#walked right into that imperial ambush.............. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whumpacabra · 6 months

Text

Day 31 - Emptiness

Character death, suicide, assisted suicide, suicidal ideation, guilt, strangling, torture, captivity, sensory deprivation, isolation, electrocution, bruises, broken bones, referenced dissociation

[Directly follows Lamb to Slaughter

“Harrison?” The voice was so broken and soft he almost thought he imagined it. Elias was finally awake, eyes once again bright with tears as he began to shake in confusion and fear. Harrison held him tighter, the younger man cradled in his arms. “What…where’s Merrick?”

Harrison had rehearsed what he would say when Elias came back to himself. He whispered it like a prayer to unhearing ears, tapped it out in Morse code against unfeeling skin.

“He’s gone. He’s dead. We’re all that’s left. We need to survive. Together. For him.”

And now, hands trembling and voice strangled, he could only shake his head and hold Elias closer, burying his head in the crook of his neck.

Elias weakly pushed away, twisting his head to look over his shoulder. Harrison could only shake his head harder and force a wheezing sob from his lungs. Elias didn’t need to see - he didn’t need to look to smell the cloying stench of blood and death in the air.

But Elias did see, tension bleeding from his body as he went limp in Harrison’s arms. For a moment, he hoped Elias had drifted off again - free from this hell and blind to its horrors. But a shuddering breath from the broken ribs pressed against his own proved otherwise.

“You okay?”

Harrison almost laughed at the question. Elias was worried about him of all people -

Elias had borne the brunt of the torture with Merrick, split skin slick with blood still weeping from unstitched gashes across his back. Elias had transformed from a bright eyed, brilliant and bold Marine to a shadow of a man who trembled at the sound of footsteps and became a ghost of himself in the presence of their captors.

And he was worried about Harrison, who couldn’t take a few days alone in a dark room.

“Not dead yet.” He grit out, loosening his hold on the other man enough for Elias to sit up next to him. The pair sat flush against the walls, tucked into the corner of the cell. As though it would help obscure the gore across the aisle. “You were out of it for a while. Missed a meal.”

Harrison hadn’t saved any of the stale bread, and the guard wouldn’t have let him keep the plastic bottle of bitter water. Guilt gnawed on his bones, even if he knew Elias and Merrick had been getting regular meals while he starved in the Box.

“I’m sorry.” Elias’ whisper was hoarse, still-damp eyes studying the smudges of his own blood on the concrete floor. Harrison almost spoke to fill the silence, but Elias’ words were quick and desperate. “Please, kill me.”

Harrison was surprised he had the energy to flinch at the request.

“No - Elias, Merrick asked me to take care of you - that we take care of each other. I’m not - ”

“I can’t.” Elias’ voice broke, raw with grief. “I can’t - I can’t, I can’t - ”

“Shush, it’s - it’ll be alright - ”

“I can’t - not without - you don’t know - Harrison, please.” Elias held Harrison’s bloody hand to his throat, eyes begging him with pupils blown wide with terror. “They won’t kill us. They won’t - they’ll just - this won’t end. Not until we’re dead. Please, please I just - I want this to stop.”

Harrison wrenched his hand away, scooting out of reach. Elias didn’t follow, his panicked whispers falling silent.

“No. We can - I’m not wasting Merrick’s sacrifice -”

“Don’t.” For the first time in so long, Elias’ voice had a rumble of anger. “Don’t act like he had a fucking choice. Don’t - you don’t know what they did to us.”

He didn’t. Harrison tucked his head, turning away and pressing his temple to the cold concrete wall.

“Don’t do this to me, Harrison. Please don’t keep me here.”

“I said no. Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when I hear someone.”

—

Harrison went in the Box again. He came back to Elias bloodied and bound in the cell and begging for death. He was too weak with hunger and thirst to even make an attempt, not that he would have submitted to the request - or so a voice in his heart whispered.

—

Harrison went in the Box again. He came back to Elias lying still in the cell and sobs stifled as he clutched broken arms to his chest. Elias didn’t ask anything of him. Harrison almost wished he would.

—

Harrison went in the Box again. He was hysterical with relief to see the light of the door opening, the smoky kiss of the cattle prod like that of an ex-lover where it bit into his shoulder. A pair of guards hauled him to his unsteady feet, and another pair -

“No - wait - ” His voice was broken, hoarse from screaming helplessly at the walls of that stone tomb. Elias locked his gaze on Harrison, eyes wide with desperate panic as bloody lips mouthed his name.

“Hm? You say something, little pig?” The Wolf seemed to materialize from the shadows of Harrison’s spotty vision. A cruel hand tangled in his hair and wrenched his gaze away from Elias.

The door was being shut. Elias’ panicked shouts were cut off with a scream as the cattle prod forced him back into the Box.

“You want to trade with him?”

The door was half closed. And Harrison said nothing as it locked into place. The Wolf released his hair and patted his cheek with false fondness.

“Smart pig.”

—

He would have starved, died of dehydration. (Would that have been kinder? Would that have been what Merrick wanted - if he died, he couldn’t give into Elias’ pleas. Maybe they would have let Elias go - or had the mercy to finally kill him.) Here, he shivered alone, listening to the broken, muffled screams that reverberated through the walls.

Elias’ screams echoed for hours, days.

—

“Please.” It was tapped out in code against Harrison’s bruised but unbloodied skin. Elias’ fingertips, scratched raw and bloody to the bone, repeated the word when Harrison didn’t respond. “Please.”

Harrison felt hollowed out. Even with three meals a day the ache in his stomach didn’t waver. Not that the meager food put any meat on his bones. He was nauseous, thinking himself in circles.

Merrick asked him - Merrick told him, practically ordered him to -

God. He was so shit at following orders.

Elias sobbed with relief as Harrison wrapped a hand around his throat - already bruised black from repeated strangling at the Wolf’s hands. His breathing was shallow and heavy; sickness was welling in his lungs and his broken ribs were never given time to heal between beatings.

“I can’t break your neck.” He admitted softly, arms shaking. He hadn’t had the strength to grant Elias a quick death in weeks.

“It’s okay.” The younger man smiled up at him, fresh tears streaming tracks through the dried blood on his cheeks. Bloody fingers tapped out his words, voice shredded to ribbons from his time in the Box. “It’s okay.”

“I - I need you to say it - to ask. Please.” Harrison’s own voice was strangled, his grip on Elias’ fragile throat firm but unsteady. Elias wrapped a bloody hand around Harrison’s thin forearm.

“Please kill me, Harrison.” Harrison nodded, sobs wracking his chest as Elias’ voice warbled, soft and calm. He was at peace with the horrible deed he was asking of his friend. “I’m sorry I can’t take you with me.”

Harrison wheezed bitterly, a smile twitching at his tear stained face.

“I’ll be right on your heels, you bastard.”

“Meet you at the finish line, alright?”

“Alright.” Harrison blinked back his tears, struggling to reign in his breathing as his voice cracked. “Alright. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

It took several agonizing minutes. Beneath his hands he could feel Elias’ throat spasm, the instinctive desperation for air contrasted by the soft grip of his hand around Harrison’s wrist. A grip that grew looser and looser and…

Harrison screamed, sobbing and rocking the corpse of his friend cradled in his arms.

[Directly before Divine Intervention OR The Wolf and the Hare AU]

(Part of my Freelancers: Swansong series)

6 notes · View notes

themonsterundermystairs · 2 years

Text

i have the skyrim intro as my alarm sound

#hey you you're finally awake #you were trying to cross the border #right? walked right into that imperial ambush #same as us and that thief over there #skyrim #skyrim moments #skyrim memes #skyrim intro #ralof #hadvar #lokir #todd howard

16 notes · View notes

grackles · 6 months

Text

The white house is still without a speaker? Good. Shut up.

#I wonder what the tag word limit is #Hey #you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border #right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush #same as us #and that thi #ef over there. Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you #I #could've stolen that horse and be halfway to Hammerfell. You there. You and me - we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wan #ts. We're all brothers and sisters in binds now #thief. Shut up back there! And what's wrong with him #huh? Watch your tongue. You're speaki #ng to Ulfric Stormcloak #the true High King. Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you..#. Oh gods #where are they taking us? I don't know where we're going #but Sovngarde awaits. No #this can't be happening. This isn't happening #. Hey #what village are you from #horse thief? Why do you care? A Nord's last thoughts should be of home. Rorikstead. I'm... I'm from Roriks #tead....looks like the Thalmor are with him.General Tullius #sir. The headsman is waiting. Good. Let's get this over with! Shor #Mara #Dib #ella #Kynareth #Akatosh. Divines #please help me. Look at him. General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with #him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this.Why are we stopping? Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep

0 notes

songsaboutsalad-moved · 2 years

Text

hey you’re finally awake

making another post just in case bc I’m officially back on tumblr at @ungwalmi

if anyone wants to hmu over there or my other socials (carrd link) just go right on ahead

#you were trying to cross the border right?#walked right into that imperial ambush #salad blog officially dead

1 note · View note

pink-psychic · 1 year

Text

Ngl this is one of my favorite parts

Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right?

Walked right into that Imperial ambush,

same as us, and that thief over there.

#watching and dreaming spoilers #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #emperor Belos #Philip Wittebane #the owl house #toh

1K notes · View notes

nerevar-quote-and-star · 2 months

Text

In English, we say, "Hello."

In TES, we say, "Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

#ralof #hey you you're finally awake #the elder scrolls #tes #skyrim #meme #lol #in english

377 notes · View notes

volumina-vetustiora · 18 days

Text

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - There is nothing. Only warm, primordial blackness. You don't have to do anything anymore.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - But what's this? An awareness creeps up on you. A jumping, juddering sensation forces your head up and your eyes open.

LOGIC [Easy: Success] - You are moving. On a cart of some kind.

INTERFACING [Trivial: Success] - Your hands are bound. This is a *problem*. With your magic digits out of action, you're helpless!

RALOF (BLOND BRAID GUY) - There is a blond man with a braid in his hair sitting across from you. He tries to get your attention: “Hey you! You're finally awake.”

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - He has piercing blue eyes. Oceanic.

RALOF (BLOND BRAID GUY) - “You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush. Same as us, and that thief over there.”

LOKIR, THE HORSE THIEF - He gestures towards the meek looking man next to him.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - Imperial. Of the Empire. What Empire? *The* Empire. The great Empire of Men, centred at the Imperial City, in the Imperial Province of Cyrodiil. These guys used to rule the world.

AUTHORITY [Challenging: Failure] - Clearly they still do.

LOKIR, THE HORSE THIEF - “Damn you Stormcloaks! Skyrim was fine until you came along!”

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - His sudden anger is a thin disguise for terrible, terrible fear.

LOKIR, THE HORSE THIEF - “Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn’t been looking for you, I could’ve stolen that horse and been half way to Hammerfell.” He turns to you. “You there. You and me—we shouldn't be here. It’s these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.”

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Formidable: Failure] - Stormcloaks?

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] - Cool name.

RALOF (BLOND BRAID GUY) - “We’re all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief.”

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - Brothers and sisters? Like he wouldn't trample over the lot of you for a chance to get out of here.

IMPERIAL SOLDIER - The cart driver speaks up: “Shut up back there!”

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Easy: Success] - Silence.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Medium: Success] - You watch the snowflakes dance in the air.

SHIVERS [Easy: Success] - This land is cold. Bitterly cold.

#disco elysium #the elder scrolls #skyrim #this was going to be a couple of lines meme but i got kinda into it

196 notes · View notes

hotchs-big-hands · 1 month

Text

Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.

#thomas gibson #danny nyland #chicago hope #aaron hotchner

124 notes · View notes

canary3d-obsessed · 2 months

Text

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 40 part two

(Masterpost) (Pinboard) (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

What a Relief

After spending a few weeks in Gusu doing...stuff, our trio comes to Jinlintai for the discussion conference. Unusually for a CQL stair-climbing scene, nobody is planning to murder anyone once they get to the top.

Our crew walks up the stairs past 3 massive sculpted reliefs featuring Jin Guangyao.

First and most important, I have to point out that the sculpture version of Lan Xichen [edit: Nie Mingjue actually, whoops] is wearing a sash that looks like this:

*cough*

Meanwhile, for the picture with the sword and flames, qhanzi.com tells me that the written characters are 伏殺, fú shā; Google translate tells me this means "ambush." Specifically Fu=conceal, Sha=kill. Ballsy to have a monumental artwork on your front steps announcing that you're a backstabbing turncoat, Jin Guangyao.

Speaking of balls, Jiang Cheng jumps at the opportunity to bust some when the Lan bros arrive with Wei Wuxian in tow. He pretends not to know who Wei Wuxian is, but obviously does know something, given how bitchily he asks to be introduced. Lan Wangji continues his 13-year-long silent treatment of JC while Lan Xichen tries to figure out which bland smile he's meant to be deploying in this situation.

(more after the cut!)

They're all rescued by the appearance of Jin Guangyao 3.0, who has discarded his Nie braids and his Wen hotness in favor of Jin ostentatiousness.

He's no longer wearing the v-neck robe and topknot crown that we associate with the cultivation sects. Instead he's wearing a hat and a round-necked robe with a big embroidered design on the chest, that resembles the clothing style of a court official.

Some people see JGY's bureaucratic wardrobe as signaling that he's an unassuming administrator, someone who is not threatening to the power structure or is not ambitious. I see it more as conveying that his ambition reaches beyond the cultivation sects into the realm of dynastic/imperial politics.

Anyway, Jiang Cheng turns his ire towards his nephew, and Lan Xichen relaxes again. Possibly he is a little too relaxed, judging by how he's ogling Jiang Cheng.

I'm high as a kite, I just might stop to check you out

Party Monster

Fanfics are often accused of giving us an out-of-character (OOC) Wei Wuxian, but no fanfic Wei Wuxian is as OOC as the Wei Wuxian who attends this banquet. Normally Wei Wuxian is a mildly annoying flirt, but as soon as soon as he arrives in Koi tower he is (presumably) possessed by the spirit of Jin Guangshan, and becomes a gross sex pest.

He goes out of his way to hit on the wife of the clan leader and make googly eyes at all of the maids, whose social status doesn't allow them to be rude to him. And he does it in front of his date! What the hell, possessed Wei Wuxian.

While oblivious to Lan Wangji's jealousy, Wei Wuxian does check in with him to make sure it's ok to put on his "crazy Mo Xuanyu" act. LWJ replies with a certain amount of salt, but once Wei Wuxian makes it clear he's thinking about Lan Wangji's public face, LWJ chills out and answers him normally.

Side note: in no universe would this cute lil maid be making eyes at heavily-masked Mo Xuanyu when unmasked, radiant, filthy-rich Lan Wangji is right there to be smiled at.

Jin Guangyao greets everyone and some dancers start doing their thing; mercifully, possessed Wei Wuxian refrains from hitting on the dancers. As soon as Jin Guangyao starts to circulate through the room, Nie Huaisang has an epic nervous breakdown all over him, which is even better entertainment than the dancers.

This gives Wei Wuxian the cover he needs to slip out of the hall unnoticed. Well, as long as nobody notices Lan Wangji's obvious pining.

Fight Club

The prophecy foretells that into each generation of Jins will be born one douchebag cousin. Jin Chan is the douchebag cousin of his generation.

Jin Chan accuses "Mo Xuanyu" of being a sex pest, and Wei Wuxian suddenly understands why the plot made him act so OOC at the party. Mo Xuanyu wasn't really a sex pest; he was a regular pest, trying to get information out of Qin Su, not trying to seduce her. But he doesn't know that yet. In other adaptations Mo Xuanyu is gay, but CQL exists in a strange censorship-created realm in which gayness is pervasive but never mentioned, and therefore there is no homophobia. So nobody would care if Mo Xuanyu was gay.

When Wei Wuxian realizes what Mo Xuanyu did, he thinks "Mo Xuanyu, do you want to die?"

Nice choice of idiom, Wei Wuxian. I believe we have firmly established that yes, Mo Xuanyu absolutely did want to die.

The show is kind of vague, verbally, about whether Wei Wuxian 2.0 has a golden core. But there are a lot of moments that strongly suggest he does, at this point, have a functioning core.

This rock attack is, I hope, one of those moments, or else Jin Chan is a total pussy, getting knocked back by landscape gravel.

Next, Wei Wuxian shows Jin Ling the super-secret move known as "arm twisting," which Jin Ling, as an only child, has never encountered before.

Anyone with siblings is very familiar with this move.

Because this is The Untamed, this move should be executed with extra spinning whenever possible.

Jin Ling learns the move right away, and uses it to win the scuffle.

Avuncular

After the fight, Wei Wuxian sits with Jin Ling for a chat, and gives him the classic uncle advice "have as many fights as possible while you're young, because when you're older you'll have to be mature and get along with people."

I love Wei Wuxian so much.

For contrast, Jin Ling says that Jin Guangyao tells him not to get in fights. This makes Wei Wuxian seem like the cooler elder, but it also has a more sinister element, of Jin Guangyao holding Jin Ling back. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian grew up constantly fighting with each other--sparring as well as informal fights, presumably. And their cultivation was super strong, partly as a result of that.

Wei Wuxian takes the opportunity to tell Jin Ling that he's not in love with Qin Su any more, because he's transferred his affections to someone else. Obviously Hanguang-Jun is the someone else, given that they've been inseparable for weeks. To keep Jin Ling from yelling while he explains, he clamps his hand over Jin Ling's mouth.

The thing is, in order to effectively clamp your hand over someone's mouth, there has to be something behind them--a wall, the mattress, your own torso, or something else solid. Otherwise they can just jerk their head backwards to get away from your hand. Or they can stand up and walk away, even.

Jin Ling, hilariously, does not realize this, and spends a ridiculously long time sitting still and making angry faces while Wei Wuxian rests his hand on his face.

Spy Game

Later that night, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get ready for some shenanigans.

Not the sexy kind, alas, just some paperman snooping.

Wei Wuxian, because he's facing serious danger, is feeling extra playful and cute, and he takes time to goof around with Lan Wangji before getting down to business.

In paperman form, he's able to do some things that the censors overlook, including tugging on Lan Wangji's headband and apparently blowing him a kiss. In the book and the donghua, he catches onto Lan Wangji's lip on his way down his face, too.

One thing that's kind of muted in the live action as compared to the novel is how much Lan Wangji enjoys Wei Wuxian's childish and playful behavior. Lan Wangji never got to be playful as a child, but with Wei Wuxian he can cut loose--which he does mostly in the sack or when they're drinking together. But even when he stays in control of himself, he likes Wei Wuxian's silliness.

He tells Paper-Xian, tenderly, to be very careful, before he sends him on his way.

The Adventures of Paperman

The CGI department outdoes itself with paperman, making an animated character so adorable I'd be happy to watch a whole episode of him.

Paper-Xian sneaks into JGY's study and pokes around, finding an empty envelope. Then he listens and watches while Qin Su stumbles in, retching.

She's followed closely by Jin Guangyao; they proceed to have an absolutely fucking endless argument in which the words "sister," "brother," "incest" "rapist dad" are never said, instead using vagueburger phrasing like "this matter."

Jin Guangyao does freely admit to killing their kid, though, and wants to know who told Qin Su about it so he can kill them, too. She won't tell him, shockingly.

Jin Guangyao ends the fight by putting a paralysis spell on his wife and then making her go to sleep with another spell, which is the cultivator equivalent of saying "I've said what I had to say and I need some space."

He takes her into a secret room where he is also keeping a bunch of talisman-protected stuff and a shockingly small number of books.

Seriously, as a person who has way too many books, I am personally offended by the way Jin Guangyao wastes shelf space in his secret room.

As Paper-Xian sneaks around the room, Jin Guangyao helpfully pulls aside the curtain covering the shelf with Nie Mingjue's head on it, so he can grouse at NMJ for (figuratively) haunting him. Seriously? Dude, you keep a guy's head on your bookshelf, he gonna haunt ya.

The episode ends with Paper-Xian bowing (adorably) to Nie Mingjue, and then sitting laying on his face, which would make BOTH Lan brothers jealous if they found out.

Soundtrack: Ring the Alarm, by Beyonce; Blister in the Sun, by the Violent Femmes

#the untamed #ooc wei wuxian #possessed wei wuxian #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #the untamed meta #canary3d-original #ep40 #YOLO #YOLT if you're wei wuxian

143 notes · View notes