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cienie-isengardu · 4 months

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No offense but Cyrax always gave off a new recruit vibe compared to the other members. Seriously he seems a lot more...normal than the other Lin Kuei and seems more...open minded compared to the others. I feel like Cyrax was a fair bit older than the regular Lin Kuei enrollment when they found him(probably late teen to young adult) and since Cyrax wasn't as indoctrinated they just shoved him with Sektor to keep him grounded since Sektor was more obedient of the two.

Cyrax and Tomas Vrbada have no confirmed or hinted biological ties to Lin Kuei and as Botswanian (African) and Czech (European) respectively, both came from culturally different backgrounds than the majority of the clan members (Chinese/Asian). We don’t have much details on how each man was recruited and at what age they joined. However with Tomas, we at least know his reasoning for joining the Lin Kuei, as his official BIO stated “it has been Smoke's hope that through the Lin Kuei he will discover his past--and the origin of his power”. About Cyrax we don’t even know the reason behind his choice to pledge his life to Lin Kuei but there was a clear boundary that he did not intend to cross:

“I chose to serve the Lin Kuei. But I will not surrender my free will! [MK9]

Like you, I too assume he joined at much older age than majority of adepts started their training (either like Sektor from birth destined to be Lin Kuei or like Bi-Han & Kuai Liang kidnapped as a young children), however I would argue with the new recruit vibe, as Cyrax presumably was already well-proven top fighter to take part in Mortal Kombat Tournament and he too was steeped in Lin Kuei beliefs - like the disdain for Shirai Ryu clan

“Your inferior clan is dead. Soon you will join them.” [MK9, Scorpion Chapter]

or once considering Lin Kuei as the honorable clan

“[...] He has contemplated leaving the clan, fearing that it is no longer an organization of honorable assassins.” [MK9's Cyrax BIO]

The last one is especially something that Cyrax shared with Kuai Liang, as the younger Sub-Zero for a long time did not realize how deep Lin Kuei’s evilness run even though he worked for the clan as an assassin himself all his life:

“When I finally killed Sektor, I discovered the Lin Kuei had not sacrificed it's honor with the Cyber Initiative. We had abandoned it long before.” [MKX’s story mode, Scorpion Chapter]

So, I’m not sure if Cyrax was that much more normal (mentally healthier) than the rest as he clearly was influenced by Lin Kuei teaching. Though I assume between Sektor and Bi-Han, it is no wonder Cyrax feels like the most normal Lin Kuei to be around because the story mode allowed him to express emotions and fight for his own humanity. In contrast, Sektor is withdrawn and obey-at-any-cost while Bi-Han has this lone wolf vibe due to barely interacting with anyone, even his own comrades. So in that case alone, Cyrax is the most sociable one, no question about that.

Frankly, compared to Sektor, no one of the named Lin Kuei is even on that level of indoctrination, however what is worth to point out, Kuai Liang in original and alternative timelines was brought to Lin Kuei at young age and was trained to be an assassin his whole life yet even with so long-lasted indoctrination he always rejected C.I. Project. Despite his loyalty to Lin Kuei, he would rather abbadon the clan than allow anyone to turn him into a machine, not to mention rejecting the “no friendship rule”, both in the case of Tomas and his own brother. He, Tomas and Cyrax share that trait, no matter the differences of their backgrounds or amount of time spent with Lin Kuei.

Did Cyrax presumably joining Lin Kuei at an older age influence his stubborn commitment to individuality and humanity? Definitely. But I think it is also the fact he was not alone in believing that C.I. Project was a wrong decision, as at least Smoke and Tundra supported that belief. Was Sektor paired with Cyrax to keep in check the man’s independence? Yeah, that sounds very likely, especially since original timeline mentioned this

“[...] In the guise of fighting alongside his Lin Kuei comrade, Sektor's orders are to watch and report on Cyrax. Sektor's reports will decide whether this is the last mission for Cyrax." [Mortal Kombat Gold’s Sektor BIO]

As human Cyrax was already questioning Grandmaster’s plans, I would not be surprised if Sektor was tasked with watching and reporting his comrade's behavior to the Grandmaster.

#mortal kombat #cyrax #sektor #my replies #lin kuei #i don't think any of the named lin kuei were okay one way or another #but anyone between sektor and bi han probably will give the vibe of normal and sociable person :D #let's just agree that cyrax tomas and kuai liang are too stubborn for lin kuei indocrination (bi han too on his own way)#poor sektor being stuck with this bunch for like forever in lore

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saingirl101 · 1 year

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NeverAfter Ep 17 As Brian David Gilbert Gifs (SPOILERS!!!!)

I can't believe we are inching closer to the finale of NeverAfter. Still uncertain how all of the plot points will get resolved in the remaining episodes. But regardless, I am pumped after that last episode although the title of this episode is extremely ominous.

As always this is essentially a live blog so:

Tomas and Puss' + Henry and Tim's Reunions:

Finding out that likely the stepmother purposefully put the goose and jack into this world:

Finding out Henry met their jack in the world of timothy's book:

My reaction to Pinocchio playing smoke on the water to the goose to put her to sleep and rosamund playing it in reverse to wake her up:

The golden goose saying she may be able to help tim avoid making his third wish to help him get his book back:

Tim and Pib experiencing cutbacks about the giants and Tim, which seems very suspicious:

The goose and Rosamund's conversation about what she would write in the book and rosamund being like:

Ylfa saying she would have tim keep death in stories and talking about the endings of stories:

PMy reaction to the philosophical quandries between the goose and ylfa:

Pinocchio forcefeeding the cricket water and giving him too much that he does a didney voice:

Pinocchio having a serious convo with the cricket and then he randomly mentions it the wadded up bubblegum in his shoe the music cuts out:

Cricket giving an actual apology to Pinocchio:

Gerard talking to tom Thumb about his marital problems:

Tom Thumb giving Gerard a pep talk about changing for the better and to save his marriage:

Gerard proceeding to yell at tom thumb after asking him to wake him up at 5 am:

Pib thanking pinocchio for not blowing up alphonse:

Ylfa feeling the wolfs heart beating in her chest and smelling blood to track him, after being told they need to track the wolf to entreat with the Baba Yaga:

Finding out the baba yaga respects courtesy, diligence and courage:

Running into the Gander and the Goose making Tim's wish as they are one in the same:

THE GOOSE SACRIFICING HERSELF FOR TIM AND THE GANDER FEEDS ON THE GOOSE:

Tim taking the golden goose's feather and writing about their nonsexual adult sleepover:

Finding out snow white corresponded with Sheherazade and finding out they stole her book:

The gang forgetting about Tomas and his brothers are still here:

Putting Tomas and his brothers in the book for now:

Ylfa tracking Death and finding the baba yaga's house:

Ylfa turning into full werewolf mode;

LOU FUCKING ROLLING A NAT 20 PERSUASION CHECK FOR THE BABA YAGA:

The fucking baba yaga bring up the red mancala pieces:

brennan "the motherfucker: Lee Mulligan knowing none of us will be able to sleep after that episode:

#neverafter #neverafter spoilers #neverafter episode 17 #neverafter the last wish #destinys children #dimension 20 neverafter #dimension 20 #ylfa snorgelsson #prince gerard of greenleigh #mother timothy goose #neverafter puss in boots #neverafter pinocchio #rosamund du prix #neverafter baba yaga #henry hubbard #the golden goose #the gander

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typhoonvash · 10 months

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[ INTERCEPT ] : sender takes a bullet/punch/attack meant for the receiver.

@wolfcross | protective prompts [open]

There was one rule between Vash and Wolfwood that they only needed to speak of once before accepting it as one of the only laws they'd follow.

"No self-sacrificial bullshit" (Wolfwood's words).

The two had similar views on the idea of suicide, and sacrifice was really just suicide with a pretty little bow on top (again, Wolfwood's words). Admittedly, and Wolfwood would never admit this, it was in both of their natures to take a bullet for someone—for Vash it was just about everyone, for Wolfwood it was the people he was protecting. Or children. He always had a soft spot for kids; he never said so, but Vash tends to notice things.

So no matter how much they cared about each other, how much they wanted to protect, they needed to survive to continue protecting others; this included sacrificing themselves for each other. Especially sacrificing themselves for each other. Surprisingly, Vash was the one who needed to reiterate this part of the rule—just in case Wolfwood saw him as someone special who was necessary to protect the world or something. He hoped that he didn't.

Today, the air was thick with tension. It felt as though a lightning bolt could strike at any moment—static clung to the ground like smoke, sticking to their legs like a glue trap. Neither of them knew why, but they both felt like something bad was going to happen—that something was wrong today.

Though the weather was curious at best, the two decided to spend the morning sitting outside at a cafe—Wolfwood with his plain coffee (he either drank it black or with too much sugar, there was no in-between), and Vash with a coffee drink that had chocolate flavoring and steamed milk on top. A mocha? A macchiato? He didn't know, but it was his favorite thing to get on the rare occasion that they had time to relax at a nice cafe.

They made idle conversation, like their lives were completely normal, domestic.

...Until a harsh reminder put them in their place.

An argument between two men broke into a gunfight nearby—Vash, of course, set his drink down to go deescalate the situation (he hoped). There were far too many civilians for this to be a safe place to duel, so his focus sat on getting people to safety first.

He hushed people into alleyways and buildings, telling them not to worry—that he had this handled. A few more men joined the original two, putting the total at six. Vash had his back turned to them, escorting a child to safety with her stuffed tomas toy.

It was at this point that he managed to calm the men down without trying; when they recognized Vash for his bounty, whatever they were arguing about fell to the wayside in favor of collecting and splitting it. Their guns quickly turned on the blond without him knowing as he was wrapped in a conversation about Sir Netsy, a tomas that was also a knight and knew magic.

Wolfwood arrived to see the six guns pointed at Vash and the child—what he had to do came to him naturally.

The undertaker slid between Vash and the gunmen, blocking some shots with the Punisher—but some bullets and buckshot found purchase in Wolfwood as he broke their golden rule.

"Wolfwood you—!!"

Vash let out a gasp as he hurried the child away to run to his companion's side.

#love and asks #wolfcross #“haha we have this unbreakable rule”#(either of them will break it the second the other is in danger)

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freyito · 3 months

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Can I request about Bi han, Kuai Liang and Tomas' reactions to readers who sacrificed their lives for them?

(The reader rushed in to take the attack on their behalf and the reader was seriously injured and almost died, something like that.)

✧ a/n: hmmmmm HMMMMMMMMMMM... i have a MASSIVE piece im working on for all the men in mk1 for a reader who ALMOST dies, so unfortunately in this one. reader does die. a little angst never hurt nobody, right? :P

I ALSO CHOKED UP A LITTLE WRITING TOMAS' LOWKEY ITS 5 AM WHO LET ME WRITE THAT

🗒 cw: gn reader, reader dies, descriptions of death, descriptions of wounds, blood/gore, angst, hurt/no comfort, hints at depression, grief/grieving, suicidal ideation(?), not proofread

✎ wc: 1589

ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴ ᴋᴜᴇɪ ᴛʀɪᴏ + ᴀ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ ꜱᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʟɪꜰᴇ

⎯ Bi-Han

Bi-Han should’ve seen it coming. That’s his first thought. Kombat is second nature to him, he feels as if he rarely fails. He’s independent, as well. Even with the Lin Kuei,– With you– he takes on more enemies he can chew sometimes. He’s stubborn, that way. To him, kombat is his entire life. He’s known the thrill of shedding blood at a young age, a dagger piercing a heart, a sword breaking skin. To him, there’s no need for reinforcements. He simply stands it. He knows the rules of battle far too well, every scar engraved into his skin a testament to that. So when the sword meant for him pierces your flesh, he is left… dumbfounded, in a way.

The next few days for him blur together. In fact, the minute he saw your blood, his mind went blank. He tries not to think about you in any way, because he is only met with the image of a sword driven through your torso, twice over. It feels like perhaps that blade was meant for you. Having to juggle the Lin Kuei and his beloved’s death takes a toll on him. He can put on a stoic face and continue his regular duties, but behind closed doors, he’s a mess.

Bi-Han doesn’t know what to do. The absence of you next to him, how empty the bed feels– how empty the world feels, it’s a haunting reminder. He finds no joy in anything, his anger bubbles over. Because he is afraid he acknowledges this sadness, he’ll lose himself. He’s a little more volatile, he’s less forgiving with the trainees, and he’s easy to take advantage of in kombat.

It is only after your funeral that he finally breaks. He held himself together quite well, despite being faced with your lifeless body, bloodless and horrifyingly still. And yet your face, oh so peaceful, as if nothing had happened. As if your blood had not coated Bi-Han’s hands. Blame is the only word on his mind, for days upon days he looks almost as lifeless as you did, his eyes dead and vacant. Nobody is home. He even starts to be less harsh on the Lin Kuei– even apologetic.

Finally, he cries. Late at night, curled up in bed. He feels pathetic, weak. Because he couldn’t save you, he can’t even remember what had happened, really. His mind forces the sequence of events out, every single one, except your blood stained torso, the sword having pushed its way all the way through, and the warmth of your blood coating his hands. He finds comfort in nothing, his days become increasingly dull. And when he cries, it feels as if he’s bleeding. His chest hurts, he cries until he’s coughing, until he’s dry heaving. Tears stain his face, they burn, his throat hurts from how much he’s begged, pleaded, prayed, that you would come back. That it was all some sort of dream. Unfortunately, Bi-Han is trapped within reality, an empty bed, a life lost of its warmth.

⎯ Kuai Liang

In battle, Kuai is balanced, he likes to believe. He can watch over himself, and he’s very perceptive. So when a sickle comes swinging at him, it’s you who he’s surprised to see. He’s ready and willing to accept his death. There is no greater honor than to die in kombat. He’d lament about leaving you and Tomas behind… but to see you so willingly take the blow, all he can think of is how proud he is of you. Before the stinging pain of loss grabs him by the throat. He cleans up the fight quickly, for once, he allows his heart to take the lead in kombat rather than his mind. He knows he shouldn’t, but every second counts.

Regardless, he’s too late. A jagged, uneven, deep slice to your neck. You bled out, aware of the battle that had raged around you. That is not the way Kuai wanted you to go, it’s something he grieves over separately. The reality of the situation hits him like a train. He finds himself unable to even stand properly. Everything reminds him of you, and nothing Tomas does to console him ends in a success. He operates on auto-pilot, unable to bring himself back to the present. He doesn’t want to. He won’t. He tries to shove the scene down in his mind, but no matter what he does, your bloodied face is staring right back at him.

With nothing else to quell his growing sadness, he trains. He thinks it’s anger that’s gnawing at him, clawing at him and ripping him apart. That, all he needs to do is take it out on a training dummy. Yet, each strike does nothing to take away the pain. In fact, his anger continues to rise. He takes a step back. And he understands.

At your funeral, Kuai is stone-faced. He doesn’t emote, he doesn’t show any sign of emotion. But he is afraid, truthfully. There are all sorts of emotions warring within him. It takes everything within him to not cry. Yet, when he looks at your face, he feels a sense of peace. Suddenly, everything is okay. It’s soothing, in a way. Knowing that now you are far away from the realm of kombat, of war, of duty. And the feeling of pride rises once more. He reminds himself that you died a warrior's death, something he couldn’t deny. No matter how much he wished he could change the outcome.

So, he continues to live on. Kuai Liang wants nothing more than to wallow, sob, scream out your name, bring you back by whatever means. But at the same time, he knows he must continue. In his own way, it is to honor you, as well. Recovery is not linear, and he will stumble. He will hurt, he will cry, he will fall. But he has to get up. It is how the world goes, he reminds himself. Not to mention the Shirai Ryu, they need a strong leader. He can lament all he wants, but your sacrifice has brought him a second chance at life. He will not ruin it.

⎯ Tomas Vrbada

Stealth is Tomas’ specialty. But when a mission goes awry, he’s a deadly opponent as well. He does not fail often, he is a deft hunter. Yet, somehow, for some reason lost to him, he had missed his mark. A single archer, positioned somewhere along the wall of the rampart. An arrow struck through your throat, an uncomfortable, horrid gagging and moaning slipping from your mouth. And suddenly, Tomas’ focus is broken. The archer has slipped away– it seems that you were their target. And he finds that unforgivable. Cowardly, even. But he does not chase. He won’t.

He speaks to you as you bleed out, time is short, and he can’t get you to medics right away. But, pulling out the arrow is not an option either. He tries his best to comfort you, pushing back his own tears. He’d rather have you die with something, someone by your side. Even if words are meaningless, there is some peace sought out within them. And when you take your last, harsh, pained breath, Tomas relaxes. But he isn’t happy, of course. Far from it. The battle is over, and he is met with the face of loss once more.

Tomas knows grief by heart. Losing someone he’s loved, it is a feeling he revisits every waking day. Yet, he hadn’t been graced with a fresh wound like this in some time. He… doesn’t know what to do. Perhaps it is because he has forced his own emotions down, he does not know. Regardless, his world shifts, an inch off the center. Nothing is sure, nothing is right. The stars at night do not shine as brightly as they did when you were present, the moon does not seem as ethereal, the sun holds no other purpose than a light in the absence of yours.

Your funeral paints over the image Tomas had often dreamed of, A modest celebration, a ring on your finger, a beautiful bouquet. It doesn’t matter how peaceful you look, he is forever haunted by the choking in your throat, the blood running from your mouth, your neck, coating your torso as he stood helpless. He is sullen, he sulks the entire time. But none blame him. Part of him wants nothing more than to climb into your casket and curl up next to you, hug you. Perhaps he wants to be buried with you, or perhaps he is seeking out that last bit of touch, before you become another one of his routine visits.

Tomas is… broken, understandably. He shuts himself away, hiding from his brother and Hanzo every so often. And when he is with either of them, he doesn’t emote much, he doesn’t talk much, he is gone. He feels like a husk, living dead. And when people point it out, he tries his best, oh, how hard he tries. He tries to be all smiles and sunshine, he overdoes it sometimes. He wants to live on in your memory, of course. But, your death instills a fear within him. Attachment, remembering and knowing that death will always be looming around the corner, ready to take. And take. And take. As it always does. As it always will. Tomas will get better, he will heal. But, he will grieve all the same. He will lead his life with you in his heart, same with his family.

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veenvss · 3 months

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mortal lands

the family , 8/8

7 , winter

I was originally only going to do the courts but the mortal lands are such an important part of the series so I couldn't just ignore them. These mortal lands will just be the one on Prythian because I am a student and I do not have as much time as I want.

We don't know much about the mortal lands. We only know a handful of people:

Elain- "fawn" Welsh

Feyre- I literally have nothing I think Sarah made this up ngl sounds cool tho

Graysen- "son of the steward" English

Isaac- "he will laugh, he will rejoice" Hebrew

Nesta- "chaste" Welsh diminutive of Agnes

Nolan- "famous, loud" English? originally an Irish surname

Tomas- "twin" Swedish variant this is without any accents

So who we do know is quite varied. Doesn't matter to me, I'm gonna pull something out of my ass and use it because I do not care. Graysen is an English name, Isaac and Thomas are used in England and Nolan is about a quarter of the way there so I'm gonna use English names for this. But Medieval English just to be interesting. So this is just gonna be biblical names with unusual nicknames, I can already feel it.

FIRMIN ARCHERON- "firm" The dad. Canonically, I don't really like him, I know he's disabled and all but it's not my fault he was just really boring. I like to think that before everything happened, he was a good dad. He cared a lot, and he liked to take walks with his daughters. He would gladly sit down and listen to Elain ramble about some rare flower in this book he had found the last time he actually went with his ships. He would comfort Nesta when she was upset, in their own private way.

AMPHELISE ARCHERON- meaning unknown She was strict, rude and uptight. She was incredibly snobby and she cared a lot about appearances, more than her own family. I don't understand how a woman can birth three daughters and not care about any of them. She lacked all emotion until a servant spilt some wine on her dress. That was the only time her daughters ever saw anything other than disgust on her face.

ETHELDRED YOXALL- "noble strength" Amphelise had to get it from somewhere. You could never say that one was worse than the other, they were both as bad as each other. Despite their relations, they constantly tried to one-up each other. Who was richer? Who was wearing the nicer dress? No one got an answer, but she ensured her nails were as sharp as possible before another ball.

Now, I just missed the bus to get to college so I'm going to quickly do Jurian and his family before I do more revision and stroke my dogs.

With yet another quick google search, Jurian is a 'medieval' Low German variant of George. Now, we already have German (Autumn) and I am not one for repetition but I still wanna have it be Germanic because I want it that way, which is why I went with Dutch as the Netherlands speaks Low German and my name website says that it has some variant of Jurian and I'm lazy.

LIEVIN VAN DALEN- "dear friend" "from the valley" Like his name suggests, Jurian's father was a dear friend to many. It was impossible to hate him unless, of course, you were a slave owner with an inbuilt incapacity to appreciate humans and their livelihoods.

MADELEIF VAN DALEN- "daisy" "from the valley" Despite their situation, his parents gave Jurian a brilliant example of love. It's a such shame how he was forced to use it to be able to let their descendants live freely. He knew that no matter what, his mother would be proud of all he sacrificed.

CORINE VAN DALEN- "maiden" "from the valley" Jurian's sweet younger sister, she was one of the first people to give birth after the war, starting the new generation of free humans. Unfortunately, over 500 years, her line of the family have slowly forgotten their connection to their glorified ancestor, but their defiance still remains.

#acotar #acowar #feyre acotar #nesta acotar #elain acotar #papa archeron #jurian acotar #hybern #mortal lands

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unhealthyfanobsession · 3 years

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How would you compare the ACOTAR ships to TVD ships? Some people say Feysand is like Delena.

This is SUCH A FUN ASK!! Don’t mind if I do! I’m going to compare the general dynamic of the characters as well as archetype/ story parallels.

This is a crossover post so SPOILERS FOR BOTH ACOTAR AND TVD BELOW.

Stefan-Elena-Damon = Tamlin-Feyre-Rhysand

I don’t mean to do Stefan dirty like this, but the parallels are really undeniable. Stefan and Tamlin both were the kind, caring, magical first introduction to this whole new world for Feyre/Elena. They fell in love with them easily and it was a pure, beautiful love but while they were in it there were darker (Damon and Rhys) forces pulling them in another direction. Both women loved these men SO fiercely and sacrificed for that love. Feyre fought the 3 trials with Amarantha where she ended up being helped by Rhys. Elena went looking for Stefan in his ripper days even though Klaus would kill her if he found her and she was helped by Damon. Both of them fought for this love but then once they had it back... either they or the man or both had changed too much from the trauma and their relationship simply couldn’t work anymore.

I totally agree with the Feysand= Delena point because I think they are both relationships that are very “this person over everyone else no matter what” and that is romantic, but at we see, can also be overbearing/toxic at times. They both do awful things that the heroine has to later learn their motives for and forgive them for. Damon “kills” Jeremy and tries to compel Elena to kiss him early on. He feeds Elena his blood against her will when Klaus might kill her but then he ultimately makes it right through self sacrificing hero acts. Rhys does... everything he did under the mountain and he doesn’t tell Feyre she’s his mate, but then he helps her heal after Tamlin and ultimately saves Prythian. Both characters are also haunted by an abusive relationship- Rhysand a sexually abusive relationship with Amarantha that he endured for 49 years and Damon and emotionally abusive/manipulative relationship with Katherine that defined his life for 150 years.

Damon has a quote in season 4 that I think really describes both couples. He says: “if you’re going to be bad, be bad with a purpose. Otherwise you just aren’t worth forgiving.”

Klaroline = Nessian

This one is more based on character interactions and a bit of my own bias. I struggled to find a TRUE nessian parallel couple but I think Klaroline is the closest for a number of reasons. Largely because Caroline and Nesta are very similar characters. Both start off as shallow, superficial mean girls who we get an early glimpse of their heart (Caroline crying and her I’m never the one monologue and Nesta being on Feyre’s side when she returns in ACOTAR) who then get changed into something they never wanted to be and it helps them grow and OWN THEIR P O W E R. Even Caroline’s stint as emotionless mess after her mom’s death parallels Nesta’s destructive actions after losing her father.

Cassian and Klaus both have the whole “I’m a worthless bastard that no one wants and I killed my father but I am STRONGER THAN EVERYONE so you can’t hurt me even though I’m really just a soft boi who needs love” vibe going on.

And the CHASE. That’s the biggest parallel here. These are both couples where this powerful man walked in and said “that one” re the beautiful woman who hated them and then did not give up. But with both of them it’s a gentle chase. Klaus knows that Caroline is constantly trying to trick him but he doesn’t care because he just wants to spend time with her and whenever she is in danger he is there on the DOUBLE and does things he doesn’t want to do for her (ex- graduation, hiding/ protecting Stefan in season 6). Cassian knows that Nesta is going through a hard time after ACOMAF and he flies up to the House of Wind every damn day to see her even when she pushes him away and he instantly goes into fierce general I will kill mode if anyone threatens Nesta. Also both couples are prone to lashing out at each other (Caroline “terrible people” line; Klaus with his biting. Cassian “everyone hates you”; Nesta with her well... being Nesta LOL)

Bonus points for pet names and relentless teasing when they aren’t trying to kill each other.

Quote for them is when Caroline tells Klaus “anyone capable of love, is capable of being saved” I think that also has big Cassian @ Nesta in ACOSF energy.

(PS I did consider Nessian being Steroline but 1. I fucking hate that ship and 2. Stefan was never there for Caroline during the hard times which is the anti Cassian AND I think the for me it’s always you vibe just fits the intensity of Nessian better)

Kennett = Elriel

I’m not tagging this Elriel so don’t COME FOR ME. In my opinion, these are both ships that had some fun ~tension~ and are kinda sexy/enticing. Kol with his love of witches and their little graduation ghost adventure and Azriel with his attraction to Elain and saving her from Hybern. BUT ultimately I think the most interesting thing about these ships was their convenience. I think fans liked to put Bonnie with Kol in fanfics because it was an easy way to make Bonnie understand Elena and Caroline’s choice for a dark boi and it was just convenient. Likewise I think that Elriel is convenient in writing to simply throw Elain with the other bat brother and tie everything up in a neat little ribbon.

Mabekah= Elucien

In this comparison Rebekah is Lucien and Matt is Elain. This was a couple where one person started off with bad motives (Rebekah wanting to kill Matt at the ball; Lucien plotting with Hybern) but they have genuine feelings for the person once they get to know/are mated to them and you see that person is a much more complicated character than we previously saw. Rebekah and Lucien are both lost, lonely, and struggling to find where they fit in while Matt and Elain are both struggling but ultimately the much beloved “sweet” character who everyone is willing to die to protect. At first the sweet character avoids the villain character like the plague, but eventually things turn around and they see past their previous bad actions.

BonEnzo= Gwynriel

Talk about characters who have some trauma to heal together. Enzo was literally kept in a cage by the Whitmore’s for 50 years and abused much like Azriel in his dungeon. Gwyn has had to make unspeakable decisions in order to protect the greater good and suffer the horrible consequences for it- losing her twin to protect those children much like how Bonnie lost her grams to protect Stefan and Elena. Enzo started off interested in Caroline (like Azriel and Elain) and getting over an obsession with Lilly (Azriel and Mor) but was ultimately drawn to Bonnie for her strength, determination, and good heart despite everything she had been through. These are really all just characters that have been through the RINGER and need to find healing in each other’s arms but would never admit that’s what they are doing so it just happens slowly and one day they realize things don’t hurt as much anymore.

AND FINALLY:

Damon and Caroline= Nesta and Tomas

You know why. Damon doesn’t get off that easy just because he “changed”. He abused Caroline and I won’t be pretending in 2021 that he didn’t.

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worldtriggereview · 3 years

Text

Chapters 176-178

Lol

Again, the Osamu-Kikuchihara dynamic is so great.

I love how Azuma’s just here to help spread juicy gossip lmao. Azuma could probably get away with a lot and no one could care

I appreciate how they don’t just have Netsuki and Kinuta be random HQ minions, they’re both smart and have their own opinions, and are responsible for their own actions and how it affects Border.

Interesting, it makes sense that Azuma has expedition experience, I wonder who else exactly does as well. Kazama squad obviously, and probably some of the top A rank squads. I wonder if Azuma went on an expedition before they sent expeditions out as squads, in the earlier days of new border

I find Azuma’s wording of unbalanced here to be interesting. We know Osamu has no problem sacrificing himself, sort of similar to how Chika is. I wonder if we’ll get a similar conundrum in the future, with Osamu not valuing himself? It seems low self worth is a common theme amongst Tamakoma-2 ;w; Although, it seems Dadzuma has taken note of that

Coinky-Dink

Damn look at all those empty bowls. Just how much rice is Chika eating?!

Inukai’s definitely a tricky kinda guy. He seems happy go lucky at first but he’s pretty sketchy at second glance. Again, no wonder Kage doesn’t like him

Yupppp he knows alright lol

Osamu smartly keeping that to himself

Adding Hyuse is interesting in more than just his dynamic with Osamu. Neither Yuma, Osamu, or Usami are going to pressure Chika, they don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but Hyuse has no qualms about that, so just by saying this, he’s putting that pressure on her that Toma talked about earlier. And I think Chika knows this at this point, even if it was something subconscious at first

#world trigger review

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sayosdreams · 4 years

Text

Sand and Stardust - Chapter 1

Word Count: 1670

Chapter Index

ACOTAR masterlist

—————

It didn’t matter. Because in the end, he would always choose them.

He was the one person who was supposed to put her first, but his duty would never allow that.

So as she sat there, holding the pregnancy test in one hand, and an apple in the other, she wondered once again what she would do. Should she tell him? Should she disappear? Should she tell everyone?

She knew she owed him enough that he deserved to know. But she couldn’t bear the thought of telling everyone; everyone who loved him and thought the world of him, and hated her. She couldn’t let them take away her child. Not now. Not ever.

Nesta sighed. Putting the pregnancy test in her pocket, she tossed the apple into the air.

She’d known for a while now that Cassian was her mate. It wasn’t the sort of thing that one could just ignore. But… she also knew that, even if Cassian were to love her more than anything, even if he accepted her as his mate, even if he did everything she could ever want, he would always put his duty to Rhysand and Feyre first. Because that was who he was: loyal, brave, kind, strong. Someone to rely on.

Still, the fact that her cauldron-damned sister would always have more power over her mate than her didn’t sit well with Nesta. Feyre was High Lady, Feyre had the whole Inner Circle as her best friends and her new family. Why couldn’t Nesta just have one person? Just one?

Even Elain, whom Nesta had cared for above all else, whom Nesta had loved and taken care of and sacrificed the world for, even ELAIN had abandoned Nesta. Perhaps it was the world’s way of taking revenge on her for not providing for her family as a child. For wanting her father to feed them and take care of them the way he had when they were younger. But truly, wasn’t it enough that she’d drowned in that Cauldron and been turned into the thing she’d feared and hated her entire life? Nesta shut her eyes.

The baby’s only possible father was Cassian. Once, Nesta had taken to sleeping with countless, nameless men, just to show that she could and just to try to feel something. Who she was proving something to, she wasn’t entirely sure: perhaps her parents, who had raised her to be proper and to become this thing that even her sisters couldn’t love, perhaps her old self, who had actually believed that by marrying herself off she could help her sisters, perhaps Tomas, who had tried to take her virginity. But for a few months now, she had not engaged sexually with anyone, save one drunken night where she and Cassian had…

She’d woken up early in the morning, wrapped in his arms and sheets, her head resting gently against his chest, both of them naked. Panicking over what the fallout of that one night of pleasure would be, she’d quietly pried herself from his arms, gathered her clothes, and left. They hadn’t spoken of that night again. Nesta had tried, on several different occasions, to get Cassian alone, to try and build a friendship, or maybe just a civil relationship, with the male. And every time, without fail, Feyre or Rhysand or Morrigan, who hated Nesta as much as Nesta hated her, had interrupted, stealing Cassian away for something.

According to the calendar, Nesta was probably about two and a half months into the pregnancy. She knew she wanted to keep the baby. From what she knew due to gossip from when she’d been human, her belly would start showing around three or four months. Meaning Nesta only had a few more weeks to procrastinate before deciding how to tell Cassian that she was pregnant and how to make sure that he wouldn’t tell the rest of the Inner Circle.

It wasn’t that she thought the Inner Circle would hate her baby; on the contrary, she knew they would love them because the child would be Cassian’s. She just didn’t want them hovering around her during her pregnancy, acting like they cared about her, seeing them conflicted between their disgust at her and their love for the child she carried… She didn’t want them to poison the one relationship she needed: the relationship between her and her child… It was already going to be hard enough to be a mother without all their judgmental stares and fake smiles.

To be a mother was something Nesta had always thought would be in her future but had never given too much thought to. Motherhood. Morning sickness, giving birth, breastfeeding, playing with her child, watching her child grow… Did she even know how to be a mother? Could she even take care of a child? She, who had allowed her sisters to starve, doing nothing? She, who had drunk herself into stupors and slept with anyone; she, who couldn’t stand the crackling sound of fire and couldn’t even take a bath… Could she take care of an infant?

She didn’t know. But she was certain in only one fact: she would not let anyone take her child away from her.

She did a quick mental calculation and sighed in relief: she hadn’t drunk very much in the past few months. She needed to eat more, though. While she didn’t care very much if she allowed herself to waste away, her child needed to be healthy. She’d go to the market tomorrow to buy some food.

Nesta cleaned up her house, throwing away old food and bottles, putting away dishes and clothes. She would need to buy clothes, too. Nesta sorted through her clothes, making a pile of the looser ones which would allow her to hide her bump for a month or so. She definitely needed to buy subtly loose clothing as well as maternity clothes if she didn’t want people to know so soon.

Nesta sat down on her bed, and took a deep breath, calming herself. While she didn’t know that much about being a mother, she did know the basics of how to hold and breastfeed an infant, since she had seen her mother do so with Feyre.

She needed a plan.

Step one: buy food and clothes tomorrow Step two: find a way to invite Cassian over Step three: make him swear not to tell anyone Step four: tell him about the pregnancy Step five: make sure no one else finds out Step six: prepare a nursery

Nesta nodded to herself. She would be totally fine. And if Cassian couldn’t promise to keep it a secret or if he didn’t want to get involved under her conditions, well, she would be just fine. Her child would get to know their father later in life and that was that.

Nesta looked in the mirror. There was nothing outwardly different about her yet, at least none that she could feel or tell. She had been feeling nauseous at times, and it was getting worse, but it was nothing new. Ever since she’d turned fae, her body had been messed up, throwing up whatever she ate and aching over nothing. It had been getting somewhat better, but during her drunken stage, she had obviously thrown up quite a lot. When that phase had ended almost six months ago, her body had also recovered. Still, when the pregnancy-induced nausea had begun, she hadn’t thought much of it. According to her little knowledge, it was supposed to be worst at around three months. Great, she thought to herself.

She placed a hand on her stomach, marveling that a life was inside her. She hoped that whatever trauma her body had endured when she’d turned fae wouldn’t affect the baby. Truth to be told, Nesta hadn’t even been sure that, as fae, she could get pregnant, since her body had been through so much. That was part of the reason Nesta knew she couldn’t get rid of this baby.

“Hello, little one,” she whispered. “I can’t believe you’re in there. I hope you know that I’ll take care of you no matter what. It doesn’t matter what Cassian- what your dad- decides. I don’t know very much about babies but I’ll do my best. I’ll read some books… Did you know that I love reading? After you’re born, I’ll read you lots and lots of books. In books, you can do whatever you want. You can be anything. But you’re… you haven’t even been born yet, have you? You still have your whole life ahead of you. You really can be whatever you want. I’m going to make sure of that.” Nesta laughed quietly. “I don’t even know if you can hear me. But maybe you can feel what I’m saying? I love you, little one. I love you, unconditionally.” A tear slipped from her eye, and Nesta hastily wiped it away, despite being alone in her home.

Unconditional love was something Nesta had always craved. Her father had once loved her the most, and her mother had loved each of them equally, claiming that she would cherish them forever. Yet her forever had ended far too soon, and so Nesta’s reality had dissolved. Her adorable, loving baby sisters had turned into something else: Elain, into a reserved, smiling child; Feyre, a stubborn, strong girl. First Feyre had lost her admiration for Nesta; now, years later, after all they had endured, Elain had lost her patience at her elder sister. Nesta didn’t know if her child would love her unconditionally, especially when they found out about her past. Still, she would love her child no matter what and she would make sure that her child knew that they were loved.

Another tear slipped.

Stupid pregnancy hormones, Nesta thought to herself, wiping the tear before it could make a trace down her cheek.

Walking over to the kitchen, Nesta decided that tomorrow, after shopping, she’d go to the library and pick out pregnancy books.

#sand and stardust #nessian #sayosdreams fic #sayosdreams writing #nesta x cassian #nesta archeron #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #reposting bc my acc was deleted by accident #sjm #cassian #nessian preg #nesta preg #nessian babies #nessian baby #nesta #sayosdreams #sayosdreams fics

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senkukogetsu · 3 years

Text

WT 30 Day Challenge

Created by Hanamakkii

Day 11 - Favorite All-Rounder

This is another one where I had planned on using different characters than what I have on here. Though, this time it was only one that’s different than what I’d planned. I planned on using Miwa instead of Obishima, but then I reread the last rank battle chapters and Obishima just- stuck out to me.

Obishima is a young all-rounder who’s still learning and growing. I feel like she is growing in her own way, she is learning at her own pace. That much was proven when she thought Yuma was pulling the same trick before realizing that he wouldn’t use the same trick twice. And though she didn’t know this trick, she still had time to think “Yuma’s pulling another trick, but what is it this time?” And I just think that that shows her growth, and how she’s taking Yuba’s training to heart and always learning from those around her. She’ll grow so much stronger, she’ll be an amazing agent one day, and she might even rise up to being a captain one day.

And then there’s Tokieda, a solid all rounder who supports his team so well. We’ve only seen him fight like, what, twice? Once against Miwa Squad in the Black Trigger Retrieval Arc, and a second time in the anime only arc, the Fugitive Arc on the ship. Have we seen more? I honestly can’t remember. ): Anyways, I just think he’s a really cool character who would be a solid teammate. Like when he provided Kitora with a shield from Izumi’s bullets and sacrificed himself instead of Kitora with Toma’s snipe. The way he is with Yuma and how Yuma calls him Kitora’s Senpai before calling him Tokieda senpai. And the way his captain relies on him. I just love Tokieda’s dynamics w everyone. 😭🤍

Anyways, those are some reasons why I love Tokieda and Obishima.

#World Trigger #WT 30 Day Challenge #Tokieda Mitsuru #Obishima Yukari #Favorite All-Rounder #All-Rounder

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cienie-isengardu · 3 years

Note

Why do you think Cyrax decided to join the Lin Kuei? He seems to be the only one who chose him, and it shows that he is the most mentally balanced. Do you think cyrax was the first to start a friendship with Sektor? Do you think they reached more but then cooled down due to their differences with respect to IC?

Those are very good questions.

My general idea is that yes, Cyrax agreed to join the clan, but it was Lin Kuei that sought him out, similar to what happened with Smoke:

"Originating from Prague, Tomas Vrbada was recruited by the Lin Kuei for his impressive ability to escape capture. Able to transform into a wisp of smoke, his talent has proved useful on countless missions. Smoke has no memory of his childhood. His only family is the Lin Kuei, more specifically the younger Sub-Zero, who is like a brother to him. It has been Smoke's hope that through the Lin Kuei he will discover his past--and the origin of his power."

The sources don’t give us a well established age for Cyrax or Smoke nor how long they served the clan, but in the case of Tomas Vrbada, his MK!9 ending provided more detailed backstory:

"Shao Kahn's violent death shook the very core of Smoke's being and dislodged his earliest memories. Tomas Vrbada was only a boy when he was abducted by an obscure cult and sacrificed to a demon. Burned alive, he returned to the mortal realm as an enenra, a creature of smoke and vapor. His captors were helpless against his shapeless form as he lashed out with rage, killing them all. His murder avenged, he returned to his human form, remembering nothing of his former life. Now aware of his true identity, Smoke understands he is no mere assassin. His destiny has been revealed."

Smoke was a boy when he was transformed into Enenra, then killed his captors and in result, lost memory. Lin Kuei seems like a well informed organisation who either kept tabs on all unnatural abilities and events throughout the world or, knowing their dark past, could even stand behind the whole sacrificing to demon, to get (back?) Enenra into their ranks. There is no information how many years passed between the change and joining Lin Kuei, but I don’t think Tomas was that much older, mainly because an adult person is harder to mold in proper way to fit the strict clan traditions, especially if said person comes from totally different culture (and ethnicity) to begin with. Tomas and Cyrax both were outsiders who somehow catched Lin Kuei’s attention.

In that regard, the clan is unique - on one hand it is a deeply secretive organisation, on another it allows people who proved their worth to join regardless of their origin. But at the same time, it is usually Lin Kuei who invites not the other way as far as sources are concerned. The mastery of martial arts and special abilities/genes are the obvious criteria but I would like to point out that Lin Kuei seems to “prey” on a certain type of people, including the orphaned, abandoned or lonely who stand out in normal society and who don’t have anything to lose by joining. I mean, Frost in an alternative timeline killed her mother at age of 12 (intro dialogue vs. Jax) and was taking part in an illegal death match (MKX comics) before she met a fellow cryomancer who could help get the grip on her unnatural ice powers and would not see her as a freak. Smoke has unnatural abilities yet no memory of childhood, no family he knew or remembered and no sense of who he truly was. In both cases, Lin Kuei filled the void in life of (most likely) young, lost “freaks” giving them substitute for family, an affiliation to the group of similar special people, a source or pride and means to either grow stronger (Frost’s abilities) or looking for answers (Smoke’s origin). At the same time, Jade, an experienced assassin herself, declined Sub-Zero’s invention because “Outworld needed her” which wasn’t really about devotion to realm but to Kitana and Kotal, two people who meant everything to her. This makes me think that Cyrax joined Lin Kuei because like Tomas and Frost he didn’t have any better option and the clan fulfilled Cyrax’s human needs to belong somewhere. Considering how naive he was for seeing Lin Kuei as the “honorable assassin clan”, he too could be pretty young when he took the offer and never figured out - or didn’t want to see - how Lin Kuei twisted his loyalty and sense of morality, at least until the threat of Cyber Initiative Project became too real to ignore clan’s dark deeds.

So in short, I think Cyrax was either orphaned or somehow banished / rejected from his native society for being different (unnatural) and Lin Kuei was a substitute for “family” and source of security and pride of himself he needed in youth but may never have a chance to learn all the dark secrets and inner pathologies of the clan the same way like Bi-Han or Sektor did.

As for friendship matters, lately I am becoming more and more convinced that Sektor and Bi-Han were on good terms so I think elder Sub-Zero could be the first one to start some sort of friendship (beneficial familiarity?) with Sektor. But since Bi-Han has Kuai Liang to take care of, Sektor most likely always was on the second (or third, if we count comics Hydro) place when it comes to everything which may be a reason why Cyrax became such an important part of his life. To the point that even as a cyborg, Sektor has a pathological need to keep Cyrax around. It is hard to say how those two worked well together, but I sincerely think they really were very close to each other - as paired warriors seems to be (Smoke & Tundra, comics!Sub-Zero & Hydro). In such a strict society like Lin Kuei, having a partner you could trust and rely on and willing to cover your faults seems like the best way to survive and stay sane. Even if at some point their partnership evolved into a sexual relationship, I think that any sexual (physical) aspect would be less important than the established emotional bond.

The C.I. Project and their conflict about it for sure shattered that bond to some degree but ultimately, I think it was Cyrax’s decision to leave that brought the most damage. Sektor seems to never truly understand or accept his decision while Cyrax, after everything that happened, became pretty depressed and even suicidal. Both are unhappy for different reasons but I think both to some degree regret losing what they had once.

#mortal kombat #my replies #cyrax #sektor #bi han #frost #tomas vrbada #lin kuei #the duality of this clan never stops amazing me #cyrax seems to be too balanced emotionally to join an assassin clan for fun #so i think he didn't have good perspective on life and lin kuei were the best option at that time

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nestasgalpal · 3 years

Text

Folklore (Nesta Archeron Fanfiction)

Peace

Nesta and Clare shared many kisses over the last years together, but each day the distance between them grew, both girls knowing what their destiny was meant to be. Two of those kisses had been underwater, the same summer Clare tought her how to show affection with her lips. Nesta and Elain didn’t know how to swim, so the farmer’s daughter tought them. She always invited Feyre to come along, she was too kind not to, but Feyre hardly ever accepted the offer. There was tension between Nesta and her youngest sister, and the afternoons she spent laying with her friends while Feyre went hunting where the cause.

Back when they arrived to the village it was Feyre who finally decided they wouldn’t die without trying everything to survive first, so she tought herself how to set a trap and started going to the first lines of the forest to test them. Then, she made weapons and started to go further into the woods. Nesta spent the days in bed crying their loss, not caring about Feyre hunting some rabbits. When she realized her sister wasn’t traping little rodents anymore but shooting arrows to full grown deers, she felt it was too late now to intervene.

“I could show my concern, but then... what? What was I supposed to do next?” she frequently thought

Nesta knew she would die in a heartbeat, as would Elain, neither of them could do what Feyre had learned to do. So she allowed her little siter to do the work.

And she got so used to it, at some point she forgot she was the oldest one. She met Clare, Tomas and a few more girls from the village, and realized that having friends made her life better. Elain, who was as polished as Nesta, fitted in, but Feyre, too tired to try, didn’t. So she, once again, left her behind.

Nesta felt bad, but she needed the spark of joy their company provoked so badly, she decided to put herself first. It was not only the company, but the sense of superiority it gave her knowing nobody arround her could live up to her. Around them, she was a lady, admired, even if she was wearing a worn-out grey dress. Starving was not the only way to die; it was deffinetly not the way Nesta feared the most. She was scared of the growing feeling inside of her that she was wasting her days, rotting, going to waste, so she held tight to the few moments of joy she could find

Feyre was rotting too, Nesta knew it and it geniunly hurt her, but still, she did nothing. Every time she realized Feyre’s pain, she felt it was too late. Every time, she considered the idea of being honest with Feyre, she recoiled, thinking her words would make no difference. Yes, Feyre would know her oldest sister was even more misserable then she tought, but it would still be her the one to come back to the woods looking for food. Every time, she took the easy way, and every time, she ended up regreting it and still doing nothing about it the next time.

Yet Clare always invited Feyre to go with them, no matter how many times she was rejected or how rude Feyre’s response came out. Clare always had a smile for her.

Clare’s happyness made Nesta’s days a little brighter, even if she was permanently sad. She tought both Elain and her how to swim, and once they mastered it, they would have diving competitions. That’s when they dared to kiss. Her sister had to count the time from the shore, and both of them woud “hold their breath under water”.

But they kissed, and that made Nesta skim true joy with her fingertips.

Almost there. She was almost there, when they pressed their lips together.

When their last autumn together came, they only thing they pressed together ere their forheads, silent tears runing down their faces. Every touch they shared in the past, a secret they would never tell.

Nesta and her sisters were forced into adulthood that year, summer gone with their lack of responsabilities. Winter coming, filled with loss.

“If I had only known” Nesta thought now, unable to sleep because of the cold of the Mountains.

They were 21 now, many years had passed, but the dynamic between Clare and her had stayed the same. They were friends. They looked at eachother with sad longing, knowing they would never get more than that.

They would talk about boys.

“I heard Tomas’ dad hits his mother” Nesta murmured. The streets were covered by orange and red leaves in addition to the usual mud.

“Yeah, I heard the same thing” Clare’s voice was raspy, her cold getting worst.

Elain and Nesta were holding hands. The three of them were walking down the street towards the market.

“But you will still marry him, right?” It was Elain, who didn’t raise her voice either, so her words were hard to catch.

“He hasn’t asked me to” Nesta repied.

She had always hated talking about boys -men, now-. She didn’t want to leave the fantasy of being welthy again so she could find someone better; maybe she could become welthy enough she didn’t even have to marry at all. But time passed, and she was being forced to put her feet back to the ground.

Would she marry him knowing her future was probably gonna be the same one Thomas’ mother was enduring now?

Yes, she would.

Because even if his family was poor, the Archeron were even poorer. Feyre had to go deeper and deeper into the forest to come back with something, and the winter was starting early this year. She felt like there wasn’t much she could do to help her, but this -marrying Tomas so her sister could rest-, this she could and would do.

“He will ask you soon, I’m sure” Clare said.

Nesta had to lean over a little to meet her eyes, since Elain was in the middle and she was slightly taller than both Clare and her.

“He might choose you, Clare, he likes you too”

“He won’t” her friend was sure. “When we meet, the only thing he does is talk about you. To be fair, you are prettier. I would say you are the most beautifull girl in the village”

Nesta’s cheeks would have gone red if it wasn’t too cold for her face to be hot.

A few weeks later, Nesta woke up to Elain shaking her. He was gonna propose to her, had finally told Clare she was not the one, and the first thing her friend had done, of course, was run to the Archeron’s house to tell her. Elain opened the door, so she and her father already knew.

“He is gonna ask you to marry him, Nesta!” Elain was euphoric. She was happy for her, because, after all, Tomas was good looking and nice. Nesta didn’t love him... she was not sure if she even liked him, but he had been polite and conformed himself with kisses from Nesta, nothing more. His kisses weren’t nearly as good as Clare’s, but she never complained. They were still good.

“Get up, Nes!” Claire was just as excited. Was she glad it wasn’t her? Was she happy for her own freedom now that she had been rejected, or was it true happiness? “Come on, dear, you have to get dressed, he could ask you any moment from now!”

Nesta obeyed and cleaned herself up. She felt pretty, that much was true. Even with her swollen face, she still recognized enough of her mother in herself as to feel like a proper lady; that helped her forget where she actually lived and who she was about to marry.

They were chatting about the imminent proposal when Feyre arrived, grumpy as always, and tried to ridiculized them for focusing in such things. If Feyre knew why she was doing it she might be nicer about it, but Nesta never got to tell her. As always, she felt it was too late now to share her feelings with Feyre, like the bond between them had vanished the moment she left for the woods and Nesta stayed in bed crying insted of going with her. If she shared her real thoughts and intentions now, Feyre would probably laugh at her, and Nesta’s heart couldn’t afford to be humilliated like that.

Nesta still wouldn’t have blamed Feyre for doing it. She understood why the proposal seemed so unimportant to her sister.

Nasta hated to talk about boys too.

But when she came back to the memory now, after her sister exiled her, she really wished she had told her, because that night their lives changed forever: Feyre was taken from them, stolen, and, again, Nesta could do nothing. The sister she knew, the one she failed to protect once, was lost forever, and the idea of Nesta that Feyre had in that moment, apparently rooted in her mind so deep, there was nothing she could do to change it now. She would live forever, and no matter what she did and how many times she sacrificed herself, Feyre’s love would never return to her.

What broke her heart -and Nesta really felt in that moment that it was shattered beyond repair- was Feyre warning her about Tomas and what his fatehr did to his wife. Feyre, who risked her life to protect them day after day, who Nesta thought hated her, would rather keep doing it for the rest of her life than let her marry the woodcutter’s son. Nesta, who was already aware of what Fayre was warning her about, would have also sacrificed the rest of her life to make it up to her youngest sister. But now, Feyre would never know.

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This chapter was inspired by Peace, which I thought martched how Nesta might have felt about Feyre by the time she was taken by Tamlin. It’s not a literal translation of the lyrics, but I don’t know, I get the same vibe. Listen to it and tell me what you think, I appreciate the feed back!!

Nesta never shared with Feyre the same sister love she had with Elain, but I think she loved Feyre just the same. I think Nesta hates to talk about her feelings, she keeps them to herself and feels like it’s too late now to tell Feyre she loves her, like it will leave her exposed, so she won’t do it just to avoid the posibility of Feyre laughing at her or even just rejecting her. “All these people think love's for show/ But I would die for you in secret/ The devil's in the details/ But you got a friend in me/ Would it be enough/ If I could never give you peace?”

I think when Nesta realized Feyre’s sacrifice (go hunting) she realized Feyre had given too much for the family to ever make it up to her and felt even worst, but still was unable to verbalize it, so regret just burned inside of her. (“Your integrity makes me seem small/ You paint dreamscapes on the wall”

#nesta archeron #nesta archeron fanfiction #nesta archeron fic #nesta archeron fanfic

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faofinn · 3 years

Text

Febuwhump Day 20 - Betrayal

Finn had taken Fao out on the first day off he'd had. He'd grabbed Toren, persuaded the cooks for a picnic, and hammered on Fao's door.

"Fao, wake up! Come on! Get up!"

Fao’s days off were rare, and he cherished the opportunity to sleep in. So when he was roused from a particularly pleasant dream, he was rather put out. Arrow, too, seemed rather disgruntled by the wake up call. It was Finn, of course it was.

“What is it, your highness?” He groaned.

"You've slept all morning, I thought you were never going to wake."

Fao rolled over, burying his face in the pillows. “This is my first day off in months!”

“And you’re going to waste it sleeping.” Finn replied. “Come on, I’ve got food.”

“Food? Door’s open.” He grumbled.

“You’ve got to come out to get it.”

“Bastard.”

“I expect you to be dressed, too.”

“Piss off.”

“Then you won’t get fed.”

Fao forced himself out of bed, padding to the door to open it. “I'm up. You can wait for me to get dressed, but you might as well sit down and wait in here.”

“Don’t be forever, will you?” He muttered, heading in and sitting down.

“It’s my day off, you don’t get to give me orders.”

“Fine. Starve, then.” Finn huffed, standing up. “I’ll leave you alone.”

“Hey, don't go.”

"I'm not here to boss you around. I thought of you as more a friend than anything. But if you don't, then that's fine. I'll see you in the morning."

“Finn! I was teasing, you daft shite. Come here, pat Arrow whilst I get dressed. He's feeling neglected.”

"No, no. It's fine."

“Finn!”

"I shouldn't have said anything, shouldn't have bothered."

Fao crossed the room to stand in front of the door, aware he was barely dressed. “Enough of the dramatics. Come on, let me just get dressed and we can do whatever it is you've got planned, including food. Because I'm starved, and I want to spend the day with you.”

Finn sighed. "Very well."

“Now go and pat the dog, eh? He's sulking.”

"He just wants the food."

“Fat git.” Fao joked. “Probably, but he'll never turn down a fuss.” He was already pulling a shirt on, conscious Finn would be frustrated if he took too long.

"He's cute though."

“And he knows it. Was cuter as a pup.”

"Weren't we all?"

“I'd imagine so.”

“He is still cute, though.” Finn muttered to Arrow. “Don’t be put off by Fao, he’s just an arse.”

“Yeah, you’ve got that right.”

“I definitely do.”

“So, what else do you have planned, kid?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes.” Finn turned. “A good one.”

“Well, you’ve got me intrigued.”

“Good.”

“You’d do it all for me?”

Finn hummed, ruffling Arrow’s fur. “I’ve done a lot of things.”

“That’s sweet of you.” Fao was nearly dressed now, and sat to pull his boots on.

“Thanks.”

“You're a good kid.” He stood up to grab his weapons, and shrug on his jacket. “Shall we go?”

“If you’re ready.”

“Absolutely. Lead the way.”

"I've already tacked up, too." Finn said proudly, walking out with Arrow at his heels.

“Oh, have you now? Did Ri take a chunk out of you in the process?”

“No.” Finn didn’t look at Fao. “Of course not.”

“No?”

"She took several." He said.

“She's a right piece of work. Drew blood?”

“No, I survived.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I don’t see why you have to have such a mare.”

“She’s endearing.”

“She’s dangerous.”

“Stops people stealing her.”

Finn snorted. “And makes everyone’s life difficult.”

“You ought to come with me and feed her. Then she'll stop biting you.”

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one."

“Well, she might bite a little less.”

"Or you could teach her manners."

“She has manners for me.”

"You don't even have manners."

Fao laughed. “Because I'm a bastard turned assassin. I was taught to use weapons, not manners.”

"Mother would disagree. "Manners are your biggest asset."" He scoffed. "I wish I'd been able to just use weapons."

“Ah, but you have a kingdom to lead some day.”

Finn raised an eyebrow as he patted Toren. "As if they'd actually let me run it."

“I’ll just kill anyone who disagrees with you.”

He laughed. “By the time they let me rule, you’ll be too old to do anything.”

“Well, that’s cruel.”

“I’m not wrong.” He said simply, swinging himself into the saddle. “Come on, we should hurry.”

Fao gathered his mare’s reins and mounted, settling into his saddle. “Right. Lead the way.”

Finn grinned, kicking Toren on. “Race you.”

Fao laughed and urged Ri forward, chasing after Finn.

Finn raced forward, Toren leaping over fallen logs and rocks. The pair were in their element, carefree and away from all the pressures of Finn’s future. He turned to grin at Fao before he urged Toren again, though the grey needed very little encouragement.

Ri was fiery as anything, and determined to keep pace with Finn’s grey. Her ears pinned back and her stride lengthened, stretching out her neck to nip at Toren. Like Fao, she’d learned to sneak to get ahead.

“Hey!” Finn shouted, though he was laughing. “If she bites him and gets kicked, then it’s on you.”

“She won’t get kicked.”

“Because Toren has manners.” He laughed. “He knows better.”

“Not like his owner, then!”

“I could have you thrown into jail for that!”

“Sure, sure.”

"I could."

“You wouldn't.”

“I might.” He said with a smirk, pulling Toren up as they entered a clearing. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Ri skidded to a stop, ears pinned back. “Is this the place?”

Finn grinned. “I brought a picnic. And there’s a stream just down there we can sit by, I found it a while back. I like to come here and sit, it’s quiet and calm, yknow?”

“Quiet and calm after that gallop.” Fao said breathlessly. “That sounds really nice.”

“You sound a bit out of shape there.”

“Ah, piss off.”

Finn laughed. “I’m not wrong.”

“You took me by surprise.”

“You took forever to get ready.”

“You know what I’m like when I’m half asleep.”

“True, true. Now, come sit? We can eat.”

Fao dismounted, patting his mare. “I'd love to.”

After tying Toren up and sneaking him a carrot, he sat on the bank of the stream. The picnic he’d packed was quite a spread and he laid it out carefully. “Help yourself.”

“This is extravagant.” Fao murmured.

“It’s a thank you.” Finn said softly. “And I thought you deserved a treat.”

“A thank you?”

Finn nodded. “For all you do.”

He stretched out. “Just doing my duty.”

“It’s more than that. I know I’m hardly easy, and you’ve been the nicest I’ve had so far.”

“Well, for all I complain, you’re a pleasure. And your family have given me so much.”

“You’re more like family now.” Finn said quietly. “A brother more than anything.”

“A brother without the airs and graces.”

“You’re lucky about that, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Oh, I'm thankful for it. There's nothing quite like being able to melt into the shadows.”

"Tell me about it. I can barely move without someone knowing my exact location."

“It's my job to know where you are.”

"You're unfortunately very good at your job."

“Hence why I'm still alive.”

Finn laughed to himself. "More than likely, hence why I'm alive."

“Well, you are turning me grey.”

"That's mother's line."

“I feel like your mother, sometimes.”

"She'd probably agree."

“I’m sure she would.”

Their peace was soon shattered. Always the way. A snap of a branch behind them had Fao on edge, hand on his sword. “Finn.” He breathed.

“It’s fine, just an animal.” Finn whispered back, though worry was etched on his face and his own hand reached for his sword.

“Take Toren and go.” Fao muttered. He was sure he could hear footsteps now, the whispered conversation of others.

"I'm not leaving you, come on. We can go together."

“Go back to the castle. Now.”

"Get on Ri and come with me." Finn hissed.

“I can’t. I can’t have them following you.”

"We'll outrun them. Come on."

“Listen for once in your life!” Fao hissed.

Finn made a quiet noise of annoyance, but mounted Toren. "Please, come on."

“I’ll catch you up.”

"Just come on. We can outrun them."

“We can’t. Not together.”

"Promise you'll catch up?"

“Always. Go.”

Toren pranced impatiently. "You sure?"

“Go!” Fao said, as he drew his sword.

He hesitated, but finally listened, kicking Toren on. "C'mon!"

For a moment, Fao watched Toren’s grey tail disappear off into the forest, before turning in the direction of the sound.

"Shame, shame, shame. You sent the crown prince away, sacrificing yourself to make you look good."

“Tomas. I should’ve known it’d be you.” Fao snarled. “You’re not wanted here.”

"Au contraire." He smirked. "I've got someone I think you'd want back."

Harrison emerged from the shadows, held tightly by two of Tomas' men. He was bloodied and bruised, barely able to stand upright. He raised his head slightly, just enough to glance at Fao before hanging it again.

“Harrison!”

“So, you two know each other, don’t you?”

“Let him go.”

“Why should I? He’s been very helpful.”

“Helpful? Harrison, what have you done…”

“My, my. Your little friend here can certainly squeal. It's amazing how persuasive I can be.”

Fao edged closer. “I said let him go. Whatever he's done, I'll make you pay for it.”

“You always did have a flare for the dramatic.”

Harrison groaned, growing heavier in the men’s arms. He struggled to right himself again, the blood rushing in his ears and spots growing in his vision. His head lolled forward and the men let go for good measure, letting him crumple to the floor.

Fao rushed forwards, careless of the men. They were ready for it, of course, and a well placed kick had Fao sprawled in the dirt. Tomas laughed.

“You really think we're that stupid? You always were thick. How does it feel, knowing who betrayed you and your precious Prince?”

Fao spat at his uncle. “He would have never.”

“And yet, here we are. Someone must have told us.”

“I'm sure you found out some other way, you fucking bastard. Fuck off and leave us alone.” He growled.

“Now, now. That temper of yours, always getting you into trouble.” Tomas scolded. “I'd hate for something bad to happen because you couldn't control yourself.”

Fao struggled to his feet. “Fuck you.”

“Yes, you were always rather fond of saying that. I thought I'd managed to beat it out of you, but it seems not.” He moved closer to his nephew, and Fao couldn't help but flinch.

“You don't own me anymore.”

“No, but I wish that I did. Such a beautiful weapon. It's a shame you're so weak. You care too much for these people. This manservant, that prince. You lose yourself as you give pieces away. A knife is no use with missing pieces.”

Angrily, Fao swung his sword, though Tomas lazily countered. “So sloppy when you're angry. You should know better.”

From the floor, Harrison stirred. His voice was rough as he managed a weak ‘Fao’, trying to tell him not to fight for him, for him to just go.

Fao knew he could fight Tomas and his men - but part of him wished Finn was there. Kid had gotten good with a sword, and he could use the help. But he didn't have him. He was safe, hopefully. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

“Alright. We'll do this properly.”

“And by properly, you mean that I win. As always.” Tomas drawled. “You may as well just give in now.”

They fought, metal on metal as Fao struggled to stay with the advantage. Especially with Tomas’ men involved, it was hard, but ironically enough his training served him well and he held his own. A well timed boot in the chest made Tomas fall back hard into a tree, and collapsed in a heap at the bottom.

Fao knew he didn't have long, and turned to the men as he rolled his sword over his wrist. “I'd run. I won't hesitate to kill you.”

That was all the encouragement they needed, with their boss incapacitated, and Fao crouched beside Harrison.

“C'mon, we've got to go.”

He forced an eye open, barely focusing on Fao. He was just going to be a burden, it was his fault they were in this mess. Fao should just go, leave him to his fate.

“Come on Harrison, let's go.”

Harrison whimpered, managing onto his elbows before collapsing back down. "'m sorry."

“Take my hands.” Fao said. “Let me help you.”

He weakly offered Fao his hands. "Should jus' leave."

Fao took them, hauling him to his feet. “I’ve got you.”

"Leave me."

“No. Come on.”

"Just a waste."

“Shut up.” Fao muttered, basically holding Harrison up and dragging him over to Ri. “We're going back to the castle and getting you cleaned up and sorted out.”

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhumpday20 #betrayal #medieval au #Fao Blackwood #Finn Daniels #Harrison #swordfight #Tomas Blackwood #whump writing #whump prompt

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wardencommanderrodimiss · 4 years

Text

Three Frat Houses AU, Chapter XX: The City College Without Light

Some of the gang have a discussion encompassing homicide, homicide attempts, plastic surgery, who is allowed to be called a resident of Faerghus, bad custody agreements and other forbidden Blaiddyd-von Hresvelg family lore, more homicide, sacrificing friends, and above all and most importantly: Garreg Mach University’s apparent new rival school.

(other Three Frat Houses lore)

----

It is 5:27 pm in the Garreg Mach University library, four hours and 39 minutes after the occurrence of an on-campus stabbing; however, exams and projects and essays remain due within the week, which Hilda, personally, thinks is bullshit. Someone got stabbed! Sure, it was the Chief of Campus Security, and it’s probably like - it’s his job to get stabbed, if anyone has to get stabbed - and Byleth texted everyone from the hospital saying that Jeralt would be fine, but still. There was an actual violent crime on campus today! As opposed to all of the nonviolent crimes that are committed every other day.

Hilda doesn’t actually have anything due this week, but most everyone else in her social circle does, so they’re here in the library, so she’s here in the library with them, spread out over their four usual tables on the second floor. And everyone’s being mostly too quiet and boring when suddenly Lysithea slams her laptop shut and says, “I knew I had heard of Shambhala College before!”

Shambhala College is an hour or two away from Hilda’s home, which is weird to think about, because that’s not really close to GMU, but some lunatic e-girl named Kronya drove all the way from Shambhala College to GMU to try and fight a girl named Monica who apparently is in Caspar and Dorothea’s Early Modern Literature class. And then Jeralt had gotten in the middle of it because that’s his job, and then he got stabbed, and Miss Kronya Whatshername, Hilda doesn’t know because that’s not on Kronya’s twitter account which Hilda found three hours ago, got arrested. And then Jeralt went to the hospital and Byleth went with him, and now the rest of them are here, just hanging out in the library like nothing happened even though something big happened.

“When did you hear about it?” Sylvain asks.

“One of my cousins got murdered by someone who went there,” Lysithea says.

“Oh,” Sylvain says.

“So is it a requirement to be homicidal to attend Shambhala?” asks Linhardt, who has no tact in the best of times and this is not a good time.

“Two people is a very small sample size,” Lysithea reminds him. “We can’t actually know until we have more data.”

“Well,” says Tomas, the very old librarian who has been here since some of their parents attended GMU, and who often finds them all having very very strange conversations like this when he passes by to check on them and probably make sure that no one is doing any nonviolent crimes. “My twin brother works at Shambhala College, and one oculd very generously call him ‘homicidal’.”

“What’s the non-generous thing to call him, then?” Ferdinand asks.

“Then that’s three for three,” Linhardt says.

“Hey, El,” Dimitri says, hooking his arm over the back of his chair and twisting around to catch Edelgard’s eye. “Doesn’t Cornelia work at Shambhala College?”

“You aren’t saying that to refute Linhardt’s hypothesis, are you?” Edelgard asks. “Cornelia is absolutely homicidal.”

“What?” Dimitri asks. “No, she isn’t. Why would you say that she is?”

“You’ve met her,” Edelgard says. “How can you think she isn’t homicidal? Or at least inclined towards homicidal tendencies.”

“I don’t know,” Sylvain says loudly, “maybe we grew up in a country where every generation older than ours was made neurotic by living through a plague, and Cornelia helped put an end to the plague, so we’re more inclined to be charitable toward her than you might be.”

“You say that like I have not also lived in Fhirdiad and lived among your neurotic neighbors,” Edelgard says.

“I thought people from Faerghus are neurotic because you only get three hours of sunlight for half of the year,” Linhardt says.

“No, that is why people from Faerghus are all depressed,” Dedue says. “The neuroses are different.”

“Don’t you need to sit underneath sun lamps, like you’re plants or something, to not get seasonal depression in the winter?” Hilda asks.

“Yes,” Dimitri says, “and that leaves us with only the year-round major depression instead.”

“Plus,” Sylvain adds, “Cornelia’s still hot, too, so that’s another point in her favor.”

Dimitri places his face in his textbook.

“She’s not—” Edelgard rubs her eyes. “Her breasts defy gravity! They’re probably made out of metal at that point to hold them that far up! That’s weird, not attractive!”

“Edie,” Dorothea says, “just because someone’s had a lot of work done, doesn’t mean they’re homicidal.”

“I wasn’t saying that,” Edelgard protests. “It’s not - I’m not saying it’s a one-to-one. What I’m saying is that there are a lot of very odd things about Cornelia, including the fact that she’s probably homicidal, and one of those odd things is that she’s had enough work done that her breasts look like torpedoes.”

“Torpedoes?” Sylvain repeats. “Definitely more like grapefruit.”

“The textural consistency of a torpedo, I would imagine,” Edelgard says.

“Explosive?” Sylvain asks.

“Please stop this,” Dimitri says, voice muffled as his face remains in his textbook.

“Have you met her, by chance?” Edelgard asks Sylvain, ignoring her stepbrother’s distress. “You must know the kind of clothing she wears. Absolutely no support, but they don’t move, at all. That is not - that is not how that works. The physics.”

“Are we still going to come back to the argument about homicidal tendencies,” Linhardt asks, “or are we firmly in some other territory now?”

“Sylvain,” Ingrid says warningly, surprising Hilda, who thought that Ingrid was not listening because as soon as Sylvain speaks, Ingrid becomes very good at not listening. “If you say anything about the word ‘firm’, someone is going to find you dead on the sidewalk tomorrow morning.”

“I didn’t even think of it!” Sylvain protests. Hilda thinks this is probably a lie. The expressions of most everyone around say that they think it is a lie. “But hey, you did think of it, good for you!”

“I thought of it because I’ve spent too much time around you trying to preempt what stupid shit you’re going to say, motherfucker!”

Dorothea giggles and Hilda snickers and even Dedue presses his lips tightly together like he’s trying to hold back a smile.

“I guess we’re undecided on Cornelia’s homicidal tendencies,” Lysithea says. She draws a three-column chart on the next page in her notebook. “That’s three for ‘yes, homicidal urges’, one unknown, and zero ‘no’. Does anyone else know anyone who attends or works at Shambhala College?”

“I think we could find out about Cornelia,” Sylvain says, “if she has homicidal tendencies, by having Edelgard go ask her if her tits are made of metal and see how she responds.” Edelgard flings a pen in his direction but it just hits Dimitri’s back and falls to the floor. “Actually I’m gonna ask the Lions group chat for opinions.”

Hilda pushes herself up off the chair to try and see what Sylvain is typing, but Dedue nudges her arm and shows her his phone, open to a Blue Lions House text chat, where a message has just popped up:

hey help settle an argument w the beagles, is cornelia a murderer or would murder someone and are her boobs made of metal

“Why not just poll everyone?” Edelgard asks. “Why just your frat?”

“People who’ve lived in Faerghus should have the most input on this,” Sylvain says.

“I’ve lived in Faerghus,” Edelgard retorts. “I went to your high school!”

“Yeah, but only for two years.”

“How many years are Faerghus high schools, again?” Dorothea asks. “Three or four?”

“Four,” Edelgard says.

“And she was only there for alternating years, so that’s only two years of—”

“Of high school! And several years of middle school, as well! And Cornelia herself was originally from Adrestia!”

Dedue’s phone buzzes and he shows Hilda the screen again.

Felix: -yes and -what the fuck kind of argument are u having

“Alternating your years of schooling at one school and then some other seems like a wildly disruptive way to get an education,” Linhardt says.

“Shockingly,” Edelgard says, sounding the least shocked a person could ever sound, “it was. But that was the custody agreement, because my parents are consummate politicians, and apparently going back and forth between Fhirdiad and Enbarr for weekends was too far to travel all the time.”

“It is very far,” Linhardt says.

“Except the alternative was going to high school with Sylvain for a year,” Dimitri says.

“Wow, okay,” Sylvain says. “Also Felix says yeah, Cornelia is probably homicidal.”

“Said a bit more than that,” Hilda mutters, and Dedue snorts.

“Why would he agree?” Ingrid demands.

“Why are we talking about this, again?” Dorothea asks.

“Shambhala,” Lysithea says.

“Right,” Dorothea says, still sounding a bit confused, but this is the point where everybody starts getting confused. It’s a good thing Hilda doesn’t actually have any work to get done; she would be having a lot of trouble trying to concentrate through this. Like Ferdinand, who is going on an intense face journey. And Ingrid, who has closed her laptop and has her head in her hands.

Annette: -uhhh no???? probably not?????? -like my dad says she’s okay i think?? -i mean he’s not said anything BAD about her

Mercedes: -yes to both

Annette: -what do you know that i don’t????? -tell me ur secrets mercie??

“Annette says ‘no’ as well,” Sylvain says. “To - to just I think the homicidal question? And Mercedes - woah, okay, Mercedes says yes to both?”

Ashe: -guys what the fuck

“So that’s three ‘yes’ votes from Felix, Edelgard, and Mercedes,” Sylvain says, “about the homicide thing. And then ‘no’ from myself, Dimitri, Annette - Ingrid, what are your thoughts?”

“Of course she isn’t, and also you should just shut the fuck up.”

“Four ‘no’ votes,” Sylvain says, smoothly moving past the rest of Ingrid’s statement, “and a ‘no comment’ from Ashe. Dedue, what’s your opinion?”

“No comment,” Dedue says.

“Okay, thought so,” Sylvain says. “Lysithea, you can put Cornelia in the ‘no’ column.”

“This is an intensely unscientific process for determining her tendencies,” Linhardt says. “Lysithea, please leave her name as an ‘unknown’ entity.”

“It was always going to be wildly unscientific,” Lysithea says. “We only have Tomas’ word to go on, as well, for the people on this list who haven’t been arrested for violent crimes.” She leaves Cornelia’s name written in the central column. “Which is now half of the people on this list, though the entire list is also only four people.”

The list, as it is, reads:

-guy who murdered my cousin -girl who stabbed Jeralt -Tomas’ twin brother -Cornelia

“We still need a bigger sample size,” Linhardt says. “We could trawl some arrest records, or the Shamala College newspaper, but all of that sounds like far too much effort for this exercise. Does anyone else know anyone from Shambhala College, or do we just call it here?”

Dimitri, attempting to drink from his water bottle, suddenly starts choking. Ingrid hits him hard on the back, and sounding like he’s dying, Dimitri gasps out, “El, doesn’t—”

“Oh,” Edelgard says, blanching. “Oh no, you’re right. You don’t think he’s—”

Dimitri makes a wheezing sound that sounds like the way a flat-faced bulldog forced to run a marathon would sound, and then he says, “He is, without question.”

“Ugh,” Edelgard says. “I hate that you’re right.”

“Could either of you please elaborate with at least one complete thought for the rest of us?” Linhardt asks.

“Our uncle,” Edelgard says. “Uncle Arundel. He works at - or is on the board of trustees or something? - at Shambhala. Board of directors? Something like that.”

“There is a very large different between actually working,” Dorothea says, “and holding a position like that.”

“Semantics of useless rich people padding their pockets from our tuition aside,” Linhardt says, “am I to conclude from your - I can’t quite call it a conversation - your communication, with Dimitri, that your uncle has homicidal tendencies?”

Dimitri and Edelgard open their mouths to respond at the same time, but neither of them get past the inhale before they, and any other muted chatter in their vicinity, are silenced by a long, low chuckle. All eyes turn to Hubert, who Hilda was sure wasn’t paying any of them any attention, but she also should have expected, because Hubert is always paying attention.

“I take it you have an opinion, then?” Ferdinand asks, reaching for the paper cup of tea he got at the library cafe an hour ago. He picks it up, takes a sip, and then his expression contorts into a mixture of disgust and horror. “That was not my tea,” he says, setting it back down, speaking in a way that sounds like he’s trying to remain calm while also trying to avoid having his tongue touch any other part of his mouth. “That was your coffee. Okay.” He stands and makes a hasty retreat to the water fountain along the wall.

“To say that Arundel has homicidal tendencies is woefully behind the times.” Hubert picks up his coffee and drinks it with an unchanging expression as though Ferdinand did not just flee in horror at the slightest taste of it. “Arundel has legitimately murdered at least two people, and that, I fear, may also be woefully out-of-date as well, given it is information I acquired over a decade ago.”

“I’m sorry, are you joking?” Edelgard asks.

“I never joke,” Hubert says. Hilda agrees with that statement; the only joke Hubert has ever made is the unfunny joke of requiring some poor underpaid baristas to put together the crimes against the goddess that Hubert calls his coffee orders. Which, actually, if Hilda recalls correctly, Leonie is on shift at the library cafe right now. Poor Leonie. She says that at least Hubert tips well, but that’s probably only because it’s his father’s money and he spends it like he’s trying to bankrupt the man because he probably is actually trying to bankrupt the man.

“So,” Ferdinand says, returning to his seat, and glaring daggers at Hubert’s coffee cup, “please do explain why you have been investigating Edelgard’s uncle for murder since you were a child. And why, if you found evidence of such murders, have you not yet done something about it?”

“I have been investigating,” Hubert says, with the patient tone of someone explaining something to a person they think is an idiot, which is how Hubert explains everything to everyone, “but I have no evidence, and I am only aware of his crimes because he told me.”

“Why would he tell you?” Dimitri demands. “I have little love for the man, either, but that is absurd to say!”

“I believe, if he was not lying,” Hubert says, “which if I would expect anyone to lie and say they have committed murder when they have not, he would be high on my list - if he was not lying, then I expect he told me because he was well aware of my hatred of him, and expected that were I to ever find any evidence that he had not carefully hid, then no one would believe me, due to my aforementioned predisposition against him.”

“Yeah, but a decade ago you were like, ten,” Sylvain says. “Why was Edelgard’s uncle beefing with a ten-year-old?”

“He was a very devious ten-year-old, mind,” Ferdinand says.

“Yeah, but he was ten,” Sylvain says. “Who does that? I mean, I guess I’ve been there.” He pauses. “Been the ten-year-old who an actual adult has beef with, I mean. I have not been beefing with any actual children, because I’m not a mature adult but I at least deal with my problems in a more mature way than some people and I just bottle them up until I die, instead.”

There is a very long silence, and then Sylvain adds, “Yeah, Dimitri, you’re right about the sun lamps, they only help with the winter. Anyway, Hubert, sorry for interrupting, please continue, I’m interested to hear this.”

After a pause of several seconds, presumably during which he is evaluating Sylvain’s outburst and extracting any useful information from it, Hubert says, “I presume the initial source of his ire was that I called him a bitch.”

(Hilda is pretty sure she has all the useful information she needs about Sylvain, from that one time she and Marianne were over at the Lions and Sylvain walked into the room, staring at his phone, and without bothering to look up and see if they had guests, said, “Hey guys my dumb fucking brother got arrested for assault and larceny again.”)

“Hubert,” Edelgard sighs.

“Why did you do that?” Dimitri asks. “I’m not disputing that he is, but nonetheless…”

“In truth, I do not recall what prompted me to say such,” Hubert says.

“So in summary, he confessed to murder, to you, because he hates you, because you hate him and once called him a bitch, for reasons that you cannot even remember,” Ferdinand says. “That is so unbelievable as to be completely believable.”

“Ferdie, that doesn’t make any sense,” Dorothea says.

“It would if you knew our uncle,” Edelgard says.

In the first column of her chart, Lysithea writes Edelgard & Dimitri’s uncle. Hilda is very impressed with how well she can freehand an ampersand.

“Shambhala really is starting to seem more and more like a haven for…” Linhardt pauses. “People who could consider homicide. Or people who have actually done homicide, or would do homicide. Homicidal people. Homicide-rs? What is the word—?”

“Murderers,” Hubert says. “Is the word you are looking for not simply ‘murderers’?”

“That doesn’t encompass people who would absolutely commit a murder but just haven’t had the right opportunity yet,” Linhardt says.

“How many people, were they given the implements of doing so and an assurance that they would be able to get away with it, do not have at least one person they would not hesitate to kill?” Hubert asks.

“I would at least hesitate,” Dimitri says.

“Hubert, when you say things like that, it makes me worry that you have a hit list,” Ferdinand says.

“So, like,” Hilda says, “totally off-topic, but you know that ‘if your roommate dies, you get all As for the semester’ thing? Is that actually true? Is that a legit thing?”

“I don’t think that’s off-topic at all, actually,” Hubert says.

“I am rather glad that we no longer live in the same apartment,” Dedue says.

“And even if that was true, how would that work for a frat house?” Sylvain asks. “You have a bunch of roommates in a frat house.”

“We would kill you if it came to it,” Ingrid says to him.

“Yeah, we discussed it once among the Deer,” Hilda says. “That’s why I asked.”

“I’m rather curious, unfortunately,” Edelgard says. “Who would be your sacrifice?”

“We decided we’d lock Claude and Lorenz in the basement without food or water,” Lysithea explains, “and tell them that one of them could only come out if the other was dead. And then we would wait.”

“That’s... a rather detailed scenario,” Edelgard says.

“Brutal,” Hubert agrees. “I like it. Though you do know that Claude would without a doubt win, do you not?”

“You do know that if we were to do that, it would be you and Ferdie who we put in the deathmatch,” Dorothea says.

“And it is awfully bold of you to assume that, were we betrayed in such a manner, we would not strike up an alliance to enact vengeance back on the rest of you.”

“Wait, hang on,” Ferdinand says.

“Lysithea, please make a new chart,” Linhardt says. “As it turns out we, not Shambhala College, were the real haven for would-be murderers all along.”

“Make your own chart,” Lysithea says. “I have a test tomorrow.”

“Why did you indulge us with the first chart, then, if you should be studying?” Linhardt asks.

“I didn’t think it would lead to this much of a mess,” Lysithea says.

“Well, that was foolish,” Linhardt says. “When does it not?”

#this is 3k of 'yes and--' comedy and i just have to hope that it's actually funny #roddy fanfics: fe3h #three frat houses au #also i went to the wiki to check something and discovered that i've been forgetting the H in 'shambhala' all this time #i remembered that dimitri has the extra i and in exchange sacrificed the H from shambhala #i Cannot fucking spell

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worksofjpa · 4 years

Text

Lost Parcel

Original story by Jessica Paola L. Arrogante

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Local time is 5:45 in the evening. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign.

On behalf of EgyptAir Nile Airline and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you onboard soon. Have a nice evening!”

City lights, traffic jams, the familiar breeze of the warm air invading my whole system as the adjustment of the environment is settling in, oh the smell of Manila just reminds me of all the possible unfavorable circumstances I have experienced. The dreadful case from my former school was the last worst case I could recall and it's traumatizing.

"Where should we go, ma'am?" that question from the uber driver snaps me to reality.

I have not told my siblings about my arrival since this won't take long and I have to go back to Cairo to accomplish my unfinished business.

"To the nearest hotel please", exhaustion was evident on my voice brought by a 12-hour trip from Egypt, jetlag they may say but it is an understatement, my mind has been corrupted these past few days and the only thing that could bear away this drained and drowsy I am feeling is to know the reason why I was sent here.

*buzz* *buzz* *buzz*

A text from Anne triggered the sleeping sirens within me, a piece of information about the case of my colleague, Patrick. Tomorrow morning would be the start of the investigation.

*ring* *ring*

"V., finally, I'm going home!" Patrick squealed in between sobs, I know he's been longing to go back home but I sense something off.

"Finally, when are you coming back" I added sarcasm and a bit giggle as I delivered that line. But I received nothing.

"Pat? Still there?" the line went shaky and then dropped off. After that suspicious call, I haven't heard a word from Patrick.

"V., you are the last person I know who can carry this thing out, you should get something out of your system, you've been stuck here for years trying to evade the reality by publishing your out-of-this-world stories and fantasizing them, get your act together, V.".

Of all people, why should it have to be me? To set foot in Santo Tomas? I can't even contain the ambiance of this ill-fated town, but here I am.

I lit up my cigar to lessen the indignation I feel observing the place I grew up with but something or should I say, someone is looking and I can feel he is coming in my direction.

"Hey, what's that thing in your head? It's freaking me out", with an innocent look from about seven-year-old typical stray kid wearing soiled sleeveless undershirt you could see in street roaming around looking for someplace to hang out with.

"A what?" with confusion in my tone I nudged obfuscated to what he was saying and when I felt nothing and was about to utter a word showing annoyance since I never had the experience dealing with children almost half of my life but the kid was gone.

I looked all over the place, into the plaza, into the market but the kid is nowhere to be seen, okay that's my last straw.

I don't know where I'm heading at but I just let my feet wander, and I ended up here, the place where my childhood memories built, the memories I did not intend to recall but it feels like they have their own ways of doing so, they are the like the waves in the ocean eagerly want to get in the shore.

"You know what, this oak tree was planted by a farmer. He passed away while waiting for this to grow up, as much as he was waiting for his first love to come back until he took his own life, he hung himself here and they believe that this place is hunted." I saw the horror on his face as he weaved his god-awful story, like who would believe such a rib-tickling tale, but I didn't want to spoil his story so I joined the ride.

"Why did he do that, why kill yourself over a petty thing--" but as I uttered those words a cold wind caress my left cheek from I-don't-know-where-it-come-from, and I heard small voices but not that clear.

"Phil, what were you saying? Make it louder, and why are you up there, get down here, it's dangerous you might get fall", it feels odd that Phil's voice was not that hoarse as far as I can remember, I’ve known Phil since time immemorial, he is my best buddy and I know every inch of him so it feels odd.

It's passed six and papa always reminds us to be home for various lost evil spirits are wandering around, and I can see him on my peripheral vision.

"Valentine! Come home!" there he goes again but the surrounding transformed into a different scenery, the wind was so strong that you could hear the river whistling, just a moment ago the atmosphere was fine. I can't see my father either. So, I ran as fast as I could, that I felt someone or some people, was the best description, were following me.

Soldiers? A bunch of armies? Army tanks? What in the world is happening?! I cannot distinguish what nationalities they were but based on their actions they appeared to declare war. A war that I only see in books and movies.

I can't find my father, for Pete's sake, can someone explain to me what the hell is happening?! I can't absorb the situation I am in.

It was as if everything went into slow motion. The rage of the soldiers was obvious on their faces, their hunger for freedom that led them to rebellion. Behind the soldiers were the katipuneros with their swords like what my teachers lectured us on our class, but isn't it contradicting? It was written in history that even Filipino soldiers were on the side of the colonizers, they were left with no choice but to obey and carry out what was ordered them to do even if it costs their lives or fight against their fellow countrymen.

"These were not written on history. The events you are witnessing are the real events that happened during the colonization period. Filipino soldiers tried their hardest and their might to fight against these greedy invaders" I could hardly digest this huge revelation, I even forgot that my father was waiting on the end of the river as I was reminded not to dawdle for you never know what will happen during your stay in this hunted place. But the hoarse voices I heard were not a hallucination.

A lot of questions kept popping on my mind; 'what is happening', 'where am I',

"Who are you" were the only words that came out of my mouth.

It took him a while before he responds, "A farmer who wanted freedom but failed to obtain due to despair and cowardice. I was one of them, I got tired fighting and conceded." He was a hero, but what happened?

"I was never a hero. If I tell you what happened before my death you would not like it, I do not want to rain on someone's parade. Ask your father, he was at the end of the battlefield, and if you want to know what happened during the war, the ball is on your court. And I want you to change what was written on the history, remember kid, a little learning is a dangerous thing."

"Valentine!" a clamor caught my attention.

"Valentine!" I looked over, the voice was familiar, and it was papa, in haste, catching his breath.

"Valentine, you must get out of here!" I cannot breathe, what I am seeing is too heavy to absorb and the sound of the tanks, screams of the fighters are unbearable that my heart cannot take it, and everything went black.

"Hey, are you alright?" I still feel dizzy like a bomb just exploded leaving debris I can't discern, I don't know what I should pick first.

"It was nice seeing you here, Valentine. This time I know you can make this through, rewrite the history" the kid behaved strangely, don't tell me---

"Yes, it's me, Valentine. How have you been? Patrick has been waiting on you on the riverbank."

"Patrick? He's dead! Who the hell are you?!" I burst into tears because I don't know what is happening, I felt lost and betrayed.

Papa died after the incident, he died due to cardiac arrest the doctor concluded, but I can clearly remember how this old man took the life of my father, he took his life in exchange of my freedom. And after the traumatic events, we decided to move out of this town and started a new life in Manila trying to remove the memories I had on this cursed town. I didn't know I would come back here and it felt like the memories returned as if it was just yesterday, but I will not give in whatever happens.

"V., if whatever happens, never go to the oak tree, the hunted oak tree, and the mysterious river, it's an illusion. Fight for your life at all costs, even if I'm not with you anymore. If someone offers you to do something strange, please decline it, even if they give you proofs that are uncanny, those things are insane, runaway and never come back, please V.," the serious tone of his voice sent shiver down to my spine, my father always pops in my dreams even if it's been years since he passed away but the fate took turns and I made it here.

"V.! Why are you here?!" I can hear Patrick's voice but my mind is too preoccupied thinking of ways how to get out of here, but he grabbed my arm and made me look into his eyes as he narrates things that could fill in the missing puzzles I longed for years.

"V., you should not be here, I was fooled by the old man, V., when my family moved here in Santo Tomas, I had the same experience as what you had, my father was also taken by evil spirits, lunatic katipuneros who went crazy due to oppression of the colonizers, they were depressed because they lost their loved ones while fighting, so they want other people to fight for them, even it's been years and years they cannot accept the fact that they lost. I went back here because they kept asking on my dreams to rewrite the history, that the Philippines won, if not, they will take my family's life and even yours. V., we've sacrificed our lives please do not let this be thrown. Get your shit out of here, leave, now!" the echo of Patrick's voice was the last thing I heard before my feet led the way out of the area even if I heard the old man's voice pleading.

After what happened, no one ever steps on that place again. I went back to Cairo, together with my family. Patrick once visited me on my dreams, he said I did the right thing, he was beyond happy because I was able to face the fear I clinched for so many years.

Peace sometimes would cost an arm and a leg, you have to earn to get it even if it takes your whole being. Being courageous enough to handle your fears is one step ahead in achieving peace, you cannot truly find yourself if you keep hiding in a box full of false memories and the idea of evading them would not satisfy the longing you have to things you once had. I had an excellent life but I was afraid to have it back so I shifted my path, I chose the road where many people traveled by. The negativity has corrupted my mind, but as soon as I was awakened I figured it out that optimism is the foundation in pursuit of a better version of yourself. And all those experiences, made me realized that the more you fear, the more it gets real. And King Melchizedek was right, he said: "When you want something, the world conspires in helping you to achieve it."

#short story

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isuzukuretsuki · 4 years

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any or all of kuroyuki, kokichi, scarlet :))

you know I gotta do all of them wwww

this has been sitting in my drafts for way too long but better late than never…!!

send me a character and i’ll list:

KUROYUKI

favorite thing about them: I love how passionate he is and how he’ll do anything and everything to make Enju happy like… he’s pretty misguided but his heart is always in the right place ;;;n;;;;. There’s also the fact that he’s been through so much and desperately clings to the hope that he can still be happy even though he thinks he doesn’t deserve it (spoiler: HE DOEESSS). His redemption arc was *clutches heart* so good.

least favorite thing about them: Nothing. I love everything about him. Okay, jokes aside, probably the fact that he tried to kill Gekkamaru in his route… that wasn’t cool.

favorite line:

best boy standing up to worst dad gives me life

brOTP: Gekkamaru!!! Their brotherly relationship is so sweet.

OTP: Enju ofc they have everything I look for in a ship: angst, suffering, and pain.

nOTP: Don’t really have one

random headcanon: Kuroyuki stops using his ninjutsu but he still has trouble retaining his memory so he and Enju start exchanging letters just so they can write down everything so if Kuroyuki forgets he can just read it.

unpopular opinion: 1. pls stop comparing him to Toma. 2. He isn’t really a yandere… I mean he kind of is but there’s so much more to his character than just a cardboard cut out trope and his good writing deserves to be recognized and appreciated.

song i associate with them: none because I almost never associate songs with characters…. I’m the last person you’d ever want to ask make a character playlist.

favorite picture of them:

smug gremlin bastard…. i love him….

KOKICHI

favorite thing about them: EVERYTHING I LOVE THIS SWEET GREMLIN CHILD SO MUCH I WOULD DIE FOR HIM. I think my most favourite thing is how he essentially sacrificed everything there was to him to try and save everyone, even when he knew he would die as someone who was hated, forgotten, and villainized by the very people he tried to save… and that was exactly what happened. God just typing this makes me wanna cry.

least favorite thing about them: The stunt he pulled in the fourth trial was not cool.

favorite line:

Thank you, danganronpa wikipedia

brOTP: I bicycle ship Kokichi with evERYONE. I love Kokichi/Kaito and Kokichi/Maki and Kokichi/Kaede a lot… honestly, Kokichi shoulda been included in v3′s main trio smh he has such good chemistry with all the characters.

OTP: Ouma x Himiko (oumeno?? is that their ship name???). I blame fanartists, the fanart for this ship is the cutest thing to ever exist.

nOTP: Not really an notp but don’t kill me Saiouma (is that their ship name??? I think it is???) is a hard pass from me. Used to be my otp when I fresh finished the game but it fell so fast from so high… mainly bc I simply don’t like Saihara and the more I think about how the game replaced Kaede with him, the more it pisses me off.

random headcanon: Move over Miu, Kokichi is the true king of inventions/electronics. I head canon he’s really good at creating gadgets and all the toys in his lab are imitations of stuff he’s hand crafted in the past.

unpopular opinion: I bicycle ship Kokichi with everyone, including the girls. I see a lot of Kokichi fans be like “Saiouma or bust” but well… if people are pressed bc of who I ship this gremlin child with then they can marinate in their salt alone.

song i associate with them: I remember going through “danganronpa character theme songs” videos and this was the one for Kokichi and out of all the songs I listened to, that was like one of the two songs I liked enough to be memorable.

favorite picture of them:

he looks like a kicked puppy… how can you not love him

SCARLET

favorite thing about them: How much he cares about his family and how he tries to shoulder their burdens and willingly suffers the consequences of their mistakes (EVEN IF THEY WEREN’T ACTUALLY THEIR MISTAKES)

least favorite thing about them: The fact that he doesn’t get a proper romantic ending, thanks game.

favorite line: none because this entire game’s experience was a blur and I can’t remember one distinct piece of dialogue

brOTP: Hamelin

OTP: Fuka…. they’re so cute together

nOTP: Don’t really have one

random headcanon: His red hood was given to him by Hamelin; Hamelin thought the hood was really girly looking and gave it to him as a joke gift to tease him but Scarlet ended up looking really good in it and then just started wearing it as a staple to his outfit

unpopular opinion: He’s the best/second best character in the game

song i associate with them: none because I don’t associate characters with songs jbehaktjae

favorite picture of them:

small smiling boi under a beautiful, romantic starry sky + one gigantic hunting rifle will never not be funny.

#queen-of-bel #ask #sorry its so late!!!

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