#this girl who has been fighting for her entire life succumbs to a fate she saw as inevitable when all she wanted was some fucking Peace

[spacedlexi]

people will say clem should have died at the end of s4 like we didnt get the entire barn sequence. like clem didnt literally become lee in the end seeing his fate through her own eyes. like they didnt fake us out sooooo hard. like they didnt play take us back to hammer it home. the game ended on the pan out of the ericson gates and everything after that is the epilogue where things are Fine Actually and clem gets her happy ending. we got BOTH!!

like what you wanted her fate to be the same as lees? did you miss the themes throughout s4 of breaking the cycle?? did you miss aj feeling so helpless to a fate clem sees as inevitable? where all he wants is agency? where hes looking for another way?? he tells clem she wont always be able to tell him no and he was RIGHT!! he says NO to her death!! he makes his choice and SAVES HER!! she told him they couldnt be together in death and so he said then youll have to keep living!!!

and she does!!! she loses her leg but she gains a Home. a REAL ONE!! full of people who love her. where they get to choose their own paths and make their own future Together. and she finally gets some fucking Rest. a part of herself dies in that barn but a new part gets to emerge!! she gets to live a happy life surrounded by a loving community that she helps build!!! and you think she shouldve died 😐

#aj mvp for Real #the themes bro the themes..... #aj looks clems doomed narrative dead in the eyes and says NO!!! #and i love him for it :')!!!! #s4 u understood the assignment literally the best ending i couldve asked for #like why would u want her to die 😭 whats the message there?? its BOOOORING #this girl who has been fighting for her entire life succumbs to a fate she saw as inevitable when all she wanted was some fucking Peace #Groundbreaking 🙄 #her thinking its all over and its finally come down to what shes been running from. accepting her fate. but being told NO #youre gonna LIVE DAMMIT #clem having to let lee go and fight and survive on her own #aj refusing to let her go and in turn saving her life #SILLY IM SO SILLY clementine you are EVERYTHING #clem the most doomed character of all time. lives anyway. love that for her #twdg #the walking dead game #it speaks

[lefemmerougewriter]

My Cleopatra in Space Fics Master List

In this post, I'd like to note the six Cleopatra in Space fics I've written to date, and leave it open in the event that I write more.

****

All of these fics, currently, are within my "An Unlikely Alliance Against Evildoers" series (the master list for that is here), and comprise 6 of 30 fics within the entire series! For short, I will be calling it "An Unlikely Alliance".

In Part 25 of An Unlikely Alliance, an inter-dimensional tear causes an armada of Gem warships, prepared to invade an alternative Earth with a technologically advanced civilization, to be transported thousands of years in the future to the strange and little-known Nile Galaxy. This accidental warp through space and time, will lead to conflicts between the immortal villain, Octavian, the forces of P.Y.R.A.M.I.D., and the Gem armada. As characters enter the stage, they will be forced to make decisions which will determine the future of the Nile Galaxy and the entire universe, as the fabric of space-time hangs in the balance. [AO3 Link]

In Part 26 of An Unlikely Alliance, Cleo is shaken by the events of the previous night, when she fainted in Callie's room, with Callie giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, meaning that their lips touched. Callie, wanting Cleo to acknowledge her feelings, attempts to talk to her, and Cleo accidentally says that she wants to kiss Callie, despite her annoyance with this "mean girl" who has her own posse at P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. [AO3 Link]

In Part 27 of An Unlikely Alliance, P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. is under attack from a traitorous Khepra, in the employ of the villainous Octavian, while Admiral Jack plans to invade the planet of Mayet, and Cleo struggles to ground herself in the new reality, dealing with a flirty Callie. The fate of Mayet and the Nile Galaxy hang in the balance. Cleo, her friends, the Off Colors, and the Crystal Gems face their greatest challenge yet, facing the wrath of Admiral Jack, hostile Gem warriors, Octavian, and Xerxs led by Khepra. Can the heroes save the day, or will they succumb to the forces of evil? [AO3 Link]

In Part 28 of An Unlikely Alliance, with the unexpected departure of the Gem fleet due to the designs of the hacker Peridots who want to overthrow the Diamond Authority, the fight remains on the planet’s surface. The forces of evil make their way inside the city’s shields, setting the stage for a tense encounter between Cleo and Octavian. Will she take his offer, or will she retreat to fight another day? Mayet is still on edge, as Octavian forces a confrontation with Octavian and the Gem army continues their invasion of the planet to make it another colony of the Diamonds. How will the heroes defeat these villains? And…will the relationship between Cleo and Callie be repaired? [AO3 Link]

In Part 29 of An Unlikely Alliance, it has been one monthsince the glorious victory over the evil tyrant, Octavian. The ship of Captain Lars, and the Off Colors, has been repaired, the Gem Army has been sent back to Homeworld, and the P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. scientists are working to return Jack to his home, so he can fight Aku. In the midst of this, Cleo feels she has a lack of purpose in life, even as she is having a great time dating her friend, Akila, who has lost interest in Brian. Khensu, now heading the P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. council, after the arrest of Kek and Khepra for their traitorous acts, gives her a choice: stay on Mayet with her friends or travel to Earth as an ambassador, where she can start anew and have new experiences. At the same time that she accepts Khensu's offer, three others (Pearl, Adora, and Catra) decide to stay behind. When she arrives on Earth, the friendship between herself and Connie continues to grow, with hints of the connection between them growing into much more in the future. [AO3 Link]

In Part 30 of An Unlikely Alliance, Callie continues to have an unrequited crush on Cleo, while Cleo's relationship with Callie grows over time. [AO3 Link]

#cleopatra in space #cpis fics #callipatra #samurai jack #steven universe #ao3 fic #an unlikely alliance against evildoers #lgbtq #lesbians

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

look i didn’t want to be a sour kid

god, it's brutal out here: and percy jackson knows what that means. scars on his body like pulled threads. calluses on his palms from pens that turn into swords, coins that turn into weapons, hands that curl into fists. walking home after an annoying day at school and having to fight the troll on the bridge. you must give me something in order to pass my territory. he gives it death. it gives him another shirt to wash blood stains out of. gods with too much arrogance giving him quests with too little return policy. body that doesn't want to cooperate after he blows up a mountain. body that wants to move too fast when he needs to follow a plan. heart that gets broken and rebuilt with different materials every day. god it’s brutal out here: and percy jackson knows it’s brutal in here too.

traitor: and percy jackson has never felt a word more like a branding in his entire life. he thinks back to the summer he turned thirteen and he sees scorpion tails flashing behind his eyelids. and he sees blonde hair and sometimes he can't differentiate between her and him and them and him. and he sees a scar and he wonders if the cut was deep enough to lose goodness. and he thinks maybe he wouldn’t have minded so much if someone had just told him what was going on. and that makes him a traitor too. and he sees it now, how easily he would succumb to the scorpion tail. how he would welcome the bliss of losing his goodness. who’s to say it’s true goodness anyway? and he remembers the red curls and the summer of beach walks and glass houses and the look of betrayal when plastic hairbrush meets yankees cap. is he a traitor then? to his own feelings? surely not. must be. neither of them liked it. he liked them. traitor, but to who? and remembers the day he left a girl on an island and promised to help her and couldn’t in the end. he remembers eyes of fire at his incompetence. and he is a betrayer. but only to others. traitor: and percy jackson thinks he’s never really betrayed anyone but himself.

got my driver’s license: and percy jackson is growing up so fast his limbs can't keep up. one leg is slightly longer than the other and it makes him clumsy. his left hand is bigger than his right and he uses it to punch. he flies a pegasus for the first time and he understands why mortals are always so angry. they will never know this unbridled freedom. and he gets kissed by a girl and he thinks his skin understands the heat of the sun. and his hair becomes curls instead of waves and he has to clip it> push it> tie it back because it keeps getting in his eyes. and his mom asks him if he wants “blue cake this year?” and he has to tell her he’ll never be too old for it because she’s scared he’s going to grow out of her love. he is not. and paul teaches him how to read a book without feeling like his eyes are drowning and he can’t believe he’s learning to read in high school. and he is moving through the days like water, finding a way around everything. got my driver’s license: and percy jackson knows it’s only a matter of time before he gets a death sentence too.

it’s always one step forward and three steps back: and percy jackson is waking up with no sense of who he is. he is carrying a goddess on his back and he doesn’t even know who his mother is. he is stepping across a river and erasing the curse of indestructible. he is again a demigod with too much vulnerability and not enough care. and he is being flung to an island where time doesn’t move and he doesn’t want to either. and he is healing like he never has before. and he is leaving and not even the girl who loves him can keep him there because he loves another girl and she doesn’t know she loves him back. and he is taking the sky from a friend and he is giving the sky to a goddess and he is leaving a hunter to see the stars and he is watching a new hunter evade the fate they are cursed with. and he was relieved from this burden for one brief second in time. burden of what? burden of sky? burden of prophecy? burden of death? and they are all handed back to him, presented with no other option. they are not the weights in the balancing scale. they are the scale and he is the weights. one step forward and three steps back: and percy jackson wonders if he can go far back enough to erase his own existence. 

i know you get déjà vu: and percy jackson is hurtled to summers spent in a camp, next to a girl, next to a satyr, next to a friend. and he is living his life in montauk with his mom and he is watching red hair fly in the wind, paint smudges on their  skin. and he is remembering how everything is different every year but he can still see the fire wall from his cabin and the smell of wild strawberries is the only thing his scent receptors know how to identify. and he knows solstice could bring death or happiness and he’s starting to think one doesn’t exist and one exists too much. and he sees people who love him and show it in ways he knows. blue candy has never been a complicated feeling. and doesn’t see people who love him in ways he doesn’t know. seaweed brain, let me come with you into the labyrinth, become praetor with me. and he thinks his childhood disappeared the day his mother was kidnapped and is it possible to have déjà vu if you’ve never lived enough to experience something once. and he thinks maybe the god of the sun gets déjà vu every time he pulls the star across the sky because it’s all about warmth isn’t it? your body’s way of saying we’ve been here before and we survived. i know you get déjà vu: and percy jackson is sure he has lived a thousand lives in this one alone.

good for you: and percy jackson is craving a life that doesn’t involve this madness. he is jealous of the kid in his science class that accidentally knocks over the bunsen burner and only gets a disapproving look from the teacher. his nose bleed starts a war. he is jealous of the neireids that simply become the water and wait for the world to stop burning itself to the ground. you look happy and healthy and he looks like he’s missing five years of his life and no way of moving forward. he is tired and he wants to sleep but the last time he did that it was six months later and he couldn’t remember anything. and he wants to sink to the bottom of the ocean but he is still exhaling mud because he drowned in sludge once. and he is too young to be this exhausted but. good for you: and percy jackson wants to become the villain.

all i ever wanted was to be enough for you: and percy jackson is struggling with the expectations people who don't know him want him to have. he is twelve and the teacher hands back a test face down and he knows he’s going to shove it into the pit of his bag before he can be scathed by a red pen. he is thirteen and his mother has finally given herself the hero ending she deserves but he is still this little kid who doesn’t know how to handle the world and if she doesn’t need him to protect her what is his purpose? he is a teenager watching people have silent conversations about his fate and getting no replies when he asks too. as if it is ridiculous to involve himself in these discussions. he can't be the one, it’s not possible. and wait she is here, from her tree grave. no, she is gone, to her hunter fate. wait they are here from their timeless casino. no she is gone and he is young. far too young. and he can’t do this and he can’t do that and he isn’t there yet, not powerful, too reckless, too loyal. the monsters realise his potential and use it to hurt him. the people don't realise his potential and wish he would use it. all i ever wanted was to be enough for you: and percy jackson is too far gone to be of use.

i hope you're happy, but don't be happier: and percy jackson cannot fall in love unless it’s with her. and he has seen the beauty of people and he wants to keep them all close and he doesn’t know how to do it because she keeps him in her grasp. deathly afraid of spiders she says but she has built a web so big he can't move without getting caught. and he goes to a scorned girl on a secluded beach and he likes the way her eyes sparkle in the sun, how she plants the same way his mother does and he leaves her there because she doesn’t have a storm in her gaze. and he loses his memory and remembers only her and he knows it’s inescapable. and maybe he kind of loves it. nobody has ever really given him a choice anyway. at least this one he can love. i hope you're happy, but don't be happier: and percy jackson has never known happier anyway.

jealousy, jealousy: and percy jackson is surrounded by the best. he is in a camp dedicated to people like him and he is still at the bottom. and he is on a quest that makes him the main perpetrator but he is still being puppeted along. and he cant help but wonder if he will turn out like the boy with the scarred face. and he cant help but wonder if he’ll turn out like the girl who grabbed a figurine. and he can't help but wonder if he’ll become a monster or a hero and what’s the difference really. everyone is fighting for a cause. it’s just the matter of whose side you're on. and he wants to know what will happen if he just lets go. he wants to be like the people who follow their cause. instead he is doing biddings. he is following orders. he is making things right. jealousy, jealousy: and percy jackson wants to know if he can be jealous of his own dreams.

i hope i was your favorite crime: and percy jackson is a little kid with a long record. he is on the news plastered as a criminal endangering others, blowing up a bus. it is not the last destruction he causes. he learns to get clever about it. and he is on the news sobbing about his generous stepdad. generous about the bruises he administers, and the words he spits. generous about his appliances. and he is on the news for jumping off a bridge too high to survive. and he doesn’t really know if he will survive but when is he ever really sure he’s going to survive anyway? at least this was a choice. and he is always a criminal unable to plead his innocence. i hope i was your favorite crime: and percy jackson wonders if anyone cares about the injustices against him. 

you're okay: and percy jackson is staring at his reflection in the rippling water and he knows it’s time to forgive himself. he was just a child. with far too much responsibility and far too much guilt. he had seen death before he’d had his first kiss. he had felt pain before he felt comfort. he had never known safety. and now he is old enough to go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants and he has to forgive himself first. because he was just a kid with a hundred targets on his back and only a fierce need to survive protecting him. you’re okay: and percy jackson knows he will be. 

#percy jackson #percy jackson bday 2021 #percy jackson bday #pjjg percy jackson bday #percy #jackson #pjo #hoo #olivia rodrigo #sour #sour olivia rodrigo #if you repost this on instagram please take my pjo account: perseusandjason #thank you! #*lmao tag not take wow tumblr why do you hate me

[sesskagarchive]

Do you know any sesskag dubcon/rape fics?

Hello anon, thanks for asking.

We decided to compile a list so here are some recommended fics for Dubcon/rape. Some of these even come with Sequels! Happy Reading!

Admin Wicked/k9plus1

DUBCON LIST:

A Curse of Lust by Squash/Fearless miko:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net,  Rating: MA Summary: A lusty curse leaves the females in Inuyasha's group running for their lives...and towards their destiny! 

A Mere Digression, by elle6778:

Posted on: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: A digression was what Sesshoumaru called it. ‘It’ being the heated encounters between him and Kagome which took place simply because neither of them could resist. Heed warnings and notes in the first chapter.

A Woman!, by sugar0o:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net , Rating: M Summary: Based somewhat off the idea of Mulan, staring our fav paring Sess/kags, AU, their both demons, because well it makes it easier, and I don’t want to make Sess human, its not right! [lemon w/a plot] this has 2 points, I want to write a lemon to get more comfortable with them, also I want to explore detailing my writing, I will ask that you give serious reviews/critiques, bc I want to learn from this, not just entertain and enthrall. *COMPLETE as of 9/3/9*

Acquisition, Possession, Seduction, by Mistress Sianna: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net Rating: M Summary: “Do not think for one moment that you can escape me.” he said slowly, deliberately. \"You Higurashi Kagome, are mine! Only I will decide if you will stay, if you will go, if you will live or if you will die.\"

Alpha, by Lyra/ lyrainthedark:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net Rating: M Summary: Kagome mates Inuyasha...but Inuyasha was reluctant. Why? Pack politics...and his brother, who is Alpha. What that means will take time to learn, if Kagome can only live long enough for the lessons... Finally Complete!

Bound by Corruption, by BelovedStranger/ Two Hearts:

Posted On: Dokuga. AO3, FF.net   Rating: M Summary: Inside every individual, darkness dwelled large or small. A young woman, cast under her elder sister’s shadow, was bent on proving her worth. A terrible threat hung over her village, giving Kagome the opportunity she had been waiting for. On a mission to save them all from the hearts of evil men, she journeyed to the Inu no Kami’s temple to beseech divine intervention. Instead, danger befell the headstrong woman. Rather than obtaining help from a merciful god, another stepped in to slaughter her enemies, but for a price. An Inugami did nothing for free. Status: Completed

Detrimental Desires, by Mistress Sianna:

Posted on: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: The idea was to make Inuyasha kill Kagome. Little did Naraku know, that on the night of the new moon, Inuyasha looses his demonic powers. Instead, Sesshoumaru and Kagome will be forced to succumb to their most detrimental desires.

Fix It, by Smortz:

Posted On: Dokuga. Rating: M Summary:  When Sesshomaru needs Kagome to help him, she takes advantage of the dog demon now in her debt. As they set out on a new journey, will Kagome be able to overcome the problem that arises? Pun Intended.

He Must be Breeding, by ChaoticReverie:

Posted On: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru requires the perfect female to bear his heir, and Kagome… well, she doesn’t know how she gets herself into these messes.

Heated Blood by Imani Joain:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Kagome cannot help but try to fix anything she finds broken, even if it is not in her best interest to do so. When she comes across Sesshomaru in dire need of assistance, she cannot deny herself. She only hopes that he won't kill her for it. Rated MA for graphic intimacy. Staus: WIP

House of Ill Repute, by Aurora Antheia Raine:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary:  "I will never be yours." // "But you will be, miko," he nearly purred, "you will be when this Sesshoumaru is finished with you."

Irresistible Temptation, by DestinysTears:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net     Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru finds he cannot ignore this inexplicable temptation. (Oneshot)

Just Another Lemon, by Tiegrsi: 

Posted on: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru has gone into heat, and finds Kagome willing to put up with his antics. Kagome thinks he was unable to find a suitable woman, and came to her as a last resort. Perhaps there are some things Kagome needs to learn

Lair, Lair, by susie: 

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: After nearly being nearly absorbed, Sesshoumaru's Bakusaiga is forged, and we all know the rest of the story... or do we? In a deal with Sunrise to accelerate the events of TFA, part of the infamous manga was left on the cutting room floor. Though the hack job began well before that. For the sake of public decency, and in accordance with Japan's obscenity laws, the spiciest and most controversial scenes from the original manga were banned from ever seeing the light of day. Until now. On the condition of anonymity, a diligent hacker provided via email a copy of the raw version you were never meant to see. This is Inuyasha Nights – The Lost Chapter *Dubcon

Macaria, by mythicamagic:

Posted on: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Post-apocalyptic AU. Human women were all but wiped out when the demons took over. What few remain have gone into hiding or concealed their true gender. When Kagome hears news of an orphaned little girl, she'll stop at nothing to protect her from the dangers of the world- including the city of demons and the infamous Killing Perfection. But is he friend or foe? Status: WIP

Not Impervious, by Oroyukae: 

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: He was supposed to be the most powerful demon in existence; one that none could best in any situation, at any time. That was not entirely accurate, it would seem. One error in judgment at the most vulnerable of times, and all that he knows lay in jeopardy. Just what would said being be willing to agree to in the direst of circumstances? {FIN}

Passion, by CiraArana:

Posted On: Spark, Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru turned to her and gazed back. He did nothing else, just standing there, looking at her... As he kept his eyes on her, his lust for blood and killing faded away, leaving behind another lust. For her. Status: Abandoned

Poison of Erised!, by Vyncent:

Posted On: Dokuga, Rating: M Summary: Tomorrow night, brother moon would be witness to the music that he heard, and felt in his very soul, as he howled his conquest to his blood red face. Tomorrow his hunger would be fed by the blood and flesh that he hungered for, and the world would know of his claim. Status: Abandoned

Poison Within, by Angelic Memories:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net    Rating: MA Summary: *Two-Shot* Due to a nasty bite Kagome is poisoned and fights for her life. Inuyasha can only think of one person who might be able to help her but there’s a problem he didn’t consider.

Secret Possession. By SakuraAngel1:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshoumaru is forced to put his mating plans into action a lot sooner than expected, and has Kagome kidnapped in order to fulfill it. When Kagome awakens, she finds herself as the new Lady of the Western Lands...with no Lord in sight… Status: Abandoned

Sleeping Beauty, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Based loosely on the Disney movie, but darker and a bit twisted. Sesshoumaru is betrothed to a little human princess who is delivered a curse by the hanyou Naraku, Kikyo, Miroku, and Kaede agree to raise the child in safety. Smuts in final chapter. Status: Completed

Striking a Deal With the Devil, by Smortz:

Posted On:  Dokuga, FF.net,   Rating: M Summary: Does anything sound funner? Kagome needs help from the new Commissioner. A man that gave 'bad reputation' its standards. However, will Kagome be able to pay the price he demands when a life is on the line? Status: Completed

The Sacrifice, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: Kagome is lured to a strange village, where she finds herself in an unpleasant situation. She is to be a sacrifice to an as yet unnamed youkai. Semi-non-consensual. Status: Completed

Trapped, Breeder, by sesshou_lover:

Posted on: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: N/A Status: Completed

Virginity of the Soul, by Madison

Posted on: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Fresh from a betrayal that shattered her world, she was lured into getting even. Alas, the ones we trust and love aren’t always the ones we should. Semi-PWP. COMPLETE Staus: Complete

The Western Breeding, By Blackthorn:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, Rating: M Summary: The end has come. Demons have found that certain humans can breed pure blooded demon pups. Sesshomaru is leading with Kagome running from the demon lord. Once she is at his side can she learn to love her captor for the sake of her unborn pup or find a way out? Status: Abandoned

RAPE LIST:

Blood Stained, by Madison: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3  Rating: M Summary: COMPLETE! A sudden loss of control intertwined their fates. It dragged her through hell and he couldn't have cared less. She tried to escape her fears but the only way to do it was to face him through time and love.

Heat of Exchange, by Catalina: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: It is that time of year for demon women, but Kagome is experiencing something very strange. Sesshoumaru arrives to help her, against her wishes. Freshly beta'd now.

Hell’s Shadows, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: MA Summary: Formerly named "Ghost of Death" Sesshoumaru lives in hell requiring human women to increase his own power. Kagome falls into his waiting claws, while all of hell is turned upside down by her.DARK. NON CONSENSUAL.

His Wife, by Aries_heart: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3,    Rating: MA Summary: "With a kiss on her shaking lips, he would leave for work and once the door was closed she would allow herself to cry once more. And then the cycle will repeat."

I Don’t Want a Mate, MLMonty: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshoumaru goes into heat during mating season and rapes Kagome. Now she's pregnant and wants nothing to do with him. Should Sesshoumaru respect her wishes and leave her unguarded while she carries his heir?  Status: Abandoned 

Kagome’s Trust, by Fire_and_Earth_Sorceress55/Huntress-of-Flames-55:

Posted On: FF.net, AO3   Rating: M Summary: When Kagome is raped by Sesshomaru on the night of the new moon. Kagome goes home to the future as finds out that she is pregnant with pups? PUPS! Now one year later, she decides to go back to the feudal era.

Paper Cranes, by midori Haru: 

Posted On: FF.net  Rating: M Summary: Meeting, attraction, courting, commitment. For most of the world relationships form in the normal fashion from start to culmination. Naturally normal isn't enough for Sesshoumaru. And he wonders why he runs into problems trying to build a relationship from the wrong end.

Principal Life, by Catalina: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Kagome is dating the principal's brother, and he finds out about it. What can an untrained miko hope to accomplish when she is so ignorant of youkai mating traditions? Story is dark and now involves non consensual situations, with more to come. Status: Abandoned

Rise Again, by Catalina: 

Posted on: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: Youkai have become weak and feeble but are attempting to strengthen their population. Sesshoumaru leads them, and discovers the solution to their problem in an unwilling human. VERY non-consensual stuff happens. Frequently.

S t a s i s, by wonderbug: 

Posted On: Dokuga, AO3  Rating: M Summary: Love, he tells her, as he trails a claw along the pathway of her shivering spine, is only a human notion. [VERY dark; drabble-ish CU/AR]

The Breeder, TexanLady: 

Posted On: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: There is more to Kagome than anyone could ever imagine. After learning of her destiny Sesshoumaru swears to make her his at any cost. Once forced to his side can Kagome teach him to love or learn to love him. Status: Abandoned

#sesskag #messages #requested rec list #sesskag fic recs #admin Wicked #dubcon #rape #tw: rape #tw: dubcon

[scriptaed]

his side, her side | 11:11 P.M.

genre: angst/fluff/implied smut; 

pairing: reader x jungkook;

length: 4.3k;

synopsis: a collective snapshots in time shared between two, whose fates were undeniably intertwined and futures would never come to be.

a/n: alternatively: his side, her side pt. 11;

her side;

“What?!” 

Your fists slam on the counter much more forceful than necessary when you hear the words Jeon Jungkook slip from Yezi’s lips but, luckily for you, the vibrations from the music blasting through the cramped club that had overfilled the capacity hours ago are enough to drown you out. Another large gulp of liquor downed under the influence of yet another wave of unsolicited sorrow, which had ironically arisen by the holy glass itself, submerges you in a somber state you had long sought for amidst what seemed to be a fragile girl wielding an unbreakable shield they called “strength.”

“I said,” your friend repeats as she leans in but nevertheless screams aloud, “isn’t that your coworker a-k-a diehard crush, Jeon Jungkook?!”

“No,” you groan, slapping her arm with a grotesque look on your face as you scream right back at her through your strained throat, “I meant I know what you said and, damn, are you trying to expose me to the entire world!”

Yezi only gives you an unimpressed frown of impertinence, “excuse me, but you’re the one who’s yelling right now!”

Rolling your eyes and succumbing to the scorching heat in your cheeks, your face collapses into the palms of your two hands that immediately begin rubbing circles into your temples. The toxins in your blood have your head throbbing and you almost feel as if your controller has been handed to an unknown being or, rather, substance. 

“Ugh,” you mutter through gritted teeth, “I can’t believe he’s still following me around! Even on my very last day!”

“Following you?” your friend almost chokes on her water as she pokes a finger into your hollow head. “The alcohol must have really eroded whatever little was left in here, huh?” 

“Then,” you sway your head much too quickly, for your entire body nearly tumbles off the stool before you caught yourself with a heavy step to the right, “explain how he always ends up at the same street, the same cafe, the same bar, and, and, and how he’s always at the same place at the same time as me, and how no matter how hard I try to avoid him, he’s always right there? Just waiting for me at the end of whatever independent paths we take?”

Yezi can only blink her eyes blankly at you. Her look is an ambiguous mix of concern, having witnessed a crazy lady babble on about the epitome of destiny, and a tinge of awe, a temporary moment of envy after being struck with a story seemingly straight out of a fairytale. Without a clear explanation to your nonsensical albeit pristinely truthful question, your friend finds herself in the same position as you had been just half a year ago: at a loss for words. 

Clearing your throat to recover from your outburst, a moment you had internalized and failed to bury like you had so promised to yourself, you lean against the counter once again with a head that hangs low and a pair of eyes that wander across the room. 

Despite your eternally intertwined future with the very man beholding your gaze and every ounce of your current attention, you had somehow managed to abandon the shared memories in the past months… or so you thought; because you here, having the false pretension of leaving what you denied to call anything but fleeting infatuation, yet feeling as though time had never passed at all. 

Butterflies fluttering, heart pulsing, and an incessant sick twisting of insecurities shoved somewhere in the back of your conscience—you’re right there back in the pool where the start to your end was born. 

“Did you tell him?”

“About what?”

“About you leaving the company.”

“Oh, no,” you simply mumble, eyes quickly flickering to the tabletop after spotting the familiar woman beside him. Still, curiosity gets the best of you when you can’t help but peak at the two, the female seemingly much more distressed and the male hanging his head low apologetically, before you, too, hang your head low in shame. “Sorry. You must be sick of hearing about him.”

“No, it’s fine,” Yezi’s voice softens as she places a comforting hand over yours. “You okay? About Jieun, I mean.”

“Yeah,” you shrug, chuckling, “it’s… it’s whatever. I got over it months ago.” 

Your friend nods hesitantly, “...you think they’re fighting? 

“...I don’t know. Not my business either way.”

Your words are like a self-inflicted attack. How shameful is it of you to speak from a feigned moral high ground? His business has never been your business—that is an unequivocal truth. So why is it that you feel the way you do? Prying, hurting, and, dare you admit it, somewhat rejoicing over the downfall of what had ended you and him. 

 And just as you down another glass of liquor, nearly collapsing backwards when you throw your head back, you catch Jieun pointing a finger—a somewhat accusatory albeit much softer than one thrown by a witchy nemesis—at you before she grabs her purse and runs out of the club in tears. Jungkook, on the other hand, remains still in his chair with lowered eyes fixated to the empty stool beside him, as though repaying whatever debt he owed to the ghost of a woman who had long left his side. 

“Oh my God, did you just see—”

“—Lee Yeji!” someone shrills and you have to crane your neck to gander at the stranger who had just appeared out of thin air. The slight breeze of her beeline past you hits you seconds late—a recurring sign to you and your reproaching intake limit. “Is that you?!”

“Linzy!” your friend jumps to her feet and joins in on the stranger’s screams as well as small hops. “Oh my God, how long has it been?!”

“Where have you been all this time?!”

“Here in this boring city, duh,” Yezi bursts into a cackle. “How have you been?! You still hung over your ex?” 

The lack of an introduction would have been painfully awkward for you as you stared at the fond reunion between two friends, but thanks to the alcohol stirring your mind that had floated elsewhere and the blood running through your heated system, it’s almost as if you’re just a member of audience, watching another crappy chick flick. 

“First of all, I’ve moved onto another man. And second of all, rude,” the woman named Linzy throws her head back in a fit of laughter. Honestly, watching the hysteria between the two has you smiling against your rested hand; and if it weren’t for her averted attention to you, you probably wouldn’t have noticed until you quickly hid the ditzy smile on your face. “I’m sorry, is it okay if I borrow Yezi for a second? We haven’t talked in sooo long.”

“Oh no,” you quickly shake your head, gesturing them toward the dance floor, “go right ahead. I think I can do without her constant jabs at my nonexistent love life.” 

“Oh my God,” Linzy gapes, “she does that to you, too?!”

“Hey, you two can be friends but not over a common dislike for me, okay?” Yezi warns with a wary finger before joining the two of you in a heap of laughter. Patting your shoulder and leaning in, your friend squeezes you lightly, “I’ll be right back in ten minutes, alright? Wait for me here. If something comes up and you have to leave, text me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, will do, mom” you shoo her away, “I’ll have you know I’m a grown ass adult. Now go and scream your head off.”

“What?” she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re a young adult who still can’t handle her alcohol?” 

“I said,” you raise your voice in the midst of cackles, “go and scream your head off!”

Luckily for you, your friend whirls around and skips off to join the black silhouette of a sweaty crowd going at it on the dance floor before she could catch the proof of her aforementioned premonition; because only five minutes after averting your eyes from the empty stool beside you and downing another glass or two in a vain attempt to distract yourself from checking the presence of the boy across from you, a wave overtakes you and your lightheadedness takes a turn for the worse. 

Maybe it’s the alcohol that brings out the irrational side of you or maybe your senses had truly been heightened or maybe you’re just imagining things, but you swear a pair of resilient, watchful eyes reciprocate your occasional peak to the other side—and even though you know it would be another step toward a ticking time bomb, you just wish you’re right. 

You’re hoping for a miracle to happen, for him to come up to you, for you to muster enough courage to strike a conversation, or for fate to brush off your accursed wish to finally untangle your paths from his; but when your eyes peek upward once again, your heart sinks at the empty chair where he had once sat, swirling his glass with those boldly peering eyes of his. Sighing, one swivel in your seat and a slight sway too hard to the left, you nearly hurl yourself into the arms of the girl beside you only to find yourself in someone else’s. 

A pair of sturdy hands twice the size of yours hold you steadily and it only takes you a glance to the hands on your left shoulder along with the familiar heftiness of his built chest against your back for you to know exactly whose hold you had allowed yourself into. 

And for once, you’re thankful to the little antics pulled by fate itself. 

“Hey,” he utters, peering down at you from above.

“Oh,” you manage to say, head leaning against his chest as you crane your neck to stare at the face that hovers above yours. “It’s Jungkook.” 

The little crooked smile on his pressed lips have you flashing the goofiest grin at him—and you know it’s the goofiest of all your grins, but you’re helpless under the sway of his magnetic presence. 

“Still can’t handle liquor, I see.” 

“Shut up,” you laugh much more than elicited, “are you saying you can drink now? After, what, six months?”

The boy shrugs smugly, “maybe. I’m a grown ass adult now.”

“You? An adult?” you can’t help but laugh at the bewildered grin of disbelief plastered across his face. Something about the high of the liquor and the constant stream of background noise that drowns you out has your words slipping from your lips with utter ease. For once, you’re neither bashful nor wary of how you carry yourself in front of him. It’s refreshing albeit all the more worrying when you consider all that you’ve left buried away from him. “So? What’re you doing here, grown ass adult Jeon Jungkook?”

The smile on his face fades as he mutters, “nothing, really.”

“Really?” you quirk a brow. “Where’s your girlfriend, Jieun?” 

“...she’s not my girlfriend,” he responds flatly, “...anymore.” 

“Oh,” you can only utter in shock, speaking exactly what flashes across your mind, “fuck, I’m screwed.”

Jungkook frowns with knitted brows, “what?” 

“I meant,” you quickly assert, realizing your errs, “I meant I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Yeah,” he smirks, scoffing at you impudently. “You shouldn’t have.”

A comfortable silence befalls the two of you in the midst of rowdy hundreds—well, until yet another word slips your mind… in addition to your lips. 

“...heartbreaker.”

“What?” 

“Nothing.”

The widened grin of mischief that stretches from ear to ear has you mirroring that goofy grin of him as you can’t help but become enraptured by the facial profiles of the charming man just several  inches from you. If this were sober you, you would have been much more distant, emotionally and physically; but the sway of the night has you completely under its control. 

Plus, you’ve given away all your last fucks long ago when you decided to aspire for a job in another city nearby. Maybe this is your last chance to finally get rid of what had left your chest heavy so long ago.

“Well, I’m just going to grab my friend before I pass—oh shit,” you curse as you nearly tumble to the floor, hands sprawled out and hair forming curtains around your lowly hanging head just as he catches you and brings you back to your feet. Stumbling over your heels, your hands grasp tightly onto his as you try to shake the locks of hair out of your shrouded vision. “Sorry, I mean, thanks—” you laugh “—for saving me from eating shit.”

“Holy fuck,” the boy remarks, chuckling worriedly, “you’re a mess. Go home.”

“I’ll have you know,” you emphasize, sing-songing at this point, “that I am—” you point a finger against his chest and his eyes flicker in amusement over your jab “—going home, just need to… find my friend.”

“Where’s your friend?”

“There,” you throw a hand off into the space somewhere toward the floor.

“Where the fuck is ‘there?’”

“There!”

Jungkook frowns, “where??”

“I said,” you’re basically whining as you jump up and down while holding him for stability and, luckily, he holds you even tighter, “there!!”

“Holy shit,” he shakes his head, furrowing his brows and laughing in disbelief, “fuck this, I’ll take you home.”

“Shut up, nope,” you adamantly shake your head, trying to toss his hands to the side only to nearly trip over your own feet once again. 

To your rescue, once again, Jungkook throws your right arm over his shoulders with one firm hand and another much gentler, chivalrous hand over to your left waist, careful not to invade your personal space. Laughing at how ironic the night has turned out to be, somehow ending up in the arms and closer than ever to the man you had sworn to have gotten over less than an hour ago, you give into the force of gravity and fate as your head rests helplessly against his chest. 

“Just, just,” you struggle to remember what you wanted to say, “just admit you want to use this as an… an excuse to bring me home.” 

The boy only chuckles under his breath as he leads you out of the doors and a blast of fresh, night air refreshes your complexion, “whatever gets you home safe.”

“Ah,” you sigh, a puff of white escaping into the air just as he waves a hand out to tail a cab, “I hate it when you do that.” 

“Do what?” he arches a brow. 

“That,” you say in a fit of frustration over your lack of constraint but continue nonetheless, knowing well just how long this night will haunt you for the sleepless nights ahead, “when you act all gentlemanlike with me...”

“Is that a bad thing…?”

“Yes!” you exclaim just as a cab halts by the sidewalk. “I hate how you treat me so well!” 

“The fuck,” he utters under his breath, holding you steady in one hand and opening the door to the cab with another, “fine, get in by yourself, then.”

Caught off guard by the loss of his firm hold, you hesitate, suddenly gripping onto his hands tighter than ever as you take a step down the sidewalk, “wait—”

“—that’s what I thought,” he quips before suddenly picking you up into his arms, your legs dangling freely in the air without the burden of your weight, and gently placing you down into the middle backseat. Your head is spinning at this point from the spur of events and from literally being swept off the feet. You would have been foolish to deny the weight in your chest that settles when you realize your whimsical night has come to end when, to your surprise, the boy gets into the seat right beside you. With a loud huff and a slam of the now closed door, Jungkook speaks, “Providence Street, please.”

He still remembers where you live.

Gaping at him in the full darkness of the backseat with the countless golden streetlights that pass by like flickering beacons of warmth, a fleeting albeit numerous opportunity to gaze at the apple of your eye in its full glory, and gulping when you notice him staring right back at you with those twinkling, unreadable eyes of his, you finally acknowledge that you really couldn’t care less if he catches you staring… which he does. 

And it’s that this moment, this unconquerable, fleeting, otherworldly moment of an unbreakable high as your head shuffles to the side along with waves of the bumpy ride and your eyes spot the arrival of that one magical hour, one magical minute, 11:11, that an epiphany dawns upon you. 

Something will inevitably ensue tonight and, whatever it may be, whether you confess or not, you just wish you could finally let bygones be bygones, as the two of you should have been in the first place. 

-

his side;

If there’s one thing this man did not expect from a night that has thus far been nothing but dread, it would be crossing paths with the rare one who could etch stars into his skies out of nothing.

“What?” Jungkook can’t help but crack a crooked grin at the goofiest grin adorning his star’s’ beet red cheeks. 

“You’re doing it again!” she hollers into the front of the cab rather than the subject at hand.

“Doing what?” 

“It. You’re doing…” she pumps a fist at her chest twice, “things again!” 

“You’ve...” Jungkook pauses, looking her up and down with concern overshadowed by bemuse because, well, look at her, he chuckles to himself, so gauche in her own adorable attempts at daintiness, “...lost it.” 

“I honestly think I have,” she laughs with a hand to what he figures must be an overwhelming lightheadedness. 

There must be something about the heat in her cheeks that run down her bare neck and along the dress straps that had slipped from her collarbones, something about the first recognition of a level vulnerability that she had never bared to him before, because even he could peer at her and her unreachable high that is cloud nine, all whilst beside her. Ice-thawing and sun-basking, he could only watch in admiration as a magic stronger than any drink spurs her forward; and he could tell it would take her little to nothing to muster the courage to just jump and fall…

…and when she leans in to whisper, he has an inkling of tonight’s impending stain. 

“Do you wanna hear a secret?”

Quirking a brow at her, he remarks, “only if it actually makes sense.”

“Okay,” she giggles before quickly adding, “you’re really not dating her anymore, right?”

“...no?” Jungkook answers, confused. “Why—”

“—cause I won’t tell you if you are!” she exclaims playfully, throwing her hands out into the air. She continues on her babbling before he could even react. “Oh, and I’m not doing this because I want to take advantage of your breakup. Oops, was that too much too soon? Well, I’m only telling you because I want to get over it. Don’t act on it, okay?”

“The fuck?” he utters with a raised brow, softly chuckling. “Uh, on second thought, I think I’ll pass—”

“—promise me you believe me when I say I don’t feel this way anymore!”

Having never seen a more childlike side to a rather dependable colleague he once knew, Jungkook can’t help but laugh in disbelief, “feel what way?!” 

She smiles heavy-lidded at the sheer confusion plastered across his frown, seemingly coming in and out of consciousness. It’s a smile that could only come from a dreamer doing everything they wished they had done yet could never come to have done; and when he locks gazes with hers, it’s almost as if the two had drifted elsewhere from their bodies and are now merely watching themselves in the scene before the grand confession of a romcom through the fourth wall. 

With a finger wagging at him, beckoning for him to lean forward, which he does reluctantly, he can’t quite believe what slips from her lips. 

“You’re so good looking.”

...and when the two of them had registered her words, neither of them budge. Jungkook remains still, ears next to his lips and showing the most evident falter in his usual apathetic demeanor through the way at which his ears redden with each passing second. Slapping a hand against his chest, she pushes him back into his seat and chimes cheerfully, “like sooooooooo good looking! Don’t tell them I said this, but every girl at work thinks you’re handsome and I hate it cause it’s. so. true.” 

“You’re,” the boy scoffs in disbelief, blinking blankly at you because: one, he had never heard of such rumors and two, he had never seen her speak so brazenly, “you’re going crazy.”

“I am and what?” she challenges, slapping his chest again as he sits there blinking helplessly, “It’s your fault you look like this!”

“What even—”

“—and what about that kiss?!” she throws her hands up again. “Why did you even kiss me if you were going to date someone else later? Huh?!”

He never thought the day would come for her to mention that kiss… especially not tonight.

“And why are you always so nice to me?”

He chuckles at her less than threatening lashing, “am I supposed to be mean to you?”

“Well,” she scoffs in disbelief, “why are you literally everywhere I go then? You stalking me or something?”

“This is fucking hysterical,” Jungkook cracks a lopsided grin of mischief, pulling a phone out of his pocket. Throwing a peace sign at the camera, he pans the camera between him and the star of the night. “It’s January 11, 2020. A sober Jeon Jungkook checking in and, here, we have a messed up Y/N. Say hi—”

“—I am not messed up!” she interjects, pointing an accusing finger at the camera. “The only reason I’m messed up is because of you! And you know what’s even worse?”

“What could possibly be worse than you waking up to watch this horrific video?” 

Flailing her arms, she exclaims in a huff of frustration, “you don’t even know how badly you messed me up, Jungkook!” 

He raises a brow, raising the phone to get a better angle of the two of you. He doesn’t know why but his grip tightens. “Yeah?”

“You know,” she begins, flopping her hands into the air again.

“What now?” he chuckles, completely bemused as he watches your drunken state through his phone screen; and through his peripherals, he could catch the utterly enraptured grin of his in the corner of his screen and he just knew: he would be watching this special little clip over and over. “Just wait ‘til you watch this video—“

but her voice comes in a loud frustrated huff, a final remark cooked up in for relentlessly long years of a sheep, forgiving herself for losing sights of her captor

“—I really liked you, Jeon Jungkook!”

He freezes. 

Silence befalls the cab. 

But, like she always does, she never stops to wait for him. 

“I mean, I really,” she emphasizes adamantly, as if he had failed to hear her when it’s anything but, “reaaaaaaaally liked you!” 

Head rolling back against the headrest as the cab comes to a stop at the red light, she closes her eyes as she persists on her self-heist and blurts out frustratingly, “but you didn’t even know! And if you did, you didn’t even seem to fucking care!” 

The boy wishes he could speak. Hell, he even curses at himself for staying still the way he does now… but, what should he even say? After pining for many months, falling, acknowledging, despairing and getting over the star he had always thought to be out of reach only to discover she had been within a drink, a night, a confession’s reach, how should he feel? 

What good would it do to now recognize a love line that could have been but never came to be for the two? 

Lowering his phone and stopping the recording, a bittersweet upturn of one corner of his lips lingers just as his thumb does over “delete.” 

And after all the fond memories the two had shared within the span of a year, the gatekeeper figures maybe, for the girl’s sake, he would be the sole witness to all evidence of tonight. 

“Hellooo?” she cranes her neck to look at him with heavy-lidded eyes. “Did you hear me? I said I like—I mean, liked—you.”

“I heard you,” he presses a finger against the spot between her brows, scrunching his nose by her breath that reeks of alcohol as his tap has her head tipping onto her left shoulder. The girl only groans in protest because, apparently, she lacks the energy to defy him physically. Gazing at her from afar, a wave of adoration overwhelms him and he can’t help but chuckle under his breath. Discarding himself of his jacket, he drapes it over her bare shoulders. The boy leans in closer with one hand placed to her cheek, gently lulling her back to the right until her head lies comfortably in the crook of his left shoulder; and when he speaks, he speaks lowly but clearly, “I just wish you had told me earlier.”

The rest of the car ride proceeds in silence but never had there been more words than all that had been said tonight.

#bts x reader #bts scenarios #bts angst #bts fluff #bts smut #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #bts x y/n #bts x you #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook x y/n #bts imagines #jungkook scenarios #bts fanfic #jungkook fanfic #bts series #bts fic #jungkook fic #scriptaed

[michael-drummey]

Achilles x Patroclus: Part 2, Harmful Stereotypes in Modern Media

**Since my last post on this blew up! Here is just a little more on the subject & some of the nonsense I have seen & experienced on said topic online & in other forms of media**

For anyone who needs proof that Achilles & Patroclus were always and originally presented as a gay couple in a committed relationship mapped out in The Iliad (see my original post here) SOME in our society (not those who are properly educated) like to project harmful & stereotypical LGBTQ+ tropes on Homer’s material & their representation in other forms of media that are still prevalent today such as:

 “Gay as not the Main Character” - The Iliad starts with the lines “RAGE: Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage,” so right at the start this Story we meet Achilles; obviously he is crucial in the story’s plot, yet even for his importance in this story it is not named for him, the focus is on Troy. Achilles is “Greatest of all the Greeks” but is remembered for all his bad qualities, while others like Agamemnon who is also deeply flawed or Odysseus, get the recognition of trying to reason with Achilles, and are seen as the more reasonable leaders set on winning the war. Achilles and Patroclus get reduced to just once aspect of the story, then once they are dead, we get The Odyssey and our new main boy Odysseus. The wily & super straight war hero trying to get home to his darling wife and son, which leads us to our next trope...

“Bury your Gays” - Achilles and Patroclus are obviously coded as homosexual even though the Ancient Greeks did not have a word to use for gay, but it is none the less glaringly obvious. Patroclus is killed by Hector when he rides into battle to help his fellow Greeks and retain Achilles’ Honor, thus setting in motion the events that will unleash Achilles’ Rage upon Hector and the Trojans. We also find out later in The Odyssey Achilles died when Odysseus meets him in The Underworld where he stands off with Patroclus so check check for both stories. This is a huge piece of Homer’s story, but so many times Patroclus is forsaken and treated as a plot point not as a character who’s fate changes the course of the story, they view him as a “gotta go” kind of sidekick to Achilles.

“Depraved Homosexual & Loose Bisexual” - Either perverse and/or murderous the “depraved homosexual” trope portrays the gay character as possessing all quirks and qualities one/society considers undesirable. Achilles is vengeful and refuses to fight when Agamemnon tarnishes his honor, then when Patroclus is killed Achilles is completely inconsolable, wishing to end his life, he weeps for days on end in bed with the body of Patroclus. When he unleashes that grief (The Rage of Achilles) he is reduced to a killing machine hellbent on nothing but avenging his beloved’s death, which eventually will lead to his own demise. He is rarely referred to as a 3-dimensional character with complex emotions from this point on. As one who has suffered in this war, lost his honor & lost the love of his life, which has caused all that is human in him to die as well; he succumbs to his pain. His wrath is what so many know him for even if they haven’t read the story, They just see him as a ferocious warrior, but so few know the full context behind his actions, or love to claim he did what he did because his “best friend” was killed. Some forms of media love to also portray them as bisexual, where we are given over the top sex scenes, and shown two men who are meant to be “less than” for their sexual freedom/lack of sexual morals. While it really has nothing to do with that and just creates more biphobia and erasure. We are never are shown them happily and honestly committed to each other, which leads us to our next stereotype.

“Everyone is Straight” - SOME Historians, Scholars, Writers, Movies love to predominately present characters as “all straight or only straight”. Since The Iliad was recorded people have been debating if Achilles & Patroclus were an item or not. Personally I think the evidence is overwhelming and plain as day, (you do not share a tent & bed with just your homie, Rage as Achilles did at Patroclus’ death, then keep his body in your bed yearning for his “μένος” (menos) aka manly vigor and semen, then get your ashes buried together in the same urn, just for someone to say “They were Best Friends Forever!” There is more than enough evidence to say Homer wrote them as gay, but some love to throw the “Briseis Argument” out there saying he intended to marry her, and she was his girl, ie. lots of gratuitous sex scenes to follow. If that were so, why does he only take her into his bed once at the end of Book 24? He had 10 years what was stopping him? And why did he wish her dead when he receives the body of Patroclus? Truthfully you would be sad your friend died, but at least its not your lover, right? Unless, wait what happened to Achilles when Patroclus died?... oh right, that’s the reaction of a man who has lost his best friend, lover, basically entire world, so “Bye Briseis!” you were a broken man’s booty call, time to move along. (Not that there is anything wrong with being a booty call, but in The Iliad that’s what Homer gave us to work with and this ones more directed at Hollywood and Straights™ who like to ignore all historical context.)

Now we know that these tropes did not exist when The Iliad was recorded, and Homer did not set out with the mind set “gotta kill these gays!” the word homosexual did not exist until 1869, it is not like being LGBTQ+ people just popped up then too. But viewing the story with some of these lens we can more clearly see these modern tropes and stereotypes 1. Can exist in pieces of art and literature despite the time the story was told. 2. Hurtful stereotypes affect the way people translate & view stories, peoples, cultures, etc. A prime example I still find it shocking when people say “weren’t they just cousins!?” (NO) 3. Not thinking critically and thoughtfully about such a piece, prevents others from truthful experiences, and devalues the meaning and emotion one gets from reading or telling such a story. 4. It is modern weaponizing & blatant erasure of those LGBTQ+ (fictional and non-fictional characters) that came before us to present a false narrative of heteronormativity. 

In the end, as I stated, Homer did not use these stereotypes, these stories would have been sung and told in a way that captivated its audience, which they obviously are still doing today. Homer is a phenomenal storyteller, truly a classic and one of the best, but some still feel the need to straightwash these characters. So next time someone tries to say Homer never wrote Achilles and Patroclus as gay lovers, there is no evidence in The Iliad to support it, and that we cannot look at them through a modern lens. Or call out others who choose to ignore history, facts, and context, you can say “You Can! and Yes, Achilles x Patroclus are 100% in a committed gay relationship!” 

#achilles #Patroclus #Achilles and Patroclus #Achilles x Patroclus #patrochilles #homer #the iliad #the odyssey #Greek Mythology #gay #lgbt #lgbtqia #modern len #literary tropes #stereotypes #literature #history #harmful stereotypes #tropes #Erasure

[ryo-maybe]

ALRIGHT YOU'RE ON @shigure. Here's your "Madoka Magica was actually an anti-drug tract" premise on steroids*.

The entire series revolves around teenagers who come into contact with something which deeply redefines the basic paradigms of their everyday life, granting them awesome experiences, personal fulfillment and generally granting them the illusion of enrichement while ultimately dragging them down to an inescapable hell. In other words - it's all about drugs. And it's not just the trippy visuals, with its impossible architectures and abstract collages (although they certainly to lend themselves well to offering a visual representation of a world distorted in the eyes of one whose reality has been corroded by a momentary high), but the series as a whole to be permeated with clues that at times all too obvious about what it's all actually about.

*No steroids were actually involved in the development of this theory**. **’Theory’ being used in this case in a highly debatable and frankly not at all serious fashion.

Kyuubey is meant to represent drug manufactureres and, in general, the industry surrounding the illegal production, distribution and sale of drugs. The race as a whole is composed of a cadre of entirely unfeeling, unscrupolous entities who seem to live outside the realm of lawfully regulated human life, and who thrive on maintaining a questionable status quo by preying on the vulnerability of foolish teenagers whom they lure in by promising to sell them the sweetest of dreams, when in fact they are offering them nothing but the bitterest of nightmares. They are a plague, and one that cannot be easily, if ever, eradicated within the current status quo: take one away, and another will pop up to fill the gap and perpetuate the cycle of suffering in the name of greed. Kyuubey and drug dealers profit by harvesting the worth they find in their prey, be it suffering or money - although the former is, in both cases, the ultimate price by the victims.

Magical girls are, quite obviously, addicts. Living a double life, utilizing "magic" to solve all their emotional troubles, and fated to succumb as they indulge more than can assuage their increasing grievances. They are shells hollowed out by the forbidden fruit they decided to fill themselves with. Their emotional well-being is directly tied to the constant consumption of Grief Seeds, the physical representation of drugs, which they harvest from that which they are fated to eventually become: Witches, or in other words -  drug dealers, and who is most likely to become a dealer, if not a desperate enough user?

Homura fulfills the role of a former addict, possibly one who came close to OD'ing, represented rather obviously by the hospitalization showcased in her backstory. Not only that, but Homura is also in fact a narc, using her undercover persona to fight tooth and nail against the cartels that would threaten her friends with the same hell she had to go through time and again. In order to understand the significance of the time travel plot and its metaphorical weight in the story's overarching theme (that is: the dangers of drug abuse) it's necessary to flip what may seemingly be an obvious preconception: that Madoka is the POV character, which she in fact is not. The true bearer of the perspective through which the viewer witnesses the events in PMMM is that of Homura: a young woman hopelessly tied to a past she cannot help but cling to. The flashbacks of the past timelines all happened, indeed, but they did so in a single timeline - Homura is merely transposing her memory of her most important friends over the faces of all the other countless victims of Kyuubey's cartel. She is projecting, perhaps as a way to avoid forgetting, or because in her head, by the point the series proper starts, the memories have already begun to blur, further cementing the bleakness of her ongoing struggle against the threat of drugs.

Madoka is a template for her closest friend, the one whose death (caused by drugs) ended up affecting her the most and continued to haunt her. She is symbolic of the kind of innocence she wishes to preserve, the purity of one who hasn't be tainted yet, despite the persisting temptation of Kyuubey and the peer pressure of all the friends who keep on falling for the lethal deceptions of drug usage. Her ultimate decision to share in her friends' fate, after being given a push by a mother who severely underplayed the boundaries of recreational activities a teenager should ever be allowed to challenge, and her subsequent death lead to a pyrrhic victory of sorts - probably meant to represent her story being touted as a didactic admonishment against other young people suffering the same fate.

Mami is the gateway to the girls' eventual ruin, and what a fitting portrait doth she paint. A seemingly cool, charismatic girl, who makes of herself a poster for the benefits of "magic". Ah, but what a thin veneer it is, paper-like indeed, that which hides what truly lies beneath: a lonely individual, coping as best she can with the trauma of her incident while craving the friendship of others. She represents at once the highest peak and the lowest depths of drug abuse, the fall from a gilded tower that crumbles all too easily upon the weight of a reality where substance abuse is never worth its apparent, fleeting benefits. The significance of her guns is likely tied to the double meaning of "shooting" in the context of drugs. Of note is also the name of her special attack, Tiro Finale: 'tiro' is the substantivized form of 'tirare', and in Italian slang, a 'tiro' or 'tirata' means 'drag' (of a cigarette) or, more fittingly for the context, 'toke'.

Sayaka, far from learning the dire lesson, commits the mistake of plunging herself into the same tainted ocean in the name of making herself appeal to her crush - a decision that inevitably backfires when he is swiped away by a person who did so with confidence that was very much not artificial. There is no escape for her: only despair at the end of a tragic escalation, in her futile attempt to dilute her emotion in a sea of poison. Her weapon of choice is likely tied to "cutting" drugs before consumption.

Kyouko's near constant hunger reminds one of a symptom commonly associated with drug usage. The fervor that gained her father's church a broad audience had its roots in the involvement of "magic"... the discovery of which lead to the institution and its owner's ruin. The spears represent, like, syringes or something, I donno.

#drugs tw #sincere apologies is this ends up hitting the wrong buttons #I hope not but one can never be too sure

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 3 of 26

Title: Acceptance (The Southern Reach #3) (2014) - REREAD

Author: Jeff VanderMeer

Genre/Tags: Horror, Science Fiction, Ecological Horror, Cosmic Horror, Weird, First-Person, Second-Person, Third-Person, Unreliable Narrator, Female Protagonists, LGBT Protagonist

Rating: 10/10

Date Began: 1/11/2021

Date Finished: 1/20/2021

Area X, a self-aware wilderness along the coast, has existed for decades behind a mysterious border. The landscape itself annihilates humans and repurposes them for its own ends. Hundreds of people have died attempting to uncover its secrets. But no one has yet discovered its origins or true purpose.

Now, Area X has spread past its former borders, perhaps to the entire world. Acceptance follows several key figures through the history of Area X, and their attempts to fight against an impossible threat.  

You feel numb and you feel broken, but there’s a strange relief mixed in with the regret: to come such a long way, to come to a halt here, without knowing how it will turn out, and yet... to rest. To come to rest. Finally. All your plans back at the Southern Reach, the agonizing and constant fear of failure or worse, the price of that... all of it leaking out into the sand beside you in gritty red pearls. 

Full review, major spoilers, and content warning(s) under the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Extreme body horror, altered states of mind, and psychological manipulation, including hypnosis. Several characters lose their sanity, and you see it happen in real time from their perspective. Intentional self-harm/mutilation as a plot point. Some violence and gore. There are brief references to animal abuse and terminal cancer. Not many happy endings in this one.  

This review contains major series spoilers. It’s also super long, as the book covers a lot of material. 

Acceptance is the most narratively ambitious book in the Southern Reach trilogy. While Annihilation and Authority feature a single protagonist/perspective, this one has four rotating POVs and one guest narrator partway through the book. It also covers a broader timeline than previous entries, from the origins of Area X 30-ish years ago to the ongoing present-day apocalypse. Acceptance is one of the few books I've read that utilizes first-, second-, AND third-person narration in a single volume, adopting whichever one makes the most sense for the character and their situation

While this sounds complicated, it's basically just a way to tell four different stories at the same time. VanderMeer also uses each storyline to address the major questions of the series. How did Area X come to be? What happened to the biologist? What was the former director of the Southern Reach trying to accomplish? And perhaps most pressing-- what is the fate of the world now that Area X has spread? Not everything is resolved, but it's definitely a conclusion.

The stories have some unifying connections, containing similar themes and callbacks/references to each other. However, for the purposes of this review I will be looking at each story and protagonist individually.

First up is Saul Evans the lighthouse keeper. He's been mentioned before, but never in much detail. Going in, we know a few things-- (1) he knew the director/Cynthia when she was a child and (2) something happened to him that turned him into the Crawler, the eldritch creature which writes the sermon on the walls of the tower in Area X. In Acceptance, we learn he's a former preacher who had a crisis of faith and left his old life, taking up the role of lighthouse keeper on the forgotten coast. It's implied this is partially due to him realizing he's gay and fleeing the resulting homophobic fallout. His past vocation explains the elevated, sermonic language of the words in the tower.

From the onset Saul is an intensely likeable character. He's trying to build a happier and more genuine life for himself. This part probably takes place during the 70s or 80s, but he's cautiously optimistic about his new life with a local fisherman named Charlie. He also forms an unlikely friendship with Gloria (aka Cynthia), a local kid who loves exploring the coast. However, he is tormented by the "Séance and Science Brigade", a shady organization that investigates/worships(?) paranormal phenomena. They sabotage the lighthouse beacon, which we learned in Authority is a marvelous piece of technology with a mysterious history. Shortly after, Saul accidentally absorbs a fragment of the beacon into himself, and shit goes downhill real fast.

While the catalyst of Area X may seem a little weird, the reader can piece together that part of the beacon has extraterrestrial origins, and Saul unintentionally activates part of it. The gradual shift from a normal life to something deeply unsettling has its appeal. I especially like seeing his logs/journal entries and how they devolve as proto-Area X overtakes his mind. The disturbing bar scene near the end is great as well. We know going in that this story has a bad ending (from a human perspective), but learning specifics about Saul as a person gives this more impact. Saul's is a sad tale of a man who wants to make a better life for himself and gets screwed over by bad luck.

Cynthia/Gloria/the former director is the next perspective character. In Annihilation she serves as the antagonist, but in Authority we learn it isn't that simple. She had ulterior motives, handpicking the biologist for the expedition in order to use her as a weapon against Area X. And, of course, we learn she was the little girl in that old picture of Saul, which means she probably grew up there before the border came down. 

This part opens with Cynthia/Gloria's death as "the psychologist" in Annihilation, but told from her perspective. From there, the pacing is a little slow, in similar style to Authority. We learn how Cynthia lived her daily life, how she infiltrated the Southern Reach, and her interpersonal relationships with Grace, Whitby, and Lowry. However, her storyline ramps up when detailing Area X and the lead up to twelfth expedition. Lots of old scenes/dynamics from Annihilation hit different with the new context. Especially interesting is the interview between Cynthia and the biologist; turns out there was a lot more context that the biologist obscured in her story. On some level we already knew she was an unreliable narrator, but it's fun to have it pop up again in a different book entirely.

I admire how VanderMeer makes someone who comes off as a throwaway villain into the one of the most complex, important characters in the series. This part is also really cool as it's written in second-person perspective, and the story justification for this (Area X examining her memories) is neat. While I like Cynthia's characterization in this part, the additional bits in Saul's story and his interactions with Gloria add helpful context and emotional impact. The end of the book being her letter to Saul is so damn sad.

The third main storyline follows Control and Ghost Bird in the "current" timeline-- exploring Area X in the immediate fallout of Authority. I love this part for several reasons. The contrast between the two leads and how they perceive themselves, Area X, and the current situation is great. Control is very much losing control, feeling "the brightness" taking over (a callback to Annihilation). Meanwhile, Ghost Bird is in her element, seeing and experiencing things the regular human characters do not. There's the sense that she's truly something "new" in terms of both humanity and Area X.

We also learn a ton of stuff about Area X that is hinted in earlier volumes but confirmed in Acceptance. (MAJOR SPOILERS) The first is that Area X isn't on Earth at all; something briefly hinted at in Annihilation, when the biologist doesn't recognize the stars in the sky.  Instead it mimics Earth, or something representative of it. The second big thing is that time works differently here. The uncanny state of decay noted in earlier books isn't actually a direct result of Area X. It's just the passage of time, because way more time passes in Area X compared to the "real" world.

The guest narrator/story is told within the Control/Ghost Bird storyline. The two meet up with Grace, who has managed to survive the Area X attack on the Southern Reach. She took shelter on the mysterious northern island and discovered an old journal written by... the biologist from Annihilation, which details what happened to her over the last THIRTY YEARS (yeah, the time thing) until she finally decided to give into Area X.

This section is sobering and sad; basically a glimpse at how the biologist's isolation slowly made her go mad. She finds an owl (hello cover) that she believes is her husband post Area X conversion and the two live together for decades. When it dies, the biologist loses the will to keep fighting Area X. It's ambiguous if the owl really is her husband, or if she's just projecting, but her heartbreak at the end is probably the strongest emotion she shows in the series. But what is interesting about this part is it confirms a cool detail. Injury and pain can halt the progression of "the brightness" within someone. Which is how the biologist managed to survive 30 years, how Grace survived what turns out to be 3 years, and so on. Even more interesting, when someone DOES finally succumb after warding off the brightness this way, they turn into something more strange and alien. Hence the moaning creature, and Saul/the Crawler. It's also probably why some creatures have incongruencies, like the dolphins with human eyes.

The biologist? She transformed into a giant, oceanic eldritch abomination COVERED in eyes. Just primo aesthetic. We get to see her from both Ghost Bird and Control's perspectives. Ghost Bird feels solidarity and a sort of euphoria meeting her alternate self. Control... basically breaks in the face of something like that, full cosmic horror style. Again, the contrast here is really appealing to me.

Both of their story arcs end in a way that is narratively satisfying, though the ending is open. The future seems hopeful in a bittersweet way, but presumably Area X has destroyed humanity as we know it. Whether that's a good or bad thing depends on your perspective and is a central thesis of the series.

So, I said I'd discuss how this series approaches aliens. While there's an appeal to anthropomorphic alien species one can talk to and communicate with, I think an "unknowable" perspective is more realistic. After all, who's to say alien life formed under similar conditions or has any resemblance to our own? The extraterrestrial element in The Southern Reach is very much this type. But it's a fine line to walk in fiction, because handwaving the weird alien stuff as impossible to comprehend (and thus conveniently ducking any responsibility for explaining it) is lazy writing when done wrong.

The thing I find interesting about this series is the human characters understand lots of the what of the alien elements, but not the why. For example, Area X transforms humans into various plants and animals. We know it instills a sense of "brightness" in humans exposed for too long, which encourages assimilation into itself. Humans infected in this way, even if horrified or resistant, have thoughts of this being inevitable, even a good thing. The biologist takes samples in Annihilation and finds several plants and animals have human cells. Control logically knows what Area X does to people, but he is ultimately helpless to resist the process when he experiences it firsthand.

As for the why of it all... we don't really know! There's multiple ideas presented throughout the story. Ghost Bird probably gets closest to the "truth"; that Area X is part of a machine organism from a dead alien civilization, and that it has a bizarre effect on Earth's biology based on its now defunct programming. Other worlds would have their own Area Xes based on this idea, as it's implied the Earth version is just one piece of many. But it's worth noting that Ghost Bird is a creation of Area X and sees things differently than the other characters. Unreliable narration is ironically consistent through the series. So it's hard to say if this is true or not; perhaps it's silly to think any explanation would be understandable to a human mind. Obsession with finding the answer is a recurring theme that drives characters insane. I think this is an interesting compromise when discussing the unknowable; to have some facts and theories but not necessarily a concrete answer. 

If I have a criticism for this book, it's the role of the "Séance and Science Brigade", especially in Saul's storyline. While they're set up earlier in the series, we only really see them in this book. Our limited perspective via Saul leaves a lot of ambiguity as to their purpose, function, and goals. There's an implication that Control's family influenced the organization's decision to sabotage the beacon and create Area X. But I consider the subplot with Control's mom/grandfather to be one of the weaker ones in the series, and this book didn't help. The S&SB comes off as campy and ineffectual, which is perhaps intentional? But since they're narratively the fanatics who caused Area X to happen, I really wish they felt more sinister and impactful. There's some attempt to make them scary, but it's not very convincing when compared to Area X. Kind of like a Saturday morning cartoon villain vs the unknowable cosmic horror of the universe. This is a nitpick, though.

While rereading the series, I discovered there's a planned fourth book which may or may not star a minor character from Saul's story. I'm interested to see what else there is to explore about Area X and the Southern Reach. As it stands, I still really like this series. Between the horror and general weirdness, it's not for everyone, but it sure does appeal to me. I think this is one of those series that you'll either adore or hate. Obviously I recommend it.

#taylor reads #2021 reading challenge #10/10 #long review lmao

[sachigram]

Truss chapter 2

((click here to read on ao3!))

Izaya never paid much attention to the whole “soulmate” thing. Throughout his life, he never cared about romance or relationships of any kind. His only friendship was against his will, and really, he just got bored of telling Shinra to fuck off after a while.

“I think you have selective hearing, Shinra,” Izaya said. The two of them were in the biology room, and Shinra had once again dismissed Izaya's tone of indifference. Shinra merely smiled widely at Izaya, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

“Maybe! Why would I want to hear all the mean stuff you say, anyway?” Shinra asked, and Izaya huffed.

“If you can hear that I'm being mean to you, you should pay attention.”

“Nah. It's not like you mean most of it.”

Izaya glared at the other boy for a moment. He never liked when Shinra pretended to know Izaya better than Izaya knew himself.

“How's your zombie girlfriend?” Izaya asked. He knew that would knock Shinra off his smug little pedestal. Celty kept rejecting all of Shinra's advances, which wasn't surprising, seeing as how Shinra was only in middle school.

“She keeps saying my soulmate is out there somewhere,” Shinra said woefully. He told Izaya a while ago that his mark was on his back, and Celty didn't have one. “She refuses to see me as anything other than a friend.”

“Mm. Sucks to be you,” Izaya said, pleased when Shinra wailed woefully.

“You're lucky, Izaya-kun! No mark! You can make your own decision. I wish I didn't have one.” Shinra wilted, a common occurrence when Celty was mentioned.

“Id make my own decision anyway,” Izaya said. “Being mated to someone sounds so boring. People put way too much stock into it. Some girl was crying earlier in class, did you see her? Apparently some guy she's in love with doesn't match her. Why care about it at all?”

“There's not an ounce of humility in you, is there?” Shinra asked, but he was smiling. He liked that about Izaya, and Izaya knew it. “Have some compassion! Just because you don't have a mark doesn't mean you don't have a mate, anyway. They'll just be harder to find.”

“I can't see myself ever looking for them, anyway.”

“Yeah, you don't really have any desire to meet new people. Oh, hey! I really wanna introduce you to my other friend! He's been really reluctant about it, too, but I think you two would get along really well!”

“I told you no already,” Izaya muttered. “You should respect your other friend's wishes.”

“Well,” Shinra said, unbothered. “You'll meet him eventually anyway. I'll make sure of it.”

***

Izaya wakes to the soft light of morning, and he hums in acknowledgment when he feels Shizuo's tongue on his neck. Shizuo is spooning him, his entire body almost rolled over Izaya's. Their need to touch hasn't waned in the least, and Izaya doesn't think it ever will.

“You're up early,” Izaya murmurs, enjoying the way Shizuo feels against him.

“You were dreaming,” Shizuo says. His hand lifts to move under Izaya's shirt, which is actually Shizuo's shirt. Izaya has taken to wearing them to bed. “Something about Shinra.”

“A bad dream, then,” Izaya says, gasping when Shizuo pinches his nipple. Sometimes they share dreams, other times they can see what the other is dreaming. Their bond keeps getting stronger no matter what Izaya does. It feels less and less like a choice every day.

“Was Shinra really your first kiss?” Shizuo asks, and Izaya grins, feeling the jealousy radiating off Shizuo.

That day in the biology room, after they argued a while about soulmates, Shinra begged Izaya to kiss him. Something about proving Shinra didn't have to abide by his mark; Izaya stopped listening to the reasons after Shinra wouldn't shut up. They shared a few chaste kisses, and after that day, it never happened again.

“Yes. He was persistent about it,” Izaya says, and Shizuo growls behind him.

“That little weasel. He never told me.”

“Why would he? We were just kids, Shizu-chan. We didn't even use tongue.”

“You liked each other, though,” Shizuo mutters, and he hugs Izaya to himself. “I could tell.”

“Don't spy on my dreams,” Izaya says, and he laughs when Shizuo forces him to roll over so they're facing each other.

“Like I'm trying to!” Shizuo snaps, glowering at Izaya. “Don't say 'spy', it makes me sound creepy.”

“It's pretty cute you're getting jealous about Shinra of all people,” Izaya says. “I already told you that you were my first. I didn't think earlier kisses mattered.”

“It's just that it was Shinra. We see him all the time!” Shizuo argues.

“And he's head over heels for Celty. Besides, I'm bound to you, anyway. We're incapable of being away from each other, Shizu-chan.”

It's true, and they both know it. Even when they're angry at each other, which happens a lot, they can't be apart for more than a day. When Shizuo is gone, Izaya can't eat, can't sleep, can barely function at all even before the sickness sets in. And then, when the headache comes, they have to find each other. Sometimes they'll curl up together and keep arguing, though it loses meaning when they're tangled from head to toe.

“I've been thinking we should try to train our bond,” Shizuo says. It's not the first time he's said it, but Izaya still doesn't like hearing it.

“Why?”

“Because we're bound together? Because...ugh! Because, Izaya! Wouldn't it be better to know how to work it rather than just seeing bits of each other at random?” Shizuo is frustrated, and even if Izaya wasn't looking at him, wasn't anywhere near him, Izaya would still know. It's radiating from Shizuo in waves. “Why are you still being stubborn about it?”

Jaw set, Izaya rolls away from Shizuo, and then out of bed. He can feel Shizuo wants him back, but that's nothing new. If up to their bond, they'd always be touching, always together. Izaya isn't ready for that, and he can't accept that Shizuo is. They're both separate people, independent people—

“Izaya,” Shizuo says. His voice doesn't sound angry anymore, which is actually worse somehow. “We aren't separate people. I know it's hard, but...”

“You don't know anything!” Izaya hisses, tearing Shizuo's shirt off himself like it's burning him. “You're just so ready to succumb to this stupid thing, but I'm not, okay?”

“Why are you so mad?” Shizuo asks, which is hilarious, coming from him. “I thought we were past this.”

“Past what?”

“You being an asshole about this!” Shizuo says, throwing his hands up. “For fuck's sake, Izaya, we sleep together almost every night, we argue a lot less, I told you I'm in love with you— What else do you want from me?!”

Izaya dresses hurriedly, refusing to look at Shizuo. He ignores the parts of himself that are screaming for him to return to the bed and seek refuge in Shizuo's arms. He can't, he won't, he doesn't want this!

“I want you to mean it,” Izaya mutters, and he leaves the apartment before Shizuo can follow him, though he knows Shizuo will follow him through their bond whether they're together physically or not.

***

The first time Izaya heard of a soul bond, he was intrigued.

He was in elementary school, listening to the teacher with rapt attention. He knew of soulmates already, and he wasn't really interested in them, but this was something else. The teacher was describing two people who literally couldn't be apart without suffering because of it. Some of the girls in class looked starry eyed, and Izaya heard one of them whisper to her friend that she hoped she was lucky enough to be bound to someone. Some of the boys looked just as awestruck, but Izaya was interested for a different reason.

He raised his hand.

“Yes, Orihara-kun?” The teacher asked. Many heads turned towards Izaya. “You have a question about soul bonds?”

“It seems cruel to me,” Izaya said. Silence greeted his statement, but he was used to that.

“It does? How so?” The teacher asked. She always tried to be patient with him, but he could tell he scared her. He often scared a lot of people without meaning to.

“Because they can never be away from each other. What if they weren't really in love? What if there was no desire to be together, but their bodies forced them? It's like a drug addiction, isn't it?”

There was a rustling around him, the fidgeting bodies of his classmates. Another familiar sound.

“A... A drug addiction?”

“Yes. A heroin addict doesn't want to be an addict, do they? Their body makes them dependent on it, and they're incapable of fighting after a while. How long can soul-bonded pairs be apart? Can the withdrawal kill them? Is—“

“Enough,” the teacher said, and Izaya fell silent. “This isn't like heroin, Orihara-kun, and you're too young to know about such a thing! This is another form of mating, of loving someone. It's not nearly as sinister as you're making it out to be.”

Izaya bit his tongue, tasted blood, and glared openly at the teacher. He wasn't making anything sinister, he was repeating exactly what she told him. If a hostage felt appreciation and love for their kidnapper, was that not Stockholm Syndrome? If there was no freedom, was that not complacency more than acceptance and desire?

“Yes, sensei,” he muttered, and she only looked at him a moment longer before continuing the lesson.

He didn't raise his hand again.

***

“Honestly, it seems cool to me. I dunno why you're fighting it so much,” Kadota says. He sips at the sake Shinra gave him and grins when Izaya glares over at him.

“Why do you know about it, Dota-chin?” Izaya asks, though he knows already. Shinra has the decency to look sheepish.

“Kadota-kun won't tell anyone! It slipped out!” Shinra says, and Izaya rolls his eyes.

“For your sake, I hope he doesn't tell anyone. If Kawisawa-chan finds out, I'm going to slit your throat. Your fate is in Dota-chin's manly hands.” Izaya sips his sake as well, though he's not in the mood to drink. He can feel Shizuo checking in on him tentatively, and it's annoying, but also charming in a way. Shizuo could take on an entire army of people, but he's wary of Izaya being mad at him.

“Trust me, if she finds out, I won't know peace anymore. I don't want to tell her,” Kadota says. “And stop calling me 'Dota-chin',” he adds in afterthought.

“Sorry, no can do. It suits you,” Izaya says, and he winks when Kadota glowers at him.

“You know it's pointless to fight it anyway,” Shinra says. “You keep fighting with Shizuo-kun and coming over, but there's nothing I can do to help.”

“I still blame you. We were doing fine before you had to tell us about the soul bond.” Izaya knows deep down that Shinra had nothing to do with it, but bothering Shinra about it is too much fun.

“I thought it was a good thing!” Shinra wails. “Or...the start of a good thing! I should've known you'd be as stubborn about it as ever.”

“I'm not being stubborn!” Izaya huffs, though he supposes he is. “I still have my own free will, you know. I'm not some mindless drone like one of those Saika zombies. I don't have to fawn over Shizu-chan and spam his name everywhere like some hapless lovesick high school student.”

“Isn't that what you've always done, though?” Shinra asks, and he yelps when Izaya throws a knife that pins Shinra's sleeve to the wall. “It was a joke! A joke!”

“You're an even worse comedian than you are a doctor, and that's saying something,” Izaya says, and then he holds his hand out. “Give me my knife back.”

“I don't think you're supposed to look at it as not having free will,” Kadota says, watching as Shinra tries to pry the knife loose from the wall. “It's more like...having someone who fits you. Even if you were dating someone and madly in love with them, you'd still be bound to Shizuo, so it would be sad for you and whoever you were with. You aren't really ever dating anyone though, so didn't it work out?”

“Izaya-kun knows all this already. You're talking to a brick wall,” Shinra grunts, toppling backwards when he finally wrenches the knife free. He stands, brushes himself off, and hands the knife back to Izaya, who immediately throws it back at Shinra, pinning his other sleeve. “Hey!”

“Shut up and I'll stop,” Izaya says. He sips at his sake, wincing as a sharp pain shoots through his skull. “Fuck.”

“Withdrawal headache?” Shinra asks.

“I've only been gone since this morning...” Izaya murmurs, rubbing his temples. “Maybe it's just a normal headache.”

“Mm, twelve hours is a long time for you two now that you're always together. The fact that you're fighting could've exacerbated the effects.”

“Should I call Shizuo?” Kadota asks, and Izaya groans.

“No. This just happens sometimes. It's nothing new.”

“But you look really rough,” Shinra says, and he finally frees himself from the wall. This time, he holds on to the knife.

“I said it's fine,” Izaya says, and he knows that miles away, Shizuo's head is pounding as well. Izaya can feel Shizuo's presence, a steady vibration in himself that seems to say, “What's wrong? Do you need me?” Izaya tries to send something negative in reply, but it hurts so badly, and he doesn't notice the concerned voices of Kadota and Shinra shouting his name before everything goes black.

***

After meeting Heiwajima Shizuo and getting him hit by a car, Izaya sat proudly at Shinra's table, legs crossed as Shinra cleaned and dressed his scratches. They were shallow, barely considered injuries at all, and Izaya found it funny that out of the two of them, Shizuo was the one who ended up worse off.

“I'm really sorry,” Shinra said, though he didn't seem sorry in the least. “I really thought you two would get along.”

“You should be sorry, introducing me to a bullying monster like that,” Izaya said. “He was really going to punch me for no reason. Did you see the look on his face when he saw I wasn't going to sit there and take it? It was hilarious!”

“He's usually not like that. I mean, he's always short-tempered, but he normally waits for a reason to attack someone. I guess he was having a bad day,” Shinra said.

“Yes, let's excuse his needless violence because he was sad. Boohoo, Shizu-chan, punch everyone in the vicinity with your monstrous strength and we'll look the other way,” Izaya said. Shinra frowned at him.

“Well, I guess I was wrong.” Shinra sighed. “I really wanted you to like him so I could have both my friends together! But I guess you'll be avoiding him from now on.”

“Why would I avoid him?” Izaya asked, and he smiled widely when Shinra gaped at him. “I think Shizu-chan and I will be seeing much more of each other. We're still having fun!”

“That's a scary face, Izaya-kun,” Shinra replied, but he was also smiling. He was never scared of Izaya, and that's one reason the two of them were able to mesh together so well. For every odd thing Izaya would say, Shinra would say something odd himself, and they were rarely surprised by each other anymore.

“That's assuming he survives, anyway,” Izaya continued. “I waited until he stood up to leave, but he still got hit by a truck. Your friend quantity might already be reduced by one.”

“Guess I'm stuck with you, then,” Shinra said, and then the door slammed open, revealing an extremely pissed off Shizuo, who was clearly alive and well.

“You're dead, you're dead, you motherfucker—!” Shizuo's voice was gaining volume, and Izaya merely grinned up at him, captivated. Celty ran in the room, stopping Shizuo's rampage, though Shizuo continued to shout obscenities.

“See?” Izaya asked Shinra, glancing over at him. “He's crazy about me.”

***

Izaya wakes with a weak moan. His headache is gone, but he feels weak, clammy. He looks down and sees a hand in his, and he doesn't have to think about who it is.

“Shizu-chan...” he mutters, and there's the sound of a chair scooting closer across the floor.

“Do you need some water?” Shizuo asks, squeezing Izaya's fingers.

“No. Ugh, what time is it? What happened?”

“It's around ten, I think. Shinra said you passed out from withdrawal.”

“You didn't?” Izaya asks.

“No. My head hurt like hell, though. It's never been that sudden before. I ran all the way here.”

Izaya opens his eyes again and looks up at Shizuo, who is leaning on the bed, but keeping a respectable distance between them. Izaya remembers they fought earlier, but he gives Shizuo a pleading look and opens his arms all the same. Shizuo stands and climbs in bed beside Izaya, wrapping around him.

“You still mad?” Shizuo asks. He watches as Izaya undoes the buttons of his vest and then his white button-down.

“I wasn't mad to begin with,” Izaya mutters, burying his face into Shizuo's bare chest. Shizuo's scent is so strong there, and Izaya likes feeling wrapped up in the same shirt with Shizuo.

“I wish you'd at least think about practicing how to use our link more. If we could know when we're doing it, it'd come in handy. Right now we're just projecting random shit at each other. I think if we could talk through it more often, we'd be able to last longer before we need to see each other again,” Shizuo says.

“Mm, who knew you were so eager to have more time away from me,” Izaya says, and he means it as a joke, but Shizuo growls and hugs him tighter, tight enough to hurt.

“Izaya, just fucking stop it, okay? You get mad when I say I want you around more, and you get upset when I try to give you space. You're attached to me, so I know you can feel I mean it when I say I love you. I don't know why you're so dead set on not believing me, but it's a real pain in the ass.”

Izaya could say a lot of things to that, could point out that Shizuo is still using the term “need” more than “want”, could mention, once again, that they're both stuck together whether they love each other or not, or he could refuse to work on mastering their link for no reason other than pure stubbornness. Instead, he noses against Shizuo's skin and slides his hands under the back of Shizuo's shirt, hiding against him as if Shizuo can protect him from the futility of fighting the laws of the universe.

“Sorry,” Izaya murmurs, and Shizuo sighs softly before tugging him back and kissing him on the forehead.

“Don't be sorry. Just listen to me every once in a while, okay? I know I don't know a lot, but I know I want to be with you, and it sucks that you'd rather torture yourself and pass out from pain than be with me, too.”

“I do want to be with you,” Izaya says, because he knows Shizuo will feel it anyway. Izaya can feel himself projecting it, can feel it's in every breath he takes. “Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me.”

Shizuo hums. “Then that's really all that matters, right?”

***

It's a slow process.

Soul bonds are incredibly rare, and there isn't much of a guide for them to follow as far as speaking to each other purposely sharing things through their link. Sometimes it's easy, and it happens without them even really trying, but then other times it feels like Shizuo is far away from Izaya even when they're sitting right next to each other.

“Don't look so forlorn!” Shinra says, patting Izaya on the bare shoulder. Izaya finds it's easier to project onto Shizuo when more of their skin is touching, so neither of them are wearing a shirt, but Shinra made them separate before trying again this time. “You're both really getting a lot better!”

“Don't touch him!” Shizuo snaps, and Shinra immediately puts his hands up in surrender.

“Shizu-chan, you're being ridiculous,” Izaya says, glaring at Shizuo from across the room. “You're jealous of a middle school kiss.”

“You told him about that?!” Shinra yelps, and he hides behind Izaya.

“No, he saw it in a memory of mine. He snoops, you know? Especially when I'm sleeping.”

“I don't snoop! You project them! You shove your dreams at me 'cause you won't fucking stop squeezing me to death while you sleep!” Shizuo argues, and Izaya raises his hand as if to wave Shizuo's words away.

“I see your dreams too, you know. I just don't comment on them because they're idiotic, usually involving you punching things. I can see that in reality just as easily,” Izaya says, and Shizuo stands, stomping over to Izaya. Shinra wisely shuffles away from them.

“Guys, fighting really isn't what we're working on! Why don't we calm down and you two can touch for this one, okay? You seem to like that much more.”

“I don't wanna touch his flea body,” Shizuo huffs, but he lifts Izaya from his chair and twirls them around so Izaya is sitting in Shizuo's lap. Once their skin touches, Izaya feels all the desire to annoy Shizuo evaporate, and Shizuo's tense shoulders go slack with ease.

“Okay, good,” Shinra says. “Now then, try again, Shizuo-kun. Think of a number between one and fifty and see if Izaya-kun can read what it is through your link.”

Grumbling, Shizuo presses his face into Izaya's neck, and Izaya can feel Shizuo's hot breath on his skin, can feel the warmth of Shizuo's arms around him, and can feel the comfort between them from being close, but he doesn't sense any number.

“Anything?” Shinra asks.

“No,” Izaya says, and Shizuo growls.

“It's because there's so much stuff in your head already!” Shizuo says, glowering up at Izaya. “I can tell you're just thinking all the time, about everything!”

Izaya blinks at him. “Are you saying I think too much for you?”

“Yes! It's not normal to constantly have racing thoughts like that! I can barely filter them out, and when I do, I just think of some random word in Russian that I've never heard, or I think of some recipe— It's all the time with you.”

“Well, let me think about things you can understand, like violence and grunting and junk food and trash TV—“

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!”

“Okay!” Shinra says, waving his arms. “Let's focus! Shizuo-kun said something interesting, actually!”

“What?” Shizuo asks, still glaring at Izaya. Izaya wants to hit Shizuo and also to kiss him, and he doesn't know if those are his own desires, or the ones Shizuo is projecting.

“You said you thought in Russian, sometimes?”

“Oh, yeah, just, you know...random words. Never anything important. I'll be working and a word will pop in my head, and Vorona will translate it.”

“That's so cool!” Shinra says, then he gets misty eyed. “Oh, I wish I could share things like that with Celty. You two are really taking this for granted!”

“I need a smoke break,” Shizuo mutters. He stands up and sets Izaya back in the chair before stomping out to the little balcony of Shinra's apartment and closing the door behind him.

“You shouldn't antagonize him. He's trying,” Shinra says, and Izaya crosses his arms across his chest and sinks lower into the chair.

“I'm trying, too!”

“You know, I think it's just that you both had such a...tempestuous relationship before. Both of you have walls up, and it's going to take a long time to work through that. I think it's good you're trying, though.”

Izaya glances up at Shizuo's back through the window, and he reaches out through their link in an equivalent of a tug. He exhales shakily when he feels Shizuo clinging tightly to him in return.

***

At least with sex, they can be on the same page.

Their bond doesn't require sex, doesn't even ask of it them, though it does thrive between them when they're intimate. As long as they're close, they can fight withdrawal, but when their skin is pressed together, and Shizuo slides inside Izaya's body, Izaya really can understand why everyone says soul-bonded pairs are two halves of one soul.

Everything Shizuo feels, thinks, loves, Izaya can feel it, and Shizuo's pleasure is as pressing as his own. Like this, it's hard for Izaya to tell which of them he even is anymore. It seems ridiculous to fight at all when they can be one like-minded soul.

“Izaya— Fuck, Izaya, I love you, I fucking—“ Shizuo pants, and Izaya writhes underneath him before coming, his body trembling as Shizuo keeps moving, chasing his own orgasm.

“Shizu-chan...” Izaya murmurs. His nails press into Shizuo's back, and he can feel it in his skin as if the crescent indentations have appeared on his back, as well. “I'm yours, I'm yours...!” The words feel pried from Izaya's lips, but they're true all the same, and Shizuo comes inside Izaya with a startled gasp that resembles a sob.

Izaya wonders if sex will always be this intense between them. The first time they had each other, it was over quickly, even by virginal standards. It had less to do with their stamina and more to do with the intensity of it, the feeling of their souls becoming one. Both of them love being together like this, and Izaya takes solace in the fact that they want to have sex and feel this level of intimacy, not that their bond requires it from them.

“God...” Shizuo's voice is muffled in Izaya's shoulder. “Don't think I'll ever get used to this...”

“Mm...” Izaya agrees. He traces patterns in Shizuo's back and soothes over the scratches he left. “Hey, Shizu-chan. What number am I thinking of?”

Shizuo nuzzles at him. “Sixty-nine?” he asks, and Izaya giggles.

“Yes. Good guess.”

“Wasn't guessing,” Shizuo says, and then he lifts his head and licks into Izaya's mouth.

***

Izaya thought it was a familiar scene, but he knew he'd never been there himself.

The store was a wreck, glass and debris from the wall thrown around, and there were men buried, as well as a pretty woman. All of them were unconscious. Above them, panting and crying, stood a small boy with mousy brown hair. He turned when Izaya took a step forward.

“Who are you?” Shizuo asked, and Izaya took a good look at him. He never knew Shizuo as a kid, but he'd know Shizuo anywhere, even with different hair and snot running down his face. Izaya has had this dream before, but he was seeing it through Shizuo's eyes. He was never able to interact with Shizuo before now.

“Orihara Izaya,” Izaya said, and he could tell from his voice that he was a kid, too. He looked down at himself, saw some neon bandages on his bare knee.

“You should go,” Shizuo said. He looked back at the scene. “I think I'm about to get in bad trouble.”

“Oh, that's okay,” Izaya said with a shrug. “I like trouble.”

Shizuo frowned at him and sniffled a bit, rubbing at his wet face. He only succeeded in smearing dirt everywhere.

“Do I know you?” he asked.

“No. Not yet, anyway. We don't meet until later.”

“Later?” Shizuo asked, and he looked so confused and so sad. Izaya took a few steps towards him, crunching glass as he walked.

“Yes, later. I guess this is your memory I'm in. I've been here before, but not as myself.” He looked at the woman.

“I was trying to help her,” Shizuo said, and his voice was pleading. “No one ever believes me, but I really didn't mean to do this.”

“I believe you,” Izaya said. “It's okay.”

Shizuo sobbed, dropping the pole he was holding. He covered his face with his hands and cried into them.

“It's not okay! Everything always turns out like this! I can't control myself! I wanted to help her because she was nice to me and I liked her, and I hurt her just as badly as those guys might have!”

“You're just a kid, Shizu-chan,” Izaya said with a shrug. “Believe me when I say she'll be fine.” Izaya stepped closer until he was beside Shizuo, and he blinked when he felt Shizuo grab at his sleeve and tug.

“Will you stay with me until my parents get here? I think my little brother went to call them and the police...” Shizuo said. Izaya wondered to himself what this would have been like in reality, if they really met back then, like this, long before high school.

“No one will come. This already happened, remember? But yes, I'll stay with you.”

“I know you, don't I?” Shizuo asked, squinting at him. “You're...”

“Your soulmate,” Izaya said, and he grinned when Shizuo gaped at him. “We don't meet for a long time. We don't find out we're bonded for even longer than that.”

“Bonded,” Shizuo murmured, his eyes full of wonder. He reached down and found Izaya's hand with his own. “And you...like being with me?”

“It's hard for me,” Izaya said honestly, and he tapped Shizuo on the nose when Shizuo looked hurt. “I loved you before we knew about our bond. It's hard for me to accept you can love me so suddenly.”

“Why?” Shizuo asked, and Izaya clicked his tongue. This was pointless, wasn't it? In this memory, Shizuo was just a kid with no idea about anything yet to pass.

“Because, it's... When you're bound, you have to be together. It hurts you when you aren't. I guess I just... Even later on, when you tell me you want me around, I still think you're lying.”

“I don't think it's a lie,” Shizuo said, and he scrunched up his face in thought. “I'd be real happy if I had a soulmate like you.”

“Oh, yeah?” Izaya asked, raising a brow.

“You aren't scared of me, I can tell. And I like how you talk.” Shizuo stopped talking suddenly, and then he looked down at his hand in Izaya's. “I never thought anyone would want to be around me. And you love me, you said? You mean it?”

“Yes,” Izaya said, and he gasped when Shizuo plowed into him, still ridiculously strong even as a child. Shizuo hugged him tightly, and Izaya struggled to breathe, but he didn't try to get free.

“You have to keep loving me, okay? I'm not really smart, and I say a lot of stupid things, and I... I get real mad a lot. I don't mean to. If I'm mean to you in the future, it's just 'cause I don't know what I'm supposed to do or say.” Shizuo clung to him. “But you have to keep loving me, 'cause no one else ever will.”

“Don't be stupid,” Izaya said. “A lot of people love you. It's almost sickening, how many of them there are.”

“But they aren't like you. I can tell.” Shizuo pulled back to look at him, and suddenly they were both older, Raijin uniforms on their bodies, Russia Sushi in the background. The sun made Shizuo's blond hair even brighter. “No one else has ever been like you, so believe me when I say I love you, okay?”

“Shizu-chan...”

“And you have to keep loving me, too. You have to promise.”

“I do. I do, and I always have, and I'm just... I'm fucking scared, okay? I'm scared of this,” Izaya said, and he felt his lips were trembling. “I never wanted anyone to have this power over me. I don't know how to control it.”

“I'm scared, too,” Shizuo said. “But I'm not scared of you.”

“I'm not scared of you, either.”

Shizuo shrugged, and then he grinned. “So then stop thinking so much about it, you shitty flea.”

***

Izaya wakes with a soft gasp. He looks over at Shizuo, who is blinking awake and giving him a sleepy smile.

“Same dream,” Shizuo murmurs, and he kisses Izaya gently.

“You were a cute kid, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says, and Shizuo snorts.

“Yeah? So were you. You were so fucking little.” Shizuo pulls him closer. “You're still little. Flea-like.”

“Ha ha.”

“I wish I knew you back then. Maybe if we met on our own, just out in the world, we could've been friends a lot sooner.”

“Is that what we are now? Friends?” Izaya asks, and he's grinning playfully.

“Yep. Since we started fucking, though, I think maybe we messed it up,” Shizuo replies.

“Mm...” Izaya lifts his hand and traces little lines in Shizuo's cheek, and Shizuo catches Izaya's hand and kisses the pads of his fingers.

“I love you.”

Izaya blinks in surprise. He heard that as easily as if Shizuo said it out loud, and he can feel in their bond that Shizuo means it, and has meant it every time.

“I love you, too,” Izaya says quietly, and Shizuo beams at him.

“Fuckin' better. You promised me.”

“I did,” Izaya agrees, and he curls closer to Shizuo. They drift off again, sharing another dream, and in the dream itself, and in reality, they can reach out, knowing the other is right there.

#truss fic #shizaya #soulmate #soul bonds #separation anxiety #touch withdrawal #i will always headcanon that shinra was izaya's first kiss lmao

[iturbide]

Character Breakdown! - Marianne 💖 and Dorothea

MY GIRLS

How do I feel about this character?

I love her.  I love this gentle girl who has gone through so much pain and hardship, who’s lost her parents to what she believes is a curse that she shares, who is afraid of herself as much as she fears the hatred of those around her.  I can’t tell you how many times I started talking to my screen while going through her supports, because you’re wrong Marianne you do deserve happiness you are good at things I believe in you even if you don’t believe in yourself.  She’s very relatable, honestly, with her shyness coupled with self-deprecation as a defense mechanism to keep people away, not to mention the deep depression; again, mental health issues are generally a taboo thing in media, so I was more than a little shocked when I got her A support and realized just what she’d been praying so fervently to the Goddess for.  But I also love that about her: she held strong, and she made it through to a better place, which is such a wonderfully hopeful story for anyone with similar struggles, showing that things can get better if you just hold on.  

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

I have an answer this time and technically I spoiled it in an earlier character breakdown.  Because it’s Dimitri.  I love these two broken people and the idea of them managing to support each other, using one another as an anchor to keep from falling further and slowly pulling themselves back out of the lonely places they’ve fallen, both with the other’s help and with the other in mind.  I think they would make a wonderful pair since they understand the other’s struggles so deeply, and I’m aiming for their paired endcard in my AM run in progress.

Also, not gonna lie, I do low-key ship her with Hilda because cotton candy girlfriends.  I just think they’re sweet and I love how Marianne laughs in their A support, how bright and open and cheerful it sounds.  It just does my heart good.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Marianne deserves to have so many friends.  Aside from Claude (who is friends with just about everyone, this is non-negotiable with me), I really love her supports with Ignatz, and how he’s so gentle in coaxing her out of her shell and reassuring her that he enjoys sharing time with her.  They’re sweet, and I love their friendship dearly.  Also, surprisingly, Lorenz is another one who comes to mind; their A support was one of those that hit me right in the heart, and the fact that he’s so conscious of her feelings and urges her not to force herself to talk about things that upset her makes me think they would be very close friends, with Lorenz looking out for her and even running casual interference for her when she gets overwhelmed before inviting her to tea so she can calm down.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

Okay so I know that Fandom loves the idea that Marianne is Berkut and Rinea’s kid.  And my unpopular opinion is that that is a terrible, terrible thing to do to her.  

It’s not that I don’t find the idea appealing, because in all honesty, I do.  The notion that Berkut and Rinea, or some reinarnations of them, had another chance in Fodlan and fell in love and had a daughter is delightful, and I would love to see it.  But let’s not forget that canonically, Marianne’s parents disappeared and are presumed dead, deeply traumatizing her and leaving her terrified of her own Brand and the monster she might become.  After what happened with Berkut and Rinea in Valentia, having them meet a fate that scars their daughter so utterly in another land and another life is utterly devastating, so I would much, much rather have her parents be anyone else than see these lives destroyed again and in the process destroy their child’s peace of mind.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Okay so this is maybe a weird one but I wish she could appear in every route even if you don’t recruit her.  Because I obsessively collect every student I can recruit in my own runs, I’ve had to do a fairly substantial amount of digging for fic writing purposes, but everywhere I look for non-VW runs...you don’t see Marianne.  She doesn’t appear at Gronder in AM, nor does she appear at Myrddin or Derdriu in CF.  And while it’s entirely possible that her absence has a benign cause...well, if you’ve read her Supports, there’s a far more likely, far more dire explanation -- and that thought breaks my heart like little else.  So I wish she could have appeared somewhere over the course of non-VW routes, just so that we can see she made it through her depression and found something to cling to.  Even if it does open up the possibility that she might fall on the battlefield, the idea that she might have fallen outside it where no one could see or know hurts somehow worse.

and of course the diva herself

How do I feel about this character?

Glorious.  Stunning.  Inspired.  Dorothea is a phenomenal character, someone who I endlessly enjoy seeing and talking to through the game.  She’s cultivated this perfect image of herself for the monastery to see, but as you get to know her the truth is so heartfelt: while she comes across as just a girl looking to find a husband during her time at Garreg Mach, she came from nothing, enduring abuse during her life on the streets of Enbarr before she was found by chance and brought into the Mittelfrank Opera Company; she’s terrified of going back to that when her looks and her voice no longer pass muster, and she’s looking out for her future with a keen and critical eye, even though she has no real expectations of finding love through it.  And this can all come out before the timeskip, no less: afterward it’s...honestly a little heartbreaking, to see how deeply the war has affected her.  

While Marianne has found something to fight for and managed to get her depression in check, Dorothea has gone in the opposite direction, seeming to succumb to depression instead.  The war has had a dire effect on her mentality, such that she feels it’s stripped her of all but the ability to survive (”only thorns left on this rose,”) and so many of her lines and comments just feel bleak and lost.  There aren’t that many characters in 3H who really embody the impact that war can have on people, because so many of the characters are stepping up specifically to fight for what they believe in and holding strong to their resolve for the sake of their loved ones and their homes.  Dorothea is the standout example of someone who’s fighting just to make this all stop, because she can’t take it anymore.  The war affects her so deeply, in ways that it doesn’t seem to hit other students, and I end up feeling like she more than anyone is at risk in the War Phase because of it. 

Her character is just very raw and very powerful in surprising ways and I love her.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

hhhhhh

it’s Lorenz okay

It’s always been Lorenz and you know what I’m already under the cut so just skip to the next header if you don’t want to read my long rambling explanation of where the fuck this comes from.

So in my first playthrough (Golden Deer forever), I spent...roughly 170 hours getting to the end.  This is almost entirely because I played on Normal mode and did an endless number of auxiliary battles grinding supports between all the characters -- and since I did, in fact, go the extra mile of recruiting every single student and professor I could in my first playthrough, I had a lot of characters to work with.  (I actually still missed out on some because I didn’t unlock their C’s soon enough -- Marianne with Ashe and Ingrid with Annette didn’t get unlocked until my next run since I knew what to look out for.)  This is a big part of how I ended up liking Lorenz in the first place: I worked through all his supports this way, and saw the full measure of him rather than just writing him off after how rough his C supports were mostly across the board.

Out of all his different supports, though, there were three in particular that stood out to me: Leonie, Mercedes, and Dorothea.  With Leonie, he learned to relax his strict notions of separation between nobles and commoners and accept the idea of friendship with her as equals.  From Mercedes, he got rightly scolded about treating commoners as beneath his notice and unworthy of consideration where marriage was concerned, and rightly corrected when he floated the idea of marrying her since it continues to fall in line with valuing nobility and Crests over personal character.  And in Dorothea, he absolutely met his match: not only is she someone who has near-identical motives in her quest for a spouse (not necessarily looking for romance so much as the perks that come with an advantageous marriage), but she’s someone capable of playing him directly, playing his emotions to reveal the folly of his mindset.  The way he laughs in their A support...I don’t think he laughs like that anywhere else.  It’s open and it’s earnest and it’s joyous, even as he concedes that she has utterly bested him.

And that, really, is what sold me on them.  Having grown so much over the course of those years, having met so many people who affected him and broadened his view of the world, when Dorothea bested him at his own game, I think he really did fall for her in truth, rather than just admiring her beauty and her craft.  In the end, both of them get everything they wanted and more: Dorothea gets the reassurance that she’ll be taken care of for the rest of her life, Lorenz can boast if he wants about marrying the star diva of the Mittalfrank Opera...but more than that, they’re equally matched as partners, both bringing different strengths to the table to improve conditions in the Alliance for everyone (and especially the commoners), and able to engage in productive back and forth with one another, challenging the other thoughtfully and coming to agreements and compromises on good terms.  I love how well-matched they are and how well their personalities play off each other and I think that they could have an incredibly powerful, productive partnership.

...also I totally ship her with Petra too because their supports are fantastic and also Petra is wonderful and deserves the best.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Ferdinand von Aegir.  I love their supports so much and how he goes out of his way to try to understand her perspective, and changes her understanding of him as a person in the process.  She understandably has things to work through, given their history and her own misconceptions about him back then, but I love the idea of them banding together as dear friends who do their best to support each other as best they can.  Also, Dorothea and Bernie is a delight, and I love the idea of Dorothea keeping in touch and helping to draw Bernie out of her shell bit by tiny bit.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

Are.  Are there popular opinions about Dorothea?  I actually don’t see that many character impressions about her: most of what I see is fanart, and it mostly seems to be because she’s pretty.  I guess if I had any unpopular opinion, just based on the way I usually see her on my dash, it’s that she’s a whole heck of a lot more than just a pretty face: she’s cutthroat when she needs to be, incredibly capable as a fighter as much as a singer, and would probably make an excellent spy if the situation called for it.  I don’t think it’s fair that she’s treated mostly as eye candy when the truth is that her character is so much deeper than shallow beauty, both before and after the timeskip.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

This is silly but I wish we could have heard her sing more.  The only real song we hear from her if I’m remembering right is in her supports with Edelgard, where she improvises a few lines about the Empress-to-be.  And her voice is glorious!  I would have loved to hear her sing more, rather than getting so much from Manuela (which was...pretty painful, honestly, I do not care for her singing voice at all).  Especially considering how important singing is to her, not just as a former opera diva but just as a part of her life in general, it feels like a shame that we couldn’t hear her sing more throughout the game, either in her Supports or even in the choir sections at the monastery.

Give Me a Character  

#answered #fallingfruitfish #meme #fire emblem: three houses #marianne #dorothea #my girls deserve nothing but the best #this got way out of hand though so be warned #and don't feel obligated to read the long sections if you don't want to #i just have no concept of brevity

[fantastic-bby]

Books & Poems I love

Hello, I am just dumping my favourite books and poems here because I like them and I want people to read them too bcs they're cool. Disclaimer: I haven't read some of these books in a REALLY long time, so the explanations might be a bit off since this is mostly what I remember from when I had read them. All will be under the cut and I hope someone out there finds these as enjoyable as I do!

Books

1. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn’t shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people’s survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls’ destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

I cannot express how much I adore this book. It's so well-written and the entire book feels like such an adventure to read. I have to warn everyone who will read this that it is quite violent. I also love the WLW inclusion which is carried throughout the story. It's also mentioned in the beginning that Kaede does not want to marry a prince because she could never marry a man. It's filled with lots of romance and it's fantasy because I'm a sucker for fantasy reads.

My sister had bought this book for me after I had lost my first copy and my cat peed on my second copy. The first time, I had bought it from a Big Bad Wolf sale in about 2014. The second, I ordered it through Kinokuniya, but I'm pretty sure you can get it off of Amazon as well.

2. Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Never, ever cry . . .

Seventeen-year-old Eureka won't let anyone close enough to feel her pain. After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning. She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean.

And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea. Suddenly her mother's death and Ander's appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don't make sense.

Can everything you love be washed away?

This is also a book that I've read multiple times. I've even read the sequel, Waterfall, but I don't think I actually got around to finishing it since I bought it right before my exams. Another love and fantasy novel, it covers a lot of grieving and pain that Eureka goes through after losing her mother and at one point, she actually wishes it was her that had died during the accident.

Her relationship with Ander is quite sudden since he just shows up out of nowhere and just happens to know practically everything about her. I, personally, enjoy this book out of the amount of angst that it's filled with. It's very well-written and I still have the first copy that I bought at the same Big Bad Wolf sale that I had gotten Huntress. I think I had gotten the sequal at Kinokuniya as well (?), but I'm not entirely sure because it's been a really long time.

3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time--and to find a future with the one boy she thought she's lost forever.

Another very angsty book. It centres around Juliette, a girl who, for some reason, kills everyone she touches. It's also written in First POV and in the format of a journal. It feels more personal because some of the lines are striked through to show a thought that Juliette had in the moment of writing that she decided to replace with a different approach instead.

The beginning is basically Juliette being locked away in some sort of a prison because of her 'gift' and she writes to keep herself from going crazy, but then one day some guy is put into the same cell as her. It's another romance novel and also a kind of superhero novel It also gets pretty... ahem... seggsy... at one point, but it's a good read.

I've read the entire series aside from Restore Me. I have it, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Shatter Me is also from the same Big Bad Wolf sale as the other two lol. Juliette is also trapped in a love triangle at one point, but I won't get into it. It also gets a bit violent, but slightly less graphic than Huntress is and is also another 'self-discover' kinda book. (can you see a theme here that I read lol)

4. Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

Four teenagers escape from their prison-like boarding schools to take up the fight against the tyrannical government that murdered their parents fifteen years earlier. But only three of the friends make it safely to Jahn's restaurant, the headquarters of a secret resistance movement, where they discover the astonishing power that one voice can have in the fight for freedom.

As the battle rages, the three friends are in a race against time to save their companion, who has been forced to participate in a deadly, ancient game for the amusement of his captors. Will this new generation prevail, or are they destined to meet the same grisly fate as their parents?

This is also extremely angsty. It's also pretty violent as well, so that's a warning for whoever will read this. Once again, well-written, nice flow to the story and I just really like this book. There's a lot of uncovering in the book that makes you go HUH because the four students end up uncovering a lot about their government and the secrets that involve the four of them.

It has a very heavy dark tone to it, which I really enjoy. It's a bit different from the other three which is less fantasy and more of a dystopian book. It's a very heroic, determination feeling that follows the students as they journey throughout the book. Also something that follows the students are a group of dog-men... things... that I'm pretty sure I actually had small nightmares imagining when I had read this in around 2013 or 2014.

Poems

Disclaimer: Half of these were poems I did essays on in high school aside from L. These are my illustrations of it and they're the ones that stood out to me when I had first read them.

1. Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I read this in high school when I was taking English Literature. It's a poem that Wordsworth wrote after his wife had passed away. I love the way it's written and William Wordsworth is one of my favourite poets. It's filled with the feeling of being lost and rediscovering the joys of the small things in life. There's a lot of imagery that refers to the flower, daffodil, and overall, it's just a a very soft themed poem.

I think the reason this poem stood out to me was because I was feeling a bit lost at the time I read it (the end of highschool) and I was desperately trying to find something I could relate to in some way.

2. Winter by Andrew Young

Another one that contains a lot of imagery. It's a poem about the beauty of Winter and how, while it's seen as a dark and gloomy season, it has hidden beauties that you can see if you're able to look past the initial image of it.

This poem in particular, I'm pretty sure I have a soft spot for in my heart mainly because of the soft spot I have for Winter in general.

3. London by William Blake

This is a more dark toned poem. It covers what old London used to be like with the raging poverty at the time. A lot of child labour and sex workers that would struggle with making money when they would accidentally get pregnant.

It's quite a depressing poem that I like because of the dark undertone and I, personally, really enjoy William Blake's works.

4. L by Bernice Chauly

L is a poem about how her daughter had cut her hair right after going to the hairdressers. While Chauly's daughter is crying when she yells at her, Chauly is reminded of when she had done something similar when she had just turned five years old. She thinks back to it and remembers that, at the time, all she wanted was to see her late father.

This is also more heavy set and it makes me think of the way children must feel when they lose their parents at such young ages.

#books #poems #literature #reading material

[homestuckexamination]

What do you think about the characters becoming who they are in epilogues and HS2 like Dirk, Jane, etc.

For them, as people, it’s a step in the wrong direction. Dirk succumbed to the multiplicity of Bad Selves he’d been trying to fight back against for years due to Bullshit Ultimate Ascension Shenanigans. Jane fell for toxic systems of old Earth, mixed with a good slathering of biases stemming from subliminal influences and a wrong reconciliation with her Aspect that Maids go through. They’re not irredeemably evil, though. Dirk is afraid to show weakness, doubts and fear and tries to cover it up with a mean brand of narcissism. Jane pushes away her doubts through sheer stubbornness and doubling down on what she’s doing through emotional outbursts. They’ve gone really far, SPECIALLY Candy Jane, but also they don’t mark an unchangeable and inherent evil in their characters, just a bad road taken, a lack of communication with the people they used to care about. It’s painful to see them fall for their worst flaws.

As characters though it’s kind of really cool for me, I actually love Dirk’s verbosity and his justifications for his actions, while embracing the role of the Villain, and Jane going off the deep end and mirroring Condy’s ideals and Aesthetics, to the point of being called the Batterwitch? That’s fascinating to explore.

Other than them though, each character develops in different ways. Jade, isolated all her life, starts to crave excitement and action and other people, and I love love love love her new characterization personally, but you all know that. She’s made some major mistakes in Candy, yes, but I adore the... I don’t know. Open bluntness of her? Taking no shit attitude? All packaged into a still extremely-loving dog girl that adores her friends and family.

Rose, manipulated in Meat? Heart-wrenching, missing Kanaya but trying to justify ‘her own’ actions. In Candy? Spur of the moment decisions, past mistakes. Inability for foresight. But still a deep care for her friends, and now, the conflict with the wife whom she loves so much, but whose trust she’s betrayed and couldn’t DARE to tell her for over a decade, in fear of the retaliation. Unable to face the consequences. What a disaster of a woman, I love her.

Kanaya? Heart-broken, Rose taken away by Dirk in Candy, she sets out on a Galactic Quest, pinning over her, to get her back, rescue her. In Meat? A rebel leader, fighting for the freedom of Trolls, alongside her wife, and just having found about this major breach of trust. Angry, but trying to be understanding, a balancing act of high emotions, with knowing their love for each other has not faltered, but will need time to mend. The drama-

Dave and Karkat? Comfortable, domestic, in Meat, but complacent with the little pocket they have built for them, eventually pushed too far by Dirk, and deciding to take matters into their own hands before others can push them to it of their own accord. Actively dating, and searching for Rose, and Dirk. In Candy, lovers, split. Karkat cannot leave his race to suffer again, not like in Alternia. And he doesn’t want Dave and Jade to risk their lives. Dave, who keeps pinning after him, even with Jade by his side, Jade, who stays with him to cheer him up, because he lost Dirk, too, and knows it doesn’t work as a relationship, but can’t simply abandon him. And in the end, he just can’t, he succumbs to an offer from another Dirk, and finds catharsis in Other Iterations of Himself, led down a path of Narrative Relevance, but abandoning those he seemed to care so much about in the process.

Jake, oh poor Jake. He gets a rough deal, complacency, inaction, a lack of drive to push forward, he remains rather static. Dumped and manipulated by Dirk, in Meat, is left lost and aimless. Making bad choices in Candy, ending up in a loveless and abusive marriage, but eventually, oh, eventually, better late than never, takes his Kid from Jane, and stays by her side as a counter-spy attempting to outdo her. He hasn’t done much yet. But he’s in a fantastic position to actually show some drive for his family, and stop Jane from doing something even more awful.

John, depressive, isolated, fated to fight a fight he doesn’t want to and die in one Timeline, and stuck seeing a surreal and fake reality on the other. Aware that something is ever so slightly OFF with Candy, it consumes him, as the Heir of Breath he is, detaches himself once more from those he loves- But finds catharsis thanks to Jake, the drive to actually talk things out. Revelations, introspection, the slow return to form of the Protagonist, the realization that there may be more in them than they ever thought there was.

Roxy... The exploration of their gender. In Meat, leaning transmasc, non-binary, trying something that feels right for him. Friendly and open to those around him, going through his own journey of self-discovery. In Candy, they don’t transition. Finding solace in a familiar structure, she is stuck in complacency. Inaction. Not standing up to Jane and trying to gloss over that things will just work out! They won’t. She cares deeply for her family, and has found a purpose and happiness in trying to just, be a good Mom. One she never had herself. And although those potential feelings are still in there, isn’t life about being happy with what you’re doing, rather than torn up about what could have been? Mistakes can be made, bad things can happen, but... You keep pressing on.

Terezi, fuuuuuuck. Her pinning for Vriska? Vriska, stuck in Candy, isolated from contacting with her. Giving up on Vriska JUST as Vriska would’ve tried to contact her. Unable to let go of Dead John, clinging to him still. No place for her on Earth-C, no home to return to, torn up about her feelings, she joins the Narratively Relevant Journey of Dirk and Rose, only to find what she’s seeing is two broken up people who try to act tough, but are entirely unsure of what they’re doing. She’s trying to make Rose See, but those robot eyes of hers are too closed. Pitch feels arise. A fling, to try and stave off the need for a connection they both have lost.

Calliope, poor sweet dear Calliope. A Muse of Space. In both Timelines, cast aside. Ending up an Observer of what’s going on. Unable to assert their want to still be with Roxy, and ending up scared away by Alt Calliope, they at least seem to have been with her and Harry off-screen, so she’s probably Harry’s cool alien... Aunt? Gender-neutral aunt. In Meat, shocked out of their wits by Callie’s Jade-possession. Venting through gruesome art- Maybe even influencing the Candy Timeline unknowingly, which would explain so much of the Candy Timeline in general... Jade is now awake in the ship, and they may stop being so reclusive and coming back into the picture, which may also mark a shift in some things, as the scared, horrified fan regains their trust on the story, and takes on a more positive outlook on what’s to come.

Like I would love of they were all HAPPY on EARTH-C and exploring these things in healthier environments instead of being thrust into Angsty Space Adventures or Fascist Dystopias, but I looooove these characters, the good AND bad, their ties with each other, the unwarranted lashing out sometimes, the driving others away, the self-blame, the healing, the trying to make things better, the realization they have made something wrong... And the NEW characters? The Omega Kids... Just. *Chef’s Kiss*

#Homestuck #HS^2 #Homestuck^2 #Epilogues #Long Post #Longpost #Hhhhhh #Character Analysis #Analysis

[milknette]

day 27 - mythology

if god’s the game you’re playing, well, we must get more acquainted.

tumblr month: @auyeahaugust

links: ao3 | ff.net

"TIKKI, I believe I've warned you from meddling in human affairs."

She barely looks up from her cloud, continuing to peek at the mortal world down below.

"I'm not going to do anything, Wayzz," the goddess mutters offhandedly. "I just like to watch them."

"Really?" The god of Protection muses, tapping at his chin thoughtfully. "If I recall correctly, it was only last week that you meddled with the Bourgeois and Tsurugi families."

"It was a friendly nudge in the right direction," she huffs. "If I hadn't interfered, their kingdoms would have gone to war. I've saved us a lot of trouble in the long run."

"More like ruined my fun," a new god suddenly drawls, dressed in dark garments that starkly contrast the pristine white of the skies.

"Ah, and what are you doing all the way here, Plagg? Got lost on the way to your hovel down under?"

"I've noticed a terrible lack of dead bodies in what I was promised for the month. Spoke to the fates, realized a war had been wiped off history, and came up here to find out why." The god of Destruction spares her a flippant glance, then smirks. "Though I should have figured this little ladybug had something to do with it."

Tikki stands up, visibly irritated. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that," she growls, before pointing at him sharply. "Wayzz, I still don't understand why we still keep him around. All he brings to mortals is pain and sorrow; we should just lock him up and be done with it."

"Or maybe we could lock up the meddler and stop her from messing with history all the time. She's throwing our prophets into disarray and chaos." Plagg grins. "I'd be proud if her actions wouldn't bother my work so much."

The pair of gods turn to glare at each other again, to which Wayzz tiredly rubs at his forehead. How many times will they have the same argument? It's been millennia.

"Now I'm sure you're both aware of the importance to keep balance between gods," he starts saying. "Especially between you two. Life cannot thrive without death; positivity without negativity; good and evil. Whether you two like it or not, you're two sides of the same coin. Creation cannot be without destruction, and the opposite holds true. You are meant to be together."

Tikki rolls her eyes, and Plagg makes a gagging motion.

"Whatever," the god finally says. "As long as she stays in her domain. And as recompense, I'll be starting another war." (He looks absolutely thrilled by it.)

"Between who?"

"Hmm...," Plagg pauses thoughtfully, then smiles; almost sadistic. "The Agreste Kingdom."

"You can't do that!" Tikki says abruptly, before quieting down at Wayzz's serious expression. "Sorry. But the Agrestes are kind and reverent rulers— harming them would bring the gods nothing but disdain and disbelief from the mortal world."

"But we've been kind for too long. The mortals no longer fear us, and it's time we give them a reminder of how powerful we truly are." Plagg says it clearly, and as much as it hurts the other gods to say, he's right.

Wayzz nods. "But why the Agrestes, in particular?"

"They have power and influence. Some have even looked up to their family as gods. For a tragedy to strike them is the perfect reminder that humans are nothing when compared to us."

The three fall silent, as Wayzz contemplates his proposal.

Tikki is clearly against it, but can't say as much. Especially since the matter is largely of her own fault.

After a moment, the god of protection nods.

"You have my permission."

"But Wayzz—!"

"No buts, Tikki. This is only divine retribution; payment for your own mistake." He pauses, then stares Plagg dead in the eye. "But know your limits. Humans are tricky; we do not want their hate and anger, only a reminder of their limited ability. Do too much, and I will intervene."

The god of destruction smiles, then nods. "You've got yourself a deal."

As soon as Plagg leaves, Tikki speaks up.

"You cannot allow him to do this, Wayzz."

"We have no choice. There must be balance, else the whole world descend into chaos. What else would you have me do?"

The goddess pauses, then stares at him with sudden determination.

"Let me intervene."

"How do you mean?"

"You said it yourself, right? There must be balance. In darkness, born light. In gloom, born hope. And in villainy, a hero shall always rise up to fight against it."

"... And who shall you choose as your champion?"

Tikki looks back down at her cloud, to the young woman she'd been watching only moments ago.

Clumsy, but with a golden heart she's confident will always do the right thing.

The ray of light that will save her home's future.

"I know who would fit the role perfectly."

.

.

The news of Queen Emilie's passing strikes not only the Agreste Kingdom, but the entire country.

King Agreste takes a complete turn in personality. He becomes cruel, borderline tyrannical, and retreats to his palace completely.

The townspeople no longer see their ruler, and the kingdom succumbs to ills and wrongdoings.

Plagg hastily collects the souls he's long since promised.

"So what do you think of my masterpiece?" He smiles, carefully watching Tikki's expression for any sense of anger or loss.

They're cloaked, hiding inside the castle as they walk down the hallway.

She seems strangely calm.

It unnerves him.

"What are you so calm for? I'd have thought you'd be fuming by now."

"Your plan for mass destruction will fail. The Agreste Kingdom will survive, and even thrive long after this war."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because good always conquers evil. A hero will bring back the peace you've robbed from them."

He doesn't have to wait another moment for an answer, as a figure in red runs down the empty hallway.

"Who is that?"

Tikki smiles. "A hero."

Then suddenly, she crashes into another body, sending them both tumbling down the floor.

Plagg laughs. "Ha! You really chose such a klutz as your champion? She cannot defeat him."

The smile doesn't leave the goddess' face. She only tilts her head forward, urging him to continue watching.

The other intruder, donned in all-black, scratches his head.

He smiles, offering his hand to the girl.

"You must be my partner. I hope the goddess Tikki has told you about me?"

She takes his hand, then laughs softly, evidently awkward with the whole situation. "I'm sorry for bumping into you, I'd have thought we'd get a more dignified introduction."

"I don't mind," he says easily. "To meet the woman the gods themselves have chosen for me, this isn't anything less than an honour."

She raises her eyebrow. "Do you always flirt with someone you've just met?"

"You're the first," he winks. "And I'm hoping the only." He pulls her up, then bows down. "Now I do believe we have a kingdom to save. Shall we?"

Her smile is bright and determined.

"We shall."

As soon as they leave, Plagg faces the goddess in disbelief. "How did he become your champion?"

She shrugs almost offhandedly, a victorious smile teasing the edge of her lips. "As I said, good conquers evil. A hero will always rise up against the villain. He rose up to the challenge immediately— even without my interference."

"But him?" Plagg repeats. "To have a young man go against his father... I can't quite decide who between us is more evil."

Tikki smirks. "I have no comment about that. But I do play to win."

Plagg looks almost impressed, before offering his hand. "Then, let's see how this will go. I'm looking forward to another epic battle between creation and destruction."

She takes it without hesitation.

Her eyes shimmer, almost with excitement.

"Let's do it."

#auyeah2020 #mlauyeahaugust2020 #auyeahaugust #auyeah august #tikki #plagg #love square if u squint hsakfdds #ml #miraculous ladybug #milk writes #ml fic #ml fanfic #FIVE MORE DAYS BABEY

[naruwitch]

Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 37: Battle for Home

The entire perimeter of the Tokyo Settlement had crumbled. All power shorted out throughout the entire city, including the areas that haven't been destroyed yet. Any Galran-Brittainian forces on the ground had been crushed or scattered. Even the Galra vessels in the sky had been thrown off-guard, especially after the Castleship's massive attack, flying around frantically like drunken bees.

It was a window of confusion that the Voltron Coalition didn't let go to waste.

"ATTACK!"

Lelouch's booming cry from the head of Voltron was all the fleet needed to surge forward. Like shooting stars, the Seishins, Lancelot, Gawain, and any other upgraded Knightmares they had at their disposal launched into the settlement. From the sky, the Castleship's particle barrier rose once more, but it didn't retreat up into the clouds. Practically making up an army on its own, lasers and blasts from the barrier raining down on the Galra ships, providing much needed cover for the Black Knights in combat.

There were also ground Knightmares and additional troops on the ground, with Ohgi in the lead to take down any remaining straggling Britannian troops.

"Third Squad, take the media sector!" Tohdoh ordered as the map of the areas to secure appeared on his Knightmare's screen, "Sixth Squad, the harbor! Special Forces, suppress the lower levels! The rest of you, push in from the front! Leave the Galra forces to the Aerial troops! Focus on gathering intelligence on any remaining enemy ground forces! Quickly!"

"My soldiers! Hear me!" Cornelia shouted from within the Gawain, the Lancelot flanking her, "Push them back to the Britannian Government Bureau!"

"Yes, Princess!" her squadron answered as one, Guilford, Darlton, and Nonette's voices among them.

"Form sword!" Lelouch ordered. With a growl, Suzaku slammed his Bayard into the port and the weapon manifested. With a burst from its rockets, Voltron sped towards the closest Galra cruiser, the sword slicing through it like a hot knife through butter.

"Alright!" Rivalz exclaimed before pausing, Polaris's purr suddenly increasing, "What…?" the Blue Paladin suddenly gasped as the Bayard port slowly rose from the dashboard, "You sure?"

"What is it, Rivalz?" Lelouch questioned.

"Um, not sure, but Polaris wants to try something!"

"Let's do it then!" Milly exclaimed eagerly, similar feelings bouncing off the other Paladins as well.

"Here goes nothing then!" Rivalz shouted as he slammed his Bayard into the port.

Outside, the sword in Voltron's hand vanished, only for a blue outline to form on the robot's right shoulder. Grasping the cannon with both arms, a bright glow enveloped the muzzle before a flash exploded out, huge sonic waves escaping and racing towards another Galran vessel. The ship froze in mid-flight, the lights inside flickering dangerously before everything went dark, and the cruiser descended into the sea, humongous waves blasting away from the impact.

"Whoa! Nice!" Tamaki cheered from his Seishin as he and a few other Knightmares paused in flight to witness the display.

"That's a new one," Darlton muttered in awe, vaguely remembering the similar cannon that would appear on the Blue Lion's back from time to time. The knight would admit that while he hated having to fight the Paladins as enemies, as allies, they were incredible.

Nunnally barely noticed how her arms began to ache from squeezing them too hard as she stared down at her legs. She could vaguely hear the sounds of cannons and lasers flying outside as her brother, his friends, and other allies were fighting for the very fate of their home. And now, even after regaining her legs and sight, she still felt useless. She knew her brother had told her otherwise, but she couldn't stop the feeling of helplessness crawling through her body.

Why was it that every time she tried to help, to accomplish something good, it crumbled in her hands? At the zone, when her own father had raised guns at her and her family,  Lelouch had been the one to shield her, and she had just froze. Exactly like she had when-

"Nunnally, take a deep breath for me…" C.C.'s calm voice ordered softly, shaking her from what she now realized was a minor panic attack.

Still, she did her best to obey and took a shuddering breath in and out, slowly returning to herself.

"There, feeling better?" the immortal asked, her blunt voice laced with concern.

Nunnally swallowed but nodded slightly. Dragging her eyes from her legs, they landed on Euphemia, still unconscious in the pod behind her, but at least alive.

"...This is too much," Nunnally whispered, "Why did it come down to this? He… he tried to kill  Euphie. He tried to…"

Kill me… remained unsaid.

C.C. sighed, not in frustration but out of pure resignation and exhaustion. "There are simply people in this world who… aren't good, Nunnally. They won't accept anything unless it's for their benefit. I've met more than my fair share of those people in my long life."

Nunnally grit her teeth, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "Yes, I know that… And I know big brother told me this isn't true, but I still feel useless! Brother and the others are all fighting, risking their lives, and I still can't do anything even with my sight and legs back!"

C.C. took a moment to gather her thoughts. This wasn't Lelouch, who she could be straightforward and factual with in her nearly emotionless tone. This was a scared, desperate young girl who had been thrown time and again into situations she shouldn't have to deal with.

"...Nunnally, just because you aren't out there fighting doesn't mean you're useless. Everyone has a role to play in war. Some find their roles right away like the Paladins did. Others discover their roles later, waiting and watching for the time to come. That act alone can be excruciating. And there are even those who don't realize until the conflict ends that they  did  play a role when they look back and realize that their smaller, seemingly unseen actions, helped bring victory."

C.C. paused as the young princess looked up.

"And sometimes, there are simply places that we need to be that aren't the battlefield. And right now, your sister needs someone to be here when she wakes up, and…" she paused, then placed a hand on Nunnally's shoulder, "You're not alone here, Nunnally. I promised your brother I'd be there for him, and I'll be here for you as well."

Nunnally felt her emotions boil over and couldn't stop herself from lunging at C.C. She felt like she had cried so much the last several days, both from sorrow and happiness, but these were most certainly tears of gratitude.

"Thank you…" she hiccuped, "Thank you for helping Lelouch. And Suzaku, and everyone! Thank you… thank you…"

C.C. froze for a moment in surprise at the sudden action, but slowly, her arms wrapped around the young girl as well.

"I will," she whispered back, "I'll be there for all of you…"

  'And you won't lay so much as a finger on them, Charles. Or you… Marianne.'

A beeping sound soon attracted the pair's attention, and in a burst of steam, the frame on Euphemia's pod dissolved. Her eyes shot open with a gasp as she slumped forward, C.C. catching her before she could hit the ground.

Chigusa shielded her eyes as a bright laser from the Castle's shields struck an oncoming Galra fighter, where it burst into flames and impacted the barrier itself. While the hexagonal pieces made it difficult to view the fight from a window, she caught glimpses of battle on the ground and air. People were fighting for their lives outside, fighting a seemingly impossible battle in hopes that they may be able to win and save their home.

She let out a shuddering breath, daring to wonder just how many had died now. The massacre that happened just hours prior had been devastating enough, and while she lent her assistance in treating the injured that were brought on board, so many more still succumbed to their injuries. And that nightmare wasn't over yet.

A jolt of pain suddenly pierced her skull. Chigusa groaned and clutched her head, any surrounding sounds and noise being drowned out from the buzzing in her skull.

The Gawain's hadron cannons unleashed a devastating attack against a group of nearly three dozen Galra fighters, melting the metal and exploding moments later.

"Die you alien scum!" Cornelia roared as she fired the Knightmare's slash harkens into two more she had missed.

A crash from behind her made her jump, and looking at her monitor, she spotted Guilford's Seishin lowering his maser sword and a fighter, cut cleanly in two, descending to the ground.

"Tch," she scoffed, "Coward, attacking from behind!"

"Are you alright, Princess?" Guilford asked.

"Yes, don't worry about me, Guilford. What's the status of the rest of the squad?"

"Our casualties are substantial, but the Glaston Knights and Darlton are holding a position just ahead of here, pushing towards the Bureau as you ordered. Nonette is providing back up where she can."

"Excellent! Continue at this pace. Our comrades' deaths won't be in vain! Lelouch, did you catch that?"

"Every word, Cornelia," Lelouch acknowledged as Voltron's sonic cannon disabled another cruiser, "Ohgi, status on ground troops?"

"Raiko cannons are at the ready!" Kaname responded, "Ground troops mostly consist of those sentry robots and Britannian infantry units!"

"Concentrate the Raikos on the Britannian forces. Use your own Knightmare weapons on the sentries. Aim for the heads and arms to disable them!"

"Understood!"

"Suzaku! We need the sword again," Lelouch exclaimed as the sonic cannon vanished.

To his surprise, though, the Purple Paladin didn't respond.

"Suzaku?!" Rai exclaimed.

From inside Yoru, Suzaku was frozen. Not in fear or shock, but it seemed like someone had pressed the pause button on a television. His eyes were wide and staring straight ahead, the left glowing bright with the Geass sigil. It wasn't until several seconds later that the Purple Paladin blinked and shook his head.

"What the…?" What had just happened? He saw a large object approaching Earth rapidly. What was-

"SUZAKU!" the rest of the team shouted in unison.

"Uh-sorry!" he scrambled to realign and sync his mind with the group once more.

"Keep your head in the game, Kururugui!" Kallen barked.

"Right… sorry!" he apologized, shaking his head, but couldn't shake the image of a familiar dark transport crashing onto the battlefield from his mind.

Focusing once more, he reinserted his Bayard, the sword manifesting once more.

"Lady Haggar,"  a head druid addressed on the ship's main bridge, "The latest weapons are now complete. Lord Zarkon has ordered their launch and will reach your destination within five dobashes."

"Good," Haggar acknowledged, "These humans are more resilient than we originally thought. But even with the assistance of the Altean princess, this world will fall by day's end."

"Haggar, if I may, I have an idea I'd like to propose," V.V. approached slowly as the call ended.

"Hm?" she turned to the immortal, eyes narrowing.

V.V. scowled at first before his features schooled themselves again, "Right now, the Paladins and Black Knights are focused on the battlefield, they likely have only left the bare minimum necessary on the Castle of Lions, in order to guard their families and the rescued civilians."

"I advise you get to the point," Haggar frowned deeply, eyes seeming to drill into V.V.

"I simply request you transport me on board the castle," V.V. explained, "I would do it myself with the help of the Thought Elevator, but unfortunately, that pesky Black Lion destroyed it on the island, making my range more limited, hence why I'm asking for assistance."

"And why would I assist with this?" she asked scathingly.

V.V. resisted the urge to growl at being talked down to so belligerently but continued, "It's simple. I will capture Princess Nunnally and C.C. as well. They are both on board and likely not being guarded too closely. This could be a prime opportunity to deal a more… personal blow to Zero."

Haggar wasn't the only one to glare suspiciously at the immortal at this proposal, as Charles eyed his brother cautiously as well. He could see where his brother's line of thinking was going. Above all else, Lelouch's first priority was, and always would be, Nunnally. If he heard she was in danger, he would likely drop everything, even abandon the battlefield to help her.

"It could work," Charles finally spoke, "So long as she remains safe, everything else comes second to Zero. If V.V. succeeds, we'll have a firm hold on Voltron, and the rest of Earth will have little to no resistance without a leader. And if that's not enough, my Geass can rewrite her memories. I could make her despise Zero, which would deal a further emotional blow to Zero and the Paladins as well."

"While that is true," Haggar admitted, "Why capture this C.C.? Your power will have no effect on her. She will be of little use as a pawn."

"Perhaps," V.V. agreed, "but it's best to keep someone like her, who holds to the ability as me to grant Geass, away from our enemies. You are more than welcome to do anything you want with her. With your forces on our side, she's outlived her usefulness."

Haggar continued to stare suspiciously at the two and didn't miss the way Charles's eyes flickered at the mention of this 'C.C.' It was clear they, or at least he was planning something with the girl. But, should she be in their hands, Haggar could have more control over her whereabouts and keep a closer eye on these two. Plus, if the smaller one's plan succeeded, it sounded like they would severely cripple Voltron, which would make it that much easier for her Lord to obtain the Lions.

"Very well," Haggar finally conceded, "I will go along with your plan… Under the condition that both of them are brought first to me. Should you do so otherwise, there will be… painful consequences. Am I clear?"

Both V.V. and Charles hesitated for a moment before they both nodded.

Before V.V. turned to leave, though, Haggar held out her hand, and to the bewilderment of the two, a small ball of energy formed in her palm before shrinking to about the size of a marble.

"Take this," she instructed, holding her hand out to V.V. The 'boy' hesitated before plucking the marble from her palm, "If you truly wish to succeed in this mission, have that make contact with the woman. It will render her powerless."

V.V. looked at the marble skeptically once more before smirking and stashing it in his pocket.

"You have my thanks…"

"Ha!" Kallen exclaimed as Voltron slammed its surger claw into the bow of another Galra cruiser. It lit up like a nightlight before the insides imploded, sending debris flying everywhere. "Alright! Who's next?!"

"Paladins!"  Coran suddenly exclaimed through the comms.

"Go on, Coran," Lelouch requested.

  "We believe we've identified the Galra's flagship. If it's destroyed, it will destabilize the Galras' communication! From there, it should be easy to push back any remaining Galra troops!"

At hearing this, Lelouch couldn't help but grin widely. The other Paladins shared similar sentiment through the link.

"Very good, then we-"

"Paladins, wait!" Allura's panicked voice suddenly interrupted.

"What's wrong, Allura?" Milly asked, immediately noticing her tone.

  "Something large is approaching Earth's atmosphere, and it's not another warship!"

"Something large…?" Rivalz asked.

Suzaku felt his blood grow cold. His mind flashed back to the… vision (?) he had just over fifteen dobashes prior. He had seen something large crash land on the battlefield. Could have…?

"All Black Knights, projectile incoming!" Lelouch warned as he spotted the object Allura mentioned rapidly approaching.

Several Seishins, both ground and air, scrambled to get out of the way as with a deafening crash, the object landed in front of Voltron.

An object with a certain coffin-like shape to it.

"Oh no…" Shirley whispered in horror, "Is that… what I think it is…?"

"Yeah," Kallen nodded, "Looks like we got another Ro-Beast!"

"Zero, what is that?!" Chiba demanded as most other forces, both with and against Voltron, stopped to stare at the newest threat.

"Bad news…" was all Lelouch could say before, with a resounding click, the device opened, clouds of steam emanating from inside. The front and sides of the structure tumbled to the ground, revealing the grotesque monster within.

The creature this time was colored almost completely white with only a few hints of red and purple, with a pointed head, long limbs, and even a hunched back. Much like the Drazil Ro-Beast, the creature's mouth was aligned with sharp, overlapping teeth.

"Black Knights! Evacuate the area! We'll deal with this!" Lelouch ordered.

"You're facing that thing on your own?!" Nonette's voice exclaimed.

"Nonette, we'll be fine. This isn't the first Ro-Beast we've fought!" Rai barked, "Just focus on your own fight!"

The beast's head then suddenly jerked up, and malicious red eyes flashed to life. A sound similar to a rumbling growl could be heard as it gazed around before finally landing on Voltron. Its eyes widened upon seeing them before it threw its head back and screamed.

On the ground and in the air, several Knightmares faltered as their pilots were forced to cover their ears. Even Cornelia, Nonette, and Guilford did, and they were the ones most used to being around bomb explosions and Knightmare engines.

The only ones unaffected were the Paladins themselves. And a good thing too, as seconds later, long, sharp claws shot out from the beast, aiming to pierce Voltron's chest.

"Rai, shield!" Lelouch shouted almost frantically.

The Green Lion's shield blocked the metallic claws in the knick of time, scraping across like nails on a chalkboard.

This action only seemed to enrage the Ro-Beast, as it shrieked again and charged at them, purple flaming jetpacks blazing behind it.

On instinct, Shirley and Rivalz fired Voltron's thrusters as well, and Voltron shot into the sky. To their shock, the Ro-Beast followed after them with barely any delay, almost like it knew they were going to dodge upward. It pulled a clawed hand back again.

"Okay, two can play at that game, bud!" Kallen exclaimed, plunging her Bayard into her port.

The wave surger claw manifested, and Kallen swung with a roar towards the Ro-Beast's head… only for the beast to catch the arm right under Aka's neck, effectively stopping the surger without injuring its hand or head.

"What?!" Kallen gasped.

"It stopped us?!" Milly added, just as shocked as the others.

The Ro-Beast didn't waste the opportunity as it head-butted Voltron and threw him downwards, impacting the ground hard.

Lelouch grunted in pain, Zen's cockpit still vibrating from the impact. "Okay…" he gritted out.

"Alright, this guy is asking for it!" Rivalz snarled, reinserting his own Bayard. The sonic cannon reappeared on Voltron's shoulder, blasting a bout of sonic waves at the Ro-Beast. Twisting like a fighter jet in a show, the Ro-Beast easily dodged every blast sent its way.

"Suzaku! Sword!" Lelouch shouted.

Suzaku's Bayard released the sword in the knick of time as the weapon blocked the beast's claws, scraping loudly, metal on metal, before managing to push it off of them and rocket into the sky again, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process. The beast screeched as the cloud engulfed the area.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Lelouch narrowed his eyes, "Shirley! Arrows now!"

Seconds later, Voltron's bow appeared in his hands, and with his eyes to the back of the Ro-Beast, they let the arrow lose…

...Only for the Ro-Beast to duck like it was casually dodging a ball in a park.

"What?!" Kallen exclaimed.

"Tha-Does it have eyes on the back of its head or something?!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Tch… what the hell's going on?!" Lelouch cursed before Voltron flew into the sky again, and this time the Ro-Beast followed with a roar after them.

"Lelouch!" Cornelia gasped, watching in horror as the enemy robot gave close chase to Voltron.

"Nelly!" Nonette exclaimed, the Lancelot spinning through the air to Cornelia's side. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, as both women attempted to follow, hoping to assist somehow.

Keyword 'attempted.'

A loud popping sound drew everyone's eyes to the coffin-like structure again, and this time, another machine, this one much smaller than the first, burst out, spinning vigorously and charging right towards the Gawain and the Lancelot.

Cornelia cursed as she barely maneuvered the Knightmare away from what she realized were spinning blades from the new weapon. While it was still much smaller than the Ro-Beast, it was at least three times bigger than even the Gawain.

"What is-"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" a voice Cornelia hadn't heard for months echoed from within the object. It appeared to be a black sphere with five large red spikes along its side, two on its upper sides, two on its lower sides, and one at the very bottom. There also, much to the women's horror, a human, or at least, it looked human, hooked into it as his face was shown from the open cockpit.

"What is this? Black Knights?! Dissenters?!" the cyborg asked eagerly, madness saturated in his tone, "Oh what luck, what fate! What fortune for me!"

"Who the hell is…?" Nonette questioned before Guilford and Darlton finally caught up to the two.

"It can't be…!" Guilford gasped, dread curling in his gut.

"Jeremiah Gottwald! Is that you in there?!" Darlton cried out.

"Gottwald?" David questioned, he and other Glaston Knights flying next to them, "You mean the one involved with the Orange thing?"

That word, the O-word, seemed to trigger something in the man's head as he gasped and began to shake in rage before finally clasping his hands together, "I beseech you…! I'm begging you, please die! Die at the hands of the Siegfried!"

The spikes on the machine suddenly began to spin rapidly as Jeremiah was lowered back inside, reminiscing a top, before it charged towards Cornelia and her guard.

"Scatter!" she ordered as the Siegfried machine cut through them, hitting Edgar's Knightmare in the process.

"No! Father-!" he cried out as the Seishin cut in two.

"Edgar!" Darlton shouted, staring in horror as the Knightmare's remains dropped to the Earth.

"Darlton, focus or we'll all die as well!" Nonette focused, the Lancelot's blade shrieking against the Seigfried's spinning spikes.

"DIE!" Jeremiah howled, driving the Lancelot back further, the Gawain and remainder of the Glaston knights racing after them.

"Dammit!" Kallen cursed as the Ro-Beast dodged yet another blast from Aka. Barely any of Voltron's attacks were landing, and when they did, it barely seemed to make a dent. And it was likely only due to the Voltron Lions' superior armor and unique alloy that they hadn't been torn apart as scrap metal already.

Lelouch grunted as they blocked yet another assault from the monster's claws. He couldn't understand why it was so hard to defeat this  Ro-Beast. This wasn't like with Myzak, where it was their first time fighting one of these creations, so how come none of their attacks were working?!

'We don't have time for this…' Lelouch thought. They had to take out that flagship. The sooner they did, the more time they could buy before possible Galran reinforcements arrived. But if Voltron couldn't get there, he could only think of one other squad that could do it.

"Tohdoh! Tohdoh, do you read me?" Lelouch exclaimed, hoping he didn't sound too desperate on his end.

"I read you, Zero. What is it?" came the reply.

Mentally sighing, Lelouch continued, "My team is still preoccupied with this monster! Your group will have to go after the flagship! Destroy it, and the battle will turn in our favor once more!"

  "Understood. Squad enroute now!"

Down on the battlefield, Lelouch could barely see six large Seishins making a beeline towards the Galra's flagship, no doubt Tohdoh, Sayoko in the Guren, and the rest of the Holy Swords.

"Thank you, Tohdoh…" he muttered under his breath, "Good luck…"

"Commander! We have six confirmed enemies, making a direct course towards us."

"Blow them out of the sky," Corza ordered calmly before scoffing, "Did they really think a direct attack wouldn't go unnoticed by us?"

"Sir! These machines are different! Whoever's piloting them are maneuvering them much more expertly!"

Corza raised an intrigued eyebrow. It took skill for any enemies to get close to a flagship like this. Normally, they would be shot down before they could get within ten yards of the vessel.

"Pull an image up," she requested with narrowed eyes.

In front of her, a camera of the carnage outside blinked into focus. Her eyebrows rose more at these machines' unique designs. The captain below wasn't wrong that they were being piloted differently, not to mention they looked different, especially the sleek red one with the silver claw.

"Hmm, a challenge it seems?" she queried before grinning, "Excellent! Concentrate fire on those ships. Blast them away!"

"Yes, commander!" the captain saluted as he and the droids typed into their stations.

Several more compartments opened up on the surface of the flagship, revealing cannons and other torrents, all aimed at the incoming enemies. To their surprise, though, in a coordinated counterattack, involving several fancy, advanced looking spins and maneuvers, slicing through several cannons with their swords and the red one's class blowing up many more with its silver claw.

Corza felt an emotion she hadn't in a while. Frustration. Sure, she got annoyed with stubborn enemies at times, but frustration was an emotion she had only last experienced back in her barricade days, apprenticing under Warlord Ranvag himself. But, she had learned to squash that weakness and push forward. Now she was one of his most trusted comrades and commanders of the empire, one whom he personally recommended to lead this attack. And she would not fail him. Not now!

"Sir!" the captain addressed again, "The large black one appears to be leading the group."

Finally, some intel she could work with! "Concentrate fire on that vessel! The others will be easy pickings with their cornerstone dead!"

"Vrepit sa!" the captain exclaimed, slamming a fist into the control pad.

"Target the engines next!" Tohdoh ordered, "Get this ship to the ground!"

"Yes, sir!" the five other Knightmares all replied in near unison. Then Chiba's voice cried out a split second later.

  "Colonel, look out!"

Almost like a combined attack, three cannons they had yet to destroy all fired at Tohdoh's Seishin at once. He managed to dodge two shots, but the third managed to hit one of his Knightmare's jets.

  "Colonel Tohdoh!"

  "Sir!"

"I'm alright!" Tohdoh barked as he struggled to regain control, "Focus on the engines!"

"And you, Colonel? " Senba queried hesitantly.

Tohdoh glared at the windows that he assumed likely led to the bridge of the ship, "I'm cutting off the head."

Without another word, Tohdoh zeroed in on the windows and made a beeline for them, slamming the Knightmare's rockets as hard as possible.

With a ripping crash, the Seishin barrelled through the bridge's window. The droids and the captain at the front didn't have time to take cover as the machine slammed into them, crushing them dead against the opposite wall. Anything that remained of the bridge's controls was nothing but sparking wires and scattered infinitesimal crystals.

With a snap, Tohdoh's own cockpit hatch popped open, and miraculously, minus a small cut above his left eye, he was unhurt, his armor and suit having protected him from most of the impact.

He glanced around and surveyed the damage, eyes narrowing on the Galra captain's corpse against the far wall, purple blood splattered from the impact, golden eyes wide and staring.

It was only the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end that warned him to draw his katana, just in time to catch the edge of another blade that had been aiming for his head. He grunted from the force of the blow, and his eyes narrowed at the surviving Galra towering above him.

"Gutsy move, pest," the Galran, female from her voice, commented, teeth bared and Tohdoh honestly couldn't tell if she was grinning or sneering, "I've seen very few in the universe brave enough to charge headfirst into the Snarflax den! Even fewer to survive it!"

Tohdoh said nothing, simply shoving back against his opponent's blade enough for him to roll out of the way and create some distance between them.

He held his katana steadily at the ready.

The Galra's lips curled, eyes shining with excitement. She had heard about the Champion's feats in the rings of Nilog. She had never been able to witness a match herself, but from what she'd seen on recorded footage, though inexperienced, the boy had spirit. Had they kept him longer, he would have made a formidable warrior.

But this human in front of her. This one was already a warrior. She could tell from the way he stood, the way his eyes took everything in, all while keeping an eye on her at the same time, the steady grip of the skinny blade in his hands. There was barely any tremble in the handle.

This was a human that was ready to fight her until one or the other remained standing.

Well, she licked her lips, this would be fun.

Voltron swerved to the right as they barely avoided the Ro-Beast's claws once more. Due to how few attacks were landing, they focused on taking the fight more into Earth's atmosphere, away from the main battle. The fewer people who got in the way, the better.

"What the heck is going on?!" Milly shouted, "It's like it knows what moves we'll make before  we  do!"

"Maybe it can see the future or something?" Rai suggested.

"Maybe its main function is learning? Like that one robot from that cartoon? The one with the family of superheroes?" Rivalz queried as they ducked under another clawed frontal assault.

"This isn't a movie, Rivalz!" Kallen exclaimed.

"What, it's a suggestion!" he yelped back.

Shirley remained mostly silent through, a feeling of dread climbing up her gut and to her throat. She struggled not to vomit from the sheer stress of the situation alone. Every instinct in her being told her that she  knew  who this Ro-Beast was, or at least who it was based on.

"Mao…" Shirley whispered abruptly.

"What-Shirley, what did you say?!" Suzaku exclaimed, horror in his voice.

"I…  Guys, I think that's Mao!" Shirley finally blurts out, fearful tears in her eyes.

"What?!" Rai exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts, and Voltron faltered, their left side being side-swiped by the claws.

"Hold on, that can't be possible! Mao's dead… right?" Milly asked though she sounded unsure as well.

Narrowing her eyes, Kallen's eye flashed with Geass, and she glared at the Ro-Beast still trying to slice Voltron to ribbons.

She nearly choked from shocked terror at the dreadfully familiar energy she picked up from in the Ro-Beast.

"I don't believe it... she's right! That  IS  Mao!" Kallen confirmed, barely keeping the tremor out of her voice.

This time, the shock of the team distracted them enough for Mao's Ro-Beast to charge and grab them by the shoulders, flipping them over and throwing them hard through the sky, flipping around multiple times as they went.

Shirley and Rivalz eventually managed to regain control of the leg rockets, stopping their loopty loops, only for Rai to have to block another swipe as Mao had followed close behind.

"Okay, how many times do we have to kill this bastard?!" Kallen screamed, slamming Aka's controls, trying to shoot Mao out. Once again, though, he blocked the attack.

"I don't get it!" Rivalz shouted, "How is this even possible?! Shirley got him! We saw her shoot him!"

Had it been under normal circumstances, Rivalz would have received a hard head bonk from Milly for his insensitivity, but it was only because everyone was thinking the exact same thing that silenced any reprimand.

"Haggar must have done something! Remember, she turned Myzak into that first Ro-Beast we fought!" Rai said, "The other two must have been similar. She's somehow creating monsters from living things!"

"There's something else too," Suzaku said, "Remember when Mao broke into the Castleship that one time? His Geass was different, and he kept saying that someone had given him a gift or something, but he wouldn't tell us who. My guess is that Haggar's the one that gave Mao that Black Geass we saw, enhanced it and twisted it somehow. I mean, we all suspected that she gave Zarkon his, right?"

"And if she could enhance his Geass before, she's likely done so again with this monster as well," Lelouch deduced with narrowed eyes.

"So, what does that mean then?" Milly asked as Voltron spun out of the way in the nick of time to avoid a collision, but it didn't stop one of Mao's claws from scraping against Voltron's armored chest.

"Best guess? Mao's original Geass allowed him to read the minds and even subconsciousness of people if he concentrated on a particular target," Lelouch explained, "If Haggar managed to improve upon that, then it's likely he's not just reading minds now. Instead, since Voltron is all of our subconscious thoughts as one, he can likely read not only our minds but that subconscious as well. It's how he's been able to avoid most of our attacks up until now! He can analyze, predict and counter every move we throw at him!"

"Okay, but he can only read our minds if we're in close enough range, right?" Rivalz reminded, "So if we move out of it and shoot him from far away, we should get him, right?"

"Even if that's the case, Rivalz, you think Mao's going to even give us the chance to try that anyway?!" Kallen snapped in frustration.

"Still, he's right. The range is likely larger and stronger, but it may be our only chance!" Suzaku argued.

The question was, how?

Allura felt her blood run cold as she and Coran listened in terrified silence to the reveal of this latest Ro-Beast's identity. When she heard Mao's name, a haunting feeling of terror ran through the princess's body. Mao was likely the only other person in the universe that genuinely scared her, so to hear that he was alive, and as that monster, it made her, she was ashamed to admit, selfishly glad that she wasn't one of the ones fighting him in Voltron.

The shrill sound of alarms blaring on the bridge shook Allura from her stupor. She heard Coran gasp in confusion as the tone of the alarms indicated that there was an intruder in the castle. But that shouldn't be possible. All of the castle's shields were still up, despite suffering severe damage from the surrounding Galra forces. So how on Earth had someone…?

"Princess! Here!" Coran exclaimed, pulling up a screen, "He's heading for the cryo-bay!"

Allura narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar figure. It didn't look like a Galra or one of Haggar's druid servants, so who was that?

But then hear thoughts screeched to a halt when she finally processed what Coran said.

The intruder was heading for the cryo-bay. Where Nunnally was!

"Coran, take charge of the bridge!" she ordered as she spun around and raced from the room, "I'll handle this myself!"

Euphemia stared blankly down at the small bowl of broth that had been placed in her lap. She felt completely, utterly lost, her mind still racing through the events that happened just over twenty-four Earth hours prior. The terror of hearing her Father's announcement, then feeling absolute agony in her chest before everything just snapped to black. She vaguely remembered Suzaku's cry of anguish and her sister screaming her name. Then when she next became coherent, she felt cold, then the feeling of falling before warm, if slightly scratchy blankets encompassed her naked body.

Those same blankets were still draped around her shoulders, with only a thin nightgown Nunnally had given her to cover her modesty. Her dress apparently had disintegrated while she had been asleep in that strange pod, but she honestly couldn't care less about that right now.

"Euphie…?" Nunnally asked hesitantly. Almost on instinct, Euphemia's eyes glanced up, meeting the soft lavender of her younger sister's. "You know what happened down there… it wasn't your fault, okay? You know that, right?"

Logically, Euphemia knew Nunnally was right, but she couldn't help the crushing guilt that still stirred in her.

"I can hear your thoughts from here," C.C. said from the other end of the room, "But last I checked, Princess, you weren't the one that gave the order to slaughter the Japanese attending the zone. I highly doubt even they will blame you for this. But you won't find out if you're too weak even to stand."

Euphie cringed a little, still a little put off by C.C.'s blunt tone, but she could sense the concern in it as well. Turning back to the bowl, she finally took a tentative sip. She didn't know what it was, but the taste was alright.

"Well… this is a surprise to see you alive, Euphemia."

She heard Nunnally gasp and practically the blur that was C.C. as she moved to stand between them and whoever had entered the room. Whoever it was, they sounded young, but… something felt off about his tone that made the hairs on Euphemia's neck stand on end.

"What…?! How are you standing, Nunnally?!" the person (boy?) demanded furiously, "The sight I can understand a little. Charles was always too soft using his Geass on anyone related to that  woman, but your legs should have had no hope of recovery!"

"V.V., how did you get here?!" C.C. demanded, and Nunnally gasped, staring at the small boy at the door.

V.V.?  That was her uncle? The one Lelouch had told her about?

"Oh, what's this?" V.V. raised an amused eyebrow, glancing between the two princesses and C.C., a hand in his pocket, "C.C., are you actually caring about someone for once? I must say, this is a first even for you."

"I won't let you touch them, Victor!" C.C. exclaimed, reaching behind her back for her gun.

"Too slow," V.V. smirked as he pulled a tiny object from his pocket and flicked it across the room.

C.C. grunted as the small marble-like object struck her in the forehead, then gasped before collapsing to the floor, eyes wide and body twitching like she was having a fit before going completely still.

"C.C.!" Nunnally cried in horror, Euphemia gasping as well, her hands flying to her mouth. The younger princess then glared up at her uncle, "What did you do?!"

"I don't have to tell you," V.V. sneered, then pulling out a gun of his own and pointing it at the two girls. "It's not like you'll live long enough to find out anyway. True, Charles wanted you alive, Nunnally, but I think ending you would be more effective. Your brother has thrown enough wrenches into our plans already, destroying years of work that we have to practically start all over again. But if his reason for fighting at all is long gone, well that should solve the problem itself."

Before V.V. could continue his gloating, the gun was suddenly smacked from his hand from behind, and the next thing he knew, V.V. found himself slammed against a wall, an arm pressed tightly to his throat.

"Who are you? How did you get in my castle?!" Allura demanded, her battle staff clutched tightly in her hands while pinning V.V. against the wall with the other, applying far more force than necessary with her Altean strength.

"Allura!" Nunnally gasped from behind, still kneeling by C.C.'s prone form.

"Nunnally, are you alright? Euphemia, I'm pleased to see you are recovered," Allura addressed the two with a sigh of relief.

"What's this…?" V.V. choked out a laugh, "More 'friends' come to save you, Nunnally, like always?"

"You be silent!" Allura growled, pushing her arm in further and the immortal choked. "Nunnally, do you know him?"

"Well… sort of? I heard brother and C.C. talk about him. He's our uncle, V.V." Nunnally answered shakily.

"What… uncle?" Euphemia gasped, staring at the small 'boy' in horrified confusion.

Allura, on the other hand, felt her temper flare as she turned back with a growl to the man, "The same V.V. of that vile man who started this attack?"

V.V. gagged out a laugh, "You call Charles vile? I'm not the filthy alien trying to destroy all our hard work! If you just stayed up in space and out of our way, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'm not the one that sold his own people to a universal tyrant!" Allura spat back, "And to think, Voltron was willing to offer a truce even when you clearly didn't deserve one!"

"Oh, go back to your planet and cry your eyes out there!" V.V. barked through clenched teeth before smiling sadistically, "Oh wait, that's right. You don't have a planet anymore, do you? Zarkon blew it up with the rest of your people."

Allura's eyes went wide before becoming slits, "Don't you  dare  talk about Altea that way!"

V.V.'s hand suddenly seized Allura's wrist as he grinned madly. Much like C.C., Allura stiffened before screaming, losing her grip on V.V. and clutching her head. All around her, flames consumed Altea's surface. Galra crafts rained from the sky. Queen Melanor's head stood mounted on a pike as the royal palace was bathed in blood.

V.V. was too entranced with glee at Allura's pain that he didn't notice Nunnally lunge at him before he was already on the ground.

Allura gasped once more before her eyes rolled back to her head, and she fell back, Euphemia only able to just catch her before she could hit the ground.

Now V.V. was staring into a pair of eyes he had only seen in one other, and his blood boiled as Nunnally desperately attempted to pin him down.

"Damn you, Marianne! Damn you and your bitch of a spawn!" he screamed, rage driving his arms as they threw Nunnally off, "They don't deserve what Charles has planned for them! None of them do! They… they don't even deserve to live!"

Eyes mad with hatred, V.V. reached for the gun he dropped, aiming it Nunnally. He'd kill her first, then deal with the other three…

  *BANG*

Nunnally flinched, covering her face at the sound, but then slowly lowered them, eyes widening in horror at the bullet hole in the middle of V.V.'s head.

With a gurgle, the immortal collapsed, revealing his assailant at the door behind him, their own gun still smoking in their hands.

"Chigusa?!" Nunnally gasped in shock as Euphemia helped a shaky Allura to her feet, still clutching her head with one hand as she eyed the woman warily.

"Not quite," she responded in a clipped tone, "My name is Villetta Nu, and I'm a knight of Britannia."

At this declaration, Allura scrambled to regain her footing to defend Nunnally and Euphemia once more, as well as C.C., who still laid unconscious on the floor. But to their surprise, Villetta holstered her gun and dropped to one knee, head bowed.

"I'm on your side."

Meanwhile, the sky lit up red as Cornelia fired the Gawain's hydron cannons at the Siegfried, Nonette doing the same with the Lancelot's VARIS rifle. However, thanks to Haggar's constant experiments and modifications, Jeremiah's cyborg body could control the machine with ease while directly connected to the systems. The speed the Siegfried spun seemed to make almost a barrier, the spikes able to repel or block any Knightmare attack easily. Not to mention that he wasn't letting up on his own charge. With the demise of Edgar, the remaining Glaston Knights made avoiding the Seigfried's blades their top priority, but that also prevented them from attacking back as well.

"If I had doubts about this being alien tech before, I don't know!" David stated.

"I highly doubt even his Majesty's top scientists could have made something destructive without third-party assistance," Darlton commented as well.

"How can we bring down something like this?! It could completely wipe out the rest of our troops!" Guilford gasped.

Cornelia grit her teeth as he was right. This machine had a formidable offense, its spikes, and a nearly perfect defense. But she knew that all weapons had some weak point somewhere. The problem was whether or not they could hold it off long enough to figure it out.

The answer came when Lloyd, Cecile, and Rakshata contacted the Lancelot.

"Lady Enneagram, do you read us?"  Cecile exclaimed anxiously.

"I hear you. What is it?" Nonette said, tone demanding as she flipped over the Seigfried once more.

  "We've analyzed the structure of that machine on the castle's computers. And… I think we may know how you can defeat it."

Nonette nearly stopped midair in shock, "Well, what is it?"

"It's actually a rather simple flaw. So simple and obvious that many would overlook it at first glance,"  Lloyd explained cryptically.

"I don't have time for your riddles, Asplund!" Nonette growled, "Just tell me already!"

"What Pudding Boy is meaning to say,"  Rakshata interrupted before Lloyd could continue (this resulted in an exaggerated pout onboard the ship), "Is that the Seigfried's spikes can be stopped and held in place, that will easily disable its pesky defense… There is one small problem, though…"

"One of us, likely in a suicidal maneuver, will have to fly head-on into the machine and hold the spikes down manually," Nonette realized.

"Precisely, hence my previous statement, before  someone  interrupted me, about it being so obvious, yet one that most won't so much as consider," Lloyd added.

"Nelly, did you get all of that?" Nonette asked through her comm.

"I heard everything, Nonette," Cornelia responded, "I'll do it. This Knightmare is large enough to likely survive the impact-"

"Princess, no!" Guilford shouted almost instinctively, "I-Your people still need you! They need you to lead them!"

"And do you simply expect me to pointlessly sacrifice my own men, Guilford?!" Cornelia fired back, "Chawla and Asplund said so themselves; anyone else who tries would be suicidal!"

"...Not everyone," Nonette muttered before slamming down on the Lancelot's controls, barrelling towards the Siegfried.

"Nonette!" Cornelia screamed.

"Lady Enneagram!" Claude shouted.

The remainder of the squad could only watch in horror as the Lancelot slammed head-on into the middle of the Siegfried, its arms and legs spread eagle against the spikes, the Lancelot's shields fizzling at the strain of taking most of the damage.

Nonette grunted in pain as small electric sparks erupted from the systems, warning lights flashing wildly on the screens in front.

"What?!" Jeremiah exclaimed, also frozen in brief surprise at such a move.

"Nelly! Do it now!" Nonette screamed, using the last of the Lancelot's energy filter to twist around so the Seigfried faced the Gawain.

"Nonette…!" Cornelia gasped, horrified that her friend was about to commit this act.

"Just do it! I'll be fine!" Nonette shouted again, "But you have to do it now! You won't get another chance!"

Feeling tears in her eyes, Cornelia screamed as she slammed down on the hadron cannon's controls.

"What?! You little-"

Jeremiah never finished his sentence as the hadron cannons hit the Seigfried head on. The Seigrfried groaned and its outer shell cracked before it finally exploded, detaching from the Lancelot as it spiraled to the ground, crashing into the debris below.

Nonette exhaled in relief, a small stream of blood dripping from her nose. The Lancelot's energy filter lasted just long enough to block most of the Gawain's hadron cannon attack.

Unfortunately, with the energy depleted, the Lancelot could no longer remain airborne either and the white Knightmare soon followed the Seigfried to the ground, landing roughly by a demolished building.

"Nonette!" Cornelia screamed desperately, "Nonette, answer me, dammit!"

"...I'm okay, Nelly," she panted through the comm, "Sorry, I won't be much help anymore…"

Cornelia breathed a sigh of relief that at least her childhood friend was alive. She hadn't killed her.

"Just stay there for now, Nonette," Cornelia ordered, "We'll send someone to retrieve you soon!"

Tohdoh grunted as he was kicked back down the hall, catching himself as he backflipped to his feet, catching the edges of her double blades with his katana. So far, any Galra or sentries that they encountered were ordered away by Corza, always barking that he was her opponent, and if they held any respect for her, they would leave them be. He could see why she was so confident. She held the clear advantage in strength, so Tohdoh knew he had to be smart about where he landed his blows.

Throughout most of their duel, she had never lost the bloodthirsty, predatory grin on her face. The only time she lost it was when a lower-ranked Galra attempted to assist, trying to shoot Tohdoh down one of the halls. She had immediately beheaded him, calling him a disgrace. From that expression alone, Tohdoh saw the type of creature she was. She was one that took joy in beating down her opponents, took pleasure in hearing their screams of agony.

As a samurai, bound by the honor of his people and ancestors, nothing disgusted Tohdoh more. And if he had to die to put this monster down, so be it.

With a roar, he pushed the blades away, swinging the katana viciously at her midsection, but she expertly blocked it, making a swing of her own at his head, which he ducked under before using his left foot to kick one sword out of her hand, and it clattered down the hall.

Corza just laughed before whipping out a dagger she kept hidden in her armor. Tohdoh barely managed to jump back but still felt a sting across his cheek where the blade barely sliced his face. The Galran commander took advantage of his surprise to send a series of jabs towards Tohdoh, all of which he managed to dodge or block.

After taking one of the hits against his wrist, the armor of his suit absorbing the blow, he launched himself into the air, spinning midair before slicing downward. Corza grunted as the blow propelled her forward, but Tohdoh's eyes widened as her other sword managed to block the blow as well.

Tohdoh quickly used this moment to gain a little distance between the two, katana once more poised at the ready.

Corza slowly turned to face him again.

"Well, well, I'll admit you've got spirit, human," she smirked, "I may even spare you. You'd draw quite the crowd in the rings. Just surrender now, and I'll be sure you're taken good care of."

"Sorry, not interested," he replied in a clipped tone.

"Hmph, pity," she sighed in faux-sorrow before the grin returned, "But I wasn't exactly asking. I do enjoy my prey more when I have to draw the squealing out."

With that, their duel continued. Corza continued to push Tohdoh down the hall until they came to a cargo bay, several Galra fighters still stationary but ready to launch.

At one point, Corza managed to sweep Tohdoh's feet out from under him, pinning him down, foot firmly on his sternum.

"Concede, or die," she hissed, pressing down hard. The colonel felt his ribs cracking from the force, and he cried out in pain.

But the pain soon ceased when the ship suddenly shuddered and Corza's foot shifted off his chest. Despite the pain from what he knew were cracked and possibly broken ribs, he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his own face.

Outside the ship, the Guren shot away as the Radiant Surger's energy destroyed the last of the rear engines. The flagship was officially without any mobility and almost immediately began to lose altitude.

"The colonel's still inside!" Asahina exclaimed, "We need to help him!"

"I'm on it!" Chiba shouted, making a beeline for the open cargo bay, praying the colonel managed to make it there.

Tohdoh didn't waste the precious moment the distraction bought him. Without hesitation, he leaped back to his feet and plunged his katana into Corza's chest, the Galra still off-balanced from the attack outside, losing grip of her weapons. The commander only gasped as her eyes widened in disbelief but then shrieked in fury, her hand striking out. Tohdoh gasped in pain as Corza's sharp claws swiped across his left eye. Clutching it with one hand, Tohdoh stumbled backward, his katana still firmly in his other grip.

With barely a gurgle, Corza collapsed to her knees and sunk forward, falling forward, her face hitting the floor, dead. Only then did Tohdoh finally sag, catching himself on his katana, following to one knee in exhaustion.

"Colonel!" Chiba cried out, her Knightmare skidding to a stop in the bay, the ship still vibrating as it fell apart in its descent.

"Chiba…" Tohdoh whispered as she hauled one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Come on, this battle's not over yet!" she said, pulling him to his feet.

"Right…" he sighed but gratefully climbed into the Seishin with his subordinate. The Knightmare streaked out of the flagship only ticks before it crashed to the Earth.

No one missed the spectacle of the flagship's destruction. First, the engines went up in flames, and the fires quickly spread to the rest of the vessel. As Tohdoh's team flew away, their job done, the flagship began to nosedive before practically imploding as it hit the ground below.

Roars of victory could be heard from all units of the Black Knight's alliance. The Britannian-Galra alliance faltered as the rebels began to swarm in.

"Push them back!" Ohgi shouted from the ground, "Victory is nearly ours!"

"Yeah! Let's squash these guys!" Tamaki howled, firing a missile from his Knightmare at a group of scattered Britannian troops, "This is our planet! Not yours, you slimeballs!"

While the ground forces were experiencing the first taste of victory, Voltron's struggle was another story. The information of knowing it was Mao did little to help their situation. No matter what kind of attacks they threw at the Ro-Beast, he was able to either counter, block, or dodge every single one. Even when they attempted long-range attacks, they either weren't far enough, or the attacks were large enough that Mao could see them coming even without reading their thoughts. They had even briefly disbanded Voltron, thinking they could confuse Mao with separate thoughts instead of one, but Mao just started attacking them one by one. Suzaku, in particular, took some heavy hits when Yoru suddenly froze mid-flight again. The Paladins were barely able to rejoin once more after that disaster.

"This isn't working…" Lelouch hissed,  '...and I don't know what else to try!'  went unsaid.

"We can't just give up!" Rivalz shouted, "There's-there's got to be  something!"

Shirley suddenly gasped, Zinnia's purr breaking through the haze of the battle.

"What…?" she whispered.

"Shirley?!" Lelouch exclaimed, grunting as Voltron ducked another attack once more.

"Lelouch… we need to get away from Mao! As far away as we possibly can!"

"But haven't we been trying that already?" Kallen asked.

"Just trust me! I have a plan, or Zinnia does anyway!" the Orange Paladin insisted.

"...Alright, I'll trust you," Lelouch relented, "Rivalz, help her!"

"Um, right!" the Blue Paladin stuttered before slamming down on the rockets with Shirley.

Voltron suddenly shot off, leaving the battle at high speed, one that Mao couldn't keep up with.

"Paladins! Where are you going?!" Coran gasped, alarmed by the sudden change in direction.

"Honestly, Coran, we're not sure ourselves!" Milly admitted, "But Shirley said she had an idea to take out Mao! You're just going to have to trust us, here!"

"...Very well,"  Coran conceded,  "Good luck, Paladins, be careful!"

By the time Voltron stopped, they had made it fairly far out to sea, still high above Earth's surface.

"Okay, I think we're far enough!" Shirley said.

"It's certainly farther than any other distance we've tried," Rai reported, "According to C.C., Mao's original range was about five hundred meters. We're well over a thousand kilometers away now. We should be well out of range."

"Okay… okay," Shirley gasped before swallowing, "...I've got this…"

Though her heart was still hammering in her chest, Shirley took several deep breaths and, following Zinnia's directions, plugged her Bayard into its port. In the process of the bow appearing once more, Shirley's Geass appeared in her eye.

The others felt it just moments after Shirley did. Whatever was happening, whatever this new connection was that the Orange Lion and its Paladin were forging, they could feel it pulsing within the entire bond, with the two of them at the epicenter.

"Target… locked on," Shirley said calmly as Voltron drew the arrow back. Though it was not visible by the naked eye, Voltron's systems zeroed in on a far-off figure whose head was spinning frantically in every direction, having lost their target somewhere out in the sea.

'Before, I was just a normal girl, who was ignorant of everything that's been happening to this world…' Shirley thought as the arrow was pulled taut at its longest length, '...All the suffering... All the pain that so many people feel. And not just this world... but others as well. But I'm not going to cry anymore. I swear that I will protect all of you, even my friends. I know who I am... My name is Shirley Fenette, Paladin of the Orange Lion of Voltron! My aim is true! This time, I won't hesitate!'

Voltron set the arrow free.

Like a shooting star, the arrow soared across the ocean, too fast and too powerful that Mao didn't realize what was coming until it had struck deep into his chest. The Galran crystal helping to power the machine nearly shattered inside, and the Ro-Beast shrieked as its circuits shorted out and started to go haywire, limbs creaking and twisting into impossible angles.

"Go! Finish him off while he's down!" Shirley shouted.

"Suzaku, sword!" Lelouch ordered.

"Right!" the Purple Paladin exclaimed, his Bayard meeting the port once again.

With a unanimous battle cry, the Voltron Paladins raced back towards the Ro-Beast, sword poised to stab it head on.

Mao barely had time to look up, robotic eyes widening in shock before the sword met its target, piercing the same spot as the arrow and pushing back further, returning to the settlement.

Then, once on land again, with a twist of the blade, Voltron cut upward, severing the Ro-Beast's shoulder from the rest of the body. But that wasn't enough. Raising the sword over his head again, Voltron swung downward, slicing Mao cleanly in two.

The Ro-Beast's power flickered one final time before exploding, lighting up the evening sky and the battlefield.

"Yes!" Milly screamed.

"You're history!" Rai exclaimed with a triumphant grin.

"And this time, stay dead, asshole!" Kallen shouted.

"Shirley! That was awesome!" Rivalz cried, grinning madly from Polaris.

"That was definitely nuts, but it worked," Suzaku commented.

"Shirley… thank you…" Lelouch said, sagging in his seat from relief and fatigue.

Shirley just smiled, not really answering anyone, but the soothing purr Zinnia sent her way spoke all the volumes she needed. Yes, she did good. This was where she belonged, after all.

"...Coran, Cornelia, Ohgi, Tohdoh, battle report!" Lelouch finally ordered after a moment of silence.

One by one, each battle commander appeared on the screen. They all looked exhausted from the fight, a fight that they had very nearly one.

"The flagship and the fleet's commander are neutralized, Zero,"  Tohdoh reported first, Chiba next to him,  "The remaining Galra troops are scrambling to regroup. We can likely wipe out or capture the remaining ones with ease."

"That second monster that came out of that vessel is also destroyed,"  Cornelia stated,  "Nonette and the Lancelot are down, but she's alive."

"Most of Britannia's ground forces are retreating too. Without air cover from their Galra buddies, they're losing ground fast,"  Ohgi reported with a confident smile.

"Yes, according to the castle's scans, most of the remaining Galra fighters are retreating!"  Coran exclaimed,  "It seems… it seems we've won Paladins!"

The very second Coran finished speaking, Voltron suddenly shuddered, freezing in midair. A sinister purple aura washed over the juggernaut, and a malevolent presence suddenly flooded the bond, nearly choking the Paladins with fear and panic.

Lelouch especially felt the crushing weight, gasping as he hunched over like something heavy had suddenly been thrust upon his back.

"Paladins!" they heard Coran gasp.

"Lelouch!"  Cornelia cried,  "Lelouch, what's wrong?!"

"What's going on with you guys?!" Ohgi exclaimed, eyes wide.

Several more voices joined the others, Nonette, Tohdoh, Guilford, and many others calling out, confused at what was happening to Voltron and afraid for the Paladins' sake.

"What…?" Rivalz gasped out.

"Something's… tearing us apart!" Rai realized.

"It's like what happened at…!" Shirley gasped, eyes widening.

"At the Galra base…" Kallen finished with a whisper, her mind drawing the same conclusion, and terror coursed down her spine.

"Then that means…" Suzaku bit out, eyes trailing to the sky, "Lelouch!"

Lelouch's eyes also were drawn to the sky, his blood running cold and body petrified as the familiarity of this presence finally became clear. Zen's own cries of terror only confirmed it further as a large, colossus shape practically materialized above the battlefield.

"Zarkon…!"

As the Galra's HQ exited its jump to hover above the surface of the planet, Zarkon reached out towards the ancient bond that he knew was there and would always be there no matter how his enemies tried to separate them. The druids' magic coursed through his being as his black Geass drilled black holes into his eyes.

The Black Lion would not get away this time.

"...What?!" Ohgi whispered from the ground as the massive alien ship, over a hundred times  bigger than the flagship they had originally destroyed, slowly descended through the clouds. Everything and everyone on the battlefield froze, Black Knights and Britannian defectors alike.

"...This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this is  not happening…" Tamaki chanted, nearly hysterical as he felt tears form in his eyes from the terror in his chest.

Then, much to their further horror, with screams of agony, the Voltron burst apart, the Lions all blasting away from one another, the Black Lion falling limp and landing with a heavy crash to the ground.

"LELOUCH!" both Kallen and Cornelia shouted in unison.

No response came as Lelouch lay unconscious in Zen's cockpit, the sheer force of Zarkon's twisted Geass too much for him to bear.

Then, like an angry cloud of hornets, hundreds of thousands of Galra fighters swarmed out of the Galra ship, descending on the weakened Voltron forces below.

"Damn!" Kallen screamed, regaining control of Aka and righting herself in the air again. "All Black Knights! Retreat! Get back to the castle  now!"

  "What?! But Kallen-"

"Now, Ohgi!" Kallen barked desperately, "Zarkon is  here! We can't fight him, he'll wipe us out!"

"Kallen, what about Lelouch?!" Rivalz exclaimed in utter panic.

The red streak of the Guren passing by, followed by the Gawain's black form, answered that question.

"He'll be fine. His sis and Sayoko have got him!" Kallen said, "Quick, we need to lay down covering fire!"

"Sh-she's right! Come on!" Shirley shouted, already turning Zinnia towards a group of defectors struggling to get through a Galran brigade.

Zarkon's face remained impassive as he stepped off his fortress's platform, descending towards the Earth, determined to end this once and for all.

The Black Lion would be his once again.

Landing on the planet's surface, it wasn't hard to find the Black Lion. It had landed in a clear area of the battlefield, lying on its side, eyes dark and unresponsive. It was very likely that her new 'Paladin' was still inside. He highly doubted the boy had fled, even if it would have spared him.

He had barely taken a step, though, when a surge of red energy ran across his path.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked up only to see the large black bi-pedal machine, along with the red one with the silver arm and several other smaller gray ones surrounding him.

"Not one step further!" a feminine voice ordered from the large black one, two large cannons aimed at him from its back. Similar weapons are also leveled at him from the others.

Zarkon nearly scoffed. Nothing more than another pesky obstacle.

"Stand aside."

The red machine's arm tensed back, "Never…" another woman's voice practically spat.

The two parties stood still for several moments.

Zarkon then drew his Bayard, a large violet blade materialized.

"Then die."

In the blink of an eye, Zarkon suddenly flickered from being in front of them to standing crouched behind Darlton's Seishin.

"Wha-" the knight couldn't even finish the word before the Knightmare split in two and exploded.

"Sir Darlton!" Guilford shouted before Zarkon turned around almost casually, Bayard poised to strike once again.

Unlike before, with only a single flagship and the original invading fleet to fight, the massive flood of reinforcements that rained down on the city began picking off the Black Knight forces little by little. Even with the remaining Paladins providing cover, many valiant men and women fell, shot down by the relentless Galra surge.

With Milly on her trail, Kallen headed immediately to Ohgi's location, knowing most of his troops consisted of ground fighters. Milly quickly shot a series of flash bombs at the Galra fighters above them, giving the girls barely enough time for Ohgi and his surviving squads to load onto the two Lions, leaving any other weapons behind.

Rivalz and Shirley found themselves in similar situations, the sky lighting up with explosions of fire as the two pushed the fighters away from their allies in the sky and on the ground.

Rai made a beeline for Nonette's downed Lancelot, the knight only having the strength to crawl from the wreckage and lay next to it, barely remaining conscious. Dried blood still stained her nose, and her left arm was bent at an awkward angle, but she was alive.

Suzaku felt his blood run cold as he saw a massive squadron heading straight for Tohdoh's team, and he propelled Yoru quickly to intercept.

"Out of the way!" he roared, blasting into the swarm, destroying twenty of them alone with a single blast. Yoru then leaped back, her jaw opening wide, her blackhole suction pulling against several more.

"Sensei! Go!" he shouted, straining from the effort of the attack.

Despite most of the fighters getting caught in the suction, several more still fought their way around or out of it, making a head charge towards the group.

"There's still too many!" Asahina gasped, his Seishin getting battered by a volley of lasers as he sliced through two with his sword.

"Stay focused!" Tohdoh ordered with Chiba firing her gun at several fighters.

Suzaku growled, quickly summoning the Lion's jawblade, and while the fighters were disoriented, sliced through several more.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, more simply seemed to keep coming. Like a hydra when its head was severed, more simply replaced the ship that was downed.

And one soldier knew it was not time for his commanding officer to die just yet.

"Colonel…" Urabe said solemnly as he calmly typed a code into the Seishin's keypad, "It's been an honor to fight beside you. And Suzaku… be a good Paladin."

"What?" Suzaku's eyes widened, a vague image of a knightmare in this very position meeting its end, along with the pilot inside, "Urabe,  no!"

The Seishin charged forward, completely blowing a path through the fighters, before exploding in an inferno in the center of the swarm.

Suzaku looked on in horror, the reality of what he saw sinking in, the guilt of not being able to save someone again resurfacing.

"Suzaku!" Senba shouted, shaking him back to reality, "We got to go!"

"Urabe's sacrifice will be mourned, Suzaku," Tohdoh said, though only Chiba saw how stiff the Colonel's face became, "but it will mean nothing if we all die…"

"...Right," the Purple Paladin sighed before following after the three remaining Seishins, covering the rest of their retreat to the white castle in the sky.

David's scream of agony as his Knightmare was sliced apart filled the castle's launch bay, Rakshata, Lloyd, and Cecile watching in shocked horror as Zarkon picked off the Knightmares surrounding the Black Lion one after the other.

"He's not even in a Knightmare…" Cecile trembled, watching the footage through the Gawain's already battered systems, "And he's tearing them apart."

"At this point, it looks as though he's only toying with them," Rakshata pursed her lips, but her eyes were shaking, and she clutched her pipe tight enough her hands were turning white.

"What… What kind of monster are we even dealing with?!" Lloyd exclaimed, hands gripping his head, panicking for the first time in… he wasn't sure the last time he felt like this, and even with their own alien tech, there was likely little to nothing they could do to help in some way.

Slowly, Lelouch came back into focus as his eyes blinked open. Confused and body aching, he sat up looking around… only to stop cold at the scene he saw through his Lion's screen window.

Zarkon's Bayard, in its whip form, had grabbed a Seishin by its arm and swung it through the air before slamming it hard into a pile of debris several feet away, the Knightmare erupting into flames moments later.

"No…" he gasped, panic seizing his heart and hands shaking, "What... What are you...? Get away... You can't stop him... Just run…"

He only watched helplessly, though, as Zarkon drove his Bayard into the final Seishin's abdomen, the machine's form electrifying before the back end detached and flew away, just as this Knightmare also exploded. Zarkon then turned his attention to the larger Knightmares. The Guren's silver arm was gone, the Galra having ripped it off earlier in battle, but Zarkon shifted the Bayard to a cannon and fired at the red Knightmare, blasting it backward. Then with barely a shift in footing, changed it back into a spear and stabbed backward, catching the Gawain in the middle before swiping out, effectively cutting the Knightmare in two.

With the machines no longer threats, the Galran emperor turned his attention back to the Lion, approaching slowly like he was taking a stroll in a park.

Before Lelouch could move to try and rouse Zen again, another battle cry interrupted him. He gasped in horror as Sayoko herself charged Zarkon, leaping in front of him, kunai lashing.

Zarkon stepped back slightly but otherwise seemed unfazed. Bayard a sword again, he swung back, locking weapons with the kunoichi, but his strength easily one out, disarming her and kicking her in the air. Then the Bayard became a whip, wrapping around Sayoko's form before the ninja slammed with a shattering crash against the Earth.

"SAYOKO!" Lelouch screamed, tears in his eyes as his mother figure gasped against the ground, groaning as her hand flew to her stomach, blood quickly pooling from a slice across it.

Zarkon attempted to walk towards Zen again when a bullet suddenly bounced off the back of his armor. It didn't hurt him, but it annoyed him enough to turn to the culprit.

"Get the hell away from my brother!" Cornelia roared, her sword-rifle raised, and aimed to fire again.

Zarkon turned toward her, saying nothing as he just glared, almost daring her to challenge him.

Cornelia refused to back down and emptied the rest of her bullets against Zarkon's armor. Upon realizing she was out, she charged at him, sword held up to swing down.

She didn't see Bayard swing until her right armor was sent flying away.

Cornelia collapsed to the ground, shrieking in agony and clutching her stump as blood hemorrhaged from the severed appendage.

"NO!" Lelouch shouted, horror racing through his heart.

Cornelia grunted, shoulder still burning as Zarkon's foot smashed into her cheek.

"Pathetic…" he murmured, digging his heel against the princess's head.

Cornelia could do nothing but stare up at the monster… no, the demon that was bearing down on her, and there was nothing she could do about it. The last time she had felt so helpless was… Was when Empress Marianne had perished, and Lelouch and Nunnally were banished by their father's cruel decree.

'He tore apart our entire unit... with just a single weapon... even ripped apart Voltron... all on his own...! This... this... demon... he's not just powerful... he  IS  power...!' Cornelia thought as tears trickled down her face as a crushing sense of shame settled in her chest, 'Lelouch... is this really who you've been fighting? And I haven't done a damn thing to help you... You and your friends... have had to fight this monster all on your own... I'm so sorry…'

Lelouch, meanwhile, could only watch on, terrified and enraged all at once as he watched Zarkon torment his sister. Why? Why was he just watching? Was that all the good he could do? Why did everything seem to fall apart in his hands even when he came so close to setting things right? His body shook, unable to so much as stand, petrified of this villain and the terror he brought in his wake.

  No…

Lelouch gasped as a spark of warmth ignited in his chest, spreading outward, enveloping him like a blanket.

You are not helpless…  We  are not helpless. It is true we are no match when separate, but we are together. Let us stand, my Paladin, as one...

"What insect are you, to deny what is rightfully mine?" Zarkon intoned, pressing Cornelia's head further into the dirt, "Your nation of Britannia speaks of evolution, yet you can't even begin to understand such a concept. I have transcended the limits of space and even time, and I will do so as I shall bend this universe to my will. A bug like you can't stop me."

Zarkon however blinked in surprise as Cornelia's remaining hand grabbed hold of his ankle and tried, though in vain, to shove him off of her. Her eyes, though still red with tears, glared fiery daggers at Zarkon.

"Go... to hell... you damn monster...!" Cornelia growled, "That's my brother in there... For his sake... I'll keep fighting... I'll break myself if I have to...! Even if there's nothing left of me... I won't let you one inch further...! I'll destroy myself before I let you lay so much as a finger on him!"

Zarkon narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to reply, only to hear something approaching rapidly. Turning around, he saw Lelouch, a purple knife pointed forward, practically flying toward Zarkon.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Lelouch roared, his Geass shining in not one but both of his eyes. The blade in his hand suddenly fizzled, growing in length as red energy traveled down the hilt, extending it into a long, curved sword.

Zarkon's surprised stupor cost him, as the next thing he registered was a sharp jab of pain piercing his side. The conqueror roared in agony as the blade was wrenched out, and the boy ducked under him to grab hold of his sister, gathering her in his arms.

"I'm sorry…" Lelouch whispered, pulling Cornelia's remaining arm over his shoulder. Looking up, he barely spotted an injured but alive Guilford picking Sayoko up in his own arms and making brief eye-contact, headed straight for Zen's form, still lying in the dirt, but eyes bright and clearly conscious.

Zarkon snarled as he watched his enemy scurry back into the Black Lion. Once all four were safely inside, the Black Lion roared in defiance at him before leaping into the sky.

The former Paladin raised his Bayard to shoot the Lion down again, only to be pelted from all sides by the remaining Lions, none of them giving him room to make a clear shot at the Black Lion.

"Keep him pinned down!" Kallen ordered, "Don't give a chance to fight back!"

"Paladins!"  Coran exclaimed, face appearing on the screen,  "All the survivors are on board! Get out of there now!"

Without another word, the Lions all turned and zoomed back into the sky, retreating to the castle as it disappeared into the clouds once more.

Zarkon said nothing as he glared at the spot that the Lions vanished into. Once again, they had escaped, but unlike last time, his forces gained much more than what they lost this time.

"Sire…" Haggar murmured, approaching her recovering emperor from behind, as her ship landed, "I sense they are still close. You can easily track them, and our troops can wipe them out now."

"There's no need for that," Zarkon addressed.

"Sire?" Haggar queried in surprise.

"Voltron will return soon," Zarkon clarified, "We have their planet hostage now. We have nothing but time until they come for it again. And one way or another, Voltron will fall to us then…"

From aboard the craft, Charles glared daggers into the backs of the two aliens on the ground. These two thought they were foolish enough to think that? While it was true their presence would make things… difficult, their actions would be of little consequence once their plan was complete.

'Soon, Marianne…' Charles thought, 'Soon, our dream will come to fruition, and this madness will end. No force in the universe will be strong enough to stop it.'

#fanfic #code geass #voltron

[ghostfriendly5]

Fate of Noble Fencer

This is Amy Noble, Noble Fencer, and Sarah Rosenblum, the troll rape survivor who killed her. Written to disguise an entirely victim-shaming and chauvinistic work with her story of personal recovery (and subservience to a male hero) Amy Noble deserved a better story.

But that story is Sarah Rosenblum’s story, and Susan ‘Fighter’ Lei’s story, of real recovery and heroism in a better world than Goblin Slayer (However my story has failed them, it is better than Goblin Slayer). Noble’s fate is to represent genocidal hatred and exploitation of women, leading a fantastic-racist hate cult in Shadowrun’s cyberpunk dystopian California. Once again, this is a more true and sensible story than anything written about Goblin Slayer, since it is true in the real world that racism and chauvinism are not virtuous.

‘(Hrafna) was in the Ripperdoc clinic they’d set up at City Hall. Scarred but alive, conscious but unresponding. Every human in the mob had committed their hearts to race and nation, with blows and kicks–for even an ork to survive such punishment had been incredible. Deputies had recovered the bodies of the ork trucker who’d been shot dead trying to help her, and the elf girl Hrafna had tried to protect.

The blonde NC woman had cut the elf girl’s cheeks and lips; no need to spell out UGLY. Thrown her on the fists of her men; but she’d slashed the elf’s throat before they succumbed to temptation and defiled themselves. The girl’s name had been Lucia; she’d been a seventeen-year old part-time barmaid...

(They) ...hadn’t yet located the blonde ringleader, one Amy Noble; the NCs also had tough deckers. This woman was currently informing Redding via the Net and the radio that trogs had beaten and raped her when she’d been fifteen–but neither that nor anything else would stop her cleansing the world of their evil. Hailey, Sarah, Susan and Ilsa had all quietly resolved to kill her, whether she was lying or not.

“Our inhuman enemies, poised to flood from the valley into this peaceful town, will find no welcome while I draw breath. Come elf, ork, troll; parasite, rapist, monster! I swear upon my sword this oath, Calfree and I stay human both! To all who say that Calfree is a failed state, to our own leaders who will not defend our borders from invasion, our cities from monstrous terrorists, or even our homes from their cruelty…to all who call us ignorant and powerless, the ones bloated with the profits of selling OUR COUNTRY to Jap gangsters and elvish whores, I say, we will show you our strength!”

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

Noble saw nothing but the monster she had to slay. Her head rang, her men needed her, but the only good trog was a dead trog. Ork Slayer would never have left a single monster to rape and kill, and he had saved her worthless life–she had to be worthy. More than the spoilt teenage daughter of respectable wageslaves, who'd just once gone clubbing down the wrong end of Sactown. Left bleeding on the sidewalk, that dawn had hurt her blackened eyes. It had hurt more, knowing that she'd would never, never know why this had happened to her. Why her own body and her life would never be hers again.

With a howl, Amy Noble kicked off the wall. Flew up above Sarah’s head. Her sword flashed and plunged through flesh; a kick wrenched it free in a bloody gout. Noble touched down, as Sarah dropped to one knee; spun and kicked again at her hideous jaw.

Such things didn’t happen to strong women, not to SINers–it had made no sense. Until her saviour had shown her the world’s truth, how naïve she’d been. How ignorantly culpable for her own rape, when monsters invested the world and respectable SINers did nothing. She’d emptied her executive father’s bank account for the cause of justice; left her false family for a true one. Her saviour had taught her to fight back. She’d screamed and cried, at the videos showing the nature of the beasts, for days on end–but facing her nightmare had finally scoured weakness from her soul. She saw nothing now but rapist monsters, and there was nothing she had to do but slay them.

Sarah knew what had been done to Amy–what the marines and Shavarus, had done to her–but it was Hrafna’s ravaged face she saw, as the sword went back one last time. As her forearm came up, as the sword stuck in it, as she seized a tiny wrist and wrenched the weapon away. She felt no pain, nothing but cold, as her life pooled around her feet–but Fighter, her shifu who she loved more than she hated, had taught her Kung Fu and never giving up. However easy it was to die, a hero could never stop fighting.

“I’m sorry…” Sarah whispered.

She stared into Amy Noble’s fearless, hateful blue eyes, then brought down her Killing Fist. She covered the NC woman’s body with her own as she collapsed, in a silenced and futile embrace.

-The Fighter’s Saga

#Goblin Slayer #fighter (goblin slayer) #troll oc #noble fencer #goblin's crown #shadowrun #anime #jewish oc #rape survivor #racism #manga #light novel #rpg #fanfiction

[calliecat93]

...nope, I got nothing. Last chapter winded me so much that even a week later I am still shaken. It feels like the last batch of RWBY V3 chapters aaalll over again… so needless to say, I am terrified over what’s coming. We’re at the penultimate episode folks, so let’s waste no time and get the show on the road.

Overview

We begin with the reactions to Ruby’s call. Robyn and Qrow are not happy. Clover tries to say that Ironwood would have his reasons… when he gets a notification. RWBYJNOQ are not all wanted, and are ordered to be detained on sight. Clover stands, ready to apprehend Qrow and informs him of this, much to Qrow’s shock. Robyn is miffed at all of this, raising her weapon even when Clover says that she herself in’ wanted. Robyn refuses to stand down, and while Qrow tries to calm them all down, a fight breaks out. Tyrian is having the time of his life with this before he makes his move. He gets into the pilot cockpit, gleefully making the jet crash. In Atlas, Winter is stunned… but nevertheless heads forward to claim the Winter Maiden powers. But Penny is upset, knowing that leaving an entire city to die is wrong and can’t understand how Winter can just shove this aside. Winter tries to talk to her, saying that Ironwood is doing what he thinks is right so that they don’t have to and for the good of Remnant. Penny follows, yet she remains conflicted.

Back at the Academy, RWBY tries to reason with Ace-Ops, but they aren’t listening and intend to follow their orders. As such, they all prepared to fight, with only Marrow being hesitant about all of this, but nevertheless both sides are armed and ready… no pun intended there. Harriet questions if they really think that they can beat the best Huntsmen and Huntresses of Atlas, but Ruby only replies “You were… but then you trained us.” and speeds out of the room. Harriet chases her, leaving Weiss against Marrow and the Bees against Elm and Vine. The girls continue to try to reason with them, Ruby pointing out that they’re playing into Salem’s hands and Blake pointing out that they’re betraying those who need them. But whether it be through blind duty, feelings of betrayal, or hesitation, the Ace-Ops don’t listen. Marrow even tries to convince Weiss to stand down, saying that he knows Schnee’s are used to getting what they want, but Weiss isn’t going to let her home go without a fight. 

Out in the tundra, Qrow emerges from the wreckage none the worse for wear. Robyn, however, has been knocked out though she is alive. Clover is also fine, telling Qrow to surrender and then he can get Robyn help. Yep, he’s trying to leverage Robyn’s safety to get at Qrow, which only makes said person more upset. Clover says they don’t have to fight… but Qrow isn’t hearing any of it, miffed that once more he pretty much got turned on by his so-called friends. As such, the two fight… but unfortunately for them, Tyrian also survived and he’s broken free of his cuffs. When he realizes this, Qrow tries to take him down… but Clover continues to interfere and apprehend him. Tyrian even suggests they team-up to get Clover out, though Qrow only tries to continue the onslaught. Only once it becomes clear that Clover isn’t going to let up does Qrow turn his attention back on him… and Tyrian as well.

Back with the fight, Harriet gets on Marrow for going easy on Weiss, though he counters that he’s trying to arrest her, not kill her. Harriet is getting excessive… but she doesn’t see any problem with that. Elm is running on blind hurt due to the betrayal, while VIne is trying to be more calm about this. In short, the Ace-Ops are not on the same page… and Team RWBY takes advantage of this. We get a new song at this point, an absolutley badass one called War. We not only have Casey, but three, yes three other vocalists. Adrienne Cowan (who did Nevermore with Case), Dawn M. Bennett (the VA for Elm) and a singer named Erin Reilly. I say this every week… but this is my fav song of the volume, and this one may just rank into my Top 10 RWBY songs of all time. The fights end with the Bees taking down Vine, and eventually Elm, Weiss defeats Marrow, and Ruby is able to bind Harriet though she is still able to fight via her speed. It ends when Weiss shields Ruby with an ice wall, knocking Harriet out.

With Ace-Ops down, the girls scramble. If they want to stop Ironwood, they have to make sure that the Vault doesn’t get open. As such, it looks like Ruby and Weiss are going to head for the Winter Maiden’s location while the Bees go to help the others. But the comms are still offline… though fortunately help arrives when Pietro and Maria show up. Back with JNR, they try to find Oscar… and it seems like Nora does… but the real one shows up and punches the other. Yep, it was Neo. She had gotten the lamp… but the punch makes her drop it and Oscar grabs it back. JNR recognizes Neo from what they’ve heard told to them before, and stand ready to fight her. Meanwhile, Winter has Fria loaded into the Transfer Pods and hopes that the process will be painless. Penny questions this since WInter said they have to ignore their feelings, but Winter clarifies that they need to acknowledge them still to know that they are on the right path. But before Winter can get into the pod… the facility goes into Red Alert. Yep, it’s Cinder. Only Winter and Penny stand in her way and recognizing CInder as the one behind the Fall of Beacon and her previous demise, Penny stands combat-ready for some payback.

The fight in the Tundra continues, with Tyrian continuing to make it so Qrow and Clover are fighting each other. Qrow is angry that Clover is blindly following Ironwood and refusing to do the right thing, despite knowing better. Clover is upset that Qrow won’t just come peacefully, declaring his loyalty to Atlas and says that he trusts Ironwood with his life… and those turn out to be his cruelly ironic last words. At this point, Clover’s Aura has been broken and Qrow has been disarmed of Harbinger… but unfortunately, Tyrian’s gotten ahold of it. He uses the blade to attack Clover, stabbing him fatally through the back. Qrow is horrified, charging at Tyrian and swears to kill him. Tyrian just asks “Like how you killed Clover?”, tossing the bloodied blade aside as the authorities begin to fly overhead. Tyrian flees… but Qrow decides to not give chase, instead going to Clover as he dies. Qrow says that Ironwood will take the fall for this, and Clover wishes him luck before succumbing to his injury. With one friend who just stood against him dead, another having betrayed him, and himself now framed to look like the killer, a tearful Qrow can only scream in sorrow as day breaks across Solitas.

Review

I have been… struggling with this review. Not because of the episode quality. Not because I’m at a loss for words. But… well… I had a feeling for a while now that Clover likely wasn’t going to survive. I wanna say it was around Chapter 3 that I suspected and was convinced in between Chapters 8 and 9. I even know when I realized it aside from the Semblance, it’s when I realized that he was a male Pyrrha. This guy who seems so good at what he does and like such a good, nice guy. Add that to him being the leader of Ace-Ops, his described fierce loyalty, and him being the anti-Qrow with a Good Luck Semblance, and it just seemed fated to happen.

Obviously, while everyone was horrified, some people… took it hard. Very hard. Fair Game blew up pretty fast. I think it did even before the two even interacted. But this isn’t about those people’s views, this is mine. And speaking from my own opinion… I am okay with it. I didn’t ship Far Game to begin with, nor did I view any of their interactions as romantic. However this is coming from a person who took over six years to ship Bumblebee and couldn’t tell what direction they were going with regarding Renora, or even Arkos until you know what. So maybe I’m just ship blind. I’m someone who doesn’t subscribe to most ships unless it is either confirmed, or it’s been long enough that canon or not I’m fine with it. Look at my fav RvB ship for proof. But no, I never saw anything romantic with Qrow and Clover. Now was Clover a character I really felt invested in. It just felt like one guy being a friend to this other guy because that’s the kind of person he was. He wasn’t looking for something like Pyrrha did via Jaune, he was happy with where he was. Believe it or not, sometimes two people can just be friends, and that’s it. That was always my personal take on it.

What Clover, in my opinion, was meant to be is the reflection of Qrow. He was this model soldier with a Good Luck Semblance, He blindly followed an authority figure, despite not understanding all of their actions. Just like how Qrow blindly followed Oz until all the lies came out. Clover followed his orders, and it cost him in the end. Qrow stood by what was right, knowing that Ironwood has lost it and he even tired to shift focus on Tyrian during the fight when he realized he was alive. Tyrian manipulating things to cause Clover’s death and pin it on Qrow. Qrow is the man cured with Misfortune, but he lives. Clover is the man blessed with Good Fortune, and he perished. What will happen in the wake? It’s too soon to say… and I get the feeling that this volume won’t leave a definite answer. But from a story perspective and character perspective, I see why CRWBY did what they did, and that has always come first. I’m not angry at CRWBY for it, and I plan to keep supporting them. If you are upset or angry, that’s okay. Your feelings are valid. Just remember to be respectful, and that includes to CRWBY, and move forward. Hopefully, if anything, they’ll take the reception and do some genuine, official m|m rep in the future. I think they’ve earned the right to at least give them the chance, at least.

I guess the big question now is, what happens with Qrow? Well… it’s hard to say. Tyrian’s pretty much framed him for murder, but Qrow was already wanted so unless he escapes, IDK how important that will be. But Qrow is going to blame himself. While his demeanor has improved, he still has a lot of issues that he hasn’t been able to properly get help for. This chapter alone has him express his bitterness over his various broken friendships His team, Oz, now Ironwood and even Clover. The latter, despite being an encouraging figure, still stood by Ironwood despite knowing that it was wrong instead of doing what was right. He kept doing this even when Qrow was trying to take down Tyrian because that’s how much blind loyalty has been hammered into him, just like his four teammates. That’s what cost him in the end… well that and Tyrian being a manipulative ass and playing mind games with them. He was the one offering team-ups that Qrow clearly was against and manipulating their every move that they made. It was an utter tragedy no matter what lens you look at it with, and it’s probably going to have repercussions for Qrow and his still-struggling state of self-worth. I do think that in the end, he’ll rise above it, but it’s going to be awhile. And especially right now, when James is probably at the point of ‘never forgiven’ with Qrow… yeah, it’s gonna be a looong while.

But that’s enough on that. Let’s go over everything else. 

To lighten the mood a little, the fight scenes were fantastic. After how I felt the Tyrian fight last week was anti-climactic, this made up for it tenfold. I hate the scorpion man more than ever now, but damn he’s an excellent fighter. The Qrow vs Tyrian vs Clover fight was just freakin’ fantastic especially with Tyrian’s manipulations both on the battlefield and on a psychological level. The man is crazy, but damn is he smart. But the best fight was RWBY vs Ace-Ops. Not just because of the choreography, which was brilliant. But it shows just how the two groups differ. Ace-Ops is more professional, but as Harriet said, they aren’t friends. They aren’t connected like Team RWBY are. And here, where they’re all emotional and not on the same page, they can’t work together. RWBY though? They are best friends. They love and trust each other unconditionally. They kept their wits and fought for what was right. That is why they won. Via trusting each other. The only one of the Ace-Ops who didn’t blindly follow was Marrow, and even then despite asking questions, he stood by the orders anyways. RWBY did what was right. The moment Ruby said they were the best? It’s not just to boast, it’s because the Ace-Ops threw away their duty as Huntsmen and Huntresses. They’re just Ironwood’s puppets now, while RWBY are devoted to their duty to the bitter end. That’s what this fight represented. Add that to the badass song, and you have a fight for the ages.

We also have Penny and Winter’s scenes. It’s just… sad. Winter is putting aside her own feelings, believing that what they’re doing is for the best for all of Remnant. She knows that it’s wrong. She hates having to do it. She acknowledges that. But in the end, she has her orders, and in her mind they are trying to do the right thing. Penny knows better. This isn’t right. People are going to die. People that she is meant to protect, and she calls Winter out on it. Sure she still follows Winter, but she is against it. Even at the end, where she says that she understands what Winter is doing, doing what she thinks is right above her feelings but still acknowledging their existence, you can tell that Penny is not on board with this. If Cinder hadn’t interfered, I wouldn’t be shocked if Penny tried to stop Winter. But of course, Cinder did interfere. Now it’s her against Winter and Penny. Ho boy, is next week gonna be a crazy ride folks.

Everything here is a major reflection of the themes of this volume: trust and the right thing. Clover blindly followed his orders despite them being wrong, and it cost him his life. Winter is doing the same, despite feeling bad about it, and this could very well end in her own demise. The Ace-Ops are blindly ignoring what’s right just because Ironwood told them to, and this and their lack of trust/teamwork ended in their downfall. It’s clear here that Atlas cares more about loyalty than it does feelings, and that is not good. It’s consistently shown that doing this, just following an authority figure without questioning it and opposing it if you know that it’s wrong, will only end in misery. Doing what’ best is not the same as what’s right, and the latter is what our heroes are trying to do. Heck, take Qrow at the end. It would have been best for him to chase after Tyrian… but he chose the right thing and comforted Clover as he died. Yeah, Tyrian getting away is bad, but it shows that Qrow is a good man. And it looks like in his final moments, Clover realized this and wished him luck. And boy, is Qrow going to need that.

Finale Predictions

From what I can tell, the White Rose duo is going to the Winter Maiden while the Bees go to help JNRO, with Maria and Pietro I assume getting the comms back online. Qrow and Robyn I imagine are about to be arrested, and I get the feeling that the heroes aren’t going to have the chance to bust them out right now. Qrow might be able to escape, but at the same time, he’s going to want to confront Ironwood. IDK if that’s going to happen, at this point it’s pretty likely that a LOT is going to be pushed into V8. I would imagine that Qrow’s part will continue then, but we’ll see.

As for how these fights will go… well even if the Bees don’t reach JNRO, I don’t see Neo winning. She may be a strong fighter and she may be crafty with her illusions, but four/six against one? Yeah… her odds look pretty horrible. Maybe he can nab the Lamp and escape, but I don’t see her actually winning the fight even if she plays dirty. Then for the others… IDK. I want to say that Cinder won’t get the Maiden powers, though IDT WInter will either, or at least not all of it I legit think that there is a very good chance that Penny may get the powers. After all, she’s acting more human than any of her colleagues, so I can see it. As for Ruby and Weiss… well… if Winter gets seriously hurt, Weiss will have to see it sot hat sucks. But Ruby? Well… we know that Cinder won’t kill her. But you know how we’ve all had ‘’Ruby loses an eye’ for a while now? Well… this may be the day.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Team RWBY as a whole Favorite Scene: RWBY vs Ace-Ops Least Favorite Scene: JNR finding Oscar and Neo, just cause it felt kind of anti-climactic after last week, but that’s the only reason. Favorite Voice Actor: Chris Wehkamp (Clover) and Jason Liebrecht (Qrow) Favorite Animation: All the fights and Clover’s death. It was animated perfectly and made it hit all the harder. Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts

I get the feeling that I’m not gonna be able to look at this one for a while for the same reason as V5: negative connotations sour it for me despite my own feelings. But in the end, this chapter was a shock, but a well-executed one. The fights were amazing, the emotions were on point, and the ending was horrifying yet emotional. I know that a lot of people are upset, but as I said, I understand why they did this and I support CRWBY. This show hasn’t let me down yet, and when I felt it did they went and proved that there was no reason to feel that way. I’ve come this far not just with this volume, but this whole series. I’m not ready to back out yet. We’ve got one more chapter to go folks. Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together. So bring it on RWBY!

#rwby #rwby7 #rwby reviews #callie reviews