them my “protegee” and they then threw a Twitter tantrum about it, calling it clickbait, viciously disavowing having received any help from me.

I knew this person had called me a murderer, I knew they were actively campaigning to “cancel” me and tweeting about how I should no longer be invited to speak at events. But this I felt I could not ignore.

I sent an email to my representative:

From: Chimamanda Adichie

Date: Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 2:06 PM

I’m writing about X

She attended my Lagos workshop two years ago and I selected hers as one of a few pieces I published after the workshop.

Apparently I was referred to as her ‘mentor’ and/or she was referred to as my ‘protege,’ in some articles, which led to her tweeting about it. Her tweets were forwarded to me by friends. In them, she reacted quite viscerally to my being called her ‘mentor’ and her being my ‘protege.’ To be fair, she is not technically my ‘protege,’ and it is perfectly fine that she feels this way, but her ungracious tone and the ugliness of the energy spent on her tweets surprised me.

I recently received her book and noticed that my name was included in her official book bio. I was stunned. Surely if she is so strongly averse to my being considered a person who has been significant in her career, (which is my understanding of the loose use of protege/mentor) then it is unseemly to make the choice to include my name in her bio. I found it unusual, as I don’t think I’ve seen it done before in a book bio, but I also now find it unacceptably cynical.

It is only reasonable for a person who sees my name as it is used in her bio — ‘her work has been selected and edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’ — to assume some sort of mentor/protege relationship.

To publicly disavow this with a tone bordering on hostility and at the same time so baldly use my name to sell her book is utterly unacceptable to me.

I’d like you to please reach out to her publishers and ask that my name be removed from her official book bio. I refuse to be used in this way.

After contacting her publishers, my representative wrote:

They have asked whether your preference would be to remove the Acknowledgment to you in the back of the book also, in future reprints.

I replied:

I don’t think that is my decision to take, and so will not answer either way, although it would be ideal if she herself made the decision to do so.

On the subject of how to go about it, I was absolutely determined not to be used by this person, but I was also sensitive to the costs the publisher might incur, as this was not in any way the publisher’s fault. Instead of pulping the already printed copies, I asked that the jackets be stripped and rebound. To my representative I wrote:

I’m completely determined that I not be used in this opportunistic and hypocritical way. But I want to make sure to proceed reasonably.

I was assured that my name would be removed and I moved on.

But from time to time, I would be informed of yet another social media post in which this person had attacked me.

This person has created a space in which social media followers have – and this I find unforgiveable – trivialized my parents’ death, claiming that the sudden and devastating loss of my parents within months of each other during this pandemic, was ‘punishment’ for my ‘transphobia.’

This person has asked followers to pick up machetes and attack me.

This person began a narrative that I had sabotaged their career, a narrative that has been picked up and repeated by others.

The normal response would be to ignore it all, because this person is seeking attention and publicity to benefit themselves. Claiming that I have sabotaged their career is a lie and this person knows that it is a lie. But if something is repeated often enough, in this age in which people do not need proof or verification to run with a story, especially a story that has outrage potential, then it can easily begin to seem true.

My addressing this lie will indeed get this person some attention – may they bask in it.

Here is the truth: I was very supportive of this writer. I didn’t have to be. I wasn’t asked to be. I supported this writer because I believe we need a diverse range of African stories.

Sabotaging a young writer’s career is just not my style; I would get no benefit or satisfaction from it. Asking that my name be removed from your biography is not sabotaging your career. It is about protecting my boundaries of what I consider acceptable in civil human behavior.

You publicly call me a murderer AND still feel entitled to benefit from my name?

You use my name (without my permission) to sell your book AND then throw an ugly tantrum when someone makes a reference to it?

What kind of monstrous entitlement, what kind of perverse self-absorption, what utter lack of self-awareness, what unheeding heartlessness, what frightening immaturity makes a person act this way?

Besides, a person who genuinely believes me to be a murderer cannot possibly want my name on their book cover, unless of course that person is a rank opportunist.

PART THREE

In certain young people today like these two from my writing workshop, I notice what I find increasingly troubling: a cold-blooded grasping, a hunger to take and take and take, but never give; a massive sense of entitlement; an inability to show gratitude; an ease with dishonesty and pretension and selfishness that is couched in the language of self-care; an expectation always to be helped and rewarded no matter whether deserving or not; language that is slick and sleek but with little emotional intelligence; an astonishing level of self-absorption; an unrealistic expectation of puritanism from others; an over-inflated sense of ability, or of talent where there is any at all; an inability to apologize, truly and fully, without justifications; a passionate performance of virtue that is well executed in the public space of Twitter but not in the intimate space of friendship.

I find it obscene.

There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion, who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness. People whose social media lives are case studies in emotional aridity. People for whom friendship, and its expectations of loyalty and compassion and support, no longer matter. People who claim to love literature – the messy stories of our humanity – but are also monomaniacally obsessed with whatever is the prevailing ideological orthodoxy. People who demand that you denounce your friends for flimsy reasons in order to remain a member of the chosen puritan class.

People who ask you to ‘educate’ yourself while not having actually read any books themselves, while not being able to intelligently defend their own ideological positions, because by ‘educate,’ they actually mean ‘parrot what I say, flatten all nuance, wish away complexity.’

People who do not recognize that what they call a sophisticated take is really a simplistic mix of abstraction and orthodoxy – sophistication in this case being a showing-off of how au fait they are on the current version of ideological orthodoxy.

People who wield the words ‘violence’ and ‘weaponize’ like tarnished pitchforks. People who depend on obfuscation, who have no compassion for anybody genuinely curious or confused. Ask them a question and you are told that the answer is to repeat a mantra. Ask again for clarity and be accused of violence. (How ironic, speaking of violence, that it is one of these two who encouraged Twitter followers to pick up machetes and attack me.)

And so we have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow.

I have spoken to young people who tell me they are terrified to tweet anything, that they read and re-read their tweets because they fear they will be attacked by their own. The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene.

#chimamanda ngozi adichie #femimism #nigerian feminism #radfem safe #gender critical #radical feminism #cancel culture #forgot the link oops

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sellyoursoulforagoodfic · 3 years

Text

Fated Epilogue

Epilogue

Ares x reader

Word Count: 2041

Summary: Time skip to Zag running around trying to fix everything; then he gets a weird message from Ares.

The affair known to most of the Underworld’s population as The Confusion of Zagreus started as most things in his life did, on a run through the place as he tested the defenses against an escaping entity for what felt like the thousandth time. He’d had Ares’ vial with him, so naturally he’d gotten a fair few of the war god’s boons. Nothing too unusual, right? That’s what he thought right up until Ares said the most curious thing.

“When next you see Thanatos, tell him that his sister wants him to visit more.”

Sister? Zagreus wondered. Than doesn’t speak to his . . . Wait, Nemesis . . . But why would Lord Ares have messages from her?

When he mentioned it to his lover, Thanatos just chuckled. “I suppose it has been a while since I last saw her,” was all he had to say on the matter.

And that set the trend that continued for a while. He’d get a message from Ares to Than, pass it on, and get some cryptic non-answer in return. It was absolutely maddening. Even when he asked others, all they had to say was that it wasn’t any of his business, which was fair, but that didn’t aid his curiosity.

Finally, all that started changing when he managed to squeeze a drop of information out of Than when he asked, “So why does Ares see your sister more than you?” while they were dining together one evening.

And without really thinking, Death Incarnate reflexively replied, “Because she lives with him in Thrace instead of here.” Of course, immediately after that, Thanatos realized what he’d just admitted and promptly clammed up, but it was something at least.

Then Demeter let slip something else in one of her messages after he’d accepted several of Ares’ boons yet again. “Ares is aiding you when you get injured, is he? I’d be surprised if Nemesis didn’t have a hand in that sort of attack.”

And that set him thinking. Revenge was her area of expertise, after all. And many of Ares’ such boons were noticeably more powerful in dealing direct damage instead of causing various other effects. Could Than’s sister have been indirectly aiding him through Ares all this time?

Then came another piece of knowledge, this one from his mother upon inquiring why Thanatos and Lord Ares seemed to be so close.

“Well War and Death were always bound to meet frequently just from their natures, I suppose, but it could also have been because of that mess where he saved poor Thanatos from being chained in a box. I’d wager that was a big help to making their friendship grow.” Before he could ask just what that was about, she continued, “Though it could have also started back when Lord Ares almost passed away, too. I remember Thanatos being quite concerned for both him and Nemesis during all that.”

“What do you mean Lord Ares almost died? He’s an Olympian!”

“He is, but the day Hermes found him was a day that stoked fear in the heart of every Olympian,” Persephone said gravely. “They all worried about Ares’ fate despite how they regularly ridicule the man, because if he could die that meant any of them could.”

Zagreus suddenly found his mouth extremely dry and couldn’t form a response.

“Yes, that was definitely the start of their friendship now that I think on it. It was very kind of Thanatos to linger without threatening the poor dears. From what I heard, he was very calm during the whole affair even in the face of such shocking news.”

“Yes, I suppose learning even the great Olympians might die would be quite dramatic,” he murmured, shoulders sagging.

“No, that’s not--ah! You don’t know, do you?”

He perked back up. “Know what, Mother?” he prompted innocently.

She smiled kindly as she patted his forearm. “It’s not my place to tell you if they haven’t already; I’d forgotten how much they value their privacy when they can get it.”

Who is ‘they’? Zagreus wanted to scream while yanking his hair out. Thanatos and his sister? Her and Ares? Thanatos and Ares?? But he didn’t. Instead, he just smiled stiffly and nodded.

It wasn’t until he managed to broker a peace between the Chthonic gods and the Olympians that he finally got answers.

There was a party you were supposed to be preparing for, but you were having a hard time working up the gumption to move from your current position. Because of said celebration, you and your husband--how you’d never tire of calling him that--had arranged your schedules so that they aligned, which of course was the reason you found yourself lying in bed perpendicular to the man, using one arm as a pillow under your head on his chest while the other hand played with his hair.

His gleaming red eyes flicked over to the open, brightly illuminated window where sheer white curtains swayed softly in the breeze. “We really should be dressing; I have a feeling your brother-in-law wants to meet us sooner rather than later.”

“Yes, but it’s so rare that we get time like this to ourselves.”

His hand found the one you’d been carding through his hair and brought it to his lips to kiss. “You and I have an eternity full of moments like this ahead of us; we can spare an evening for the boy.”

You huffed dramatically. “Let it never be said that you’re not a man of your word.” A sigh left your lips, but still you pried yourself out of bed without further complaint. “Are we doing full regalia or casual?” When there was no answer, you glanced back to see that he was transfixed by the sight of your naked form heading towards the shared closet. “Ares!” you laughed, snapping his attention back to reality.

“Darling, I take it all back; you must come back to bed at once. There’s a rather pressing matter that needs your attention at once.”

Now, you rolled your eyes. “Well that pressing matter can wait until we return. Are we doing armor or not?”

From there, there were a lot of kisses, gropes, and laughter between that moment and being fully clothed--in light leather greaves and cloth chitons rather than the usual full armor, after all, Ares so hated to be unprotected or unarmed--but neither of you were really complaining.

“Boys!” Ares called down the hallway with you tucked under his arm.

Two heads of wild silver hair just like their father’s appeared from the same doorway. “Yes, Father?” they chorused.

“We’re leaving. I trust you can manage things until our return?”

“Of course, Father.” And then they were gone from sight, their snickering still echoing in their absence.

Ares chuckled as he shook his head. “Little terrors, the both of them.”

Though they weren’t yours, you’d grown to love both of the twins the moment you met them. With Aphrodite being so absent in their lives, you’d taken up the role of ‘mother figure’ quickly, and the two were practically your own by now. “Well, to be fair, one of them is Panic.”

You were unsurprised at the Olympian turnout at the party; most arrived near the time when you did, but none stayed particularly long. As fond as they were of Zagreus in theory, their detest of the Underworld would always be greater. Only Ares and Demeter attended from the mountain and stayed past the pleasantries and feast. Otherwise, it was entirely the subjects of the House of Hades that were present. Fortunately, they seemed to be enjoying themselves nonetheless judging from the way Meg and Dusa had quickly roped you and Ares into conversation.

Zagreus hadn’t seemed to notice your arrival yet--too wrapped up in getting to know his mother and grandmother, you assumed--but you caught sight of Hades glaring at Ares every now and then. Every time you caught him, the harsh threat he’d delivered to Ares rang through your ears once more.

“Set foot outside this house, boy, and you shall find yourself in a fate worse than death.” Neither of you were surprised by the warning. He was, after all, still angry about the whole ‘bursting into the Underworld without permission to save Thanatos’ fiasco.

Eventually, you and Ares found yourselves alone for a moment once Achilles and Patroclus excused themselves. You tugged the glass from his fingers to steal a sip of his ambrosia, something that’d been quite hard to find the last time you’d visited. You didn’t want a full glass, and Ares never complained about sharing.

He pressed a kiss to your temple, clearly worried about you partaking in a drink you’d never really managed to develop a taste for. “Are you alright?” he asked quietly. The drinking coupled with the knowledge of how much you hated being dragged to these things had likely set him on edge.

“I’m fine,” you assured him with a genuine smile. “These are my family, remember? Much nicer to be around than yours.”

“That’s quite true,” he murmured. No doubt, he was remembering when he and Aphrodite had been paraded around and humiliated as the entertainment at one of his family’s gatherings. His gaze flickered up as he noticed something before you did: Zagreus approaching at last. “And there’s the man of the hour!” he greeted warmly. It was hard to mistake the boy for any other given his attire was his family’s colors and the way he absolutely looked like a mix of his parents.

“Lord Ares!” Zag’s face was alight with happiness. “I’m glad you were able to make it; it’s an honor to meet you properly.” His eyes shifted to you. “You must be Than’s lovely sister I’ve heard very little about.”

You laughed lightly. You like this kid already. “I suppose that’s me, yes.”

“Frankly, I’m amazed I haven’t seen you around the House before now,” he probed curiously.

You decided to indulge him; it was a celebration in his honor after all. “I pop by to visit Mother and Hypnos from time to time, but I see Than enough that lingering isn’t worth it. I’ve gathered that you’re usually gone from the House as much as he is.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” he chuckled. “Makes sense you wouldn’t just lurk around when you put it like that.”

“Have to budget that precious time off somehow.””

“Plus, it’s sort of my fault that she resides in Thrace since I stole her all those years ago,” Ares teased.

“Stole her, sir?” Oh, how the poor boy looked so confused at those words. You were willing to bet his mind was just running back over Persephone’s situation and comparing it to yours.

Your brows furrowed. “Zag, has no one told you about Ares and I?”

“No!” his voice was laughing but had a manic edge to it. “Everyone keeps hinting at there being something going on with you two, but no one wants to clue me in! I’ve tried to respect your privacy by not asking directly, but it’s driving me crazy!”

“Oh, for Father’s sake.” Ares rolled his eyes. “I’m going to have a word with your brother about this,” he announced as he started pulling away from you.

“Wait! You’re not mad at Than are you?” Zagreus fretted. “Because I’d hate to cause strife between you because of my own curiosity, and--”

“Relax, Zag,” you soothed.

“Thanatos is the only being I would ever call my friend outside of her,” he gestured toward you. “I thought it went without saying that he didn’t have to keep secrets from you for my benefit, but apparently that isn’t the case. I’m simply going to tell him that. I’ll be right back, my darling.” With a kiss to your temple, he stalked over to where Than was loitering with his sleeping brother at the edge of the room.

When you looked back at Zagreus, he was staring at you absolutely slack-jawed, probably at Ares’ display of affection. “Blood and darkness, my Lady,” he managed to wheeze, “what is going on?”

You snorted a little, amused slightly by his turmoil. “Zagreus, Ares is my Fated. He’s my husband.”

His eyes went a little crossed as he realized it was just that simple. “Oh, is that all?!”

#ares x reader #ares imagine #ares hades imagine #ares hades x reader #reader insert #nemesis!au #hades imagine #hades game imagine #hades supergiant imagine

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wing-ed-thing · 3 years

Text

Click (Part VI: Kiba)

Synopsis: You invited everyone out to dinner. You also audibly clicked. People had opinions about this.

Word Count: 1,555

Warnings: Language, Fem!Reader

Part I: Shikamaru, Part II: Shino, Part III: Neji, Part IV: Rock Lee , Part V: Naruto, Part VI: Kiba, FINALE, The Message in Click

Notes: Next part is the Finale. Excited?

You wouldn’t want him doing what he was about to do, but Naruto, quite frankly, didn't care. He thought long and hard about what you said to him the previous night and wondered if he was about to betray your trust. After long deliberation, he decided that the answer would be a dubious ‘no’. Kiba had been easy to find. He stood out in the open near an open ally with the rest of Team Eight. Hinata barely had time to get out a skittish greeting before Naruto violently shoved Kiba up against the nearest wall by his collar. Akamaru barked, but as Naruto scowled, the ninja hound quickly backed off.

“Nart, what the hell?” Kiba cursed, grabbing onto Naruto’s unyielding grip.

“Why would you do such a thing to one of our comrades?” Naruto demanded through gritted teeth and Kiba let out a resigned sigh.

“Look, I didn’t know it was her birthday, okay?”

“So you know what you did wrong!” Naruto shoved him harder into the wall behind him causing Hinata to cry out. She moved forward to rush to her teammate’s defense, but Shino’s arm jutted out in front of her. Hinata looked up at the Aburame, but didn’t spare her a glance. “What kind of scumbag ruins someone’s birthday dinner?”

“I didn’t know, okay? I didn’t, I swear.” Kiba held his hands up at the sides of his head, but Naruto wasn’t convinced.

“So you’re telling me that you weren’t going around the village convincing people to come to Yakiniku instead of Shushu-ya? Quit the bull—”

“Okay, enough,” Kiba shoved Naruto away. The jinchūriki stumbled back, nose scrunched in anger. “She happened to invite people to Yakiniku and I happened to invite people to Shushu-ya on the same day. Sure. But when did I convince anyone to ditch her? Please, take a second to think about it. Ask anyone you want because I never even once said that.”

And Naruto did take a moment to think. Kiba was right. Kiba didn’t talk to Shikamaru about dinner at all. Shino missed where to meet you and followed Kiba. Even then, he left partway through. Neji and Hinata chose to come to Yakiniku. Naruto and Sakura forgot you even asked them. He might have talked excitedly about dinner, but never did he mention you. Kiba only gave a second option and Naruto could at least see that much sincerity in his eyes.

“So you didn’t even stop to think why everyone was confused about which restaurant to go to?”

“Well, of course I did!” Kiba exclaimed, throwing his head back in frustration. “But you’re talking like I forced people to come with me. I didn’t. People could’ve chosen to not come and some of them didn’t.” He gestured to Shino, who stood silently and onlooking. His attention turned to Hinata, who flushed and turned her attention away. “And some people decided to come to Shushu-ya.” Kiba turned to face Naruto fully again. “If memory serves me right, Naruto, you were one of the ones who chose to come.”

“I was in the wrong.” Naruto huffed, his hands clenching at his sides. “You made no effort to correct people.”

“It wasn’t my problem to do that. Maybe I was the pushier one. Sue me, I wanted people to go to dinner with me! I don’t see how that’s my problem.”

“You don’t see how it’s your problem that you played a part in ruining someone’s birthday.” Naruto crossed his arms, standing firm in his confrontation. Hinata kept her gaze towards the ground, wondering whether or not she should excuse herself.

“You know what?” Kiba growled, “Maybe I played a part in all of this, but don’t come at me talking like I’m the bad guy ‘cause I sure as hell wasn’t alone in whatever this shit turned into. Sure, I don’t like her, but don’t act like you have all the information because you don’t.”

Kiba turned on his heel. Hinata and Shino parted, stepping to the side as their teammate stormed away. Akamaru followed his trainer.

***

For the second day in a row, a loud pounding came at your door. You answered it with a certain amount of perplexity, not used to having so many visitors. As soon as the door opened, Kiba let himself in. He huffed, marching into your studio apartment as you quickly dodged out the way of his determined path. Akamaru followed with his head low, sparing you a glance as apologetic as a dog could muster. You blinked and scrunched your brow.

“They let you take him up here—?”

“I’m not out to get you!” Kiba plopped down at your little table in the same spot that Naruto had sat the night before. You sighed and closed the door. Akamaru curled up around Kiba’s ankles. “I swear people think I’m wringing my hands in the dark thinking about the best way I can be an asshole.”

“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”

“Well what have you been telling people?” Kiba snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. Your lips formed a thin line. You silently asked yourself when it became your job to play therapist for confused shinobi to air out their grievances to, but you couldn’t help but feel a tug at your compassionate side. You could kick him out any time he started to get ornery.

“Kiba, I’m open to having a conversation with you, but you’re the one who let yourself into my home. You can either talk to me with respect or you can leave.” You stood, feeling more comfortable standing a few feet away in the kitchenette. He sat silently at your table, looking downward and radiating an air of irritation. His hand came to his temple as he let out another huff.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He yielded and his forearm fell lightly down to the hand surface under his elbow. Kiba threw his head back and you finally came to sit across from him. The atmosphere felt familiar to you. Silence. He wanted to talk, so you waited for him to speak. Kiba opened his mouth before closing it. He looked to the side, letting his tongue dart out over the edge of his lip. “I didn’t know it was your birthday, okay?” He dragged a thumb over his chin.

“I didn’t know it was yours either.” Kiba’s eyes shot up to meet yours.

“So we can agree that we felt somewhat the same.” You let out a slight chuckle, sitting back in your seat.

“That depends.”

“‘Cause I thought that you were just inviting people out like usual. I didn’t think twice ‘cause,” Kiba fiddled with the edge of his shirt. “I just wanted people to spend time with me. And now I have people coming at me—”

“I didn’t even know that you were inviting people until later. And even then, I wouldn’t let Shikamaru or Shino tell me any details. I didn’t want to know, so no kinda confession needed here.” You narrowed your eyes slightly. “You got that sorted out? I’d hate for Team Eight to be fighting. I didn’t want to butt in.”

“Yeah, it’s as sorted as I could make it,” Kiba nodded, “It was a misunderstanding but I don’t think that Shino really believes me.” He glared at you from the corner of his eye. “Why do you care?”

“You’re my comrade and so is Shino.”

Kiba leaned, both elbows folded on the table. He stared you sternly in the eye, teeth slightly clenched.

“You know that this doesn’t make us friends, right?” He questioned, gesturing to the space between you. You sat still, hands folded in your lap.

“I assumed. You’ve made your opinion of me very clear,” You admitted with a shrug. “It would be nice if we could get along but let’s be real, you’re not obligated to like me.”

“Or you me.”

“That’s true,” You nodded your head a few times, “I never said that I didn’t and I likely never would even if I did feel that way.” More silence. Kiba made no effort to rise from his seat. He stayed, pouting. Akamaru shifted underneath the table, his tail swishing across the floor. If you had had more important things to do, you wouldn’t have remained as patient as you did.

“I’m sorry if I, uh, if you were upset,” Kiba finally opted. “Uh, I guess I took advantage of the confusion. And I’m sorry if you heard about some of the things I said.” You could poke holes in that apology all day, but you knew that this would be the best you would hear. You stood.

“I accept your apology,” You said, making your way to the door. Kiba scrunched his forehead. You chose those words very carefully, but he still didn’t know they actually meant. You opened the door, turning to face him. “Are we done here?”

“So you believe me, that it was all a misunderstanding.” Kiba rose from his chair, palms on the table. You looked to the side with a sigh.

“I’d like to, and we’ll get there. I accepted your apology,” You hesitated. “I like to believe that people have good intentions. You always have a teammate here.” You opened the door a bit wider and Kiba saw himself out.

Notes: It would’ve been too easy to make Kiba a villain. Let’s be honest, seldom do people who hurt us go out of their way to target us. Sometimes anger comes out of misunderstanding. Sometimes people who are on our side make things worse. No one’s wringing their hands in the dark and acknowledging that maybe their actions may create a bigger issue. Be aware of others. Be honest with yourself.

Thank you to everyone who liked, reblogged, and followed. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

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chenziee · 3 years

Text

At the bottom of the sea, chapter 1

I asked before how many Lawlu outsider POV fics are too many and then didn’t wait for an answer. Sorry, Kid, but you knew your turn would come eventually :)

Summary: Kid never would have believed there was a person crazy enough to actually mate with Straw Hat Luffy, the biggest, most selfish idiot on the seas. But seeing as the mating mark on said idiot's neck was very real, Kid had only one question:Who the hell is Torao?

[READ ON AO3 or below the cut]

Part 3 of Until We Drown verse

[Part 1 | Part 2]

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When Kid had first noticed the scar on Straw Hat's neck, he had assumed it was simply yet another injury from his fight with Kaido. After all, when they had first tossed him in the cell with him, he was covered head to toe in bandages, the blood still seeping through in several places. It wouldn't have been so weird for him to have a wound or twenty still visible a week later.

But when all his other injuries disappeared only a few days later, leaving behind the one single, comparatively minor scar, Kid couldn’t stop wondering about it.

Every time the reddish patch of skin caught his attention, his eyes would linger on it, trying to figure out just why. Was it poison? Something to prevent the skin from mending fully? He’d really rather know if there was someone with a power like that among the Beast Pirates before he went back to kick Kaido’s ass. Would make recovery a real bitch.

It didn’t seem to bother Straw Hat much, if at all, however. Most of the time, he went on on his infuriating way of picking fights with Kid over the smallest things as if nothing was wrong so Kid supposed it was nothing for him to lose sleep over.

Yet, there was something that didn’t let Kid completely forget about it. Every single day in the evening, when all the prisoners were sent back to their cells and there was nothing to do, Straw Hat would inevitably end up with his hand on his neck, tracing the scar with his fingers with a complicated expression on his face. Kid would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious as hell.

But he’d be damned if he actually asked so he simply resorted to showing slight concern over his rival's injury. Meaning, he teased Straw Hat mercilessly, riling him up as much as he could during their little competitions.

What could he say, the kid was infuriating and it wasn’t like he didn’t do the same thing to him.

Kid couldn’t wait for the day Kaido was out of the way, so he would be able to fucking show Straw Hat who was stonger, faster, better, and teach him and everyone else that a missing arm was nothing; not with Kid’s power and his crew by his side. But currently, the Emperor was the thing on the very top of Kid’s shit list so Straw Hat was safe. For now.

Unless his stupid charity would get him before Kid could. That would be a damn shame.

Kid rolled his eyes as he watched Straw Hat give a bunch of his meal tickets to the tiny, withered old man again. Seriously, what was Straw Hat’s deal? Did he not get the memo that pirates did not do charity? It was kill or be killed, in labour camps especially.

But Straw Hat didn’t seem to care how much of a joke he was as a pirate. And obviously, neither did the old man.

“Thank you once again, Straw Hat man,” the old man said, accepting the tickets gratefully.

Straw Hat grinned. “Don’t worry about it, gramps. I’ll get lots more.” As if to prove his point, Straw Hat flexed his arm, causing Kid to roll his eyes once more.

But not before taking note of how many tickets Straw Hat had in his hands and how many he gave to the old man, and comparing them to the amount he himself had amassed during the day. Kid smirked. He was pretty confident he won. Just as he did every day.

"Are they okay?" the old man asked then, voice full of concern.

"What?" Straw Hat sounded painfully confused as he replied.

The old man huffed, gesturing to where Straw Hat was once more absent-mindedly massaging his neck. "Your mate. You keep touching your mark. Are they okay?"

Kid did a double take.

Straw Hat. A mate. Straw Hat had a mate. That was what the weird scar on his neck was.

He mentally berated himself for not realizing sooner but honestly, who would ever look at Straw Hat and think, ‘Oh yeah, he's mated.’ No one sane, that's for damn sure.

"Oh," Straw Hat uttered simply before going silent for a moment again. But then his face split in that idiotic, bright grin again. "It’s just itchy. It’s fine, Torao’s strong.”

The old man didn’t look convinced but it was obvious he didn’t want to push it either. It took only a second for him to sigh, shake his head, and change the subject. Probably because he knew that even if there was something wrong with this ‘Torao,’ there was nothing Straw Hat—or anyone else in this goddamned prisoner mine—could do about it.

If Kid cared about his problems at all, he’d say it was a good thing Straw Hat was such an air headed moron. If he had any more brain cells in that head of his, he’d probably go crazy in here, literally climbing walls, trying to get to his mate. This blind trust he seemed to have in people was saving him a lot of energy—while sadly robbing Kid of entertainment. It would have been pretty damn funny watch, whether it be Straw Hat losing his mind, or the guards losing their minds over Straw Hat going on a rampage but oh well.

He’d have to make do with their little fights.

Kid did have to wonder what kind of person this Torao was, however. He didn't recall anyone called that on Straw Hat’s crew, nor did he know of anyone else by that name. Kid wanted to meet them, see what kind of person was stupid enough to bond with Straw Hat of all people; willing to deal with his insufferable idiocy and selfishness for the rest of their lives. At the very least, he'd have liked to give them his condolences.

He was… intrigued by this development. But he wasn't desperate enough for answers to actively eavesdrop, and definitely not enough to ask.

He'd rather stay locked in this damned labour camp than do that.

But seriously, he had better things to worry about—his escape for one, then it was looking for Killer and the rest of his crew. Then it was off to beat up Kaido.

And if he knew anything about Straw Hat, he wasn't about to stick around the mine much longer either. Then he'd pick up his cozy little alliance with Trafalgar Law of all people and go after Kaido, same as Kid. So, if this mate of his was in Wano, Kid was sure it was only a matter of time before he met them for himself.

Kid hoped they wouldn’t cry once he had Straw Hat beaten. He hated it when people cried. It was so very annoying.

No, Killer, it wasn’t because seeing people cry made him want to cry, too.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the image of Killer giving him his best unimpressed look, Kid got up from the dusty ground, shooting one last glance at Straw Hat before he walked away. Having a mate didn’t matter in the end at all. What mattered was strength, power, loyalty, and only trusting the people closest to you.

Everyone else could get fucked. Especially your ‘allies.’ He was sure Straw Hat would learn that the hard way with Trafalgar, just as Kid had with Hawkins and fucking Scratchmen. Straw Hat could only hope that mistake didn’t cost him his mate, the most obvious weak spot.

Kid, for one, was done risking his partner. Done with alliances.

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That was what he had thought at least but of course Killer had to be the voice of reason and insist that if they were to go against Kaido, they'd better wait to join in the large-scale raid the Straw Hats had planned. Or that Trafalgar had planned, more likely. It was stupid and Kid din't want to get involved in anything where those two played a part but he could never win against his first mate and Killer knew it. Asshole.

"So you showed up after all, Jaggy?!" Straw Hat called, sounding way too happy and excited considering the situation.

"Like I'd let you have the glory for taking down Kaido!" Kid shouted back, clicking his tongue in distaste at the very notion.

Just then, someone from the Straw Hat ship spoke up, tone a mix of relief and exasperation, "Luffy, look, Torao's here! You can stop fidgeting now!"

At that, Straw Hat whipped around, making a full circle and looking like an idiot as he searched for something through the heavy storm. The 'Torao', most likely. The mate.

Kid had nearly forgotten about that. But now that the person was there themselves, his previous curiosity came back. Instead of focusing on the enemy ships ahead, he continued watching his fellow captain as he took off to run to the other end of the ship, no doubt to get a better view of the sea in the back. Kid winced when after only a two steps, Roronoa grabbed Straw Hat's collar, making the rubber man's head jerk forward from the momentum, going further from his shoulders than should be humanly possible.

Seriously, Straw Hat and his weird powers.

Shaking his head, Kid focused back on where Roronoa was dragging his own captain towards the side of the ship, pointing him towards something below, in the water. Kid's eyes inadvertently followed in the direction as well until they found Trafalgar's submarine with the pathetic samurai boat perched on top. Was this Torao one of the samurai? Would explain why Kid had never heard of them.

"TORAO! HI!" Straw Hat screamed immediately, waving his hands widely to get the person's attention.

The crashing waves and heavy rain were his only response but Straw Hat didn't seem dettered in the least. Instead, his screaming continued, "Where were you?! I was looking for you but your friends refused to say!"

"Focus on the mission, Straw Hat-ya!" Trafalgar finally snapped with annoyance.

Probably not what or whom Straw Hat wanted to hear but on the other hand, Kid was glad Trafgar hadn't gone completely crazy yet. Even though Kid had to admit he didn't have much room to talk with picking allies, he had his doubts about Trafalgar’s sanity from the moment he heard he had allied with Straw Hat of all people.

Not to mention how long the two had been working together at this point. If Trafalgar wasn't insane before, he had to be by now by association alone. But it was comforting to know he still had it in himself to rein the biggest idiot on the entire Grand Line in.

“Also I’d hate to rub salt in the wound, but today’s banquet will celebrate the official alliance between the Beast Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates!” At the taunting remark from one of the Beast pirates, Kid whipped around, immediately forgetting about Trafalgar, Straw Hat, and the mystery mate.

“Big Mom and Kaido?!!” You’ve got to be kidding. Just one of them was bad enough, an alliance between two Emperors just as they were getting ready to attack was nothing but bad news. Not like it would change the result, Kid was going to beat them both regardless, but it was complicating matters considerably.

“In the name of Emperor Kaido, get this over with and sink them!”

Kid rolled his eyes at how confident these small fries were just because they had Kaido and Big Mom backing them up. As if they would save them from getting beaten up from all the way over at Onigashima.

Raising his fists, flesh and metal, he aimed at the enemy ship, readying himself to haul himself over to show his idiot ‘allies’ how it’s done.

“Why are these underlings getting so cocky!! They’re looking down on us, stand back!!!”

“Idiot, you’re the one who should stand back!!”

Oh no, you don’t, Kid thought. “Don’t get in my way!!!”

----------

“Torao! That power's cheating!”

“Oh, Torao, where did you go?”

“Torao, move the samurai below!”

“Torao, did you guys beat Big Mom?!”

“To-ra-ooo!!”

Remembering all the times that Straw Hat had called his ‘Torao’ over the course of the night, Kid was almost embarrassed that it took him until now to connect the dots. In his defense, it was the heat of the battle and there were a lot bigger things to worry about than Straw Hat and Torao’s love life and honestly, Kid didn’t even really care in the first place. But he would have certainly appreciated a heads up before this.

Upon hearing that Straw Hat was finally awake after passing out from exhaustion, Killer had insisted that checking up on him was the least Kid should do. So, despite his better judgement, Kid had complied and really, this might have had just been the worst advice his first mate had ever given him and that was including the stupid alliance with Hawkins and Apoo.

As he stared with wide eyes at the scene before him, he suddenly understood why all the idiot friends of Straw Hat’s were scrambling off as if running from something, even going as far as dragging a protesting, confused son of Kaido away by force. Seriously, if Kid wasn’t rooted in place as he was, he, too, would have been running from the smell of possessive pheromones and the loopy, content grin on Straw Hat’s face while Trafalgar fucking Law had his face burried in the crook of his neck, his teeth sinking deep into the flesh where Straw Hat’s mating mark was.

Honestly, Kid would rather walk in on them fucking than… this.

“It’s okay, Torao. I’m fine,” Straw Hat said quietly, raising one shaky hand to weakly run his fingers through Trafalgar’s hair.

“When will you stop being so damn reckless? I swear one day I’ll kill you myself,” Trafalgar growled back after a moment, once he finally released his bite.

Straw Hat snickered. “Eh, better you than stupid Kaido.”

Trafalgar groaned in response, frustration with his mate obvious even while his head was still resting against Straw Hat’s shoulder. “Fuck you.”

“No thanks,” Straw Hat laughed, making Trafalgar click his tongue in annoyance.

“You know what I mean,” he snapped, making Straw Hat only laugh harder.

Kid wasn’t entirely sure what this last exchange meant but he sure as hell didn’t need or care to know. Finally breaking himself out of his stupor, he quickly slammed the sliding doors shut once more, then turned on his heel to leave as fast as he could.

As he stormed away, a few last words carried over to him from Straw Hat’s room.

“Jaggy just left,” Straw Hat noted off-handedly.

Trafalgar sighed in response. “Fucking finally.”

Assholes.

Kid all but ran outside then, heading straight for the nearest drinks table and grabbing for the first bottle of hard liquor he could find. He could only hope that would be enough to bleach his entire brain.

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himbo-kuto · 4 years

Text

i saw this screencap from the manga and knew IMMEDIATELY that i would have to write a lil headcanon of aone and his turtle. he is literally the most precious person who deserves the whole entire world.

i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i did writing it!

genre: fluff, wholesomeness, a whole baked bean, college!au pairing: aone x gn!reader word count: 2k warning: language

okay so you ended up being roommates with aone, futakuchi, and mai when you ended up transferring colleges last minute and needed housing

you saw that they had an empty spot and with time not being on your side, you decided to take the opportunity!! apt 205 squad!!

at first you kind of felt left out since they all knew each other from date tech but you soon warmed up to futakuchi since you had a few classes with him and mai because well-- you guys shared a room

HOWEVER!! one person you couldn’t seem to get close to was a man by the name of takanobu aone-- lemme tell u sumn about this Baked Bean

whenever you tried to interact with him, all he would do is 👁 👄 👁 or just Grunt in response

you were a bit discouraged because you thought he didn’t like you so you shied away from talking to him again :(

but futakuchi was quick to ensure you that was just his way of communicating and that he was actually really engaged in the conversation

“oh yeah, he’s a great listener-- i talk to him for hours and he just sits and listens”

“ok futakuchi-san, but have you considered that you talk Too much for your own good?”

he gave you the finger for that one

but omg the first time aone Spoke to you????? rocked ur mf world-- what the Heck!!

you were in the mood to bake some cookies and were looking for the big mixing bowls but you just remembered that futakuchi used it to try and make a baking soda volcano

why??? who knows but all you do know is that he put it ALL the way on the top shelf-- and for what????

but u know-- bein dumb as dirt u tried to use a swivel chair to try and reach for them

and of course it was all the way in the back like wtf curse these tall men--

and so you got on your tippy toes and right as you were about to reach it, Of Course the chair decided to turn

and u were 🤏🏼 this close to eating shit but thanks to the one-- the only-- tol angel baby aone, he stopped the chair dead in its tracks just in time for you to regain your balance

“are you okay?”

you were so shook (one from almost breaking your face and two-- AONE JUST SPOKE AND SAVED YOU!!!)

at first you just stood there blinking down at him with the bowls in your arms like hinata season 4, episode 15 - 15:37

he held up his arms to you and you blushed so hard because was he really about to carry you down????

but before your mind had anytime to roam, he pointed to the bowls and you realized with your real eyes that you were not the one to whom he was referring to

it wasn’t long until you got over your initial iron wall with aone (…. 😏) and he actually ended up being someone you hung out with on a regular basis

mai was always out studying for her practicals in the library while futakuchi… well.. who even knows what the heck that man is up to..

but ANYWAYS!! you guys would hang out mostly in the living room to watch TV, do homework and eat meals-- he always helped you with your math homework and you helped him with his architecture models!!

you didn’t really know what he liked to watch but he didn’t seem to oppose whatever you had on-- however, you Did notice that whenever you put on volleyball he stared very intensely at the TV only stopping when commercials came on

aone Always ate your home cooked meals without fail

literally such a sweet and appreciative boy as opposed to futakuchi who would complain but one time aone gave him That Look™️ and he shut right the fuck up

that day forward futakuchi ate all your meals like a good boy

aone has also become very protective of you-- in high school, he may have locked onto the aces of the other teams, but in college he locked onto his close friends to make sure they were safe

one time you guys got onto a cramped bus to go grocery shopping and all it took was this creepo man to just Look at you the wrong way for aone to stand right in front of you and shoot this man a death glare that said “if you even think about touching her i’ll put you into the ground”

HE MAY HAVE A HEART OF GOLD BUT DONT MESS WITH THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABOUT OR ELSE IT’S HANDS

but know this ladies, gents and my non-binary friends, we MOST DEFINITELY sit next to aone on the bus and engage in the best of conversations because tHATS WHAT THIS MAN DESERVES!!!!!!!!!

not to mention all the times he has saved you due to your clumsiness and overall single brain cell fueled activities

one fateful day you were sitting in the living room as you saw aone come home with a whole bag of groceries

he didn’t put them into the communal fridge so you were a bit confused as to why he took them straight into his room

you weren’t one to just bust in there to try and find out so later when you guys were eating dinner you asked him what he bought at the store

he listed off a bunch of produce and then said that they were for his turtle!!!!

you were all !!?!?!??? 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 TURTLE?????? WHERE??? HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN HERE??? CAN I SEE THEM?

he goes on to tell you that he’s had the turtle ever since they all moved in!! but it never came up in conversation so you never knew until now

him and futakuchi rescued the turtle but when they tried to let them go, they didn’t go anywhere so they kept them!!

so after dinner you both quickly washed the dishes, and he brought you into their room to show you his turtle

you were honestly a bit nervous going into their room-- like what were you to expect??? was it going to be messy?? stinky?? clean??? were there any secrets????

but to your surprise it was fairly clean and simple-- even futakuchi’s side (which you assumed was aone’s doing)

you looked around his room to find all these old pictures of date tech on the wall, many of them with futakuchi and mai

there was even a photo of all the third years clinging to aone like koalas on a tree and though his expression was faint, you could tell that he was happy

it warmed your heart to see that he got along with his teammates and held these memories close to him-- they accepted him for who he was and that was more than enough for you

he also had plethora of architecture books on his shelves which made you wonder why he picked that major in the first place

but you shrugged it off as you looked over to his desk

there was a table next to it with an enclosure and a cute little turtle sunbathing underneath a lamp inside

you scurried over to the tank, getting down on your knees to get eye level with the animal while you slowly brought your face to the glass

the turtle was half curled into its shell, looking up at you as he gave you a slow blink

you could’ve sworn you felt your heart explode and melt all at once in that Exact moment

you looked up at aone with 🥺 eyes before looking back to reptile to see them poking their head out to fully greet you

you squealed internally as you wiggled your finger as your salutations

“do they have a name?” 🥺

“ichigo-desu...” (strawberry)

you thought your heart exploded before?????????????

oh bitch you felt like you were about to go into full blown cARDIAC ARREST MY G O D!!!!!!

“did futakuchi name them?”

“no i did…”

you literally hunched over, and leaned onto the desk for support as your heart was filled with his soft boy energy because there was no wAY!!! DID AONE JUST NAME THIS TURTLE ICHHHIGOOOO BITCHHH AHHH

but lowkey aone was also being filled with your soft energy and got all blushy-- but thank god you were too occupied by his turtle to notice

“do you want to feed him a strawberry? it’s his dinner time too”

you could not have said yes faster to this man

he went into his personal fridge and there you saw all the groceries he had earlier that day!! he pulled out a single strawberry before handing it over to you

he walked over to the tank and cautiously pulled out ichigo before placing them on the ground

HOWEVERRRRRR!! what came next you didn’t expect at all

he walked around so that he was behind you, gingerly reached for your hand and guided you to hold the strawberry out for ichigo

ichigo craned their neck in the sight of the fruit and started chowing down

and by God you hoped that aone could not hear your loud ass heartbeat and see your red ass face-- (you were surprised that ichigo wasn’t going after you since your face might as well have been a strawberry)

you two sat in a comfortable silence as you watched the little reptile enjoy his dinner

as ichigo drew closer to the leafy bit, you wanted to ask aone if he was allowed to eat that part

so you turned your head to the side to speak but immediately closed your mouth as aone’s face was only centimeters away from yours

you thought you were red back then???? bitch buckle up cause we’re reaching a new LEVEL of red

at that moment you were no think, no thought, head EMPTY as you just stared at his profile

all of his features were strong... the bridge of his nose, his jawline, his expression-- he himself was a strong man and you just wondered how all this soft, fluffy, wholesomeness was packed into this 192cm man

and just as you relaxed into this position

FUTAKUCHI BUSTS THROUGH THE DOOR WITHOUT ANY KIND OF WARNING JUST TALKIN OUT OF HIS ASS

at first he’s so absorbed into his own conversation that he doesn’t even notice you guys in that position

but when he does??? it’s like those moments in animes where you’re all chibitized and you just have circle eyes and a blank expression o_o

you IMMEDIATELY come to your senses, releasing the rest of the strawberry and aone’s hand

if you could peace fade in this moment, you would’ve definitely flashed futakuchi a duces

but alas, you could not..

so you scrambled to your feet-- but not before thanking aone for letting you meet his turtle-- and RAN out TF of that room heart a BEEATTINN

from that day on, you visited aone and his turtle a lot more-- even going so far as buying things for ichigo!!

“hey aone-san, did ichigo like the squash i cooked?”

“mm.”

“hey aone-san, does ichigo like the new hide?”

“mm.”

“look aone-san! he can’t grip onto the cherry tomato!! it keeps rolling around!”

“mm.”

many of your conversations went along like that and he always appreciated the amount of effort you put into them

he wasn’t a man of many words but did his best to make sure you knew that he was listening and engaged

at one point mai and futakuchi said that “he has spoken more words to you in these past few months than he has with us in 3 years”

you were surprised but also flattered by the fact that aone was comfortable enough to open up and have conversation with you

although it was a bit of a rough patch in the beginning, you were glad that you became a part of the 205 squad! it was you, aone, futakuchi, mai and ichigo against the world!!

#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #hq #hq imagines #aone takanobu #aone headcanons #aone x reader #headcanon #im simping for this man know that rn AHAHAH

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alia-turin · 3 years

Text

Hey I finished it! There is sense of accomplishment in my life now.

Thank you all for reading I APPRICIATE truly all your comments and likes. Also canon gets thrown overboard because of reasons.

Fic Title: Somewhere in Time: Chapter 11

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9 , 10

Rating: Explicit Fandom: The Witcher Relationship: Caranthir Ar-Feiniel/Original Female Character(s) \

AO3 Link

Caranthir smiled as he watched the ice break the human ships, soldiers falling overboard and crashing against the ice, their blood painting splashes of red all over. Humans screamed so desperately when they were hitting the cold water, the frost killing them before they could even realize what was going on. He pulled from his energy, bringing more snow and wind, almost intolerable even for him.

“I wish I could fight them.” Imlerith groaned next to him. He had walked from his bed using his mace as support refusing help. He was in bad shape and did not want Caranthir to heal him further. Didn’t matter, all would be over soon and he was out of danger now.

“If your guts spill out, I am not patching you up.” Caranthir warned not even looking at the other man. He focused now on finding the girl or that Witcher - didn’t even matter, either one would help him locate the other, but then he suddenly stopped. He sensed something he shouldn’t be sensing. That couldn’t be right. The ice growth and the ship cracking stopped. The wind went silent. All he could hear was the sounds of battle, humans screaming and dying, hounds howling…that ring he had left with Aine...why could he feel it here?

“Ran out of magic?” Imlerith asked mockingly behind him, but Caranthir was too focused to even acknowledge him. He must be losing his mind. Maybe he was too tired, maybe he had been tapping on his own power too much in the past days, with the attack on the Witchers, saving Eredin, saving Imlerith, keeping the Hunt here, his own dream trips...did he finally go too far and his mind was playing tricks on him.

Caranthir opened a portal getting himself closer to where he thought that feeling was coming from, he found himself in the middle of a small human unit. They all stopped for a second, confused at what had just occurred, but his attention was somewhere else. Meters away on the coast he saw Avallac’h, the Witcher, a Sorceress and...no. That couldn’t be. The human soldiers attacked him and he did short work of them, while moving toward the coast, his steps leaving a bloody trail after him.

“Let her go Avallac’h.” Caranthir finally said, as his gaze stopped at Aine. The Witcher was holding her arm twisted behind her back, as soon as she saw him she tried to struggle but that just caused her pain. The man told her something, it did not sound threatening but Caranthir had turned deaf, the only thing he was focused on was his anger and the next words that would come out of Avallac’h’s mouth.

“How about a deal?” his teacher smiled and Caranthir could feel the ice behind him growing, ripping through ships and flesh, he wasn’t even sure he did that consciously. “You should control yourself.”

“I’m not your student, I’m not your son, let her go and I might even kill you quickly.” His eyes moved between the three of them. He had no doubt he could take the sorceress and the witcher easy. Avallac’h was a different matter, but taking any of them and keeping Aine out of harm’s way was where he could fail. He wanted Avallac’h to attack him, once and for all their struggle will be resolved.

“You were right, he is arrogant.” the dark haired woman said. Caranthir was going to show her arrogance.

“Caranthir, stop your spell, ask Eredin to stop his attack, I need to talk to him.” Avallac’h was focused, serious, the Navigator heard his words, but did not really listen. His mind was preoccupied thinking of how he would end all three of them. “Caranthir stop that!”

Something changed in his mentor’s voice and at first he could not understand what. All their expressions had changed, The Witcher loosened his grip on Aine and reached for his sword, the sorceress was preparing a spell, Avallac’h’s face was something between disgust and surprise. Caratnthir however had no idea what was going on. He wasn’t doing anything. He turned around, slowly, not fully losing sight of them and then he saw it. Corpses of the soldiers he had just walked through had raised, despite blood and broken bones and they moved toward them.

“It is not me who is doing that.” Caranthir smiled and looked at Aine. She was focused, serious. Red hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall of blood. He could see it was hard for her to maintain the spell...no wonder, it was a difficult spell, she had failed with something simpler once, but this time she did it. It wasn’t just one body she was controlling, it was a number of them. He started laughing as he could hear the dead soldier’s footsteps in the snow. Figures. He wondered if necromancy was something she was good at because of him, or she actually had affinity to it. Destiny was playing with him, the one woman who would accept him would be also the one who can raise the death. Maybe that is what he had seen in her so many weeks ago. He was a corpse and she had revived him.

Avallac’h was the first to figure it out, he weaved a spell and broke Aine’s link with the corpses. That was expected, he was more powerful than her and she was far from being able to fully control that. Caranthir heard the bodies collapse behind him. He could see Aine exhaling; she was tired, that was too much for her. Despite her gift, she was too inexperienced, she might have been able to move her small squad of dead soldiers to herself, but she would never be able to withstand Avallac’h and the human sorceress. Didn’t matter, he could.

The sorceress pulled a dagger and pressed it against Aine’s throat. Caranthir grinded his teeth.

“We don’t have time for that.” the woman said. “Bring your king here or she dies”

Caranthir looked at Aine, mismatching eyes tired, pleading with him. For what? To save her? To leave her? Didn’t matter, he could not do either. Then again, if he had Eredin here that was an easier fight. Eredin could deal with the pestering humans while he finally showed Avallac’h he was no longer a child.

“I know someone who would love to collect your skull.” he pointed with his staff at her and then opened a portal. He waited, his eyes on Aine’s as she was looking at him as well, relying on him, but all he could muster right now was anger. He would destroy them all if it came to that and he won’t even hesitate.

Eredin stepped out of the portal, Caranthir didn’t even need to look at him, he could hear and feel.

“Amusing.” the king eventually said as he stepped out of the portal. Caranthir could feel his whole body needing to move, almost shaking in anticipation, he wasn’t going to tell Eredin what to do but he surely knew what he wanted to do. “I assume I’m somehow supposed to be moved because your sorceress is holding a knife at Caranthir’s toy?” his tone was flat.

“I don’t want us to fight. Any of us.” Avallac’h finally said. “Me and you can solve that, we can talk. Our people have lost enough through the years.”

“Some of us more than others.” Eredin smirked and Carathir could see Avallac’h being taken aback. Was that attempt to push him overboard or just agreeing with him? “Someone once told me that only losers want to negotiate to avoid the inevitable.”

“How about kings who want to save their people?” when Avallac’h said that Caranthir had to turn toward Eredin. What was he even doing? Why was he talking? They could kill all three of them now, find the girl and be done forever. “It doesn’t matter if you lose or I lose - the Aen Elle need both of us. You cannot achieve what you need without me.”

“Eredin…” Caranthir started impatiently but the king raised his hand and the Navigator bit his lip under the helmet. His teeth sank in the tender skin of his scar and he could taste his own blood.

“Entertain me, Crevan.” Eredin made a gesture with his hand showing Avallac’h that he will indulge.

Aine watched as Avallac’h and the king walked away, somewhere behind the rest of them. Her mind was still dizzy from the spell he had put on her, she didn’t even know how or where he had dragged her but given that Caranthir was her she could make accurate assumptions. Her attempt at a spell had exhausted her even further and now everything around her was just a blur. As soon as the two men walked away she saw Caranthir take off his helmet, his hair a mess as it fell over his shoulders, a line of blood running down his chin but he cleared it with his hand.

“What bit your face off?” the sorceress mocked. In other circumstances Aine would get angry on his behalf but she was too exhausted even to turn her head toward the human female.

Caranthir did not respond; he started pacing like a wild animal that had been put in a cage, the mountains of ice behind him growing even larger.

“Caranthir...please...stop.” she wasn’t sure what or why she was asking that, but she could feel she had pushed herself too far. It was the spell. She had used too much of her own energy to bring these corpses to life and that had not achieved anything. She used all she got, for nothing. He had warned her, using too much power that you can’t control was deadly. Surely she was just dramatic now, it wasn’t that bad...it wasn’t that much energy. It had been easy for her to raise the bodies, almost too easy. She did not even feel how much of her strength it had used, not at first at least, now...that was a different story.

She felt a shortness of breath, her chest felt tight and her whole body jerked, the human was still holding her arm but it didn’t matter, she could not control that despite the pain and the feeling he would break her arm if she pulled a bit more. She coughed, red drops hit the snow. At first she did not realize what happened but only when she could taste the salt in her mouth she figured that it was blood - her own blood. The pressure from her arm suddenly disappeared and she could feel herself falling forward, her knees hit the snow first, wetness and chill crawling through her dress but she could barely feel it.

“What did you do?” she heard Caranthir’s growl and she saw him rushing toward her.

Caranthir almost teleported himself to her, he saw the sorceress getting ready for attack but he used a spell to push her and the Witcher away. The woman seemed angry and he could sense her getting a spell ready, let her, he was going to send her back to the hole she came from, but the man grabbed her wrist to stop her and Caranthir moved his attention ignoring them.

He pulled Aine closer to himself, her breathing was slow, she had no strength, the spell was too much for someone as inexperienced as she was.

“I’m sorry…” even her voice barely reached his ears. “He told me that you are in danger and then…”

“It doesn’t matter.” he interrupted her. It really didn’t matter. An hour from now it might matter when he could finally take it out on Avallac’h but now it didn’t really matter. “You shouldn’t have done that. It was stupid.” That was not what he meant to say, why was he so bad with words. Every time he wanted to say something nice it came out the wrong way. He had to tell her that he was sorry, it was his fault she was here in the first place, it was his fault he was teaching her stuff way above her level but he never thought she would have to use them. Not now, not in the near future or ever for that matter.

“I’m sorry…” she said again and he was angry at himself for making her feel as if there was something to apologize for. He placed his hand at the base of her throat, he could barely feel any life in her. “You shouldn’t have to save me every time.”

“No.” Caranthir pressed against her collarbones, healing could not fix that, she was not injured. He had no idea if passing some of his strength to her would do anything but he had to try. He knew he had been very generous with how much magic he had been using, but just a bit more...he had never done that before. In theory it should be possible, what was the difference between that and using his power to light a fire or move an object? Just a bit, enough to get her on her feet and then her body should be able to figure it out. His chest felt tight, not from effort although he could feel his one strength running low, but that just could not be happening to him again. He was not going to lose someone else like that, because of him...if it wasn’t for him Avallac’h would have never brought her here. He would not forgive Avallac’h for that, but he would not forgive himself either this time...

He got dizzy and as much as he wanted to continue that he had to stop. Both of them death would not help anyone. He could see Eredin and Avallac’h coming from wherever they had been, but his attention was down on Aine. Some color had started coming back to her skin which he considered a good sign. He saw Eredin raising an eyebrow, and Caranthir became very self aware at that moment. He was kneeling holding Aine in his arms, that was probably the most affection he had ever shown publicly to anyone. He cleared his throat getting up through his own pain and weakness pretending nothing happened.

“We are done here.” Eredin said as he passed him, barely looking at him.

Caranthir looked at his king’s back then at Avallac’h who was standing a few meters away close to the witcher and the sorceress. He had Aine a hand helping her up, but his eyes were fixed on his teacher.

“Caranthir, let’s go.” Eredin had stopped and looked at him. “It’s over, we are done.”

It wasn’t over for him. He couldn’t care less about what Eredin and Avallac’h had discussed, agreed or simply ignored each other. He had a score to settle with his teacher and he was not going to turn his back on that now.

“Listen to him, Caranthir.” Aine’s eyes were fixed on Caranthir, her fingers digging in his armor trying to find balance and not fall in the snow. She was freezing because the clothes she was wearing were not made for that weather and she was cold from the snow’s wetness.

“No.” Caranthir said she could almost hear his teeth grinding as he spoke. “I would turn you back to that pathetic creature but this time there will be no turning back.” She had no idea what he was talking about, but she somehow doubted he could do anything. He looked tired, strong, focused, but also exhausted.

“Caranthir, let’s go.” she pulled on his arm but he ignored her, she had no idea if he even felt it.

“There are more important things than your ego.” Avallac’h said and she could hear the king laughing somewhere behind.

“You of all people should have not brought her here.” Caranthir finally said. “You know very well how dangerous that is. You know what it could do to the body.”

“How about saving your life? That good enough of a reason?” Avallac’h offered.

“Caranthir…” Aine started, the words barely coming out of her throat, she could not muster anything louder than that. “He saw your death. That is why he brought me here.”

“He saw nothing.” Caranthir was not looking at her at all. His angry eyes were just fixed somewhere else.

“Let’s go.” She saw Eredin standing behind them, his hand on Caranthir’s shoulder. “The Aen Elle needs him alive.”

Caranthir sat in Eredin’s cabin. Everything hurt, his mind was wondering and it was hard to focus on the conversation. He was doing his best to get them back to Tir na Lia without killing them all in the process...or killing himself for that matter. He had left Aine in his cabin; she had almost collapsed as soon as he left her on the bed. He needed sleep as well. A week of sleep probably would do. Imlerith was sitting on the chair next to him picking on one of his smaller wounds, Eredin behind his desk rocking in his chair.

“So it was all for nothing?” Imlerith finally asked.

“Not for nothing.” Eredin concluded, both of their voices sounded as if they were somewhere far away, in different a room, never mind they were both just meters away from him. There was a faint smile on his lips. “However, he was right...I cannot achieve what I want while being...well me.”

“So what he just agreed to let you rule over the Aen Elle in exchange of…?” Imlerith asked.

“No...that’s not how this works. He and I will work together.” Eredin didn’t say anything more than that and just smiled. Caranthir had millions of questions there and then but nothing could come out of his mouth. He squeezed his eyes, they were almost at Tir na Lia. Good. “Caranthir!” That was the last thing he heard.

He woke up, took him a moment to recognize the place. It was his room in Tir na Lia and he was in his bed. He must have lost consciousness. Too much energy was used to bring them back to Tir na Lia. He tried to move but his whole body protested against that. It wasn’t pain, more like the feeling of not moving for a very long period of time.

“You are awake!” Aine's voice came somewhere to the right of him. He turned his head in that direction. Her hair was a mess, falling over her shoulders. She looked as if she had spent days next to his bed.

“How…” his voice scratched his throat he was thirsty. She immediately reached to the bedside table and passed him a glass of water. He almost choked as he drank it, but it felt so good. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Three days.” she reached for his face and her fingers touched his scared cheek. At first he tried to pull away but the warmth of her skin was too alluring. “Caranthir, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have been there, but he came here, he told me you were in danger. He wanted me to come and convince you to...I’m not even sure what.” Her words were coming too fast out of her mouth, but he actually did not care what she was saying; he just looked at her face, her lips moving, her eyes pleading with him. “I said no, I thought that would mean to betray you, and then he just did something and took me to that place and...I’m sorry, I feel like if I had said yes, none of that would have happened.”

He placed his finger on her lips to silence her. The words stopped coming out of her mouth but he could still see the distress.

“You were going to do whatever Avallac’h wanted you to do, no matter if you wanted it or not. He gave you a choice to make you feel better about it, but you were always going to end up there.” Her gaze softened as if she just needed to hear that. He took a deep breath. It felt nice to be able to fill his own lungs with air without feeling pain. “Come here.” he placed his hand on the empty spot next to him and she climbed on the bed next to him, her small body curling next to his. “That won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Doesn’t matter.” she responded. “You are alive and okay, that is what matters.”

Caranthir opened and closed his mouth. He had no idea what to say to that. Nobody ever cared so much about him or at least it was never shown. Part of him wanted to push her away. Tell her to leave him so he can drown himself in his loneliness and self pity, the same feelings he had been swimming in for more than a hundred years. However, he couldn’t deny the fact that he liked it, the warmth, not just physical, but what he felt inside.

“Do you want to leave?” he finally said and she pushed herself up, her hair falling over his body. Mismatching eyes looking at him in confusion. “I’m serious. Your life has been in danger twice now because of me and I'm a lousy teacher.”

“You just said that won’t happen again.” she smiled. Was she mocking him. Throwing his own insecurity in his face. “I think I’m fine where I am.” she curled closer to him, placing her head on his chest.

She couldn’t see it but he smiled. He had to get to Eredin, check on Imlerith, check on his men, figure out what had happened with Avallac’h...that could wait. He was enjoying the moment too much.

#my writing

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harringrovetrashrat · 3 years

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Tagged by @disdaidal !!! Thank you! Omg I’m like 🥺💖🥺💖

So, I figure since I have so many things I’m working on, and no idea when I’ll actually finish them (outside of my Big Bang Project), I should share the bits of them that I do actually have dhfoiahfiosh

What we have are these:

A fic where Billy meets some older queer people while kicked out, and learns from them how to love himself

“So I’m guessing you’ve never met a queen before,” they said. Billy shook his head.

“I’ve never met any royalty.” Juicy laughed and it made Billy feel like he’d said the wrong thing until she looked at him again, practically beaming.

“Well honey, there’s queens abound in here. Drag Queens, specifically.” Billy’s mouth formed a small ‘o’.

“So, you’re a… man?” Juicy shook her head.

“Personally, I find man and woman too limiting. All gender is a costume, darling. I just think dresses are prettier than suits.”

“You haven’t been in the right suits,” Cindy said with a smirk. Juicy gave her the finger without looking.

“It’s called taste, sweetie.” Cindy just laughed. Billy stared at Juicy, feeling awed by them. They were so tall, toned and beautiful. Their skin was dark and glistened with the glitter they’d spread over it. “I’m sure you have taste, don’t you munchkin?” Billy couldn’t help it and he pouted.

“I’m not short, I’m average for my age,” he snapped. Juicy just smiled.

“I like you,” they said, pointing a long nailed finger at him.

A Cheesy Summer Camp Horror fic, with romance and comedy because Like. Y’all know me.

“Let’s stop talking about her,” Heather cut in. “Let’s talk about this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Billy asked, perking up. “What about it?”

“Well, I was thinking we could celebrate the end of the first week with a skinny dip,” she said, eyes sparkling. Billy didn’t miss the flush that crossed over Robin’s face, though he wasn’t entirely sure who it was directed at. He definitely had a guess.

“I’m game!” Tommy piped up, grin wide, anger disappearing from his face. Billy rolled his eyes and snorted, but raised his hand, tongue running over his top teeth.

“Why not,” he said, giving his eyebrows a quirk. “I ain’t no pussy.”

“Of course,” Adam muttered, rolling his eyes. Billy’s eyes snapped over and narrowed. “Isn’t it a little, I dunno, juvenile?”

“Oh come on,” Steve chimed in, munching on the cookie now, relaxing with the change of topic. “Maybe so, but it’s summer, it’s camp, why not, right? Start it off with a bang?” His smile was teasing, bright, and Billy found it hard to look away, hard to deny that smile what it wanted.

The Reverse AU where Steve moves to Hawkins with his father and step family, Claudia and Dustin, and Billy was adopted into the Mayfields

“I’m not--! It’s just midterms! That’s what has me all out of sorts.” He opened his notebook and tried to will his blush away. There was a soft thud and Nancy joined them.

“What has you out of sorts?” She asked.

“Mid--”

“Billy so has a crush on that new guy from New York,” Heather said. Billy made a noise of protest when Nancy smiled, leaning over.

“Oh he’s so cute! Truly impeccable taste you have,” she teased. Billy rested his head on the table.

“I hate both of you so fucking much,” he hissed.

“No you don’t,” they chorused.

“I do, I really do,” Billy replied.

Mermaid AU where Steve and Billy were young friends before being separated. Steve tries to reunite them obviously

“I can show you a bunch of cool stuff,” Billy said, feeling oddly proud of himself. And well, the ocean was his home. And he never got the chance to really show it off to someone who didn’t already know it. “If I show you the ocean, will you tell me more about humans?” Steve nodded. “Like, why are all the ships girls?”

“Huh,” Steve said, tapping his chin with his finger. “I don’t actually know… Usually I think ‘cause a guy names them. I’ll ask my tutor. He knows everything.” Steve wasn’t a huge fan of Professor Owens, but he was nice enough. He let Steve find things to bring in and ask questions about, he didn’t get mad like Steve’s other tutors had when he had trouble reading. So even though Owens still pushed for Steve to focus more on his future, he was better than the other adults in Steve’s life.

“Tutor?” Billy asked. “What’s that?”

“Like a teacher,” Steve replied. “But like… Different.” In fact, Steve wasn’t totally sure what the difference was. Billy just squinted, looking confused.

“Different… how?”

“Uh, tutors are… are taller,” Steve replied matter of factly. Professor Owens was taller than Ms. Joyce had been, so there wasn’t anything to argue against that. Billy nodded seriously, making a note.

There was a ringing bell and a distant voice calling Steve’s name, making him sigh dramatically. It was already time? Billy’s ears twitched a little and he looked at Steve.

“What’s that?”

“That’s my nanny,” Steve said, mopey and pouting.

More of You’ll Find Me Looking Over the Edge of the World

“Oh, King Steve thinking about skipping?” Billy tugged him down, making Steve stumble as a fist started rubbing against his scalp and messing up his hair.

“Fuck, dude!” Steve cried, nearly dropping his tray. Billy just cackled, letting him go and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“No,” Nancy said through grit teeth. “He’s thinking about staying and taking--”

“He can’t go around looking like that,” Billy said with faux concern, eyes all worried as he leaned on the table with one hand and used the other to point at Steve’s, now fully messed up, hair. “I think Steve’ll have to take the afternoon, don’t you?” Billy turned to look over his shoulder, not seeing the way Nancy rubbed at her temples as Jonathan very obviously tried not to snicker. Steve almost felt bad. Billy knocked on the table with his knuckles, pushing up with a grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him home safely.”

“Get me home--” Steve began, but before he could finish his sentence, Billy was shoving him around and out of the cafeteria. Nancy sighed, shaking her head, giving Steve a look he knew would turn into a talk later. “Sorry guys!” Steve tossed over his shoulder.

Billy with a rat he named Max to piss off Max (he calls her human Max and she hates it)

“And what the fuck are you doing here?!” He asked her. Max, the little trouble maker, just squeaked at him, wriggling in his grip. “No fucking wonder I didn’t see you in Barbie’s house this morning, you decided to be a fucking Houndini, didn’t you.” She squeaked again, tail swirling and dragging along his wrist. He heard footsteps behind him and moved to shove her back into his jacket sleeve when Steve approached.

“You okay-- Oh!” Steve blinked, brows raised as he saw Max reach with her small, cute little pink hands to grab for Billy’s hard nipple again. “So…”

“Cut that out!” Billy hissed, moving her down to cradle her against his stomach. She settled in, but she was definitely hungry and would get restless again quickly. “I didn’t see her this morning but just assumed she was hiding in her little pile.”

“Me too,” Steve said, checking around the hallway for anyone who was late. Luckily, there was no one around to see them trying to hide a rat in Billy’s jacket. “How’d she even get out?”

“I mean, we are keeping her in a Barbie dream house instead of a cage--”

“Really? You’re gonna sass me now? After you insisted that she ‘live like the princess she is’--”

Stranger Than Fiction AU

“Billy, I swear to fucking god if you don’t get out there right now--” Billy stumbled out from the back, head turned to glare at Max, who was pushing him from behind. She pushed until he was at the counter, face to face with Steve. He glared, though his face was flush. Max crossed her arms. “Like we fuckin’ practiced.” Billy shot her another angry glance, but then looked back to Steve. Who was so confused.

“Max may have, uhm, brought it to my attention that I may have overreacted just the tiniest little bit.”

“That’s not at all right,” Max said under her breath. Billy swatted behind him without looking, missing her completely.

“Anyway,” he pressed on, “I just,” he sighed, pushing an errant curl behind his ear. Steve watched the movement before snapping his eyes back to Billy’s. “I don’t often take the chance to be nice, so I got maybe a little offended.” Max scoffed. “Okay a lot offended,” he said with an eye roll. Steve couldn’t help it; he snorted. Billy’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes lit up, like a kid who just learned Santa was real. Steve blushed, looking away, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“It’s okay,” he replied, turning back to look at Billy. The sun lit up the stray blonde hairs poking out of his messy bun, making a light halo around him. Steve had to catch his breath.

It was like looking at an angel, vengeful and dangerous, but exciting all at once. His eyes seemed to shine, bright and gleeful, but also full of mischief.

“It’s okay,” Steve repeated, feeling his face heat up more. “I would have taken them if I could. They were amazing.” He smiled, nodding towards the stairs. “I should get to it though. Last day and all.” Something sad briefly flickered over Billy’s face, but it was gone as soon as it was there, and Steve thought he must have imagined it.

“Yeah, good luck,” Billy said. Max was smiling, smug, and she punched Billy’s shoulder.

Leverage AU

“Well,” he said slowly, letting the trio shake off their shadows. “The lab closed.” This isn’t about the kid was the underlying message. “But, what’s happening now is that Mayor Kline accepted a lot of weird bribes. They’re from a company called Starcourt Industries. Now, that’s the name of the mall that opened, Starcourt, but what’s weird--”

“--Is that they didn’t exist for very long before suddenly popping up in Indiana,” Alec cut in. “It reads like one of our companies. General background, seems legit, but I did a lot of poking around most of this stuff leads to loose ends. It took a while to get there, so at first glance…” The group nodded. At first glance everything checked out, and even a little digging would provide a general cover that most people wouldn’t think to look past.

Of course, none of them were most people.

“So who are they?” Eliot asked.

“All of the loose ends lead back to Russia,” Alec said. “But nothing concrete or connected, just more companies that do really general stuff. It goes real deep.” The implications there were discomforting. Alec was a genius, and excelled in his line of work, but this kind of grand scale cover up meant one thing: this was bigger than just a few bad apples in a company. This was a plan.

“So who’s the client?” Sophie asked. Nate pulled up a picture of a grumpy looking man, mustache groomed and eyes hard, but kind.

“Chief Jim Hopper.” That got Parker’s attention, bringing her out of the funk she’d been in since the mention of San Diego and Billy.

“Like, Police Chief?”

“Yep,” Nate said, popping the P. “He’s the one who found the kid, found out there was something going on at the lab. Now, he’s positive something weird is going on. Knows he’s done everything he can to legally take the Mayor down, but the man has a lot of friends in high places, and Jim can’t do anything. And that’s,” he smiled, “Where we come in.”

That’s still merely some of what I have going on, but that’s what I’ll share rn. Anyway, tag me in ur WIPs! I’d love to read them :) tag ur it

#harringrove #tommy h #stranger things #angst #fluff #aus #tag game

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obeyme-kaidii-writes · 3 years

Text

Together (2/2) (Mammon’s PoV)

Mammon x gn!MC

Words - 5985 (total)

Content warnings - HEAVY angst, tw: suicidal thoughts, happy ending with lots of cuddles

Summary - Mammon’s PoV for the events in part 1

AO3 | PART ONE

***READ THE CONTENT WARNINGS***

Mammon woke up to the sound of loud knocking on his door. He had been having a wonderful dream - one about you - and now was rudely thrust back into reality, leaving him more than a little annoyed. Knowing whoever it was wouldn’t go away until he answered, he rolled out of bed and opened the door.

“Whaddya want?”

“Oh Mammon! You look awful,” Asmo said. Whatever he had planned on discussing had now completely slipped his mind at the sight of his brother’s disheveled appearance. Nothing of course could come close to Asmo’s own level of beauty, but Mammon did give him a run for his money some days, and today was definitely not one of those days.

“Is that it? Fuck off,” Mammon said, as he began to close his door again. He really didn’t feel like dealing with Asmo’s shit today. He was extremely tired, his body ached, and he just wanted to go back to sleep. At least you were there in his dreams.

“Wait! No! I came to ask if you wanted to go out tonight. We haven’t been to The Fall in awhile…”

“No.”

“Oh. Well I should have guessed seeing how you are dressed,” Asmodeus paused, carefully considering what he was about to say next, “You know, Lucifer is worried about you.”

Mammon laughed. He couldn’t help it. Lucifer? Concerned about him? Please. He was probably grateful he didn’t have to clean up after him like usual. Hard for the screwup brother to cause trouble when he hasn’t left his bed in days.

“What? I’m serious. He hasn’t said it directly, but he keeps asking about you.”

“Then tell him I’m fine and just don’t feel like dealing with his shit right now,” and with that, Mammon slammed the door in Asmo’s face, cutting off his protests.

Lucifer? Seriously? Did he honestly expect him to believe that? The same Lucifer that strung him up from the rafters when he stepped the least bit out of line? That Lucifer? Of course he wasn’t concerned about Mammon. There was no way he could be. His life must have gotten so much easier in the recent weeks, as Mammon withdrew even further into his shell.

The only person he felt like talking to these days was you. He hated the fact that you had a job you had to spend your days at and he couldn’t just text you around the clock, because he honestly would have. Lucifer might have put restrictions on their abilities to place outgoing calls to you, but that didn’t stop him from texting, or from you calling him.

Last night in particular he really wished he could have called you though. He had wanted to hear your voice so badly. In an attempt to keep his mind off things, Mammon had put a movie on that you and he watched together many times. But instead of distracting him, it just reminded him of how much he missed you.

He hesitated to even text you then. He knew it was late where you were, and odds are you’d be asleep. But he figured the least he could do was try and see if you were awake. Maybe you’d be up reading or something and wouldn’t mind a quick call?

When you told him you had been about to go to bed, he had instantly deflated. You needed your rest. You were a human after all. He couldn’t expect you to cater to him constantly. He was supposed to be a Demon Lord. Someone others could look up to. But here he was desperate for the attention of one puny human. And he couldn’t even manage to pull himself together long enough to watch a movie. All he was now was a burden.

At some point he had started crying, and he didn’t bother trying to stop. It didn’t matter anyways. There was no one to hear him. And even if they did, they wouldn’t care. Probably would just assume that he was watching some sappy movie. They wouldn’t knock or text him. No one would be coming in the door to check on him.

If you were here though...he knew you would. And if you were here he wouldn’t have anything to cry about either.

But you weren’t here. And now that Mammon was awake again he wasn’t feeling much better than he had been when he went to sleep. He let out a heavy sigh as he crawled back into bed, still fully dressed in his jeans and black shirt from...who knows when. He honestly didn’t. He had put them on at some point to answer his door, and then just never took them off again. Sometimes he’d think about showering, but even that seemed like too much effort when he’d just have to get dressed all over again. If he could even find clean clothes, that is.

Looking at the clock on his DDD, Mammon finally became aware of what time it was. It was 7pm. Somehow he had managed to sleep for the entire day. Which he supposed made a lot of sense when he thought about the fact Asmo had just come to the door to ask him if he wanted to go out.

Since he knew you would be home by now, Mammon decided to go ahead and text you.

>>Mammon - I love you >>You - I love you too 😘

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. He really did miss you. He didn’t understand how someone he had only known for a year could have affected him so deeply. All his thousands of years that he existed before you seemed like nothing compared to the time you had spent together. He would have gladly given them up if it meant he could have you now.

>>You - why don’t you see what Asmo is doing? Maybe you could go to The Fall? >>Mammon - nah. Don’t really feel like it.

Ah, he should have known. Of course you sent his brother to check on him. As if Asmo would have thought to do that on his own. The thought simultaneously warmed his heart and crushed him. One would think that he would have known better by now than to expect his brothers to actually care for him. But here he was, disappointed to learn that once again, the only source of kindness in his life came from you.

You had become his light. His hope. Your voice. Your smile. That sparkle in your eye. He lived for it. How was he supposed to just go back to the way things were before when you had brought so much warmth into his life? Warmth he didn’t even know he needed until you had shown up.

>>Mammon - everything is so boring with you gone. >>Mammon - nothing is as fun without you. >>You - I know what you mean. I wish you could be here. >>Mammon - that would be nice. I’d never leave. >>You - good. I wouldn’t want you to. 😘

If only he could go where you were. But there was no way that could happen. He had caused enough trouble up in the human world that he was no longer allowed to visit freely. A witch summoning him was the only way he’d get up there where you were. Mammon laughed at himself for having such a thought. Who would have known that one day he’d be eager to talk to a witch?

It was his fault though that he wasn’t able to travel as often as he wished. He had made a lot of mistakes in the centuries before he met you. Some were things that genuinely seemed like good ideas at the time. Others were things he did just because he knew it would be fun, consequences be damned.

But once you became part of his life? He didn’t feel the need to go chasing those same thrills. Sure he still got into plenty of mischief with you at his side, but it wasn’t anything like before. The worst one could accuse the two of you of being were pranksters, honestly. Trying to see who would notice when something went missing. Attempting to locate secret passages into the Demon Lord’s Castle. Sneaking into Lucifer’s study to find his prized Demonus.

And now that he was alone again, none of those things appealed to him anymore. He didn’t even feel like leaving his room most days. He had done pretty well when you first left. He bathed, got dressed, ate meals with his brothers, went to school. But after some point he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. It just all seemed so...pointless.

Mammon’s DDD chimed again, and he checked to see what your latest message said.

>>You - so...about last night… >>Mammon - yeah? >>You - you were actually upset that I didn’t call, weren’t you? >>Mammon - ….

Oh. How could you know that? Did he do something that gave himself away? Had he been inadvertently making you feel guilty? He must have done something. There was no way you could have known otherwise.

>>You - Levi told me. He said he heard you sniffling when he got up to get some snacks. >>Mammon - oh >>You - why didn’t you say anything? >>Mammon - I didn’t wanna manipulate you. >>You - manipulate me? Lol Mammon it’s just a phone call

You were right. He knew you were right. Logically he did at least. When you had been in the Devildom he never hesitated to intrude upon your personal space. And you seemed to love it too. Always smiling for him when he’d pop in, regardless of the flimsy explanation he would try to give. You always saw right through him, and welcomed him with open arms. And at some point he just stopped trying to pretend with you. There was no reason to. You accepted him and all that he was and you wanted him as deeply as he wanted you.

Now that you were back in the human realm though, he felt like nothing more than a burden. A “waste of space” as his brothers were always so fond of saying. You always made him so happy when you’d talk with him, but he doubted that he did the same for you. You told him he did of course, but he couldn’t stop that voice in the back of his mind whispering to him that it was only because you didn’t know any better. That if he wasn’t there to burden you, you’d be happier and you wouldn’t realize that until he was actually gone.

>>You - will you promise to tell me in the future? If you really need to talk? Let me decide if it’s too much for me to handle, ok? >>Mammon - ok

He couldn’t exactly say no to you. He knew it would only worry you if he did. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to manage it though. He would try, he’d always try for you, but he also knew in his heart that it was entirely possible a situation would come about that he just couldn’t bring himself to tell you, even if he wanted to.

You were everything to him, and he only felt like he was taking things from you. Like some sort of demonic leech. An emotional vampire. Bleeding you dry. Never giving anything in return. Just him being his Greedy self, demanding every last drop of your attention and your love, trying the very limits of your patience and kindness.

Why was he like that? Why was he always the one that screwed everything up? Couldn’t he at least get one thing right? He just wanted to make you happy. That’s all he wanted at this point. To make you smile. He would do anything for that smile.

>>You - well I can’t wait to see you again. >>Mammon - me too. >>Mammon - I’m just so sick of all this. >>Mammon - I miss ya too much. >>Mammon - everything else is just...idk >>Mammon - I just want to hide in my room honestly and not have to deal with everyone else

Maybe he had been a little too honest there. No doubt that would make you worry. Dammit. There was no point in making you worry when it wouldn’t change anything. You’d still be there. He’d still be here.

>>You - sorry if this sounds weird or dramatic >>You - it’s just hard to tell since I can’t see you right now >>You - and I’d rather be safe than sorry >>You - can you promise me something? >>Mammon - what?

Of course he’d promise you. Whatever it was. Anything he could do for you, he would.

>>You - if you feel suicidal, will you please get help? >>You - go to someone. Anyone. Levi would probably be good. He’s always there you know? >>You - I just have this feeling >>You - and I can’t shake it >>You - so will you promise me?

Anything except that. That was the one thing he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn’t promise. And how did you even know to ask? He didn’t think he had been obvious. He thought his messages seemed relatively normal. Not too dark, but not too happy either. Nothing suspicious. So how did you know?

Mammon thought for a minute about what he wanted to say. How was he going to explain himself to you? He needed to be honest, but only to a point. There was no reason to just come out and say that he frequently thought about how much better everyone’s lives would be without him there. It wouldn't change the fact he had already considered it multiple times this evening alone. It wasn’t like anything could be done about it.

>>Mammon - I ummm >>Mammon - I don’t know if I can promise that >>Mammon - just the thought of it makes me feel sick >>Mammon - and like Lucifer would take me seriously >>Mammon - ha

Yeah, that sounded good. He’d just blame it on Lucifer. Nothing for you to argue about. Nothing to get you concerned. He wasn’t worth worrying about. He knew that. You deserved so much better than him. So much more than anything he could ever give you.

Maybe...maybe now was as good a time as any. Better to just rip the bandaid off, right? Just get it over with. The sooner you didn’t have to worry about him anymore, the sooner you’d be able to move on with your life. Maybe you could really be happy then? Have a normal human life, free from the influence of demons. Free from him.

As Mammon’s thoughts began to spiral, his DDD suddenly rang, interrupting his train of thought. It was you.

“Mammon?”

“Hey.”

“Hey babe. How are you feeling?”

“I dunno. Just tired.”

Mammon couldn’t help the warm feeling that spread throughout his chest. It didn’t occur to him to question why you called, because at some point that evening he had started crying, and hearing you now? It made it all stop, just for a moment. A brief, comforting moment, things didn’t hurt quite so much.

But how long would that last? You’d have to hang up eventually. And then everything would be just like it was before you called. He’d be in the dark. Alone.

“You know I’d miss you a lot if you were ever gone, right?”

“....yeah.”

“It’s true. I can’t wait to see you again.”

He didn’t really believe it though. He didn’t think you were lying - he knew you meant it. You thought it was true, at least. But he had his doubts. How much could anyone possibly miss him when he had so little to offer? His brothers wouldn’t. There wouldn’t be a scumbag around to steal from them. There wouldn’t be a screwup to cause trouble. Everyone would just be better off. Even you, even if you didn’t realize it yet.

“Hey babe, I need to go for a bit so I can go to the bathroom. But I’ll call you right back ok?”

“Ok.”

“I love you!”

“I love you too.”

That was it then. You said goodbye. He got to tell you he loved you. And he got to hear that you loved him. What more could he ask for, really? He should be thankful he had this much time with you at least.

It was then that Mammon felt the familiar pull of a summons tugging at his mind. Now? Of all times?? He wasn’t in any shape to deal with whoever this was, witches more than likely he assumed. Fitting that they’d get to see The Great Mammon at his lowest at the end.

Mammon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before the summons finally took him.

————

Out of all the things he had expected to see when he had opened his eyes, you were definitely not among them. In fact, he was pretty sure he had been hallucinating at first. That it surely had to be some trick being used against him because there was no way it was physically possible to be with you right then.

But it was you. It really was you. Your warmth. Your voice. Your scent.

And now Mammon was currently snuggled up to you in bed, his head resting on your chest as you combed your fingers through his, now clean, hair. After reuniting with you in the most unlikely way possible, you had taken him to the bath and tenderly washed away all the sweat and tears, untangled his hair, and just...held him. At one point he had almost fallen asleep with how relaxed he had been.

And now you continued pouring your love and affection into him, with every touch and every gentle kiss. It would cross his mind occasionally that he should perhaps push you away, that he didn’t deserve this. But then you’d look at him with such love in your eyes, and all his doubts just faded away. Even if he couldn’t possibly understand it, caring for him obviously made you happy. And he wasn’t about to take that smile from you.

#gn!mc #happy endings #tw: suicidal thoughts #tw: suicide #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #mammon x mc #obey me fanfic #obey me comfort #obey me angst #mammon fanfic #mammon angst #mammon comfort

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inkweaver22-blr · 3 years

Text

Phew! This one gave me a bit of trouble to get out! Here we have our second big reveal of the story! Let’s see what happens.

AO3 Link

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Five: Timely Assumptions

Tang gets more than he expects at the start of one cycle. This leads to a few startling realizations.

----------

Tang looked up into the frightened expressions of the much younger Sun Wukong and Macaque as his body continued to disappear.

“I-” Being erased scared him. Would he wake up in a new cycle or simply cease to be?

Tang weakly lifted his hand, desperate to do something, grab something to ground him. Anything. Anyone!

“I don't w-want to go-”

He faded out of existence, not hearing anything else they might have said after. The last thing he saw were their horrified faces.

----------

The cave. The voices. The light.

----------

Tang woke with a gasp, his heart racing.

He had died before, but accidentally erasing yourself using a time-traveling peanut cactus was a new and terrifying experience.

The scholar took a few deep breaths, grounding himself with the fact that he was still here and hadn’t been deleted entirely. He had never been so relieved to be stuck jumping between timelines before now.

Tang winced as he remembered the anguish on the faces of the two monkeys he had befriended. He hoped his vanishing hadn’t traumatized them too much. If they were lucky they wouldn’t even remember anything now that the version of himself that had gone back in time had never existed in the first place.

God, time travel was confusing.

He glanced around his room and noticed a book on his nightstand. Picking it up, he was slightly disappointed to find it wasn’t the one on constellations he had used to teach the younger Macaque how to read.

With a sigh, Tang got up and prepared for the day. There was no point dwelling too much on what couldn’t be changed. Once dressed he stood in front of the mirror and began his little remembering ritual.

He first checked the date on his phone. It was still a few days before MK would get the staff so nothing of real consequence should be too different yet.

Taking a deep breath the scholar began reciting what he remembered about himself this time.

“I am the immortal monk Tang Sanzang-”

Tang choked as he doubled over in pain.

Hundreds of years of memories flooded through him. He collapsed to the ground and clutched at his head as it pounded in agony from the onslaught of innumerable experiences.

Tang crawled over to his bed and leaned back against it, his eyes shut tight and hands over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the rushing thoughts.

Living humbly as a monk. Being chosen by Guanyin. The journey. Sun Wukong. Bai Long Ma. Zhu Bajie. Sha Wujing. The many, many demons they encountered.

(How had he ever been so naive?)

Completing the journey. Becoming immortal. He, Bajie, and Wujing choosing to live on Earth instead of in Heaven.

(Pigsy was Zhu Bajie and Sandy was Sha Wujing!)

Wukong sealing away the Demon Bull King and vanishing. The three of them searching for him tirelessly. Never finding him. Giving up and living the next five hundred years without him.

(He should have never given up. He should have kept looking until he found his beloved disciple.)

It was all too much to handle. Tang needed time to process everything.

He called in sick to work, which with his short breath and trembling voice wasn’t questioned too closely. After sending a text to Pigsy (Zhu Bajie!) so he wouldn’t wonder about his absence at the shop, Tang pulled himself onto the bed and pressed his face into the pillows.

The headache and whirling memories prevented him from falling asleep, so he tried to focus on one thing at a time.

In this cycle he was the immortal monk Tang Sanzang, sometimes also referred to as Tripitaka.

There was still just so much to unpack in that single thought it made him a bit dizzy.

Tang had never been anyone other than himself in all the timelines he’d been in. His roles may sometimes be a bit different but he had always been Tang. He had theorized once that it had something to do with how every soul was unique so he literally couldn’t be anyone else.

His breath caught as he realized the implication that brought.

Tang’s soul was unique and thus he couldn’t be anyone other than himself in the various timelines.

In this timeline, he was the monk Sanzang.

In order for him to be both himself and the famous monk simultaneously, their souls had to be exactly the same.

That meant he wasn’t the monk in just this timeline, but in all of them, including his original time.

Oh Heavens, he was the reincarnation of Tang Sanzang.

Tang gulped in several breaths of air as his mind blanked out. He needed to focus. One thing at a time.

Pigsy was Zhu Bajie and Sandy was Sha Wujing in this timeline.

After the previous revelation, this one was much less earth-shattering.

He had always known that his group of friends mirrored the original journey’s group closely. Pigsy and Sandy also being reincarnations of their historical counterparts in his own time wasn’t much of a stretch.

Tang’s breath slowed as he began to calm. What was next?

Wukong disappeared and the trio searched for him. They never found him and gave up, assuming the monkey to be dead.

This was upsetting in an entirely different way. Tang knew Wukong was still alive thanks to the events of the original timeline, and that made the guilt of giving up even worse. He’d have to fix that.

Tang sighed in relief as his thoughts finally slowed and the pain ebbed. He still had a lot to work through, but that could wait for later. Going back to sleep sounded heavenly at the moment.

He had just started to doze off when an errant fact suddenly popped into his head.

Wasn’t Tang Sanzang already a reincarnation of one of the Buddha’s original disciples, the Golden Cicada?

With a groan Tang shoved a pillow over his head and attempted to beat back the thoughts from whatever that implied about him.

He didn’t sleep very well.

----------

“So what’s this all about Tang,” Pigsy asked grumpily as he accepted a mug of tea from Sandy. It was late at night, a few days after the release of the Demon Bull King, and the three of them were meeting privately at Sandy’s ship on the scholar’s request.

Tang took a sip from his own mug as he studied the two other immortals. Had it not been for his own memories on the matter, he would have never guessed that they were two of the five companions of the legendary Journey to the West.

Zhu Bajie had been, no pun intended, pigheaded, crass, and ornery. He seemed to be contrarian whenever he felt like it and relished in trying to get one over on Sun Wukong. Tang couldn’t deny the pig demon’s ability to rise to the occasion when the chips were down however. For as much trouble Zhu Bajie seemed to cause, he’d been invaluable a fair number of times as well.

Sha Wujing lived to fight. His rage and battle-lust had definitely caused their own share of problems. Other than that, the large river demon tended to be the quiet one of the group and didn’t open up until the latter half of their journey.

Tang wasn’t blind to his own faults though.

Tripitaka, (after some meditation, Tang had decided to refer to his past self as such to avoid confusion with the name Tang Sanzang), had not been ready for such a perilous adventure. He had been too trusting of strangers, too proud to believe Wukong’s warnings. It was his own incredible naivety and insistence that he knew better that had led to the vast majority of the dangers they had found themselves in.

It was hard to reconcile who the three of them had been with who they were today, but Tang supposed five hundred years would change most people.

Pigsy still had a gruff exterior, but his desire to start trouble had long since faded. His discovery of a love for cooking had unlocked a surprising work ethic within the pig demon as well as a silent form of affection that he treated any he cared for with.

Sandy had sought out a therapist and took anger management classes. His love for battle long since extinguished, the river demon now spent his time taking care of his cats, making tea, and being supportive of his friends.

Tang was certainly not naive to the ways of the world any longer. He still did his best to treat any strangers he met with kindness and respect, but he never fully believed anyone new to be trustworthy until they showed themselves to be. He always listened to the advice of his friends as well, knowing that he didn’t know everything and those around him might have insights he did not.

Tang placed his mug down and steepled his fingers together.

“We need to tell MK, Mei, and Wukong who we really are.”

“What?!” Pigsy's angry reaction hadn’t been unexpected. They had made an agreement some time back to not reveal themselves to anyone. It was less to do with having to deal with annoying fans and more with avoiding the painful memories their identities brought with them.

If it wasn’t for the fact he had been hopping through timelines and saw first hand how hiding things from people hurt them, Tang was certain he wouldn’t have been making this decision.

“I said we-”

“I heard what you said,” Pigsy interrupted. “No way! Nuh-uh! Not happening!”

“Now hold on brother,” Sandy soothed, placing a comforting hand on the chef’s shoulder. “Let’s hear him out first.”

“This better be good,” Pigsy grumbled and slouched back into his chair.

“Which do you think will go over better? Us being honest with them about our pasts, or them discovering the truth on their own?”

“They won’t find out if we’re careful about it,” Pigsy countered.

“They will find out,” Tang stated with absolute certainty. “Whether it’s the kids putting the pieces together themselves or Wukong recognizing us, there is no doubt that this isn’t going to stay a secret for long.”

Sandy seemed thoughtful but the pig demon simply huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

Tang stared directly into Pigsy’s defiant eyes. Looks like he’d have to pull out the big guns.

“How do you think MK will react once he finds out that we, that you, have been keeping something this important from him?”

With a sharp intake of air Pigsy froze, his expression changing from defiance to horror. He leaned over, placing his face in his hands and groaned.

“Oh god. He’d- he’d feel like I didn’t trust him. Like I didn’t care about him enough to tell him.” The chef seemed miserable at the thought as he looked up. “Okay, we can tell the kid. Mei too, I guess.”

Tang shared a glance with Sandy. Neither had missed the exclusion of Wukong from Pigsy’s concession.

(When did he stop being the Monkey King to Tang?)

“So, uh, will we tell big brother before or after we tell MK and Mei,” Sandy asked, eyeing the pig demon warily.

Like a switch had been flipped, Pigsy’s anger returned in full force, his face twisting into a hateful scowl.

“We ain’t telling that bastard nothing,” he snarled.

“Pigsy,” Tang scolded, shocked at the amount of venom in his voice.

“No! He doesn't deserve it! Not after letting us think he was dead-” Pigsy’s voice broke slightly as he continued his rant. “Not after avoiding us for five hundred years!”

Tang took a steadying breath and pushed down the irrational emotions and hurt that wanted to agree with Pigsy’s stance. He needed to be calm if he was to convince one of his oldest friends to go through with this.

“Assumptions, my dear friend, are very dangerous things,” Tang said.

“Huh?” Pigsy looked confused at the seeming change in subject. Good, that meant he was paying attention.

“We never found Wukong after he disappeared, so we assumed he was dead. We continued to assume such for five hundred years,” Tang began, speaking clearly and with emphasis to be sure he was understood. “We now know our assumptions were wrong. Now you are falling back into the same mistake.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You are assuming that Wukong knew we were looking for him. You are assuming he hid from us intentionally. You are assuming that he knows we’re still alive.”

“Wait, what,” Sandy exclaimed. He had seemed to be following along with the conversation up until that point and now looked alarmed.

“How do we know Wukong didn’t fall into the same trap we have,” Tang explained. “That he didn’t just assume we were gone, either through death or reincarnation? With that assumption in mind, why would he ever think to go looking for us?”

There was a tense silence as Tang let his point sink in before finishing his argument.

“We can no longer assume things. That only leads to misunderstanding and hurt feelings. If we are to learn the truth we must actively look for it. To do that we must be honest with Wukong.”

Pigsy stared at him for a few moments before sagging and plopping down into his chair.

“I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Tang breathed a sigh of relief as Sandy chided their friend about drowning your feelings in alcohol. That was the first hurdle down.

Now for the hard part.

----------

In the end they decided to tell all three of them at the same time. Just to rip the whole band-aid off in one go so to speak.

It hadn't been too hard to convince MK to get Wukong to invite them to his island. He hadn’t welcomed them into his sanctum however, so they had a picnic on the shore near the waterfall curtain instead.

The food had been quickly forgotten once they began their explanation.

MK was upset at first at having the truth withheld from him, but some heartfelt reassurances and a teary hug from Pigsy had earned them his forgiveness. He bounced back rather quickly and immediately began launching questions excitedly at the trio.

Mei had simply accepted the revelation with great enthusiasm. She had pulled her phone and began live streaming a “Q&A WITH THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST CREW!!!”. So much for anonymity.

Tang gave an amused chuckle as the young adults pestered Pigsy and Sandy as he glanced at the uncharacteristically silent Wukong.

The Monkey King could have been carved from stone with how still he was, his expression frighteningly blank.

“Wukong?” Tang swallowed nervously as his first disciple turned to him with that empty look. “Do you want to say something?”

That had apparently been the wrong thing to ask.

“Do I want to say something? Do I want to say something?!” The empty stillness was immediately replaced with restless agitation as Wukong leapt to his feet and began to pace back and forth angrily. “Oh there are a lot of somethings I want to say to you three!”

“Hey Mei? Stop streaming for a bit,” MK said quietly as he pulled her a little ways away from the group. Tang would have been extremely proud of the emotional maturity the kid was showing, but he currently had a very pissed off monkey taking up most of his attention.

“How could you do this to me?! How could you even think of leaving me to be alone for five hundred years,” Wukong shouted at them, confusion and anger and hurt pouring from every word.

“Big brother, we-” Sandy tried.

“Don’t you ‘Big Brother’ me, Sha Wujing!” The way he spat out the name like a curse made the river demon flinch. “You all abandoned me! I thought I was never going to see any of you again! Yet here you all are!” Wukong clenched his fists as he glared at the three immortals. “WHERE WERE YOU?!”

“Where were we? Where were you,” Pigsy threw the question right back angrily. “We looked for you! For a century we searched! That’s more than what you can say!”

“And then when you got tired of it you gave up! You gave up on me!”

“WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!”

“I MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN!”

The anger bled out from the air at that confession and Wukong seemed to crumble into himself. Pigsy looked stunned, Sandy was nervously wringing his hands, and Tang’s stomach was twisting itself into a painful knot.

“I was alone, Bajie. My brothers were gone and I was left by myself,” Wukong trembled as he hugged himself. Tang had never seen the proud warrior look so small before. “For centuries I had nothing but my memories and grief. Sometimes I wanted to be dead. Maybe then I’d see you again.” Wukong fell to his knees as he looked up at them with tears running down his face. “I missed you all so much.”

Tang felt his own tears falling as he rushed over to embrace Wukong who began to openly sob. Sandy and Pigsy soon joined in and the four of them simply held each other as they let their pain free.

“We’re so, so sorry Wukong,” Tang said. “I promise you we would have never hurt you like this intentionally.”

“I- I know,” Wukong hiccuped, clutching to the three of them tightly.

“We won’t ever leave you alone again big brother,” Sandy vowed.

“We’re stuck with each other from now on, no matter how much we may get on each other's nerves.” Pigsy’s joke earned a choked laugh from Wukong.

Two more pairs of arms entered into their group hug as MK and Mei joined them on the ground.

“Please don’t be sad Monkey King,” MK said. “You have Mei and I now too. You aren’t alone anymore.”

Wukong just began to cry a little harder and held on a bit tighter at that.

The six of them stayed like that for some time, holding each other up in silent support and comfort.

As they sat there, Tang was a little overwhelmed by how right it felt to be holding onto the others. Love burned in his chest as he enjoyed the warmth of being this close to his family.

Oh.

They were his family, weren’t they?

That wasn’t just another assumption. These five, across any timeline, were family to him, and he would always care for them as such.

Any lingering doubts about being Tripitaka melted away. It didn’t really matter who he was or had been in the past. All that mattered was the real love he felt for these people that were precious to him.

As long as he had that, he could overcome anything else that came his way.

----------

You didn’t think I would write a Tang-centric fic and NOT have him be Tripitaka did you? It was inevitable honestly.

I'm not sure if I characterized Sha Wujing correctly here, but Sandy canonically went to anger management so I made some (hehe) assumptions.

Speaking of! Count how many assumptions are made in this chapter! There might be more than you think~

The story referenced in this chapter is Tang’s Time Adventure by Poddlebud. It’s a fun little romp with a unique ship. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see the conclusion played out here…

Until next time!

#Ink Writes #Monkie Kid #Scattered Cicadas #Tang #Tang Monkie KId #Tang Sanzang #Tripitaka #Pigsy #Zhu Bajie #Sandy #Sha Wujing #Sun Wukong #MK #Mei #Macaque #LEGO Monkie Kid

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mantistog · 4 years

Text

Uneasy

Yandere! WIll Graham x reader x Yandere! Hannibal Lecter

______________________________________________

You had stated it many times to WIll, him in no way heeding your warnings. It wasn’t that you particularly hated or even disliked Dr. Lecter. But you always felt so discomforted in his presence. Where as you and Will rarely shared eye contact, it seemed Dr. Lecter was too fond of it. Or too fond of looking at you in general- you didn’t like the attention that you felt having someone's eyes linger on you for too long. You had told Jack exactly the same thing, when he first brought the man into the station. Nobody seemed to take you seriously though, Alana even telling you that you should put your personal dislike for Hannibal aside and be happy someone would be there for Will.

You couldn’t blame her, she had a personal and professional relationship with the man that obviously made her harbour serious respect. Maybe that’s why everyone loves him, cause they see his brilliance in his field and instantly bestow him with respect unfounded. In moments such as these in your life, you are happy that you don’t understand half of the professional things that him and Alana engage in.

You sighed, bringing your fist up to the wooden door, knocking quietly and maybe hoping that no one would hear so you wouldn’t have to do this. But to your dismay the door was opened rather quickly, and if it hadn’t Will would have simply forced you to knock again. “Ah, we’ve been waiting for you. Please, come in.” The psychiatrists gentle tone and gentleman like demeanor never failed to make you annoyed. Yet you simply thanked him, handing your coat over for it to be hanged. The house was extravagant, too much so for your tastes. Too big, too expensive. Everything about Dr. Lecter and his house screamed self importance. Narcissism. You preferred the humbleness of you or Wills small house. He greeted Dr. Lecter as if they were friends, shaking his hand timidly as he instructed you into the dinning room.

At the table already sat were Jack Crawford and his wife, Bella. You were well acquainted with both, and you were happy they were there so you wouldn’t have to suffer alone with Will and Dr. Lecter. It was the only reason you had decided to accept the invitation that was extended through Will onto you on behalf of Dr. Lecter. As much as you loved Will, his and his therapists relationship was hard to get an angle on and quite frankly you found it unpleasant to be around the two at the same time. It was almost like he brought out the worst in Will.

Tonight was worse than normal, too. They seemed to share knowing glances and hushed whispers as Dr. Lecter handed out everyone's plates. Their relationship had always fluctuated, but you had never watched them scheme the way they were right now. The dinner was pleasant, as you discussed ongoing and current events with Bella, heavily preferring her and Jacks company over the company of that of Will and Dr. Lecter with their sudden agreement. It almost made you grit your teeth in annoyance. At least a couple of weeks ago Will would have never found Dr. Lecter as agreeable as he suddenly did. It was suspicious, you could just tell something was off, the same way you knew from the beginning that Dr. Lecter was different than he seemed.

The night ended off swimmingly, surprisingly no reveal of the secret that the two were apparently keeping as Jack and Bella made their leave. “We should get going too, right Will?” You urged, trying not to be rude as you tried to separate yourself and Will from Dr. Lecter. He smiled, putting a hand on your shoulder warmly. It was weird to see him physical with anyone, so it instantly ticked you off that something was indeed wrong. You shrugged his hand off, taking a step back awkwardly. His and your eyes met accidentally for once, and he was looking at you so softly and warmly, a almost unnoticeable smile on his face. But you noticed.

“We should get home, shouldn’t we? It’s getting late.” He answered you, grabbing your hand and leading you to the door. You thanked Dr. Lecter for the dinner out of courtesy, but he simply replied ominously that he would see you again soon. There was nothing you could really do other than shoot him a look of suspicion before you and Will get into his car and you watched him study you both as you drove away. You felt suddenly very sleepy as you were sitting down again as Will drove, and you didn’t think anything of it as you fell asleep, trusting Will to get you home safely as he always did.

That’s why when you woke up in an unknown environment you were nothing short of first surprised, scared and then angry. Absolutely livid, to be frank, as you realized with the pounding headache that you had probably been drugged- you knew the feeling well enough to establish the connection in your mind between previous experiences and this one. The room, bed and sheets were all nicer than your own. The walls seemed to be made mostly of planks, wood and logs, aiming to confirm your suspicion you looked out the window and was greeted with woods. You were in a fancy cabin of some kind in the middle of nowhere, or at least a ways from any other house. Bundling the sheets up in your first, you quickly disposed of them from the bed and launching them onto the floor carelessly. Your white shirt was the same as the one you had worn to the dinner party, but you couldn’t help but notice your lack of pants and wonder just who removed them. At least the dress shirt was long, when not accurately shoved down into your pants.

You got up quietly, noting that you could faintly smell something cooking, but it was hard to tell with the window slightly cracked open, letting the petrichor in from the outside. There were two doors leading out from the room, but one was cracked slightly open and showed you a bathroom. You were in the master bedroom then. That must mean it was a sizable cabin. Only one person who could afford this who had any business with you came to mind and your face quickly soured. The other door stood there ominously, and you had to gather some courage to approach. It didn’t creak as you pulled it open slowly, peering through the crack of the door as it became bigger. The layout was as you’d imagined it, the door not leading to a hall but instead straight into a living room. Sitting in the couch situated in the middle of the room is Will, and before you can stop your brain from acting on it’s visual input your hand pushes the door open fully and Will instantly turn his head to look at you. At first there is shock on his face, but then it’s replaced with a small sincere smile.

“Good morning, how did you sleep?” He asks, his eyes remaining on you completely as he puts down a book you didn’t even realize he had been holding. He looks so smart with those glasses half way down his nose and a book next to him. Still, his calmness at the situation blows your lid off. He knows you have a short temper, why is he testing you? You can tell he notices your face turn downwards again, your eyebrows pressing further together in frustration. “Will, where are we?” It was more a demand, than a question.

“Home.” He said, suddenly as stone cold as you were. He was mimicking your loss of patience. You felt like a child that was being scolded by their parents. Yet your face didn’t waver. “No, Will. Where is my phone and my pants? I have work.” The words were slow and steady, as he got up. Something told you that you were in danger. You’d never felt scared of Will before this. “You’re not going in anymore.” He simply answered, stepping closer and causing the response in you to go backwards too. Don’t let him close the distance, you told yourself despite not being certain what he wanted. If he was gonna kill you he would’ve done it while you were asleep.

Your back hit the wall, yet he continues to advance on you until he’s right in front of you. “Will-” He cuts you off by grabbing your face into his hands, pulling you closer and studying your face. You doubt your facade of only anger keeps your fear and uncertainty hidden from him, yet you refuse to drop it. He moves your head around a bit and his breath fans your face, and you don’t know what to do with yourself except blush as he closed his eyes and connected his forehead to yours. His breathing was heavier than it normally was as his nose flirted with yours, his face lowering and your lips coming closer-

“Breakfast is ready.” You blood ran cold, and your heart stopped for a quick second, almost giving you a mini heart attack. Will pulled back fast, giving you an exhausted look quickly before turning around and addressing Dr. Lecter. “Yes, thank you.” He said thankfully, but by the look in Dr. Lecters eyes you knew that he knew what he had just interrupted. For once, maybe, you were thankful genuinely for Dr. Lecter. Will grabbed your hand, heading towards a door opposite where you came from, but Dr. Lecter instructs him to please go get pants. You assume those would be for you, considering the circumstance.

At this point pants are of no importance as you’re being led into the beautiful dining room, just itching for at least any answers as to where you are and why. You decide that if you want any answers from the psychiatrist you’re gonna have to be a bit more polite than you were with Will. Dr. Lecter pulls in your chair for you as you sit down, but he lingers behind you for a bit, smelling you before he too sits down. Another thing that made you uneasy about him, the way his sense of smell worked. You’re sitting at the end of the table, Dr. Lecter at your right and what you assume to be Wills seat on your left.

“Dr. Lecter-” you start to ask, but he cuts you off eagerly urging you to call him Hannibal as he has done many times before. You never listened, but right now you would as you assumed your politeness would benefit your cause. “Hannibal-” He nods at your correction. “Where am I?” You ask, trying to maintain eye contact with him. Laying on the table unsuspectingly, your hand is suddenly gently grasped by his hand being played atop yours. He looks at you in a way so soft you want to melt. “Do not worry, love. Me and Will plan to take good care of you.” And then it’s gone. Now he makes you feel uneasy again, treating you like an ignorant little child, as he addresses you. Will, comes in and sits down, eyeing Hannibal as he grabs your other hand. You pull both your hands to yourself quickly, frustrated with their none answers, throwing your hands in your lap. “Why am I here?”

They both share a weird look and then they smile in unison, freaking you out. Hannibal reaches out to you and grabs your hands in your lap and bringing them to his face, kissing your knuckles while Will simply smiles at you content to watch Hannibal touch you.

“Isn’t it obvious? We love you.”

#Yandere! will graham #will graham x reader #hannibal x reader #Hannibal lecter x reader #Yandere hannibal lecter #yandere hannibal #yandere x reader

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chibinekochan · 3 years

Text

How to become a Demon Ruler 106

Part: 01 I 02 I 03 I 04 I 05

GN. Reader insert

taglist: @ayesha95 ; @nomnomcupcakesworld ; @fex-phoenix ; @depressed-bixch ; @kitsune-oji

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

I somehow wake up just before Barbartos knocks on my door.

He is pleasantly surprised when I open the door. “Good morning, master. I hope you had a pleasant night.”

“I slept like a stone.” I'm already quite used to this place. It's surprising how naturally I seem to fit in here.

“I'm glad to see you so energetic.” Barbatos sounds relieved for some reason.

"That will probably only last until our first lesson." I chuckle nervously.

"I think you will enjoy today's lesson and first you should get ready." Barbatos reminds me that I'm still in my Pyjamas and I blush.

"Oh yeah, right. Then excuse me. You can go ahead and wait in the breakfast room. If I'm not there in an hour you can start a search party." I make a silly joke but Barbatos doesn't look amused at all.

"I'd rather not but I will follow your wishes." He looks slightly troubled.

"I'm all grown up don't worry. I actually know some self-defense too." I make a silly self-defense-like pose.

Barbatos shakes his head. "I'm glad to know that my master is a capable person but words like these trouble me greatly. Please promise me that you won't get into trouble."

"I don't think you need to worry about that at all. I mean what kind of trouble could I even get into on the way to breakfast?" I shake my head and shrug.

"You would be surprised." Barbatos knits his eyebrows. "Well, regardless I trust you, master."

I can tell that he means 'you better not throw my trust away', it's hard to argue against him.

"I promise that I will be good." I bow deeply to emphasize my point.

Barbatos smiles, I'm not sure if he is relieved or just finds it funny.

"Very well then. I will await your arrival with utmost patience." Barbatos decides to accept my words.

"I will come soon." I nod and feel very motivated to not get into trouble.

With that Barbatos leaves me to my own devices.

The bathroom is once again fully prepared. I wonder if they might have some magical gremlins or something that does the work here.

It's quite the mystery for sure.

I take my shower and choose today's outfit. Since I don't know what will be thrown at me today.

I have a much easier time today finding my way. It makes me feel pretty good.

"Good morning Diavolo." I greet him with a proud smile.

"I knew you could do it!" Diavolo is very pleased and Barbatos smiles as well.

"You are faster here than I expected. I will give you an extra waffle for this." Barbatos starts to stack up waffles on my plate.

My eyes turn into stars.

"It was a great decision to have waffles today." Diavolo looks very happy by my reaction.

Barbatos nods.

"Actually I have been wondering why you don't eat with us?" I wonder if Barbatos even eats at all.

"That would be inappropriate. I'm nothing but a simple servant." He is taken aback by my question.

"You might be right but do you even eat? You've been with me for most of the day without a single break." I genuinely wonder when Barbatos does anything, since everytime everything is already prepared.

"That is a very valid question." Diavolo sounds like he has never thought about it.

"Don't concern yourself with me. I assure you that I do in fact eat and even take a break once a while." Barbatos doesn't seem to get the point of my question.

"When was the last time you had a day off?" Now I'm even more curious.

"Hmm about 40 years ago..." Barbatos takes a moment to remember it.

I can't believe this. "What? 40 years? That's way too long. You really need a vacation."

"I keep telling him to take a day off but he always refuses." Diavolo sighs.

"I'm in no need of a vacation. I take great pleasure in my work and I'm sure the castle will be in ashes once I return." Barbatos is serious.

"You are the kind of person who needs to be ordered to relax aren't you?" I sigh, it's impossible to imagine him casually.

"I think you have the wrong picture of me. I can relax all on my own." Barbatos doesn't get it.

"Maybe you need to show a more casual side of yourself." Diavolo chimes in from the side.

"I will consider it." Barbatos doesn't sound serious.

"Maybe we should order him to eat with us at least?" I look towards Diavolo.

"Oh, what a splendid idea. I have not considered that." Diavolo is fully onboard.

"Who will serve you while you eat then?" Barbatos frowns.

"I think we can manage to stand up and get our food ourselves." It's a very easy task.

"I don't doubt that but it would be inappropriate for me to let you get your own dishes." Barbatos’ frown grows only deeper.

"How about joining us for tea at least? We have done that before." Diavolo brings up a great compromise.

"That would be acceptable." Much to my surprise, Barbatos agrees.

"I wish I had time to bake something." I have not seen today's schedule yet but I fear it will be very loaded.

"I'd love to try your baking one day." Diavolo smiles gently.

"Once the party is over you will have more time and then you can bake as much as you want. We might have a lesson until the party. It might be a good learning experience." Barbatos ponders about this for a moment.

"It would be a great experience. I mean surely my cute little sibling could teach you a human recipe?!" Diavolo looks at me.

"Sure, I can teach you." I decide to play along.

Barbatos’ eyes light up. "In that case, I will add a lesson to your training."

Who would have thought that this was so effective on Barbatos? Baffled, I look at Diavolo. He smirks at me. I give him a thankful smile.

With that our breakfast ends.

Somehow I look forward to whatever will be thrown at me. Even when I will probably regret thinking this.

"Today's first lesson will be provided by me." Diavolo surprises me with this.

"Really what will we do?" I'm pretty curious now.

Diavolo seems to enjoy my excitement. "Haha, you will have to wait and see." He joyfully laughs.

"Don't forget that you need to bring them to your office by 10 at the latest." Barbatos casually reminds Diavolo.

This doesn't bother Diavolo a lot. "I know. After my lesson, we will have you learn about politics. Honestly, it's just about filling out papers." Diavolo sighs just a little bit.

"It is very important work." Barbatos glares at Diavolo.

"Anyway, let's not waste any time." Diavolo suddenly seems to be in a rush. I suspect it's to get away from Barbatos.

"Okay, see you later Barbatos." I lightly bow to him.

Diavolo waits for me at the entrance of the room.

We walk for quite a while until Diavolo finally opens a big door.

The light blinds me for a moment. Much to my surprise, I see a vast garden. It's very well maintained.

I'm very impressed. "This garden is very beautiful." I look at it in awe.

"I'm glad you like it. I thought you would like to see something else after being stuck inside all day." Diavolo seems much more relaxed after hearing my excitement.

"That is very thoughtful of you." It's very sweet of Diavolo. I spot many plants that I have never seen before.

They all look very interesting.

Diavolo watches over me with a big smile. "Watch out, some of these bites."

"Really which of them?" I can't help but be curious.

Diavolo chuckles and points to some ominous-looking plants. "These devil traps for example."

I look at them from a safe distance. "I should note to keep away from them."

"This is actually today's lesson. Studying the plants of the devildom. I told Barbatos that this would be more effective than looking at pictures and we also agreed that you could use some fresh air. Being cooped in the castle isn't good." Diavolo is always so considerate of me.

It's very sweet."I will definitely remember this plant." I have to agree.

"There are some other nice plants here. Oh, the blood roses are my biggest pride. They are in bloom too. Let's go there next." Diavolo is especially excited about this.

"That sounds great." I honestly wonder how amazing they are. Diavolo certainly sold them to me.

On the way Diavolo points out other plants that I need to keep away from. He does a good job of making sure I remember their appearance.

Soon I see the blood roses, they are similar to human roses but way bigger and with sharp thorns. They look beautiful and dangerous.

Diavolo looks at them with such admiration that it makes me smile.

I step a bit closer but somehow I stumble over something in the ground. I almost fall face-first into the flowers. That certainly would have ended very painfully for me.

But miraculously I got caught by Diavolo.

Effortless he holds me up. He is so close right now that I feel his breath on my face.

His eyes are very pretty from this close. He stares at me for a moment and then carefully places me on the ground. My heart is pounding, I wasn't ready for this at all.

"Are you alright?" Diavolo is slightly flushed.

"Y-yeah thank you for catching me." Slightly embarrassed I fix my outfit.

"You need to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt." He sounds unusually soft.

Somehow it's very effective on me. "I will."

"Maybe, I should carry you just to make sure…" Diavolo seriously ponders over this.

"I don't think that is necessary. I will be careful." Somehow I imagine him throwing me over his shoulder to carry me. I can't risk it.

Diavolo looks a bit sad. "Alright, maybe next time then." He had that sad puppy face again.

"Maybe." It's so hard to be strict with him. I should take lessons for that from Barbatos.

This thought causes me to smile.

"Hold my hand at least." Diavolo doesn't seem to be able to let this go.

I guess I can do this much for him. "Alright."

Diavolo is very happy about this.

He holds his large hand out for me and I hold it with just enough strength to not let it go. He in turn holds mine firmly, but I assume that he holds his true strength back.

Somehow it feels very nice.

#how to become a demon ruler #demon ruler 101 #obey me fanfic #omswd #obey me!#obey me shall we date #obey me barbatos #obey me diavolo

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elysian-entries · 3 years

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One film, two visions; The Justice League

It’s 2017; the highly anticipated “Justice League” film, directed by Zack Snyder, is set to be released later in the year as a continuation of the DCEU.

A blockbuster movie showcasing the biggest DC characters uniting. Taking down the ultimate super villain; bound to fulfil millions of past and present children’s, as well as current adults and elderly dreams.

Then a fork in the road appears, Snyder and his wife, Deborah, step down from the colossal project due to the incredibly woeful loss of their daughter, Autumn. News hits the fans like a brick. Resulting in Joss Whedon and the Warner Bros. Studio stepping up to the mantle. Or at least attempting to.

Whedon's theatrical cut lost Warner Bros. Pictures approximately $60 million dollars. With overall painfully negative reviews and reception. Breaking the hearts of DC fans everywhere.

4 years, campaigns, hashtags, sky banners, petitions, and billboards later; I can’t say how many of us would have predicted receiving the holy gift that is the “Snyder Cut”, in its full 4 hour running time glory (in a 4:3 ratio, which somehow adds to the grandeur). 4 years of dedicated, passionate and determined people helping in any way they can for the cause. It was a journey to behold.

A large section in Snyder’s 4 hour venture is used to build dimension and depth in the characters. Making an absolute world of a difference. Something that was sorely lacking in Whedon's cut. The film had a completely different feel and atmosphere instantly.

There's no better example of increased depth in characters than Cyborg's (Ray Fisher's) narrative. I was engaged, and intrigued by his story. In Whedon’s cut, he isn't even given a second thought. His entire backstory was cut as well as his father's important role also being stripped. His scene where he sacrificed himself in order for them to find the mother box was gone. And it took away such an important, integral part in Cyborgs story, and in the film in general I believe and also realised having seen the two movies; the complicated but delicately developing relationship between father and son. And just the whole story in general made such a difference in Snyder's cut, it really is almost indescribable the difference it made. It just felt so much more genuine and heartfelt. Like a real developed and executed narrative.

In Snyder's cut we were shown detailed flashbacks that fully fleshed out his character, his morals and his relationships. Creating a much needed deeper connection with the audience. We experience his conflicting journey to accepting his responsibility, accepting the past, the "gift he has", and his purpose in the league. Leading into receiving closure. He was given great and meaningful importance and purpose in this cut.

Similarly, Ezra Miller's Flash was too given a largely more meaningful and impactful role that left quite the impression on me. His character was light-hearted and charming but still had those important, emotionally impactful scenes. Which were painfully lacking in Whedon's cut. I was left loving Barry Allen a lot more than I already did. Barry's scenes with his wrongly convicted father were hard hitting for me. They also play a large part in making later scenes more impactful. Like his detrimental importance during the final fight. In Whedon's cut his big hero moment was saving a Russian family. The overall the inclusion of the family was superfluous and extraneous, along with the robber at the start and many other things. Not only that but Whedon's cut gave the Flash a silly, attempted comical relief role. To be fair he attempted to give everybody a comical relief role. Which hardly worked because none of the attempts were actually funny and were at time agonizing. It ultimately lacked substance and came across as almost immature. The scene where Barry went on about brunch was painful. Leading me to ask, why? Why was this so important to film Whedon?

After re-watching Whedon’s version, I had gained a new found appreciation for Snyder's representation of Barry. '"Make your own future, make your own past"; he echoes his father’s words. "Your son really was one of them, the best of the best," as his theme "At the Speed of Force" plays in the background of this pivotal moment. A powerful scene reflecting Barry's ulterior motive, doing his father proud. Which invoked many tears. And still does whenever I re-watch the scene or listen to the song. As if it were the first time experiencing it. Thomas Holkenborg's soundtrack truly amplified emotion and made the scenes much more powerful, It makes for one of the absolute best scenes in the movie; I'd say one of, if not my absolute favourite.

His job in charging up Victor was completely removed and I have to wonder why. Instead Barry was left to participate in "bug duty" (bugs being one of his fears also). Barry's role in Snyder's cut, and that one incredible scene where he broke the rule was arguably better than Whedon's Justice League as a whole.

I think the only scene in Whedon's cut involving Barry that I thought was actually meaningful was where he was faced with his first real mission. And he was confronted with his fears of "obnoxiously tall" beings. He appeared anxious and frantic. Fearful. Communicating to us his inexperience. And Batman simply told him to just "save one". To which he then, without struggle, saved them all. And was also able to participate in the final battle. The "save one" scene made those achievements more meaningful.

The scene after they won the battle, showcases the victorious team standing proud; and Barry with a sweet, goofy, golden retriever-esque smile plastered on his face. What a loveable smile.

An interesting contrast is the scene in where Barry reveals to his father his new position at an “actual job”. In Snyder’s cut the father was absolutely over the moon, shouting at the top of his lungs, "his foot is in the door!" repeatedly in excitement. It tugged at my heart strings; his shameless pride in his son. Making me wonder how he would have shown his pride if he found out Barry saved the whole Earth and humanity. We can assume Barry had that unequivocally powerful underlying thought too. Contributing to his saccharine reaction. In Whedon’s cut the reaction was softer and more timid but nonetheless a sweet moment. Barry becoming bashful.

It was a sweet touch to have Cyborg and Flash finally fist bump during that victorious scene after Victor rejected Barry's initial advance in Whedon's cut. Ezra Miller improvising that “racially charged” line, acknowledging the possible racism attached to a fist bump I assume. The whole fist bumping being "racially charged" was not included in Snyder's cut. The grave digging scene was entirely different. Which I far more preferred. It was a group excursion. With a little positive interaction between the Atlantean and the Amazonian. And funnier, more light-hearted dialogue between Barry and Victor.

Aquaman’s contrast was interesting. In Whedon’s cut he actually sought out to obtain the trident to help the league (although he was always disagreeing with them). Compared to Snyder; where he was apprehensive and had to be hesitantly persuaded by Willem Dafoe’s character Vulko (who was completely absent from Whedon’s cut). This was also an importantly established relationship by Snyder. Arthur first makes his desire to help the the team known saving them from the water rushing from Gotham Harbour. He isn't acknowledged in the theatrical cut but in Snyder's cut Diana notices and takes a moment to take in his presence (I assume?). Then Barry asks who that guy is. And of course we all know, it's Aquaman.

I particularly liked how Snyder chose to include Barry asking for Arthur's opinion on military hats. It's an odd, minimalistic thing to include - the reasoning as to why I like it. I also thought it was quite charming.

A scene I think deserves a mention is when Aquaman is first introduced, and then rejects Bruce's offer, he then makes his way back into the ocean. A farewell song is performed. This was quite early in the film and I think the voices being hauntingly beautiful, yet slightly eerie/poignant set the perfect atmosphere. A well done scene.

His overall character was also contrasting. He became a genuine hero who was proved capable of more than water powers and silly moments. Including that god-awful lasso of truth scene. In the theatrical cut he was bitter, a bit of a joke, not caring too much about the events that were unfolding. He had more of a heroes’ sense of purpose within Snyder’s cut.

Gal Gadot did not gain too much from the extra scenes. Though different to the theatrical cut, Snyder had paired her with a repetitive character establishing theme. It could be referred to as ancient lamentation music. Hauntingly beautiful. Something I could only assume would be the battle cries of the Amazonian warriors and the Amazonian warrior inside Diana. In some ways possibly over used, though I thought it was brilliant. It has a special place in my heart because I love that type of soundtrack. The almost eerie, maybe poignant but overall emotion provoking type. Especially her introduction scene where she faces off against the terrorists )which was overall better in Snyder's cut) The haunting warrior moans fade into her classic theme to create an incredible atmosphere. And that atmosphere was definitely missing in Whedon's cut, in more than just that one scene. It was also sorely lacking the lamentation music. We also didn't get that sweet interaction between Diana and the little girl.

When Diana began detailing Steppenwolf and the mother boxes past to Bruce, the cuts were very strange and abrupt/awkward in some way. And it felt silly and rushed; and I think that perfectly describes the whole film.

Whedon's cut also included uncomfortable scenes. Almost forcing characters to be funny where it was just completely out of place and character. Or just downright inappropriate. To be fair, Whedon is known for the Marvel movies in which fourth wall dimension breaking and odd self ware/ironic jokes are heavily used. One of the main reasons I don't particularly enjoy them, but rather enjoy the darker, more meaningful DC movies. I say meaningful in the way in which we are completely transported into this universe; where it's taken seriously and has obvious effects and meaning to the characters. Compared to Whedon's Marvel films in which the threat is joked about and the characters make fun at their expense.

Another negative contrast is the colour grading and overall shots. A good example is the conversation between Lois Lane and Martha Kent. In Whedon's version the colour is poppy, reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or The Office. As if it were an empty shell of a TV show. Lacking any artistic or symbolic aspects. Whereas Snyder's conversation between Martha Kent (who was actually Martian Manhunter) and Lois Lane was beautiful. The lighting was dim, with steam from their hot coffee creating a brilliant shot and conveying the perfect mood. Almost a piece of art. A lot of Snyder's cut looked as if it were ripped straight out of an incredible graphic novel. His talent when it comes to filmmaking is grandiloquent. Compared to Whedon's over saturated and flat scenes as if it were from a cliché sitcom.

Whedon also made the Justice League a lot more dysfunctional than it needed to be.

The scene where the team unanimously come up with the plan to revive Superman seemed really silly and lackluster in Whedon's cut. In Snyder's cut it was a genuine moment. A "wow" moment where the penny dropped. It gave me goose-bumps. The way it was implied, the explanation/analogy with the house, and then Cyborg creating a Superman visual as the team, standing around the table, stared at it in awe. All thinking the same thing. Without even having to say it (as Barry pointed out) It was a uniting moment. Whedon's version was just, disappointing. Lacking any impact at all. And it made the team seem disconnected in a way. Whereas in Snyder's scene the league's thoughts were in unison.

There was also an agonizing amount of Wonder Woman praise. I think praise is a...well...nicer way of putting it. It was more so adolescent boy humour, immature if you will; with her being the butt of the joke. To the point where it was little uncomfortable and borderline unnecessary. And to another point where Gal Gadot refused to do a scene, (the one where Flash lands on her) and Whedon insisted so much on still including it - that they used a body double. A scene so stupid and pointless it actually hurts. Why, Whedon?

Superman's main feature in this film is his moustache. Or, lack thereof. At the beginning of the theatrical cut, we witness the infamous Superman film scene, where we are introduced to his CGI moustache…then “Everybody Knows” by Sigrid plays as we see the aftermath of his death. I really enjoyed this scene, the song and the atmosphere. I think it was a strong start, setting the poignant mood. But of course it all goes out the window and downhill from here.

The biggest difference between the two Superman’s was the elimination of the godforsaken CGI removed moustache and the introduction to the “Recovery Suit” in Snyder's cut, which was a brilliant touch. We actually see Clark stumble upon the suit. A scene where various voices from his past, echo in his mind. An equally important and impactful scene; where he flied up into the universe, overlooking the Earth he is to protect.

I also really liked the whole, "Lois Lane is key" setup, with the eerie premonitions and glimpses into the “Knightmare”. Adding yet another deeper layer to the narrative. Setting the scene for Snyder's envisioned sequel.

In Whedon's cut during the first confrontation where Clark is confused immediately after his resurrection - the previous BvS battle is implemented more. With the "Do you bleed?" question being revisited. Giving us an unwanted closer look at the strange looking $3 million dollar CGI.

I liked Snyder's first confrontation better. It included more action and participation of all parties. And it was just a longer scene, making it seem more plausible and less silly. Before Clark reached Bruce he went through every member. Resulting in a little appreciated interaction between Arthur and Barry. I also thought Whedon’s scene showing Superman throwing Batman away like a ragdoll added to the ridiculous nature.

During the final battle. (Not mentioning how uncomfortable the colour grading was causing an unlikable atmosphere. Especially when it became daylight, taking away the exciting and intense atmosphere.) Whedon's Superman's entry was a little plain. Maybe cliché. Banging on about "truth" and "justice". Which isn't necessarily bad. It's just, maybe, too Superman? We then see the relieved faces of all the members. Batman's giddy smile was by far the best. It was nice to see genuine happiness and I think that played an important role in communicating to us Bruce's character arc. From lowest of lows, and his conflicting attitude towards Superman in BvS, to Superman giving him incredible hope. Though it slightly made me uncomfortable.

Snyder's entry of Superman was brutal in the best way. Appearing just before Cyborg was chopped to bits. Giving us that epic moment of 'He came.” Superman mercilessly rips into Steppenwolf for the next minute or two. No breakaways. Which was a great choice. It perfectly showcased his abilities. Though in the theatrical cut he was shown to be the only capable one of saving the world and being the real “hero”, in Snyder’s cut, especially The Flash, they were all shown to be powerful with meaningful parts to play.

Bruce Wayne appeared more guilty and conflicted about what happened in BvS in Whedon's cut. Though he was overshadowed in terms of writing by Superman and Wonder Woman. He also was the one who brought in the "big guns" a.k.a Lois Lane as a contingency plan in case the Superman resurrection went awry. In which it did. In Snyder's cut it was coincidence, or the doing of Man Hunter in that mysterious scene. Bruce was also quite tense and wasn’t too much a bright beacon of hope as he was in the Snyder cut. Even despite Snyder's vision of him being reminiscent and heavily inspired by Frank Millers version; darker, older, broken and violent in a way (which is brilliant) he still had this character arc. The lover’s tiff he suffered with Diana was irritating and what I thought was superfluous. Creating an unnecessary disconnect with the group. It wasn't an interesting sub-plot/complication at all .

Bruce's character arc (from the dark BvS time, to the hopeful present) was more thoroughly shown in Snyder’s cut compared to Whedon's. I briefly mentioned Bruce's schoolgirl grin when Superman arrived right on time. Though Snyder more effectively showcased this positive rise through his obviously increased in optimistic attitude. When the team are off the defeat Steppenwolf once and for all Alfred asks Bruce how he can be so sure of the Man of Steel’s arrival. And Bruce replies full of vigour, “Faith, Alfred, faith!” And in another instance Barry questions their strength against Steppenwolf due to the amount of demons he has won against. Bruce declares that, “He’s never fought us. Not us united.” It was a powerful statement that heavily elevated excitement for the final fight.

During this final fight, Batman basically goes out on a suicide mission. Then the rest of the league join him for a family reunion. The Snyder cut better represented this with an astounding freeze-frame, slow motion shot of the team. It nicely established the power of unity in this case.

The way in which Steppenwolf was defeated was vastly altered. Changed completely. Mostly due to Darkseid’s absence in the theatrical cut. Darkseid added an important extra layer of looming fear, and even gave Steppenwolf more depth. It gave him an important reason as to why he was doing what he wasy doing. As we saw his utter dedication to Darkseid. It alerted us of the larger dangers that were present. Steppenwolf’s death in Whedon’s cut was ultimately debilitated after seeing Snyder’s version. Instead of being anti-climactically eaten alive by his bug minions as the sun rose; (maybe it’s a personal preference but I heavily dislike the daylight, especially for action scenes) his head was chopped off, first horn by horn, then from the neck. His decapitated head thrusted back through the portal into his own world, landing at the horrifying Darkseid's feet, along with the terrifying parademons. Engulfed by a fiery hellscape. The horror that Earth could have faced. But still could face. It reveals the deeper and darker enemy, beyong Steppenwolf looming just beneath the surface.

A sinister tune plays, as we see the victorious Justice League looking back at them. The portal then closes. Although a victory, we can’t help but wonder what the demonic and powerful entities, far more powerful than Steppenwolf, have in store for Earth’s future.

The Knightmare vision being apart of that future. It's set up from BvS to the very end of Justice League. It's a very intriguing part of Snyder’s vision. The moment where you can link up and see the connections between all the post-credit scenes and the “premonitions” is an epiphanic moment. It’s a whole other narrative on its own that you can analyse, hypothesize and discuss. It’s a very intriguing/exciting concept to think of what would have been Snyder’s future movie where Barry (as we saw previously reverse time) goes back to warn Bruce that “Lois Lane is the key”, to avoid the whole disastrous scenario. We can gather that he is referencing what we see at the end of Snyder's cut, Superman turned evil. The death of Lois Lane, whose skeleton we saw Superman cradle previously, we can assume had a hand in that, and possibly the Anti-Life equation too. It's an incredible narrative, and there are few things I would love more than seeing the Snyderverse come to life on this epic scale again.

We also finally get a glimpse of Snyder’s joker. A very exciting moment for me. Seeing any new iteration of the Joker is an exciting moment. Could Jared Leto somehow redeem himself?

Well, it sure was infinitely times better than the Suicide Squad rendition. This Joker was actually eerie and unsettling. I felt almost uneasy watching these scenes, and his odd laugh caused shivers to form down my spine. Jokers comments about “boy wonder”, whom we find out was indeed Bruce’s adoptive son, were heartbreaking (I believe he was actually referring to Dick instead of Jason surprisingly as his grave was once seen in a previous movie) Leaving me holding my breath, wondering what Bruce would say next, or what other wretched thing Joker could say. Of course the "reach around" comment was a bit off, but I’ll just brush over that.

We also learnt of Arthur Curry’s death, Harley Quinn’s death. Proving that Snyder had such a colossal plans for all the characters, dead and alive.

It’s a poignant feeling; to see this incredible, vast narrative, just beneath the surface, unfold. Knowing that we won’t be able to see it fully developed. As of now.

While watching these two completely different cuts of the same movie; it occurred to me and I am sure many other people, that attempting to produce such an in depth narrative intensive movie on the small scale that Whedon attempted, will commonly end in a painful, empty and superficial representation. Or maybe that really was just Whedon's vision.

As the epilogue ended, the credits rolled. Hallelujah began playing, sung by Allison Crowe. And as they rolled, in big letters the words; "For Autumn" took center focus. White against black. Clear as day. Like a bus, it hit hard. The reason I was sitting on that couch finally having the great honour to watch such a film. The courage it must have taken to continue and finish such a project is beyond admirable, it's heroic. Also non-profit. It only further proves what we already knew, that the intentions were pure, as no one ever doubted.

Also acknowledging the giant billboard on one of the buildings promoting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. A very important cause, especially to the Snyder’s. To date fans have raised over half a million dollars to the AFSP in honour of Autumn. A truly incredible feat.

When looking at the two movies side by side, it blows my mind to see the difference that I do. The emotion, meaning, the depth. It all just made sense in Snyder's cut. The emotion was palpable, absolutley unmistakable. Things mattered more. The people mattered more. There were reasons, and purpose. It was a genuine journey for every one of the characters, and I felt it. There were so many little scenes that made so much difference that added depth and meaning, emotion.

And I cannot say such words for Whedon, though I won’t put all the blame on him. Warner Bros. is about equally responsible. .

The true, original and intended Justice League; expatiated heroes, people, stories and journeys coming together on a grandiose scale, executed with passion and care. But also giving us a bittersweet taste of Snyder’s epic trilogy that could have been.

The end of the saga; and the rest of Snyder’s visions, are left unfulfilled; as of now. But regardless, remains as one of the things I hope to see come to life. Watching this movie, and the feeling I had during and afterward is indescribable. I want to say a massive congratulations to Zack Snyder. The film was beyond breathtaking. It really is so special and it will forever have an important place in my heart.

Though I think the most important thing to take away from the Snyder's incredible work is Autumn's story.

Thank you Zack Snyder.

For Autumn.

www.imdb.com/title/tt12361974/

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liukangmybeloved · 3 years

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wounded soldier fantasy {Mortal Kombat (2021)}

Summary: Liu Kang/Cole Young. "The wounded soldier fantasy means we're moments from doing it, right?" Cole chuckles under his breath, as if to distract himself from the fact that Liu Kang was both a) holding fire over his open wound, and b) very pretty. However, he must have been lounder than he thought, because Liu's movements had stilled, and when Cole cracked his eyes open, there's confusion written all over Liu's face, "it's... from a TV show," was all Cole could think of to explain himself.

A/N: warning for descriptions of acupuncture around a wound & non-descriptive cauterisation. an alternate take on the wounded soldier scene from mk 2021 ft. pining!cole (no romo relationship with alison in this fic because i don't condone cheating and there's no written justification because it's 3am. do i want to maybe write poly!alison/cole/liu ?? honestly yeah i do okay? maybe tomorrow). also the quote he uses is from Community's Season 1 episode Modern Warfare.

----

Cole would be the first person to admit that he was outclassed, hell, he'd admitted it sitting in the back of Jax's truck as Sub-Zero had hunted them through the streets of Chicago, but it had fallen on deaf ears, just as it continued to now. Honestly, despite being outclassed, Cole still thought it was unfair of Kung Lao to be fighting with a weapon he'd clearly mastered and had some supernatural control over. Cole had himself, just himself; it was bringing a knife to a fist fight, and he wasn't going to complain out loud because he knew they were just trying to pressure him and Kano into developing their own arcana, but it still hurt like a bitch when he got cut.

So now, here he was, in a quiet, secluded room with Liu Kang performing gentle, practiced acupuncture on the wound on his bicep. As always, Liu was quiet and intense about his work, and Cole's eyes roamed about the room to look at anything that wasn't the man who'd found them in the desert, who offered them shelter and explanations and training, who was good to them without even knowing them.

When a needle pulls, causes Cole to wince, Liu apologises faintly, as if out of instinct, eyes still focused on his work.

"No need to apologise," Cole assures after a moment, watching his hands as they worked, "you're doing your job... I assume," he says with a wry smile, and when he looks up, he meets Liu's faintly self-deprecating smile in return.

"I'm trying to help you; I know a little bit of pain is part of the process, but I'm still sorry," he explains, and looks back down, but he's still smiling slightly. It's a concise explanation, leaving Cole with no choice but to accept the apology, and try not to think about how grateful he is that Liu appears to be both an extraordinary fighter, and a gentle soul. There's few fighters Cole knows with such sincerity.

Liu's paused again.

"Yes?" And he's meeting Cole's gaze right as Cole himself realises he was staring. They were close out of necessity, but suddenly it felt too close, too intimate; Liu's voice was only a murmur and Cole had heard him loud and clear.

"Where'd you learn to do this?" Cole blurts out, and hopes Liu can't read anything in his expression. He drops his gaze to his free hand, picking at his nails as Liu hums for a moment, returning, once more, to the careful task at hand.

"Here, mostly; many of my brothers and sisters at the temple have come in hopes of assisting the training champions, many from a variety of different medical backgrounds," he delicately picks up another needle, tipping his head to the side as he looks at Cole's arm intently, "and as much as I train myself for Mortal Kombat, there is only so much my body can take in a day, so when I can, I ask, I train my mind and learn from the people around me."

"An all-around great guy, huh?" Cole says, and though the words themselves could have sounded jealous or mocking, coming from Cole they're simply complimentary as he's stoutly refusing to add the word 'perfect' no matter how loudly he's thinking it. Liu leans in a little closer to check his handiwork as he hovers the next needle over Cole's skin. Even at this angle, Cole can see his vaguely flattered smile - perfect, perfect, perfect.

"Next time can you say that while Kung Lao is in earshot?" Liu's tone is amused, and Cole's not quite sure why the request sits strangely in his chest; he's known Liu for a few days at most, he knows he and Kung Lao are close, this is probably just some longstanding teasing between the two of them -

"Why? He not take this kind of thing seriously?" Cole keeps his tone light, but Liu makes a noise in the back of his throat like that's not quite the case.

"Of course he takes it seriously; one of the reasons I learned at all was because I didn't want to keep bothering people when he managed to land a hit in training," finally, the needle was in, with another wince from Cole, but Liu straightened up, "but I'd just like to see his face when someone calls me an all-around great guy." His smile was so pleased and a little mischievous, and Cole's distracted by that smile enough so that when Liu's hand catches fire, Cole jumps.

Then Liu's free hand is on his other arm, warm and secure, steadying him, and the man himself is again apologising, this time for startling Cole, who feels like a fool.

"Are you okay? Do you need a minute before I begin to cauterise the wound?" He asks clearly, and Cole reaches out, gently grasps at Liu's free arm with his own, assures him that it's fine, and is given a faint squeeze of encouragement, of reassurance, before the free hand that had been on his arm moves to steady his other, the wound, and Liu steps so close, his hip is pressing against Cole's knee as he's sitting on the table.

The fire stops suddenly.

"I- is everything okay?" Cole asks, and looks up to see Liu Kang looking back at him with wide, concerned eyes.

"I can... I can suture instead, if the fire concerns you this much," which wasn't what Cole was expecting, and in the face of his confusion, Liu gives his wrist a gentle squeeze, meant to draw attention to the wound, but all Cole could see was Liu's fingers sitting gently over his pulse, "your elevated heartrate is causing the wound to bleed further; I can suture, or if you're concerned about my medical ability, I can get someone else to -"

"No, I- I'll be fine, I'll close my eyes or something," Cole babbled, squeezing his eyes closed as he willed the actual flush he could feel creeping up his neck to dissipate. Then, the sound of fire again, and Liu's hip still against his knee.

"You'll be okay," Liu's voice was a murmur, and the only thing Cole could think in that moment was -

"The wounded soldier fantasy means we're moments from doing it, right?" Cole chuckles under his breath, as if to distract himself from the fact that Liu Kang was both a) holding fire over his open wound, and b) very pretty. However, he must have been lounder than he thought, because Liu's movements had stilled, and when Cole cracked his eye open, there's confusion written all over Liu's face, "it's... from a TV show," was all Cole could think of to explain himself, "I'll close my eyes now." He assured, lamely, feeling his heart sink with embarrassment, though he's not sure if the implications of his quote would translate, so really he's found himself suffering from Schrodinger's Embarrassment.

There's silence, broken only by the gentle rush of flame, and then Liu is carefully removing the needles and mumbling to himself about where he put the bandages.

"You can open your eyes, by the way," Liu's voice gets louder as he voices it almost as an aside, and Cole winces, but not from the pain, carefully cracking his eyes open to see if he could gauge Liu's reaction before opening them fully. He's carefully preparing strips of cloth, focused once more, and Cole breathes a quiet sigh of relief before he looks to his wound, which is looking much better than it had moments ago. Not even close to healed, of course, Liu's not a medical miracle worker, but it's better, cauterised.

"You're a good doctor," he offers kindly, and Liu, now that the part that had required the most focus was over, gives a somewhat brighter grin.

"You're a good patient," and the silence that follows is easy and companionable, though Cole's still quietly wondering if Liu's picking up on the feelings he's terrified he's broadcasting. The last thing he wants is to make him feel uncomfortable after the man had been so king and generous to him.

"Tell me," there's something amused at the corners of Liu's smile when he finally breaks the silence, almost finished dressing the wound, "would it be selfish to ask Liu Kang to try and get you again in the future?"

"On purpose?" Cole frowned; did Liu actually not like him and was trying to be upfront about wanting Cole to be injured? "Kind of a dick move," Cole's tone was faintly defensive, and Liu's expression fell almost imperceptibly; if he weren't so close, Cole wouldn't have noticed at all.

"Then I'll have to find other ways to get this close to you."

Oh!

Cole swallowed hard in sudden understanding as Liu finished dressing the wound, though his hand came to rest, warm and secure on Cole's arm.

"Just ask," a warm smile was beginning to form at the edges of Cole's lips as he looked at Liu, "'cos I'd rather not have to injure myself just to be this close to you too."

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