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xadian-daydreams · 8 months

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Leola - Startouch elves and Unicorns.

I'm a big fan of the Leola is Aaravos' daughter theory, and as I was making a different post I had one of those what ifs that went weird places. Plus, there's a lot of speculation about shapeshifting unicorns because the child Startouch elf holding the Leola's Last Wish in the star map is confirmed to be Leola, who is also mentioned as a unicorn in Tales of Xadia handbook.

So, this theory is full blown tinfoil hat.

Here's a unicorn as depicted in Puzzle House. They have a diamond blaze under their horn. Aaravos' conjured horse also has diamond blade, but hornless. Notice that the shape is the close to Aaravos' missing chest piece, his "white heart".

From the Death of the Immortal poem;

Kazi: "...and though undying, took last breath, immortal Laurelion was no more." Callum: That's good, right? I mean, when someone "was no more," that-that's dead, yeah? Kazi: It's a bit confusing, but that is the clearest implication. Though, it is somewhat odd they call them undying and immortal. Callum: Well, that doesn't sound so immortal? Laurelion "was no more." Right. But how? How did they...? Kazi: Right here. "White as the star's heart it pierced, ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade." Callum: It's a sword. A weapon that can end a Startouch Elf's mortal existence. The weapon. We did it. We found the answer.

(ivory draconic - wonder if that's a reference to the star dragon bone mentioned in a legend in ToX).

So, here comes the wild speculation part...

What if "took last breath" and [Leola's] "Last Wish" are connected? What if Startouch elves lose their immortality because they have massive amounts of power drawn out of them (aka last breath) by the Novablade to perform a "great wish." What if the drawing takes a twisted form that solidifies, erupting from their heart piece...

And the Startouch is transformed into a unicorn who can die, with the horn being the mark of their final wish.

Why unicorns? Well, part of it's the western fantasy familiarity with unicorns and pure-heartedness. I think only pure hearted Startouch were selected for this...

Going with this, as a child Leola was stabbed with the Novablade, which created the brightest star in the sky - Leola's Last Wish. Now, I think this has something to do with the "heavens" the Startouch elves disappeared to. Using Leola's sacrificed immortality the Startouch created a cosmic home for themselves, which Aaravos ends up getting cast out of.

But what if this isn't just Leola, what if this is just how Startouch effect the world and every unicorn was created this way. Using a (star?) dragon bone blade to sacrifice a pure hearted child's immortal future in order to benefit the greater community. Maybe that's how primal magic was created from deep magic - a child's wish to make life better for others. Unicorns are described as "selfless" - a most cherished value in elf culture.

Take Rayla's example. Doing her duty to her community, by giving up her family, by risking her life to keep others safe, by doing the unpleasant tasks while trying to save other that burden, that's what she's been taught is love. She's sent on a dangerous mission at 15 to reclaim honor and help lift herself out of the shame of her parent's failure - when she had nothing to do with it. She has to prove she's worthy to Silvergrove. When she fails in her duty to her community, she loses their love and is castout.

Extrapolate to a culture where the greatest act of love is sacrificing your forever.

But if Leola is Aaravos' daughter, he probably was less than pleased she lost her immortality just so others could live the life. Even if everyone else praised and honored her, he still lost her. She's depicted as uniquely kind amongst unicorns and he may have felt the others took advantage of her great empathy - and being just a kid. Even if she volunteered, he would have felt the culture pressured her. He might despise the whole practice and culture that benefits from it.

Which makes his action with Sparklepuff more of a dark mirror held up against Startouch practices. Deliberately creating a child purely for sacrificial purpose to benefit from their power is evil... so how can a culture justify brainwashing children to get the same result?

(Kinda headcanoning Leola as a bit of a mash-up of Rayla and Ezran).

Then Leola became humanity's helper, gifting the people of Elarion primal stones and knowledge of primal magic, which led to some learning primal magic, and the Elarion culture flourishing. This appears to have gone against Startouches' warning and to have eventually incurred the Startouches' ire - at least according to Aaravos, who obliques says in Ripple short story that the Startouch killed all the human primal mages by dropping a small star (implied to be Aaravos) and creating the Sea of the Castout. Another slight against Leola that Aaravos may feel the need to rectify, on top of them casting him out. Que introduction of dark magic, plans of vengeance against Startouch etc.

So this theory is pretty out there, as it's not really based off much - Leola on star map & mentioned in ToX, weird wording in the Death of the Immortal poem, odd observation about Aaravos' horse, that only those of pure heart can see the unicorn map, and the "self-sacrificing for duty is love" nature of elf culture. But it was mentioned in an interview that most of Aaravos motivation stems from his relationship with an individual, and losing a daughter to elf culture's emphasis on self-sacrifice that mainly benefits those he finds unworthy of such love? I kinda like it as a motivation.

(Side note, kinda feel Aaravos is making a dig for his own amusement with his mount looking like a hornless unicorn, given that he doesn't have a white heart to stab and isn't pure hearted anyway. Plus, some stuff about why Aaravos is pleased about a unicorn horn being used in the Weapon of Vengeance spell, but that gets off topic so I might come back to that later).

#aaravos #tdp leola #tdp theory #tdp unicorns #this one is a bit out there #tdp #tdp s5 spoilers #tdp spoilers

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neoyi · 9 months

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I get what their intention was.

Because there is a lesson to it; sometimes you give someone numerous second chances and even see them progress, only to raise your arms in frustration when you realize they're never going to get out of their self-imposed cycle of vicious intent.

But I find it particularly baffling that Miraculous Ladybug set up what felt like a narrative journey for Chloe's redemption arc and decided that it did not matter, she was always a hopeless cause. For the first two seasons-and-a-half, we've witnessed a fourteen-year-old kid boss her friend, Sabrina, around and attach herself to Adrien, because she's lonely and desperately clings to whatever peer would willingly associate with her. We've seen sincere apologies when pressed against the wall and at least one time (that I can remember) where she did so without requiring a finger-wagging lecture from someone else. We've seen blatant emotional abuse from her mother whose least offense is forgetting her daughter's name.

Chloe is a spoiled kid who has not been taught proper boundaries and social behavior from her parents, causing her to lash out and bully others. But positive reinforcements from her teacher and fellow students reveal a scared girl who is receptive to sincerity and kindness, and in turn, capable of returning equal affections.

It felt natural by season two that she'd get the Bee Miraculous. Though less than graceful and at times, addicted to the fame it gives her, Chloe, more than anything, was just thrilled to work alongside her hero and idol, Ladybug. The same Ladybug whom Chloe dressed up and pretended to be because for all her posturing, Chloe looked up to someone whom she desired to be: beloved, kind, and selfless.

There's no denial that she wanted some of that power and the popularity that came with it, but imagine the validation she must have felt that for once, in spite of her mother's scorn, she was considered exceptional. Don't get me wrong, she needed structure from her parents to be a better person, but the deck was staked against her. And unfortunately, the narrative felt the same.

Now that I've finished season five, the lesson I took from the whole show is that Miraculous Ladybug ends with the idea that redemption and forgiveness is absolutely acceptable and warranted... unless you're Chloe.

You can have a kid who has sabotaged Ladybug and gave the Big Bad the biggest upper hand that he's ever had (giving him nearly all the Miraculous) because he grew up under unique circumstances and wanted more than anything to be normal and accepted.

You can have an unrepentant teenager who lies and manipulates her way into anyone's good grace with nigh flawless success (if we're really going to have one of Marinette's peer who's never going to be anything less than a sociopath, than I thought Lila was meant to serve that role once Chloe grew up; surely, I could not have been the only one who noticed), enough to the point of impossibility (anyone with half a brain should have figured out her bullshit long before the show ended) and constantly earn forgiveness and trust in a vein effort for the plot to make her seem like a mastermind genius.

You can have a widow who has been hurting from the loss of his spouse long enough to cause all the destruction, trauma, and complications throughout Paris for months on end, while treating his son as a doll for him to string around, thinking this is, for all intents and purposes, the best for his future, and still get to reunite with his wife by sacrificing himself whilst refusing Adrien's agency till the very end (it's fucked that Ladybug is alright with keeping Hawkmoth's identity from her boyfriend, let alone the lack of closure he will ever get with his now non-existent father) and get a statue in his honor for "saving the world."

But the abused, asocial, spoiled and bullying child who is clearly acting out from loneliness, rejection, and mistreatment is and will always be irredeemable.

And that's really skewed.

Hi, this is a Chloe Bourgeois apologist blog.

#miraculous ladybug #neoyi talks #congrats tv show the lesson you were trying to input only made her my favorite character in the end so surprise pikachu face #I was gonna post a screencap of the Queen Bee doll I bought online which was suppose to arrive today as a last act of spite #but the seller accidentally sent me a Vesperia XD #which I'm gonna have to sell to someone who wants her #I don't have any an issue with Zoe but if she had always been planned to be in the show #then the narrative was less than graceful with her being an obvious replacement for queen Bee

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gralunaisland · 2 years

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That way none of those toxic Jerza shippers come after me, can we address on how unhealthy Jerza is and why it's a bad ship? I don't like how Erza who was completely traumatized by jellal and only wanted him to be okay is now all, "Oh JeLlaL, i'M sO SuBMissIvE FOr yOu, EVen iF yOu dId nEArlY kIll mE iN tHe FIrSt SeAsoN, nOw I wAnT yOuR BaBiEs aNd wHaTeVEr."

🖤 - Anonziz

Why I don't blame Jellal for Tower of Heaven and therefore ship Jerza

(Firstly, thank you for your patience!)

Alright, let's talk about Jerza!

As I like to say, "No one is free from criticism; to pretend otherwise is folly", so even though I personally like Jerza, let's dive into this.

I'm not sure I've ever seen Erza act in the way you're describing, acting submissive and baby-crazy, though I'm sure you were just dramatizing your words for effect which is fine. Of course, I haven't been reading Fairy Tail 100yq, so maybe I'm just out of the loop, and she is acting that way now, but unfortunately, I don't have a way to confirm or deny that if it is indeed how 100yq Erza acts, so I'll just go off what I know from the anime I've seen.

I can see why you're upset with Jerza, since Jellal probably traumatized Erza by brutalizing her and for kicking her out all by herself into the world and for lying to everyone about her and keeping them enslaved. What he did was cruel. And you cannot undo actions, even if you try to make up for it. That bell can’t be un-rung.

However.

I still ship Jerza because the reason Jellal did those awful things is because he was controlled and manipulated by Ultear with her magic. She used "possession magic" on him, and she was able to pollute his thoughts and turn him evil, which then led to him keeping the Tower of Heaven workers there on the island to finish building it. That's the only reason Jellal turned evil in the first place. As a kid, we saw how kind and strong and loving he was, and what a good leader he was.

It doesn't make the most sense to me to blame him for doing a complete 180 from that to his manipulative, lying, selfish, brutal self when it wasn't his fault in any way. The only reason he was in a position to be possessed was because he sacrificed himself for Erza. Also, after he lost his memory, he acted like his old self again. And even after he got his memory back, he was filled with remorse and self-loathing and a powerful drive to repent and to make things right for the sins he committed.

I think these facts show that his true self was the self he was before he was manipulated by evil magic.

I also think that Jerza is one of the best things Mashima has written, at least from what I've seen from the main story of FT and not 100yq, nor the last Alvarez arc. Instead of Erza throwing herself into Jellal's arms as soon he got his memories back, she let him do the right thing and turn himself in to the Grand Magic Council for judgment. Instead of trying to escape punishment, Jellal went with them willingly and then worked hard to do good deeds to make up for the horrible things he did, even though it wasn't his fault. And even though they had a chance to love each other after he'd created his own guild, he lied and said he had a fiance, and Erza pretended to believe him, because they both knew they had growth to do before they were ready. They were both selfless and put their own desire to love and be loved by the other person aside in favor of doing the right thing.

I think rather than showing how horrible it is that Erza still loves Jellal despite all he's done, I think it shows how good a person she is. It just demonstrates her virtue that she's able to forgive Jellal and to see past her own personal trauma and hurt to realize that Jellal wasn't to blame for his actions, but she knew he needed to repent for himself. I thought this showed how healthy the ship was because both people involved are putting the other person first and because they honor the other person's boundaries. (Unlike juvia.)

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this, though! Discussion is essential to finding the truth about things, though when it comes to this, it's probably fine to agree to disagree.

#i personally havent met toxic jerza shippers but im sure they exist #but i wonder how theyve been toxic to you anon #toxicity is unacceptable coming from anyone #askgraluna #ask #anti juvia #fairy tail #erza scarlet #jellal fernandes #jerza #gralunaessay #fairy tail jellal #ft jellal #jellal x erza #erza fairy tail

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bokubooo · 3 years

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bnha — when you sacrificed yourself while on a mission

characters : bakugou k. + iida t. + ashido m.

cw : angst, mentions of death, grief and dealing with loss

bakugou k.

immediately upon your death, he found that he was blaming himself everyday to be responsible for it, he'd been with you, why had he been so slow? you plagued his mind, he imagined you were there. he believed with his whole heart it was his fault, and no matter how much his classmates, his family, his teachers told him it wasn't, he continued to believe it. he found it impossible to forgive himself, but swore he'd become the best hero he could and save as many people as he could, though in his mind, it'd never make up for your death. it wasn't until he was in his 3rd year he finally sought help, he couldn't deal with the thoughts of you dancing in his mind, simply a memory at that point. he got professional help, and after a few years of therapy sessions and being a hero, he managed to forgive himself. now he devotes his hero work to you, to make you proud. he eventually accepted that no one could've helped your death, as it had been your choice in the end, but he still missed you greatly, and he often finds himself breaking down, he can't help it, you were the first person to truly love him and show him that raw, true emotion and intimacy, and it was ripped from him. he mourns you often and always makes sure your death was known as honorable and heroic.

iida t.

it hits hard. really hard. but he hides it behind a strong image, he acts as if everything is okay. he needs to be strong for his classmates, as their class president. he takes all the weight, continuing his hero studies and work, continuing his life as if he didn't think it was his fault. it only took a few months for him to crack, under the weight of your death on his shoulders and how he'd pushed himself with all his other duties, he broke down. he took a break, albeit a bit short because he was determined to continue, but with the help of his friends and family he began to take care of himself again. he still bears the weight of your death, but the loss is also a hard drive for him, giving him fierce determination and devotion to his job as a hero to save anyone he can. no one else would be dying if he could help it. at times he'll find himself wondering why you'd done it, even though he knew the answer. you were simply too selfless, so devoted to your heroic tendencies that you'd let yourself go so easily. he can't help but wish it had been him instead of you sometimes.

ashido m.

she had been right there as the life faded from your eyes. she'd held you in her arms, begging you to stay, but she knew it was hopeless. you'd made your choice, that you were simply too damn reckless for your own good, and you'd immediately put your life last to anyone else's. her first reaction had been locking herself in her room, barely eating or sleeping. she'd show up to class with dark circles under her black eyes and she'd always look a mess. her temper seemed to shorten and she'd snap at her classmates easily. she didn't mean to. she was just so emotional. with time came recovery, she slowly found herself accepting what had happened, slowly coming back out to her classmates and friends. she is angry that you left her like that, and can't help but feel a bit resentment towards the person you'd sacrificed your life for, even though she's aware that in the end you'd decided to lay down your life.

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umbran6 · 3 years

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Hogwarts Houses for the Heroes of Olympus, Apollo, and Meg.

I’ve seen a lot of people do this, so I thought I should do this and explain as to why I wanted them there. Spoilers are abound through Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo as I explain my reasoning.

Percy Jackson: Hufflepuff. Look, I know a lot of people place him in Gryffindor. That’s a reasonable outcome one can reach, considering his feats could be considered immensely brave. However, Percy has often participated in his quests out of a sense of loyalty towards those he loves, whether it’s his mom (The Lightning Thief), Camp Half-Blood (The Sea of Monsters), Annabeth (Both The Titan’s Curse and Battle of The Labyrinth), and in The Last Olympian, all of them. What really pins him in place is when he willingly fallis to Tartarus alongside Annabeth by the ending of The Mark of Athena, which is a remarkable yet insane feat of both love and loyalty. He also has a work ethic, which is revealed during The Tower of Nero. Rather than just go straight to New Rome and live a happy life, he went to a hellish military school just so he could graduate from there with a high school diploma. If that’s not a work ethic, I don’t know what is. Loyalty and work ethic are key Hufflepuff traits, and Percy has shown all of them.

Annabeth Chase: Slytherin. Annabeth has often shown a lot of intelligence, but also a lot of resourcefulness and cunning during her time in the series. She literally tricked both Arachne and Nyx in what were impossible situations, and her goals are extremely ambitious, with her wanting to become an architect so she could build something that could last a thousand years. She also has a lot of Ravenclaw traits, to the point she repeated Odysseus and listened to the Sirens so she could learn what she desired the most. However, that was only once, and most often she used the knowledge she was given in resourceful and cunning ways, such as during the Last Olympian where she used the statues from Daedalus as a way to defend Manhattan. Needless to say, in my opinion she is a Slytherin first and Ravenclaw second.

Jason Grace: It’s quite tricky, considering we don’t get to see any key defining traits, but I have decided to put him in Gryffindor. Jason’s shown plenty of bravery, fighting Giants and Titans during his quest, but he also has honor and chivalry, which he shows during Blood of Olympus, and later on, The Burning Maze. Specifically, in the scene where he makes a deal with Kymopoleia, promising to make shrines not only to her, but to all of the hundreds of minor gods of Greek Mythology. As we later see during The Burning Maze, Jason was completely willing to honor such a deal, working on the shrines even while he was living the closest thing to a normal life one could achieve as a demigod. And of course, we can’t ignore the fact that he was brave to fight Caligula just so his friends could escape.

Piper Mclean: Slytherin. This is because during most of the time we’ve seen her, Piper fights dirty. She doesn’t stab a monster in the dagger, but charmspeaks the monster and stabs him in the back while he’s distracted. When claiming the position as Cabin Counselor in the Aphrodite Cabin during The Lost Hero from Drew, Piper uses the rules against her to get the position, rather than straight-up fighting her at the very beginning. Furthermore, rather than fight Khione upfront during the House of Hades, she bides her time and stalls the goddess until she can find a way to win. Though she has some traits that could go along with the other Houses, Slytherin tends to stand out the best. The only way she isn’t Slytherin in terms of traits is that she lacks ambition — we never see her have a higher goal beyond the quest, or any plans for what she’s going to do after everything’s done. Overall, she’s Slytherin through her actions, not her words, ironically.

Frank Zhang: Gryffindor. This is because Frank performs a lot of actions that are by any standard, brave, and often selfless and self-sacrificial. Specifically, a lot of the sacrifices he performs throughout the series. In Son of Neptune, he was willing to be the distraction against the Laestrygonians so that Percy and Hazel could start their escape plan. He was literally willing to burn his own life force (his stick) so that Thanatos could break free despite the very large risk it posed to him. He even stood in the way of a Giant, pushing him all the way to the Canadian border. And as we learn in The Tyrant’s Tomb, he was willing to repeat his sacrifice if it meant Caligula and Commodus were killed. Frank is a Gryffindor through and through, though he does have some minor Ravenclaw traits such as his use of tactics against his opponents, way of making plans, or recalling ancient Roman history.

Hazel Levesque: Once again, this was another difficult one. Mainly because Hazel is split right down to the middle between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. On one hand, she was so loyal to her mother that despite the fact that the lady got them into this mess, Hazel willingly sacrificed Elysium so her mom wasn’t punished. On the other hand, she was also willing to sacrifice herself so Alcyoneus couldn’t rise again despite the fact that it would lead to her and her mom’s death. Finally, I decided she deserved to go to Gryffindor, because of the fact that she willingly went towards the quest to rescue Thanatos in The Son of Neptune despite the fact that it was very likely that the god of Death would take her back to the Underworld. That takes immense amounts of bravery, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but she’s also putting herself at immense risk of being dragged down to the Underworld.

There are some Slytherin traits, such as when she made a plan to trick Sciron during the House of Hades, or the plan to trap Nike. However, Hazel’s a lot more defined by her bravery and empathy, which are more Gryffindor traits. If she had more ambition, a big goal after the quest it could be understood, but overall her Gryffindor traits are more prominent. For example, let’s compare how she got to Praetor and Octavian got to Praetor, and later on, Pontifex Maximus. Octavian often used a lot of word-twisting and dirty tactics to get his position, and only got there because Reyna left her post so she could help Jason. In comparison, the legion willingly raised her on a shield and collectively voted her into the position due to her bravery during the fight against Tarquin in The Tyrant’s Tomb.

Leo Valdez: There have been arguments over where he should go. All of them want him in one house or the other, but the most convincing ones were either having him in Slytherin, or in Ravenclaw. And I can definitely agree with both — Leo has shown immense amounts of intelligence and cunning throughout the series. He’s also intelligent in the sense that he created the Argo II, multiple weapons, the Holographic Scrolls, and even Buford.

However, after looking through his actions, I found that he leans more towards Slytherin. Although his façade of cheerfulness and humor was used to disguise trauma, he also used said humor to make himself appealing towards bullies so they didn’t beat him up. He often used his cunning to morph himself to social situations such as his façade as a jokester to look less threatening in comparison to others.

During the times we see him fight, he’s also the one to not only play it smart, but also using tactics and dirty tricks, rather than focusing on swordplay or his own fire powers. The only time we see him go ham with his pyrokinesis is when he’s fighting Khione during The Lost Hero. Furthermore, in The Mark of Athena, rather than straight-up fight the nymphs and Narcissus to get the celestial bronze he needed to make repairs, he uses himself as a distraction and has Hazel manipulate the bronze in a place where she can’t be seen, which is a plan that needs a lot of manipulation of the opposing parties.

What finally acted as the nail in the coffin for me was his plan to defeat Gaea during Blood of Olympus. It involved a lot of manipulation of both enemies and allies, and in the ended it succeeded so brilliantly that everybody got what they wanted, with none of them being aware of the plan until Frank and Hazel explained it, and they were the very few people in the know regarding Leo’s sacrifice. Developing such a plan takes immense amounts of cunning and ambition, which are both Slytherin traits. Although he may be chaotic, mischievous, and annoying, Leo is the guy you don’t realize is a Slytherin until it’s too late.

Nico di Angelo: The thing about a guy who was pretty much a loner throughout most of his time in the series is that it’s hard to tell what values he has. Ergo, we should look at his actions rather than his own words. Nico, although mainly dominated by his naïveté during his younger years, has shown himself to be extremely brave. For example, there was him openly defying his father by saving Percy from his imprisonment, and later actively convincing Hades to stop his vow of neutrality and fight alongside the Olympians in The Last Olympian. Finally, there’s his excursion to Tartarus and later his willingness to transport the Athena Parthenos during Blood of Olympus. Nico willingly went there to see if the Doors of Death were over there, and later transported the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood even if it meant he would fade into the shadows forever. All feats are insanely brave, and therefore I argue that he should go to Gryffindor.

Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano: Hufflepuff. Most of Reyna’s actions aren’t inspired by bravery, honor, or chivalry, though from a certain point of view they are brave. Reyna often performs most of her actions out of loyalty for those she cares about, almost in a Percy-ish kind of way. Her interrogation and cold nature towards Percy in Son of Neptune? Suspicion that he would be a threat to Camp Jupiter. She metaphorically fought against Octavian’s power advances because she knew his own ambitions wouldn’t help New Rome. Willingness to cooperate with the Greeks before the Eidolons screwed up everything? She believed that it was best for New Rome. Willingness to brave the Mare Nostrum all by herself? Both her loyalty to Jason and that she believed that waging war against Camp Half-Blood was not the best for the legion. Her loyalty and ethic just make her a shoe-in for Hufflepuff.

Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos: Oh boy, he’s kind of at an in-between when it comes what house he should be in. If we were talking about him pre-Lesterfication, I would honestly say Hufflepuff, but he takes a good chunk of those traits and turned them into a darker way. He defeated Python because the snake monster had chased his mother off of Delphi. He alongside Artemis murdered Niobe’s kids because the goddess insulted Leto by saying she was better than her. When Asclepius is murdered by Zeus, he retaliates by murdering the Cyclopes who made the weapons. And finally, he punishes those who broke their vows He shows loyalty, but in a lot of darker ways that we don’t expect. He’s got Hufflepuff morals, but they’re in a darker, more warped way than we expect.

If we’re looking at him post-Lesterfication, I would still say Hufflepuff, but now he does it in a brighter way and is also more Gryffindor. He was more willing to sacrifice himself if it meant saving those he cared about, such as when he willingly tried to kill himself during The Burning Maze if it meant Caligula would stop holding his friends hostage. He was also willing to commit more honorable gestures such as bringing Jason’s body to New Rome during The Tyrant’s Tomb. He was even willing to own up to his mistakes right in front of a god who had every right to hate him if it meant Meg and Reyna could be spared. He’s still a Hufflepuff, but he’s a more idealistic and less warped version of the values he had before he became Lester.

Meg: In a way, she’s pretty much like Apollo. She’s a Hufflepuff, but in all the wrong ways at first. We see this in The Dark Prophecy when its clear that during that time, she was more loyal to Nero of all people rather than her fellow campers, to the point of accepting Nero’s gaslighting if it meant she could see the positive view of him. However, she’s also loyal to Apollo and her father, which we see in The Burning Maze because the main reason she guns for Caligula is because she often compares him to The Beast aspect of Nero, the person who killed her dad. She in the end is also willing to accept and finish her father’s legacy, planting the seeds that eventually become the Meliai. Tower of Nero is when she gains the will to stand up to Nero after support from Apollo and her friends, and is later on seen taking care of the other children Nero abused. In the end, she’s a Hufflepuff despite the fact that she may not look like it.

Now, before you guys getting up in arms about there being no Ravenclaws, in my opinion the house is a lot more knowledge-focused, whether its discovering more knowledge, but also using it in a more academic and experimental way. Considering we don’t see this attitude or its corresponding values too much during the stories that we see since they’re more save-the-world mission focused. While Slytherin does have an intelligence-centric value such as cunning, its more focused on using such intelligence to manipulate and trick others, while Ravenclaw uses such intelligence in the discovery for knowledge.

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iamnightduchess · 3 years

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SnK 139 (A personal thought on Reiner & Mikasa's ending)

We have finally reached the end. For those who began this fandom since 2010, it's been 11 years of happiness, tears and heartbreak, on top of character discourse with our respective favorites. This manga is rich with amazing life values that requires more than just a quick zip through of every chapter. It requires a thorough, repeat reading. Hajime Isayama weaved his universe in a way that never cease to blow all of his readers' minds away but still touched our hearts in an emotional way.

(Special thanks to @pethellhounds for the key pointers for this post!)

No doubt, I love all of the characters, each of their flaws, strengths and growth but my two favorites have always been Mikasa and Reiner, individually.

Upon the first two reads, I was saddened, I was devastated and I allowed my emotions to filter the absolute value of the final chapter; in particularly to my most favorites. All thanks to the discourse we had in our RK discord, my brethren offered me a different perspective on how we could truly perceive ch.139 for what it truly is: a bittersweet farewell which only leads to new beginnings.

Reiner Braun

Armin was destined to save humanity, Eren confided on that himself. Even if it was Mikasa's personal choice on ch.123 that is the ultimatum that had saved humanity by eradicating the power of the Titans from the world for good. As referenced on this post, it has been Mikasa that was destined to free Ymir all along through her selflessness.

Upon first read, the following panel seemed to portray the remaining alliance members in a different light. Everyone looked amazing, happy as they exchanged banter just like how old friends with shared traumatizing experiences do. After all they're all celebrated world heroes - living with possibly an upgraded lifestyle, fame and wealth even within those 3 years. But upon several more reads and deeper observation, one could not entirely disregard the rather dark and gloomy atmosphere beyond the bright surface. In particular Jean and Reiner, who seemed to be a bit more noticeable.

Jean somehow is putting on a front as a skirt-chaser (having preference for younger girls) while Reiner seemed to be simping over his old crush (who's already married & has a child in Paradis).

The above panel seemed comical because the actions & lines seemed a bit "out of nowhere", but beyond the surface - everyone's hurting secretly from within, some are masking their pain, though some remained unaffected because they all shared a heavy burden of guilt towards Eren's death & Mikasa's withdrawal from the group to lay their friend in his final resting place all the way in Paradis. Jean and Reiner both are putting on a front.

Do remember that during the Marley arc, not even once was Reiner shown to reminisce about Historia very specifically. Not even in a fleeting thought, thus why it could also be deduced that she did not actually have a huge impact on his memory or his genuine affections beyond just a fleeting crush to hide his tormented mental state from within. How could someone who has been shown to have tremendous emotional growth and a consistent, albeit shaky psychological regulation during his primary arc was reduced to a typical simp archetype in the final chapter? This is not, a "Reiner can finally be his real self who's free of his burdens & he is someone who's enjoying his new life" moment.

The last time he portrayed this "simping" behavior? When he was 17 years old during the 104th's first SC excursion and when his psyche was almost teetering on its edges as his Warrior!alter is wrestling control against his soldier personality in Utgard Castle.

Reiner's simping (which was an intended joke) was also an indicator of a bleak truth: his DID regressed, from his regulated state and his psyche was completely torn apart from that day. In Marley, he had been extremely depressed but he was a loyal, strong and steadfast soldier who had only his duties in mind. To see him do a complete 360 & reverted to a creepy old behaviour, is truly saddening. He's been masking his pain with this front. Even Pieck could be seen sending him a silent, understanding look of concern for his letter-sniffing action.

In 139, despite having a new chance at life, having his mother's genuine love and acceptance & achieved his original dream in becoming a respected hero who is recorded in history, one could not entirely rule out the possibility that Reiner's DID has regressed to the point that either he reverted back to his soldier persona as a facąde or he'd might have developed a new alter altogether after having to experience Survivor's Guilt for the second turn. Yet this time, with no known time limit since the Curse of Ymir had been eradicated. DID is a lifelong condition. It does not go away, it cannot be healed even with modern medicine but yes, could be managed. That letter, the mentioning of Eren's name and their impending arrival on Paradis - the place he felt the happiest of his life - could be his trigger to put on that front. He, (along with the rest of the alliance on that ship) had to live with the fact that his and his family's new life and future had been at the expense of two people's livelihood; Eren & Mikasa. Eren sacrificed his life. Mikasa chose to bury Eren at his final resting place in Shinganshina and remain there to honor his memories on her own, without anyone by her side despite having fought together & almost on the verge of dying together.

(Thank you @lancerofdarkness for pointing this out!) We can see the banter between Reiner and Jean is very reminiscent of Reiner and Bertolt, where the latter cautioned the former on "not getting too carried away". Where Bertolt had a filtered approach, Jean had a more direct, head-on snipe. This dynamic had been initially observed much earlier in this post.

The alliance members could possibly have made a silent pact between them on not mentioning either Eren or Mikasa's name out of respect for that 3 years. Or if they, as well as the others, were not divulged of the real truth by Armin. With or without this knowledge, Eren's death and Mikasa's silent departure from the alliance do affect everyone. Some are more obvious than the others.

Once again, I feel compelled to share an unpopular perception that Reiner's simping is not his true self's behavior. It is a mask. A fake persona. It is a front to hide the real pain from within.

He cared about both Eren and Mikasa respectively, as much as the others do.

Mikasa Ackerman

Upon first reading, I was initially devastated for Mikasa's conclusion. It was her decision and selfless act that had saved all of humanity and won Ymir over, which completely destroys the Paths as well as removing the titan powers together with its curse. The woman who had been at the frontlines, placing her life at stake, almost dying first to protect the men in the alliance; she who had sacrificed everything ended up with nothing but only memories of the one who could never be and loneliness.

To throw salt into the wound, we saw Eren uttering in Paths on how he refused to accept the notion of Mikasa being with another man, he wanted her to only love him and have him in her heart even 10 years after his death. It was indeed a last spur of the moment declaration that ironically contradicted his plea in 138.

Their relationship was never meant to take off by riding into the sunset together, they are not destined to be with each other, even if their feelings are mutual. Despite my personal observation of their relationship as a form of enslavement in itself: Mikasa still sees it as her devotion & commitment to Eren. I have to respect her perspective on this.

Ymir mistaken Stockholm Syndrome as love, she perceives enslavement as love. Being used as a tool of war and breeding, surrendering all her will to her captor, yearning for his validation - she saw those as love. Now the glaring parallel between Ymir and Mikasa are truly obvious. Because of love, Ymir tethered herself to Paths or purgatory for 2,000 years and in exchange of Mikasa's decision & action, Mikasa remained tethered to her love for Eren & his memories for at least another 10 years if not for the rest of her life on earth. That is truly heartbreaking.

I was devastated. I personally believe she deserves better. She too deserves to have her happy end, to be loved and have a family of her own.

When Armin had dreams of seeing the world beyond the walls, Mikasa has always been a simple girl with simple dreams: i) to go back home within that forest in Shinganshina and ii) to be by Eren's side forever. Once we realised this, Mikasa actually had everything she ever desired after all. She's back home in Shinganshina, living in solitude and in peace with no burden of world peace, diplomatic affairs on her shoulder and has no need to put on a facąde. She's been grieving and she still cried for her yearning to see Eren's face again even after 3 years that she might not stop shedding tears in the next 7 years just like Eren wanted. That is how psychologically and emotionally affected she is with Eren's words, actions and death. She chose to remember Eren and keep her in her heart that it is almost seen as an imprisonment but she's also free from other wordly responsibilities unlike the rest of the alliance members.

Did I wish she would have a better ending than this? Absolutely. This young woman has never been on her own ever since she was born, it's heartbreaking to see her having to process her grief alone without even a single companion by her side. She lost all of her incredible physical strength and had to learn how to fortify her emotional strength through her grieving process. She has only learn on how to love and be loved by Eren, which has major missing components left to be desired. Mikasa deserves to be loved, to receive that affection openly in return from someone who would be ideal, respectful, trustworthy, expressive, equally devoted, the raindrop to her seed, the sun to her cold days and loving towards her and maybe one day, eventually would be able to grow a real family from that genuine love.

The last two bottom panel above we can actually observe the innocent kid!Mikasa just like Isayama promised. She is ready and curious to once again, learn more about the beautiful but cruel world. She is ready to leave the forest upon realizing that no matter where she goes, Eren will always be inside her heart.

She is at peace. Even if she looks way thinner, fragile that she should be and could be seen collapsing as she was hit by another wave of strong grief. But since the members of the alliance are coming to Paradis for a potential negotiation, it is been stated by Mikasa that they are also coming to see Eren's final resting place to pay their respects. She will be meeting her friends after 3 years for the first time and I could really hope that they can be the support that each other needed for true healing. I am holding on to the possibility of her being ready to move on and start living again after putting the course of her life on hold by mourning for Eren the moment she is reunited again with Armin, Annie, Reiner, Jean and Connie.

The bird flew over the ship carrying the alliance as it is heading towards Paradis before heading towards Mikasa's location, giving his answer to her "You're happy right?" question by wrapping that scarf around her neck for one last time. He wanted her to be free after 3 years of grief. He wanted her to move on when she meets their friends again because she does not deserve to be consumed in her grief not even another day. Not even for another 7 years. Not even for the rest of her life.

Anything that we envision happening after 139 is valid in this universe. I believe Mikasa will begin living her life to the fullest as the end of the series is also the beginning of her next journey. But this time, she will be doing it in the company of her loved ones. Together.

#snk spoilers #snk 139 #snk meta #snk thoughts #snk opinion #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot #reiner braun #mikasa ackerman #snk manga

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just-jordie-things · 4 years

Note

#30 from the prompt list for zuko?

Prompt 30: a kiss under a full moon ___

She’s perfect.

Zuko had known (y/n) for almost a month now. And he could confidently say that she was the only member of the Avatar’s little group who truly accepted him that day in the Western Air Temple.

Although a few weeks had passed, and his relationship with the others had definitely improved, it wasn’t the same.

Aang joked around with him, Sokka and Suki seemed to trust him in battle, Toph treated him the way she treated everyone- with awkward teasing and cruel jokes- Katara still refused to show Zuko any sort of warmth, and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

But (y/n) was different.

He supposed it was because she was nothing like the others to begin with, which he quickly learned. She wawa carefree- in every sense of the word. She was easy to get along with, easy to let your guard down whenever you were around her. And Zuko was also quick to realize that she was this way with everyone she met.

Just the other day she’d been exploring Ember Island with him and Toph, and the vendors that she’d make small talk with always seemed to laugh with her, or flirt with her. It was her charisma, Zuko thought. Or maybe her natural beauty. Both, probably.

But no one appreciated (y/n) more than Zuko did, he was sure of it. From the day they’d met, she’d shown him nothing but kindness, and understanding. Two things that he hadn’t really known before. Or hadn’t treasured enough when he’d had it.

She was attentive, always offering to listen to his troubles, or just to sit with him while he sulked by the fire. Deep down, Zuko knew that he could ask almost anything of her, and she would find a way to provide it.

She’s perfect. And I love her.

This thought struck him as he wandered over to where (y/n) had been laying in the grass. She’d been alone for quite some time now. Shortly after she’d finished eating with the others, she’d excused herself, saying she wanted to go for a walk and look at the stars.

No one had thought anything of it, but it had almost been an hour, and she hadn’t returned.

“Are you alright?” He asked her quietly.

She sat up, not as startled by his voice as he thought she would have been, and smiled softly as she turned to look at him.

“Come sit with me” She tells him, her voice just as soft as her kind smile and eyes. And as she pats the space next to her, he’s not sure how anyone could refuse the offer.

So Zuko walks closer, and sits down next to her. She giggles, before her hand pushes his shoulder until he leans all the way back in the grass. He gives her a look, only partially annoyed about now laying on the dewey ground, but she just grins, and lays back next to him.

“You’re just sitting here looking at the sky?” He asks, not seeing what the big deal was.

“I like being out here when the moon is full,” (y/n) murmurs. “Doesn’t Yue look beautiful?”

Zuko’s eyes wander to the full moon, and for a second, he thinks that it’s brighter than usual. It almost feels like it’s light is reflecting perfectly on the pair of them.

“That’s Sokka’s first girlfriend?” He asked, and (y/n) hums.

“She was… the best,” She says sweetly. “I didn’t know her for long- I only had dinner with her once, but… she sacrificed everything for what was right. I think that’s the most noble and honorable thing a person can do,”

Zuko feels his heart clench, and he tries not to wince, but he can’t help it.

“I mean, she didn’t really know us either, but she committed the most selfless act a person could just to help Aang, and- and save us, really,” (y/n) continues, and then turns to look at him, giving him the sweetest smile he’s ever seen. “Like you”

His features relax, and she can see him letting the tension out of his shoulders, released through a heavy sign.

“That’s not the same thing” He says, dejected as he returns his gaze to the sky.

“Of course it is,” (y/n) argues in a murmur. “You gave up everything- the throne, your family, your whole life-”

“Yue gave her life. She was a princess that had done nothing wrong her whole life. She’d been the image of goodness. I had nothing left to lose, because I’d already fucked everything up so bad,”

“Zuko” (y/n) mumbles, hurt, but she doesn’t push him to stop.

“I figured I was either a prisoner of the Fire Nation, or I’d try my hand at letting you and the others choose my fate. If my destiny wasn’t to be the Fire Prince, maybe it was to help the Avatar-”

“Your destiny is your own, Zuko,” (y/n) says, her voice holding more strength, and getting him to stop rambling as he looks back at her. “It can’t be decided by anyone else. But you’ve already made all the right choices”

“How can you say that?” He grumbles, and runs his hand over his face in a stressful manner.

(y/n) reaches out and takes his hand, pulling it away from his face before sitting up slightly, so she can look down at him properly.

“You believe you’ve changed, don’t you?” She asks him, quiet again.

He nods, sheepish under her intense gaze.

“And you understand you’ve been forgiven for the past?”

He hesitates this time, but eventually nods again.

“Then why do you choose not to forgive yourself?”

She sounds so much like his Uncle right now, that his heart melts for her. He squeezes her hand gently, and sits up with her.

“I don’t know” He mumbles, hanging his head in annoyance.

(y/n) chuckles and shakes her head at him.

“You make everything so complicated,” She says softly, playfully. “I don’t understand why”

“Everything’s always been complicated” He mutters, looking up at her with a wince on his face.

“No” (y/n) murmurs, shaking her head again, and as she says it, he knows she’s right.

Because that wasn’t true for her. It had never been complicated with her.

The first night they’d met, she’d greeted him warmly, introduced herself, and showed him the available room in the temple that could be his. She’d given him one of her extra blankets, because the nights could get so cold- not knowing that he could use his firebending to keep warm.

She’d always told him when dinner was, because no one else bothered to. She offered to spar with him, even though she wasn’t a bender, he didn’t exactly need extra training in hand to hand combat, or his swordsmanship.

She always sat next to him on Appa’s saddle when no one else would. Or walked by his side when they went into town for groceries. It was the little things like that which made her such pleasant company to have.

Even now, sitting with her in the moonlight, he knows he’s never been more comfortable and content in his whole life.

And so he smiles at her, and with his free hand, he reaches out to cup her face, before leaning in and bringing her lips to his.

For a brief moment, he worries that she’ll reject him, push him away, maybe even strike him.

But she doesn’t.

She leans into him, letting go of his hand so that she could take hold of his shoulders and steady herself. He kisses her with such raw emotion, that she knows exactly what he is trying to communicate to her.

And she reciprocates every ounce of his feelings.

When he pulls away, she takes in a deep breath, their foreheads touching, their hearts beating in sync. A few beats pass before their eyes open, meeting shyly, but delightedly.

“I didn’t think you would do that” (y/n) murmurs, and she admires the faint blush that dusts over Zuko’s cheeks.

“Me either,” He says in agreement, and they both laugh softly.

She tilts her head in the slightest, leaning further into the warmth of his palm, while her eyes remain locked on his brilliant ones.

“I think you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met,” He tells her, and her heart skips a beat. “And I’m in love with you”

Her eyes widen and her posture straightens, before suddenly she’s crashing into him again, her arms winding around his neck and her lips searing against his. He nearly topples backwards, but just as he regains his balance, she’s pulling away.

“I love you too,” She tells him, breathlessly. “And I wish that you…” She trails off, trying to find the right words. “And I wish that you soon see yourself the way I see you”

He grins back at her, he can’t help it when she returns his feelings and says something so cheesy and profound.

“And how is that?” He asks her.

She kisses him once more, chastely, before mirroring his grin.

“Your glow rivals that of Yue’s,” She tells him in all sincerity, and for a moment his rows raise at the surprisingly eloquent compliment. “Just… don’t tell Sokka” She adds in a whisper.

He chuckles, and cups her face in his hands, adoring every one of her features that only seemed to brighten in the moonlight.

And then he leans in and captures her lips once more, slowly, surely, and with every last bit of love he’d grown to have for her. ___

this made me soft

xoxo ~ jordie

#atla #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #zuko scenario

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aki-draws-things · 4 years

Text

NaNoWriMo #03

That was supposed to be angstier, and yet... Oh, well... there’s a whole month for me to write some real good angst. (Any comment or idea for future parts is so very welcome, that goes without saying. I may be really slow, and stray from prompts, But you’re gonna have my endless love. Even Though most this month prompts are on Mingjue and Zonghui.... and I’m not sure many people ship them...) aaaaahhh anyway! Day: 03/11/2020

Prompt: Ritual Sacrifice

Ship: None

Word Count: 2234

Qinghe was a cursed realm, every other sect always said that and despite loving it even the Nie sect living there had to agree.

Every region had their own legends made to scare misbehaving children. “If you don't go to bed, the wood spirit will take you.” “Eat everything or the howling demon will come for you at night.”, for some reason it always worked up until a certain, varying age. Then one day those children would learn that the spirits and the demons didn't go after misbehaving children, but after everyone they crossed their path with. “be careful when walking at night.”, their parents' words turned into, instead of the little stories to scare them. The Qinghe children never fell for any of those stories, not even the scariest, most gruesome, other children would tell. But they had some stories of their own.

“there are demons living in the mountain.” Nie HuaiSang said one night in Gusu, his two friends listening close to his story. “Sometimes they get hungry, other times they get angry at the heaven's for having been banished there and they walk down into the woods and into villages.”

“And they take the first born!” Wei WuXian ended, like he knew the story already, well, that was how most legends went after all, but Nie HuaiSang scoffed.

“No. They roam and roam. They destroy and, yes, they kill. So the Elders choose someone pure and just, and this person gets sacrificed to the demons. It is said, - He lowered his voice just a bit. - that this will grant that person's soul immortality because of their selfless sacrifice. I don't really believe that, but the demons leave after the sacrifice, their thirst for blood satisfied.”

Jiang Cheng frowned.

“It doesn't sound like a story…”

“Because it's not.” Nie HuaiSang said. “Qinghe is guarded by demons.”

In truth Qinghe wasn't cursed, not in the proper meaning of the term. The unclean realm was a fortress built as a last defense, circled by mountains and distant from the rivers, the first place most demons would encounter when they descended, and the Nie sect had, for many years, perhaps even centuries, protected the region, all the little villages and the civilians. It was an honor, the elders said, to be born in that family.

“Honor?” HuaiSang asked. “If there's something cursed in Qinghe that's our blood.” And in truth his older brother couldn't help but agree. It was almost like they were personally connected to those demons. Nie members never lived long. But they've never been sacrificed either, bad luck, Elders said, to rob them all of their best protection. At least they were safe from that fate.

Or so they thought.

The demons were led by a woman. Everyone knew that but not many had ever seen her, she left the mountains less times than the rest, older and more used to surviving the blood lust the others experienced.

She was scary, hideous even. Like any demon. She walked among men many more times than people thought, able to change and look like them, she even let some of them try to court her for a day before disappearing. She didn't like to deceive them and, much to the other demons' surprise, she even grew fond of the people of Qinghe.

That didn't stop the call for blood, she still was a demon, a beast. Human souls was what kept them alive, and she liked that life.

“Xiao Nie.” A voice greeted Nie MingJue, coming from the air around him, he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his chamber, busy in meditation.

“Mysterious voice.” He greeted back, the tiniest smile appearing on his face. “Coming to haunt my meditation hour again?”

The voice laughed and didn't answer him.

“Well, since you're here, - MingJue said again. - you could be helpful. That song you sang last time. It was really calming for my mind, would you mind if I asked you to sing it again?”

And she sang.

It wasn't a language Nie MingJue was familiar with, foreign and yet calming, he couldn't make out the words, nor try to learn them, but the voice was now a constant in his evening meditation, and for some reason he couldn't explain, Nie MingJue trusted that stranger's voice, he had for years by then. Every night she talked to him, she sang and she taught him, she guided him through meditation.

“We'll meet soon, Xiao Nie.” She whispered that night when he finally fell asleep.

Nie MingJue never talked to anyone about that voice, part of him was convinced it was a trick of his mind, the sickness getting hold of his family's mind, maybe that was the beginning. He was still too young to die of qi deviation, despite having had some before, but maybe he was starting to grow sick too.

One night the demons came down. From the mountains, converged silently as ever in the streets of the unclean realm, people shut the doors and windows, they hid in the safety of their homes and prayed.

A demon walked forward in the courtyard and everyone bowed more or less gracefully.

“In one week from now I will return. - Her voice was like melted metal. - bring your sacrifice to the altar and you all will be safe.” Then she turned and the crowd of demons opened to let her pass before following.

No one noticed how Nie MingJue's eyes went wide as she spoke. The familiarity of the sound merging with the voice singing to him. She was a demon, he reminded himself, she can use any voice she wishes, maybe everyone hears a different voice, someone they like or find comforting… Maybe--

“You will have to meditate without me for this week, Xiao Nie.”

He gasped and attracted the attention of the elders and his younger brother.

“Da-ge?”

“Sect Leader is everything…”

“Yes.” He cut them short. “Do what you need to do.” He turned and retreated to his chamber.

Despite the warning he waited for the now familiar company but she didn’t come. Nor she did the following day, or the one after, just like the demon said.

It was strange. Him, Nie MingJue, born and raised in the Unclean Realm, in a Sect that gave sweat and blood to keep the world safe from demons, he who now was leading said sect, he was wishing to hear that voice in his head. A demon’s voice!

“She had been kind to me.” He would try to justify himself. “She never harmed me in any way. She even guided me through meditation.” He said aloud once more, just to himself. “Even Baxia is quiet with her.” So she can’t be too evil, or his Saber would make sure he knows.

Meditation was leading nowhere during that silent week Nie MingJue realized, he got so used to her presence and her voice that the silence was even more distracting, there was no point in trying.

“After this week everything will be back to normal.”

He wondered for a moment if it would actually be, or if knowing would make meditation different. “She’s not evil. I feel it.”

He would ask for her name, next time, so that he could properly greet her. One leader to another.

“It’s the obvious decision.”

“But… He’s a Nie.”

“He’s useless. The Sect will be much better without him.”

“The Sect Leader will oppose.”

“Ah! Let him talk, that child. He acts all big and strong and what he is in truth? An overgrown boy.”

“He still has the final word.”

“Oh, but don’t worry about that, he will understand our reasons. More and quicker than you.”

“But…”

“Sect Leader Nie. It’s time.”

The Elders gathered in the council room, before them Nie MingJue sat behind a desk, Nie HuaiSang stood by his side, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other. Everything would end in a couple of hours and for at least six months Qinghe would be able to forget the demons and their blood sacrifices, families will sigh in relief and him and His brother would pay a visit to the family of the chose sacrifice. Then everything back to normal. Why did he feel so anxious then? What was that fear crawling in his chest and wrapping cold fingers around his heart? He swallowed.

“So? - Nie MingJue asked. - Who is the one?”

The Elders spokesman lifted a hand without speaking, his finger pointed straight at Nie HuaiSang.

“Wh— What?” He managed to whisper, mouth suddenly dry. Nie MingJue looked back and forth between his paling little brother and the Elders wondering when they all went insane.

“I thought the rules forbid a Member of the family to be given in sacrifice.”

“There are certain… reasons that would make the rules bend. - The man explained and he almost sounded valid, except he was too mechanic not to have studied beforehand those very words. - The Queen herself came here, we can’t simply offerer a farm girl or a young boy. We need something more.”

“Then find something more.” Nie MingJue growled, two soldiers moved to grab HuaiSang but immediately stilled as Baxia flew from her sheath in front of them, trembling in rage.

“Sect leader, you must understand.”

“Find your more. And I’ll find a way to stop this blood madness.” “I will talk to her, she will listen, I can find a way that will suit both, I… I’m turning my back to the rules of my family…”

“There is no more time. He’s the best candidate, whether you like it or not, Young Master. He’s no use to the Sect anyway.”

“Da-ge!” Hands grabbed Nie Huaisang’s arms and dragged him out of the room to get ready. Soon Nie MingJue was left alone. His brother, his only little brother sentenced to death and he could do nothing to avoid it.

Or… No, maybe he could.

He didn’t have much time before the sacrifice ceremony start, but he had enough.

Dismissing the usual robes to the ceremony ones was fast, finding the golden jewels he had laying around a little slower, he never wore them much. Making the braids, that took him way longer than expected, but in the end the result wasn't as bad as he feared, white and gold beads shone under the lights of the candle, barely a shadow of golden make up over his eyes. HuaiSang would complain that his style was too plain, that he needed more colors and details, something red perhaps. But HuaiSang wasn’t there. He threw a cape and covered his head with a hood before leaving the room without turning back. Baxia rattled for a moment in her sheath then went still, he trained her well, Nie MingJue thought, she understood. He asked for her forgiveness, but her voice was silent.

The demon’s Queen was clothed in gold and red, standing above the silvery white altar and waiting, far more patient and calm than all the other demons and spirits.

“Bring him forth.” Nie HuaiSang almost tripped as strong arms dragged him toward the altar, tears streaming down his face; that shouldn’t happen, he was a Nie, He should have been safe, he—

“Stop!” Nie MingJue’s voice ringed through the crowd, he walked ahead, he tried to look fearless, glad that they couldn’t hear his heart hammer fast against his ribcage. “I will go. I will do it.” He turned to look at the Elders, daring them to stop him, they wouldn’t, he knew it, they couldn’t risk of being accused to go against their Sect leader, no matter how young he was.

“You can’t! Da-ge, you ca—” HuaiSang ran to him grabbed his robes and pulled at them weakly. “You can’t. I… I don’t know what to do…”

“Oh, but you know, HuaiSang. - He said smiling. - You’re far better than what they all think, you’re strong and capable. And you’re going to be a great leader for Qinghe. Listened to them, and then ignore their words because you know better.” He pushed him back lightly. “You have it in your blood as a Nie, you will know what to do. When it’s time, it will be clear.”

He kneel on the altar and let the outer robe fall on the ground, looking up and meeting the demon’s eyes, she looked almost surprised, definitely intrigued by that change. Maybe a little saddened too, or perhaps it was the candle light giving MingJue that idea. Why should she look sad?

“Would you mind if I ask you something?” She unsheathed the silver dagger and teared open the robe in a swift movement, the blade briefly tangling with a golden necklace. “Your name. - Nie MingJue continued, unfazed by the weapon and by his fate. - I was going to ask the next time but there won’t be a next, so…”

She leaned closer, pure white hair falling to cover her face, she hummed a song Nie MingJue heard many times over the years during meditation, but for the first time he understood a couple of words. “Oh, Sweet soul of mine.” The dagger went through his heart and he gasped , blood trickling down from his lips on the altar, he felt himself fading, his brother’s voice broken as he called him, and then… then he heard her, and it was like he had always known.

“Baxia.”

#nie mingjue #nie huaisang #baxia #demon baxia #tw main character death #ritual sacrifice #the untamed #cql #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #mdzs fic #fanfic #nanowrimo 2020 #angst collection in cultivation #aki writes

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fluffychubbyrose · 4 years

Text

Monkey King Wukong Sun x Confident Reader.

Requested.

One Shot.

Warnings- Wukong may be O.C., Language, Slight violence, Reader gets jump scared, and mostly SFW hints at NSFW.

I'm so sorry it took so long but I hope you like it.

I've been apart of Wukongs group for awhile now. I joined him and the others Liuer, An An, and Bajue on his journey after trolls attacked my village and took what little I had away from me when they destroyed my house. He won't admit it, but he was shocked and admired my bravery and selflessness when he found me barely out running the trolls on one of the paths leading them away from the village that fateful day. He attacked and was able to defeat all three of them single handedly without any help. That day my house was simply collateral damage from the trolls tearing up the village in search of more children to take.

(Flashback to first meeting Wukong.)

I knew the only children left where hiding but with the speed of which the trolls where tearing down the houses they would find them in no time. So instead of running and hiding like the rest of the village people were, I decided the only chance for the village surviving this attack was to distract the trolls and lead them away.

The only way I was able to convince the horrendous trolls to take chase was by wrapping up bundles of the children's clothing in blankets and running with one in each arm past the trolls like I was desperately trying escape from them with my two children. Luckily with a little acting on my part faking to cry and scream in terror before running away was enough for the trolls to take chase after me and my "children".

Though I cannot lie because not all of my terror was false especially when the trolls where catching up after me when they saw me and scented the children's clothes in my arms. I ran for what felt like forever but couldn't have been more than a few minutes and even with the sharp and sudden turns I was making down different paths they were quickly gaining on me. That's when I noticed somone else up the path and I fear I may have just cost this unsuspecting man his life.

That fear I had for his life didn't last for long though when he saw the trolls behind me and watched with wide eyes as one lashed out snagging and tearing the back of my shirt I yelp and try to run faster when the man started running not away from them like anyone else would have, no he ran right past me and at the trolls. I stopped running shortly after and whipped around in shock. I was only able to watch what I was certain to be this delusional and crazy mans death. But then I saw the struggle going on and soon realized it was this man that I should have been running from along with the trolls after watching first hand how he skillfully attacked and defeated the beasts with strength and ease.

Soon after the shock of the situation started to wear off and I dropped my dummy "children" placing my hands on my knees gasping for air from my run and struggling not to pass out from a lack of oxygen. All while still gaping in shock at this mysterious man. It wasn't until he approached me that I realized that this was no man, monster, or beast, but instead was Dasheng.

I stared in bewilderment wondering if the trolls had indeed caught up and left me fatality wounded on the path and that's why I'm hallucinating so vividly. I heard a child gasp before I saw them. I look to my right glancing away from Dasheng to see a young boy with a baby strapped to his little back crouched down by the dummies unwrapping and checking to see if I hurt what he thought to be children when I carelessly dropped them moments before.

"What the? Their fake?" The young boy asks looking up at me with confusion. "Yeah their fake. It was the only way to lure the trolls out of my village and away from the real children. I was trying to keep them safe and keep anymore of them from being taken by the trolls." I managed to gasp out still breathless and light headed, my heart refusing to calm even though the danger has past.

"They would have killed you when they realized they were fake and went back and taken those children anyways your more foolish than clever." Dasheng snaps out giving me an angered but surprised look that I wasn't able to completely decipher. "Wukong! I don't think she was foolish she was sacrificing herself for her village she was being very brave and honorable." A pig looking man huffed out at Dasheng. 'Huh I guess that's Dashengs name. I wonder where that pig man was this whole time? Was he hiding from the trolls or did he just get left behind when Dasheng ran away from them to attack the trolls?'

"Bajie is right she's very brave and I think she's clever! She outsmarted the trolls didn't she?" The little boy says pouting and looking up at Wukong. My heads still spinning from everything that's happened but I stand up and I'm about to give Wukong a snide remark for calling me foolish when I feel a cool breeze on my back.

I frown in confusion until I remember the troll slashing my shirt with his claws. My face burns and I cross my arms over my chest to prevent my shirt from falling forward anymore than it already has and revealing more than I'd like too in front of strangers and a child no less. "I'm Liuer and this is- Oh that's pretty how did you get that flower to stay on your back like that?" The little boy says quickly bouncing around me in excitement trying to get a better view of the lotus flower tattooed on my back that is now exposed for all to see.

"Hey knock it off!" Wukong snapped Liuer giving him an embarrassed and annoyed glare before quickly looking away. Liuer just ignored him and continued to circle around me excitedly trying to get a better look at the tattoo on my back. I just smiled at him weakly feeling faint. "I need to go back to my village and let everyone know that the trolls are gone. At least for now." I managed to mumble out with my vision getting blurry. "Fine hurry up we were heading there for the night anyways." Grumps out in a hiss. "And for more food!" Bajie says excitedly.

I start walking back to the village with Wukong and his two followers in tow. I glance at him a few times during our journey back to the village and he won't meet my eyes now that he's noticed my ripped shirt. He has his arms raised with his hands intertwined behind his head walking on my right side with Liuer inbetween us and Bajie in front of us rambling on about different foods he hopes my village has for him to eat. I smirk softly smug that I made the great Dasheng embarrassed by showing only a little skin and a bit of cleavage. Though I'd rather it be on my own terms to show off this much of my body at once, I'm not displeased by his reaction.

(End of flashback.)

I'm smiling from the memory of our first meeting while laying my bedroll down near the fire at our camp for the night. We found an abandoned kingdom one of many since the troll and monster attacks started years ago, to set up camp in for the night.

We have been traveling for days on end only stopping to refill our water gourds, relieve ourselves, and to set up camp for the night. Then we eat, sleep, and repeat. So everyone is thoroughly exhausted besides Wukong of course. The mischievous monkey king seems to have a never endless supply of energy, along with an almost always present sour attitude.

He gets frustrated easily and likes to push people away rather than let them get close to him. He's tried to get rid of me countless times when I decided I was going to join him in his journey by constantly saying rude and snide remarks about me and quite literally ditching me in the forest several times but non of it phased me and I always found them again.

Recently I've been the only one able to get past the cold exterior of his, because if anyone ignores it and the rude comments he says they can see just how soft and caring he can be. Granted those moments are rare and far between it's still there, just masked so well most people can't see it and they'll choose to believe it never existed in the first place because of it.

"Oi what are you doing?" Wukong hisses baring his fangs a little and yanks my bedroll away from the fire and places it a good 6ft away from where it had been. "Hey what the hell!? I'm trying to set everything up so I can get some sleep soon I'm exhausted!" I snapped with a glare mad that he just messed up all my stuff. My blankets are all strewn about and my makeshift pillow fell off the roll when he dragged it away, so now it's laying in the dirt and dust that has accumulated on the abandoned kingdoms floor.

I stand up and snatch my pillow off the ground dusting it off and placing it back on my bed roll and then I make a move to, move it closer to the fire again because the stone floor is cold and there's a cold bite to the air tonight. But near the fire its warm and so are the stones which would make sleep tonight come much quicker and be much more pleasant. But before I can move it back Wukongs foot slams down onto the middle of my bedroll and refuses to budge despite my tugging.

I sigh heavily not in the mood to fight with him. This is one of those moments where outsiders would see Wukong as only a rude and crass man. But I know he's doing this for a reason, he isn't one to just be cruel to someone for the fun of it despite how he acts. I'm about to ask what that reason is when he sighs out while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You move that back and I wont help you when your bed catches fire tonight from being so close!" When he finished speaking he pulled his foot off my bed and walked away. My eyes widen in suprise at what he says and I huff knowing he's right I was too close and with stone floors any embers will just blow across the floor right at my very flammable bedding rather than landing on the ground and staying there until they burn out like they normally would. Instead of moving it back like I want to I decide to leave it where its at.

I can still feel the heat of the fire after all so it isn't that big of a deal it'll just take a little while to heat up my bedroll to a comfortable temperature with the cold stones below me. I'm about to get under my blankets and get some rest before it's my turn to keep watch after Bajie in a few hours when a blanket is thrown and hits me in the back of the head.

I gasp and whip around angrily seeing Wukong quickly slipping under his own blankets on his bedroll acting like he didn't just throw one of his blankets at me and hit me in the head with it while doing so. "What the fuck was that for!?" I snarled lowly trying not wake Liuer and An An who have been asleep since we started to set up camp. "So you won't catch your ass on fire! Now go to sleep!" He hisses his voice a pitch or two higher than normal as if he's embarrassed. I look at his back that's turned towards me with surprise that he would give me one of his blankets so I wouldn't be cold.

I hold up the tan colored blanket in my hands, it's the thickest blanket he has. He was even bragging about it when he got it just a few weeks ago, very much so full of himself and smug that he got such a deal for it that it was basically free. I hug it close to my chest for a moment feeling a warmth spread throughout me with a small smile on my face because even though his aim wasn't the best and his remark on it wasn't the nicest he just gave me his favorite blanket. Actions speak louder than words after all.

I lay down with the thick heavy blanket on top of me smelling faintly like Wukong. I snuggle further into my bedroll curling the blankets around myself tighter yawning before finally feeling safe and warm enough to fall asleep. My rest was dreamless, but deep and undisturbed until I woke up in what felt like only minutes of being asleep but must have been hours because Bajie was lightly shaking my shoulder to wake me and let me know it's now my turn to get up and keep watch for the rest of the night.

I didn't know just how exhausted I really was until I was woken up looking at Bajie with blurry eyes and confusion written all over my face. My body felt hot and heavy and I had to struggle to sit up out of my makeshift bed grumpy because I was sleeping so hard and well. Since the trolls first attacked my village I haven't been able to slip into that deep of a sleep because every little thing or noise would wake me up.

I was so scared something would happen while I was asleep thinking I wouldn't be able to protect myself if I allowed myself to sleep soundly. So sleep was light and restless because of my stress and paranoia of sudden attacks from the trolls. So the fact that a deep sleep came so easily to me tonight is a pleasant surprise and I'm non to happy with having it interrupted. My body is screaming at me to lay back down and escape back into the peaceful bliss of sleep once more.

I watch with a confused pout as Bajie slumps down onto his pile of blankets he calls a bed. I sigh heavily and stretch knowing I have to get up and keep watch just in case something happens, knowing seeing the threat first and being able to prepare for it is much better than being taken by surprise. I stand up still feeling confused, wondering about what was different about tonight and how I slept so soundly that I didn't even here Bajie approach which would have been easy for even a deep sleeper to hear, because while Bajie has good intentions most of the time, being quite is not one of his strong suits or something he tries to be for that matter.

The only difference I can think of would be Wukongs blanket. I flush at the thought feeling like my skin is burning. There's no way I took that much comfort from such a simple thing as having someone else's blanket and scent wrapped around me while I slept. I shake my head at the thought and glance over at Wukongs bedroll to see that he's not there.

I whip around looking for him around the room were in to see if maybe Bajie woke him and he was getting more fire wood for the dwindling fire but he's still no where to be seen. I walk over and reach into my pack retrieving my coat to wear since its colder than it was earlier that evening. After I slip it and my shoes on I walk over grabbing some firewood and tossing it onto the fire before leaving to take over watch for the evening, and if I'm lucky find where Wukong escaped too in the middle of the night again this time.

I search the perimeter around the part of the kingdom that we're camping out in to make sure nothing is lurking about just beyond the shadows, and when I'm satisfied with my search I start walking down one of the overgrown pathes in the middle of kingdom. I look around in awe because everything looks so fairytale like in the moon light tonight. Anyone else would probably think it's creepy or fear what they can't see in the dark and the stillness of it all would send chills up most spines but not me, I know what lurks in the dark and I'm not afraid anymore.

If those monster where to snatch me up and eat me or just plain out kill me they would have done so long ago. So the quite, moon lit, tranquil setting of this abonded kingdom is calming to me. I smile softly sitting down on a large boulder in the middle of what used to be the plaza of the kingdom.

My quite and tranquil atmosphere didn't last long when the momentarily forgotten Monkey King decided to make his presence known when I'm suddenly grabbed from behind with a hand clasped over my mouth to keep me from screaming. I squirm and thrash around trying escape my captures hold. One arm of mine is free and swing it back to elbow my attacker right in the stomach there's a loud grunt and I'm released. I jump up and whip around seeing Wukong hunched over holding his stomach with an equally playful and angered look in his eyes. "What the hell was that for!?" I yell at him more than pissed about the little stunt he just pulled on me. I walk up and hit him in the chest repeatedly both wanting and not wanting to hurt him.

He just huffed out a laugh and caught my hands in his loosely, leaning in close to my face I pull my head back but his hold on me stays. "One that didn't really hurt, and two you need to pay more attention when your on watch! You we're so zoned out, that you didn't even hear or notice me sneak up on you until I grabbed you. You could have been killed and you need to fight harder than an elbow blow to the stomach because that won't phase a troll or any other monster that attacks you and I can't let anything happen to you! Do you understand that! If you died I might as well have never left that fucking cave and this whole thing would be pointless without you here by my side!"

He's in my face as he says all this with a slight growl rumbling his chest with his fangs poking out more than usual from his snarled look. I'm shocked from what he says, angry at him for scaring me, embarrassed that I was so easily taken off guard, frustrated with him for doing this now when I've been throwing hints his way for months, and touched all at once for how much he just admitted that he cares for me even though he has a magnificent way of showing it.

My eyes widen at his confession my face feels like it's on fire and my heart is hammering inside of my chest and my frustration wins over my other emotions and I look up at him staring him right in the eye with frustration and lust. He realizes what he said and how close he is to me and his eyes widen, his ears pin to the sides of his head, and he lets go of my hands and he's about to pull away when I snatch the collar of his shirt and yank his face back down towards mine and kiss him roughly.

I move closer to him pressing my soft body against his hard one. I'm about to pull away because his lips stayed still when he growls loudly while winding his arms around me tightly, pressing close, and kissing me back just as rough. His fangs digging into the sides of my mouth sharply but not painfully. I moan and he pulls back chuckling breathlessly while I gasp trying to catch my breath. We stay holding each other tightly with our foreheads pressed together when I feel bumps under his shirt and they move. I jump slightly in shock and before Wukong figures out what I'm doing I pull back and slip my hands under his shirt, lifting it up as fast as possible before he can react or protest. What I find is his tail wrapped tightly around his torso.

I look up at him with surprise I never saw his tail before so I just assumed he didn't have one or something happened to it. I reach my hand out to touch his tail when he grabs my hands softly. "Its really sensitive, thats why I hide it, it's a weak point for me in fights. Someone can grab my tail and yank it and I would be crippled by the pain." He mumbles softly not looking me in the eye obviously embarrassed. He lets go of my hands and lets his shirt drop back down to cover his torso but he unravels his tail from around himself and it sways softly behind him. I cup his soft furry cheek in my hand and he leans into my touch with a huff. I lean forward and peck him on the lips again.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about Wukong. I honestly thought you didn't have a tail you do very well at hiding it and for good reason I don't think any less of you for it." I sigh out smiling softly up at him. He pouts and turns his head to the side but I notice his lips twitch up into a half smile and his shoulders slump down releasing the tension I didn't know he had, meaning he was worried about what I thought of him, because he was hiding his tail. "Didn't care if you did." He grumps out which obviously isn't true he secretly cares about my opinion more than he wants to admit and it makes me happy that my validation means so much to him. His arms wrap around my soft frame once more with a small tsk escaping him.

He kisses me softly almost unsurely until I bite his lip making him growl and press himself tighter to me while kissing me roughly. It didn't take long another nip or two at his bottom lip with his fangs pressed against the corners of my mouth and our tongues were battling for dominance. I was losing but not giving up easily. I move my left arm up and around his neck fisting the hair on the nape of his neck into my hand making him groan and in turn making me smirk and I'm letting him win for the moment his tongue exploring my mouth with vigor.

All while my right hand has been slowly snaking around his back and down his waist towards his tail. 'Sometimes in order to win the battle you have to play dirty.' I think when my hand finally wraps around his tail. He stops kissing me and jumps back with gasp looking at me with bewilderment. He's about to rip himself away from me when I start to softly rub his tail.

He lets out a shuttering moan that turns into a soft whimper and clasps his hand tightly around his mouth with wide eyes. I glance up at him with a surprised and sultry look and then glance back down at his tail in my hand. His hand drops from his mouth and joins his other in embracing me fully once more.

'Huh so it's "that" kind of sensitive as well.' I continue to rub softly as his hold on me tightens and his claw like nails start digging into the soft and supple flesh of my back. His fangs worrying his bottom lip and his face is contorted into pleasured frown. Despit his efforts to not make anymore noise he's rumbling softly from his chest like a deep purr. I grasp his tail a little more firmly and wrap my other hand around his hip grabbing his tail with both hands and giving it gentle squeezes and rubbing a bigger portion of it now.

He gasps and moans his hips snapping forwards towards mine impulsively and I didn't have time react I only got to hear his snarl before suddenly the wind was knocked out of me and I'm on my back on the cold stone floor of the kingdoms plaza with Wukong above me holding my hands above my head. I catch my breath and I'm about to question him when I look up into his eyes and his pupils are blown so wide I can hardly see his iris's in the moonlight and his breathing is ragged with his fangs bared in a snarl as he continues to growl lowly, he looks absolutely feral.

My breath comes out in soft desperate pants when he kisses me suddenly. Forcefully shoving his tongue inside my mouth. I moan and feel him shift just now realizing he was between my legs and decided since I already poked the bear I might as well push him over the edge completely. All it took was a raise of my hips allowing him to grind against me for him to loose control.

@rubysdeathspeak

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musical-chick-13 · 3 years

Note

Melisandre too please

OKAY STRAP IN MY FRIEND BECAUSE I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT GOT WOMEN TODAY

• Did they live up to their potential? / In what ways was their potential unachieved?

I’m going to stick to the show because, again finished when the books aren’t. So, I really love Melisandre with my whole heart. You know, you have this mysterious woman who easily manipulates a powerful man, but it’s not just a standard femme-fatale I love power kind of thing. She grew up enslaved (at least in book canon, I can’t remember if this was ever mentioned in the show), and she’s in, essentially, a codependent relationship with her religious faith. It’s not for some sort of fake demureness or quest for purity, it’s because she thinks it’s genuinely the only thing she can do to save the world. She’s not a corrupt pastor, she’s an extremist who truly thinks she’s doing the right thing. But she’s not quite a competely-brainwashed, naive young victim, either. Obviously being sold into slavery and trained in the priesthood since forever ago influences her beliefs. But she reflects deeply on the nature of morality and owns up readily to the fact that sometimes she engages in acts of violence in the name of what she believes. It’s not an accident, people’s lives simply come at the expense of her service to R’hllor and faith in the coming of Azor Azai. She balances a very fine line between two extremes of the religious zealot morality spectrum, and I think she does it very well. The one thing I will say is that the show couldn’t seem to make up its mind on whether or not she was a fraud or whether she actually had Special Magic Powers. And not in kind of a “We won’t show you all the details of what happened, judge for yourself if she’s legit” way. They had her whole conversation with Selyse about using potions for desired fire effects, but she gives birth to shadow assassin babies and then literally brought someone back from the dead. If you’re going to make it ambiguous, keep it ambiguous. If not, make a decision and commit to it. Being completely shrouded in mystery; being a complete, unapologetic fraud; and being a supernatural entity entrusted with magic who sometimes misuses it “For The Greater Good” are all much more interesting than flip-flopping back and forth on characterization because you’re afraid to commit to a concept. Also, for some reason, in season 7 her main objective was to bring Jon and Dany together? Why? They should have explained how she got to that point and why she thought it was necessary. Also her death, but I talk about that in the last point.

• How they negatively and positively affected the story.

Positive: She brought Stannis into the story, leading to a discussion about whether or not the concept of justice is born from conformity to rules or a desire to put more good into the world. We are introduced to another religion in Westeros that helps enrich the worldbuilding and leads to a moral compass that is centered so differently from the other characters that it provides a fresh way of interpreting the story’s events and keeps us engaged. We are introduced to Davos aka Onion Dad through her and I love that guy.

Negative: She brought Stannis and Davos into the story, to the point where show Shireen died FOR NO REASON which COMPLETELY RUINED STANNIS’S CHARACTER IN THE PROCESS. Stannis wasn’t supposed to be The Irredeemable Bad Guy, he was supposed to be another link in the chain that encompassed all of the different ways of looking at morality. Instead, they used his multifaceted, complex relationship with Melisandre to flatten out his characterization, make him the resident Pathetic Game Player We Are Supposed to Laugh At, and ultimately left off all degree of nuance by making him burn a child alive for shock value. I’ll never forgive the show for that. (Also, what with Brienne’s smiting of Stannis, Davos being the All-Around Good Guy and the fact that Mel’s death was so...anticlimactic...we’re also apparently supposed to see Stannis as the one primarily responsible for Renly’s death? Just? Ignoring Mel’s (and Davos’s) part in that? Sounds fake and narratively inconsistent, but okay.)

• What my favorite arc for them is.

-I think, probably after Stannis’s death (how said death came about notwithstanding, see above), when she realizes that she was...wrong? About her faith? She thought she knew how the world was supposed to work, like she had finally figured it out and unlocked some big secret, and then it just wasn’t true at all. And (kind of similar to what I said about Cersei) she has to rebuild herself. She and Davos have reversed their ways of thinking, where Davos believes-maybe not in R’hllor or any god(s), but in the existence of inexplicable and superhuman things-and now he has to convince her. And only then does she (and the audience) learn of her true power. (Which, as I mentioned above, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. Her being a charlatan strikes me as a character choice I would want more in a story I was writing, but I’m not writing these books/episodes, lmao.) Her priorities become more skewed toward “Fighting the White Walkers and making sure whoever Azor Azai is has a world left to save,” which WE LOVE ORGANIC SHIFTS IN PERSONAL MOTIVATION WE REALLY DO Y’ALL

• What I think of their ending.

-Ugh. I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked about this, but her just going, “Well, my goal is done, bye” and then going out into the snow and just laying down to die is...how do I put it...utter bullshit. There was never any true payoff in her ongoing conflict with Davos, no resolution to her (weird, creepy) relationship with Jon or how he felt about her doing awful things but still being the person who brought him back to life, she didn’t even get a moment of dying in service of a cause she believed in (like, for example, Theon, whose ending I also hated but for much more personal reasons that have less to do with narrative structure and more to do with my feelings). She legit just said, “I’m out” and instantaneously died. Also...she, Davos, and Jon have been through a LOT. The fact that there was barely any mention of her or what her death meant save for that one conversation Davos had with Tyrion??? for some reason???? seems like a waste. If someone has been with you through multiple traumatic experiences, it doesn’t matter if you hate them, you’ll have some sort of feelings after they die. Davos never got retribution for Shireen, doesn’t that bother him?? How does Jon feel knowing he owes his life to the killer of an innocent child? How does Davos feel seeing yet another person die right in front of him, but intentionally this time?? *sigh* Emotional through-lines are a thing, people!

• When I wish they had died. / If I think they should’ve died.

-Ultimately, my biggest beef is that there was...nothing I saw in the show that suggested this was how she wanted her story to end. If you’re going to make a character feel hopeless upon resolving a specific problem or tie their entire reason for existing to one conflict, you have to have them talk about it or personally reflect on it? You can’t just stick that on as an afterthought to justify...whatever it was D&D were trying to justify. Melisandre has always had such a complicated relationship with Westerosi morality, and she NEVER got to see any direct consequence of that (and by consequence I don’t even mean, like...punishment or something, I literally just mean a result that happened because of it). She, again, legit just walked in the snow by herself and insta-died. It 100% felt like they just didn’t know what to do with this character so they just scribbled something in so they wouldn’t have to spend any time on her later because they didn’t care about her. (Which, obviously, they’re wrong. I love her and she’s so interesting this is a fact. Shame on you, D&D.) I do think, for her, it makes sense based on her religious ties to kind of...have a last-minute swerve toward penance. Not guilt or redemption, per se, but a way to honor the world she’s trying to save by way of choosing to die through a selfless act. Whether that be sacrificing herself as a distraction for the White Walkers or putting herself in the line of fire (ice?) for Jon because she thinks he'll help heal the world or (my personal favorite) fighting off a White Walker to protect Davos because she has finally come to sort-of understand his nuanced take on morality and that although he has some bad/dark parts, he is genuinely a good man and deserves to make it out alive. Let him have the life that Shireen didn’t get to have. Davos would be SO CONFLICTED because She Did a Good Selfless Thing For Someone Who Wanted To Kill Her But She’s An Awful Person What Do I Think About Good And Evil Now and the introspection would be delicious.

#melisandre #got #asoiaf #meta #tw: suicide mention #davos seaworth #stannis baratheon

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sifeng · 5 years

Text

Review: Bloody Romance

oh my god. I just finished this show and I’ve got a LOT of feels. Honestly, I hadn’t finished a drama since July 2019 and now I can finally add this to my list. A very underrated show that deserves more love.

Plot:

A story about a young woman who was exploited in the past, having gone through hell and back to become an assassin.

During the chaotic period towards the end of the Tang Dynasty, Qi Xue accidentally enters a mysterious city and was given the name Wan Mei. Tasked with dangerous missions, she puts herself in danger for each task but gains the protection of Chang An who is a man mysterious as a shadow. The two become embroiled in greater conspiracy involving a deadly struggle for power.

Characters:

Li Yitong (李一桐) as Wan Mei (晚媚)/Su Qixue (苏七雪)

Qu Chuxiao (屈楚萧) as Chang An (长安)/Xie Huan (谢欢)

My Opinions:

Plot:

The plot and pacing of this drama was very good. I loved how we are introduced to Wan Mei when she is innocent, kind, and naive, and how we then follow her through thick and thin to understand why she becomes the way she is. I loved how we got to see through the perspective of an assassin, and how this show invited us to consider the morals involved in killing. Everything happens pretty fast at first so you are never bored. And even if you are annoyed by Wan Mei’s ignorance and inability to kill good people, you can enjoy the badasses Liu Guang and Yue Ying instead.

Towards the end, the show gets kind of obsessed with political scenes, and I warn you, there are a bunch of them. However, usually they are rather interesting and easy to understand. This show also involves a good amount of melodrama and tragedy. It also ends in a tragic, but rather open way.

One complaint I do have though, if how Chang An got so little scenes. He is the male lead for goodness sakes and yet I swear second-lead Gong ZI, or even villain Cha Luo has more scenes than him. In the last episode he literally got one scene. ONE SCENE.

Acting:

The actors here were really good. Like almost every character, including the minor ones, did extremely well with their role. Li Yitong was AMAZING. The scene were she was mute, disfigured (okay not like not really, she still looked beautiful), sick and feeling betrayed by Chang An was so powerful. I can’t believe she managed to do so well with no lines! Everything that needed to be said was conveyed through her eyes, her tears and her attempts to form words. The scenes where she uses the 13th skill of the sword skill (something like that), was amazing too. You can feel her desperation and depression at having to leave Chang An. I loved how she was able to portray the innocent Wan Mei and also portray the Wan Mei who had lost hope in life both wonderfully. Every scene she was in, you could feel her emotions, be they happy or sad. I

Qu Chuxiao was amazing as well. He always looked calm and cold on the outside and yet he told his emotions through her tiny movements. The little details make it all. Second-lead Wang Duo did good too. He did well with a role that is supposed to be cruel, cold and uncaring. He definitely did best in the scenes with Li Yitong.

I’ve got to give some love to one of my favorite characters in the show - Liu Guang and even more for her actress Guo Xuefu. She portrayed this charming and lovable badass killer so very well. Also her voice is so nice and fits the character perfectly. It has the tone of sass and confidence that perfectly matches Liu Guang.

Characters:

I like Wan Mei’s character. Unpopular opinion, I know, but I do. I like how she wants to rule Gui Hua City not because she’s selfish, but because she wants to help others and save them from being corrupted. Yeah she’s a little too innocent, kind and trusting but the fact that she can maintain morals, ethics and the ability to forgive after going through hell shows that she’s a good person. And I also love how she has unwavering love for Chang An. No matter where he is, where she is, she will love and support him.

I love Chang An. His loyalty to Wan Mei is my favorite thing ever. He is willing to do anything to help Wan Mei, including sacrificing his life. He doesn’t require anything in return for his love, only for Wan Mei to be happy and safe. This kind of love is usually seen in a second lead (which causes second lead syndrome for me), and I’m so glad he was the lead.

A lot of people love Gong Zi but like... I don’t? He’s okay of course I don’t hate him or anything but I don’t think of him as this godly presence that deserves the world, including Wan Mei. He is cruel, and treats people like chess pieces instead of human. I mean its good that he loved Wan Mei, but he kept on forcing her to love him back, and would consistently get annoyed when she preferred the selfless and kind Chang An over him. But he is very similar to the main leads of most dramas - proud, arrogant, cold, with a miserable backstory, but loves with a true heart.

I LOVE LIU GUANG AND YUE YING! They are so badass and when Yue Ying fights, she looks like a literal goddess. She literally took on like a hundred soldiers all by herself and walked out without a single scar. Liu Guang is so charming and charismatic too, and I really wish we got to see more of her being badass.

The villains... I hated Cha Luo. I mean I pitied her for her backstory but her actions throughout the show just... she’s insane. Forcing Chang An and Wan Mei through so much pain just because the one she loves has to suffer pain too? Killing this innocent little girl just because.... because? Lashing out at the only person who loves her for having a humane idea? Insane. In comparison, her loved one, Xing Feng, I felt bad for him. He was clearly a good person who had gone through a lot of pain, and yet, unlike Cha Luo, he maintained some morals. He refused to put the “anti-sex” in Chang An because he knew how painful it was and did not want Chang An to become the next him. He begged Cha Luo to let Liu Guang die an honorable death and for her umbrella to be put in the hall because he knew Liu Guang only wanted the city to be better and her fellow assassins to be treated better. He was a good person, pity the person he loved was horrible and insane.

The OTP:

Here I also have to talk about the chemistry! Ah! Even with no kissing scenes, the chemistry between our leads, Wan Mei and Chang An was amazing. You could see their love and their passion even when Wan Mei claimed she hated him or when Chang An left to become Liu Guang’s shadow. In every scene with them I just felt my heartstrings being tugged. The swing scene was TOO CUTE!

Music: The music was used wonderfully in this show. All the songs are beautiful and fit the show extremely well. The scene in which Chang An set fireworks as a parting gift to Wan Mei, the song played in the background, One (一), fit the tone wonderfully. Its soaring climax and powerful vocals matched the powerful emotions Wan Mei felt in that scene. The main theme, Waiting For You is also extremely beautiful and when it plays during Chang An and Wan Mei scenes it just adds another layer of tragedy. The version Qu Chuxiao sang is better honestly though. Li Yitong’s vocals in the closing theme are beautiful as well.

Cinematography: This show is beautiful and Gong Zi’s house is probably the best of the best. Its green and calming walls are so lovely.

Costumes: Oh my god, Liu Guang’s purple dress is GORGEOUS! And Wan Mei’s dresses are beautiful as well.

My Rating: A

Recommend For: People looking for a drama of empowered females struggling to survive. People who to see want a relationship of love and trust and don’t mind some melodrama. People who don’t mind following a lead as they mature.

#cdrama #Cdrama Review #bloody romance #li yitong #qu chuxiao #wang duo

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too-many-kpop-hubands · 4 years

Text

30 Day Fandom Challenge

Welcome to day three! I will continue to tag you @domsberto because you asked me to. I also nominated @jimonsprettyface last go around so I'm doing it again.

This next fandom is also close to my heart and has been one of my biggest fandoms so far (besides Teen Wolf and Shadowhunters/TMI)

So without further adieu....

Day Three- The Vampire Diaries

[NEXT UP: THE ORIGINALS since I love different things about both series.]

1) Favorite Character: Tied Alaric Saltzman & Jeremy Gilbert

Reason: Alaric is an all around good person for someone who is so broken and flawed. He is a badass and does everything he can for the people he cares about. He has gone through so much in his life but always manages to persevere no matter how many times life tries to take him out (literally on several counts). He can be selfless and brave even in the face of great evil. He has his flaws. He drinks too much, he encourages bad behavior, he considers himself a lost cause but all that makes him that much more interesting.

As for Jeremy, I will always have a soft spot for Jeremy Gilbert. He lost so much at such a young age, bringing him into the world of the supernatural. He was a badass who not only had the ability to communicate with the dead, a consequence of being resurrected by Bonnie after he was shot and killed by Liz Forbes, but he became a badass hunter who took out one of the most unpredictable Originals (Kol). He was funny, talented, romantic, loving, loyal to a fault, protective of those he cared about and an adorable dork. I adore Jeremy Gilbert.

2) Most Relatable Character: Matt Donovan

Reason: Out of all the characters Matt is the most "normal". He is keen on staying human despite having his run ins with the supernatural world. He is cool with just blending in and not standing out. He is fiercely loyal to those he cares about, he's headstrong, protective and down to earth. Your typical boy next door. These qualities make it very hard for other characters not to like him, and he has captured the hearts of several females throughout the series. However, as the years have passed and he's lost more friends, Matt has become colder and even ruthless to a degree. I can understand all of this. Not wanting to stand out, doing everything you can to protect the people you care about, losing friends and turning cold and ruthless because of a need to not lose more. Of all the characters he is the most relatable.

3) Most Underrated Character: Bonnie Bennett

Reason: Yes, I know there are quite a few Bonnie stans in the fandom but I still feel like this beautiful and powerful witch is underrated in terms of the show as a whole. She does so much for everyone, even to the point of exerting her powers until she is almost dead (or until she does die in one case), and gets very little recognition for it from the people she almost died/did die saving. She is selfless in putting herself in these positions and not expecting a thank you but damn it she deserves all the thank yous for saving everyone's ass time and time again. She doesn't have to do the things she does but she does them anyway because she is fiercely loyal and cares deeply for the people she saves. She is beautiful, powerful, loving, caring, snarky and an all around badass. I stan Bonnie so much.

4 & 5) Most Overrated Character & Least Favorite Character: Elena Gilbert

Reason: I chose Elena for both because let's face it, she is probably one of the worst characters in the series. Elena claims to be so compassionate and caring but she can be an annoying dimwit most of the time. She puts herself in situations that make everyone else in the series risk their lives to save her. Her martyr complex is both stupid and annoying. She acts as if she can take the entire world down by herself when most of the time she only makes things worse for everyone else. She has hurt almost everyone in the series at least once either physically or emotionally and for someone people claim is so "compassionate" she acts as if she could care less about the people she hurts unless there's something in it for her. She claims she is nothing like her ancestor Katherine Pierce but she is almost identical at times only slightly nicer. She toys with people just like she does and claims she "doesn't mean to", like Stefan, Damon, Matt and they doctor she dated and threw away whose name escapes me now. Plus she is just boring when she isn't getting herself or others in trouble. Some main character, Katherine is more interesting. Don't come at me Elena stans, this is my opinion.

6) Favorite Canon Pairing: Bonnie Bennett & Jeremy Gilbert [Close Call Honorable Mention- Bonnie Bennett & Enzo St John]

Reason: This was a close one to call because I adore both ships so much but I have a soft spot for Jeremy and his relationship with Bonnie. They had an adorable relationship, always bringing out the best in each other (after the whole kissing Anna's ghost fiasco early on) They loved each other fiercely and did everything they could to look after each other, especially when Bonnie brought him back to life the first time and sacrificed herself to bring him back from the Other Side. I was upset when they ended their relationship for good though I was happy for a while to see Bonnie and Enzo until they sadly ended as well. I swear my girl couldn't catch a break when it came to love.

7) Favorite Non-Canon Pairing: Klaroline (Klaus Mikaelson & Caroline Forbes) [Close Call Honorable Mention: Dalaric (Damon Salvatore & Alaric Saltzman)]

Reason: Ok I adore Dalaric, I am a Dalaric shipper to my very core because I have a soft spot for two hot men together. But in terms of my favorite pairing, relationship wise, I would probably have to say Klaroline.

I say Non-Canon for Klaroline because they never officially got together.

When we first see Klaus is a ruthless asshole with no regard for humanity or other people if they interfered with his agenda. Enter Caroline, who was usually used as bait, and she flipped his world upside down. The big bad hybrid went love sick for a pretty blonde. She brought out the side of him he had buried over the years under all the hurt, anger and loneliness. She played hard to get and they never officially got together other than an impromptu hook up in the woods but you could tell they really loved each other. That's why I consider this a non-canon pairing because they were never officially together.

8) Least Favorite Pairing: Elena and Anyone

Reason: I can't stand Elena, enough said.

9) Favorite Part/Moment: Bonnie lifts the Veil

Reason: Bonnie lifting the veil not only brought back Jeremy for good but also brought upon some touching scenes with a few of my favorite characters who had passed on, including Alaric and Lexi. Though she sacrificed herself to being Jeremy back and close the veil to the other side it was a beautiful moment.

10) Least Favorite Part/Moment: Tied- Alaric's final death & Elena turning her humanity off

Reason: Alaric died many times throughout the series and was brought back with the help of a magic ring but when Esther Mikaelson turned him into an Original Vampire and he became linked to Elena, her death lead to his death and it was a very emotional scene that made me sob my eyeballs out. The scene that followed later with Damon at his grave also made me sob.

Elena turning her Humanity off was one of the worst moments for me for several reasons. While I hate Elena, I felt for her in that moment. Jeremy had just been killed by Katherine, she had already lost her entire family including Alaric and it lead to one of the most dramatic and emotional scenes of the series before Damon forced her to turn off her emotions. I cried.

And there you have it folks! My take on The Vampire Diaries

#fandom challenge

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barryslightningrod · 5 years

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You might have mentioned this already but I was wondering what your top 5 favorite WA moments and why.

I’m actually glad you asked me this, because my Top Five moments have changed since I last answered this! The criteria for these is really all the moments I felt were done perfectly and that I wouldn’t change or would change as little as possible (which is hard for this show lol):

5. The Dance: While I don’t like that they took a literal approach and told us that this was supposedly Barry and Iris’s first dance (I refuse to believe that 😑), I did still love this scene for what it was and think it was an accurate and in-character representation of them. Barry was being the sap who playfully twirled Iris while she laughed at his excessiveness but secretly loved it. Then they got serious and lost in each other and Barry even slowed down time to extend the moment as far as it would go. I love that he did that because it shows that while he was trying to make her feel better and was doing this for her, he still got caught up in it and wanted to treasure her as well, cradling his wife in his arms like she’s the most precious thing to him while she looked up at him with so much adoration and gratitude for him, his love, and his safety. It reminded you that he did this all to show Iris that he loves her and will always love her during a really challenging time for her. The music was beautiful, they looked beautiful, and the love between them was palpable, enough for Ragdoll to feel it in such a crowded room and weaponize it against them.

4. Barry’s Confession to Iris: I still think this is one of the realest scenes they’ve ever shot. It feels so authentic and is filled with little things that make it all the more heartbreaking for both them. His little inhalation to steady himself, the hug he gives her because he knows it will never be the same between them again, her lighthearted, “Awww I love you too,” and his continuing on because he knows she doesn’t understand yet, the way she cries because she’s so shocked and so sad for him, his awkward apology and abrupt departure because it IS awkward and uncomfortable and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. It was really so raw, realistic, and tragic. You can feel Barry’s vulnerability and regret and Iris’s disbelief and longing and it makes the situation all the more sad because if he hadn’t been so consumed with what happened to him, and even if he hadn’t been struck by lightning, they would have been together.

3. The First Kiss: STILL THE BEST FIRST KISS FIGHT ME. The passion, the impending doom, the now or never of it all makes it the best one. When Barry and Iris thought their death was imminent, Iris couldn’t let herself die until she let Barry know she loved him and Barry couldn’t let himself die until he kissed Iris. It’s the first time Iris expressed that she reciprocated Barry’s feelings for her. And that was the only thing Barry needed to hear to go for it with no hesitation. Barry kissed her because he couldn’t help it. It solidified that she was it for him and always had been it for him, the only thing he was waiting for was her reciprocity. That was so fitting for me because he would have done that even if they weren’t on the verge of dying. The fact that they were added a different element of desperation that I saw in Barry’s face and in his grip on her. The music and the rotating camerawork also enforced the magnitude of the situation: they finally came full circle and were on the same page about how they felt for each other, and from then on, everything was forever changed. The happiness and relief on their faces-they forgot for just a moment that death was coming for them, and that’s when they became emotional again while they were kissing, because they realized it was too late, but they were still going to try to make the most of what they had left. They didn’t even think about their respective partners: all they cared about was each other.

2. The Prison Exchange: Some of the dialogue here is ridiculous, and this is brief, but I can’t overlook how touching this little moment was. You can feel how much Iris longs for him, and that’s what triggers Barry to act. Of course he also wants to touch Iris, but more than that, he wants to make her feel better. For him, it is always about her, so he takes that risk and phases through the glass so that she can touch him. It’s so beautiful and romantic. And the fact that we saw the previous scene beforehand when he also scouted for the camera shows that he had been planning for this. Every time Iris came to visit him, he was hoping for the chance to reach through the window to hold her hand, just so she could leave Iron Heights feeling a little more comforted and less alone. It shows how selfless these two are. She makes the difficult trip every day just to see him for a few minutes, while he’s the one in prison suffering, but he still does everything he can to make Iris smile in the short time they have together because he doesn’t want her to stress over him. There’s also no exchange of words, but it’s still such a powerful scene, and you can see how emotional Iris gets the moment her hand touches Barry’s. Grant and Candice nailed it.

1. The Courtroom: I mean-is there anything more moving than Barry stopping time to comfort Iris IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS TRIAL. Yeah, he was saving his skin too lol but he was also moving so desperately to protect Iris. He knew if she revealed his identity, her life would be in danger forever and he was not about to have that. I love that they were being sacrificing here to save the other. Iris didn’t care about how her life would change as long as Barry didn’t go to prison and Barry didn’t care about going to prison as long as Iris was safe. When Barry insists he’s trying to protect her, he realized that wasn’t going to work on Iris because, surprise, surprise, she loves him as much as he loves her: “I would rather run forever with you than stand alone without you.” So then he appeals to her love for other people by telling her that others would be in danger if she did this, and that’s when she relents. But not without breaking down. She tells Barry that she can’t bear being strong anymore. I love how he just collapses and puts his forehead to hers, because he knows she’s right. She has scarified and suffered so much because of him, and he knows Iris deserves so much more. He has nothing to say to her because what can he say? All he can do is be there with her and try to convey that he loves her and is so grateful for her love and her continuous presence by his side, despite all the challenges being with him brings. He only says something when she can’t help asking how he stays strong, so of course, he puts on a strong front for her and tells the truth, promising that he’s going to be okay because his dad was. Then they seal the moment with a tender kiss.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Barry crying in Iris’s arms when he couldn’t stop the nuke, Flashpoint Meet-Cute, Running Home to You, The two minutes of their wedding, their makeout before the interruption, Barry asking Iris to move in with him, Barry and Iris reuniting in the field.

#anonymous #asks #westallen #the flash meta

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thedcdunce · 5 years

Text

Saturn Girl

“ I read the mind of a robot? That's disgusting and impossible!” - Saturn Girl

Real Name: Imra Ardeen-Ranzz

Aliases:

Saturn Woman

Gender: Female

Height: 5′ 7″

Weight: 130 lbs (59 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Blonde

Race: Titanian

Powers:

Telepathy

Abilities:

Leadership

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Equipment:

Legion Flight Ring

Laser Handgun

Universe: Pre-Zero Hour

Base of Operations: Legion Headquarters

Citizenship: United Planets Citizen

Marital Status: Married (Garth Ranzz; husband)

Occupation: Legionnaire

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #247 (April, 1958)

Powers

Telepathy: Saturn Girl is a capable telepath and is considered a prodigy, even among a race of telepathic people. She has an incredible working knowledge of the average humanoid brain and the specific functions of each part.

Telepathic Communication: Saturn Girl can read peoples' minds in detail, either by consciously willing it or by mentally picking up their stray thoughts. Via her telepathy, she can also send messages into the minds of others, sounding like her own voice inside their heads, or place knowledge of certain things into people's minds. Using a combination of these methods, she can interpret unknown alien languages. She can send or receive telepathic messages to or from the Phantom Zone.

Telepathic Cloak: She can mask her presence and the use of her abilities from being detected by other telepaths and psychic entities. Se can extend these defenses to others around him as well. Cloaking via telepathy is not perfect and powerful psis may notice and "see" through this ability.

Telepathic Illusions

Mind Control

Psionic Blast

Mental Senses

Abilities

Leadership: On more than one occasion Imra has lead the Legion of Super-Heroes as both their leader and a field operative.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Imra has been a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes for quite some time, as such she has had basic combat training as part of the package.

Equipment

Legion Flight Ring

Laser Handgun

History

Imra Ardeen aka Saturn Girl is one of the most talented telepaths among a race of powerful mentalists, and founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Foundation of the Legion

Imra left her homeworld of Titan to join the Science Police as a teenager. However, upon her arrival on Earth, an assassination attempt was made on the life of fellow passenger and billionaire R.J. Brande. Using her powers of telepathy, Imra discovered the plot, and, with the help of two other teenagers on board, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy, caught the assassin and saves Brande's life.

At Brande's urging, she adopted the persona of Saturn Girl, and joined Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy in founding the Legion of Super-Heroes - an organization of teenaged heroes formed to honor the legacy of Superboy and Supergirl. They traveled back to the 20th century several times and offered Superboy and Supergirl a place on the team after they passed their tests.

Early Adventures

When Alexis Luthor and the Legion of Super-Villains were about to kill Superman, Saturn Girl offered to die in his place, although a trick by Superman made Saturn Queen save her.

As a Legionnaire, Imra gained a reputation for self-sacrifice; just prior to the leadership elections of 2975, she learned that a Legionnaire would die during an attack on Earth and decided to take on that responsibility herself. Using her telepathy, Imra forced the other Legionnaires to vote her leader and then ordered them not to use their powers during the attack. However, Lightning Lad defied her orders and took her place in death. Distraught over his selfless act of devotion, Imra vowed to do all in her power to bring him back.

A method was soon developed which could revive Lightning Lad, but only at the cost of another member's life. Imra again interfered in the process to ensure hers was the life taken, but her plan was foiled by Proty, the telepathic pet of Chameleon Boy. Proty admired Imra and tricked her so that it could take her place. Upon Proty's death, Lightning Lad was restored. Despite this series of events, Imra's leadership was highly valued in the Legion, and her position as leader, despite its means of acquisition, was allowed to stand. She earned a second term the following year.

Marriage to Lightning Lad

Romantically, Lightning Lad had pursued Imra for some time, but she had repeatedly rebuffed his advances. However, after he sacrificed his life for her own, she understood the depth of his feelings and came to realize that she returned them . After dating for almost ten years, Garth proposed marriage but Imra initially rejected his offer due to a Legion rule which forced married members to retire.

After consulting with her mentors on Titan, however, Imra relented. However, the couple's retirement was short-lived; a few months after their marriage, war broke out in which all active Legionnaires were captured and the reserves were forced into action. Imra's telepathic skills were instrumental in the Legion's eventual victory, and as a result the rule barring married members was repealed. The Ranzzes returned to active duty until Imra gave birth to their son, Graym Ranzz, after which they both retired in order to devote their energy to him.

Unbeknownst to the couple, however, Graym had a twin who was stolen at birth by Darkseid and transported into the past, where he was transformed into the monster Validus. Validus fought the Legion on numerous occasions, but was eventually returned as a normal infant to his parents by Darkseid at Imra's insistence.

Imra briefly rejoined the Legion again in 2987 when Universo took control of the Earth and hypnotized and imprisoned many heroes, including her. Imra's powerful mind broke free and eventually broke Universo's hold over Earth and forced him unconscious. It was then that she realized how much the Legion was in her blood, and she rejoined, this time without Garth, who was enjoying life as a father and househusband.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Although the Legion survived the Crisis mostly unscathed, the Time Trapper took advantage of the chaos to isolate and weaken the Legion, making them believe her fellow Superboy wasn't the the real one and forget about her recently fallen member Supergirl. Even so, the Legion endured.

Five Year Gap

However, during the "Five Year Gap", Earth's government became hostile to the Legion, and Garth became incapacitated from the Validus plague which ravaged his native Winath. Disillusioned by the government and feeling needed more at home, Imra resigned from the Legion for the last time in 2990. Returning to Winath, she and Garth took over running a Winathian Lightning Ring plantation, which became quite prosperous. Using their new-found wealth, Imra and Garth replaced their super-heroism with simple but necessary helping of others, feeding a galaxy suffering more from hunger than from super-villains. When the Legion re-formed in 2994, the Ranzzes helped them out, but did not rejoin. Instead, they enlarged their family with the birth of daughters Dacey and Dorritt, who inherited Imra's telepathic abilities.

Post-Infinite Crisis

A cosmic crisis brought back by a Hal Jordan mind-controlled by Parallax appeared to erase Imra and her fellow Legionnaires from existence.

Nevertheless, the events other Crisis unleashed by Superboy Prime and Alex Luthor restored the Legion with a slightly altered history as evidenced by the trip of six Legionnaires to the time present. Once again, Imra, Garth and Rokk traveled back to the past to induct Superboy, who Imra had a bit of a hero-worshiping childhood crush on. They also recruited the next Superboy and she personally welcomed Supergirl in the team when the Kryptonian girl landed in the 30th century.

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Unfortunately, xenophobia started spreading through the galaxy because of manipulations of the Time Traper and the efforts of Earth-Man. The Legion agreed the future was becoming too dangerous for Superboy and they would not visit him again after the war against the Anti-Monitor.

The witch hunt led by Earth-Man and sponsored by the Earth Government forced Imra and her closest friends to go underground. Imra and Garth's children also went missing during that period. As a result of it, Imra became more passive while Garth got more short-tempered and emotional for a while. It was when Superman returned and rejoined the Legion that their situation started to look up.

Legion of 3 Worlds

Earth-Man had been exposed and defeated, but tension between the Legion and the United Planets was still high, and Saturn Girl often had to mediate between her husband and their beleaguered friend and team leader Cosmic Boy.

Superboy-Prime ending up in the 30th century and freeing the Legion of Super-Villains forced the Legion to recall Superman and bring two Legions of different timelines to her own universe. Imra found herself teaming up with two different Saturn Girls.

During the final battle in Vanishing Point, Saturn Girl used her telepathy to call Legionnaires of every time and universe and with their assistance defeating the Time Trapper for good.

DC Rebirth

Imra appears locked in Arkham Asylum, now changed after the next reality-altering debacle, with Maggie Sawyer stating she was arrested for stealing a sandwich, claiming where she comes from, food is free. Imra tells the interrogator she came here to speak with Superman, and even when the interrogator states the Justice League says he could be dead, she stays calm, and says that everything will be fine. When the interrogator asks why, she says because she has seen the future. As the interrogator talks to Maggie, she says she needs mental help, and only came with what is seemingly just a ring, but is actually the Legion Flight Ring.

Later, when Batman and Punch, disguised as Commissioner Gordon pass by Imra's cell, and she breaths on the cell glass, drawing a Legion Flight Ring symbol on the glass. She is seen later watching a hockey game in Arkham, and states this is the game, where one of the teams kills a player on the other team. She states everyone is doomed to die, including the Legion and Superman.

Later, Emerald Empress broke into the Asyulum to kill Saturn Girl, claiming her Eye had shown her defeat at Imra's hands. However, upon establishing telepathic contact with Imra, Sarya discovered her vision to be false -it was Supergirl the one would defeat her- and someone had tried to mislead her into kill Saturn Girl.

Fun Facts

Saturn Girl is the first female comic character to ever lead a super-hero team.

Imra lost her virginity with Cosmic Boy

Imra's aunt is also named Imra.

#legion of super heroes #Legion of Superheroes #Legion of Super-Heroes #dc #DC comics #thedcdunce #imra ardeen-ranzz #imra ardeen ranzz #imra ardeenranzz #imra ranzz #imra ardeen #saturn girl #saturn woman

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bakugou-tm · 6 years

Note

Hiya! Could you please write an angst scenario for Pro-hero Bakugou when his pro-hero s/o suddenly gets called to work on the day of their anniversary so she leaves promising she’d come back soon, but later that day, Bakugou gets a call from the Police telling him he needs to come to the station and claim his s/o’s dead body? All the angst please!

Oh boy just reading this made my heart break, I’m just pre-warning you I am veRY bad at angst so please don’t @ me

“We deeply apologize Mr. Bakugou..”

Never had the ash blond felt more of a punch to the gut than this moment,

Never had he known the day of his anniversary with his beloved would be the very day he lost his beloved.

Never had Bakugou known that today was the last time he would hear your adorable giggle and your see angelic smile.

“You’ve gotta be fucking joking, tell me you’re fucking joking.” Bakugou growled into the phone, his place on the couch already up and running out the door.

———-

“I’m not letting your ass out of bed.” The gruff voice of your husband growled, his calloused hands wrapping tighter around your hips while he buried his face in your neck.

Letting out a soft giggle you ran your fingers through his spiky blond locks before kissing the top of his head gently, “Babe I have to head to the agency today, they just need me for a quick mission then I’ll be back before you know it.”

“The day of our damn anniversary? They can find another fucking hero, your cute ass is staying here.” Bakugou hissed into your neck, his hand snaking around to squeeze at your but causing you to squeak suddenly.

You didn’t have to see the ash blond’s face to feel his lips curve into a smirk at your response. Narrowing your eyes you pried yourself from your husband’s grasp before rolling off the bed and onto your wobbly feet.

“It’s only till three pm, then I’ll be home in time for the special dinner you planned,” You explained, lifting your pajama shirt over your head while grabbing your hero costume from your shared closet, “And we can do whatever you want after that.”

Bakugou groaned at the feeling of your warmth escaping his grasp, his arm lazily moving the hair from his eyes so he could watch you change, “Hell yeah we’re doing what I want, I have plans for you tonight.”

“Katsuki!” You hissed, while looking back to him with a deep blush. Of course he was staring at you with that smug little grin of his, though you acted as if you were disgusted his mischievous hints really made your heart race.

———-

Bakugou wasted no time in running down the flight of stairs in your shared apartment building, knowing the elevator would take to long.

“Damn it!” The ash blond yelled once he reached outside, not even bothering to run through the crowds of people outside. Rather he lowered his arms downward before creating explosions to launch him into the air, ignoring the startled cries from down below him.

Just like he did at the sports festival, Bakugou soared through the sky in record time to get to the police station. The words from the phone call echoing in his head.

“We couldn’t save her sir, we tried everything in our power…”

Gritting his teeth the ash blond squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the voice in his head while he flew closer to the station.

You couldn’t be dead right? You were just here this morning! This was just one of your shitty pranks to get back at him for teasing this morning.

Right?

———-

“Now you don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone young man, do you hear me?”

Bakugou rolled his eyes at your nagging voice, watching your clothed form lean down to the bed he remained in to grasp onto his hand, “Stop talkin to me like that, you sound like my shitty old hag.”

“Now, that’s no way to talk about your mother.” You purred teasingly, running your fingers through his hair while looking down to him with a loving smile.

Letting out a huff, the ash blond used his free arm to lift himself up so he could be leveled with you, except for his slight height difference. Even in your hero uniform you looked so beautiful in his eyes- mind, body, and soul- everything about you just screamed perfection.

After all, Bakugou never settled for anything but perfection.

“You better come back safe or I’ll blast your ass all the way to hell.” Bakugou growled, his crimson eyes glaring down into your own (e/c) ones.

Smiling warmly to his blunt words, you knew deep down the brashness to them secretly held a true care and concern for you. Reaching up to cup your hand in his cheek, you leaned up and pressed your smooth lips against his own.

Gladly accepting your lips, the ash blond quickly made this kiss take a heated turn- like most things in his life- as he shoved his tongue in your mouth. This time instead of fighting the stubborn blond you accepted, letting him kiss you with every bit of passion you knew he had for you.

Upon breaking away you kept your faces close to each other, his arms around your hips while your own were cupping his cheeks.

“I promise I’ll be back Katsuki.”

———-

Barging through the doors of the police station, Bakugou didn’t even bother going to the front desk, knowing exactly where the Chief of Police would be.

Ignoring the confused looks and concerned voices, the ash blond blasted the chief’s office door open, his crimson eyes glaring holes into the startled man who immediately stood up at his presence.

“Mr. Bakugou I know you’re-”

“Shut the fuck up, where is she?!” Bakugou growled, his fists steaming with fury and worry as he challenged the man before him to say anything but ‘yes’.

The chief looked the pro-hero up and down before seemingly reading his thoughts, realizing he wouldn’t be able to say anything to the ash blond until he gave him what he wanted.

“This way…” The chief said a bit hesitantly, walking past Bakugou and out into the main room. At this point everyone had their eyes on the two men, knowing why the ash blond was here and why the chief looked so sullen.

The feeling of pity was being radiated around the office, making Bakugou furious to say the least. His crimson eyes remained glued to the floor so he wouldn’t have to look at the extras in the room, that is until the chief stopped before a door.

Whatever was in the room was hidden behind the heavily tinted window, making Bakugou’s heart race even faster than it had been before while the chief turned around to meet his gaze.

“Listen now kid, what’s in that room is going to be disturbing, especially to you. I’m going to need you to act like an adult, got it?”

Looking the man square in his face Bakugou opened his mouth to respond before he shook his head and growled lowly to him, shoving the man aside and swinging the door open.

Disturbing? Disturbing was an understatement. This was more along the lines of horrifying, deranged, sickening, unbelievable.

Few people were in the room, a seemed reporter talking to one of the officers and medics in the corner while another nurse sat by your side with a dreary expression.

But the only person Bakugou saw in the room was your resting body. While there was not a scratch or bruise to be found on you, the normal (s/c) tone of your soft skin grew more pale by the second, the sight making Bakugou’s stomach flip.

Slowly he walked to your side, taking the chair by the nurse while he grabbed at your hand. Not even noticing his body begin to slowly tremble.

“Tell me she’s sleeping.” Bakugou barely whispered in a monotoned voice, his eyes remaining glued to your body while the nurse jerked her head up nervously.

“S..She saved all of her colleagues.” The nurse muttered quietly, “They all had their lives on the line but she sacrificed herself for them…”

Bakugou grit his teeth while he squeezed at your ice cold hand, of course you sarcrafsixed yourself. That sounded exactly like you, always pulling the same selfless bullshit you always did.

Shoes clicking across the tiled floors could be heard behind Bakugou, suddenly a firm hand on his shoulder, “The villain injected a poison into her bloodstream, whatever the substance was killed her immediately.”

This greatly disturbed Bakugou. No… it enraged Bakugou.

“She didn’t even get to die honorably?” Bakugou hissed, his eyes still remained on your body, “That fucker just took her life away from her in a second? Without even giving her a chance to process what was happening?!”

At this point the ash blond was shaking violently; rage, sadness, fear, and despair flowing through his veins. Soaking up every inch of his body.

“Mr. Bakugou I’m deeply sorr-”

“NO!” Bakugou screamed, causing every person in the room to jump at the high pitched sound while the ash blond stood up from his chair with such force it knocked the metal object back into the wall, “She’s not fucking dead!

“That motherfucker didn’t take her away from me! Not like this! She can’t die like this! Not now, not ever!”

The sound of the young hero’s voice made everyone’s blood chill in the room. Not because of how rageful it sounded, no, because of how desperate it sounded.

The great Ground Zero, Number One Hero in the world broken at the sight of his beloved dead before him. It was the story of a true tragedy.

“H..How could you (S/o)?!” Bakugou cried, his crimson eyes squeezing shut while warm tears fell down his cheeks, “You promised me you would come back!”

Gritting his teeth, the ash blond scooped your form up into his arms, his sharp cries being heard throughout the whole room. Throughout the whole police station. Throughout the whole city. Throughout the whole world.

The cries of a torn young hero in love with the girl who broke her promise.

#katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou #my hero academia #baku no hero academia #boku no hero academia #angst

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