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arlana-likes-to-write · 1 year

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It’s Okay. Let Me Go.

This is the same as the older sister AU but a What if? version. This follows more canon events of the MCU. In this story, Yelena does not join our reader and the sisters aren’t as close. This is not cannon to the main stories that I’ve written. I just have been sitting on this idea since the first one shot and I knew I had to write it.

Summary: You didn’t expect a phone call from your sister, Natasha. But she is asking you for a favor to fight an off world threat that is threatening her family.

Warning: multiple character death, survivors guilt, canon type violence, canon type injuries

Word count: 4.8k

Serbia, 2018

No one called you on this phone. You had two. One was used when Melina had another Widow locked down or Red Room associates needed to be dealt with. You also gave the number to Widows to use when they needed help transitioning into the world. The phone that was ringing now was the number you gave to your sisters. You pulled out that phone and looked at the caller ID. It was Natasha. “Sestra,” you answered it, looking back down at the scope of your sniper rifle. “To what do I owe the pleasure ?” She was silent. You heard muffled voices in the background. “Natasha, are you there?”

“Remember when Yelena and I agreed to help you take down the Red Room I said you would owe me one.” You remembered that conversation. It felt like a lifetime ago but it was only two years. “I need your help.” You sat back from the scope.

“Where do you need me?” You asked without hesitation.

“How fast can you get to Egypt?” You were in Serbia. A normal person would take them 10 hours but you were resourceful in a pinch.

“Give me 5 hours,” you said, looking back down the scope. “Send me the exact coordinates.”

“I will.” She paused. “Thank you.” There were two things you knew for certain about Natasha; she never asked for help and she rarely thanked anyone. You were a little worried.

“No need to thank me,” you told her. “We’ll debrief in person.” You took a steady breath and fired your shot.

“Was that a sniper rifle going off?” She asked. You began to disassemble the gun.

“I was in the middle of something when you called,” Natasha chuckled. “I’ll see you soon.” You hung up before she could reply. You put the gun in the case, picked up the shell casing, and descended the roof. You had no idea what you were heading into but you were ready for the fight.

Upstate New York; Avengers Compound, 2018

Natasha ended the call and turned to face her team. The team was a loose word to describe this group of people as it's been 2 years since they had all been together and that ended in a fight. “I’ve called in a favor,” she told them. “We need to make a pit stop before heading to Wakanda.”

“Who did you call?” Steve asked. She looked at Yelena. She was standing next to Wanda. There was a small cut on her forehead from their most recent fight.

“Our sister,” she said. “She’s older than us.”

“You have another sister?” Bruce questioned. “Did anyone else know about that?” He asked around the room. They couldn’t know wouldn’t know about you because Natasha tried to forget you.

“We haven’t seen each other in a long time,” Yelena said. “We ran into her on the run. She got us out of a sticky situation.” That was an underestimate.

“Look, she’s a hell of a fighter and if Thanos is as big of a threat as Bruce says he is, an extra fighter isn’t going to hurt,” Natasha sighed. “Just trust me.” Steve nodded.

“We should get going,” he said. “Let’s meet in the Quinjet in 15.” Natasha walked to the armory with Yelena close behind.

“Do you think I made the right call?” Natasha asked. The youngest Widow sighed, picking up her Widow bites.

“Yeah, this is going to be the fight of our lives,” she said. “I'd rather have both of you by my side.”

Cairo, Egypt 2018

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when the massive jet landed outside the capital in an off-the-grid town. “Where was this when we broke Alexei out of prison?” You asked yourself as the ramp lowered. You came out of the shadows pulling your hood down and watched Natasha and Yelena descend the ramp with Captain America by their side. It’s been two years since you’ve seen your sisters. You’ve kept in contact, short text messages here and there to assure everyone was alive. But seeing them in person was a different feeling. Natasha died and cut her hair and Yelena was wearing a few new bruises. “You're late,” you said with a smile. Natasha rolled her eyes.

“You just like to be early for everything.” She said. You gave her a quick hug. Yelena’s hug was longer, she hugged you tighter.

“Good to see you again, malen'koye solnyshko (little sun),” you whispered. You ended the hug and stared at Captain America.

“Steve, this is our sister, Y/n,” Yelena introduced. You shook the man’s hand. His handshake was strong. You could tell a lot about a man by how he shook hands.

“We appreciate the help on such short notice,” he said. You smiled

“Of course, Captain,” you said, following them up the ramp. “Any chance to show the Avengers I’m the better Widow I'm gonna jump on it.” The super soldier chuckled at your joke.

“Suka,” Yelena said, elbowing you in the ribs. You met the rest of the team as they explained who they were after. You found yourself glancing around the Quinjet. This group was the one your sisters chose. They had so much time with them. A weird feeling began to form in your chest. It became difficult to breathe. But you pushed it down. You had a mission to focus on.

“So, if this alien were to get that stone,” you said, pointing to Vision. “How many casualties are we looking at?”

“Half the Earth’s population,” Bruce answered. Shit. You whistled.

“Understood, alien is not to get that stone,” Steve ordered everyone to try to relax, that you would be landing in Wakanda soon. You sat away from everyone, going through the weapons you had. You didn’t have much with you as it was a last-minute mission but you would make do.

“Mind if I join you?” You looked toward the voice. It was Wanda. You nodded and she sat down next to you. “Thank you for helping by the way. Vision,” she looked towards the man. He was talking with Burce. “He’s important to me.”

“You love him.” You said. It wasn’t hard to see. When Steve was talking about Thanos, Wanda was looking at him. Wanda nodded.

“I do.”

“Then I’m glad I’m here.” She looked back at you.

“Have you ever loved someone like that?” You shook your head. The Red Room conditioned you to believe that love was for children, a weakness, a way for someone to exploit you. But you’ve been free from them for 2 years. You knew the truth as you watched couples all around you interact.

“No,” you finally said to her. “I’ve never had the chance to find someone to love.” Your entire life was controlled. You were told when to sleep, when to eat, and when to bathe. “But I do know it’s important to tell the people you love that you do love them. Life can be very uncertain.” Wanda sighed.

“Don’t I know it,” you didn’t question it but you saw the sadness radiating from her. “When Natasha called you to come to help us no one knew they had another sister.” You weren’t surprised by that. For years, they thought the Red Room was destroyed and you were off living your life without them. “But I knew you existed.”

“They told you about me.” She smiled.

“In their own way,” you were lost and a little confused. ‘Hi.’ You jumped at the sudden voice in your head. You were definitely out of your element here.

“You can speak through people’s minds?!” She giggled.

“It’s a little more complicated than that but yes.” Her fingers glowed red. “I don't do it intentionally but sometimes people’s thoughts are loud. We didn’t cross paths a lot, your sisters and I. They broke a few of us out of the raft and random check-ins here and there.” You did your research on why the Avengers weren’t talking to each other. The Accords. “But you are a constant thought in their minds.”

“Really?” You whispered. She nodded. “What are they thinking about?”

“Natasha feels a lot of guilt for whatever happened.”

“You don’t know?” She shook her head.

“Not my place to dig through that,” she said. “Yelena misses you. She wants more time.” You smiled, looking at your sisters. They were sitting with Steve, no doubt coming up with a plan. “I also came over here for another reason.” You looked at her. “It’s okay to be jealous. It’s a valid human emotion. It means you're free.”

“Free.” You whispered the word. Freedom was a concept you never dreamed about. It was just out of reach. Freedom was like smoke when you tried to hold onto it slipped through your fingers. “Thanks, Wanda.”

“Anytime,” she smiled, standing up. “Maybe when all this is done we can hang out when the world isn’t ending.” You smiled.

“I’d like that.”

Wakanda 2018

You were a little bit out of your element as you stared at the force field surrounding Wakanda and Thanos' army attacked. Your sisters by your side and the Wakandan army at your back. “You know,” you said to them. “If you missed me that much we could have gone for ice cream or something.” You had a few guns attached to your hips, widow bites on your arms, and Shuri gifted you an assault rifle. Natasha laughed.

“That doesn't seem like our speed. This is more fun,” you chuckled, shaking your head.

“You both are going to be okay out there, right?” You asked them. Yelena nodded.

“Of course, we’ll be okay.” There was so much more you wanted to say. Your warning to Wanda echoed in your head. But T’Challa gave the order to open the barrier then all hell broke loose.

The battle was happening around you. You moved across the battlefield fighting with Okoye, covering your sisters, fought with a god, and stood back to back with a man you haven’t seen in a long time; the Winter Soldier. You looked at the man. His hair was still long but well kept and his blue eyes had more light to them. “You’ve grown up,” he said, once there was a moment to breathe.

“No shit,” you laughed. “You look better than the last time I saw you, Soldat.” He winced at the title you gave him.

“Bucky. Call me Bucky.” You nodded. Before you could respond, you heard your name yell out.

“I gotta go,” you ran off towards Yelena’s scream. Her back was to a small cliff with a horde of Thanos’ army around her. You never saw so much fear in her eyes. You killed one of the creatures and stood in front of her. You made quick work of killing the others you heard Yelena gasp as she grabbed onto your suit. She lost her footing and fell backward. You dropped the gun you were holding and protected her hand as you both rolled down the cliff. She landed on top of you.

“You're heavy,” you groaned, pushing her off of you. She fell onto her back with a grunt. You lay there, looking up at the Wakandan sky. It was beautiful here.

“Thank you,” she said, sitting up. You looked up at her. “I’m losing count home many times you’ve saved me.”

“It’s not a competition, malen'koye solnyshko (little sun),” she smiled at the nickname. “We are family.” You stood up, whipping the dirt off your pants. “It’s what we do.” She stood up and you put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I’m glad you're here,” she said. “I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you, too sestra,” You started to walk towards the cliff you fell to ascend back up to join the fight but Yelena stopped. You turned to face her. She was looking down at the ground, holding onto her stomach. “Yelena, what’s wrong?”

“Something is wrong,” she stumbled backward and fell to the ground. You knelt in front of her, grabbing onto her hands. She looked at you and slowly you watched your sister turn to dust in your fingers.

“Yelena!” You yelled. But she didn’t respond. She couldn’t. You felt sick to your stomach as you scrambled up the cliff. Across the battlefield, you watched as members of the Wakandan army fell to their knees and disappeared. “No,” you whispered. You knew what this meant. He got the stone and Vision. No. You couldn’t think about that. You had to find your sister. “Natasha,” you said through the coms. “Natasha, where are you?” There was no answer.

“Wooded area, east side of the palace.” She finally answered. She sounded so tired.

“I’m coming,” you broke out into a sprint, stripping off the weapons as you run. They were just slowing you down. You made it to the woods and let out a whistle. You whistled again when you didn’t hear her. Finally, you heard her whistle back. It was faint but you headed in that direction. You found her in a clearing, standing next to Vision’s body clenching her stomach. Steve was on the ground as his hand rested on Vision’s chest. Rhodey, Bruce, a raccoon, and the God of Thunder were standing behind them. She looked at you, her green eyes were glossy with tears.

“Where is-?” You didn’t let her finish her question as you pulled her into a hug. It took her a second for her to hug back but when she did it was strong as if she was afraid you would turn to dust. She was shaking against you. You didn’t know what to say. No words could make this situation better. So you held onto her tight, not wanting to let her go.

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2018

You moved into the compound and stopped searching for Widows and let Sonya and a few others that didn’t get blipped lead. Melina helped them. She had to fill the quiet because Alexei was part of the population that was gone. You didn’t expect your first time to be at the compound; it would be so quiet. When Thanos was killed, the remaining Avengers scattered as they dealt with the guilt. But Natasha stayed. You watched her try to hold together a new team as the world adjusted to this new normal. There was little you could do to help as she grieved for her lost friend, Yelena, and friend that lost his way.

You tried to be the strong one but there was guilt eating at you. You found yourself using the training room, working your body to the brink of exhaustion so you could sleep. The image of Yelena dusting away was haunting. Natasha found you a few nights asleep on the mat. You were grateful that you had her and in silent ways, she was grateful too. A small smile every time you put food down in front of her. She would curl up next to you when you were watching a movie and on nights when the nightmares got too bad she’d come to you.

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound, 2023

You were in the kitchen making Natasha food as you knew she survived on peanut butter sandwiches when you were away. It wasn’t often but sometimes Melina needed your help. Natasha was in a meeting with Okoye, Carol, Rocket, and Rhodey. She asked if you wanted to be a part of these calls but you weren’t an Avenger. You heard Rhodey’s voice end the call and you walked over to her. She had her hands over her face, eyes closed, and she let out a shaky breath. You placed the bowl of pasta down in front of her. “Eat,” you said, sitting down. She uncovered her face, staring at the bowl. Her eyes were bloodshot. It broke your heart to see her like this. She barely cried in the Red Room or Ohio. Now she was wearing her heart on her sleeve.

“Not hungry,” she mumbled.

“Please eat,” you said. “For me.” That got her to pick up the fork and twirl the noodles around it. She ate slowly. You weren't going to force her to eat the entire bowl but she needed something in her system.

“How’s Melina?” She finally asked.

“Good. She misses you.” The Blip changed the older Widow. She showed more emotions than before.

“I’ll call her.”

“I was going to offer to cook you both dinner,” you looked toward the voice of the super soldier. “But it looks like you got that covered. Besides, I'm pretty terrible in the kitchen.”

“Are you here to do your laundry?” Natasha asked. He nodded.

“And to see my friends.” You bite your tongue before the snarky comment leaves your mouth. You stood up.

“Vy zakonchili? (Are you done?)” She ate half the bowl. She nodded. You took the bowl and went back to the kitchen. You cleaned up the mess and put the leftovers away. You had to focus on something else before you lost your mind on Steve. You weren’t mad at Steve, your rational mind knew this. But you wanted to take your frustrations out on something and the sandbags weren’t cutting it. The super soldier was the one you saw the most over the past 5 years. But everyone else didn’t see the guilt and the stress Natasha carried. She began to fall back into Red Room behaviors because a mission failed. Those nights scared you the most.

“If I’m not going to do this, who will?” You heard her ask Steve. You weren’t trying to eavesdrop. You poured yourself a glass of water. “This job,” she continued. “Made me believe that I was better than them, the people who tried to make me a monster.” You closed your eyes. “I was given a second chance from the fate that was written for me. I can’t waste it.” You took a sip of water and pulled out the tablet Natasha gave you. It was equipped with FRIDAY’S AI. You pulled up the security footage of the front gate.

“Hey Nat,” you said to her as you walked back over. The conversation between the two stopped. “You need to look at this.” You sent the footage over to the screen. A man was standing in front of a brown van.

“Hi, hi,” he said. “Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago at the airport.” Steve stood up.

“Is this an old message?” He asked you. You shook your head.

“It’s the front gate.”

Scott Langs’s ridiculous, outrageous idea brought the Avengers back together. Natasha even got Clint home. A plan was made, the machine was tested, and the team was divided. You were in your room changing into a white tech suit. You were going to Vormir with Clint and Natasha. Nebula described it as a dominion of death and the place Thanos murdered her sister. As a Widow your instincts were your best weapon it kept you alive. You had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling about this. You went to your desk and pulled out a pad of paper. You clicked a pen and began to write.

A knock on your door pulled you out of your thoughts. You folded the letter and went to open the door. Natasha smiled at you. “Ready?” She asked. You nodded.

“Born ready.” You closed the door behind you.

You stood on the platform between Steve and Natasha. A circle formed of people that you barely knew but were ready to risk their lives to rewrite the loss. “You know your teams. You know your mission,” Steve said. “Get the stones. Get them back. One round trip each, no mistakes, no do-overs. This is the fight of our lives and we are going to win,” he looked at everyone. “Whatever he takes.”

“He’s pretty good at that,” Rocket said. You chuckled, shaking your head. He gave Clint a shrunken version of his spaceship. Bruce got the machine ready as Natasha squeezed your hand.

“See you in a minute,” she said with a smirk. Your helmet activated and the platform opened sucking you into it. It was a weird feeling. You were never on a rollercoaster but you imagined this was what it felt like. Your stomach was moving up and down.

You were tasked with dropping Rhodey and Nebula off. After their spacecraft was unloaded, you watched Rhodey hug Natasha.

“Take care, okay?” She said.

“Get the stones and come back. No messing around,” he said to her. Clint shook his hand. “Hey Big Red,” it was the nickname he gave you. You didn’t know why. You walked over to him. “Watch out for these two idiots,” he said. You smiled. To your surprise, he hugged you. “Come back home too,” he whispered.

“Of course,” you said good luck to Nebula and re-boarded the ship. The coordinates for Vormir were inputted into the ship’s navigation. Clint and Natasha sat down in the seats and you stood between them. The colors that flew by you were indescribable. Clint laughed.

“We’re a long way from Budapest.” Natasha smiled.

“You made a mess of that city.” You told him. He looked at you.

“Did she tell you about that?”

“I was there,” confusion was all over the archer’s face. You laughed, placing your hand on his shoulder. “A story for another time, my friend.” The ship slowed down as the planet came into view. You stood by the window as Clint and Natasha unbuckled and joined you. It was straight out of science fiction. “You know this would be awesome under different circumstances.” You said.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Clint added.

“Come on, you dorks.” The ship landed and you began the journey to the top of the mountain.

Vomir 2023

It was a hike. You were grateful that you were in decent shape but the air was still knocked out of your lungs. “I bet the raccoon didn’t have to climb a mountain,” Natasha groaned.

“Technically he’s not a raccoon, you know?” Clint said with a smile.

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes and stretched your side. “He eats garbage.”

“Welcome,” you pulled your gun at the mysterious voice. “Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith.” He looked at you. “Y/n, daughter of Ilya.” You kept your face neutral at the mention of your father’s name. You took a step forward.

“Who are you?” You asked.

“I am a guide to you and to all who seek the Soul Stone,” Nice. That was convenient.

“Amazing,” Natasha said. “Just tell us where it is and we’ll be on our way.” He sighed.

“If only it was that easy,” he stepped out of the shadows. His face was red, with no skin covering it. You lowered your gun slightly as he pushed past you and walked toward the edge of the cliff. You followed him. “What you seek lies in front of you as does what you fear.” You looked down.

“The stones down there.” You said, looking at him. He nodded.

“For two of you,” he looked towards the vast landscape then behind you. “But for one of you, to take the stone you must lose what you love. An everlasting exchange.” He paused. “A soul for a soul.” You looked down at the ground. Thanos killing his daughter made a lot of sense now. The three of you walked away from the cliff. Thanos sacrificed his daughter and for what? Natasha sat down on a rock, resting her chin on her hands.

“Maybe he’s making shit up,” Clint said. You shook your head, crossing your arms against your chest.

“I don’t think so,” you said. “Thanos left here with the stone and without his daughter. Not a coincidence.” You wished you knew what was going on in Natasha's head.

“Whatever it takes,” she whispered and walked over to the edge. You stood next to Clint, watching her. “If we don’t get that stone, billions of people stay dead.” You nodded. Yelena. Wanda. Sam. Alexei.

“You know,” you said to the man standing next to you. “Thanks for not killing her.” He looked at you. “And you gave them a second chance.” You held out your hand.

“You gave them it,” he shook your hand. “Tell my family I love them.” You smiled.

“Tell them yourself,” you shot him with your Widow Bite. He fell to the ground with a groan. You took off running towards the edge. The commotion got Natasha’s attention and she saw what you were doing. She ran after you, tackling you to the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked. You looked at Clint. The electricity was wearing off. You didn’t have much time.

“It has to be me,” she shook her head.

“No!” She said. “Absolutely not.” You smiled.

“Sorry, sestra,” you flipped her off of you. “I am the better fighter.” You sprinted for the cliff and jumped. But you were stopped. Natasha was holding onto your hand, attached to the wall by a grappling hook. You looked up at her then down below.

“Clint,” she called for him. “Clint, help me.” The archer appeared above you, his eyes wide as he looked down. He reached for her hand.

“It’s okay,” you said.

“No, no, please,” her voice cracked. Her green eyes were glossy with tears.

“It has to be me,” you told her again.

“Stop talking,” she yelled. She was pleading with you. “It’s not fair. You, me, and Yelena were supposed to be a family again.” You felt your own eyes burn with tears but you couldn’t cry. Her hand was slipping.

“I wrote letters for you, Yelena, mom, and dad. Everyone. They are in my room on my desk.” She looked at you in disbelief. “I had to have a backup plan, you know?” You smiled. “Sestra,” tears were running down her cheeks as the realization set in. “No more guilt, okay? Not about this or all those years ago. I love you.”

“Please,” she whispered.

“It’s okay. Let me go,” you kicked off the rock wall and slipped out of Natasha’s grasp. For so many years you were afraid of death. Death meant the end of the deal. Death meant no one would watch out for your sisters. But now you’ve met the people that were there for them when you weren’t. They were kind and good. You weren’t afraid of death. You welcomed it.

There was nothing Natasha could do. She wondered if you’ve ever felt this helpless. Is that why you made a deal with him? So you didn’t feel helpless. The sky lit up a beautiful orange. Natasha opened her eyes and she was laying in a pool of water. She heard footsteps walking over to her. She sat up, looked around, and opened her hand. An orange rock rested in the palm of her hand. Clint fell to his knees next to her and hugged her. Natasha cried. She cried and screamed and beat her hand against his chest. Clint held her tight.

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2023

They did it. They won. The ashes of the compound settled around Natasha. Everything hurt; her body, her mind, and her heart. She fell to her knees. The letter she found survived the blast felt heavy in her pocket. “Natasha!” Yelena’s voice called out for her. But the redhead didn’t move. Not even when her sister was standing in front of her. “Nat,” she finally looked up. 5 years. 5 years since the last time Natasha saw her sister but for Yelena, it only was a few minutes. “Where is-?” Natasha couldn’t help the sob that escaped her. Yelena’s eyes widened in shock but she didn’t hesitate to bring her sister into her arms. Natasha felt tears on her skin. She didn’t have to say anything. Yelena knew and maybe one day she would tell her what happened. But right now she cried and hugged her. She didn’t care who heard her cry, it didn’t matter. Her sister was gone.

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2020

There was a memory that Natasha liked to think about. For the past 5 years, you were her support line. It was a Friday night and you were in the kitchen baking cookies as Natasha sat at the island breaking in a new set of pointe shoes. “If we manage to bring everyone back, would you join the Avengers with Yelena and me?” You stopped rolling the dough into balls.

“I’m not a hero, Nat,” you said. Natasha allowed you to finish the tray and place it in the oven.

“Yes, you are.” She finally said as you cleaned up the floor. You looked at her. “To Yelena and me, you are a hero.” You smiled.

“Then that’s all that matters. I don’t need the world to call me a hero. You and Yelena are all I care about.”

Fin.

Boy, that was sad to write. If you want to support my writing you can buy me a kofi

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ghostofskywalker · 9 months

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A Chance Taken

Obi-Wan Kenobi/Reader (they/them pronouns)

Words: 1,772

Summary: It took a long time to get over the boy that you used to spend time with in the Senate building, but your lives took you in separate directions. But when he shows up during the Clone Wars with a dire warning for your planet, you don’t want to let him go without telling him how you feel.

flower and meaning: baby's breath || reconnecting with a lost love

Requested by: @mayo-advance

Note: this is my july work for the @yearofcreation2023, because i thought this request fit perfectly for one of my flowers :)

Year of Flowers Masterlist • Obi-Wan Kenobi Masterlist

You were fifteen years old the first time you met Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you immediately liked him. Being the child of a senator meant that you spent a lot of time on Coruscant, and that you had much more contact with the Jedi than other citizens of the Republic. Spending your days wandering the Senate building had long since lost its appeal, and you were grateful any time he was around because his master was sent on behalf of the Jedi to attend business at the Senate. Barely a year older than you, he would always have exciting stories about the adventures he had been on with his master, and the Jedi way of life was always fascinating.

The Force was never kind enough to make its mark on you, but you were content enough with your connection to the boy you considered one of your best friends from the moment you crossed paths. What you offered him was a momentary escape, just as much as he offered the same to you. The hidden alcoves and secret rooms of the Senate Building were no mystery to you, and often the two of you would spend time just sitting around in these spaces. Every second of his time was valuable, and it made you happy knowing that he chose to spend some of that precious freedom with you.

Sometimes you wondered whether he felt the same affinity for you that you did for him, but that query was always answered when he would arrive at the Senate building, full of things he wanted to tell you. You had asked him if there were other padawans that he spent time with, but the answer was no. Most of the other young Jedi were much younger than him and had not yet been assigned a permanent master yet, and the ones that had were never back at the Temple at the same time he was. You shared his experiences, noting that you were often the youngest person in the Senate building at any given time.

The two of you promised each other that you would remain in touch, and you believed that it would always be the case, but as time went on, you saw him less and less. Growing older meant that Qui-Gon could take him to new places and didn’t have to spend as much time on Coruscant between travels, which meant that the only time you really saw Obi-Wan was in passing.

And the Trade Federation made things even worse, which you were not happy about. Tensions between them and the Senate, along with your growth into adulthood, was what ultimately led to the decision that it would be best for you return to your home planet rather than stay in the Senate district. You didn’t see the danger, but it didn’t matter. Soon the chance of seeing Obi-Wan Kenobi again fell to zero, and you had to move on with your life.

A feat that you soon learned to be nothing short of impossible.

You had always harbored feelings for him, as much as you tried to push those down. He was a Jedi, there was no way he could ever return the affections you held. Delusions of a future with Obi-Wan Kenobi chased you no matter how hard you tried to forget, and it took years for you to even begin to move on.

You just never expected that all of your progress would go down the drain a year into the Clone Wars, when a Republic transport ship touched down outside your parents’ home.

You had parted ways for the last time when you were twenty, and now, over fifteen years later, your life was very different. You had taken on a public policy role after finishing your education, and most of your days were spent in meetings with various councils and leaders as you tried to solve the issues that your people were facing. It was leaving one of those meetings that you saw him again, walking through the hallways of the building with another Jedi.

“Obi-Wan?” you couldn’t help the shock that escaped your mouth as you approached him. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s Master Kenobi to you,” the other Jedi cut in, a scowl on his face. He looked younger than your friend, but their eyes were equally as tired.

“It’s okay Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “They can call me by my first name.”

After official introductions were made, you led the two Jedi into a conference room and asked if they wanted anything to drink (which they refused, as you expected). “Now, what can we do for you here?” you asked, hoping that you would finally be afforded some answers as to why a figure from your past has reappeared without warning.

“There’s rumors that this planet is going to be next on the list for a calculated Separatist attack, and we wanted to warn you that this could mean violence against your people.”

“I don’t know what we can do to stop them,” you said softly. “Military power was never something we had in abundance, and I know that we have no intention or desire to join their cause.”

“We may be able to help with that,” Anakin said. He seemed to have warmed up to you after he learned that you and Obi-Wan had known each other for a long time. “The Republic can provide a team of soldiers to protect you and other government officials, as well as some form of protection around the planet as a whole, to hopefully keep any attacks from reaching you on the surface.”

You nodded. It had always been the goal of your government to keep the war as far away from your people as possible (even though you were not technically neutral and donated whatever you could to the Republic’s war fund). If this warning were true, it meant that now your people would be move involved (against their wishes) should the war come to your doorsteps. But at the same time, if the Separatists were to attack and you did not have any kind of protection, it would mean the damage would be so much worse.

“Thank you for letting us know,” you said. “If the Republic is willing, we would gladly accept your help.”

Both men nodded, and the two Jedi got up from where they were sitting. “If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us,” Obi-Wan said, a smile on his face.

It then dawned on you that this meant they would be leaving, and you did not want to give up this chance to reconnect with your long lost friend. “Wait!” you said, getting up and walking towards them. “I can’t let you leave without first offering that you stay here longer. For a meal, perhaps?”

Anakin began to shake his head. “I don’t-”

“Please, I insist,” you countered, not even waiting for him to finish his thought. You needed a chance to talk to Obi-Wan and you couldn’t just let him leave, especially when there was a significant chance that you would never see him again.

“As much as I wish we could stay, I’m afraid that we are needed elsewhere,” Obi-Wan said, and your heart dropped to the ground so quickly that you missed the clear regret in his voice.

You forced a tight smile, trying not to let your disappointment show. “I understand.”

But apparently the galaxy had decided to afford you this favor, because Anakin’s comm device began to beep as they were walking towards the door. He stepped out of the room, and suddenly you were alone with Obi-Wan.

And maybe that was a bad thing, because you decided to do something so bold you wouldn’t have believed it if your future self had recounted the story to you three months prior.

“I’ve always loved you, you know that?” you said, a soft smile on your face as you looked at him. Despite the fact that the two of you were no longer the fresh-faced children that used to hide away in the Senate building, you still saw that version of him every time you looked into his eyes. “And I’ve finally accepted that you can never say it back to me, but I couldn’t let this chance slip by without telling you, because every time I look at you I feel like you’re the solution to every problem I’ve ever had.”

Your confession was clearly a shock, and you waited for the disgust to flash across his face. It was inevitable, or at least you thought it was.

Because you were certainly not expecting him to reach out and take your hand. “I know you think I could never return your affections, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. When I found out that you were no longer living in the Senate district on Coruscant, it broke my heart because I thought for some reason you didn’t want to see me anymore,” he said. “And I’ve always kept my feelings bottled up inside me because I thought that’s what I had to do, but after seeing you again, I don’t think I could do that anymore even if I tried.”

“But-” you stammered, not sure if you were dreaming at this point. “You-”

“Surely you remember the Jedi Master I trained under?” he asked, a smile on his face. “If there’s one thing I learned from Qui-Gon other than how to wield a lightsaber, it’s that the Jedi Code can sometimes be overlooked.”

“So what does this mean?” you asked. “You can’t just leave the Order.”

“I would leave the Order in a heartbeat for you,” he said. “And I have every intention to, when the war is over.”

You smiled as a tear formed in your eye. You had always admired his sense of duty, and you still did, even if it was costing you precious moments with him. “So I’ll see you again?”

He laughed quietly as he leaned in and placed the softest of kisses on your lips, and it was over way too quickly for you liking. “I’ll come find you the moment this is all over, how about that?”

You nodded, stealing another quick kiss before Anakin stepped back into the room. As you discreetly wiping a tear from your face, the two of you pulled away from each other before the other Jedi could suspect anything.

And as you watched their transport ship take off, you couldn’t help but hope that Obi-Wan would be making good on his promise sooner rather than later.

- the end - i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

#year of themed creation #obi wan kenobi #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan kenobi fanfiction #obi wan kenobi x gender neutral reader #obi wan kenobi x you #star wars x reader

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moonchildlix · 3 months

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TMNT PIA: character introduction - Donatello

Finally we’ve reached the fourth and youngest of the turtle brothers, Donatello. Donnie is a wood turtle, he’s 5’1” (At the start of the series), 14 years old, and goes by any pronouns (Genderfluid), biromantic/asexual. Donnie can most easily be summed as a sweet kid who is a bit of a nerd for science, maths, history, psychology and even literature. He’s also very sassy and sarcastic. He’s a little bit spoiled, having grown up being protected by three older brothers and also often uses the fact that he’s low-key Splinter’s favourite (Something Splinter will never admit to but everything can see this is the case) to get his way with everything. This however has resulted in his older brothers and father only really seeing him as being just this, the youngest, something Donnie is painfully aware of and is constantly trying to prove to them that he’s more than just the youngest sibling, and that he can be serious/mature/independant.

I would say this version of Donnie is very different from most other versions of the character we’ve previously seen in TMNT media. The ones I would say he is most like are Rise, Mutant Mayhem and 03, having Mutant Mayhem Donnie’s sweet and polite persona but is really sassy/sarcastic and even blunt nature, and 03 Donnie’s very friendly and kind personality with the same thirst for knowledge about anything and everything, combined with Rise Donnie’s recklessness and drama queen attitude. Let’s also not forget the huge undiagnosed autistic nerdiness.

Overall Punks Donnie is a sweet kid who can be a bit of a pain in the ass who loves his family, hates seeing others getting hurt when unnecessary and will not shut up about dinosaurs.

Some fun fact about the character

Donnie, just like his older brothers, can fight with any weapon, but he struggles to fight with two at the same time, because he prefers to fight with two handed weapons. Hence why he usually only fights with a bo, spear or even odachi. The bo staff was the first weapon the turtles ever learned to use, so while the older three spent most of their time learning as many weapons as they could (Though specialising in what suits them best e.g. blades, defence weapons and incapacitating weapons) Donnie spent most of his mastering the basics via bo. He prefers these weapons because they allow him more creativity and strategising in battle.

Because he’s the youngest and most intelligent he’s low-key Splinter’s favourite child and everybody knows it even though Splinter will never admit to it. Because of this, he’s a little bit of a brat who uses this fact to get away with everything, much to Mikey’s frustration. Whenever he does, Mikey will find some way to annoy him e.g. taking the last slice of veggie pizza (Mikey doesn’t even like veggie pizza, but he knows it’s Donnie’s favourite, so he does it anyway) jumping out and scaring him etc. and Donnie retaliates by annoying him back e.g. messing with his Netflix recommendations, taking all the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms box etc. and it becomes a cycle that never ends.

He can speak twelve languages. He grew up bilingual in both English and Japanese (As did all the turtles, because Splinter wanted them to also know his native language) but Donnie started learning for whatever reason from boredom to actual usefulness. He learned Korean so he could listen to Kpop and understand the lyrics and watch Kdrama’s without the subtitles. He learned Mandarin for a similar reason, so he could watch Cdrama’s without subtitles and read Danmei before the official translations were released. Mikey would sometimes bring him along to meet with Keno, the pizza delivery guy and Donnie learned Italian from listening to the old Italian couple who lived next door to the meet-up spot arguing (And also from discarded restaurant menus). It mainly started off as insults and words Splinter doesn’t like him saying and eventually turned to full sentences. Overall, he’s fluent in English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Standard Chinese, Cantonese, Spanish, French, Arabic, Italian, Swedish and even Gaelic (Scottish).

He does not feel fear in the face of danger, unless the situation becomes dire. This doesn’t mean he’s immune to fear, because he isn’t, he’s afraid of a lot of things, from more irrational fears like needles, the dark (Based on a traumatic experience as a child) and heights, to bigger ones like failure, abandonment and being worthless.

His snaggletooth is actually the result of an accident when he was very young and had just started training with his brothers together instead of on his own/with Splinter where Raph accidentally hit him too hard with a weapon (Made of wood) and knocked his tooth out.

Due to being a wood turtle, he has incredible enhanced long term memory as well as photographic memory. He’s able to remember things in very vivid details from what day it happened, who was there, step by step of what happened and how it happened, even what the place it happened in looked like at the time (E.g. was the kotatsu pushed against the wall or was it in the centre of the room? What was on the kotatsu? Were there plates on it? What was on the plates? Etc.) This resulted in him getting in trouble a lot for ‘lying’ when he was younger because Splinter didn’t understand how a child so young could remember all these things so clearly so assumed that he had to be lying when he explained in very vivid detail how Leo broke his toy velociraptor. He knows now that he’s just got really good memory and doesn’t question him or accuse him of lying anymore (He realised this when Donnie suddenly mentioned something he should have no memory of because he would’ve been a very young toddler at the time and then turned into a long conversation of asking is he remember this, that and the other, most of which he does all very accurately and ending with Splinter realising his youngest child remember his first birthday.)

He ties his mask into a ribbon instead of knots like his brothers because Raph tied it that way once when they were younger and he liked it so much Raph is still tying his mask this way ten years later.

He’s the most skilled of the turtles with shurikens, kunai daggers, bow and arrow, crossbow and even slingshot. Splinter realises early on that Donnie’s tactical mind, combined with these weapons, which require precision, accuracy and consideration of wind, speed and distance meant that he could be very skilled with these weapons.

Donnie is actually the turtle I had the most difficulty with picking out a voice for, I wanted it to sound clear he is still the youngest brother but not too young, and in the end settled with Walker Scobell, who is the role of Percy Jackson in the new Percy Jackson and The Olympians live action series

#Spotify #teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles fan iteration #teenage mutant ninja turtles punks in action #tmnt #tmnt fan iteration #tmnt pia #tmnt donnie #tmnt donatello #teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Donnie

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heather-ouo · 2 years

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Honkai&oc x (step) sibling! Reader ( Headcanon)

Kiana Kaslana addition

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things to remind

(f/m) - favourite manga

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[ Kiana Kaslana ]

_ after been rescued by Siegfried

When K-423 was taken into the family you were confused and asked Siegfried where’s Kiana, he didn’t have the guts to tell you the fact when the plane exploded they were separated from Kiana.

K-423 is dumbfounded to watch the youngest as they run around the room crying for their real sibling instead of the clone.

It took three years for you to accept the clone but you never called her by Kiana, instead is “ Onee-san ” and the twins start to wander around the world after Siegfried left them due to the unknown.

So after some years the twins enter a school called “ Chabi academy ” and become friends with a girl named Mei saving her

from the rooftop. The two of you protected Mei from all the trouble like two Knights protecting their princess.

You find it odd how Kiana has such a weird tendency towards Mei like when she takes out one of Mei’s panties whenever she is gone for groceries since Kiana invited her to live with you two, but hey Kiana has a way to zip your mouth by giving you (f/m).

——— lost control

When Kiana lost her control over the herrscher inside her, you and Himeko were the ones that stopped her. It caused a life for a life from Kiana’s point of view, Himeko is alive but she went into a coma due to overuse of Honkai and you?

Kiana watches in despair at your cracked body and fainted Himeko falls into the ocean as she faints due to the injection, Theresa immediately sends out Valkyries to find your body in the sea after she found Himeko floating on water near the beach and Kiana fainted on the beachside, but you were nowhere to be seen.

Unfortunately they only find your weapon and two blurry family photographs: two white haired adults with a white haired twins holding each other's hand, the other one is a white haired male kneed down on the snow with two white haired girls one of the twins has bandage over her right eye.

Mei did her best to cheer Kiana up with her favorite food in which it didn’t work out, she locked herself in your room. Kiana remembered you said something about going to your room if she ever felt upset or felt like a danger to the others while you were gone, she found a box with “ Onee-San only! >:( ” some letters for her and a book full of photographs of the family including Kiana.

Dear, Onee big si Kiana or whoever is reading this

You probably find this while searching in my room while I'm out huh?

Maybe I told you where I hid it, or someone else found it and gave it to you.

Either way I have a feeling I should write this just in case.

I… have accepted you as my older sister a long time ago but.. it feels odd to call someone who has the same face as older sister, i have a name in mind but our stupid father decided to give her name to you.

It feels rude not calling your name but the name i always wanna call you is “ Diana ” only a letter different but is the best i could save for older sister if we could find her.

Diana.. you are more than a clone at this point we have already accepted you as our family member, that herrscher in your body.. let's say in the odd way… mom tried to adopt her and turns out not good, if you accidentally follow Auntie Theresa into “ that ” basement Istrapto lur ( rest is erased out)

That girl Mei.. She could be a great wife and I don't have to worry about you poisoning someone or yourself with your cooking. I wish you good luck getting her hands on marriage! You have my blessing and dad’s (Ps. Don't you think i didn’t know about it you secretly took pictures of Mei >:) )

Anyway, don't forget to drink some water and eat healthier!

Don’t miss me too much~

Ich☆liebe☆dich~

love, (y/n) Kaslana :D

——— becoming HoF

Bronya, Fu hua and Kiana step into the theater of Domination again due to Honkai reaction rises in the same spot, diving into the deep Puppets, the memory she hate to see, and you.. you sitting in the giant Mechanical hand of the Herrscher dressed in dark brown and golden clothes stares blankly at her, the sky blue no long shines replace with dull blue and the same cracks on you body is still there.

In the final battle you were placed safely in cover while Kiana gave her last strike and defeated The Herrscher of Dominance in the meantime she became The Herrscher of Flamescion.

You are in a vegetative state yet Kiana holds you close to her afraid if she lets go you will fade to dust.

Despite being in a vegetative state tears spill out like rain drops on Kiana’s shoulder letting the older know you are alive.

. . .

. .

“ Diana onee-San! Wake up! Sister in law Is cooking your favorite food today! ”

“ i told you you can still call me Mei..”

“ Mei-senpai then. ”

“ Oi (Y/n)! Only i can call Mei as Mei-senpai! ”

“ YOU ARE MARRIED TO HER! IS MY TURN TO CALL MEI LIKE THAT! ”

“ YOU WANNA GO?! ”

Mei have to stop the twin who’s pulling each weapons out before they flip the roof again.

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Masterlist

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I swear to god the crossroad near my house is cursed

It’s the fourth crush this year

——————

tagging people ( permission asked :D )

@azukaaa

And that other person i try to tag

( IT WONT COME UP)

#honkai impact x reader #honkai headcanons #honkai x reader #Kiana x child! Reader #honkai fanfics #kiana x reader

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xawkward-ariesx · 13 days

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the price of your greed

Stefan should've known it was going to blow up in his face the second Klaus suggested he help dagger Kol. Particularly after how everything went down the last time he’d helped Klaus to dagger one of his siblings. That creeping feeling of trepidation had only grown when Elena too had come to him with her own plan. Two conflicting plans all to put down one Original for a cure that had apparently already led to two separate massacres. He was starting to wonder whether it was worth it if it demanded such a high price just to find it. What would happen when it was finally within their grasp?

-༺₊⋆☾⁺₊༻-

"I don't wanna just dagger Kol, I want Jeremy to kill him." Elena's words had already registered before Stefan foolishly tried to disguise them with the revving of his bike.

Really mate? You should know better, had the 20s taught you anything? He wasn't some common halfling vampire that could be stumped by mere parlor tricks. It appeared he'd grown soft, let the Mystic Fools believe they were safe from retribution after all their plots against him, especially Finn's death. Well, it was time he rectified that. He'd already lost one brother after keeping him safely tucked away for 900 hundred years, he wouldn't let their hubris take another from him.

Damon's death had been swifter than he'd liked but the young vampire had never seen it coming and that was what had mattered in the moment. Time was of the essence to save his little brother, he'd already lost his youngest, the Other Side wouldn't claim Kol as well. So one second he'd been beyond the barred door and the next he was in front of the weakened vampire. Damon had barely enough time to turn at the sound of the door screeching open before he was dead, and Klaus was gone.

"If you're going to threaten me again Klaus, you can save your breath." Were the first words out of Kol's mouth before he'd even had a chance to speak.

"It seems your paranoia has gotten ahead of you, brother." Klaus ignored the scoff and muttered 'You'd know' that followed. "The Gilbert's are planning to kill you."

The line went deadly silent as Kol came to a stop, Klaus could just hear the grinding of his brother's teeth over the line but that was enough for him to picture the murderous expression he must be adorning.

"Are they now?"

For all the Mystic Falls bunch believed him to be the biggest monster, it was Kol that had garnered the more volatile and bloodied reputati on in the supernatural world of the two. It was Kol that the older sirelings feared. The ones that were old enough to have seen the Originals in the flesh, to have watched the myths about them be born. The ones that knew if Kol had appeared at your door then no amount of pleading would save you. Kol was no wolf, he had no need for the extended chase that Klaus had subjected Katherine to. The hunt only served to amp up the fear and apprehension in Kol's eyes.

Because Kol had been a witch - not a wolf - before their turning he knew that the torment was what really made the death significant, it was the suffering beforehand that ensured the earth would be scorched with the magic of their death. And it was something that Kol specialized in as a vampire.

"Well, you can forget about suggesting I return the daggers for my own safety. With the way you've all been fumbling over yourselves for this cure for your darling former blood bag, I don't trust that you won't just serve my daggered body over to them. This cure has clearly blinded you to any sibling loyalty you once felt." And with that, the line went dead.

Keep Reading.

#Ace writes #vampire diaries #vampire diaries fanfiction #TVD #tvd fanfiction #tvd fanfic #Kol Mikaelson #Kol Mikaelson fanfic #The Mikaelsons #the price of your greed #tpoyg #A View to a Kill #well here it is. i complained about kols death scene both on here and on main and then i wrote this #told you id write a more accurate canon #tbh this was just an excuse to write mikaelson sibling dynamics cus im too scared to post headcanons about them

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thelongforgottenrealm · 8 months

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RODERICK VARMONT, EMPEROR OF THE VARMONT EMPIRE / JUDE LAW

♛ Age: (49) ♛ Relationships: Amira Varmont, Marian Varmont (wives), Arthur Varmont, Sebastian Varmont, Edmund Varmont (sons), Guinevere Varmont, Cassandra Varmont (daughters), Alaric Varmont (brother), Bartholomew Varmot (uncle/hand/unknown rival), Ciara Varmont, Eoin Varmont (cousins), Godfrey Calainon, Tristan Calainon (brothers-in-law), Eilionora Stafford (hostage/intended fourth wife), Aria Stafford (hostage), Aleksander Royce (priest)

roderick was never supposed to be king – he had an older brother, whom his father loved and adored

roderick, in comparison, never lived up and his father never let him forget this fact and he often reminded his son how grateful he was that roderick had not been born first

when roderick was seventeen years old, he went in secret, to marry his childhood love – despite his own father having arranged another match for him. but roderick knew his own heart and married the girl he loved – even if she was the third daughter of a disgraced family – her own father had been executed for treason

he planned to run away with her, but he never got the chance – for both his father and brother succumbed to the plague that would ravage the land the following spring

as soon as roderick was crowned, he set his sights on the countries across the sea – he was determined to build himself an empire and prove to everyone that he would be a king, a conqueror, and an emperor

he remained very much in love with his first wife, but on his travels he met amira calainon who turned his head

falling under her charms, he was determined to have her, but she said she would only go to his bed as his wife

roderick saw no reason why he couldn’t adopt the old ways and have as many wives as he pleased – besides, he desired a son and heir of his own and so far was childless

he hastily married again, a year later, when he still had no children to speak of, despite having two healthy wives – this time taking a young lady who had come from a large family, herself, to wife hoping she would be the one to give him children

in the end, his first wife gave him his first child – a baby girl who they named guin; marian gave birth to a son, some months later and in the years that followed gave him two more children; amira gave him one son

it has never been clear who he means to leave his own throne to – guin is the eldest, arthur is the eldest boy, and edmund is the eldest boy born of his second wife (what no one really knows is that sebastian is the eldest trueborn son he has – arthur having been sired by marian’s secret lover .... and roderick's own uncle)

can be heartless and cruel, but there’s more to him than that – he was certainly once a much softer man, but his life has not been an easy one and his obsession for power has blinded him to his other priorities

his first wife eventually died – the doctors could not tell him why, but roderick knows it was because of a broken heart – she never stopped loving him and when he chose to take on other wives, he hurt her beyond repair

roderick has recently conquered astaira, which is the largest and most profitable kingdom thus far. to secure it, he means to take queen elinora as his wife but she is less than ready to give in to him and, in the meantime, he has both her and her youngest sister under house arrest

he does not believe in this place’s old religion and means to snuff out an already dying flame …. little does roderick know, that there is much more truth to the old tales than he gives them credit for, and that the true danger is now less than a world away ….

TAKEN BY KATE AA.

#characters #male #taken #taken male #kate aa

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delightfuldevin · 11 months

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I am staring SO hard yes bestie give me EVERYTHING on your Mario S/I. I'm so fascinated by the part Shine Sprite part, reminds me of the Peach is a Super Star (Grand Star? Star Spirit??) reborn theory from forever ago. Would LOVE to delve more into the lore ramifications of that.

I hope it's okay I ask more like. Specific questions?? Sorry if this is a little annoying I just love to learn other people's S/I lore...

Like, what's his timeline? How old are the main characters compared to him? How old are the Koopalings when he meets them? HOW did he almost die to the Odyssey Dragon (another game I haven't PLAYED but have seen playthroughs of)? What's with Wingman King boo? What's he do in-game style? What's his opinion on Peach? E. Gadd?? Gooigi??

And also could I, when I get my bones together, draw him because he is very cool and I would love to doodle him some if that's okay

I’M GONNA RUN OUT OF HEART EMOJIS TO THROW AT YOU SOON

So yeah, cut again cause I just love talking a lot and giving copious amounts of information dhbcbjhhsdshcjvsxh

So, I don’t have an idea of ages for anyone, except Bowser Jr who is somewhere around 6 or 7? Ludwig is actually close to my age I think, and I imagine that he probably calls me by name rather than the same parental term the others call me (Ven or Venny). Though, I think he’d use Ven sometimes. I like to go by the SMB3 order for the Koopalings’ ages, so youngest to oldest is Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig. Larry is older than 12. That’s all I can really say on that jbcjxncjshc

There is an age gap between Bowser and I, but I’m not sure exactly how much. I think Dragon-Koopas age differently than even regular Koopas, let alone humans, so I’m not too sure on his age. Cause in the games when everyone is babies (Partners in Time, Yoshi’s Island, etc) Baby Bowser can speak full coherent sentences and walk while the bros and Peach are just making baby noises and crawling. Sure, maybe he’s just a lot older than them, but I like to think they are somewhat close in age chronologically and his species just matures faster mentally. I like to think the bros and Peach are either the same age as me or within a year or two of me.

(When I was a kid, I thought every media made for kids only had kid or teen characters. So yes, I thought the bros and Peach were teenagers, even with the bros’ thick impressive ‘staches. The only, and I mean only, reason I knew Bowser was an adult was because he had kids. After learning about the Yoshi’s Island games, which I also have never actually played, I realized they all had to be adults since they were all babies at the same time.)

King Boo is my bestie!! First time I saw him was actually in Mario Kart DS in the mission where you play as Peach and collect coins and he steals them from you. At the time, all I knew about him was that he was a king and he liked stealing my coins. Next time I saw him was in Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games for DS. At that point, I knew he had some history with Luigi, but I didn’t know the context. Now, he didn’t really stand out to me all that much, until Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon came out and I FELL IN LOVE. I thought he was sooo cool!! When I reached the end of the game and he said to Luigi “Remember that time you trapped me in a painting for all eternity? Good times” that’s when I realized that this had happened before! There was another Luigi’s Mansion game before that one! Needless to say, I was very excited to learn that.

My S/I meets King Boo in a Mario Kart tournament. They don’t even know each other, but for some reason, they feel compelled to target each other specifically. After the game and everyone splits ways, they mostly forget about each other… until my S/I accidentally stumbles into Boo Woods. Now, I’m sure you’ve noticed that my favorite color is green and it’s what I like to wear. Well, who else wears a lot of green? Luigi. And that’s who KB thinks I am when he sees me again. He jumps out to scare my S/I and my S/I throws fireballs at him in response. A couple misunderstandings resolved later, and boom! New bestie!

The whole targeting each other in Mario Kart thing remains a big part of our dynamic. If we’re on opposite teams, we usually go after each other. But if we’re on the same team, everyone else better watch out. We also throw a joint Halloween party every year! Also fun fact: my S/I initially only called him King Boo, but picked up the nickname KB from Bowser. It stands for Kool Bro.

Now, I have a headcanon that Bowser and KB are also best friends, *coughcough*and later queerplatonic partners*coughcough*, so when KB discovers Bowser and I are mutually pining for each other, he takes it upon himself to help get us together to make fun of us because he’s a good friend. He enjoyed teasing us in the early stages of our relationship cause our feelings were so painfully obvious to literally everyone but us.

As for Gadd, well, my S/I doesn’t care for him to say the least dhgfsjhbcs. My dude is faaaar too invested in his paintings that are just prisons for actual sentient beings rather than the safety and sanity of my little brother. Plus, those ghosts in LM1 weren’t even causing trouble! Just living their afterlife in a nice big house and then all of a sudden some lil onion man comes and shoves them into a painting forever. Definitely siding with KB on this one and agreeing that little onion man deserves a taste of his own medicine in his own special painting. Maybe not for eternity, but at least until he gets his shit together.

Peach is also my bestie!! It’s a bit complicated for obvious reasons dhbcsjhbdc. On one hand, my S/I enjoys being villainous with his husband and invading the Mushroom Kingdom. On the other hand, sometimes he just wants to hang out at Peach’s Castle and have tea parties and get little kissies on his cheek,, Listen, Mario canon is weird. If Bowser can be the scourge of the kingdom one minute, then get invited to go karting and sports the next, then so can I,,

In terms of actual in-game stuff, I most easily imagine my S/I as being part of a dual final boss with Bowser ala New Super Mario Bros style! That, or a penultimate boss that would happen right before Bowser. Thing is, because I’m Mario, I can’t imagine interacting with him since how do I interact with myself??? But since he’s the main character, it’s kinda hard to get around that cshbvddhh. I can imagine fighting him, but not much else. I also can’t really fit myself well into any story driven game like the rpgs cause those are actually the games that give me the biggest kin feels haha. The most I can do is that I like to imagine being a secret boss in the challenge mode (if you’ve played the M&L series, I’m talking about the boss blitz modes in Bowser’s Inside Story, Dream Team, and Paper Jam). So yeah, if not a final or penultimate boss, then definitely a secret boss cause that’s just really cool to me. Maybe even like, the boss of World 9 in the New series!!

Okay so now the Odyssey Dragon! (I know you asked this, so you obviously want to know all this, but I can’t help but feel like I am talking waaay too much shcbsjhj)

My S/I spent a lot of time being in the forest due to it being the most familiar since that’s where he first arrived. He was caught out in the forest during a really bad storm and only realized too late that the storm was being caused by a dragon passing overhead. He was struck by the dragon’s lightning and blacked out. He woke up in the clinic in the forest Toad Village a few days later with a nasty scar, cloudy vision in his left eye, and wicked lightning powers. (Fun fact: I based the eye injury on the fact that I actually do have really bad vision only in my left eye. My right eye can see great, the left one not so much).

Now, this is one of few things that only I know and my S/I doesn’t. See, in universe, he has no idea how he ended up in the Toad Clinic and absolutely thinks that he should have died in the forest. But it was actually Bowser who brought him there! At the time, Bowser would stalk him come check up on him in secret sometimes, since this was back before he started liking Bowser. One of those times happened to be during that storm. Bowser brought him to the clinic and hung around outside until he got better, then left. Bowser still has never told my S/I this because he’s (Bowser) afraid to admit that he (my S/I) could’ve really died that day ;-;

Thank you so so much for continuing to let me yell about my S/I!! I can’t tell you enough how happy it makes me that you’re so interested!! And ABSOLUTELY you can draw him whenever you want!!! I will BURY YOU in heart emojis

ALSO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR S/I SOME TIME I WANT OUR S/IS TO BE FRIENDSSSSS

#answered the thing #sonas tag #chocolate eclair #oh you enabler you #asking me questions is NEVER annoying if anything i feel like my long winded answers are annoying hdjbccjscdhj

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firstseasonlisazemo · 3 months

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A New Dawn Will Rise in Sorcier

Summary: Sneaking into Catarina's room late at night, Alan comes to an important realisation.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 1200

Notes: Yandere Alan. Loved the experience, will do it again.

Alan tried to keep as silent as possible as he moved closer to her bed.

It was all silent at the palace that evening. Geordo, much to his displeasure, was summoned away to greet a foreign dignitary, and Mary, under the terms of their little agreement, let him have the night for not disturbing her tea time two afternoons ago. They were just back from a short trip abroad, to a summer resort in Quido, where he played for a bunch of unappreciative aristocrats.

Despite the comforts afforded to them based on their status and wealth, as well as the conveniences of magic, it had been a tiring journey. They settled in for the night, being decided that Catarina would be spending the night in the palace, instead of making the perilous journey through the capital streets so late at night to her parents’ townhouse. The youngest prince thought it was a good idea, sneak in a few more hours with the object of his love away from his competitors, assigning her the room next to his, instead of the one she usually stayed in, next to his brother’s, but the way she slept so peacefully next to him did nothing to soothe his nerves.

Alan was a musician. If anything, he had keen ears and could perceive the slightest turn of her body under the covers, even through the walls, and it was disquieting, in a very particular way. So, he just stayed awake to count her breaths, matching his rhythm to hers, sneaking into the neighbouring chambers. He laid there, on the floor, and watched the dance of the moonlight shaded by the flowing curtains from the open window overhead as they shone down on her skin, the way the wind reached its hands down and pulled its fingers through her hair.

It was soothing to watch Catarina simply exist. Like watching the sunset or spending the time to play his violin out in the garden, it was a way to alleviate the stress from the journey. Despite the way he always acted carefree, the stress was adding up. He could not take her everywhere he plays with him. He is not her fiancé, not her brother, and it was not proper for her to travel around with a man who was neither. In the same vein, he could not leave her behind without worrying. Likewise, while he would not mind much keeping himself to local venues, it does not bode well for princes to simmer at the palace too much, regardless of their interest in the succession.

His goal feels so far away, his claim is so tenuous, and it does not help that he began his chase much behind everyone else. He and Mary might be helping each other at the moment, and he owes her the fact he is not completely disqualified at this point, but he must not forget that his fiancée is also a rival, and he could not trust her further than he could throw her.

He sighed as another gust of wind ran over the two of them. Oh, if he could only release these emotions in him and just drag her closer to him, to find purchase by digging his head into the crook of her neck. If there was a way to make her feel the emotions which he felt, he could not find it yet. For just a moment, he wanted to share a deeply personal second with her.

It was a form of torture, to be filled with all of these emotions. The way he missed Catarina despite her laying right there, the way he could never explain his feelings for her. He just felt them and no words did it justice. Even if he could try to find the words, it would not matter. To break the silence would break the peace that was there. What if she rejected him? This was one of the reasons he was getting so frustrated.

She liked him well enough to follow him along whenever he asked it of her, but did she love him enough to stay by his side even at the detriment of her other suitors? She never responds when Geordo tries to demonstrate his affection, but she does not either when he is the one to try. She accepts it all as mere niceties between friends, always comes up with a fiction in her head, and nothing seems to get across.

It is useless, Alan concludes. As upsetting it was to be left alone with his own thoughts, he would put up with it. She is here with him right now, she is going to be with him for a long while still and he still has a chance. To know she is safe by his side was more than enough. He would protect her soundlessly. He loved her with his hand on her sleeping hand. How long would that last? A few months ago, it was enough to see her at the academy, far away in the fields or amongst their group of friends. Now he could not go a full day without seeing her.

Bit by bit, he was understanding the motivations of his own heart and it was too much. He did not want to change Catarina or who she is, but he needed her more than he needed her love. Even as she peeled the layers of his person away until there was nothing left but that silence of understanding, it was never enough. There was nothing he could show her that would evoke the same feeling he had for her. No matter how hard he tried, there was nothing that could make her feel the same way for him.

A thought struck him. One that scared him a little. Such a selfish wish surely would not be granted to him.

He ran his hand along her cheek. An action he had done before, yet somehow, in the inability to understand or save himself from these emotions, it was different. Different enough to cement in his mind the quest he would have to take.

There was only one way to guarantee that Catarina would be his, without the interference from his brother and all the other contenders. He needed to become the King of Sorcier, he needed the power that this title would bring him to keep her with him. By force, if necessary be.

The Crown was a service to people and country, his tutor used to say, but if it did not come with its own perks, his ancestors would not have died and killed for it. They all had their own motivations, regardless of the good or ill they promoted, and this is his. Catarina will be the arbiter of his reign. He is going to conquer it to conquer her, and mote it be.

For once Alan was going to do something selfish, and did he not deserve this? After all those trials and pain, after his disease and the scorn he faced, he finally found something worth keeping. There was nothing that would stop him now.

Alan kissed her forehead. A new dawn will rise in Sorcier.

*_*_*_*_*

My Next Life as a Villainess Masterlist

#my next life as a villainess

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darius-dues · 5 months

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November 5 – Family Ties One Shot TW: Toxic family dynamics, transphobia, deadnaming, health anxiety

He swore he would never come back to this place.

When he'd left Palm Stings over two decades ago, it was with the full intent of never setting foot in this Titan forsaken wasteland again. And were it up to him, he never would.

But it wasn't up to him. Emperor Belos had called upon the recently promoted Head of the Abomination to perform a covert task. Supposedly, he needed an extremely rare flower that only blooms in the depths of the Hand's deserts. While any able bodied coven scout could likely do it, intimate knowledge of the surrounding landscape was needed to make it out alive. The knowledge of someone who had grown up in the area.

Despite his resistance, the Emperor insisted it must be him. He said he could give him anything he needed and as many scouts as would be useful. Darius declined--extra bodies would only slow him down, and the supplies he'd need were only exclusively sold in the stores of the surrounding villages. Stores like Deamonne's General.

But he would never lower himself to that. He'd rather be eaten by the Carnivorous Rock of the deserts.

No, this was an in and out mission. If he was fast and clever, he wouldn't see anyone he knew. No one would ever know he was here.

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

Avoiding the town's General Store did make things a little more difficult, but it was nothing Darius couldn't handle. He'd just gather what he needed from multiple other shops. He was at the market, checking out about a week's worth of rations for himself, when a voice rang out behind him.

"Darielle?"

The sound of his deadname made his blood run cold and his mind begin to race. He didn't recognize the voice--most likely some old family friend? If he kept his head down and pretend he hadn't heard them, then he could make his escape without engaging. He could--

"Wait, no," The mysterious voice continued, "It's Dari-us now, right?"

That caught him by surprise. Against his better judgement, against everything screaming at him otherwise, he turned towards the figure.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. But he quickly realized this was not some family friend, nor was it someone he didn't recognize.

"Keython?" Darius blurted out, his youngest brother's name feeling foreign on his tongue.

The boy he'd left behind all those years ago now stood before him, towering a grown man. He was nearly a foot taller than Darius and twice his width. As much as Darius tried to keep in shape, it was clear his younger brother was outpacing him, thickly packed with toned muscles that were glistening in the sunlight. His dark hair was pulled back into tight cornrows that framed his face, which still had some of the baby fat that Darius would never forget. He still looked up at him--no, down at him--the exact same way, as tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

"Dar...I can't believe it's really you! I've seen you so many times on the crystal but now you're actually here, in person!" His breath hitched in his throat and he reached up to wipe away the burgeoning tears, still keeping a huge smile on his face. "Oh man, this is incredible! Everyone else needs to see you, this is going to blow their minds!"

Any swirling, complicated feelings he had about seeing his baby brother as a fully formed person were quickly stamped out at the prospect of bringing everyone into the picture.

"Wait--" Darius began, but he was cut off.

"Oh man, Stella's gonna lose her mind!" Keython rambled to himself, building up more excitement.

"Hold on--"

"Ma's not gonna be able to stop crying!"

"Key--"

"I don't even know what Pa's gonna say!"

"Keython!" Darius snapped, grabbing onto his thickened arm to hold his attention. This seemed to work, as Key quieted, blinking down at him. Looks like he still had some older sibling authority.

Darius cleared his throat and let go of his brother, carefully explaining, "I'm not here to see everyone, Key."

"You're not...?" Titan, even as an adult he still had such a child-like innocence.

"No. I'm here on a mission--a very important mission for the Emperor," he emphasized, hoping to hone in on the severity of the situation to soften the blow. "Time is of the essence. I need to go into the desert, complete my objective, and return to Bonesborough immediately. I don't have time for pleasantries."

Throughout this, he could see Key's expression falling, disappointment welling in those big, doe-like eyes. Their mother's eyes. "But-- you're not leaving now, are you?"

"Well, no. I still have a few more supplies to get. But!" He cut in, seeing that his brother was about to interrupt him again. "I am not going to the store. Don't even suggest it."

Keython shut his mouth sheepishly, as if that was exactly what he was about to suggest. But he quickly pivoted. "Okay...but still! Maybe while you're getting the rest of your stuff, I can go get Stella? Then we can all meet up at The Oasis? There's no way you can go out in the desert without a hearty meal first! Come on, we'll even get you your favorite--a sand fruit salad with fire bee jam?"

It broke his heart that even after all these years, his brother--who was no more than a child when he left--still remembered his favorite restaurant and meal. A deep guilt and shame filled him as he realized he knew nothing about Keython in return. His favorite food, where he liked to go around town, what he liked to do, all of it had formed in Darius's absence. Maybe all he wanted was to show him.

"...Okay," Darius finally acquiesced, but again cut himself in before his brother could get too excited. "But just Stella, alright? Do not tell Ma or Pa that I'm here. They don't want to see me and I definitely do not want to see them. Understood?"

Keython quickly nodded, that bright smile beaming again.

"I mean it, Key. Promise me."

"I promise!"

"Alright. Then I guess I'll see you soon."

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

Nothing in this Titan forsaken town ever changed. He'd been able to navigate the streets just as easily as he had when he was a child. And his favorite restaurant, The Oasis, looked exactly as it did the day he left.

In some ways it was comforting, but in more ways it was deeply disconcerting. It almost felt like he was that child again, sitting small in clothes that were uncomfortable, answering to a name that wasn't right.

He took a deep breath, attempting to steel his nerves. His siblings hadn't been the ones to oust him. They hadn't done anything wrong. They had just been caught in the middle of everything. Maybe it was the guilt and shame that kept him rooted to his seat, but it was a powerful enough motivator to have him agree to this. No turning back now.

Soon enough, he looked up to see the hulking form of his brother walk through the door, followed by his sister. She was a lot more recognizable, barely having changed from their days as teenagers. She still had her hair done in box braids which she tied up into a messy bun. She still wore the same loose, colorful clothing to catch an eye. The only real difference was her round, distended stomach.

"Oh, Titan," he murmured under his breath as they approached. The two made eye contact, and his sister's eyes narrowed, a much more wary reaction than his brother had afforded him. Darius's throat went dry, but he forced himself to speak. "Stellana," he said, his voice raised an octave. "Key didn't tell me you were--" He glanced down at her stomach.

"Looking this good for my age?" She interrupted him, giving him a wry smile as she sat across from him at the round table. Key took the seat between them, still looking excited as ever. "What can I say, I got the looks. You're looking..."

Her voice trailed off as she glanced him up and down. He tensed, bracing himself for what was to come.

"...like Pa."

Whatever he had been expecting her to say, that was by far the gravest insult it could've been. His mouth fell open into shock and offense. "Excuse me?"

She smirked, knowing she had gotten under his skin. Just like when they were kids. "Hey, you're the one that wanted to be a man," she said with a simple shrug.

Darius glowered and Key looked between them before butting in, hoping to change the subject. "So! Darius, tell us about your life!"

He took a deep breath, reminding himself they are his siblings. They are supposed to be annoying. If anything, this was just a return to form. "Well, you said you've seen me on the crystal, so you probably know that I'm Head Witch of the Abomination and Animation Coven, working directly under the Emperor himself."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, the great Head Witch Deamonne. What, did you just come back to brag about how much better than us you are?"

Darius bristled, his hands balling into fists in his lap. He should have known that she'd inherit that tired old argument from their parents. Immediately his fight instincts kicked in, and he wanted to scream at her, as if it was his mother herself sitting before him. But it wasn't, and she's not.

"Fine, Stella," he snapped, unable to hold back his frustration entirely. "Let's talk about your life then. You're pregnant, what's up with that!"

She frowned, putting a hand on your stomach. "Hope you're not vying to be coveyparent."

He felt the sting in his chest. Aunts and Uncles were always meant to act as mentors for their sibling's children, but Darius knew he'd thrown away that opportunity long ago. "Of course not," he huffed, trying not to think about the fact that he likely wouldn't be in this child's life at all. "But who is the father?"

"The father is my husband," she growled, as if he had been implying otherwise.

Husband. Well, that was a wedding he'd missed. "And that is?"

"Timothan Siltwater."

That had Darius throwing his head back, barking a laugh. "Really? Tim? That kid chased after you for years and you said you'd rather die than go anywhere near him. After all this time, he finally wore you down?"

Now it was her turn to glower, her cheeks darkening in a bit of a flush. "You haven't been here! You don't know anything about him."

"I know he used to eat dirt during recess." This garnered the tiniest bit of a snicker from Keython, who clearly had not known this about his brother-in-law.

"Tim is a good man--"

"High praise for someone you're married to," Darius murmured sarcastically under his breath.

"--And he has the means to provide for a family."

There it was. It wasn't about love, or being compatible, or being happy--it was about the means. Are they going to help run the shop? Are they going to be able to provide? Can they produce grandchildren for the future? After all, who is going to take over the shop?

No one was allowed to have their own hopes, or dreams, or futures. It was all about keeping the Titan forsaken shop alive. It was all about the tradition that bled from the Deamonne name. It was all about the family sacrifice.

The whole thing twisted his stomach. His tongue pushed against his cheek as he looked away, shaking his head in disgust. "You're too good to be settling for a guy like him."

Stella slammed her hands against the table, drawing everyone's attention. "You don't get to come in here and say that to me!" She snapped, her voice raising in volume, though not enough to cause a full-blown scene. Keython leaned forward, opening his mouth to try and interject, but she cut him off before he could. "Not all of us get to just flaunt around and do whatever we want. Some of us have responsibilities. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? No, because you dumped all of that on me. What do you think happened after you left? Did you think everything you were running from would just magically go away? No! Our parents moved on, and everything that was expected of you came down on me. The shop, the family, the future, all of it was mine. And that was so scary. At least when you were here, it was us in it together, but then it was just me. By myself."

"I needed you," she continued, her voice breaking. "I needed my big sister. Because that's what you were to me. My big sister. But you decided you wanted to go and be something else. That you didn't need us anymore." She took a deep, shaky breath, reaching up to wipe away any tears that were forming. "So I moved on too. I made sure that I would never need you again. So the last thing I need to hear from you is how I should be living my life, when it's your fault I'm living like this in the first place."

Keython was now looking at his feet, the same young child who would hide away while his older siblings bickered. Darius stared at his sister, surprised but ultimately not shocked at the outburst. It was only a matter of time before it would come out. The shame told him that he deserved it.

Finally, taking a deep breath, Darius spoke. "I'm sorry that things got so hard after I left," he said, his voice quiet and even. "But your life isn't my fault." A bit of rage flashed in her eyes, but he continued anyway. "None of us asked for this. None of us asked to be born a Deamonne, and everything that supposedly comes with it. But we never had to accept the expectations that were placed upon us. We are our own people with our own lives and we should be able to live them the way we want to! Not how they tell us!"

Stella scoffed. "After all these years, you still don't get it!"

"Don't get what, Stella? That a couple hundred years ago our great-great-something-or-other decided to open a store? And because of that, we're all just doomed to keep it going forever? Why? To what end? Why are our destinies defined by the decision of someone we've never even met?"

"Our family sacrificed everything for--"

"For what?!" Darius interrupted before she could finish. "For future generations? Do you think they ever gave a shit about us? Did they even spare us a thought? Or were they just doing what they thought they had to do, because they had no other choice?" He leaned forward. "And what about your child? Are you going to put them through the same thing? Do they owe that to you?"

If looks could kill, Darius would fall dead on the spot. But through her glare, Stella finally looked away, not saying anything else. Key was staring at him wide eyed, never having heard anything like it in his life.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

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

Darius had begun to wonder if it was time to go. He'd given his siblings a chance, and everything had fallen apart in disaster. Clearly this had been a mistake.

"Darielle."

But when he heard his deadname sound behind in a very familiar gruff tone, he froze.

Moving into view, sitting in the seat next to him across from his brother, was the large, looming form of his father.

'Oh Titan, I do look like him,' was Darius's first thought. While his features more angled and his beard much thicker, the bald heads were identical. Never once in his masculinizing process had he ever considered how much he'd grown into the man he most hated.

He couldn't bear to make eye contact, so instead Darius turned to Key as the betrayal sank in. Keython was looking away, his face riddled with shame like a pet who knew they'd done wrong. Darius then looked to his sister, whose expression was pained but bitter as she watched their father join them.

The large man sat down and surveyed his oldest child before sucking his teeth. "I can't believe you'd show your face here again."

Darius bristled and steeled himself before speaking. "Where's Ma? Didn't want to do an entire family ambush?" He spat venom, shooting another glare at his youngest brother, who winced.

"You think I'd bring her here? She'd take one look at you like this and die of heartbreak," his father retorted, shooting a look of vague disgust. Maybe he was also realizing just how much his "eldest daughter" looked like him.

"Great, because a funeral is the only time any of you will ever see me again after this," Darius snapped beginning to turn to get out of his seat. He wasn't going to stay here and take this.

A huge hand slapped against the table, ringing loud enough to put Stella's earlier outburst to shame. Darius jolted and once again froze in place, his childish instincts taking over. "You think that's funny?!" His father roared, rage flashing in the dark eyes beneath the thick, furrowed brow. Despite this, the wave of emotion seemed to pass, and his father leaned back in his chair. "Well, then. I've got news for you. Your Ma is dying."

Darius felt his heart drop. "What?"

"Yeah, don't you feel like a ratworm's ass? She's sick. Has been for awhile. And the doc's said she's not going to get better. Not unless we get her better medical treatment. But you know we don't have the funds for that."

Darius sat there, dumbly looking to his siblings who had withheld this information from him. Neither of them dared to meet his eye. It took a moment, but soon Darius realized, this hadn't been about him.

It was about the means.

"You..." He began, trying to hide the tremble in his voice, "You're here to ask me for money?"

His father crossed his arms. "I'm not asking. It's the least you could do for this family after everything you done. You owe us."

Darius's hackles raised, and his fight kicked in once more. He didn't bother to push it down this time. "I owe you? For what?!"

"For abandoning us. For becoming this," he grunted, gesturing Darius up and down. "For turning the Deamonne name into a laughing stock, as some boot-licking errand boy for an Emperor who doesn't give a shit about people like us."

"Oh, right, because our name really meant something before that, is that it? You know, I wouldn't even have any money if I hadn't left and gone off on my own." Darius fumed. "How could you think I possibly owe you after everything you put me through? The things that you said to me before I left?! Ma told me I wasn't her child anymore but now it's up to me to save her life?"

"If you don't help us, her blood will be on your hands."

"No, it'll be yours. There was no reason for you to settle down and stay in this environmental death trap where everyone dies before sixty. You cared more about the shop than the lives and health of your family! You can run a shop anywhere, Pa! That useless pile of brick and wood doesn't have more value just because it was built by someone with your blood over a hundred years ago!"

Another wave of anger washed over his father as he glared at him. "You always thought you were better than the shop. You always thought you were better than us--"

"I am better than you!" Darius roared, now his turn to slam his hands on the table. At this point, all eyes in the vicinity were on him, including those of his family members, who sat there in a shocked silence. Darius's heart was hammering in his chest and he knew if given the opportunity, he would never stop, tearing into them until not even a fraction of their ego remained.

But he had left to escape that quicksand. He couldn't let himself get pulled back in again. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. "...We're done here," he said, turning and standing before stalking off.

He was only halfway towards the door when he felt a meaty hand clamp onto his shoulder. His blood ran cold as he wondered if his father would actually resort to physical violence. But then he heard the gentle, shaking voice of his brother behind him.

"Dar, w-wait, please," Key begged. "I--" The words caught in his throat. "I-I'm sorry."

Darius stood there unmoving, but staring straight ahead. Towards the door. Towards his escape.

He took a deep breath, and spoke the last words he would ever say to his brother.

"My greatest hope for you is that you'll be able to live a life that you're proud of."

With that, he tore away from Keython's grip and walked out the door.

As it shut behind him, he swore he would never come back to this place.

This time, he meant it.

#swynwrimo #swynwrimo2023

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feelbokkie · 11 months

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Luckily I think I have a knack for languages but only for different aspects of each one? lol. Like, I grew up watching/listening to a lot of Japanese stuff (anime, dramas, music) so I have decent listening/hearing comprehension for it--enough that I was able to communicate with Japanese exchange students in college (I'd answer them in English, which they also had a working understanding of, or in my simple baby Japanese lol). But I cannot for the life of me understand kanji so I'm always going to be Japanese illiterate 🥲 (My brother is also learning Japanese so my catchphrase for whenever he shows me anything is "I can't read this!" lol)

I picked up Hangul real quick and I get the grammar structure now, but my Korean vocab is so all over the place that I can read/write but not know what anything means lmao. I'm hoping I'll absorb it naturally by watching and listening to more Korean media but the school year is so busy. I'm hoping I'm not too mentally dead by the end of June so I can activate all my brain cells this summer vacation to hopefully get fluent 🤓

At least my pronunciation for both languages is decent so I can sing in them now 👍 Let's both aim for "being able to watch shows in the background" proficiency 🤝 because tbh that's what I'll be using any language for the most...

-👻✌️

I love learning languages, which is probably why I picked up linguistics quickly despite never taking a class before grad school. My brother (who is 18 years older than me and literally a genius) accidently picked up Japanese. Like he literally was buying manga to look at the art mostly because he's an artist and went "oh, I can actually read this" and got his hands on more Japanese media. So when I came around he literally raised me on jdramas and read me manga to bed and play me jpop consistently. He's genuinely upset that I'm not fluent like him by now, but I'm also stupid. But at the same time, I also grew up speaking English, French, and Haitian creole (literally the only one of my sibs to pick up the last two, perks of being the youngest). So I think a 4th language would have been too much for my little brain. But I literally retained none of the Spanish I learned in school despite learning it for 13 years and picked up French in 2 (had to do 2 years for college). And I keep picking up French books and reading French posts and being like "oh, I can actually read this" (like brother like sister I guess).

I think I know more Japanese than I actually do because I can watch subbed shows relatively quickly and I've caught myself looking away from the screen while drawing or something and forgetting to look up again and still being able to follow. But ask me to read something and I'm lost. I'm literally learning to read bc one of my fav video game series published a side story book and it's only in Japanese and my brother says I'm too old for him to read for me 😭 (asshole) and nobody has translated the book yet despite there being an English following of the game. But pronunciation wise I'm okayish with japanese since my brother made sure to drill me on how to read when how things are written out in romaji. Compared to watching anything in Korean, I still have to pause for subs sometimes, but that might just be because of how some of them are timed. I'm an auditory learner/person so I think I'm better learning that way. I bought some workbooks for both Japanese (elementary so it should be kanji and hiragana, maybe katakana I think) and Hangul and they both come with audio components so I should be set. Literally, the way I would study for English vocab test back in middle school and high school would be me listening to my friends study together and I would pass every time. So I think if I consume enough Korean and Japanese media I should be able to pick those up too.

I am so sorry for rambling but you hit one of my favorite topics/ special interest and I couldn't help myself 😅 But yes, let's both aim for "being able to watch shows in the background" proficiency!

#feelbokkie answers #👻✌️ anon #I need to learn to stfu

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alsjeblieft-zeg · 11 months

Text

301 of 2023

survey by nadine07

[..INTRODUCTIONS..] First Name: Joeri. Middle Name: Stijn. Last Name: Do you really think I’m gonna share that? Birthdate: April 1990.

[..FIRST THINGS FIRST..] What was the first thing you did after you got up?

Opened the door for the cat.

What was the name of your first pet?

The cat was Agatha and the dog was Brutus.

Who was your first big crush?

That Dutch rapper, it’s still going on XD

Where was the first place you drove after you got your license?

I don’t even have a licence.

Who was your very first friend?

Agirl named Martina.

What was the first thing you ate today?

Cereal with milk.

What was your first job?

Fruit picker at the age of 16.

[..COLORS..] Name something red in the room you are in:

The chair.

Is orange one of your school’s team colors?

Our schools don’t work like that.

How many yellow shirts do you own?

None.

Name someone you know who drives a green car:

My dad.

Is it a blue sky outside right now?

It’s night, it’s dark outside by logic.

What is the first thing that pops into your head when I say ‘purple’?

Massie Block from The Clique lol.

Are the walls in the room you’re in white?

No, they’re blue.

Does black make you think of depressing things?

No, it doesn’t.

Jewelry: gold or silver?

Silver all the way.

[..PHONE STUFF..] Who is your provider?

Proximus.

How long have you had your current phone?

Almost two years.

What did your last text say?

Not bothered to check, probably a reminder.

If you woke up naked next to the last person to call, would it be awkward?

No, it was my husband.

Was your last missed call male or female?

Male, it was my dad.

Who is your 10th phone contact?

Our town hall lol.

How did you meet them?

Lmao lol.

Are you related to your 17th phone contact?

No, it’s Dominos.

How long have you known your 1st phone contact?

For many years.

When was the last time you saw them?

Right now.

Who is your 4th phone contact?

Not enough of these pointless questions? Our rehabilitation ward in the hospital.

Have you ever kissed that person?

Lol what a moronic question.

When was the last time someone drunk dialed/texted/left a voicemail?

Never lol.

[..RANDOMOSITY..] What time is it?

22:36.

Are you supposed to be doing something other than this?

Going to sleep, probably. Or maybe another one.

Do you live on your own or with your parents?

On my own, or rather with my husband.

Are you more of a cat or a dog person?

Definitely a cayt person.

Are you allergic to anything?

Yeah, nuts, dust and pollen.

Does your shirt have anything written on it?

I’m not wearing any shirt.

Have you ever tie-dyed something?

Once, or something.

Who can you always count on to cheer you up?

My ex. He’s wonderful.

How many places have you been today?

One, but yesterday I was in three.

Are you a forgiving person?

Rather forgetting and not caring person.

When was the last time you felt let down?

Long time ago.

What is the title of the nearest book to you?

Anne of Green Gables.

Are you wearing anything that belongs to someone else?

No, only my own things.

Can you whistle?

No, I can’t.

Do you look more like your mother or your father?

I look like a mix of both. I have my dad’s eyes and my mum’s nose.

Are you still in high school?

No, I graduated secondary school in 2010.

Are you the oldest, middle, youngest, or an only child?

Oldest, the older of two.

Has anyone ever told you that you talk in your sleep?

No, but apparently I happened to be snoring. XD

How many people have you kissed this year?

One.

Is there anyone of the opposite sex you trust fully?

Yes, my sister.

Are you a night owl or an early bird?

Early bird. I can’t sit there at night.

Would you rather go to Brazil for the weekend or Finland for a month?

Finland for a month, it would be a dream come true.

[..AND FINALLY..] Where did you last go out to eat at?

Yesterday, in a restaurant in the Polish coastal town named Ustka. Beautiful place and a great restaurant.

When was the last time you let someone borrow something from you?

Last week, my husband borrowed 10€ from me.

Was your last breakup a bad one?

No. It was peaceful, we still love each other.

What was the last song you listened to?

Something in the car radio.

What was the last movie you watched?

I don’t waste my time on movies.

Did your last kiss happen in a public place?

Yeah, in a shop lol.

How did you meet the last person to leave you a comment?

What comment??

#survey #q&a survey #categorised survey

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engravedinaash · 1 year

Text

Memory

Part 1 - Childhood

CW for mentioned: abuse, death of child, self harm, suicidal ideation

Lore Masterpost

Senka’ir was born the sixth son of his family. He is the only child from his mother and her most recent husband, who proved to not be a good man or father. Senka'ir has little memory of him but it seems his mother would never forget the pain he caused. He must have some of his father’s attributes for he could always feel a strange coldness to her eyes when she regarded him, try as she might to hide it. She loves him still, but Senka’ir has trouble fully believing it. He would go out of his way to do things for her when he was very young- which often led to him getting frustrated or losing his temper when he could not do some things right. A fussy child, he sometimes felt emotions bigger than his body could handle.

Some of his oldest brothers were wary of him because of the pain his father caused their mother and did not acknowledge him much aside to let him know what a nightmare he was to handle. He was only particularly close to the next youngest of his siblings, Senka'sae and Senka'ra. They would climb trees together, always seeing who could reach farther. Senka'ir was always particularly skilled at climbing. His mother says it comes from their ancestors from far away who climbed mountains, and once they migrated to the Shroud trees were a natural alternative to being in high places.

An accident occurred when Senka’ir was no older than 12 summers when his two closest brothers took him on a hunt. A giant, beastly wolf did not take well to sharing his territory and attacked- Senka’ir receiving a gnarly gash across his face, and his brother Senka’ra obtaining a worse fate. As the rest of the wolf pack came for backup, Senka’ra diverted the beasts’ attention to save his other brothers. While he did immobilize the animals, he succumbed to deadly wounds. Senka’sae and Senka’ir were left to deliver the news to their mother.

Senka’ir believes he was the cause of his brother’s death; Senka’sae’s denial of this does not soothe the lack of reassurance from their mother- who grieves for a very long time as this was the second passing of a child she had experienced and it reopened wounds for her. Her first husband was also lost in a hunt. She becomes distant to her children despite her best efforts to recover.

Senka’ir and Senka’sae are the only remaining children living with their mother. For four years they had taken care of her as she suffered a broken heart and declining health. Whenever they needed to go to Gridania for medicines they could not make themselves, Senka’ir felt so many eyes on him that he was not used to: cold, repulsed, and pitiful stares at the scars on his face; mocking when he showed his teeth to the Wood Wailers near the gates when they made disgusting remarks about his mother as is typical of how they treat Keeper women. Senka'sae has to keep him from becoming violent with them multiple times. His mother is oftentimes in too much of a dissociative state to notice.

As he grows deeper into adolescence, he isolates himself to the woods when he can. He fights many creatures with a lingering hope that they will finally do him in. He does so under the guise of hunting, but he goes out so much that his brother is worried he will be accused of poaching by Gridania’s forces. Not wanting to burden his family further led Senka’ir to other self-destructive behaviors.

He wants to forget the guilt he feels when he sees his mother, to not have to see the concern in Senka’sae’s eyes. Too stubborn to just end it all, he decides to run away–to live the life Senka’ra did not get to. He remembers the place from which his ancestors hailed- Ilsabard, his mother had called it. He leaves a note to Senka’sae and flees while everyone is asleep..

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letarasstuff · 3 years

Text

Unbreakable Bond

(A/N): This is based on this post and this tiktok

Summary: A big age gap between Aaron's children doesn't have to mean that they are unable to form a strong bond

Warnings: Mentions of Haley's death and failed relationships

Wordcount: 1.8k

✨Masterlist✨

_________________________________

His life took turns Aaron never expected. It’s not the “Oh, mh, well that was unexpected”-type of turns, I talk about the “God played Cards Against Humanity with angels and decided to make it happen for someone”-type. But looking back he would not want to change a thing.

After Haley and Beth he was convinced that God, the Universe, something out there shared the opinion that romantic love isn’t the right thing for him and Aaron accepted that fact. Even more when he and Jack went into witness protection. I mean, when you are worried about the life of your family being in danger because of a stalker, you don’t think about the beautiful neighbor, who lives next door, right? Right?

Well, without going into too much detail, Hotch did think about her and she about him and vice versa. Everything went good until Aaron received the message that the team found the stalker and that it was safe to come back. He decided to come clean to his girlfriend. They talked about the possibility of moving back to Quantico.

In the end they decided in favor of the move, the final argument was the surprising announcement of her being pregnant. Hotch wants to raise their youngest where his and Jack’s roots are located. But he decides against taking a position at the BAU, instead taking a desk job in order to be more at home. He also has the opportunity to work from home after little (Y/N) was born and continues to do so until she is old enough to go to Kindergarten. Even then he takes two days the week where he stays home. Aaron learned from his decisions and mistakes he made in the past and wants to live up to them and be a better father and husband than before.

And Hotch keeps it to this day, six years later. It’s (Y/N)’s first day of school, while Jack just graduated high school and goes off to college in a few weeks. Even though they have an age gap from twelve and a half years, their parents are sure there are no other siblings with such a strong bond.

Ever since his baby sister’s birth Jack is her biggest supporter, protector and friend. Her first word was his name, though it was more of a “ACK!”, but that’s the best nickname he ever got. As soon as (Y/N) was old enough to comprehend the concept of movies, he introduced her to Star Wars. Since then lightsaber wars out of cardboard pipes are not uncommon. Last Halloween they even dressed up as Chewbakka and Han Solo. You get three guesses on who was who.

“JACK!” (Y/N) runs into her big brother’s room with an excited expression on her face. “Daddy promised to buy me a real lightsaber after I read ten books! With lights and sounds and all! Isn’t that cool?” Jack smiles. Aaron did a similar thing with him. For a certain amount of books he got a reward they discussed beforehand. This way he felt motivated to read and improved writing and reading skills.

“This is awesome. I think that means we have to go book shopping together, what do you think?” (Y/N) is not only the cool kid that has an older brother, she is also the cool kid, whose older brother has a drivers license, a car and a part time job. She nods with big eyes, speechless, because the offer sounds like heaven to her. Getting books and one on one time with Jack after he was really busy with school for weeks? This has to be heaven.

“Ok, then you put your outside clothes on and I’ll tell Dad about our plan.” At that the little girl rushes to her room, not wanting to waste any more time. Jack makes his way down to the kitchen, where Aaron wipes the table from lunch down.

“Dad, I take (Y/N) to this bookstore in DC and we’ll probably go eat ice cream after that. Is that alright?” Hotch looks up at his son. It still feels like yesterday as he told Haley that Gideon is a big no as a baby name. Now he is all grown up and just a few weeks away from the next big chapter in his life.

“Of course, just let me get my wall-” Jack cuts him off. “No need, I want to use this as a kind of goodbye thing. At least until Thanksgiving.” Aaron knows what he means. It’s his last day before he goes off to college and just a couple more until the first classes begin. The family still hasn’t told their youngest exactly what’s going on. Else she would refuse to go to school and go on with her day, insisting on using all the time they have until Jack drives off.

Two hours later the siblings leave the bookstore, both of them having a bag in their hands. Of course Jack's heavier, but both he and the cashier assured (Y/N) that they lift the same amount of weight.

“Uncle Spence will be excited when I tell him that I read Harry Potter, he told me so many good things about it”, the girl gushes. Jack nods, indicating that he is listening. Of course they also picked books that are not that advanced. Still, no sister of his shall grow up without knowing the beauty of the wizarding world. Also, secretly he is hoping for her to turn out as nerdy as he is so they get more things to talk about. His next step is superheroes, especially the Marvel ones.

They converse until they get to an ice cream parlor and order both their usuals. “Do you think you are ready for me to tell you something important?” The older one asks after they sit down at a table. (Y/N) nods, confusion taking over her face.

“Uhm, you know how I graduated from high school? I’m done with school, but I want to get a degree, but for that I have to go to college. It’s pretty far away so I can’t come home for a few months. But I’m back home when Thanksgiving is and also for Christmas.” It doesn’t matter what Jack says, a sad frown has formed on the little one’s face. “Oh. And after Christmas, will you leave again?” He nods and explains when he is off from college and when not.

“We can always skype and write letters. How does that sound? And when you get your first phone, we can even text.” That (Y/N) lights up a bit. For her first year of school she got a stationary set and is eager to use it to this day.

“I’m going to miss you so much”, she says hugging her big brother. Jack pats her back. “I’ll miss you, too.”

The goodbye the next day is a heartfelt matter. Everybody cries, especially (Y/N). She can’t fathom a scenario where her brother isn’t there for her all the time.

The following weeks are also hard for the family. The youngest refuses to sleep alone for the first three days after Jack’s leave. She is more closed off and mainly just does her school work or reads the books he bought for her. By the time Thanksgiving is only away for another two weeks, (Y/N) has read through all of them at least two times.

Her father already ordered the lightsaber he promised her. Unfortunately shipping takes several months, so the little girl still has to wait patiently for her reward to arrive. In the meantime she works on getting the next and she is already pretty close to the comic book collection she wants.

“Sweetheart, can you set the table, please? Your Mom will be here soon from grocery shopping and she will need help getting them from the car into the house”, Hotch calls for his daughter while stirring in a pot.

The little girl nods, putting her stationary set and pens aside to do as her father asked. She is in the middle of answering her brother’s last letter, telling him that she is now the one that usually has to read aloud for the class because of her advanced skill for a first grader.

Just as she sets the last piece of silverware down the doorbell rings. “Sweetie, can you please open it? This should be your mother.” Happily (Y/N) runs up and turns the door knob. Over the last few months she hit a small growing spurt and is finally tall enough to reach it without standing on her tippy toes.

“Mo-” She nearly chokes on her own saliva. The one at the door is definitely not her mother. “JACK!” (Y/N) runs up to him and jumps onto his leg. “Hey Princess. I thought now that you read your books, we need to hold the most amazing lightsaber fight in history.” With a mischievous smile he pulls two from his back, giving one to his baby sister.

It is the most epic fight in history between an elementary schooler and a college boy. They can only be stopped by their parents announcing that it is a tie between both of them and that they have to sit down, else the food gets cold.

The following weeks mostly consist of (Y/N)’s joyous laughs and cuddling with her big brother. She even insists on him sleeping with her in her much smaller bed. On his last night before going back to college, the little girl turns to him in the middle of watching her favorite movie in the living room.

“Do you promise not to forget me when you are away? Because I alway think about you and tell my friends so much about you. I told them you are a hero, my hero, just like Daddy. They wanna meet you because of that.” Jack has to hold back tears at her statement.

“I also think of you so much. All of my friends at college are pretty jealous of me having such a sweet baby sister. Maybe one time you can visit me and I can introduce you to them.” The thought of that makes (Y/N) smile and is a little consolation to the thought of her brother leaving again.

Aaron watches the interaction going down, happy to see the strong bond between his children, despite their age gap. This is nothing like he and Sean were and that is a relief for him and the worries he had in the beginning. It is a sign that he did do some things right as a father.

Taglist:

All works:

@dindjarinsspouse @big-galaxy-chaos @jswessie187

Criminal Minds:

@averyhotchner @mggsprettygirl @herecomesthewriterwitch @ash19871962 @ellyhotchner

#aaron hotch x child!reader #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotch x daughter!reader #aaron hotchner x daughter!reader #aaron hotchner x child!reader #jack hotchner #jack hotchner x sister!reader #jack hotchner x reader #x daughter!reader #x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #aaron hotch #x child!reader

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

A-Yuan wasn’t the only child among the Wen Remnants, just the youngest.

Children's Day - ao3

Lan Wangji carefully scooped up the boy out of his hiding place, tucked beneath a pile of stones, sick with fever and fast asleep.

It was a good hiding place. If Lan Wangji hadn’t played Inquiry and demanded to know if there were any living beings around in this cursed place of death, he would never have found the small child.

He remembered him – this was little A-Yuan, who Wei Wuxian had taken down into town to play, the one Lan Wangji had bought all those toys for in his confusion, the one who called him rich-gege. Barely more than two years old, having never known anything but war.

He was all that was left, now. There was nothing else left in the battlefield.

No one else left.

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in pain.

I’ll care for him for you, he promised Wei Wuxian’s ghost, wherever it might be now. Now that you cannot.

I’ll take him back to Gusu to raise as my own – wishing you were by my side.

-Earlier-

“Sect Leader!” one of his aides cried out when he staggered back into camp. “What – who’s that?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at the girl in his arms. She was – four, maybe? Five? He had no idea.

She looked a bit like Wen Qing.

“I found her hiding in the corner of the battlefield when she made a noise,” he said hoarsely. “The Wen sect remnants…by the time I got there, they were almost all dead already, all her family. She’s – she’s young. It didn’t seem right.”

Wei Wuxian always liked children, he thought vaguely to himself as he looked down at her. It wasn’t so much of a surprise that he would keep one there…in fact, if he thought back to that horrible meeting they’d had that one time he’d come to the Burial Mounds to try to talk to Wei Wuxian, he thought he remembered there being a small child there. This must be her.

She was bigger than he remembered, but that was what happened with small children, wasn’t it?

“Her surname is Wen?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped automatically, and his aide took a step back from his vehemence. “The Wen sect is dead, you understand? All of them. The cultivation world refused to allow them to live, that much is obvious enough. Her surname…”

He looked down at her.

I failed Wei Wuxian, he thought grimly. I won’t fail his legacy.

“Her surname will be Jiang.”

-Earlier-

“We found this child hiding in the Demon Subduing Cave,” one of the guards reported, looking nervous. “Lianfeng-zun – what do we do with them?”

Jin Guangyao frowned down at the child, judging the child’s age to be about five or six – maybe seven, considering the likelihood of malnutrition at the Burial Mounds. If they were any younger, he would’ve said that the child ought to just execute them as useless; any older, and he would’ve had no choice but to declare them an enemy combatant, and thereby order them executed.

At this age, though…they were still young enough to be taught to forget their current surname, and to learn new loyalties, and yet old enough to perhaps remember a little of what they had learned, living as they had for a few years with the inventor of demonic cultivation.

Jin Guangyao glanced at the papers in his hands, full of barely legible scribbles, laying out powerful new spells and interesting ideas. They would help Xue Yang with his work – but not as much as a helper would, and naturally they’d just brutally executed all the other ‘helpers’ that might have been available.

Not exactly Jin Guangyao’s personal preference, but he wasn’t the one leading the Jin sect army.

Still, his father, who had been the one leading, had retired to his tent, and now Jin Guangyao was the one with the power, left to be in charge of mopping up. That, in turn, gave him a little more leeway, which meant he could implement his own thoughts, rather than badly thought out instructions.

“Put the child in my tent,” he said, and smiled. “The poor thing must have gotten lost and entered the battlefield – after we arrived. You understand?”

The guard saluted deeply. “Lianfeng-zun is kind and beneficent,” he said, and his expression was worshipful. “I will tell the others that the child is from some distant Jin branch.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t intended for him to do that, but – well, he couldn’t exactly refute it now, could he, and anyway there were worse things to happen. Everyone would know that he had kindly taken in some orphaned child of war, which would be good for his reputation.

He smiled and nodded, and thought of the future.

-Earlier-

“Well, shit,” Nie Mingjue said, staring at the trio of children: nine or ten years old, he thought, maybe a little older, two girls and a boy. They stared back at him, wide-eyed and terrified – they were very clearly trying to sneak off the Burial Mounds down the back way.

Nie Mingjue rubbed his face, glad that he’d insisted on doing the forward scout work before the attack tomorrow morning himself rather than let it go to someone else. He hadn’t wanted to come to this blasted place in the first place, being that he still wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down with Wei Wuxian, who’d been a good man once. But good Nie cultivators had died at Lanling City at Wen Ning’s hands, the Jin sect claiming that that brutal attack was at Wei Wuxian’s instigation, and at the Nightless City at Wei Wuxian’s hands directly, and he didn’t have any evidence to exculpate the man, either; he had no grounds to look the families of those Nie cultivators in the eye and tell them not to pursue vengeance against the man who had slaughtered their brothers and fathers and sons, sisters and mothers and daughters, like they meant nothing.

They deserved vengeance.

Just as he had, for his father.

But at the same time…

“You’re all surnamed Wen, I take it?” he asked, and they slowly nodded. “Dafan Wen?”

Another nod.

“Wrong answer,” he said, making a snap decision. This wasn’t like his father at all, not really; he had wanted to kill Wen Ruohan, who had done the deed himself, while these children clearly hadn’t done anything. “Swear to me here and now that you won’t seek revenge for your sect or family, and you can be surnamed Nie instead.”

They looked at each other.

“Your family didn’t send you to run away because they wanted you to take revenge,” he said. It was a guess, but he could tell from the way their shoulders sagged that he was right. “They wanted you to live. Well?”

They swore.

He took them home.

-Earlier-

She tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Hey, girl!”

She looked up, eyes wide with terror – she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon – but the cultivator in front of her didn’t strike her down. He was a young man, just a few years older than her, and he looked nice, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get lost?”

Lost? From where would she get lost, exactly?

Despite that, she nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here isn’t a good place, though – we’re going to have a battle tomorrow…can you tell me where you’re from?” He frowned. “Or – can’t you speak?”

An idea suddenly came to mind, and she shook her head, lifting up her hands to mime signs like the ones she’d seen Lady Wen and her brother use sometimes when they needed to talk without disturbing others.

“Doesn’t talk,” he murmured to himself. “Clothing of white, ripped all to ribbons –”

She’d torn out any trace of the red sun. White was a common color, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t let anyone know she was surnamed Wen.

“Oh, I’ve read about this before! Are you a bird yao that’s cultivated to humanity?”

What?

She’d been thinking of trying to pass as a traumatized war veteran, but she was only fourteen, after all; it wasn’t very believable. Of course, it was a lot more believable that bird yao – who would leap to that conclusion?

“My surname is Ouyang,” the man said, smiling brightly at her. “You should come back with me – I can teach you to speak, and we can give you a name…how about ‘Luo’ as a surname? That has to do with birds. Or we could surname you Bai, instead, since your clothing is white! Or maybe -”

She smiled helplessly at his nonsense. What a silly, cheerful man! Maybe she’d overestimated his age, he couldn’t be more than two or three years older, at most, and his brain was clearly not in the right place, filled up to the brim with romantic stories and adventure tales instead of facts.

It was a nice change, actually.

She accepted his hand as she stood.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-Earlier-

Lan Wangji had returned home and submitted to a dreadful punishment. The elders he had injured on Wei Wuxian’s behalf were either in treatment or recovering.

As for the rest that had been at the Nightless City…

Many were dead.

Lan Qiren landed in the Burial Mounds, lips pressed tightly together.

He knew he was taking a risk in coming here to Wei Wuxian’s lair – no matter what Lan Wangji thought, whatever good points he’d had in the past, the man was now little better than a mad dog. He’d caused the death of three thousand people just the day before, three thousand innocents that hadn’t had anything to do with anything; why would he hesitate to attack his old teacher?

There was already talk of a siege – Jiang Cheng himself had promised to lead it, to wipe off the stain on the Jiang sect’s record, and the Jin sect had been right behind him. Even Nie Mingjue had been dragged in against his will, suborned by his sect members’ need for vengeance. As for the Lan Sect…Lan Xichen had looked so stricken by the thought that Lan Qiren had volunteered for the grim duty, despite Lan Qiren having never been much of a fighter and even less of a general. He intended to take only the smallest possible contingent, and to limit their work as much as possible to cleansing the dead rather than killing those who remained there – that much, at least, he could do for his nephew.

Either way, though, no matter his powers, Wei Wuxian would not live out the week.

If Lan Qiren desired vengeance, he need only wait.

And yet, here he was.

Alone, practically unarmed – and here nonetheless.

An old woman came out from the cave and squinted at him.

“It’s over,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it?”

Lan Qiren looked at her. One of the Wen remnants that Wei Wuxian had surrounded himself with, he assumed; the ones he’d given up his comfortable life for, claiming he was only acting as a righteous man ought. Perhaps he even had thought he was, back then.

Perhaps he really had been, back then.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, and cleared his throat. “After what he did at the Nightless City – the verdict is unquestionably death. But the rest of you…there are armies coming, and armies are not known for their leniency, especially not on passerby with the wrong surname. But they’re not here yet. There’s still time to flee – if you go now, you could take on a new surname and find some quiet place to live on.”

Lan Wangji had said they were civilians. Civilian life was to be prioritized above all else.

Lan Qiren was only doing what he must.

Despite his well-meant warnings, however, the old lady shook her head.

“There’s nowhere to go, and we won’t give up our surname,” she said, polite but stubborn to the last. “But thank you for taking the time to come here to tell us.”

“Wangji said that there were children here,” Lan Qiren insisted, ignoring her refusal. “If you won’t flee with them, at least send those that are old enough out on their own, and hide the younger ones. Tell them to forget their surnames – most people won’t rampantly murder children, so there’s a chance they’ll make it through, and live. Can you deny them that, just for pride?”

That gave the old woman pause.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said, and then eyed him. “How good are you at medicine?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I can’t provide care –”

“She’s already dead. Come help anyway.”

The woman in question was not already dead, but dying – she was in her late teens, seventeen or eighteen at most, and she was in labor. From the glassiness of her eyes, the redness of her cheeks, and the threadiness of her pulse, it was clear that infection had long ago set in. It was not an exaggeration to say she was dead, little better than a corpse.

She was little more than a child.

“I don’t want her to die alone,” the old woman said. “But if you stay with her, I can use the time to try to take care of the rest. You’re not wrong, I suppose – the children, at least, deserve a chance to live on, even if it means leaving our surname behind.”

Lan Qiren looked down at the woman, unconscious already and unlikely to ever wake, and yet still whimpering. “And her child?”

The old woman looked surprised. “Can a child born like this still live?”

Lan Qiren had almost no medical training beyond the most superficial basics that were the necessity for any battlefield or night-hunt, with one sole exception: he had supervised the births of both his nephews by himself with little aid – his brother’s wife hadn’t wanted anyone else to be present, possibly in an attempt to prematurely enter her grave, possibly just out of spite. He had studied very hard in the days leading up to those births, and knew far more on the subject than most men did.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Unlikely, but – possible.”

He hesitated for a long moment.

“I can take the baby,” he finally said. “Pass him off as some war-orphan child of distant Lan cousins, sent to me on account of their deaths. I could raise him, or else give him to my cousin to raise; he’s got a large enough family that no one would question it.”

“Why would you do that?”

Lan Qiren looked at the woman who was dying, little more than a child herself. “Because of the children I can’t help.”

The old woman was quiet for a little while.

“Very well,” she said, and leaned forward to whisper the name the young woman had thought about for her child into his ear. “That works with Lan as a surname, wouldn’t it? That’s not bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Lan Qiren agreed, and rolled up his sleeves, settling down beside the girl. “Not bad at all.”

#mdzs #lan wangji #jiang cheng #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #lan qiren #original characters #my fic #my fics #children's day #some untamed elements

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