#we're just kind of left to fend for ourselves

[gale-in-space]

“Narcissists will butter you up and shower you with compliments in order to lure you in so they can abuse you!!!” No, we heavily compliment people because that’s the kind of stuff we wish people would do to us. I gush over people and try to be specific with my compliments because it's how I want people to treat me. I desperately want to be seen and to feel loved and appreciated the way I try to make others feel. Why is this so hard to understand

#npd #the thing in quotes is stuff paraphrased from actual articles i've read btw #but here's the thing. we’re not evil masterminds #we are people who were not sufficiently loved or supported growing up #and so we are trying to make up for it now #idk what good recovery looks like because instead of putting effort towards trying to research effective treatments for npd #people will just shun us and be like ‘here’s how to spot and avoid narcissists’ #so i guess the best thing we CAN do is try to be vocal about our needs #even if other people think it’s annoying or attention-seeking or what have you #edit: i do want to clarify. i don't know that a steady flow of compliments or praise is a good thing #i don't KNOW if that's the answer to the colloquial 'narc crash' #because as i said: no one is putting any effort towards figuring out how to actually treat npd #i feel like an end goal for treating someone with npd would be to help them learn to live with some discomfort #and to develop ways of being self-sustaining so that a multitude of compliments and praise aren't necessary all the time #but that seems impossible at times because. again. can't emphasize this enough. no one wants to research how to treat npd #we're just kind of left to fend for ourselves #we're like opportunistic omnivores in a way #filling up on what we can when we can because we don't know if we'll always have the opportunity to refuel again #even if it is detrimental in the long run #okay i'm done now fr lol

[tsukimefuku]

forgiveness is a collective resource ✦ satoru gojo

summary: as you're telling gojo about your most recent fallout, he ends up telling you in return the last question geto posed him before leaving.

tags: jujutsu kaisen, f!reader, platonic! gojo x reader, implied higuruma x reader, fluff, angst, our beloved white haired, blue-eyed sorcerer receives some well deserved comfort.

wc: 900

notes, etc: i wrote this to the sound of i'm only human. it felt like a good fit. i wanted to write this one for so long, but never knew where i'd put it on the story. i'm happy to have found its place.

✦ collection of stories: "jujutsu partners au" → masterlist for fics listed in chronological order of events

I'm no prophet or Messiah ✦ You should go looking somewhere higher ✦ I'm only human, after all ✦ I'm only human, I do what I can ✦ Don't put the blame on me

"So, that's what happened," you concluded, taking another bite from your sandwich.

"Yeesh," was all Gojo mustered up to say, not being the best at comforting people.

You and Gojo were having a snack in the woods that surrounded Jujutsu High's HQ, and you had just told him about Hiromi's departure to Morioka.

"Having people leaving is shit," you noted, "especially when you care deeply about them. Feels like being left alone to fend off for yourself."

At that, he fell weirdly silent, and you wondered if maybe this would be the best moment to inquire about Geto. After a while, you had learned everything about their fallout — the death of Riko, how Geto had a sharp descent into madness, how he murdered an entire village and had been awarded the death penalty for that.

"The last thing Hiromi told me before he left was that he loved me," which was a twisted, painful little kindness, you thought. "What was the last thing Geto told you when he left?"

You noticed Gojo's demeanor changing a little, and his body becoming stiff. You gave him a few moments before he'd resume his talking.

After a sigh, he ensued.

"'Are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest, or are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo?'" He took a bite from his sweets, and continued to speak with a half-mouthful of sugar. "That was his final question to me before he left."

"What a stupid question."

"Huh?"

"What? You don't know the answer to that?"

He was silent.

You sighed. "You really think that low of yourself? Ugh. The latter, obviously."

The sorcerer was thoroughly surprised and somewhat dumbfounded, so he simply stayed silent in order to hear your observations, something that could be considered the highest form of respect Gojo Satoru was able to display for someone.

You shook your head before proceeding.

"First of all, Geto didn't know what he was talking about, because he wasn't seeing you, only a distorted reflection of his own resentment towards you for supposedly leaving him alone to spiral down madness on his own. Stop blaming yourself. You did what you could, all of you did."

You involuntarily sighed, trying to push the heaviness away from your heart.

"We sorcerers really need to put our God complex aside and learn to forgive ourselves."

Then, you took a pause to sip on your soda, proceeding.

"I blamed myself for years, just to have it all blow up in my face a decade later. Hiromi left a good new life he had built for himself to chase ghosts from the past," and Nanami, arguably the best one of us all, made a terrible decision that rendered him miserable, you thought, "all because of this wicked little thing called guilt. Guilt weighs us down, tethers us to the past and prevents us from moving forward. So here it is: I forgive you. Have my forgiveness." 

"Your forgiveness? For what?" Gojo asked, slightly confused.

"For whatever you want to use it for. Use it to forgive yourself, since you couldn't find it in you for your own benefit. Have absolution. Forgiveness is a collective resource, and we can all forgive each other for our shortcomings. We're all human, after all."

For the very first time ever, you saw Gojo's expression softening underneath his blindfold, and you wondered if the one looking back at you right now was the teenager that failed Riko Amanai and Suguru Geto so many years ago.

The real Satoru Gojo, underneath all the silly cockiness.

"And just to finish answering the question Geto posed, that's precisely why you're the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo, and not the other way around. It was from your failure that the strongest could emerge, and your fallibility stems from you and your humanity."

You now knew how those days went, especially Toji's plan of wearing Gojo down to strike, and the way Gojo told you mindlessly about the first time he let his infinity turned on for days on end.

"You tired yourself in Amanai's benefit, and it put you in a vulnerable position, something only Satoru Gojo, and not the abstract concept of 'the strongest', would ever do. That's why that question is fucking stupid and offensive. You're more than the six eyes and infinity, and more than the people you couldn't save. Let it go," you concluded, taking another sip from your soda.

You were both silent for a moment, and you briefly wondered if you hadn't stepped over a boundary.

"Please, get up" he solicited, an indecipherable voice and expression to his blindfold covered face, getting up from the ground himself.

"Oh, okay," you answered, slightly surprised at the unexpected request.

In a second, Gojo leaned down his huge frame and embraced you, remaining still like that for a minute as you hugged him back, having your chin hooked above his shoulder.

At this moment, even if he was a giant in comparison to you, he seemed and felt remarkably small.

"Thank you," he said, his voice but a whisper behind your head.

You smiled, tightening your grip around his back, happy you could finally reach him and keep him true company.

"No problem, pretty boy. You saved my ass so many times. Thought I'd try to return the favor, which you should know is not something easy to do, since you're the strongest," you said with a laugh, "not all kikufuku in the world would pay off that debt."

He huffed a brief chuckle, letting go of you, feeling he might not be so alone anymore.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk fanfic #jjk gojo #satoru gojo #jujutsu gojo #satorugojo #jujutsu satoru #jjk satoru #gojo saturo #gojo x reader #gojo satoru #geto suguru #jujutsu kaisen gojo

[blackjackkent]

Went to try out Hector's new cleric multiclass by arguing with Shadowheart about Selune and Shar.

The funny thing is that Shadowheart thinks REALLY highly of Hector by this point (at least based on her responses to the "How am I holding up in your estimation?" question), but she just went off on him as soon as this subject was brought up.

"So - you worship Shar and I serve Selune...dare I ask how you feel about that?"

"I had hoped you might be tactful enough to not pick at that particular scab. Seems I was mistaken. My Lady and your moonwitch are at war, so naturally we're enemies...but enemies with a common purpose, for now. As long as we have use for each other, I can bite my tongue and stay my blade. I don't see what more needs to be said on the matter."

"We have a chance to understand each other - don't you at least want to try?"

(A/N: This is a bit rich coming from Hector since he basically bit her head off when he first learned she was a Shar worshipper, but he is learning to accept a lot of things that he wouldn't have accepted before the nautiloid.)

"I suppose some would consider such diplomacy a virtue. Others might just see it as a lack of will. But I suppose there's no harm in learning about the opposition - though I doubt there's much to learn. You Selunites are coddled, decadent, drunk on hope. Fattened calves, ready for sacrifice."

"We are far from coddled. All children of Selune cherish self-reliance. From a young age, we need to fend for ourselves."

"How so? Are you taught to churn your own butter while barely out of swaddling? Nothing Selune asks of you can compare to the tests that Lady Shar's children endure."

"Not so. Our youngest are left to fend for themselves in the deepest wilds. They need to survive and navigate home using the Moonmaiden's guiding light."

Hm. Sounds suspiciously like Shadowheart's story about what she was doing when Shar's worshippers found her and saved her from the wolf. I suspect she recognizes it to, because she immediately shuts the conversation down.

"What, you think frolicking in the woods by moonlight amounts to a test? That's nothing. That's just...a childish thing. I don't want to hear any more of it. We've spoken enough of this. I cannot allow your misguided beliefs to poison my mind."

Mmhm.

(I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say that it sounds like BOTH of you kind of weren't really treated well as children, just in different ways. :P But what do I know. Also this definitely jives with what I speculated in a past post about Hector probably being almost as touch-starved as Karlach is.)

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #i am spending so much time in camp #so many cutscenes and conversations #i know there's a plot but it keeps getting buried under all this other stuff :P

[pesterloglog]

Karkat Vantas, Meenah Peixes, Sollux Captor, Lob 4, Ter 2

Page 621-625

KARKAT: ALRIGHT, COMPANIES 1 THROUGH 3 ARE IN PLACE.

KARKAT: 4 THROUGH 6 ARE EN ROUTE.

KARKAT: ... DRONE FLEET IS FINALLY LOOKING READY TO DEPLOY, THANK FUCK.

MEENAH: hey karkat

KARKAT: INFOSEC MANAGED TO FEND OFF ANOTHER CROCKERCORP HACK BUT THEY PROBABLY GOT ACCESS TO SOME LIMITED INTEL, WE SHOULD KEEP THAT IN MIND.

MEENAH: karkat

KARKAT: SECURITY BACK AT THE COMPOUND IS GIVING THE ALL-CLEAR; DOESN'T LOOK LIKE JANE HAS DESIGNS ON HQ. SINGLE-MINDED AS ALWAYS.

MEENAH: KARKAT

KARKAT: WHAT.

MEENAH: krillax

KARKAT: NOT REALLY AN IDEAL TIME FOR THAT, ON ACCOUNT OF THE FACT THAT WE'RE PROBABLY HOURS AWAY FROM THE MOST CRITICAL ARMED ENGAGEMENT THE REBELLION IS LIKELY TO SEE.

MEENAH: it hasnt been an ideel time for like 6 sweeps

MEENAH: you need to take a breatht-stroke

KARKAT: ... HAHAHA, WHAT?

MEENAH: you know what i mean

MEENAH: youve been runnin yourshellf into the fuckin dirt for ages

MEENAH: take a you moment

KARKAT: MEENAH, THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME TO TAKE A ME MOMENT.

MEENAH: actually in like a day or so were either gonna be tridentumphant and busy as fuck or dead in the water so its like the best possible time all fins considered

MEENAH: youve been out on field ops for like a week

MEENAH: maybe i wanna chat with my buoy toy for a lil bit

KARKAT: YEAH, ALRIGHT.

KARKAT: I DUNNO, FUCK. UH... HOW ARE YOU DOING?

MEENAH: how are *you* doin

KARKAT: PRETTY FUCKING STRESSED!

KARKAT: TRYING TO LINE UP THE DOWNFALL OF A NIGH-IMMORTAL TYRANT AND CAPITALIZE ON WHAT MIGHT BE THE ONE SHOT WE'VE GOT AT DEFINITIVELY STICKING IT TO HER WHILE SHE'S GREEDILY OVEREXTENDED, WRANGLE THE REST OF THOSE SIDELINING DO-NOTHING FUCKING IDIOTS INTO ACTION, AND PLAN FOR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ON LIKE THREE HOURS OF SLEEP.

KARKAT: ALSO THIS COVERT-OPS SUIT IS TIGHT AS ALL FUCK.

MEENAH: well if its any consolation that may be rough for you but its a pretty great time to be your rear admire-all 38)

KARKAT: MUCH OBLIGED.

KARKAT: ...

KARKAT: SERIOUSLY, MEENAH, I APPRECIATE IT.

KARKAT: IT'S BEEN KIND OF A ROUGH...

KARKAT: DECADE AND A HALF?

KARKAT: BUT THROUGH ALL THE SLOG AND THE SHITTY TIMES AND THE UNCERTAINTY YOU'VE REMAINED REMARKABLY COMMITTED TO THIS.

KARKAT: HELPED ME TURN THIS ABSTRACT, FRUSTRATED DREAM INTO A FUNCTIONING FUCKING REALITY.

KARKAT: YOU NEVER WAVERED.

KARKAT: YOU NEVER FLAKED.

KARKAT: YOU STUCK BY ME.

MEENAH: not like dave huh

KARKAT: WOW, STRAIGHT TO THE POINT.

MEENAH: i mean hey i figured youd wanna glub about it

MEENAH: conchsiderin

KARKAT: SO YOU HEARD THE NEWS?

MEENAH: yeah i mighta been listenin in on your converseation myshellf

MEENAH: along with like half the comms team

MEENAH: you left your mic on

KARKAT: UN

KARKAT: FUCKING

KARKAT: BELIEVABLE.

MEENAH: its all good

MEENAH: actually pretty much everyone ate it up there was like gasps and cheers and occasional applause and shit

MEENAH: not shore if youre aware of this but it turns out people fuckin love you

KARKAT: WELL COLOR ME GLAD MY OPERATIVES FOUND IT INSPIRING THAT I TOOK CRITICAL TIME OUT OF MY MISSION TO PREVENT THE ENTIRE PLANET FROM BACKSLIDING INTO STAGNANT CONFECTIONARY FASCISM TO YELL AT A HAPLESS DIVORCEE.

KARKAT: ANYWAY.

KARKAT: YES.

KARKAT: NOT LIKE DAVE.

MEENAH: how you feelin about that

KARKAT: I DON'T KNOW.

KARKAT: I THINK MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, JUST FUCKING...

KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED.

KARKAT: EXHAUSTINGLY, FRUITLESSLY DISAPPOINTED.

KARKAT: WE USED TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME TOGETHER TALKING ABOUT HOW TO FIX SHIT, YOU KNOW?

KARKAT: SPITBALLING ALL THIS FRIVOLOUS AND/OR GRAVELY SERIOUS CONJECTURE ABOUT WHAT TO FUCKING *DO* WITH OURSELVES AND THE WORLD.

KARKAT: AND THEN AS SOON AS IT STARTS REALLY MATTERING, AS SOON AS IT BECOMES CLEAR IT'S TIME TO DO *SOMETHING*, HE JUST WILTS.

KARKAT: THEN HE SPENDS YEARS MILLING FECKLESSLY AROUND IN THAT DOMESTIC TORTURE LABYRINTH OF A RELATIONSHIP

KARKAT: *MARRIES INTO IT*

KARKAT: AND SUBSEQUENTLY DECIDES THAT NOW'S THE BEST TIME TO PLAY SPIES, PRESUMABLY SO HE CAN CONTINUE TO AVOID HAVING MISERABLE MATRIMONIAL PROCREATIVE SEX.

KARKAT: ONLY FOR JADE TO FOLLOW HIM INTO THE CAUSE!

KARKAT: WHICH, YOU KNOW, WAS OBJECTIVELY A PRETTY BIG BOON TO THE REBELLION.

KARKAT: GOOD FOR MORALE, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE INCREDIBLE FIELD AGENTS.

KARKAT: BUT FUCK WAS IT A SAVAGE PAIN IN THE CHUTE.

KARKAT: DO YOU REMEMBER THE PERIOD EARLY ON WHERE I HAD TO ASSIGN ANOTHER CLERK TO MISSION CONTROL WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE WAS TO MANAGE THE TWO OF THEM SO THEY KEPT THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY UNTIL THEY FIGURED OUT HOW TO BE EVEN THE SCANTEST APPROXIMATION OF NORMAL AROUND ME?

KARKAT: THE FACT THAT IT WAS NECESSARY AT ALL IS STILL FUCKING APPALLING.

KARKAT: AND THEN FINALLY, *FINALLY*, WE GET HIM SITUATED, HE'S ACTUALLY MANAGING TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WHO EVEN KNOWS HOW LONG.

KARKAT: AND HE JUST FUCKS OFF AND

KARKAT: AND DIES.

KARKAT: HE JUST CALLS IT THERE.

KARKAT: SO

KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED.

KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED IS HOW I'M FEELING ABOUT THAT.

KARKAT: BUT-

KARKAT: FUCKING- HOLD ON, I NEED TO TAKE THIS.

KARKAT: *WHAT*.

SOLLUX: finally he picks up.

SOLLUX: hey man.

KARKAT: DON'T FUCKING "HEY MAN" ME.

KARKAT: I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF POURING MY PUSHER OUT HERE.

KARKAT: TO SAY NOTHING OF THE FACT THAT I'M ALSO WAGING A WAR FOR THE FATE OF OUR PLANET.

SOLLUX: yeah i can tell.

SOLLUX: there's like a bazillion m0oks swarming ar0und my crib and none 0f the grubereats dudes are accepting orders right n0w.

SOLLUX: probably 0n account 0f your inc0nvenient ass war.

SOLLUX: could y0u pick me something up?

SOLLUX: i'm assuming you're 0n your way.

KARKAT: YOU'RE SUCH A CHUTEHEAD, MAN.

KARKAT: JUST POSTED UP IN YOUR GAMER HOLE DOING WHO THE FUCK KNOWS WHAT WHILE THE REST OF US ARE OUT HERE GRINDING OUR GLOBES TRYING TO FIX SOMETHING.

KARKAT: MAYBE YOU'D GIVE MORE OF A FUCK ABOUT THE REPRODUCTIVE FUTURE OF OUR SPECIES IF ARADIA WAS EVER ACTUALLY THERE LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO GET SOME.

MEENAH: ohhh snapper

KARKAT: ANYWAY YEAH I CAN PROBABLY SWING THAT.

KARKAT: ...

KARKAT: ...

KARKAT: FUCKING HELLO?

SOLLUX: sorry i was gaming.

KARKAT: SHOCKER!

KARKAT: BETTER GET BACK TO IT, THEN, DON'T LET ME KEEP YOU.

KARKAT: I'LL JUST BE OUT HERE FREEDOM FIGHTING AND DEPLETING JANE'S GROUND FORCES SO SHE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH MANPOWER TO STORM THE METEOR AND PUT A SPOON THROUGH YOUR SPINE, OH AND ALSO FERRYING YOU YOUR FUCKING FAST FOOD, I GUESS!

KARKAT: GOOD LUCK!

KARKAT: HOPE YOU GET A HIGH SCORE!

SOLLUX: yeah im kinda in the z0ne right now.

KARKAT: AWESOME.

SOLLUX: hey kk

KARKAT: WHAT.

SOLLUX: are we still friends?

KARKAT: OBVIOUSLY, DIPSHIT!

KARKAT: STAY SAFE, ALRIGHT?

KARKAT: ...

KARKAT: ...

KARKAT: DUDE!

SOLLUX: s0rry im still gaming.

KARKAT: BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SOLLUX: alrighty bro g0od talk.

KARKAT: SORRY ABOUT THAT.

KARKAT: AS I WAS SAYING.

KARKAT: YEAH, I'M DISAPPOINTED ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING WITH DAVE WENT DOWN.

KARKAT: BUT TODAY NEEDS TO BE BIGGER THAN THAT.

KARKAT: IT'S NOT PRODUCTIVE FOR ME TO SIT HERE AND WALLOW ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN AND WHAT MORE I COULD HAVE DONE FOR ONE PERSON WHEN NOW, MORE THAN EVER, I NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT COULD BE AND WHO'S WITH ME NOW.

KARKAT: WHO I'M DOING ALL OF THIS FOR.

KARKAT: WE'VE BUILT SOMETHING AMAZING TOGETHER, AND IF WE CAN HOLD ON JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER IT'LL HAVE BEEN INCALCULABLY WORTH EVERY OUNCE OF STRUGGLE.

KARKAT: LET'S MAKE IT THROUGH TODAY.

KARKAT: WE MAKE IT THROUGH TODAY, AND WE TAKE TOMORROW INTO OUR OWN HANDS.

KARKAT: AND WE NEVER LET IT GO.

LOB 4: Well said, sir!

KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK.

KARKAT: HOW LONG HAVE YOU ALL BEEN LISTENING?

TER 2: Pretty much since the beginning, sir!

MEENAH: lmao

KARKAT: OKAY.

KARKAT: THEN I HOPE YOU'RE ALL FEELING SUFFICIENTLY FUCKING MOTIVATED, BECAUSE IT'S A LONG WAY TO GO UNTIL TOMORROW!

KARKAT: COMMANDERS HARLEY, MARYAM, AND LALONDE ARE INBOUND, AND NOT LONG AFTER THEY GET HERE THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BATSHIT STUPID!

KARKAT: BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN BATSHIT STUPID FOR A LONG, LONG FUCKING TIME,

KARKAT: SO LET'S DRAG THAT IMPERIOUS CORPORATE BITCH DOWN FROM HER AIRSHIP AND REINTRODUCE A LITTLE NORMALCY!

LOBsTERs: SIR, YES SIR!

KARKAT: MEENAH! ANYTHING TO ADD?

MEENAH: lets get this bread

LOBsTERs: MA'AM, YES MA'AM!

MEENAH: alrighty maggots you heard the boss

MEENAH: target fuckin acquired

#homestuck #homestuck^2 #homestuck^2 act 1 #karkat vantas #meenah peixes #sollux captor #lob 4 #ter 2 #page 621 #page 623 #page 624 #page 625

[crazyfilterlady2024]

"Embracing Change: Navigating the Winds of Transformation with Courage and Compassion"

"Get ready to buckle up for a digital rollercoaster ride through the heart of the online jungle, where the battle for success is fierce, and the stakes couldn't be higher! Welcome, thrill-seekers and truth-seekers alike, to a no-holds-barred exploration of the wild world of internet growth and the shocking truths that lie beneath the surface. Strap in tight as we peel back the layers of this digital maze, uncovering the stories of triumph, tragedy, and everything in between. It's time to ignite your curiosity, fuel your passion, and dive headfirst into a whirlwind of insight, inspiration, and intrigue! Welcome to the ultimate journey towards online enlightenment – where the only limit is your imagination! It's a tale as old as the internet itself: the haves versus the have-nots, the successful versus the struggling. But what's truly enraging is when those who've made it to the top not only ignore the plight of the disadvantaged but actively hinder their progress".

Picture this: a budding YouTuber with dreams as big as the screen they're broadcasting on. They've got talent, they've got drive, but what they don't have is a level playing field. Instead of receiving support and encouragement from their more established peers, they're met with disdain and derision. And why? Simply because they're not able-bodied or don't fit into society's narrow definition of success.

It's a sickening reality that's all too common in the online world. While some bask in the glow of their subscriber counts and sponsorship deals, others are left to fend for themselves, scraping by on the crumbs of an unequal system. And what's worse, those who could make a difference, who could use their platform for good, choose instead to turn a blind eye, too wrapped up in their own success to lend a helping hand.

But enough is enough. It's time to call out this injustice for what it is: pure and simple discrimination. Whether you're a content creator, a consumer, or just someone who believes in fairness, it's time to take a stand against the bullies of the internet. After all, we're all in this together, and success should never come at the expense of others' well-being.

So, to all those who would rather tear others down than lift them up, I have a simple message for you: mind your own business. Focus on your own success and leave the rest of us to pursue our dreams in peace. And remember, you never know the battles others are fighting behind the scenes, so before you judge, take a long hard look in the mirror.

In the end, we all have a choice: to be part of the problem or part of the solution. I know which side I'm on, and I hope you'll join me in standing up for what's right. Because until we all have an equal chance to succeed, none of us can truly call ourselves winners.

In the vast landscape of the internet, where clicks and views reign supreme, it's easy to get lost in the pursuit of success. But amidst the frenzy of likes and shares, it's crucial to remember the human beings behind the screens. Each click represents a person with their own struggles, dreams, and aspirations.

As we navigate this digital world, let's not lose sight of our humanity. Let's treat each other with kindness, empathy, and respect. Let's uplift those who are marginalized, amplify their voices, and create a more inclusive online community.

To those who wield their influence like a blunt instrument, using it to crush the dreams of others, I say this: your power comes with responsibility. Use it wisely. Use it to build bridges, not walls. Use it to inspire, not intimidate. And above all, use it to make the world a better place for all.

So, let's band together, not in competition, but in collaboration. Let's celebrate each other's successes and support each other through the setbacks. Let's create a digital world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their circumstances.

Because at the end of the day, it's not about how many followers you have or how much money you make. It's about the impact you have on others, the connections you forge, and the positive change you bring to the world.

Prepare to delve into the depths of human selfishness and callousness, for we are about to confront a disturbing reality: the chilling indifference that pervades our society. It's a tale of those confined to the confines of their homes by fate, grappling with mental disabilities and other challenges, yet finding the courage to strive for something more. And yet, in the shadows lurks a breed of individuals whose sole concern is their own advancement, heedless of the dreams they trample in their wake.

Picture this: individuals confined to their homes; their aspirations stifled by circumstances beyond their control. They face daily battles against the demons of mental illness, physical disabilities, or other adversities. And yet, despite these monumental obstacles, they dare to defy fate, seeking solace and purpose in the pursuit of knowledge and skills that could pave the way to a brighter future.

But alas, their hopes are dashed against the callous indifference of their fellow human beings. Instead of extending a hand of support or encouragement, they are met with scorn and disdain. Those who should be their allies in the fight for progress become their most formidable adversaries, crushing their dreams beneath the weight of their own selfish ambitions.

And what's worse, these same individuals who callously disregard the struggles of others are quick to offer hollow condolences and empty gestures of sympathy when tragedy strikes. They parade their faux empathy on social media, basking in the fleeting spotlight of virtuous indignation, yet oblivious to the hypocrisy of their actions.

But let me make one thing abundantly clear: this cannot continue. We cannot allow the voices of the vulnerable to be drowned out by the cacophony of self-interest and indifference. We must stand firm against the tide of apathy, championing the cause of empathy and compassion in a world that sorely needs it.

To those who would trample on the dreams of others in pursuit of their own gain, I have a simple message: your actions have consequences. The wounds you inflict may not be visible, but they run deep, leaving scars that may never fully heal. It's time to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself: what kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind?

In the end, we are all interconnected, bound together by the threads of our shared humanity. It is only by lifting each other up, rather than tearing each other down, that we can truly thrive as a society. So let us pledge to do better, to be better, and to never lose sight of the profound impact that our actions can have on the lives of others.

In the vast expanse of our digital age, where connections are made with a click and empathy seems to be in short supply, it's time to shine a light on the darkness that lurks within our hearts. We live in a world where it's all too easy to turn a blind eye to the struggles of others, where self-absorption and indifference have become the norm.

But amidst this sea of apathy, there are those who refuse to be silenced. Those who, despite facing unimaginable challenges, dare to dream, dare to hope, and dare to strive for a better tomorrow. They are the unsung heroes of our society, the ones who refuse to let adversity define them.

And yet, even as they reach for the stars, they are met with scorn and derision from those who should know better. Instead of offering a helping hand, they are greeted with cold indifference, their dreams dismissed as fanciful fantasies. It's a heartbreaking reality that speaks volumes about the state of our humanity.

But we cannot afford to despair. We cannot allow the darkness to extinguish the light of hope that burns within each and every one of us. We must stand together, united in our determination to build a world where compassion reigns supreme, where empathy is the currency of the realm.

To those who would seek to crush the dreams of others, I say this: your actions have consequences. You may think that your indifference goes unnoticed, but make no mistake – the scars you leave behind are all too real. It's time to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what kind of legacy you wish to leave behind.

In the end, it's not about fame or fortune, but about the impact we have on the lives of others. It's about lifting each other up, rather than tearing each other down. It's about building a world where kindness is not just a virtue, but a way of life.

So let us stand firm in the face of adversity, let us be beacons of hope in a world shrouded in darkness. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can change the world.

Listen up, folks! It's time to address the elephant in the room: change. Yeah, you heard me right. Times have changed, and we're not living in our grandparents' era anymore. We've evolved, we've adapted, and guess what? We're doing things differently now.

Now, I get it. Change can be scary. It can be uncomfortable. But here's the thing: progress waits for no one. We can't keep clinging to the past, holding onto outdated ideals and expecting the world to stay the same. It just doesn't work like that.

Sure, our parents may have had it tough. They faced challenges we can't even imagine, and yeah, maybe they had to adjust to our era. But you know what? That's life. It's messy, it's unpredictable, and it's constantly in flux.

So why are we still holding onto the past like it's some kind of safety blanket? Why are we so quick to judge others for daring to forge their own path? It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, people. We're all just trying to survive in this crazy world, and we all deserve a chance to grow and thrive.

So, let's cut each other some slack, huh? Let's give people the space they need to spread their wings and fly. After all, who are we to stand in the way of someone else's journey? We're all in this together, whether we like it or not.

And hey, if you're still hung up on the past, I get it. But here's the thing: the future is waiting, and it's full of endless possibilities. So, let's embrace the unknown, let's embrace change, and let's embrace each other.

Because at the end of the day, we're all just trying to make it in this crazy world. So, let's do it together, with open hearts and open minds.

Alright, folks, it's time to wrap things up with a bang! We've dived deep into the heart of the matter, laid bare the truth, and let's face it, stirred up some emotions along the way. But before we part ways, there's one last thing I need to say.

Change isn't easy. It's messy, it's complicated, and yeah, it can be downright infuriating at times. But here's the thing: it's also necessary. Without change, we stagnate. We become stuck in the past, unable to move forward or grow.

So, let's embrace change with open arms, with a fierce determination to carve out a better future for ourselves and for generations to come. Let's channel that anger, that frustration, that passion into something positive. Let's be the catalysts for change that our world so desperately needs.

And hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling like the weight of the world is crushing down on you, just remember this: you're not alone. We're all in this together, navigating the turbulent waters of life as best we can.

So, let's lift each other up, support each other, and never lose sight of the incredible potential that lies within each and every one of us. Together, we can overcome any obstacle, conquer any challenge, and build a brighter, more hopeful future for all.

So, until next time, keep fighting the good fight, keep pushing forward, and never, ever give up. The world is counting on us.

As we wrap up our journey through the twists and turns of change, let's not forget the valuable lessons we've learned along the way. Change isn't just about shaking things up for the sake of it; it's about growth, progress, and evolution.

Throughout history, we've seen countless examples of individuals and societies embracing change and reaping the rewards. From the invention of the wheel to the advent of the internet, humanity has continually pushed the boundaries of what is possible, driving innovation and transformation in every aspect of life.

But change isn't always met with open arms. There will always be resistance, fear, and uncertainty. And that's okay. It's natural to feel apprehensive about the unknown. But it's how we respond to that fear that truly matters.

Instead of succumbing to the paralysis of indecision or clinging desperately to the status quo, let's confront change head-on with courage and resilience. Let's harness the power of our collective ingenuity to shape a future that reflects our values, aspirations, and dreams.

And let's not forget the importance of empathy and compassion in times of change. As we navigate the complexities of transformation, let's extend a helping hand to those who may be struggling, offering support, understanding, and encouragement along the way.

Because ultimately, change is about more than just progress; it's about people. It's about creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, where diversity is celebrated, and where every voice is heard.

So, as we bid farewell to this chapter of our journey, let's carry forward the lessons we've learned and the insights we've gained. Let's embrace change as a force for good, a catalyst for growth, and a beacon of hope in an ever-changing world.

Love Always:

Maria D.C Santiago

aka Crazy Filter Lady

#OnlineEquality #StandUpForOthers #FairPlayOnline #NoMoreDiscrimination #EmpowerEveryVoice #InternetJustice #EqualOpportunityOnline #SupportTheUnderdogs #EndOnlineBullying #TogetherWeRise #HumanityOnline #KindnessMatters #DigitalEmpathy #InclusiveInternet #EmpowermentThroughConnection #SupportAndUplift #OnlineCommunityBuilding #InspireNotIntimidate #TogetherWeThrive #DigitalPositivity #EmpathyMatters #SupportNotScorn #HumanityFirst #DreamCrushersBeware #CompassionOverConvenience #StandUpForOthers #NoMoreHypocrisy #TogetherWeRise #KindnessIsStrength #BeTheChange #IlluminateKindness #DareToDream #EmpathyRevolution #BeTheLight #HopeInDarkness #TogetherWeThrive #HumanityUnleashed #CompassionConquersAll #StandStrongStandTogether #DreamersUnited  #EmbraceChange #ProgressIsKey #LetPeopleGrow #SurvivalOfTheFittest #NewEraNewRules #ForwardTogether #BreakTheMold #UnleashPotential #EvolveOrBeLeftBehind #ChangeIsInevitable

fav83523

[anonymouslosersworld]

ᵀᵒᵐᵃⁿ ˣ ᴹᵃⁿ⁻ᵉᵃᵗᵉʳ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

this is requested by: @divine-dogs-cafe

I hope you like it! Requests are open!

warnings; Strong language, mentions of manipulation, violence, and toman being menaces to society. slight spoilers

𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐤𝐮'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 1/2/3 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫- 1/2/3

𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 -1\ {Masterlist 1} {masterlist 2} _____________________________________________________________

You were a force of nature, a whirlwind that comes and goes. The division captains are were thrown in a loop of how fast you resued your cousin and how you left as equally fast without even speaking a single word to them.

So they were shocked to see you again at the next toman meeting after they spoke to Mikey and Draken about you.

It turns out Mikey and Draken decided to look into the information the captains relayed upon them even if they really thought it was a joke.

They both continued to think it was a joke till they had a run-in with you and your cousin while looking for a rival gang captain that was spotted there but didn't know much about.

Your cousin yet again caused trouble and didn't think before he took action. BY took action it meant his dumbass picked a fight with a dude 2 times his size and was known for his very brutal fighting skills and lack of empathy for his victims. Mikey and Draken went to intervene but honestly, that made everything worse. Mikey and Draken riled the man so much that it had alerted some of the men with him. It was going to be a real ugly fight but lucky you stepped in.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble my family caused!" you say beginning to start your normal maneater charm. There you were dressed like a plain (colored) apron with your hair tied/clipped and a light (color) long sleeve. It was an outfit straight out of those exaggerated scenes in manga or anime. You had this energy around you that flustered people around you.

Draken and Mikey had the biggest wtf is happening faces. Suddenly this felt like deja vu to them.

"o-oi! You-" the man began to speak but you interrupted him getting closer to him. Something about you just lured him in.

"Ever since our parents died, my brothers and I have been fending for ourselves. We feel lost without their kind and gentle hands. Their love we no longer feel. We struggle to even feed ourselves. We're truly helpless without them'' you pause for a bit and you can feel the man try to comfort you. Already pulling at his heartstrings he had no idea still existed. " so my brothers they lash out in any place they can. There is only so much I can do as their older sister. I know I'm failing to be the big sister they need "

You reach out and grab the man's hands. You clasp them between your own.

what in the world were you doing? Why were you giving out a sad sob story to a stranger?

" But you can understand right?!" You say your eyes lighting up with light tears pooling at your eyes. " they're just hurting! please forgive them and move on!" you say your voice breaks lighting seeming as if you are overcome with emotion. " I promise I'll do a better job. I'll look out for them more and be a better sister," you say finally looking at him with tears streaming down your face.

The man was frozen, his hands still in warm hands who tenderly held his. He could feel your arms shaking. This man was already under your spell of lies and charm.

" y/n, I said I was sorry." Your cousin starts

"Sorry doesn't cut it. I'm used to you getting in trouble but this! This has crossed a line! what were you thinking you, idiot!" You replied as you take off the apron and untie/unclip your hair. You turn to a woman who was outside at a table eating a pastry.

"Thank you so much for letting me use your apron without notice ma'am" The woman smiles at you and tells you it's fine.

" As a thank you, could I pay for your food?"

Draken and Mikey still reeling from the shock from what you just did. How the hell does that even work? why did they just go with it instead of just leaving or beating the crap out of that guy?

"y/n, how did you pay for that? I know you didn't have enough cover that"

Yeah, how the hell did you pay for that women's meal?

You smirk and hold up a wallet.

"y/n did you steal that?"

"no, he was just so moved he gave it to me. Though it would have been so easy to steal it. that man was ripe for the taking." You say and you grip the wallet. "Hey, you two? you want anything it's on him" you say in a singy song voice.

yeah, you are fucking terrifying! An absolute threat to anyone who just dares get in front of you. The captains were right you are a pure untameable threat and a great asset to anyone you decide to help!

And that's why they must have you!

You Identify as a threat and Mikey and Draken weren’t afraid to use your ability to the fullest.

" And that's how I ran into Mikey and Draken! They recruited me while we had dinner. It was pretty fun."

Shock, just shock all around. To think you even wowed the top two in just one day.

After you were inaugurated into Toman. you were put into the 5th division with mucho and Sanzu but you were to assist in any captains if asked to.

Your abilities and skills are on overtime put plainly you're overworked in Toman. A lot of times your out keeping the toman members out of trouble. It was like getting 12 more people like your cousin just in different variants of him.

Many times you assist Draken with Mikey. It doesn't matter if you're shorter or taller than Mikey, you're also sharing the load of carrying him after he sleeps. You tutor Mikey in things from school he doesn't understand or just didn't give enough care to listen and fell asleep. Most of the time you are with them you trail behind them because you don't know what they'll pull out of their asses last minute. they're chaotic at best and you just have to join. Mikey and Draken let you play with their hair as long as you massage their head. That shit gets them sleepy and in a few minutes, they go to sleep. Whenever their head hurts or they aren't, feeling okay you place a pillow on your lap and make them lay down as you comb and massage their hair. 10/10 makes them feel better. While Draken has a lot of woman figures in his life, he feels like your his older sister even though all of you are the same age. He feels very comfortable and he trusts you with his own being. So you guys hang out in his room a lot. He the first time he invited you to his apartment, the girls from the brothel swarmed him automatically. You tease him about being a ladies' man/womanizer and he just panics trying to explain away everything but he struggles a lot due to the women just start exposing him to you. You get mistaken as a working girl and Draken was mortified, to say the least. He apologies to you the Draken way at least 10 times per day for a straight week. You just wave him off and tell him

"he was very apologetic Draken." as you show him the ward of cash he gave you as an apology/ hush-hush money

Draken promises he will protect you better after that incident.

Most of the time you had to get Baji out of trouble the most since he would set cars on fire, punch people just for shits and giggles etc etc. Your dynamic with him is interesting. You were kinda adopted by his mom and inherited the big sis role from her. So now you have this superiority over him but in Toman, he has the superiority. So oftentimes, when he's about to do something absolutely stupid with Captain of the First Division confidence all you have to say, is

"I'm gonna tell mom!"

And you see him deflate and run after you while yelling

"Don't snitch on me! Snitches get stitches!"

"you obviously didn't get the saying right its snitches get bitches!"

Chifuyu finds you hilarious especially when you mess with Baji the notorious mischief-maker. The three of you bond over your love of animals and they both bring you stray kittens they want you to adopt because mama Baji said no more kittens. You babysit Peke jr a lot when Chifuyu is busy and you read all the manga Chifuyu has in his room. Chifuyu has a picture of you sleeping with Peke jr and a few manga books around you. He has it as his background on his phone. Baji has a background of Chifuyu, you, and himself in a doggy pile while throwing up peace signs. It's one of his favorites.

Mitsuya is convinced you are an angel sent from heaven itself. He isn't alone anymore! He thanks his lucky stars that you aren't insane like baji and help him tame these children because he can't do it alone. You help him a lot on a day-to-day basis without meaning to. At first, it started when Mikey sent you instead of Peyan and Peyan thank you for your sacrifice. It's no secret that the girls in Mitsuya's clubs hate Peyan with a burning passion. So when they see little old you with just note in your hand with a shocked/frightened look on your face instead of Peyan. They feel so guilty for doing that to you and apologize quickly. You just tell them it's okay and ask to see Mitsuya. You know how Mitsuya just screams big brother energy well you scream big sis/small sis energy and they can't help but fangirl over your interactions with Mitsuya. You come sometimes when they're on overworking themselves and make all of them eat, take a rest before the busy bees start again. You babysit his sisters all the time. One time you just "broke" into his house and "kidnapped" his sisters. You ended up playing Keep away with Mitsuya for the entire day for his sisters. His sisters love you so much, you 4 have matching outfits made by Mitsuya and his crew. Sometimes people mistake you for a young family when you're out and about. Mitsuya can't stop you from your slightly mischievous ways. He physically and emotionally can't. Your cute face and the way you sparkle as you fool people into thinking you guys are 100% a young family. he stops you when you say, you're trying for a third. His sisters call you big sis or Mitsuya's girlfriend. They grill Mitsuya for not going after you, telling him he's going to be single forever if he doesn't and they'll make sure of it. He's slightly frightened that they have picked up your maneater abilities.

Hakki is such a little cutie! You think he's the cutest when he can't form a single word to you. So you're often seen teasing Hakki all the time. You get along with his older sister too so eventually he gets used to you too. You treat him like a younger brother too which kinda upsets him but once you pet his head or begin giving him some affection he just drops it. You're very overprotective of Hakki and Yuzha. Hakki knows what you're capable of he saw himself but when you aren't in a maneater mood, he just sees you like a soft older sister just like Yuzha. But he's quickly reminded of how dangerous you are when you first encounter his older brother. HE won't forget the day you completely and utterly left his older brother destroyed and with no will to fight you as you conned him. No blows were exchanged, you just destroyed him with abilities. He cried when you told him that you loved him and if his older brother came back to give him and Yuzha trouble. To run to her, no matter the time or day and you'll come running to help. all had to was ask.

You're automatically obsessed with the twins on day one. You're seen just absolutely fluster Souya anytime you interact with him. Souya believed you really wouldn't approach him because of his face or maybe you would talk to his brother but he was proven wrong as soon as the toman meeting was over. You were in front of him.

"Oh my gosh! you're so cute!!! can I touch you?!"

And so began the daily task of flustering Souya with affection and compliments. Souya appreciated that you were so lovely to him and his brother. Nahoya and Souya will make you taste any and all ramen plates they make or take you out to eat at other ramen places. Nahoya and Souya balance each other out but you're like in between them. Like a very special blend of both of them. So you get treated like the middle child of the twins. Nahoya often gets his shit checked by you a lot because he's always looking for a fight. You spend most of your time with Souya indoors watching movies, tv shows, and all that. While with Nahoya loves to go out to explore and all that fun jazz.

#tokyo revengers hakkai #tokyo revengers mitsuya #tokyo revengers souya #tokyo revengers nahoya #tokyo revengers baji #tokyo revengers chifuyu #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers x y/n #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers mikey #mikey tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers draken #sano manjiro #ken ryuguji #manjiro sano #draken #baji keisuke

[ninja-gay-go]

Hello! can i get some lavashipping first date fluff? just them being gay idiots lmao I live for gay idiots. Thats all bye now!

you have no idea how much this prompt gave me a runaround.

Cake? (Cole/Kai | Lavashipping)

Cole fumbled with his coat for the umpteenth time. As he watched the empty seat across him, he helped himself to his third glass of chilled water, his only companion in this homely cafe.

Maybe this was a bad idea? He wasn't going to show. Might as well leave a ten or something and go-

"Cole!" His head flicked to the front of the cafe. And there he was.

Kai shuffled to his seat with his leather jacket still slick from the light rain outside. He seemed out of breath. "Sorry about being late, I-" he seemed a bit ashamed to look Cole in the eye. "I was cleaning up the dojo and saw the time."

Cole cocked an eyebrow, "Cleaning the Dojo? Wasn't that Jay's chore today?"

Kai tapped the table. "Uh- I kinda.. owed him a favor?" He reached for the water glass that was still cold, the ice had melted at that point. He took a small sip as he felt his cheeks redden.

There's was only one cup. He still helped himself to Cole's water.

"What kind of favor?" Cole was at least glad this meet-up didn't end up with a no-show.

"Guh- just a small one!"

"Cleaning the Dojo is a small favor?" Okay Kai, what are you hiding?

---

Apparently a lot.

It started with Kai being late to the cafe. Then Kai had to rush off leaving Cole to dragon back to the Bounty. Alone.

Then things... got weird.

Lloyd was caught sneaking around with an old vinyl that Misako had lying around, but the Ninja didn't care for the absentee mother's stuff, so they ignored it. But Cole couldn't help but notice Kai with the same vinyl just hours later, smuggling it out to the supply shed outside the training dojo.

Jay had forbade him (huh, funny that Jay uses that exact word-) from taking care of the cherry blossom tree, saying he was tired from the other chores and got dibs on pruning. Which was all fine and dandy, if it weren't for Cole catching Kai not moments later helping Jay take dead twigs down and put tiny lanterns out.

Nya had been trying to talk to him whenever possible now, nice to have some company. But when did she ever care to ask how much he liked a certain kind of cake? He loved cake! Wait- there was that one Boston cream cake he had. That was disgusting.

Then Zane had things prepped in the kitchen, when asked the nindroid said it was for dinner. But Cole couldn't help but notice that night they had pork instead of beef. And he dimmed as he caught Kai and Zane whispering to each other.

The world was telling him something. And it wasn't pretty, very very ugly.

Cole caught Kai sneaking outside the dojo. Again. Zane ran to Kai before he left, holding a basket.

---

Kai took a deep breath as he stood outside Cole's room.

Okay, you can do this. All it takes is a knock...

"... Cole?" He failed step one. And step two, get Cole's attention, was already failing. Maybe the Earth Master wasn't in his-?

The door slid open faster than anticipated, making a mild 'slam' that Kai jumped from. Cole stood at the door with a flat line of a mouth, staring at the frozen Fire Master.

Kai was stuck, he may have squirmed himself back to a reasonable standing position- but what about his plan? He tried to say- no that was stupid, saying hi was too simple? Hey? Hey???

"Uh... hey?" Did Kai say that out loud? "You did."

Kai smacked his jaw shut. Cole probably thought he was an idiot.

"Hey," Cole waved his hand to catch Kai. "Hot stuff- you're blanking out."

"Am I?" Kai brushed his hair back. "I didn't notice!" O-kay that was a bad lie!

Kai realized that... he trailed off again.

"UM-" He stopped Cole from leaving the doorway. "What are your plans for dinner, tonight?"

Cole blinked. "... We're not fending for ourselves tonight are we? I thought it was me and Lloyd's turn in the kitchen?" Cole had to count back a couple days in his head but- yep. His and Lloyd's turn.

Despite the horror of his earlier cooking adventures, he's proud to say he doesn't glue Jay's lips shut anymore.

"Well uh- something came up and I need to go and was wondering if you'd come with me?"

What.

"What." That's what Cole said. Kai swallowed. Okay, this plan is getting worse. Time to go for it.

"Ju- Come with me!" Kai grabbed Cole's arm and led the black ninja away from the bedroom. Kai didn't (tried to not) care as Cole argued with the red ninja's manhandling.

---

Outside the air got crisper, going into a soft Autumn that was perfect enough for a couple to have a romantic walk.

For Kai, he considered letting go of the angry Earth Master trying to break free from his hold with super strength. But if that really was the case, Kai'd be on his butt and Cole would be back inside to create atrocities in the kitchen.

Kai pushed the monastery gate open and kept going down a few steps until he felt the soft breeze hit his face. From there he stopped, and he let go of Cole.

"Thank you!" Cole took his arm back and rubbed it as if Kai had bruised him. "I was starting to think you'd drag me down the whole staircase!"

"No." Kai cringed a tad. Maybe Cole would punch him? Nah. "Only a few steps."

Cole almost asked him- but he caught to an odd sight.

The cherry blossom tree. Its branches were illuminated with paper lanterns. And below it was a thin throw on the ground with-

the basket.

A gramophone with Misako's stolen vinyl playing.

Candles set carefully around to not set anything aflame.

Cole got one look before he saw Kai. The red ninja waiting with a light blush on his cheeks. Waiting for a response.

"... Is this a-?" Cole felt his face heat up against the chilled air.

Kai found some courage, his lopsided smile catching Cole with his own, small smile.

"... Cake?"

Cole caught a laugh, but Kai already blushed harder. Did he really say that?

"You did!" Kai's face went as red as his gi. "Kai! You did all this?"

"Yeah! I know I messed up back at the cafe and I wanted to make it up to you for flaking-"

"You showed up!" "For like 10 minutes, and then I bolted!"

The two laughed a bit as they walked towards the picnic set up. Cole helped himself to get another glance at the area. And- wow. Kai really did go all out!

Cole felt his body warm-up.

It didn't help that Kai still had his hand in his.

"So, cake? I heard you liked strawberry." Kai led him to sit, and he started fishing out some slices of that sweet confectionary.

"How did you know that? I only told that to-" Oh. OH! Ooohhhhh!!! "You got everyone in on this!?"

It didn't help Kai, with the stupid grin on his face getting bigger. "Favors help! Now, do you want cake or not-?"

Cole swiped a quick kiss on Kai's cheek. "I want your slice."

Kai- he was redder. "You can have my slice for life."

#Ninjago #mun answers #Kai Smith #Cole Brookstone #Lavashipping #Kai/Cole #THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!!! #I HOPE THIS IS SATISFACTORY!!!!!!

[nozomi-akamivt]

Scalpels and Paintbrushes || Chishiya Shuntarô x Reader

- read ‘til the end for notes -

When a freelance artist travels to Japan to rekindle her passion for art and her life, she finds herself in a whole other predicament. Dangerous games, dangerous people, a dangerous world with dangerous rules. She’s alone, fending for herself, until she meets a disoriented medical student that will bring her comfort but might bring more difficulties and heartbreak aswell.

TW: gore

Chapter 6: We'll meet again

That night Chishiya and I readied ourselves for our second game together, a four of clubs, and the day after we decided to play again, so Chishiya could get more experience and because he seemed kind of thrilled by the games. And I mean who am I to refuse him to indulge in his cavings, we're gonna die anyways so at least let it be in our own accord. So, after a very tiring game of seven of spades, we were left with ten days of visa.

We spent those days looking around, talking, nothing really fancy compared to our first week together, but it worked. We worked. Both in and out of games. It was mostly comfortably silent, with only Chishiya's mp3 or the radio as background sounds. But when we talked it was also great, as long as the silence might be so were our conversations.

We talked about before the borderlands, what we did, how it was for us. We told stories and anecdotes, took pictures, and soon enough I realized that he might've been right, I definitely got too attached. I mean, he was pretty great, a bit of an ass and a bit cold at times, but he was great. He didn't show it directly but he cared, sometimes he laughed and smiled when I was being a dumbass, he comforted me in his own peculiar and aloof way when I felt more down than usual, he always helped me with chores and cooking. He even dabbled into building small gadgets to help us and made me a sort of polearm with a taser on one end that I could activate by a button near the grip on the middle where I mostly held the weapon, and on the other end a blade from a pretty big butcher knife we found.

"If some play dirty to win then so do we to defend ourselves. Plus you're a dumbass, wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

He said.

Yeah right, just admit you care Shuntarô.

But yeah, a month has passed, Hide and Yume were still fresh in my mind but I felt like being in the Borderlands reduced my mourning by a big chunk, I had no time to wallow, I had to survive.

And so this is how I found myself, a month after meeting him, with Shuntarô Chishiya, in a ten of diamonds.

At first I was pretty happy, diamonds were both our strongest points, and it was medical themed which meant that Chishiya had a vast advantage.

The pitch of the game was that we were thrown into the Shinjuku Hospital, once again an advantage for my partner, and had to find and resolve three puzzles per floors. If you couldn't find in a given amount of time a puzzle on the floor you were in, you died, if you couldn't solve it or solved it badly, you died.

It was easy enough when in the pediatric wing, creativity was my forte so we got out of there fast. The pharmacy, nephrology, neurology and psychiatry floors were also quite easy. So all in all we got through it all pretty fast. Most of the others weren't as lucky as we were, as they either panicked, or weren't knowledgeable enough on medial subject and we had to hear their screams echo through the empty halls of the Hospital. But even through all that we had to keep on going. You see, one floor had been locked and could only be unlocked when all of the other floors were cleared.

The surgery floor.

And at first it seemed easy enough, Chishiya and I separated and talked through walkie talkies to help each other and gain more time, and it worked. So we unlocked all of the floors and got to the Surgery rooms in only a few hours, before we were reminded of the difficulty of the game once we got to the previously locked floor.

"You take the right part, I take the left?" I asked and the med student nodded. We bumped fists and then immediately got to work. And after looking through a few rooms I finally arrived at a puzzle.

"I found one."

"Same."

"I'm not gonna lie it looks really plain, no tools, nothing whatsoever."

"Wait, I am going through a passage? It was hidden behind a cabinet."

"Oooh did you find anything?"

"Wait a sec...Yeah, it's a control room of sorts I can see every camera. Another player found another game room on this floor so it seems we're about to get out...wait they're on the other side of your room. In the prep space..."

All of a sudden all the lights and cameras shut down, all the doors lock themselves. I hear footsteps and try to calm my breathing.

"Chishiya, I think someone is in th-"

"(y/n)? (y/n)? You're here? Fuck, shit, shit-"

The door wouldn't budge. I could hear him try to open it through the fuzz induced in my brain by the chloroform covered napkin my agressor pushed on my nose and mouth as they choked me to make me inhale air faster. Then it all turned black.

How much time passed, I don't know. But my body hurts, it's cold, I'm parched, and most importantly of all it's bright, really bright.

I cough as I open my eyes, damn it, it burns. The light, my body, my throat, my lungs, it all burnt. As my vision gets less and less blurry, my hearing starts to come back, a heart monitor beeps calmly, I am lying down, wearing an oxygen mask, my legs and arms are...cuffed.

I start to panic, the heart monitor starts to beep erratically, and that's when I feel the needles in my arms, IV fluids and many other machines were linked to me....I think know where it's all going and I don't like it one bit.

"Welcome to the second part of ten of diamonds, Operation. Various items were placed in the body of the patient, seven remote controlled bombs, and three caps of arsenic. A doctor has been asigned to perform the surgery, and they will be guided by the head surgeon who is in the control room with all the help they need in books. There will be no time limit for this game. But if you do not take out the bombs or arsenic caps in the way they are meant to be removed, it will result in the release of the fluid or the remote detonation of the bomb. Good luck!"

Lucky for me, or not, I understood the big lines...

I turn my head to the left to see a guy, in his late thirties maybe, shaking as much as I was and crumbling to the ground. The doctor.

I then realized it meant that Chishiya was the head surgeon, he maybe wasn't in here but he could help.

The thought didn't do much to ease my nerves though and tears start to fall from my eyes.

I hear the click of a microphone and a heavy sigh.

"(y/n)? I'm sorry you have to be in this predicament, I-I swear on my life I'm going to do anything I can to save you and help the other person in here with you, okay." He says rapidly, overcome by stress and panic.

I sob and nod as he takes his cue to explain to me the details of the game. So that was why my body hurt so much. Ten foreign and deadly objects were in my body and I had approximately 90% chances of dying, lucky me.

The more I tried to dedramatize the situation in my head the more I breathed heavily, thrashed around, and cried out loud. I had done, seen and lived horrible things but that definitely was the worse I've had since Hide and Yume's deaths in the Kuchisake-Onna game.

"Listen to me, you're having a panic attack, focus on my voice. You understand me, don't lose yourself completely, I'm not next to you to help so I can't do much, but it'll have to do."

I sob loudly and nod, I couldn't stop but that didn't mean I didn't hear him, so I tried to answer before I became too restless to do so.

"Name three things you can see."

"T-the heart monitor......the sheet covering me....the tool table.." I feel my throat constricting and the tears escaping my eyes faster but I could hear clearer.

"Great. Name two things you can feel."

"...The cold operating table.....the metal of the cuffs..." I start to breathe a bit slower as I take in my surroundings, my sobs getting more and more spaced out.

"That's it, I've got you. Now name one thing you can hear. Just one."

"I can hear you. I can- I can hear you, you're here."

"Yes I am. I'm here. You've done amazing, good job."

My sobs have now died down and although my heart is still threatening me to jump out of my rib cage I definitely feel calmer.

I choke out a laugh. "Thanks doc."

"I told you I've got you. Now, let's get that shit out of you, ok?"

"Please do."

And so Chishiya starts to talk to the one with the role of the doctor who I learned was named Kamo Yoshiteru. I understood Chishiya's encouragement and saw the man in the room come towards me.

"My english not good, but I try, I help you with Chishiya-san it's promise."

I nod and give him a small smile to reassure him, after all he was an accountant, not a surgeon, and he was in the same situation I was in, only on the other side. So I understood the immense pressure that was put upon him to save me.

"Okay so it seems like the bombs need to be removed by gently pulling the latches on it open from the arteries. You have one in each leg, two in your chest area, one hear the heart, one near the diaphragm, one in your right arm, and two in your left."

I take in the info and nod slowly, trying to take slow deep breaths to not hyperventilate again. And look at Kamo-san also nodding.

"But we will focus on the caps first, I know they said there was no limit of time but I can't help but want those out of the way first, there are less and they could melt and result in (y/n) taking in the poison anyways. As for their positions, one is in each leg, and the last one is in the right arm."

He then instructs Kamo-san to look at the map of the blood vessels that was in the room and points out where each element is in my body. Kamo-san uses a blue marker to point where the caps are, and a red one for the bombs. Organisation is a key point here, so having an accountant maybe isn't as bad.

"You take out the caps the same way you take out the bombs, the caps have only three latches compared to the bombs who have seven so rest easy, but not too much."

And that's how the surgery starts. Apparently I was injected with anesthetic before hand, which is nice, but it also means we have to not take too long because it might wear off and there is nothing else of the sort in the room.

The caps were easy enough to take off, Kamo-san nearly fainted when he first cut me up but kept a cool head and slowly but surely removed the first cap, he then sealed the wound shut by sewing it together and puting gauze and ointment on it. The same happened for the rest.

He wiped his forehead on his sleeve and cracked his knuckles nervously. To which I smile, I was going to reassure him, as freaked out as I was, so that he performs his surgery just fine. If I believe in him, maybe it'll work. Plus we had Chishiya.

Speaking of which he sighed in what seemed relief.

"Okay, okay. (y/n), are you alright?"

"I'm not dead, thanks to you guys." I choke out a strained laugh.

"Yeha, and we'll keep it that way. You've done a good job Kamo-san, very good job. Next the bombs, I suggest we take it slower, no chemical risks, so we can focus more on the latches so she doesn't die."

"Thanks for the reassurance buddy." I shiver as I imagine the state of my body after a remote controlled small explosion.

"You know I have to think about any and every outcome, right?"

"I know, it wasn't against you, you've been doing amazing. It's my fault I got stuck he-"

"It's not, you couldn't have known. Stop worrying, we're fine. I'm fine, so are you and so is Kamo-san and we'll keep it that way."

"I don't care if I'm in one piece as long as I live, so you guys shoot your shot."

Kamo-san nods and washes his tools as he listens to Chishiya's instructions, all of a sudden he seems more cold, more professional, we were 30% done but 70% were still left and those were the worse.

With shaky hands and a deep breath Kamo-san starts to cut open my left leg where the first bomb should be, and slowly but surely he peels of each latch from the device and throws it in the kidney shaped bowl, one down six to go.

The bomb on my right leg came off just as easily. Then came the right arm, the surface being smaller meant that Kamo-san had to concentrate more, and the fact that it was so close to my face made it hard not to look at the dangerous surgery. But the bomb was taken out easily as well.

We were 70% done, only 30% left. Kamo-san looked at me.

"Can I take out blanket from you?"

He asked for consent even in a situation like this, and I won't lie it made me smile. I nodded and he unwrapped my chest from the paper-ish sheet.

It was hard not to blush when a man had to manipulate your breasts but seeing as it was to save me from impending doom, the blush quickly left as I took a deep breath and nodded at Kamo-san so he could start.

All the while Chishiya helped him maneuver the best he could from where he was. He was of such a great help since the very start of this hellish surgery, by now I just wanted to run to him, take him in my arms and cry. But I had to be strong, I could do it later.

The diaphragm bomb got discarded after a while, the sweat gathering more and more on Kamo-san's forehead as he performed the dangerous surgery.

And after what felt like hours so did the heart bomb. This one was the most dangerous but Kamo-san aced the removal, I had to remind myself to hug him too. His point of view was probably as horrible as mine right now and he aced those surgeries like a boss. He didn't deserve this.

Last was the left arm, the first bomb came easily off, although needing some concentration, it definitely was more safe than the ones in my chest. I slowly started to feel what was done on my arm but kept on thinking positively, soon enough and probably before the anesthetic wears off, I'll be free of the last bomb.

For the second bomb of the left arm I felt more confident, Kamo-san had done a great job until now, I had to help him get past this last bomb. But as soon as I opened my mouth to encourage the older man a loud beep is heard and blood suddently splashes on my face.

My left ear rings. My face is hot, the red liquid dripping down my face. And as curiosity slowly took over me I looked at what was left of my left arm, a bloody stump, the 70% of my arm on the ground looked so foreign to me. And it's only after a few minutes that my body realized, the stump started to sting, my eyes watered, and my throat hurt from my screams. The effects of the anesthetic were wearing off and I just lost an arm, perfect timing wasn't it?

As this happened the door loudly opened, revealing Shuntarô in scrubs, rushing towards me, eyes frantic.

"I'm here, I'm here. It's okay."

"I'm so- so sorry.."

"Kamo-san, you did your best and extracted 9 out of 10 of the elements in (y/n)'s body, it's tiring and traumatizing, you don't have to apologise, not many in your situation with so little knowledge would have done so well. Be proud of yourself."

The older man nodded but fell to the ground and sobbed, the game's stress finally catching up to him.

But Shuntarô he took a probe and activated it.

"(y/n), hey (y/n), can you hear me?"

I nod through tears.

"Does it hurt?"

He says as he touches around the stump and when I scream he realizes that the anesthetic wore off almost entirely.

"Listen, I have to use that probe to burn your stump and stop you from losing all your blood, it's gonna hurt like hell but it's the only way you can survive. It's called electrocauterization. I'm gonna be as careful as I can to not hurt you anymore than you already are, do you trust me?"

I nod again, and it's all it takes for him to get to work. His lips in a harsh frown and his eyebrows furrowed as he works through the stump. The tool leaving an odor of rancid burnt meat in the air, the feeling of cauterization under the last of anesthetic feeling like billions of needles were stabbed in what was left of my arm.

Without waiting until the end, I faint, the operation and the stress of it all finally crumpling down on me like the weight of the world on Atlas' back.

_______

When I wake up, I'm on my bed, it's warm, hot even, unbearably so, but it feels....good. For a second it feels as though everything was a nightmare. But the soreness of my left arm and the sight of the stump as I try to lift my arm out of the covers prove me wrong. The sobs come to me once more my body shaking by the force of them as the source of the unbearable temperature moves and engulfs me in its arms.

"It's okay....I'm here. At least you didn't lose your dominant hand. I know it might be hard but you're alive, you can still realize your promise. Having one arm less doesn't make you less of a human. And what if it makes you weaker, you'll just have to compensate, and knowing you and how much there is in your head, you have more than what it takes to do so."

"Please don't go.." I say through boken voiced sobs. He shushes me, one hand through my hair, the other massaging my back.

"I think I have to though."

I look up at him, confused.

He looks away, gulping, clearing his voice.

"I'm getting too attached, I'm getting hurt and so are you, it isn't good. I can't stay with you if I'm going to see anymore of that." He sounds desperate, and so sad, his voice lowered to just a mutter.

"Shuntarô, that's- that's just how the borderlands are. I need you...please..."

"So do I, but I-" He sighs. "I'll stay until the end of our visa, then go. I can't stand it, seeing you hurt."

"But-"

"And I prefer you hating me because I left you than seeing you suffer this much. It might not sound good to you but I just, I can't handle it. You slept two days, and those two days seeing you like that were the worst moments of my life."

He looks at me with teary eyes, I had never seen him this way before and it scared me. During the surgery I only thought about Kamo-san and I but he was...

"I was so scared. When I heard you scream when the lights shut off, when everything did. And when I saw you on the surgery table, when I heard the rules...I couldn't believe the bullshit I just heard. I- I couldn't do anything but talk and watch...And when I was finally able to come to the OR, and saw you and heard you...It hurt so much. Seeing that gruesome sight, and being able to do nothing but talk, watch and rhen clean up while hurting you more. It ruined me."

"It must've been so hard on you Shun....I'm so sorry-"

"DON'T apologise, it's the game master's fault, not yours. But I think I need to get my thoughts in check, to breathe. And I got too attached to you to do so with you around."

"Hypocrite. You don't even follow your own advices. 'blahblah don't get too attached blahblahbl-"

He suddenly pinched my nose to stop me from talking and I softly laughed and looked at him in the eyes.

"But why in eight days?"

"Because I want to take care of you. And I want to care for you."

"But you already do all of this?"

"I just...I'm not good with words."

"So show me what you mean."

He looks at me dead in the eyes with so much sadness that I physically felt sucker punched. But all of a sudden as if he snapped out of a transe he kissed me. It was slow, passionate, filled with tears and unsaid words, heavy breaths and sobs.

I grasped at his blonde hair, now showing dark brown roots as he clasped both of my cheeks within his hands.

The kiss felt like it burnt and was cool at the same time, I could taste the saltiness on our tears, blood from Shuntarô's lips as he seemed to keep on biting them out of stress.

When we broke off we were breathless, our foreheads resting on each other's until he lifted his head and kissed mine.

"Well this was long overdue..." I mutter as I snuggle closer to the male and he softly chuckles.

"Yeah, in the end I think we might both be dumb, you more than me though. It's probably because you rubbed off on me."

"Fuck you."

"When and where?" He quotes me from the first week we spent together and we both softly giggle as if we talked any higher the world would break.

Silence then settles between us as we look at each other, breaths heavy with feelings.

"I won't stop you. Just promise you'll call me on the walkie talkie....from time to time at least..please...I just need to know you're fine."

"I will, I think I won't be able to live with myself if I don't, as much of an asshole I am I can't do it. Not to you. But I might be silent for a week or two, just so I don't drop everything and run back to you."

"Thanks for everything Shun."

"No, thank you, without you-"

"You'd be doing much better, stop denying the truth."

"No I wouldn't. Never once in my life did I have a real friend, neither did I have a girlfriend. You've been kind of both."

"Wow I'm your girl now huh?"

"Only if you want to."

"Maybe once we're done getting our feelings in check. I think you're right, we need some time to breathe, it's been a lot, everything I mean. And after we're done, we'll meet again, and then I'll say yes."

He looks at me softly, caressing my cheeks. "Is it a promise?"

I raise my only pinky left. "Even better."

He chuckles and we interlace our little fingers and hug each other to sleep.

After that the eight days seemed to pass by so fast. Shuntarô took such great care of me, as an intern he had to learn to be gentle, and that's all he ever was with me during times like these. My stump, although still looking like a disgusting red, charred mess of flesh, started to heal slowly but surely.

I aided him in making the food, as I was now less able to do most of the work. We talked as much as we could, making most of the time that was left. We listened to music together, like we always did, and painted, dyied our hair one last time, and did our chores together.

We kissed, anytime we could. Anywhere and everywhere. We watched the stars. We danced. We drank. We took pictures. We slept.

And soon enough the final eight days had passed. Chishiya and I got him a backpack so he could take all the things he had accumulated over the last two months, a few of Hide's clothes, a few pictures, a few letters, drawings and paintings we made. The gadgets he had made and some trinkets we found, a few rings or earrings, little souvenirs from our adventures...

"So this is goodbye huh?"

"No, it's a farewell." I look up at him as he says that, his hands wiping my tears away.

"What's the difference?"

"A goodbye is forever, a farewell is a promise to see each other again."

"Since when did you get so sappy?"

"Since I met you, you dumbass."

"Wow, love you too."

"I love you, you know that?"

"For our last time together for some time, I think you could prove it to me one last time so I can be sure..?"

"You're such a handful."

"But can you blame me? You love it."

"No I can't, and I sure as hell do."

And like that he dives in for one last kiss, he pours his all into it, his tears, his heart, mind and soul. His every atoms. And when it's finally time for us to find a game, I adjust the strap of my polearm holdster on my shoulder, caress his cheek to wipe his tears as he does the same to me, and look up to him.

"Farewell the Shun, we'll meet again. Don't know where, don't know when."

"But I know we'll meet again some sunny day."

<Prev / Next>

M.list

taglist wanters

Hey you guys, lately I've been struggling a lot more with my mental health than I did for a while, and I'm sure as hell not getting better, so I'm sorry for not posting for months. But here you go, I hope you'll like this chapter.

#alice in borderland #imawa no kuni no arisu #imawa no kuni no alice #shuntaro chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #shuntarô chishiya #chishiya shuntarô #shuntaro chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntaro x reader #shuntarô chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntarô x reader #chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntarou #shuntarou chishiya #shuntarou chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntarou x reader #x fem!reader #x female reader #scalpels and paintbrushes

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

Alex thinks Maxine is with Roach, this means Samantha is nearby. Join us as the Alpha Team and Bravo Team breach the last safehouse in the hopes that Samantha is inside.

But is she though?

Previous Chapter : Roach - Run Through the Jungle

Chapter 4 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

"Déjà vu"

"Alex"

Task Force 141

Germany

Short Blonde Hair. If intel was correct then Maxine was with her. This means he's really close to Samantha and he could feel his excitement burst out as they creeped closer to the house. It was a simple white house with a brown roof with windows on all sides, the door was facing them but it was sealed shut based on his assessment. He turned his gaze toward France, he could see her fingers tremble and he can't help but wonder why in the world did she know Maxine. Maybe she's her…

"This is Kilo One-One. We have detected multiple armed tangos going to your position. It looked like they were restocking supplies and headed your way. Be quick though, it looks like they're already suspicious about this bird." the pilot reported over comms. The team needed to hurry before they lose their chance at saving Samantha. 

Let's do this, he said to himself as Alex turned to France, Royce and Meat, his Alpha team, and gestured them to slowly surround the building. He nodded to Price as the Bravo Team consisting of Price, Soap, Rocket and Lazer positioned themselves around the other side.

Alex's heart thumped as he shot the door knob safely and kicked it open. What he saw was an unconscious girl tied on a chair, tears were falling from her eyes. She looked thinner than that of the photo, and her skin was almost pale. They haven't been feeding her because she isn't awake since they got her.

Alex quickly slung his rifle and dashed beside her, checking her vitals and used his knife to cut her away from the chair. The rest of the team entered and checked around for intel. Price stood by Alex and summoned a flight home.

"Ghost, Roach. Proceed to the LZed as planned. Our job here is done." He muttered over the comms. Both soldiers agreed but Roach added that he was kind of lost and will wait for the aircraft to arrive so he could use it as a guide.

"Bravo Six to Kilo One One we're ready for extraction in five. Over."

"No can do. Bravo Six. Our Primary LZed is swarming with hostiles. I may have to retreat to our secondary." he replied.

"Bollocks!" Price cursed and instructed everyone to exit immediately. 

"Multiple Tangos by the trees! They're firing at us!" Soap roared after peeking at the broken door. Alex held on to Samantha tight. He couldn't let their mission end like this.

"We don't have air support so we're going to have to push through them." The captain commanded. 

"Throw smokes around the house so we can position ourselves." he added and everyone nodded.

"Alex. We'll cover you. The best option for you is to retreat south to Ghost's position with Samantha." Price instructed the former CIA agent. The rest of the team did as ordered and exited the building one by one.

Alex ran and looked back, everyone was still acounted for. The radio chatter was filled with location tags of tangos.

He saw Ghost shine a reflective light by the bushes. He almost couldn't see him through the ghillie suit.

"That's Samantha?" Ghost asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied and set her beside them, grabbed Gary's spotter equipment and began scanning the area.

"Echo Three One to Bravo Six. I'm reunited with Ghost and ready to provide assistance to sniper support. What's your sitrep? Over."

"Bravo Six here. Good to hear you made it. There are RPGs on the North Northeast of the Safehouse and they're putting pressure on our formation." Price replied, sounding a little bit stressed.

"Got it."

"Adjust to 11 degrees." he suggested. Ghost's knob clicked softly and he took a deep breath firing the trigger.

"That's a headshot on RPG number 1. Number 2 is just a few degrees left." Alex commented and Ghost pulled the trigger once again, hitting the grenadier on the chest.

"Good hit Good hit."

"Ghost, Roach, Alex. This is Soap. I'm seeing multiple squads heading to your position to flank." MacTavish reminded them, heavy gunfire filled the background.

"Let's swap weapons. I want these tangos to stay the fuck away from us." Ghost requested and Alex quickly obliged, slinging the sniper and carrying Samantha. 

"Let's meet up with Roach. I'm pretty sure he's already met our friends." Ghost said as he lead the way, covering the CIA and the HVI.

Gunshots were fired across the distance, signaling Roach's presence. Alex turned to Ghost and nodded walking to the direction of the fire. Plowing over thick leaves and marching across the muddy tracks, they found themselves in a clearing where Roach hid behind the huge rock with an unconscious Maxine beside him. Alex quickly lifted the sniper and began assisting Roach from behind the tree. Ghost rushed to Roach's aid fending off the hostiles shooting at them. A few moments later they found themselves in a moment of stillness.

"Soap, what's the sitrep over there?" Ghost asked.

"We've retreated back to the house and are taking heavy fire. Looks like these bastards don't know how to give up!" He yelled.

"If you can find time, we really need your gunfire right now!" Price added.

"Bollocks. That's my last grenade!" he muttered before cutting off his line.

"We better get going." Alex commanded and Ghost led the way. He was the only one not carrying any load so he's securing the path for the two of them.

"Holy Shit." Ghost whistled as they saw the situation. The whole squad was hiding behind the house while it was slowly being chipped away by explosives. They only shot those brave enough to encircle them and were smartly conserving their bullets.

"Let's clean this street." Ghost said as he dashed to the house firung with his grenade launcher attachment, it had 10 rounds and he used it at certain clusters of enemies. Hostiles flew as the blast exploded beneath their feet, oddly enough it wasn't one of the recommended loadouts but Ghost forced Roach to bring one in case they needed to chip off a wall for sniper support. It was a great idea. Alex and Roach followed behind him, carrying the hostages on their backs and made their way to the Alpha Team and Bravo Team's Location, placing both hostages in an area protected by the squad.

"This is Kilo One One. If you don't get rid of the SAM Turrets we cannot call a VTOL. And I'm running low on fuel!" he complained over the radio. 

"Guess we'll have to plant a c4 on it. Soap, take France with you and run toward the SAM turret. Alex and I will provide support from behind. The rest of you, continue protecting our hostages and hold this position. Once the VTOL is out we're going to be home safely." He ordered and everyone nodded, proceeding to their positions.

"You ready to go lass?" Soap asked France who nodded without looking at him. Alex could tell that something is already bothering her ever since Roach rescued Maxine. But she still looked determined and tried to focus on the mission, but deep inside she was actually worried  He knew that feeling as he was feeling the same way about Samantha.

Alex tapped her back. "You better go. You can do this. We're right behind you" he yelled. The duo nodded and readied their rifles. 

"Go! Go! Go!" Price yelled and started opening fire against the rows of enemies that were targeting them. Alex sniped the farthest threats who were protecting the SAM Turret, their bodies twitched the moment the bullet hit them as they slowly dropped on the floor.

This gave way for the duo to sprint faster covering each other's backs. They made their way to the turret and Soap placed the charge.

"Charge is good to go." Soap muttered and ran back to them. The events were too quick and Alex was too late to notice it but an RPG flew across them and blasted on their side, the explosion knocked them back away from the group as they both rolled downhill.

"Soaap! Fraance!" Price roared as Alex shot the rocketman square in the head. The allied VTOL immediately assisted the squad, raining grenade shells across enemy forces, forcing some of them to retreat, making way for Kilo One One to safely land. Alex quickly rushed to Soap's side while Price went to France. Ghost and Roach took care of the hostages while the others helped each other to extraction.

"Soap. Soap… come on. Let's go home." Alex pleaded, softly slapping his cheek.

He groaned and reached for his head, rubbing the short hairs growing on the sides of his mohawk. He didn't have any bruises but he reported that he might have broken a bone. Alex turned to France who was already on her way to the bird, Price was assisting her, putting pressure on her grazed forehead. Alex assisted Soap as he limped toward the aircraft as huge gusts of wind blew across them.

~

The ride home was awfully quiet. Ghost was nodding his head to some tunes. Roach sat beside Alex while making sounds by tapping his metal leg, Price stared outside the open sky. The hostages were at the stretchers being assisted by  medics along with Soap and France who were the only ones whi sustained major injuries from the mission. For Alex, it was a success, but it could've gone better. If they were to arrive and begin earlier, they shouldn't be having this kind of results right now. They won this mission but they're sure Nero is going to be one more step ahead.

After mission briefings were the worst. The team had to suck up their mistakes and it brought everyone involved down. It was unfair but as the famous saying goes, All is fair in love and war. And speaking of love… Alex paced quickly to the infirmary, where the four of them lied in adjacent beds, all of them still either asleep and unconscious. He looked at Samantha by the window. He couldn't help but feel pity and sadness at her situation. It wasn't fair, it's as if all her efforts to remove him from her life we're useless. So much that he wished he convinced her to keep her memories and run away with him. 

"Ya think they're going to be fine?" Roach asked, startling Alex. 

"Yeah. They're a tough bunch. Have faith in them." Alex muttered, he almost felt like he lied to Roach as he was also unsure of their situation, but at times like these, it's always better to have a positive approach.

Next Chapter : Reunited

#codmw #horRAYfic #Alex #alex echo 3 1 #john price #john soap mactavish #gary roach sanderson #simon ghost riley

[a-blue-secret]

CHAPTER XII

BACK TO MASTERLIST

Chapter XI | Chapter XII | Chapter XIII

GENRES: royal au; fantasy au; magic au; friends-to-enemies-to-lovers; king!beomgyu, vizier!taehyun

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: swearing (Taehyun has the mouth of a sailor smh)

WORD COUNT: 4.8k+

AN: This is a chapter y'all have probably been waiting for! Here, we get to see Taehyun's reaction :)

SUMMARY: Best friends turned enemies, Kang Taehyun has managed to trick Choi Beomgyu into his service, and to rule for a year and a day, until his youngest brother would be old enough to take the throne. Choi Beomgyu has no intention of being obedient however, and tries to thwart Taehyun’s orders at every turn. With a growing amount of distrust and lies within the court, will Taehyun manage to keep the kingdom of Gojongja from falling apart?

Taehyun strode up to Beomgyu’s door. “Hello, Seojung. Can I talk to Beomgyu?”

“The King wishes to talk to no one,” the guard responded. “He is taking no visitors.”

Taehyun sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tell him it’s his vizier, who really needs to talk to him.”

Still, Seojung shook his head. “He has explicitly expressed he does not want to talk to you,” he said.

Taehyun pursed his lips in frustration. “Fine.” He walked away, annoyed. “Guess I’ll have to employ the military myself…”

As Taehyun disappeared round the corner, Beomgyu cracked the door open and peered outside. “Has he gone?”

“He has, sire.”

“Oh good.” Beomgyu breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped out from behind the door.

“Sire?”

“Yes?” Beomgyu turned to Seojung.

“You know that you will have to talk to Sir Taehyun eventually. As he is your vizier, you are obligated to listen to the advice he gives you.”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes, groaning. “Not you too! That’s what Chan said as well.” He crossed his arms childishly. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You have to. It is your duty.”

“Hmph.” Beomgyu pouted, but didn’t say anything. He sniffed pettily, and retreated back into his room.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Oh, Taehyun!”

Taehyun turned around to see Yeonjun jogging up to him. “Hey, Yeonjun. What’s up?”

“You said you trusted me, right?” Yeonjun asked, once he’d reached the vizier.

Taehyun nodded. “Yes. I did.”

“Well, there’s something I wanted to tell you. Could you come to my room?”

Taehyun thought for a moment. “Uhm, sure. Yeah, I have time. Wanna go now?”

Taehyun followed Yeonjun down the halls and into the room the Aruyeonan was staying. He patiently stood in the middle of the room while Yeonjun paced around.

“Take your time, don’t worry,” Taehyun reassured him. As Yeonjun was pacing, the edge of the curtain snaked around his ankle, and he quickly shook it off. Taehyun raised an eyebrow. The Aruyeonan must be really nervous, if he was losing control of his ability. Finally, Yeonjun ran a hand through his hair and sighed, sitting down on the bed.

“I, uh… okay. I’m ready now.” He took a deep breath, and began to speak.

“Even being the son of a lord, I didn’t have the best childhood growing up,” Yeonjun began. “Father was always too busy to take care of me, and Mother was more interested in being part of the social hierarchy in the court. I guess you could say I was... lonely. I was lonely, but… then gained a brother."

Yeonjun smiled a little." Mother never had another child after me. But, a boy from the West came into our court one day, and our clan adopted him. He went through the whole ability-adopting process and everything; I was so excited at the thought of finally having a sibling. Only, the operation went wrong. Instead of having our ability - inanimate object manipulation – he gained a new one. Matter manipulation.”

“Matter manipulation? What’s that?”

“It’s not an actual ability. When they were doing the operation, the ability mutated and he gained something else. He can manipulate an object’s state of matter. Make solid into liquid, gas into solid, et cetera et cetera, while also changing solids. He can make stone into metal, or wood into stone, or metal into wood. Anything to do with an object’s matter, he could manipulate it.”

Yeonjun smiled bitterly. “The operation also went wrong in the fact that he kept his old ability, too. People were shocked and kind of repelled by it, and asked if we still wanted him in our clan. Mother and Father, being the leading family in our clan, had the last say on the matter. I begged and begged them to let him stay. I told them that if we rejected him he’d have nowhere to go, and would die alone. Eventually, they agreed to let him stay as part of our clan. He became my brother, my adorable little brother. For the first time ever, I had a companion. We laughed together, played together, did everything together.” Yeonjun’s eyes glazed over as he reminisced.

“It was… they were the best years of my life. But as time went on, it soon became clear that things were not going… the best for him.”

Taehyun tilted his head. “How do you mean?”

“You’ve probably heard a lot that Aruyeo is the best at being welcoming to all people, regardless of sexuality or gender or race?”

Taehyun nodded. “Duh, everyone knows that. It’s literally a fact.”

“Well throw that ‘fact’ out the window. Because it’s not true at all.”

Taehyun blinked. “Say what?”

“If there’s one thing Aruyeo aren’t that accepting of, it’s Westerners,” Yeonjun explained. “Being a defensive Kingdom, they automatically dislike people not from the Four Kingdoms. The ‘fact’ about them being welcoming is true to some extent, however. They accept different sexualities, and even different Kingdoms, but they just can’t accept foreigners. They just couldn’t accept him. When our parents died at a young age – an assassination, I tell you, even though we couldn’t prove it – we were left to fend for ourselves. I was barely an adult, and had my younger brother to look after too. He was constantly pushed around and bullied, too, which didn’t make life any easier. It broke my heart whenever I noticed a bruise he tried to hide from me, or when I saw him getting called racial slurs, and he’d just hang his head without saying anything.”

“How– how has none of this ever reached other Kingdoms?” Taehyun asked, in disbelief.

“It’s rare any foreigners even come to Aruyeo,” Yeonjun said. “Anyone that does receives the same treatment my brother did.”

Taehyun shook his head. “That’s awful. Couldn’t you do anything?”

“I couldn’t. They were all more powerful members of the court. Now I think about it, it’s a miracle I even managed to convince my parents to let him stay in the clan.”

Yeonjun paused, looking at Taehyun. “But I’m rambling now. Before I tell you the important thing, though, I just want to make sure of something.”

“Okay…?”

“Do you trust me?”

Taehyun looked at Yeonjun, searching within his fox-like eyes. He searched for any hint of underlying intentions, and hint of sinister motives, any malicious intent in his eye. There was none. All he could see was a truthful, hopeful, slightly nervous Yeonjun, staring back at him with his amber eyes. He took a deep breath.

“Yes. Yes, I trust you.”

“Okay, good.” Yeonjun paused. “Hueningkai is my adoptive brother. Hueningkai, the one who made that marble.”

Taehyun nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“He’s the one who was bullied because he was a Westerner, and because he didn’t have a… normal ability.”

Taehyun blinked, and nodded again. “Okay.”

“And he hated being different.”

“Okay.”

“And so, we became more involved in court.”

Taehyun opened his mouth to say ‘okay’ again, but Yeonjun held a finger up. “Please, just listen. Say a word and I might lose my nerve and not tell you.” Taehyun shut his mouth, and gestured for Yeonjun to carry on.

“We became more involved, to try and gain some protection. He… we… Queen Erajin needed informants. She needed people to tell her things. She needed information about things, and being an informant would give us a crazy amount of security, not only financially but status-wise as well, because we’d almost immediately be higher than anyone else in court, basically preventing anyone from bullying him, and me. It was tempting. We- we took on this role. We… we are her informants. We were those people. Taehyun, don’t run away but… we’re her spies.”

Taehyun tripped over a fold in the carpet and almost fell over backwards. “What the- what the fuck.”

“We were Queen Erajin’s spies. But we’re not anymore! Something weird is happening. Just like Scholar Min said. He caught on quicker than I did. She sent us here to find out any dirt about Gojongja, to see if she could corrupt the people’s view of you. I thought nothing of it. I’ve done things like that in other Kingdoms, and even in Aruyeo, many times before. It wasn’t my place to question. When you told me about all that you’re doing to try and help your people, though, it made me hesitate. You’re so good. There’s nothing sinister or bad about the way you rule. And it made me question, ‘Why was she doing this? What does she gain out of this?’ Something is not right, and yours and Beomgyu’s sincere natures help me realise that. Taehyun, please believe me, we’re not her spies anymore.”

Taehyun was shaking. Either from terror or anger, he wasn’t sure."What the fuck."

"A-and also… Hueningkai, he's here. He's the one I sent a letter to, back during the revel. I was telling him that something was off with Queen Erajin, and that day he also came with me to see what I meant. He’s here right now."

"What the fuck."

"Taehyun, please, I – we – are not spies for her anymore. Well, we still are, but we're not going to report back! Please Taehyun, believe me."

Taehyun gripped the chest of drawers tightly, knuckles white. "What the fuck," he whispered, staring at Yeonjun with wide eyes. "You… you're a spy." He shook his head. "I knew there was something off about you."

"Taehyun, please believe me. We're not working for her anymore, something is seriously wrong with the Aruyeonan court and I don't want to be a part of it."

Taehyun didn't seem to hear him. "You… I told you so much. I trusted you so much. I should banish you. I should execute you, accuse you of treason, make sure you never breathe again. What Lord Hyunjin wrote also makes sense now. It's an acronym, albeit a weird one. C, H, O, I… You're a Jeonju Choi, right?"

Yeonjun started. "Hyunjin's been in contact with you?" He licked his lips nervously, face pale. "And yes. Yes I am."

Taehyun laughed ruefully, looking down. He rubbed his eyes, head in hands. "He told me not to trust the Jeonju Chois. I shouldn't trust you Jeonju Chois." Taehyun lifted his eyes up to Yeonjun. "So then why do I still trust you?"

"Yeonjun?" A voice said, and a tall, young boy entered the room from what appeared to be a hole in the wall. Taehyun visibly flinched, gripping the chest of drawers tighter. This must be Hueningkai, he thought. God, he's tall. He could see the Western features prominent in his nose and eyebrows, but other than that he could pass for a normal person from the Four Kingdoms.

"Did you tell the vizier? That we're the good guys now?"

Yeonjun quickly got up and went over to the boy. "Not now, Hueningkai," he said quietly. "Taehyun's still here, and he's in a bit of a shock."

"But, you told him we're good, right? And he said he trusts you."

Yeonjun ran a hand through his hair, anxiously looking at the vizier who was staring at them, eyes unfocused. "I think… I don't know. I think there's only so much trust can do."

"Can I talk to him?" The boy blinked innocent eyes at Yeonjun.

"What? Hueningkai, no! You're basically a stranger, he's not going to–"

"Hello," the boy said, darting past Yeonjun to walk up to Taehyun. The vizier, who was still holding onto the corner of the drawers for dear life, looked up at him.

"My name is Hueningkai," he said. He held out his hand towards Taehyun, as if to shake hands. Taehyun just stared at the outstretched hand, and after a beat Hueningkai dropped it. "I'm the adoptive brother of Yeonjun. You probably don't trust us. That's a good idea, since we literally just admitted we were spies."

Taehyun found his voice long enough to be able to scoff. "Yeah, no shit. I'm not really sure how to process anything right now. I'm contemplating whether to believe you, or throw you into the dungeons."

Hueningkai smiled kindly. "That's understandable. But, I just want you to think about it. If we were truly going to betray you, do you think we'd admit to this? We're putting our lives in your hands. We are doing this because we feel that what Queen Erajin is doing is sinister and slightly scary, and we want to go against that. We are risking our lives here. If word gets out that we have betrayed Her Highness, we'll be executed. We’re spies, after all. We’re trusted with information that ought not to reach anyone else. She’ll have no choice but to kill us. And yet, we're trusting you with the information. Yeonjun really admires you. He really trusts you, too. Please, believe us."

Taehyun gaped at Hueningkai, before quickly closing his mouth and prising his stiff fingers from the wood. "I… this is so much to process. You're… spies?"

Yeonjun was standing helplessly behind Hueningkai, a doomed look on his face. "Please, Taehyun. I trust you."

"I– I don't know what to do," Taehyun said. "It's just so much to process." He staggered to the door, and opened it. "Give me time."

With those words, Taehyun closed the door, and Yeonjun and Hueningkai were left alone in Yeonjun's room. The elder bit his lip. "Kang Taehyun, please trust us. Something is happening in Aruyeo, and I don't like it one bit."

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Taehyun, once he’d reached his room, collapsed into a chair. His hands were shaking. He dragged a hand across his face, still processing what just happened. A knock came from his door.

“Sire, you have–”

“Cancel it!” Taehyun interrupted. “Whatever I have, cancel it!”

“But sire, they–”

“I don’t care! Cancel everything I have today!” Taehyun yelled. Jungwon was silent.

“Very well, sir.”

Taehyun blinked rapidly, sinking further into the velvet. “He was a spy,” he whispered to himself. “No- he is a spy. And he fucking brought a spy friend with him as well. He was a spy from Aruyeo. I can’t believe I trusted him!” he yelled out, throwing a cushion towards the opposite wall. “I just… gah!” He clenched his hair into his fists. “I almost told him as well!” He whimpered as his fists unfurled themselves, hands shaking too much to have a tight grip on his hair. “I trusted him… I trusted Yeonjun…”

Taehyun sat in the same chair for several hours, until his trembling died down. At that point, it was late afternoon. Hand over his eyes, Taehyun took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Alright,” he said to himself. “Let’s get this in order shall we?” Taehyun took his hand away from his eyes, but his eyes still remained closed. He gestured with his fingers vaguely into the air as he began speaking again. “So Yeonjun was a spy. Working for Queen Erajin. And he came here to gather – dirt, was it? – on the Gojongja court, to feed back to the queen. But he said that he’s now… what? Good?” Taehyun scoffed. “Judging by how he spoke, he’s been a spy for a while. I bet his allegiance can’t change just like that.” Taehyun paused, and cracked open an eye. “That Hueningkai guy though… he’s kind of right. Why would they tell me if they were still loyal to Queen Erajin? Unless… it’s a tactic for me to let my guard down.” Taehyun nodded darkly to himself. “That’s it. They’re trying to trick me into trusting them, using it as a chance to get to know other secrets.”

Taehyun opened his eyes fully, now feeling more grounded in his thoughts. “Yes, that’s got to be it. I’ve gotten them all figured out. No need to stress. It’ll look bad if I lock them up, so I’ll just ignore them. Yes- I’ll do that.”

He sat up, but quickly deflated again. “Wait… what if they’re telling the truth? In which case it would be stupid not to trust them, because I would be endangering their lives if I didn’t…”

Taehyun sighed, rubbing his nose frustratedly. “Ah, I don’t know.” He paused. “Although, it is more believable that they’re just trying to trick me. But hang on, that would mean I’m okay with the fact they’re spies!” He threw his hands up in the air, leaning back in the armchair. “Ugh, I’m confused…”

Just then, a knock sounded at his door. “Sir, they said that today is the only day–”

“Tell them no! Tell them they have to have another day!” Taehyun yelled. “I can’t do it!”

He went back to muttering to himself. “Wait… but I still can’t trust them. They’re spies, after all. You’d have to be an idiot to trust a spy.” But then he paused. Suddenly, all he could see were Yeonjun’s clear, amber eyes, staring at him with a mixture of nervousness and hope. There had been no trace of an evil or manipulating nature there at all. Taehyun frowned, now more confused than ever.

“Sir, today is the absolutely only day you can talk to the Head General. They won’t be able to come for more than a month after this.”

Taehyun’s mouth pursed in annoyance. “Fine! Fine!” He stalked across the room and opened the door. “Fine! If it’s the only day, then I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll go there now.”

“Sir?” Taehyun looked at Jungwon, pausing his frustrated march down the hall. “Apparently, since you are going in the King’s place, it is necessary for you to take a high-ranking Lord with you to see the Head General.”

Taehyun huffed, still irritated. Then, his frown melted away as he thought. “Hm… fine. Which Lord was it that said they supported us…? Ah, that’s right. Where’s Lord Soobin?”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Taehyun nodded thoughtfully. “Alright, so it won’t be necessary to bring too many people, like you said. I know of a few places they can be stationed, but I’m not sure about the west of Gojongja.”

“Oh, I know a few,” Lord Soobin spoke up. He circled his finger around several places on their map. “Here, here, and here will be good places. They’re not too imposing, but they’ll be obvious. That’s what we want, right?”

“Right,” Taehyun agreed, tapping his chin. “Hm, I don’t know West Gojongja too well, but I have faith in you, Lord Soobin.” He looked up at the Head General. “What do you say?”

“Looks fine to me,” the general responded. “How many men would you say you’d need? We will do our best to cater to your preferences.”

Taehyun turned to Soobin.

“I would say just five men per station,” the Lord replied. “We are looking to simply discourage them. Too many would seem overpowering, but too little would seem odd.”

Taehyun nodded. “Five seems fine to me. Would that be okay with you?”

“Indeed, it is alright with us. I will have the men selected right away. When would you like them stationed?”

“As soon as possible, if you may,” Taehyun said. “Though the riot has died down a little, we can never know when it will flare up again.”

The general nodded. “Of course, sire.” He bowed, and made as if to leave when he paused and turned back. “Ah, when would you like them to retreat from the public? At what stage would you deem it suitable to withdraw the army?”

“Um…” Taehyun tapped his chin. “I’ll let you know when they should withdraw,” he said finally.

“Additionally, when the public atmosphere reverts back to normal would be a good time too,” Lord Soobin added, frowning thoughtfully down at the map of Gojongja. “We should probably install more guards around the palace,” he commented.

Taehyun nodded. “Yes, that would probably be a good idea. I’ll employ some Invisi as well.” He gestured to the Head General. “You are dismissed.”

Once the Head General had left, Taehyun turned to Soobin, and the two left the room as well. “Thank you for accompanying me on such short notice,” he said.

“Oh, it was no trouble at all,” Lord Soobin replied easily. “Indeed, it was an honour.”

Taehyun smiled. “Well, with His Greatness having taken a break for an unspecified amount of time, we may see each other more often.”

Soobin gave a small smile too. “If I may ask, would you happen to know when King Beomgyu will come back to governing the Kingdom?"

Taehyun sighed. "You may ask, but I don't know the answer myself. But I'm going to have to drag him out sooner or later, so he will come back eventually."

Soobin nodded, and bowed. "It was incredibly nice to discuss matters with you, Sir Taehyun."

Taehyun inclined his head. "Likewise, Lord Soobin."

The tall Lord bowed again before walking away. Taehyun stared after him rather enviously.

"He's so tall… I wanna grow that tall."

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Oh? Lord Soobin?”

Taehyun watched as Soobin flinched, rubbing his eyes vigorously. “Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Taehyun said.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Soobin said, waving his hands in an attempt to reassure Taehyun. “Was there a reason you came here to the library?”

“As a matter of fact, I was looking for you,” Taehyun said. “Do you mind if I–?”

“Oh, of course not,” Soobin said, shuffling over to make room for Taehyun at the table. Taehyun sat down and spread out all his documents across the wooden surface. Soobin scanned through all of them, and looked at the vizier, eyes wide. “You’re replacing council members?”

“King Beomgyu wants it done, that’s why,” sighed Taehyun, carelessly flicking a parchment across the table. “If he hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t be doing this at all. It’s too much hard work. Also, it’s a little confusing, so I wanted to ask you about it.”

Soobin raised an eyebrow bemusedly. “Me? So suddenly? We’ve barely met. Surely there’s someone else you normally talk to about this? Doesn’t the Grand Vizier have smart friends of his own?”

Normally, I’d talk to Yeonjun about this, but… he betrayed me. Taehyun shook his head vigorously. “No. I do everything alone.”

Soobin hummed. “Interesting. Okay, let me see these papers. I might be able to help.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Soobin tapped his fingers on the table while chewing the feathered end of his quill. After a while, he set down the parchment and dragged the other documents towards him, reading through them one by one. Taehyun rested his head on his hand, watching as Soobin analysed the papers.

“Apparently word has gotten out that I’m going to be changing the members of the council,” Taehyun spoke up. “I received many letters from the clans involved, telling me off for even thinking such a thing.”

Soobin looked up at him, feathers still in his mouth. “Do you have them with you?”

“Uh… how will they help?”

Soobin held out his hand as Taehyun rummaged through his case. He wordlessly handed the letters over to the Lord. “These clans know things. It’s likely they’ve unintentionally given you pointers as to how to go about replacing council members, while they were reprimanding you. Ah! See, like here.” Soobin pointed to a few lines written in angry handwriting. “‘Why would you go through the trouble of background checking every Lord you see, when you have a perfectly good council, whose backgrounds are already fully checked?’ So whoever you want to employ for the new Council, you’ll need to do a background check first. And look, this one. ‘Finding a Lord to match the one you replaced will be difficult. All the Lords of the current Council are far more experienced than any of the other Lords in court, so there will be no point.’ So for every Lord you remove, you’ll need to replace him with one who matches his skill and intelligence.”

“Yes, but that’s where it gets complicated,” Taehyun explained, reaching for one of the papers on the table. “If you look at the Gojongja citizen rights, it says that everyone’s capability is different and they ought not to be compared to one another.”

Soobin tsked, pushing aside the paper. “No one follows those rules that precisely! It’s fine. Oh look, and here it says that you can’t replace members one by one, and if you want to replace one Lord you’ll need to replace all of them at the same time. So it would be best for you to have all the new members ready before you officially announce that you’re replacing the Council.” He handed the letters back to Taehyun, smiling. “See? That wasn’t so confusing, was it?”

“Now that I have someone else explaining it to me, it’s actually ridiculously easy,” Taehyun admitted, taking the letters back from Soobin. “Thank you. Now all I need to do is find Lords to be part of the new council.” Taehyun paused in the middle of tidying away his papers, sighing. “Oh, that’s going to be hard. Barely anyone is trustworthy right now…”

“I know a few people who I could offer to you,” Soobin said. “If you’d like, of course.”

Taehyun turned to Soobin, eyes wide. “Yes, that would be so helpful! If you could maybe let me know of their names, and I’ll do a background check on them at once! Um, would you, Lord Soobin, like to be on the council?”

“Oh, no, no. Gosh, no! I’d prefer to be a close friend than a colleague,” Soobin said, smiling. Taehyun beamed back, snapping shut his case.

“Thank you so much, Lord Soobin. You’ve been a great help.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Soobin watched as Taehyun bowed happily and walked out of the library. He turned back to the book he’d been looking at before the vizier had arrived, a small smile on his face. He hadn’t expected the scary, intimidating Grand Vizier to look so… cute when he was happy.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Taehyun was outside Yeonjun's room again. After returning to his room, now fully understanding how to replace members of the council, his mind drifted back to the spy, and also the dilemma he was in. Should he trust Yeonjun? Should he lock him up? What should he do?

Unable to stay trapped in one room with his thoughts, Taehyun had wandered through the palace and, while he’d tried his best to stay away, his feet kept directing him towards the spy’s chambers.

And so there he was, for the third time that day, biting his nails nervously, staring at the white door in front of him. It appeared that Yeonjun had gotten rid of his guard: at that moment, it was just him and the door. (Taehyun had sent Heesung away to do other business.) He lifted his hand as if to knock, but quickly retreated, clasping his hands behind his back.

"No, no, no," he muttered to himself. "What am I doing? I should leave before those spies find out I'm here." But still, he stood in front of Yeonjun's door. He scratched the side of his neck with the back of his nails, biting his lip. He shook his head, and backed away.

"No, no no. Let's go." With some hesitation, he moved away, quickly walking back down the hallway before his feet changed their mind.

Inside Yeonjun's (and Hueningkai's) room, the two of them were staring at the glass ball.

"Oh look, he left again," Hueningkai sighed boredly, chin rested on his palm. "I know you said to give him space, Yeonjun, but this is a bit… much. If this keeps happening, we're not going to get anywhere."

"We should let him come to us," Yeonjun stated firmly. "We thrust this news upon him rather suddenly. He's bound to feel conflicted. Give him time. Then, we'll see what his final reaction will be."

"He's not giving much of a clear reaction right now," Hueningkai commented as they watched the vizier come up to the door again. "Look, he's come back."

Yeonjun smacked the younger upside the head. "Stop spying on him," he scolded.

"Hey!" Hueningkai complained, rubbing his head. "We're literally spies, what do you want me to do?"

"Don't spy on Taehyun, that's all," Yeonjun said. "It's immoral. Especially if we want him to trust us."

Hueningkai sighed, putting the ball away. "Fine. But what if he never trusts us? What if we stay stuck in this loop forever?"

"We won't," Yeonjun said. "He may seem unsure now, but Taehyun has a really strong mindset. He'll come to a decision soon."

Hueningkai shrugged, leaning back when they heard the vizier's footsteps retreat yet again. "If you say so."

#court of lies #taegyu #txt taegyu #txt beomgyu #beomgyu #txt taehyun #taehyun #tomorrow x together #txt #txt fanfic #txt fluff #txt angst #txt imagine #txt imagines #tomorrow by together

[vegaprose]

"You know what they don’t tell you about war? The first body you’ll see won’t be the enemy. Mine was a little girl I'd met just earlier that week. Twelve years old; she reminded me of my sister. She wasn't supposed to be where I found her. She was scared... we both were. All the time, I remember it like it's just happened. Her looking over my shoulder in a panic. I turned around in time to see a spear of all things hurtled right at me and I dodged it on instinct. I sent an arrow right into the other guy's neck before my thoughts finally caught up with what I'd done. I turned back to that little girl and there she was standing so resigned, the spear sticking out of-" Katniss closed her eyes for a few seconds as her voice failed, pain that she never could get rid of no matter how hard she tried to let it go washing over her features. "They don't tell us. We're just supposed to learn to live with those memories if we make it out alive ourselves." ((for daniel? 👀👀))

Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.

🪖 Daniel can only offer a curt nod as an immediate response to her words. His heart thunders at his own memories, but for the first time in many months, he has found someone who he can confide in; someone much like him and his own beliefs, in war, destruction and the general consensus that many people deem it so necessary. He is far from one of those people and it scars him continuously every single day to be a part of it. Each time he allows himself to think back on the countless bodies & the orders given to eliminate another being from existence the terror of it all comes rushing back, overwhelming him.

‘ They don’t tell you anything you’re gonna meet out there, ’ is all he says, for now. Flashbacks seem to rattle his brain, taking further offerings from him in the wake of the images he finds a burden every single day of his life. He chose this path, but they never soften the blow or give you any chance to prepare for all of the grief that is sure to follow deployment. His last had held on to him like a leech, dampening his spirit from dawn till dusk and unrelenting in its willingness to ruin him. He fell apart just as much as he attempted to fend off the lingering sorrow, that seldom left his side, even when he went to sleep at night.

The pain the woman seemed to be expetiencing right then && there made him shift uncomfortably in his seat, though he did reach a hand across in her direction to provide some form of a heartfelt, understanding assurance that she wasn’t alone. The absolute dismay of having been unable to save someone, that look of utter denial and regret swept over her face as his gaze situated itself on her altered expression. His own face showed signs of regret for the men he had failed to save in combat too as they shared this moment of anguish and defeat. ‘ No one in this world deserves to meet their end this way— ’

His eyes cloud over with pure rage, tossed with unyielding and undeniable suffering for the way in which their world works. At the very least, he is able to give some degree of awareness but simultaneously his perceptive state is tainted by a distinct and crippling combat fatigue. Never again did he believe that there would be any kind of normality about his life. War changed, on the inside as well as on the outside, everything about a person —— and he felt they were living proof of that eventuality. They were broken in ways no one but themselves, or others in their situation could hope to discern. ‘ It demolishes even the best of us.. War, ’ he adds, crumbling.

@theseunfinishedlives

#ic:asks #theseunfinishedlives #&&. daniel responds #&&. ooc. 😘 hope this is okay! this is very emotional i am falling apart with them 💔

[punkscowardschampions]

Buster & Rio

Buster: Where'd you go? You can come back now if you want Buster: Dad's gone Rio: How'd it go? Buster: Better than I reckoned it would Buster: I'm still standing Rio: One of you is losing your touch Rio: but good Buster: He's going soft, obviously Buster: Missed my chance Rio: Unlucky Rio: Comes in threes, yeah? So you've only gotta field off one more Buster: It's the worst one though. I've gotta tell my sister eventually Rio: Yeah Rio: Seriously, good fucking luck Rio: How are you even? Buster: Cheers, babe Buster: Right now I ain't even Buster: Mum reckons I should wait for the DNA Rio: I guess that makes sense Rio: Don't wanna lol jks on it Buster: Exactly Buster: And we both reckon Chlo will behave enough not to tell her before I do so Rio: Yeah? I hope so Buster: Me too Rio: Do you feel a bit better, like Rio: now they know Buster: Yeah Buster: They have that effect Buster: Neither of them are gonna take any bullshit from me or her Rio: Good, you're in safe hands Buster: For real, get yourself a mum who thinks she can do anything Rio: I do Rio: God bless 'em Buster: She was gonna fight me for shouting at you Buster: That's another story, like Rio: Ha, what? Rio: Well, I'd like to see that if she's still offering Buster: Shut up and eat your fruit she's about to deliver in thanks Rio: Ooh, that'll be 🔥 Rio: It's one thing posh people do well, the gift baskets Buster: I'll take your word for it 'cause I ain't getting one Rio: Wait for the babyshower, like Rio: Sorry Buster: Or you could just share with me while I fend for myself here in my hotel suite Rio: You really wanted some room service huh Buster: 'Course Buster: Who can sleep without a mint on their pillow, like? Rio: Idiot Buster: No argument here Rio: That's why you're staying in School, babe Buster: Nah, they need me, I don't need them Buster: I make them look good with my results, babe Rio: Hmm Rio: Take your word on that one Buster: You don't believe me? Rude Buster: I'm such a good student and you know it Rio: Don't make me laugh rn Buster: Actually offended. Don't let the extended absence fool you like, I really love school Buster: Also, I've gotta. You look so cute when you laugh so Rio: Duh, I know you're a 🤓 Rio: Don't need to tell me Rio: Or say that Buster: I know you love a reminder though Rio: 'Course Rio: How long are you staying? Buster: I don't know Buster: How long do you want me to? Rio: Just answer, Buster Buster: I just did Buster: I can't tell you what I don't know Rio: Ugh Rio: Fine Buster: I thought you'd be happy that I'm here Buster: What's wrong? Rio: What's wrong? Really? Buster: Rio, what the fuck? How does it make any difference to what's happening whether I'm there or here Rio: It doesn't Buster: Then why are you getting mad at me for staying? Rio: I'm not Rio: You do what you want Rio: but happy about it would be a stretch Buster: Fuck's sake Buster: What do you want me to do? Rio: Do what you've got to do Buster: I literally am, why are you being a bitch about it Rio: Fuck you Rio: I still get time to deal with this myself, and for myself Rio: just because I care about you and making sure you were okay Buster: Fuck you Buster: I've had a shit day, why can't I be happy that we're still in the same fucking country for once instead of just feeling bad about everything Buster: Jesus Christ Rio: Okay this might be happening to you but it isn't all about you Buster: Tell me something I don't fucking know, alright Buster: I've spent the whole day telling everyone else about this Rio: Yeah, me included Buster: And what you're all talked out now are you? Poor you Rio: Seriously, fuck off Buster: Fine Rio: I'm going to go away so you can have Dublin to yourself Buster: Fuck that Buster: I don't want it Buster: Just talk to me Rio: About what Rio: What is there to say Buster: How you feel, what you wanna do, what happens next Buster: any of it Buster: Don't just fucking leave Rio: I feel fantastic, about as good as you no doubt Rio: What happens next is you're going to be a father Rio: so whatever I wanted to do is irrelevant Buster: Stop Buster: No it isn't Buster: Nothing that you want or don't want is irrelevant Buster: I fucking love you Rio: Yeah, it is Rio: it's hard enough doing this now, you said so yourself right Rio: how do you think it'll work when you've got a kid Buster: 'Cause I'll make it work Buster: It's always been hard and we always did it anyway, we still can Rio: If you think this is hard then you have no idea Rio: you're going to have uni and a kid and a social life and somehow find the time to come see me? Rio: I don't think so Buster: Well, I'll prove it then Buster: Wait and see Rio: You'd be better if you moved on Rio: Save yourself the hassle Buster: Don't Rio: I'm serious Buster: So am I Buster: That's such bullshit Rio: You feel that now but once you leave for uni and now this Rio: you're gonna feel different Rio: I know Buster: Don't tell me how I'm gonna feel Buster: You don't know that, you can't Rio: I can guess Rio: You'll meet someone else Buster: Fuck off Buster: I don't wanna meet someone else Buster: Who the fuck are they gonna be? Buster: I want you Rio: I don't know Rio: Someone more like you, smart and whatever Buster: Don't be an idiot Buster: I'm punching above my weight with you already Rio: So you reckon you can't do any better, yeah? Buster: No I can't, babe Buster: You're perfect, you know Buster: Don't let a shit day make you doubt it Rio: Do you actually mean that or is it something you just say Buster: Of course I mean it Buster: Do you need a list or what? Rio: No, shut up, make me sound conceited Buster: Do you really think I'd still be here, fighting this hard to get you to stay and every fucking thing else, to just chat shit? Rio: I guess not Rio: I just, I don't know Rio: it's a lot Buster: I know Buster: But it's always been a lot, yeah? Buster: I'm not my sister it wouldn't have got this far if I didn't reckon it was worth it Buster: You are Rio: Yeah Rio: I just can't help but keep thinking Rio: how fucking stupid we'd look if we went to the trouble of outing ourselves Rio: and then just got over it Rio: it's so much upheaval and Buster: We don't have to tell anyone Buster: I'd rather have it this way than not at all Rio: But we're already sick of it Rio: I don't know what to do, this is why Buster: I can't answer that for you, babe. I wish I could Buster: You've gotta do what you've gotta do too Buster: You either wanna keep trying or you don't Rio: Of course I do but there's so much more to consider than what I want Buster: Right now, it's all that matters to me though Rio: Buster Buster: Yeah? Rio: I love you, you know that Buster: I love you too Buster: It can be enough, can't it? Rio: I want it to be Buster: Me too Buster: Not only 'cause I don't have anything else to give you Buster: I want you to be happy, you know Buster: If you can't be with me then you have to move on Rio: Big ask, babe Buster: Yeah well, it's been that kind of day Buster: This isn't gonna work if you're waiting for it to end. I know that's my fault, 'cause I fucked it up before and I can't promise I won't ever again but Rio: Yeah, 'cos my life is so perfect, please Buster: Last I checked you didn't impregnate an actual psycho though Rio: That would be impressive though Buster: Don't make me laugh Buster: I'm trying to be serious and heroic Rio: Aren't you always Buster: You wish Rio: 'Course Buster: Solve all your problems, like Rio: Ha, feel free Rio: Can't offer the same in return but you know Buster: Like you said, big ask Rio: Bit rude Rio: don't point out all my problems like that Buster: I ain't gotta call myself out like that Buster: I know I'm your biggest drama, babe Rio: You reckon? Rio: Not gonna hurt your masculinity by suggesting otherwise Buster: You can't kick me while I'm down Rio: Okay just so we know, that ain't actually flying as an excuse Buster: Come on Buster: Be nice to me Rio: I'm always nice to you Buster: But you could be nicer Buster: Stay with me while I'm here Rio: Babe Rio: I don't know if I can Buster: Why? Rio: Because it's nearly my birthday everyone's going to be all up in my business Buster: Indie'll cover for you Buster: As far as everyone needs to know you're just at the flat chilling or whatever Buster: You're at work too much for them to question that Rio: Why are you so convincing? Buster: 'Cause I'm so selfish Rio: I don't know, maybe I don't need much persuading Buster: I don't mind if you do Buster: I'm tired but I'm not that tired Rio: Surprised you've got any trust left in you though Rio: or you got the trojans like Buster: Not funny Rio: Nah Rio: but honestly Buster: If this is your way of telling me that I'm not a DILF then like Rio: Awkward Buster: Dump me now honestly 'cause that's the biggest lie you've ever told if that's what you're saying Buster: I haven't even had a single sleepless night yet, I look great, cheers Rio: If you're that worried about your beauty sleep I won't come over then Buster: Please Buster: You know you will Rio: You better hope Buster: No need, only gotta wait Buster: Are you at work or what? Rio: No Rio: Just avoiding you Buster: Come over then Rio: Going by keep your enemies closer, are we? Buster: Shut up Rio: I know you wanna make me Buster: I really don't Buster: I want the opposite Rio: Yeah? Buster: I'm not gonna waste a hotel room by being quiet in it and neither are you Rio: Would be a shame Buster: Not to mention all the time we could be spending together too Rio: I just want to forget about all this for a while Buster: I can help you Buster: Just let me Rio: Promise Buster: I swear Buster: I'll make you feel better, just me and you and none of this will even exist for as long as we want Rio: We can do that, yeah Rio: Just one more time Buster: 'Course Buster: It's what I'm good at babe Rio: Can't disagree Buster: You know I need you too Rio: Tell me again Buster: I need you Buster: Right now Rio: Okay, I'll come over Buster: [sends his fancy ass hotel deets] Rio: Of course you are Rio: no premier inns here Buster: Even purgatory doesn't come cheap the way I do it Buster: Down but not out, babe Rio: 🙄 So inspiring Buster: I'm just trying to survive my exile Buster: It's all in the thread count Rio: Sure that's how Napoleon did it, like Buster: I don't have to do anything the way that tiny cunt did it regardless Rio: 😂 Rio: Why are you dissing him Buster: Didn't realise he was a fantasy of yours like Buster: Trying to feel tall, babe? Buster: Still not as small as you I don't reckon Rio: He wrote a good love letter but you know Rio: Only got eyes for Josephine Rio: Gutted 😕 Buster: And I'm the nerdy one, yeah alright Rio: Shut up, had to make history interesting somehow Buster: Better than fantasizing about the teachers, I'll give you that Rio: Oh god no Rio: You'd get it if you saw our history teach, no thank you Buster: Whatever gets you off, babe I'm not judging Rio: You're dumb, he never got that raunchy Rio: Mozart was a freak though 👀 Buster: I see why you bought me that fancy pen now Buster: Which is it, love note or symphony? Rio: 'Course Rio: expect 'em both about the time I get my 💍 yeah Buster: Obviously Buster: Tell me about Mozart then Rio: Boy you don't even wanna know 😂 Rio: 🍑💩 Buster: 😂 Rio: Got us all feeling vanilla Buster: Got me thinking that you're an absolute 🤓 Rio: You love it Buster: Oh do I? Rio: Yeah Rio: Wanting me to talk nerdy to you Rio: I see you Buster: I'm just trying to get an education, make up for the one I'm about to miss Buster: Don't get it twisted Rio: Yeah Rio: Using me for my brains Rio: so believable babe Buster: 'Course Buster: Everyone knows you're a huge swot, like Rio: They'll know you out ya damn mind I know that 😏 Buster: It's how you've got me Buster: I'm not mad about it Rio: Better work on your lines if you're writing me that letter Buster: Don't be rushing me Buster: How long did he spend on his? Rio: Oh he wrote her all the time, and would get mad when she didn't write back often or fast enough Buster: Bullshit Buster: You're making that up Rio: “I have your letters of the 16th and the 21st. There are many days when you don’t write. What do you do, then?” Rio: Direct quote Rio: along with calling her a slut, shit you not, boy was mad Buster: 😒 you wouldn't think it was romantic if I hit you with a double text before you had chance to reply Rio: When my names your last word even though you remarried, then we'll talk Buster: Who else am I putting a 💍 on? Stop playing Buster: His game is weak compared to me Rio: Maybe you'll be feeling the need when I cba to write back Buster: Shut up Buster: You couldn't ignore me if you tried Rio: Sure I could if you were pissing about all over Europe Buster: Been there, done that, babe Rio: 😂 You really gon' compare yourself to Napoleon? Buster: Fuck no Buster: But like, I have traveled extensively, deal with it Buster: Turning heads everywhere I go Rio: Bitch, me too Rio: Not gonna make me jealous on either account Buster: First time for it Rio: 😒 Buster: Don't make that face Rio: Why not Buster: 'Cause I like that you are and how bad you want me Rio: Of course you do Buster: I feel it too, you know Rio: Yeah? Buster: It drives me crazy like Rio: Not giving you much to be jealous about these days Rio: Tragic, honestly Buster: You don't have to do anything Buster: You're so hot everyone wants you anyway Rio: Okay, slight overstatement Buster: It's not Buster: Everyone's looking at you when I'm trying not to make it obvious as fuck that I want to Rio: I wouldn't know Rio: Only looking at you, clearly Buster: Well, yeah Rio: That's why this is so shit Buster: One of many reasons Rio: I know you were drunk and everything but Rio: the thought of it still boils my blood Buster: I'm sorry Buster: I literally did push her away earlier in the night, I don't know what happened after Rio: I know Rio: it's not like I even had any right but still Rio: you felt like mine Buster: I am yours Rio: Not all mine now Rio: I have to share with her of all people Buster: We don't know that yet Buster: And you never have to share me with her anyway Rio: you won't get protective and noble over her Rio: that's just for me Buster: I was nearly sick in my mouth at the idea so no Buster: She's never had me like that and she never will Rio: Okay Rio: Good Buster: You're special to me, like it or not and believe it or not Rio: I do believe it and believe me, I do like it Rio: Too much, I don't want someone coming in and taking my place now Buster: I love you. She can't make me stop and neither can anyone else Buster: Nobody's been in your place never mind trying to take it Rio: I love you Buster Rio: Always have, always will 😜 Buster: It's gonna be alright for us, whatever I have to do Buster: I didn't wait years for this for her to ruin it in a night, yeah? Rio: I believe you Rio: Me too Rio: Iwant to be with you Buster: You're all I want Buster: I don't care about America or any of it Rio: Really Buster: I'm still going to uni obviously, but I don't wanna go if it means being further away from you Buster: There are other decent schools that are full of less yanks, like Rio: I'd move there if you wanted but now Rio: Probably not, but you've got plenty decent on your doorstep Buster: Maybe we could still go, we don't know for sure that Chlo's trapped me here Buster: But I don't know, I was thinking about it before this, how far away that is and how much your fam needs you to mother them all Rio: Yeah, I would miss them all Rio: but I'd survive, I can't deal with not being with you any more Buster: But I'm not trying to make you give up things, I'm trying to get us things, you know Rio: I know, if the younger ones were a bit older but Rio: they all still need me right now Buster: Exactly Buster: And I can do what I need to do here Buster: Might actually have to Rio: We'll see Buster: All I know is my mum told me to fight to make sure things I don't want ruined by this bullshit aren't, so that's what I'm gonna do Rio: Solid advice Buster: She was good Buster: Like how I remember from being a kid Buster: Before I turned into this idiot Rio: You'll get it back Rio: Everyone has to have their rebellious 'fuck this family' phase Rio: you'd be weird if you didn't Buster: I have to get it back somehow Buster: Like even Nance knows about how the Chlo thing went down now, that I wasn't like trying to fuck her over or fuck Chlo either so Buster: It's gonna be shit if she has to stick around but we're in the same boat of neither of us wanting her too, right? Rio: Yeah Rio: It'll sting but she knows it wasn't remotely your intention and that it's as shitty for you with added consequences so Buster: I just keep thinking, if someone did that to her, how Chlo played me, it's so fucked Buster: Or if I did that to some girl, you know Rio: It is Rio: I am really fucking sorry it happened to you, you know that Rio: Even if my own petty shit gets in the way sometimes Rio: it was wrong on a lot of levels, like Buster: It wouldn't even matter as much if she recognised that it was but we all know she doesn't and won't Buster: No child should be raised by her, mine or not Rio: Sadly, can't stop her or other cunts breeding Rio: unfortunate Rio: if it is yours, it'll be alright, you'll do right by it, I know Buster: I'm still hoping her parents will step in when they know, not that they can force her to do anything but Rio: Maybe they'll talk sense and she'll listen but yeah Buster: Let's not talk about this anymore Buster: For tonight at least Rio: Fine by me Buster: My final word on it is that I'm sorry for how all this went Buster: My mum has a point, I shouldn't shout at you Buster: I'm not sending you more fruit though Rio: I know you are, I promise I do Rio: Damn, so close Buster: Probably should send my veggie loving sister some crudités or something Buster: I can think of better ways to make it up to you though Rio: Tell me more Rio: not about the raw veg, like Buster: 😂 Buster: Not a kink of yours? Buster: Good to know Rio: I have enjoy sex toys that I don't need to raid the pantry Rio: sacrilege in my household Buster: You're funny Buster: And that is genuinely comforting that I don't have to hit up room service with that kind of request Rio: Oh they've had worse Buster: Sure, from me on previous visits is likely Buster: But I'm 😇 now so Rio: 😒 Rio: without me? Buster: Do you think there's a fancy hotel room in this city I haven't fucked in? Rio: Well don't tell me that Buster: 🤐 Rio: Honestly, why do I gotta get you when you're all reformed 🙄 Buster: 'Cause I only am as far as everyone else is concerned Buster: For you I'd do anything Rio: Interesting Rio: I plan to test that bold claim Buster: I hope you do Buster: Try me as much as you want Rio: I hope you weren't here to rest Buster: 'Course not Buster: I'm here 'cause it's nearly your birthday Rio: Oh yeah Rio: Almost forgot Buster: I'm not gonna let you Rio: Spoil me? Buster: Try and stop me Rio: Nah, it's allowed Rio: Get to be 👸 for one day, like Buster: I don't care if it ain't. It's happening Buster: For all the days I'm here Rio: 'Cos I'm your princess, yeah? Buster: Babe, come on, you're a queen Rio: 😋 You're so cute Buster: You're fucking beautiful Rio: Shh Buster: No Buster: You are Rio: I don't know what to say sometimes you're so Rio: nice Buster: You don't have to say anything, I'm not that competitive, like Rio: I can't say nothing when you got me feeling this good Buster: Just show me how you feel when you get here Rio: Done Buster: Good

[nemesis-nexus]

Darkest Greetings and Salutations my Family, how is everyone? I am doing rather well myself, got a whole hour of sleep, yay me! Hey, that’s not bad for a chronic insomniac, lol! It is quite brisk here up North, from what I understand this Winter is supposed to be brutal, perfect opportunity to work on my cold weather endurance! I think the coldest I’ve been outside in shorts and a tank top was probably mid 20’s but I DO NOT recommend that to anyone who is NOT used to it as hypothermia IS a thing and I don’t want anyone to get hurt; it takes time, effort and energy to build up resistance to extreme temps of any kind, it is NOT something you just dive into headfirst unless you want to end up in the ER!

At any rate tonight’s sermon is a bit lengthy, so hit the head, grab your coffee, get comfortable and enjoy!

Full Cold Moon 2019

HAIL THE ANCIENT FAMILY! Tonight is the night of the Full Cold Moon and the last month has certainly had events that led right up to it! Why is it that people are all too willing to stand by us so long as you agree on nearly everything but the second you have the nerve to point out the flaws in ones logic or their newfound loyalty to someone who doesn’t deserve it, they throw US away for having the nerve to disagree with them? I guess we can chalk it up to that’s just the way it goes in a lot of these situations but at the same time it is also a harsh lesson as well to never assume anyone is beyond betraying your trust. This is why we need to never tell anyone or give anyone anything beyond what they have actually earned from us including but not limited to time, respect and even money! This isn’t to imply that everyone is out to get us, it IS to directly state that some people are only as loyal as their personal agendas and that we should always keep our eyes and ears open for any signs that it is time to sever ties from a toxic person or situation!

Great Father who gives us the fortitude to stand tall even through our most trying times, we ask that you help us to stand up and push back against these usurpers who continue to not only tear the Earth asunder in pursuit of dead presidents but are all too willing to jeopardize the lives of other people to attain it while they stay in their cushy offices not worrying about their own safety or the state of the soil or water they are contaminating with their chemical cocktails! They don’t seem to understand that they are not exempt from the fall out of the damage they are doing, that once the water, air and soil are poisoned, there will be nothing left to aid in the survival of the human race - including them!

Father we know that the Free Will we were given enables us to live our lives according to our personal Paths but what it does NOT do is grant us the right to exalt ourselves above other people just because we say so! For example, no human is truly above another human, just because someone might have more dead presidents than another person does NOT make them more important! The one thing that has always behooved me is the entitlement which people with any kind of wealth like to think they have over others JUST because they have money, they seem to think they can buy their way into anything they want even if they have not actually earned the right to be a part of something!

There are no shortcuts on this Path or anywhere else in life that is worth pursuing and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something! It never ceases to amaze me that when you tell people what they NEED to hear versus what they WANT to hear that you’re more likely than not to lose the interest of some. This is because the truth and reality of the situation does not coincide with the stereotypes and Hollywood hype, things seldom do, so when people realize that there is actual work involved (research and acquiring specific items) and that any kind of Ritual or Spell Work is going to require a vast amount of concentration and energy that can take hours depending on the intent, they get turned off. They get even more turned off when the half-assed five and dime “Spell” that they bought off the internet doesn’t work as expected!

Bit of advice: the most potent Spell you will EVER cast is the one you write yourself! In the first place the writing alone is a form of meditation that weaves your own Spiritual Energy directly into the words which connect the intent and direction to the Multiversal Qi (Chi) which is the first step in Manifesting your goal, in the second place NO ONE can express our needs or desires for anything better than we can with any and all the urgency the situation demands! In short if you are not willing to apply the effort and actually do the work, don’t expect whatever you are attempting to do to go anywhere! That may sound cold, but it IS the Full Cold Moon so the advice given may sound just as icy, but it is also necessary as some people will never listen if you always only ever handle them with kid gloves!

Winter isn’t coming, it’s already here and the ground is frozen solid once again putting Nature into a state of suspended animation until the Season of Rebirth thaws Winters frigid grasp! The Season of Death reigns supreme on the surface freezing everything in an ethereal suspended animation while the Season of Rebirth prepares itself in the darkest recesses of the underground! As Earth Guardians, Water Protects and Nature Lovers, we are aware of the intricate Dance that is Creation and Existence will go on Eternally so long as those who dwell within this space uphold their duties to Protect and Defend this planet in all its glory as we were created to do!

It is during this time that we gather our Family and Friends together and we appreciate the company of those we care for the most! Since the Ancient days the one thing that every Human on this planet has always shared is our need to survive utilizing that which nature gives us and to have the respect and conscientiousness to replace that which we take so that those who come after us will not be deprived and to never use more than we actually need as that is wasteful and destructive!

During the Season of Death that we call Winter the Earth puts itself to bed so that it may prepare itself for the Season of Rebirth that we call Spring! Nothing can be seen except maybe snow; the trees are barren, the animals are hibernating or have gone south for the winter to warmer climates! Nature keeps the ecosystem in balance by doing this so that the Earth has a chance to heal itself and regenerate the flora and fauna that is so needed for the survival of the Human and Animal Kingdoms. Because nothing is here we must take it upon ourselves to prepare for the coming months but we cannot do this if our resources are contaminated, corrupted or destroyed!

They say that we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children and they are right! What we do today will affect what they are able to do tomorrow. What we squander today through petty selfishness and greed will determine what they have left to work with tomorrow! The responsibility of every member of the Human race is to try to leave the world, if not in the same condition in which it was presented to us at birth, slightly better! We must always keep in mind that is it NOT enough that we make sure people are able to endure while we are here, we must also do our part to make sure those who come after us are not shortchanged! When people say “it doesn’t matter what happens x amount of years from now because I’ll be dead…” it is an AFRONT to YOU Father because through the Ancient Family we were provided with everything we needed to survive, through them these gifts are safeguarded so that they are able to replicate themselves with each passing season with enough to go around forever so long as Humans did their part with balanced cultivation! The problems arise because many Humans have this attitude that those who live RIGHT NOW are the only ones they should be concerned about! This attitude leaves future generations to fend for themselves rather than pick up where the previous generations left off and if these Humans just IMAGINED for a moment the situation THEY would have been in had the Ancient Family decided that was THEIR attitude towards the Human race since the beginning! The Humans sure as hell would not have lasted as long as they did because, as future generations are being robbed of their right to exist, so too would all those who think nothing of this thievery!

This is an even BIGGER insult if the people with this attitude have children and grandchildren because they are insinuating that they don’t care how badly damaged they leave the world for their own human relations! Again we don’t even want to THINK about just how much of a disadvantage that would put US in had the Human race not been provided for so well since the beginning, so why are some people all too willing to do that to their own children and grandchildren? You didn’t do that to us and we certainly should not allow it to be done to our future generations, which is why all Earth Guardians need to rise up and resist the selfishness and greed that is threatening not only the future existence of the Human race, but ALL life forms INCLUDING the planet! It’s not too late, we CAN still put the wheels on this runaway train in reverse if we band together and fight back! HAIL THE ANCIENT FAMILY!

One of the running stereotypes about Satanists and even Heathens is that we're supposed to be these aggressive, evil people hell-bent on destruction and this is not true. If anything Satanists and Heathens are the adversaries to the general population because the general population (especially nowadays) is exactly what you see on TV, a mindless cacophony of self-centered and shallow brain dead people who think that what's on the outside is the be-all end-all and that money is everything. They are the ones who are incapable of original thoughts or ideas and rely on whatever the TV or idiot box tells them because they are unable to think for themselves! This is how we ended up with quote-unquote 'reality TV' and celebrity worship. The true Satanist/Heathen is an independent and proactive member of society, we take care of our own and we do what we can to help take care of our communities because we live here too! We are not the antisocial hate-mongering miscreants that Hollywood and the abrahamic faiths claim us to be, many of us are very social and willing to talk at length with just about anyone so as to help reach a new level of understanding and respect.

In fact it is my contention that we are more likely than anyone to look beyond what religion a person follows and treat them as the Human Beings that they are without conditions of needing to convert or worse, leaving them to suffer and possibly die if they don’t! We also don’t take it upon ourselves to set sail to another part of the world, land in a remote location then proceed to tell the locals who have existed there for thousands of years that they’ve been doing it wrong the whole time and that if they don’t convert that they are going to this special place of eternal torture and agony and if they still don’t convert then we will simply just have to kill them! Given what has been done to us, we would have every right to return the favor, instead we choose to move forward while we watch those who tried to eradicate us from Existence fade away despite their lamentations!

We also do not go around claiming to be anything other than Human - our Spirits are multifaceted but we are in form Human - we do not claim to casually work with or summon demons because we know how much ACTUALLY goes into both of those endeavors and they should NEVER be taken lightly nor should such claims EVER be used to validate ones walking this Path because eventually a charlatan will run into one of US and when they do and are unable to perform either of these actions, their already non-existent credibility will be completely shot! We also do not claim to be protected by “guardian demons” because they don’t exist! The truth about that is that no demon anywhere gives a damn about what happens to any human short of drawing up a contract for services and payments for services rendered! Again these contracts are VERY costly and the price you will be required to pay will have NOTHING to do with Human currency! Anyone who claims otherwise is completely full of it and should be forced to perform this activity IMMEDIATELY and in front of everyone in attendance, their refusal or failure to do so only further proves their claims to be fraudulent and deceitful!

We stand in opposition to these ‘storytellers’ because they are a big contributor to the current problems, the problems being the inability to deal with reality and taking responsibility for their actions! This self-righteous attitude DIRECTLY contributes to the consistent internal destruction of the Human race, the raping and pillaging of the Earth which in turn creates cause and effect disasters such as deforestation of hillsides and blasting craters into the Earth that results in erosion and landslides. How so? Because when you have a person who is coming from a bad situation looking for guidance only to come across someone preaching from on high that self-importance and self-indulgence is the way to go, you take an already volatile situation and make it THAT much worse! These people are the textbook definitions of false prophets and serve no purpose other than to make a name for themselves by telling others what they WANT to here and playing and preying on people’s fear and sense of vengeance rather than helping them deal with their past trauma and seeking strength and help from Father so they can get on with their lives!

The Ancient Family did not just Guard and Guide the Human race, nor was it EVER their intention for this planet to ONLY cater to the Human race, they all worked together like Ethereal Parents creating a Home and instilling values in all their Children to ensure that we could stand on our own, this is why we were given Free Will, because they had the Faith in us to get the job done! The truth is that Humans are neither above nor below any aspect of Nature, we are part of the Hoop that makes up the Natural Order overall and as such we need to remember that we are NOT the only ones who live here so if we want others to respect OUR space, then we need to reciprocate that same respect ourselves!

Humans want to keep cutting back the woods to build businesses, apartment buildings, parking lots and whatever else, but then they want to get all upset when big cats, wolves, bears, coyotes and other such wildlife are seen on the streets or hunting in their backyards! Where do these people think wildlife is going to go when their homes and hunting grounds are stolen from them and their food has moved on to other areas or just dies off due to the lack of vegetation? They're not going to just disappear and no one reserves the right to kill anything just because it is living by its instincts and trying to adapt to its new habitat! It is not their fault if their new habitat happens to be your backyard because your backyard used to be their den! Our Father does NOT approve of MURDER regardless of who’s doing the killing or who is being killed and SLAUGHTERING an animal just because it, like us, is trying to survive in this world is UNJUSTIFYABLE! If we can’t walk over to our HUMAN neighbors house, claim it as an addition to our own then shoot them for refusing to leave, then why do Humans think we can treat our Animal brethren with such arrogant disregard?

One of the core values of Satanism and Heathenism is to stand against injustice no matter who the aggressor is or what form it takes even if what is happening does not affect us directly. It is absolutely necessary to do this because directly or indirectly we were put here for a single purpose and that purpose is to protect the Earth and all life forms on it, to keep the Balance so that life and existence may continue unhindered! Also the day will come when we may be in a position where we need help and if we are unwilling to give it to others, to stand with others when their lives and ways of life are threatened, then we have absolutely no business expecting them to stand by us! Being an Adversary does not mean going out and looking for a fight just like being a Warrior does not mean going around challenging people to prove how strong you are; being an Adversary means rising to the occasion and not backing down no matter what; being a Warrior is not about attacking what is in front of you, it is about defending what is behind you!

The Winter Solstice is also coming up, while you are celebrating, however you celebrate it, whether it's with Family and Friends or by yourself please keep in mind that there are several people who are not able to celebrate with either their Family or Friends because they are deployed all over the world standing strong with weapon in hand ready to fight on foreign soil so that the battle does not come to domestic soil! These brave men and women decided that they were more concerned about what happened to the rest of us than what happens to themselves so they enlisted, trained and are now putting themselves in harm’s way so that we don’t have to! Please leave an empty chair, plate and cup/drinking horn and raise a toast to our Fighting Forces to remind everyone that we are able to enjoy this time with relative ease (it is also very stressful for Military Families to enjoy the Holidays especially if they have not been in contact with their deployed loved ones) because someone else has taken it upon themselves to stand at post miles from Home!

Also keep in mind all those who came back stateside and are enduring the most difficult time of the year for themselves due to homelessness, loss of Family and/or Friends either at home or in combat and the mental illnesses including but NOT limited to PTSD that renders them unable to return to Civilian Life. The fact is that MANY of our Veterans come back home and are STILL fighting the war in their own heads, certain noises and visuals can cause psychotic breakdowns that may result in aggression or depression and in the worst case scenarios, suicide. When it comes to our Soldiers, regardless of age or experience, war is hell and regardless of whether we agree with the politics behind it, that they are STILL HUMAN and the things that they are subjected to in a combat zone or ambush or sniper attack has a detrimental effect on their psyches! They need attention, medical care and a place to live, this is the VERY LEAST our government can do for them after all THEY were willing to sacrifice for our government! ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL! RESPECT!

Revered Family we ask also that you watch over the children of the world especially those whose parents are all too ready and willing to sacrifice their own blood via suicide missions, abuse of any and all kinds, selling them for drugs or prostitution etc because they are that messed up in the head! I don’t care what you believe in, if you can justify murdering or exploiting a child you have forfeited your right to exist in any capacity! May all those who would ever use, abuse, or kill a child meet with an even deeper level of apathy and cruelty! May they know all the suffering and more of the child/ren they are harming! May they be met with the same disregard to their lives as they have towards the life/lives of the child/ren they are too willing to end! May the children be freed from whatever viciousness they were forced to endure and may they grow up and put an end to child abuse of ALL kinds for good so that future generations never have to endure what they did!

Blessed Family, this Yuletide please help people remember in the midst of all the revelry that it’s not just about us but about what we can do for other people, especially those who do not have a home or anything to eat! Another Core value of Satanism and Heathenism is to assist those who genuinely need it; we will not enable those who refuse to help themselves but we will aid those who have simply fallen on hard times to get back on their feet! It’s not how we fall, it’s how we land and sometimes we need a hand getting back up on that horse! When we do we can better assist others who may be in the situation we once were and help them to also get on with it, so forth and on!

Most of all we wish to express our deepest gratitude for all that has been done from the Inception of the Multiverse to the Creation of this Layer and all the effort that went into the extensive catalog of life in all its forms! We appreciate not only being a part of it but we also appreciate all that has been given to us so that we may continue, we may have strayed from our deeper spiritual connection however we are working on it, we are striving to reconnect and the evidence is all around even amidst all the violence and corruption! HAIL THE ANCIENT FAMILY!

“Heathen Heart

The Heathen Heart is no stranger to love, hate or pain,

It beats like a drum under thunderous rain!

They invaded our land and tried to destroy our ways,

Now they are seeing the very end of their days!

They branded us wicked, murderous and evil,

Because we coexist with Nature, a very proud people!

We do what is necessary to take care of our Family,

Sailing, Trading and standing strong against our enemy!

A Heathen is one who will never falter when the going gets rough,

We are Warriors by nature, in all situations we stand stalwart and tough!

There is a method to our madness when engaged in any transgression,

You’d do best to walk away or else we’ll have to teach you a lesson!

We stand strong and fierce we’ll never back down from any battle,

If one wishes to engage they will be met with a mighty Death Rattle!

They thought they could trespass against us and steal our Humanity,

But it is WE who have persevered and reclaimed our Identity!

THE HEATHEN HEART BEATS STRONG AND LIVELY,

WE DON’T NEED PERMISSION TO LIVE OUR LIVES FREE!

SO RISE UP YOU HEATHENS AND SCREAM TO THE SKY,

LET ALL OUR OPPRESSORS HEAR OUR RESOUNDING BATTLE CRY!

DANCE THROUGH THE MADNESS OF CENTURIES SO VIOLENT,

AND LET IT BE KNOWN WE WILL NO LONGER BE SILENT!

WE WILL TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS BY OUR BIRTHRIGHT,

THEN LEAVE ALL THOSE THIEVES TO DROWN IN THEIR SPITE!

WHEN THE LAST BATTLE SEES THE DOWNFALL OF THEIR POWERS,

WE WILL RETURN HOME AND GLORIOUS VICTORY WILL BE OURS!”

---

“Pagan Prayer

May your cup runneth over

May your plate never be bare!

May you never stray too far

From those you know care!

May you know just enough pain

To truly appreciate pleasure!

May you have genuine success

Finding that which you'll treasure!

May you face every opponent

And never be caught off guard!

For every blow that you receive

May you strike back twice as hard!

May the Darkness of the this night

Be a time for pause and reflection!

May you be granted the most profound insight

To help you move in the right direction!

May the bone-chilling Wind remain outside your door

And the warmth of Heartfire keep loved ones secure!”

---

“Strength In Numbers

On this Full Cold Moon night,

It is quite easy to lose our sight!

Of what is important and what matters,

Especially when our spirits are in tatters!

When this happens we must stand fast together,

It’s the only way to survive the harsh weather!

If the Ancient Family gave up instead of marching forth,

Then all would have been lost right at the source!

So when the Air is freezing us all the way down to the bone,

We must remember always that we are NEVER alone!

The Ancient Family is with us whether far or near,

And our gracious Father is always here!

So strap on your Winter boots and get yourself walking,

Nothing ever gets done just by people talking!

The ultimate reward that is sought by so many,

Is the Honor, Respect and Trust of the Ancient Family!”

ZI ANA KANPA! ZI KIA KANPA!

MAY THE DEAD RISE AND SMELL THE INCENSE!

Etiamsi MULTA Et Nos UNUM Sumus Nos Sto Validus Ut Nos Sto Una!

Semper Veritas, Semper Fideles, In NINHURSAG'S Nomen Nos Fides! AVE NINHURSAG!

(We Are ONE Even Though We Are MANY And We Stand STRONGEST When We Stand TOGETHER!

Always TRUTHFUL, Always FAITHFUL, In NINHURSAG'S Name We Trust! HAIL NINHURSAG!)

AVÉ IGIGGI!

AVÉ ANUNNA!

AVÉ DRACONIS!

HAIL THE GREAT SERPENT!

HAIL THE ANCIENT FAMILY!

HPS Meg “Nemesis Nexus” Prentiss