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axwalker · 3 years

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Creep 2: I don’t care if it hurts

HIGH SCHOOL AU

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Lexie O’Brien) Book TRR

MASTERLIST HERE

Synopsis: Drake and Lexie are star-crossed lovers. Her father hates him and forces Lexie to stop any contact with Drake. Lost and heartbroken, he “bullies” her for two years until he discovers the truth of Lexie’s behavior.

A/N 1 This came up to me after I got an ask from @nestledonthaveone to write a fic based on the song CREEP.

I used to hear this song when I was a teenager, so when I read this ask, I immediately wanted to write something angsty but situated in high school.

A/N 2: Because they’re younger than usual, I decided to change my FC.

Words: 4,110

WARNINGS: Parental abuse, domestic violence, toxic love.

THIS IS NOT YOUR USUAL MARSHMALLOW DRAKE. He was abandoned as a boy, he’s tortured and he doesn’t know how to express his love. His behavior is not excusable.

This is a dark love story. If you’re not comfortable with it, PLEASE do not read it.

ALL MY FICS ARE 18+

TAGS ON THE COMMENTS

As this is darker than usual; I’m only tagging the people who commented in the previous chapter. If you want to get on or off the list for this fic, please do not hesitate to ask!!

DRAKE

Even if she never looks at me or speaks to me again, she’s mine. Even if I’ve been a horrible jerk to her for two years and she pales every time I pull into the parking lot on my motorcycle, she is mine. Just seeing her with him enrages me, so I walk straight toward my usual seat, directly behind Lexie, and slam my textbook down onto the desk.

Startled, Rys looks up at me, “Hey, Walker. What’s up?”

It’s not the first time he tries to make a move on Lexie. Last time –two years ago, we almost killed each other. Pretty boy might be an entitled ass, but he knows how to fight. Maybe he thinks Lexie is game again after all this time. He couldn’t be more wrong.

“Don’t you have a class this period?” I ask him. Liam cocks his left eyebrow, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

“I fail to see why that concerns you, Creep.”

My smile is murderous. “Get the fuck out of here before I break your face, pretty boy.”

I think he has a death wish because he looks at Lexie when he talks, “See you after class, Alexis, when your watchdog will be busy mowing my lawn.” Finally, he just shakes his head and gets out of the classroom. I resume my daily routine. Staring at the back of Lexie’s head, tracing the curve of her perfect neck, my cock getting hard over her perfect cherry scent.

“So that’s what you like,” I say, leaning forward to speak an inch from her ears. “You like them with blond hair and pink polo shirts. Prospects for Cambridge or shit. A huge trust fund. Don’t you? A brat like you needs someone who can spoil her. I bet you’d introduce him to daddy, wouldn’t you?”

She doesn’t respond. She never does. Her eyes stay stubbornly on the front of the class where the teacher has started writing today’s lesson on the board—my hands fist in desperation. I’m dying for her to talk to me. To look at me. Anything. “Too bad, Lexie. I’ll scare every single one of those fucking entitled boys off. You’re going to sit alone in your house on prom night, crying into your designer sheets like a baby. And I’m going to enjoy it.”

The only sign that she hears me at all is the quickening rise and fall of her shoulders. Even that tiny display that I’ve upset her is agonizing, floods me with self-loathing, but I can never stop. She ripped out my fucking heart, and I can’t deal with the consequences of that alone. I can’t let her go. I’ll never let her go. This toxic feeling is the only thing left between us. My hands shake with the urge to take her in my arms, to stop the trembling I caused. To protect her from everything. Even myself. I’d love to move my fingers up into the silky, brown hair that reaches the middle of her graceful neck. I don’t have a lot of money; most of the cash I earn as a handyman goes to food and fixing my dad’s cabin, but I’d give every last cent for her to turn and lock those soft brown eyes on me, just one last time. Sometimes when I jerk off, all it takes is fantasizing about Lexie looking at me, giving me one of those shy smiles, and I lose it. One stroke. Maybe two. Done. I can’t breathe without having her close. And I can’t breathe with her close. It’s a strange condition, this obsession, but she’s an addiction that I just can’t give up.

How could I? She’s intelligent, strong, and so damned gorgeous. Once upon a time, I thought she had a good heart too. But that was before she broke my pathetic heart only because I’m poor. I’ve been hurting since then, and I need her to hurt too. To know what it feels.

“Do you actually think that dumb rich boy would be a good choice for your first time, Lexie?” I grip my desk so tight it nearly breaks down, just thinking about her being kissed –touched by someone else. “At least that’s one thing us poor motherfuckers have going for us. We know how to fuck. If you went out with Rys for a while, you’d eventually give in and come slumming it one night, wouldn’t you? Knock on my rundown cabin door, begging me to fuck you as we both know you’d like.”

A pretty blush is starting to climb her neck. I have to take a deep breath to keep from kiss her pink cheeks. But I think if I got to touch her skin, my wall of bullshit would crumble. I’ve only fucked one girl. Since seeing Lexie for the first time freshman year, there’s been no one but her. I want no one else. She owns my cock as sure as she owns my heart. How easily she’s forgotten about both leaving me in agony.

“Stop,” she breathes. I freeze. Did she just speak to me? It’s the first time in two years that she’s even remotely acknowledged my existence.

“Lexie,” I managed to say. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. That’s all it took. One pleading word out of her mouth, and I’m done.

“Just stop,” she says again, turning her head slightly. “Please.”

I fall back in my chair, my heart thundering on my chest. If we weren’t in the middle of class, if I didn’t feel like a monster, I would pull her into my arms right now. I’d hug her until she stopped struggling, then beg her to hit me, bruise me, make me pay for every shitty thing I’ve ever said to her. But before long, the class is over, and she’s leaving the classroom to get out of here. To put distance between us as quickly as possible—and I have no choice but to watch her because I feel physically ill. Still, I manage to get out into the student-packed hallway, my plan to apologize for being crude and a jerk and torturing her for so long.

My head is telling me not to apologize, though. It’s telling me she deserved it for being such a snob, for breaking me, for valuing money and status like everyone else. My damned heart is telling an entirely different story. It’s insisting there is an explanation for her behavior. Am I going to apologize or not? The decision is taken out of my hands when Lexie opens her locker, and the little gift I left before class falls down. It’s a picture I cut out from our last yearbook. In the photo is a gorgeous smiling Lexie above the caption Most Likely to Succeed. Except I’ve crossed out the caption and added my own. Most Likely to Be a Trophy Wife. Watching her read it, I almost get sick right there in the hallway. Usually, she’s perfectly composed, not betraying a trace of emotion where I’m concerned—a real Ice queen. I’ve always thought she honestly didn’t care. Today, though… she’s not pulling it off. Something is not okay with her, and I don’t like it. She has to bite down on her bottom lip to stop it from quivering as she puts the photo back into her locker, out of sight, her bright eyes finding me briefly, massacring me where I stand. Betraying with one single look how much she has been affected by my actions. Christ. She hasn’t been indifferent at all.

Before I can react, before I can call her name, she’s gone, vanished into the crowd of wild students excited to be leaving for the day. And I know what I have to do. I have to see her. To apologize. To get an explanation for everything. Tonight. I’ll return to her house for the first time in two years.

LEXIE

I’ve known this was coming all day. Sitting on the couch in my living room, trying to make myself as small as possible, I watch my father pace. He rants, gesticulating noisily. This isn’t new, my father’s rage threatening me. But it’s going to be worse than usual. Business has declined for him and it’s put his temper on a trigger. Dad’s new wife, Nancy, hates to be on a budget, and she’s been spending his money like crazy all over Paris --where she’s now. When dad gets home from the office, he’s rarely in anything but a horrible mood. A tornado eating up everything in its path. Completely terrifying. At least dad’s temper makes me forget what Drake told me today, the ugly words he said to me, the boiling anger in his eyes when he looks at me.

“Are you even listening?” The slap across the face comes as a shock because I’d momentarily disappeared into my thoughts, but the sting quickly brings me back to reality.

“Yes, sir,” I say, my ears ringing. “I’m listening.”

“This C on your algebra test is going to drag your whole average down.” He’s waving the test in my face. “What a disappointment you are, Alexis. Your teacher shared my disgust.” I nod solemnly, but I’m listening for the rain outside. “I guess you’re your daughter’s mother after all. A poor Mexican girl who could barely count.” It’s not true. My mom learned English and Greek by herself, and she was a great Spanish teacher in Portavira, but my father would rather die than acknowledge how smart she was.

“Don’t talk like that about her,” I retort.

My father snorts. “I beg your pardon?” He takes a step towards me, and I can see the threat in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” I hate to be such a coward, but I know what he can do to me.” I’ll do extra credit. Something to bring my grade back up to an A.” I wet my lips. “Even if I can’t manage to raise the grade, it’s not going to show up on the college transcripts I sent off with my applications.” That’s the reason I let my focus slip a little in algebra. The finish line is in sight for everyone, and we’re just waiting to find out where we’ll be accepted for college. It’s a wonder I’ve been able to maintain my focus this long in any class, considering Walker sits behind me in every period, brooding making me feel … something. At the reminder of him, I want to close my eyes and dream about him. I replay that night in my garden when he kissed me two years ago, so tenderly and passionately, when he spoke to me so sweetly and honestly before he became the second villain in my story. Someone I dread, as much as I crave the sight of him.

At least that’s one thing us poor motherfuckers have going for us. We know how to fuck. If you went out with that punk for a while, you’d eventually give in and come slumming it one night, wouldn’t you? Knock on my trailer door, begging me to ride you right.

Should I be ashamed of the way my body reacted to those words? I grew uncomfortably damp in the hard plastic chair, the center of my body clenching, seeming to beat like a heart. His breath on my neck made me shiver, head to toe. Even the way he scared off Liam Rys did something to me. Aroused me. Deeply. It got so bad that I broke the rules and asked him to stop. I can still hear him saying my name in that tortured way after. That shocked, uneven sound. Lexie. And whether I’m ashamed of myself for it or not, I know I’ll think of it when I touch myself tonight. His voice, his hands, his eyes obsess me.

“College?” My father snorts, tearing the test in half. “You’re not going to college.”

This grabs my attention. A horrible feeling is making me cold. “I’m…what? What do you mean? I applied to nine different schools. I have a four-point five GPA.”

For the first time, I notice his red face is about more than just rage. There’s…humiliation. I’ve never seen him display that emotion.

“None of the American colleges that accepted you offered scholarships.”

“I’ve been accepted?” I gasp, sitting forward, heart pounding in my chest. “Where? I didn’t see the letters—”

“All the mail in this house goes through me, Alexis. I read them. And you failed to get academic scholarships. You failed. Not that I’m surprised.”

I don’t point out that his refusal to let me participate in any extracurricular activities is more than likely to blame for that. I’m too worried about what he’s saying, what this means. The blood is draining from my head, making the room spin around me.

“Okay, I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry. But…we have money. We can pay tuition, can’t we? Or colleges in Cordonia are almost for free. I can go to any of them; I don’t have to go to NYU.” I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here. This is my way out. College is the escape route. I counted on going back to New York, but I can stay here and go to college in Cordonia City.

“Listen to you, so quick to spend my hard-earned money—spoiled brat. And of course, you can’t go to college in Cordonia. What for? To end up being a schoolteacher like your mom? A housewife as Nancy?” He laughs bitterly. “No, you’ll stay here, and I’ll help you find someone suitable to marry.”

I shake my head. “There’s financial aid, then. Loans or I can get a job and go to college in Portavira…”

“You want to leave, just like her, don’t you? You’re all the same.”

I don’t even flinch when he yanks me to my feet, shoving me into the wall. In fact, for the first time, I took him right into his eyes. And I can see the violence burning on them has nothing to do with me. It never had anything to do with how I behave, my choices, how hard I worked in school. How welcome I made Nancy feel or cooked a roast. It’s about him and his self-loathing. It’s his sickness. Not mine. I can also see that he was never going to send me to college. Because he wouldn’t be able to control me from a distance or stop me from sharing what I’ve been subjected to since my mother died. Not like he does now. He wasn’t physically abusive all the time. Especially not when his new wife is around. But she traveled often, and then he’d push me. Shove me. Slapped me several times. I’ll graduate at the top of my class for nothing. He knew I would all along.

That’s when I realize I’m free. I don’t have money, but college is free in Cordonia. I can work, save a little and go to college in one or two years. I’ll be a writer; it’ll just take more time than I thought. “Go to hell,” I whisper.

He steps back, giving me the momentary satisfaction of his shock. “What did you say?”

Liberated, I scream it this time. “Go to hell!” From the moment I sat down to have this conversation, I knew tonight would be worse than usual, but I’ve just bought myself a ticket to hell. Usually, I can retreat to the untouchable place inside of me as he unleashes his rage, but not tonight. He doesn’t stop at one or two slaps. He punches and kicks, and I’m present for every punch and kick. Every yelled insult. Finally, I start to get scared. I’m crawling across the carpet on my hands and knees, searching for a weapon I can use in my defense when I glance out the window and see Drake staring back at me, his face a mask of horror.

Drake

What I’m seeing just isn’t possible. It can’t be real. My head won’t accept it. Not until her terror-filled eyes meet mine through the window and the truth pounds on my chest, leaves no doubt that this is real life. Lexie’s father is beating her. Her mouth is bloody, one of her eyes beginning to swell, arms and legs visibly weakened. I can barely fucking process it before my body is springing into action, desperate to protect her. To put a stop to the worst thing I have ever seen. What the fuck. Scorching hot rage takes over. I kick in the front door and throw myself between Lexie and her father. His fist is raised, but it pauses when he sees me, his momentary confusion giving me the time I need to knock him out cold. It only takes one right uppercut from someone his own size, and he goes down, his blank, glassy eyes staring at nothing, mouth opened. It’s not satisfying enough.

Nothing will ever be satisfying enough. I want to kill him, destroy him, but my Lexie is struggling for breath behind me, and she’s all I can think about. Turning, I approach her, my heart threatening to jump off my chest. As gently as I can, I catalog all of the cuts and purpling skin. No. No. Who could do this to her? Who could lay a finger on her in anything but reverence? Get her out of here. Calling her name, I reach down to pick her up, but she flinches and hurries back, bringing her body up against the wall.

“Don’t touch me!” Those words filled with fear rip the soul clean out of my body. My hands drop limply to my sides and two years come rushing back, hitting me in the chest like a hammer. Every word, every action. Everything I did to make her life harder when this is what she’s been dealing with at home? Fuck me.

“Lexie…” My voice is as kind as I can. I feel broken. “I’m sorry. I came here to apologize. For everything.”

She puffs a humorless laugh, testing her cut lip with the tip of her tongue. “Bet you weren’t expecting to see this.”

“If I knew this was happening, I would have been here a long time ago. I would have stopped it. I swear Lex.”

Her expression can only be described as stunned. Maybe even a little pissed. “You are not my savior, Drake. You are my enemy. You’ve been for two years, and I want nothing else from you now.”

“I am not your enemy.” Those words barely make it out of me, my chest hurts so fucking bad. “Don’t say that.”

Unsteadily, she uses the wall to try and stand. I try to help her, but she recoils, and it’s a dagger straight into the center of my throat. Nothing less than I deserve, though, isn’t it? Her distrust of me is entirely my fault. I’ve made her hate me. There has to be some way to fix what I’ve done. Please God, let there be away. But right now, my main concern is her physical safety. Knowing she’s been in danger all along is unbearable. I only decided to come here tonight a few hours ago. What if I didn’t? What if I arrived an hour later? The possibilities are going to haunt me for the rest of my life. From the floor, her father groans, shifting slightly.

“We need to get you out of here,” I say, anxious to get her free of this place. “Now, Lexie. I need to get you somewhere safe.”

She’s standing now. Leaning against the wall and cradling one arm to her stomach, regarding me warily. “How do I know I’m safe with you?” It’s so much worse that her question is honest. Not meant to hurt me. She honestly doesn’t know if I pose a threat. It guts me where I stand.

“You are the safest with me,” I say thickly, cursing myself. Wanting to erase the last two years so badly, my hands shake. “Please believe me. I’d die before hurting you. I’d never, Lexie. I’d never do something like that.”

Her father rolls over onto his back and slurs a few words before losing consciousness again. Still, the sound of the older man’s voice seems to scare Lexie, “I…maybe you can just give me a ride to…a motel maybe?” She pushes off the wall, her step uneven as she walks toward the stairs. “I need some things from my room.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her we don’t have time, but I’m just grateful she’s trusting me enough to leave with me, so I don’t argue. I just wait until she’s halfway up the stairs, then tie her father’s hands behind his back with my belt in case he wakes up before we leave. I have no problem knocking him out a second time, but Lexie has seen enough violence for one night. Cautiously, I walk up the stairs toward the light coming from a room halfway down the hall. This place is a far cry from my home. It’s elegant and clean, and tasteful, but it lacks any warmth whatsoever. It’s cold, like a museum. Turning the corner into Lexie’s room, it’s time to hate myself all over again. There is nothing on the walls, none of the expensive furnishings. Just four white walls, a bed, and a dresser that doubles as a desk. Several textbooks. She looks back at me over her shoulder as if judging my reaction, and I keep my features impassive, though I’m dying on the inside.

“What can I do?” I ask.

“How long do we have?”

“As long as you need.” It’s physically painful not to pull her into my arms when I’m standing this close, and she’s hurt. Sad. Yet full of more inner strength than I’ve ever witnessed in another human being. I’m lucky just to be in her presence. I fucked up royally. And if she allows me back in, I’ll never do it again. It’s probably, definitely, too much to hope for. Being allowed back in. She doesn’t even look sure about having me in her room. Let alone her heart. I was trying to protect my own heart, but I lost it instead.

“Um…” She closes her eyes to focus, a familiar trait I’ve seen in class countless times. “There is a black bag in the hallway closet. Can you just stuff anything into it from the bathroom that looks useful?”

Ask me to bring you a unicorn. I’ll find a way to do it. “Sure.” We work in silence, Lexie taking things out of drawers and adding them to the bag, which I’ve left open on the floor. I add toiletries from the bathroom, and once it’s zipped, I wait, watching her hesitate in the doorway.

“Lexie?” Conflicted chocolate eyes meet mine.

“I can’t just leave, can I?”

“You’re not safe here, baby,” I say softly, trying to keep the residual rage at bay because it’s the last thing she needs. Not to mention she’s had her fill with negativity from me. No more. “How long…how long?”

She shrugs, the saddest expression in her eyes. “My mom died five years ago. Ever since then, it’s gotten worse and worse. Although I never had a chance to talk to anyone about what happened behind closed doors, you know? I don’t think a person can evolve into a monster. It’s inside him.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I became one, didn’t I?”

That gives her pause, forms a line between her delicate brows. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

She starts to walk past me, stops, standing close enough to fill my nose with cherry. “He told me if I ever spoke to you ever again, he would hurt me. Ruin you, have you evicted. Make sure you never got hired again. I didn’t mean to…hurt you. Or hurt your feelings, if that’s what happened.”

That revelation destroys me, sets me on fire. “Jesus, Lexie. You were protecting me? And I…I tortured you for it?” I twist the neck of my T-shirt, trying to calm down, but it doesn’t work. I’ll never be calm again “I’m so fucking sorry.”

She glances at the doorway, then back at me, eyes closed again in that way that says she’s thinking. “All I want from you now is a ride out of here, okay? And on Monday morning, you’ll stop.” She opens her shining eyes again. “No more bullying, Drake. If you’re really sorry, you’ll do that for me.”

Fuck. I couldn’t say one more single shitty thing to her if my life depended on it. Put me at gunpoint, and I’d rather get shot at than torture this girl for one more second. But I’m highly, painfully aware that with an end to the bullying comes an end to the possessiveness. No more scaring off guys who show interest in her. No more getting close enough in class to count the hairs on her head, to smell her sweet fragrance. And to tell the truth, I’m pretty fucking worried I don’t know how to give those things up completely. I don’t think I can physically do it. This addiction with Lexie isn’t something I can cut off. A leg would be easier to sever. But my hesitation is causing her eyes to worry. If I don’t agree to, essentially, let her go… she’s not going anywhere with me. And that means her safety won’t be guaranteed. I need it to be. More than anything.

“No more bullying,” I say, finally. A moment later, I follow her out of the room and down the stairs, trying desperately to count the hairs on her head before I no longer have the chance.

#tw domestic violence #toxic relationship #tw bullying

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just-dreaming-marvel · 3 years

Text

Out Of Time ~ 111

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 1,900ish

Summary: Captain America: Civil War (sorry if this chapter isn’t that dramatic.... I can promise the next one will be....

Notes: make sure that you have read chapter 110. That chapter didn’t have the taglist with it.

Steve and Sam eventually made it out with an unconscious Bucky in tow. Hidden in some abandoned building. Steve was watching through a gap at a chopper flying overhead.

“Hey, Cap!” Sam called. Steve went over to join his friend, who was near Bucky. Bucky was sitting with his arm in a vice.

“Steve,” Bucky said.

“Which Bucky am I talking to?” Steve asked.

“Your mom’s name was Sarah… You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.”

“Can’t read that in a museum.”

“Just like that, we’re suppose to be cool?” Sam questioned.

“What did I do?” Bucky asked.

“Enough.”

“Was Y/N…”

“The whispers is that you attacked her.”

“Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words.”

“Who was he?”

“I don’t know.”

“People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don't know.’”

“He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where.”

“Why would he need to know that?”

“Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier.”

~~~

Slowly blinking, Y/N let her eyes focus on her surroundings. She was on a plane. A Stark plane. She felt someone’s hand on hers. She looked over to see Tony’s hand on hers, head hung low.

“Where—“ She swallowed. “Where are we going?”

“Oh my—“ He quickly stood up and held a kiss to her forehead. “You… I can’t even… You shouldn’t have gone near him.”

“I had to try…”

“Doesn’t matter. His life is not worth yours.”

“Where are we headed?”

“Home.”

Y/N watched Tony for a second. “There’s something you aren’t telling me.” She sat up. “They got away, didn’t they? And you’re going to go after them.”

“I have to.”

“Please, Tony, stop this before it’s too late. Don’t wait until someone gets hurt and the team is completely destroyed.”

“I just doing what I have to do. And so should you.”

“What should I do?”

“Stay at home until this is all settled.”

“You’re going to keep me as a prisoner? Keep me locked away. You can’t to that.”

“That’s why I’m not telling you where I’m going. To keep you safe.”

“To keep me safe, or to keep me from protecting Steve and Bucky?”

“To keep you safe! Y/N, damn it! Look at your neck! Those bruises are in a literal shape of a hand! I don’t think they’ll disappear for weeks. Your precious Bucky did that to you, and I won’t let it happen again.”

“Tony, if you do something to harm them, either of them, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Tough sweetheart, because I’ll never forgive myself if you get hurt like that again.”

~~~

The compound was all but locked down. Vision and FRIDAY were both keeping an eye on both Y/N and Wanda. Y/N was worried about where Steve, Bucky, and Tony were, and if they were being stupid. Y/N and Wanda weren’t able to fall asleep, so they were in the kitchen. Vision was hovering in the corner, seemingly asleep, or as asleep as an android can be.

Suddenly, the three were on alert. An explosion in the distance lit up the room for a moment. They hurried to the window to see another explosion near the fence line.

“What is it?” Wanda asked.

“Stay here, please,” Vision pled before disappearing.

Once Vision was gone the two women sensed a different presence behind them. Wanda compelled a knife to fly across the room. They turned to see it stop in front of Clint’s head and him flick it away.

“Guess I shoulda knocked,” he commented.

“Oh my god!” Wanda exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Disappointing my kids.” He shot arrows to both sides of the room. “I’m supposed to go water skiing.”

“Clint,” Y/n called, the worry extremely evident. “What’s going on?”

“Cap needs our help,” he answered, grabbing Wanda’s hand. “Come on.” Wanda grabbed Y/N’s hand as they began to head out of the room.

“Clint!” Vision greeted, appearing through the wall behind them. “You should not be here.”

“Really?” Clint retorted, him and the others turning back around. “I retire for, what, like five minutes, and it all goes to shit.”

“Please consider the consequences of your actions.”

“Okay, they’re considered.” Suddenly, the arrows Clint previous shot, catch Vision in a force field. “Okay, we really gotta go.” Wanda stepped towards Vision as Clint grabbed Y/N’s hand. He began to led her to the door. They stopped when they noticed Wanda wasn’t moving. “It’s this way.”

“I’ve caused enough problems,” Wanda responded, nervously playing with her sleeves.

Leaving Y/N at the door, Clint jogged back over to Wanda. “You gotta help me, Wanda. Look, you wanna mope, can go to high school. You wanna make amends, you get off your ass. Shit.”

Vision broke the force field with the Mind Stone. Quickly, he punched Clint to the floor, but Clint recovered.

“I knew I should’ve stretched,” Clint groaned.

He extended a baton and tried to hit Vision but the blows went right through him. Clint resorted to punches before trying the baton again. It broke. Clint tried to kick Vision, but his leg wen right through him. Vision then quickly got Clint into a headlock.

“Clint, you van’t overpower me,” Vision warned.

“I know I can’t,” Clint responded. “But they can.”

They look up to see Wanda and Y/N standing side by side, Wanda’s red glow between her hands.

“Vision, that’s enough,” Wanda said. “Let him go. We’re leaving.”

“I can’t let you,” Vision replied.

Wanda held her hands apart, glowing with energy, forcing Clint to slip from Vision’s grasp. He grabbed Y/N and pulled her away as Wanda forced Vision to the ground.

“How far a long are you?” Clint whispered.

“What?” Y/N gasped, looking at Clint with surprise.

“My wife’s had three kids. I know the tells.”

“Five weeks.”

“Does anyone know?” Y/N shook her head. “Then you’re staying here. I’m not putting you or the baby in harms way. And I know Steve wouldn’t want that either.”

“No, I can—“

A crash is heard. They flinch as they turn to see that Wanda as forced Vision through several floors of the compound.

“If you stay here,” Clint turned back to Y/N, hands on her shoulders, “I won’t say a word. If you come or follow, I’ll tell everyone and they’ll force you to stay put anyway.”

~~~~

Vision disappeared out of the hole not long after Clint and Wanda had left. Y/N couldn’t stop worrying, pacing, rounding every inch of the compound. FRIDAY had blocked her from being able to contact any of her teammates or watch any news channels. It was late into the afternoon of the next day when she finally was contacted. She had just barely fallen asleep on the couch when FRIDAY announced the incoming call.

“Y/N?” Natasha panicked voice filled her room. She was immediately on alert.

“Nat? Are you okay? What happened?”

“It got bad. There was a fight at the airport in Berlin. Sam, Clint, and Wanda are in jail. Bucky and Steve made it to the quinjet to go—I don’t even know where.”

“What? How did this happen?“

“And Rhodey was extremely hurt. Tony’s in the other room waiting for the results, but it doesn’t look good. I think he’ll go after them next. The only way to stop him is if you go with Bucky and Steve to wherever it is they’re headed. Tony will trust you if you’re with them.”

“Nat, I don’t—“

“I’m not asking you to pick a side. I’m asking you to save your family.” Y/N’s hand went straight to her stomach. “To save your child’s family.”

“How did you…”

“You were in the bathroom for way too long, Y/N. And I’ve noticed how your hand falls to your stomach. Do they know?”

“Only Clint and you.”

“You need to tell them before it’s too late.”

“I know… Thanks for the information, Nat. I’m assuming you helped them escape.”

“I did. Have to go on the run now.”

“Stay safe, Nat.”

“You too.”

The call ended and Y/N took a deep breath. Bucky and Steve had taken a quinjet from Berlin, the same quinjet Y/N had arrived there in. So she could create a portal there. It was just bracing herself for the inevitable vomiting that would follow. Opening the portal, she rushed through, stumbling into the quinjet.

“What the—“ Bucky immediately turned around, pointing a gun in Y/N’s direction. He lowered it when he saw her vomiting in the corner. “Y/N?” He hurried forward, kneeling beside her. “How did you— are you okay?”

“Y/N,” Steve rushed to her other side. A hand found the way to her back, gently rubbing up and down. “What’s going on?”

“I’m… I’m… fine…” she panted. She straightened up, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. “I’ll be fine.”

“Is there something going on with your powers?”

“I’m fine, Steve, really. How are you guys?”

“Really Y/N?” Bucky questioned. “You just appeared through a portal and began to vomit. I don’t think you’re okay.” As he looked her over, his eyes found their way to her neck. “No,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.” His flesh hand came up, hesitant to touch the bruise. Y/N grabbed his hand and led it to her bruise. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, Buck. I’m okay.”

“I promised to never hurt you and I keep doing it. Leaving for war, falling into HYDRA’s hands, back in DC, now this…”

“Bucky,” Steve called, slowly, watching the interaction. “How much to you actually remember?”

“I remember Y/N the most. Not everything, but I remember the feelings when we were together the strongest.”

“You remember me the most?” Y/N repeated quietly.

“Something happened the moment we met eyes in DC. Things kept creeping back.”

“Oh, Buck.” Y/N quickly wrapped her arms around Bucky. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too, doll.”

“What are you doing here, Y/N?” Steve asked, again.

She pulled away from Bucky, so that she could see both men. “Nat called me and told me what happened. I came to help.”

“You know that you can’t go back after this, right?”

“I may be able to get us all home safety and talk everyone down. I just need to see this through to be able to explain it and help the cause.”

“I don’t know,” Bucky said, shaking his head. “I think you are safer staying in the quinjet.”

“Not a chance, Buck. If there’s a way I can bring you home, I’m going to do it.”

“I don’t think I’m worth all this.” He looked down into his lap.

Y/N guided her hand under Bucky’s chin, gently guided it up so that they were looking into each others eyes. “I think you’re worth it. I always have.”

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

#the avengers x reader #avengers x reader #tony stark x reader #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #iron man x reader #captain america x reader #the winter soldier x reader #winter soldier x reader #marvel imagine #tony stark imagine #avengers imagine #bucky barnes imagine #steve rogers imagine #marvel #marvel fanfiction #captain america civil war #civil war

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kinktae · 4 years

Text

bitchin’ || pt. 8 (M)

The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook.

pairing: fratboy!jungkook x reader

word count: 4k

genre: 1980s au, eventual smut, e2l

warnings: sir kink, student/teacher roleplay, oral (f), fingering, hand job, overstimulation, another bussy slap, peepee in veevee, jk kind of uses y/n like a pocket pussy LMFAOOO, angst

A/N: This fic was inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Thank you to @junqkook for letting me use her likeness!

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10

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PART EIGHT

“Mom told you I was coming down for Christmas, right?” You chirped into your phone’s earpiece, pressing it between your cheek and shoulder as you needed both hands to slip on your socks.

You had just finished brushing your teeth when your phone began to ring; you were surprised but delighted to hear your sister Rosa greet you from the other end. It felt like ages since you had spoken to either of your sisters. Sure, you gave your parents a ring every weekend, but your siblings had their own lives to worry about, you assumed.

“Not even! You know, Sammy broke up with his girlfriend last month, so he’s spending it with us for once.” Your elder sister replied.

You stretch your legs out in front of you, still stiff from sleep.

“All of us on one couch again, huh. That hasn’t happened since the final episode of M.A.S.H premiered on TV.”

“God, I’ve never seen Dad cry as much as he did that night.” Rosa reminisced, pulling a giggle from you as you replied the memory on your head. Your entire family with their noses pressed to the television’s screen, bidding farewell to a story and cast you had loved since you were seven.

“So when are you coming down then? Has winter break started for you guys yet?”

“Not yet,” you told her, “and I still have to ask Jungkook if he’d want to drive down together.”

“Jungkook?”

You froze, the fact that your family had no idea about your fake boyfriend completely slipping your mind.

“H-He’s a friend. We went to the same high school and… yeah…” You trailed off pathetically, feeling extremely vulnerable talking to Rosa about a boy.

The last she knew about your love life was the proposal… and your rather hasty return of the ring.

“A friend.” She repeated knowingly. “And will I be meeting said friend sometime this Christmas?”

Two knocks against the dorm door rang out suddenly, momentarily distracting you.

Jungkook? Meeting your family?

The idea should have made you snicker, easily dismissible, but sat in your small dorm room, on the very bed you and Jungkook often hung out on, you couldn’t help but picture yourself sat at your family’s dinner table, a Christmas dinner laid out in front of you.

You couldn’t deny how easy it was to picture him sitting beside you, chatting happily with everyone. Jungkook was important to you, in more ways than you cared to admit, and the idea of your family knowing that made your stomach flood with butterflies.

“Um… maybe, actually. Yeah.”

You hardly heard your sister’s noise of excitement as another series of knocks pulled you from your thoughts, these louder in volume.

Alright, alright.

You sighed, “Hey, I’m sorry, someone’s at the door. I’ve got to go, Rosa. Tell Lia I said hi?”

“You got it, dude.” Was your sister’s cheeky reply, a soft clang ringing out as you hurriedly placed the earpiece back onto the rotary phone.

You wondered who was at the door? It couldn’t be Yara as she had left for her first class not even ten minutes ago. Maybe it was your dorm floor’s RA?

Yanking the door open, you meet the eyes of an anxious-looking Jungkook, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“Well, you’re up early.” You quirked up an eyebrow.

“Can I come in?” He ignored. You frowned.

“Of course.”

Jungkook stepped forward in an instant, shutting the door behind him.

“What’s wrong—”

His mouth found yours suddenly, hands gripping your waist as he pulled you into him. You let out a soft gasp at his sudden motions but returned the kiss quickly, mewing as he pushed you up against the nearest wall.

Your head felt like it was spinning, it had all happened so quickly; his hand holding a leg of yours up and around his waist so that he could slip a thigh between yours.

He always smelled great in the morning, like body wash and his shampoo. You intertwined your fingers into his freshly dried hair, his tongue already pushing past your lips.

You tasted like the mint of your favorite brand of toothpaste. He imagined if he had caught you any later then the mint would have been accompanied by the taste of coffee, knowing the way you rarely started a day without a cup.

God, he had missed the taste of you.

“Where’s Yara?” He broke the kiss lazily, redirecting his mouth onto the skin where your jaw met your neck.

You let out a soft whine, enjoying the way he was nipping and licking at your sensitive skin.

“S-She just left for class.”

“Perfect.”

Head cloudy, you watched as the handsome boy sunk to his knees, sitting on the back on his heels as he began to press kisses on your still bare thighs on show thanks to your pajama shorts. You were utterly enthralled by the sight of him, his eyes dark and ravenous as he nipped at your flesh.

You were jerked back into reality, however, when one of your legs were thrown over his shoulder, his intentions suddenly hitting you.

“W-Wait!” You panicked.

Jungkook’s eyes met yours curiously, pressing a kiss again your clothed center as he raised an eyebrow as if to ask you what was wrong.

You let out a squeal at the sight of Jungkook’s mouth against your most intimate parts. Bringing both hands to cover your face, you spoke through your fingers.

“You, um, don’t have to—“

“I want to.” He replied bluntly, pressing more kisses against you, your hips jerking into him consequently.

Your reaction told him everything you couldn’t. Erik had never gone down on you. So Jungkook was going fucking to relish every second in being the first man who would ever have you like this.

“I’ll be gentle, nerd. I promise. I’ll take care of you.”

He ran his thumb up and down against your clothed slit as he contemplated just exactly how he wanted you.

His decision was made for him, however, as a hand of yours came down timidly, pulling at the tied knot which kept your shorts up.

Jungkook was preening as he watched you peel the clothes off your body, a shy look on your face. He was rock hard in his sweats, too eager at the prospect of eating you out to wait for you to take off your underwear, his tongue running flat against the wet patch of your panties.

“Fucking beautiful.” He cursed as your breath spiked, fingers coming back down to finger his hair.

You felt like you were losing your god damn mind. The sight alone of Jungkook running his tongue against you was enough to bring you to climax, but it was his tongue’s discovery of your clit that finally had you moaning out. He ran the hot muscle around it, the fabric of your cotton underwear rubbing against it with just enough pressure to have you bring your hips into him.

You had this dozed off look on your face, he noticed, your jaw slightly ajar as your brows furrowed with every little movement his mouth made.

Cute.

You let out a cry, heading tilting back into the wall as two of his fingers pushed past your damp underwear up into you, not bothering to tease your sopping entrance.

“That feel good, little girl?“

"Y-Yes, sir.”

He could see the way your little fists clenched at your sides, craving purchase but unsure of what to grip onto as the wall offer no grip. If his mouth wasn’t so preoccupied, he would have pleaded for you to dig them into his hair, tugging at his scalp as you lost yourself on the feeling of his mouth.

He flattened his tongue over your clothed slit, reeling at how wet you were for him, tasting you through the cotton; the little noises you were making only edged his actions further.

“You’re so wet.” Jungkook groaned.

An involuntary jerk of your hips was his cue to curl his fingers into deeper than he had been previously, pulling his mouth away from you to press a kiss onto your thigh. He watched with a smug grin as you unraveled in front of him, his fingers hitting a spot that had your toes curling.

”Fuck.“

The word slipped from you, tangled with broken whines as you finally climaxed.

You hadn’t even managed a minute to yourself when Jungkook’s mouth found yours again, guided by the desperate need to feel you again.

Somehow you found yourself back in your room, Jungkook hovering above you as he kissed you slowly and deeply, hips rocking into yours mercilessly. The fabric of your panties tugged against your most intimate parts, and Jungkook swallowed your whimpers greedily.

It didn’t take long for his slim digits wrap around the sides of your panties, tugging down the ruined garment, sitting back on his heels to get a proper look at your exposed glistening cunt.

"Ah, fuck me already.” Your impatience caught up with you, eyebrows furrowing. You had managed to lose all articles of clothes, yet there was Jungkook, fully dressed, not an inch of his skin exposed.

A cry let you as his hand came down onto your already swollen clit, tucking a lip between your teeth to suppress back the moan that threatened to come out.

“What an indecent student I have.” He scoffed, despite the way he rubbed at your clit gently. "Maybe if you asked politely, you’d get what you want from me.“

You mewed, "Mm, I-I’m sorry, sir, please, need you inside of me. I can’t wait any longer.”

Jungkook abandoned your clit suddenly, tapping a finger against his chin as if pretending to contemplate your plea. You whimpered as he brought that same finger up to his mouth, wrapping his tongue around it decidedly.

“Hmm, I think I’ll take my time with you, actually.” He cooed once his fingers were well wet, pressing them back into you.

Your pussy welcomed his fingers greedily, velvety walls molding to the slender digits as they fucked into you, making a mess of you.

Frustration was pushed aside for a moment, eyes fluttering closed as you drowned yourself in the pleasure your pretend lover was giving you.

“Beautiful. So fucking gorgeous.” The dark-haired boy breathed, mostly to himself.

A surprised noise fell from him as one of your hands snuck it’s away over to his crotch, pulling down his sweats and wrapping itself around his hard cock.

“I want to make… you feel good, too.” You admitted through a hiccup, and if it weren’t for the feeling of your hand pumping his shaft, Jungkook would have leaned over and pressed a kiss to your nose.

He whined through his nose, jaw locked as he continued fingering you.

Pants filled the room, and you weren’t sure if you were groaning at the feeling of Jungkook’s hands on you or the noises he let out as you ran your thumb over the leaking red tip of his head. Probably a mixture of both.

He really was so irritating, even his sex noises were attractive.

Suddenly, his hand wrapped around yours, pulling it off his fat cock with a hiss. He pressed a kiss onto the top of your hands, breathing uneven.

“That’s enough, baby. You did so well for me.” He praised, earning a shy smile from you.

The smile was short-lived, however, as his insatiable mouth found your clit again, lapping at it as he sucked the bud into his mouth. A sob tumbled out, your thighs wrapping around his head as you were blinded by the stimulation.

You were so close, and you didn’t want to cum without having his cock inside you. The idea alone made you want to cry.

A desperate ramble of pleas for him to take you came rushing out of you, hand tugging at his hair to pull him away from you.

“Alright, alright.” Jungkook laughed, obliging you as he sat back up, hand leading his cock towards your dripping entrance. “God, you’re so fucking cute.”

Then something miraculous happened.

As his cock sunk into you, accompanied by the light circling of your clit, something inside you snapped, your orgasm hitting you hard and unexpectedly. Jungkook watched in awe as your back arched, your entire body shaking as you slowly came down.

“Baby, did you come?” He breathed incredulously once your eyes finally found him again.

“Yeah…” You whined, cheeks warm and chest rising sharply.

“Do you…” he swallowed, gripping the part of his cock that had yet to make its way inside you, “do you think you can come again for me?”

One of his hands was resting on your thigh, his palm burning against your skin. You flashed him a guilty look before shaking your head no.

Your body and head felt heavy and tired, and as much as you’d like to think you could spend forever intertwined with Jungkook, you had minimal experience with multiple orgasms.

Jungkook pressed a kiss to your mouth before nodding, moving to pull out of you, “That’s okay. I understand.”

“Jungkook.”

“Yeah?”

“…You don’t have to stop.” You muttered shyly.

“Hm? But I thought you—”

“It doesn’t matter, you can still… You can keep going. I don’t care if I don’t come.” You insisted. “You can use me until you get off. I don’t mind if it’s you.”

If it’s you.

Jungkook felt his ears grow red; you wanted him to use you to get himself off? And just like that, that familiar feeling rising in his chest. The feeling that everything was more than it was– that you were his, and he was yours.

You placed a hand onto of his, squeezing it. He blinked, thoughts vanishing the moment he saw your suggestive eyes.

A wolfish smirk crept onto his face.

“On your tummy, baby.”

A soft chirp fell from you, muffled slightly by the pillow your face was resting on as he slid into you from behind, this time bottoming out all the way like he wanted.

His grip on your hips tightened, a drawn-out groan sounding out.

“So tight for me.”

You held back your groans as he built up his rhythm, his cock hitting deep within you. Jungkook’s mouth was pressing kisses against your shoulder, his sharp breaths and soft groans flooding into your ears.

"You’re in so deep, fuck.” You gasped, burying your face into the pillow at a particularly hard thrust.

God, you were grateful that Yara wasn’t home, as there was no way she wouldn’t be able to hear how loud the two of you were being.

Sweat glistened where ever your bodies touched, leaving you feeling hot and overwhelmed, pussy on fire from waves of overstimulation.

Suddenly, Jungkook let out a low grunt, slowing down his thrusts, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, where do you want me to cum?”

With sluggish effort, you prompted yourself back up on your elbows, looking over your shoulder at him.

“Inside me.” You begged without hesitation. He let out a noise of regard, bitting down on the spot of your neck that he knew you were particularly fond of.

“Yeah? Want me to stuff you with it? Fill you up all nice?”

He couldn’t help himself. His hand found its way underneath you, fingertips brushing your clit lightly and in quick motions.

A broken wail accompanied your nod, head falling forward as your mind went blank beyond return.

“Hmph, y-yes, fuck, please!”

“Anything for my baby. Anything she wants. My pretty girl.” He cooed against your skin, panting and hips stilling.

You met your third and final climax alongside Jungkook, insides painted with layers of his hot cum. Jungkook worked himself through his orgasm, softly thrusting into your spazzing walls until he was milked entirely dry.

Pulling out of you, he flopped down beside you, hand coming up to run through his sweat-dampened hair. You rolled over with a huff, vision still spotty.

“How are you feeling?” Your meathead inquired.

“Radical. And you?”

“Bitchin’.” He grinned up at the ceiling.

He turned to face you suddenly, placing a hand on your cheek. For a second, you thought he was going to say something, but as he laid his head back down onto the pillow, you realized it was more a gesture of affection than a request for attention, his thumb rubbing against your cheekbone.

You ran your fingertips against his bicep, enjoying the way every trail of your touch left goosebumps against his skin.

The room was comfortably quiet, except for the ticking of that clock of yours– the one Jungkook told you time and time again that he hated.

“What are you doing for Christmas? Are you going home?” You asked suddenly, the question weighing on your mind for a while.

“Actually, my parents are out of town for Christmas.”

You felt disappointment crash over you, a small frown finding your lips.

“Oh. Bummer.”

Jungkook chuckled at your sour expression, leaning over suddenly to press a kiss against your pouting mouth.

“Nah, it’s okay. I still go down to visit friends and shit. I usually spend Christmas with one of them.” He reassured you, mouth finding your neck as he began to press kiss down it.

You let out a sigh, fingers gripping Jungkook’s shoulders.

Okay, it’s now or never. Spit it out already.

“Do you… What if you spend Christmas with me?” You finally managed to squeak out.

“You,” Jungkook pulled back from you, something indecipherable crossing his eyes, “want me to spend it with you?”

You turned away from his intense stare, heat creeping up your neck.

Part of you wondered if you should brush him off with a laugh, telling himself to check his ego before that big head of his exploded. That you only offered as an act of kindness.

“Yeah, I do.” Was your reply, however.

“Oh.”

His reply was immediate and disheartening. You brought your duvet up to cover your bare chest, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“My mom’s Christmas pecan pie is kind of legendary, you know. And she always makes way too much. We have leftovers that last us the rest of the week.” You rambled awkwardly.

“Y/N–”

But it was too late. The nervous word vomit had already set in.

“You don’t have to, of course! I mean, that’s probably weird, right? Like, meeting the family, woah, intense! That’s something couples do and we’re… Anyway, I just thought maybe since we’re pretty close we could–”

“I have to tell you something.” He interrupted, sounding serious.

It wasn’t until then that you noticed the way his chest was rising irregularly, breaths shallow and ragged. He looked… uneasy.

“Okay. Tell me.” You replied gently, look at him inquisitively.

“Kiri came over last night.”

Your stomach dropped, “Oh?”

“She wants to get back together.” Jungkook swallowed dryly, eyes wavering between yours as if to gauge your reaction.

“…Oh.”

You shook your head.

“I mean, wow! That’s… That’s great!” You smiled, something tearing apart inside you as the words left your lips.

“Y/N–”

“Seriously! This means it worked, right? This is exactly what you wanted to happen.” You enthused, turning your head so that he couldn’t see way your eyes had welled up.

Jungkook’s heart was pounding in his ears, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around you.

“Yeah… yeah, no, you’re right. We did it.” He replied monotonously.

You blinked back the tears, refusing to let yourself cry over a boy you weren’t even dating.

“Yeah. We did.”

Silence fell over the room, the air swarming with uncomfortable tension. God, you didn’t want this. You didn’t want this at all. Things were so good just a second ago. You would do anything to go back to when Jungkook was on top of you and telling you how beautiful you were.

Clearing your throat, you rolled back over to face him.

“So tell me, meathead. How’d it go? We oughta go and buy champagne or something.“

Jungkook offered you a smile, and maybe it was you looking too far into it, but it certainly felt insincere.

"She came over to my room last night. Said she wanted to talk.”

“And what did she say?”

“Uh… not a lot, actually.”

“Huh? What did you guys do then?”

There was something guilty in the way Jungkook looked at you– something that had you feeling uneasy.

“…You slept with her.” You blinked.

Jungkook sat up in the bed, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck anxiously.

“She was saying how she missed me and then suddenly she was kissing me and I… I don’t know I kind of just reacted–"

“Wait.” You sat up straight, expression hard. “Let me get this straight. You fucked her last night. And this morning… you fucked me.”

You felt sick. To think that just a few hours ago, Jungkook’s dick was inside someone else. The mouth that was kissing you and telling you how much you meant to him, was doing the same for Kiri not even a full day ago.

So, what… were you just Jungkook’s to fuck around with whenever he wanted?

“Are you mad?” He called out cautiously, a heavy feeling falling onto his chest.

“Why would I be mad?” You quipped back sharply, causing Jungkook to flinch. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“I just thought… I mean we’ve been fooling around a lot lately, so I didn’t know if—”

“If what? I had feelings for you?” You scoffed. “Please, as if I’d ever fall for you.”

And there it was— everything Jungkook already knew but had been so afraid to hear. Of course, you didn’t feel for him what he felt for you. How could he have expected anything different?

Fuck. What had he done?

Your mattress groaned as you slipped off the bed, beginning to hastily dress.

“You can go.” You continued, pulling your shirt over your head.

Jungkook’s heart sank, “What?”

“You got what you wanted from me, right? Mission accomplished.”

“Nerd, that’s not why—” His words were stopped by the impact of his shirt being thrown into his chest, your stare ice cold.

“Don’t fucking call—” You paused, attempting to calm yourself with a shaky breath. “I have class. Please just… go.”

Jungkook did nothing for a moment, staring at you with those guilty eyes that did nothing but hurt you further.

You were a smart girl. So how did you let someone like him make a complete fool out of you?

You wanted to scream, you wanted to cry, but you refused to let him see how small you felt right now. So you stood there unwaveringly as you faced the boy you had so stupidly let into your heart.

Jungkook could hear the way you struggled to steady your breaths as he dressed; he had never hated himself more than he did right now. There was so much he should be saying, yet he couldn’t find the words. Even as he was fully dressed and met your eyes one final time, he still remained voiceless, despite the way his insides screamed to say something that could take back what he had done. Something that would fix what he had just broken.

“Now.” You stated, tone void of emotion.

It was a front, of course, just a means of hiding the way you felt like you were crumbling. Even when Jungkook slipped past you wordlessly, you still held steady. And it wasn’t until you heard the click of the front door closing that you finally let yourself break, eyes wet as your lips parted, a small sob slipping past them.

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maruzzewrites · 3 years

Text

Every breath you take. - 10

cw for a bit of gore in this one.

Driving with tension in your arms and legs proved to be dreadful, the anxiety of not knowing what was happening to your darling felt like a sharp pain that disappeared at intervals, only to return more intense and barbed a few seconds later.

It was always a possibility, but never a reality, the fact that one of them would have enough of your obvious love for someone else, someone better than them and that they couldn’t beat with simple courting or vile obsession. Your fiance was an obstacle, even when not in the picture as your husband-to-be, and you wanted to vomit at the mere thought of being the cause of his problems with them.

Your drive, while filled with the desire to be short and quick, was slower than usual. No cars passed you on your way home, no one directed towards the city from the same direction of the house. Even when someone was behind you, you would check through the rear-view mirror to see who was driving. Men, women, old and young, with families or friends, alone or someone in the backseat; no one seemed to match the physiognomy of those men.

At some point, the anxiety grew to the point of being unable to even take gulps of breath. You were driving exceptionally slow, slower than needed, and cars upon cars would honk at you or yell at you from open windows. But you didn’t care, you wanted this. You waited for them to surpass you and give you a better view inside their cars to check thoroughly, methodically, and then switch to the next vehicle in line.

At some point, the terrible strain on your body and mind of hypervigilance made you almost steer to the side of the road. And you had to stop, pull over, and let your limbs tremble and shake with more violence than they ever did in your life. Despite your need to relax, you found it impossible to control your eyes, raising every time a car passed by.

The answer was always the same, no one was following you. Nowhere those men could be seen. Yet, it didn’t help the hollowing fear enveloping your actions, making you lean into the window to watch closer, and closer. You spent like that a good hour, you assumed, but you couldn’t estimate an exact time because you didn’t check the clock of your car when you stopped. The sun shifted, so did the shadows, so you could only presume.

You wondered if you could try again. You picked up your phone from the seat, gripping it with more force than necessary, and you could imagine it breaking between your tense fingers. Cancelling any possibility to call for help, but getting rid of their torment at home. The way your entire life was a puzzle of choices that carried both good and bad consequences, always walking hand in hand, always ready to hit you when you least expect it.

If there was the probability to have something your way, there was also something ready to push you back into the dark corner and keep you there, one inch closer to the wall than before. The negatives were always too great to even be brightened by the vague light of positivity an action could bring. So you stopped holding the phone so strongly, felt your hand ache less as tension left the muscles, traveling back up your arm, in your shoulder, all over your body. Settled in your chest, and you felt almost like your lungs couldn’t contract properly.

You dialed your darling’s number slowly, keeping an eye on the road and any direction that could provide them with easy access to you. The ring in your ear came once, twice, then you heard his voice confirming he was listening. Cordialities, but immediately he questioned if you needed help somehow, and it was implicit he would run to help you however he could.

And he did. Even if he was still away from you, still waiting for your answer, he really did ease your mind. It was only temporary relief, you knew, but your mind held the possibility to feel at peace for once for dear life. Because it really felt like you needed it to keep going, or everything would come down crumbling around you. Having blood on your hands, on your conscience.

You could hear your own voice shake, struggling to crawl out of your throat, but you managed to let him know you were well and you just needed to hear a familiar voice, that you were glad to be talking to him. He didn’t question you, but you could detect a hint of wonder and worry in his next words.

He was in class, he was doing his last bits of project before the exam session. And that made you understand how much you lost in those months, when you would face this part of the year with a bit of loneliness because of his attention to studying. Soon enough, he would have a degree and maybe, just maybe, you could ask him to move away from this city. Move as up north as possible, maybe even leave Italy altogether.

There, you could be happy and shielded by those monsters. In a cozy little cabin, without anyone bothering or threatening you both, ready to pick up your life where you left it. The fantasy in your head only made the return to reality even worse, a drop from a high too sweet. That was how you were reduced, to exorcize and refuse any attempt at happiness only because the cold feeling growing in your chest was crushing to bear.

You made small talk with your former fiance, but he figured soon enough you weren’t in the mood to speak too much. You were really forcing yourself, not wanting to bother him more than necessary, but he reassured you that he would pick up the phone later. He was about to go to another class anyway, the last for the day. By the time he would be on his walk back home, you would have probably been in your room for a while.

You said your goodbye, and then there was only silence. Before your brain could regress into the compulsive inspection of whoever passed by, you started the engine again and drove off into Naples. You were uncharacteristically slow, and drivers would continue to honk and yell at you to do faster, but you wouldn’t dare when your mind was as fogged and overworked as that moment.

When you arrived under your apartment building, you turned off the car and waited in the new stillness. You slumped down, curled up almost, as much as the narrow space in the vehicle would allow. Despite taking this defensive stance, your ears and your eyes were on guard; to notice anything, a step or a voice, a figure or an outfit, anything out of the ordinary that could signal their presence around you.

When enough time passed and you were feeling yourself spiral into darker and darker places, you stumbled out of the car and were careful, like you often did now when returning home, to check every corner of the shared inner space. Not as obviously and thoroughly as you wanted, because otherwise you would seem suspicious and, in the eventuality they were actually observing you, they wouldn’t be as convinced about your changed feelings.

Everything in your life had to be orchestrated around their actions, their thoughts and the possibility of both of those things, because at this point your very existence was put on hold. It didn’t belong to you until you could shake off those chains for good, and you couldn’t wait for the moment they would turn on each other or spit you out after chewing you into dust.

Even as you climbed the stairs, you were jittery. You had to take several attempts at opening the door between them slipping from your fingers or you would miss the keyhole due to the shaking of your hands, still too tense. You even let the door slam with how clumsy you became with the electricity shooting from one end to the other of your brain, too many emotions and information traveling your exhausted head.

Rest called upon you, the sweet embrace of your bed and the secure bubble of sleep, where you could be absent from the world, simulate a reality where nothing ever happened. But you couldn’t retire in your room just yet, you had to go through the motions of a simple and normal life: shower, talk to your family, have dinner, and some downtime. A perfectly average evening for the least average of lives, you assumed.

When your mother was busy watching frivolous programs filled with mundanity and pettiness, you declared how tired you were and wished her a goodnight. It was bitter how seeing those examples of ordinary events, for how much everyone acted as if their problems were so much bigger than reality, would leave an ache inside of you. You were turning into something you didn’t want to be, something filled with resentment and antipathy for anyone suffering less than you.

The ways those men’s influence snaked into your life to poison any aspect of it, how they managed to leave an indelible mark on your psyche and your mentality to the point you couldn’t even imagine how you were before; it hurt, it stung worse than you could put into words and thoughts.

They refined the smooth marble surface with sandpaper until it left nothing but edges and ruined colors, dull without possibility to restore it. You wanted to hope that you could come back from it all, repaint your skin with colors even brighter and even more beautiful, but the muted doom hanging over your head prevented you from keeping up those thoughts for long. The only positive note in the drone that became your life was the plan you were hatching, even if it would take you long enough for everyone else to forget about you and abandon you to fight for yourself.

And even then, what were you to do after? Beaten into a broken shell, ready to release the waste boiling inside and corroding the feet of those around you. If they wouldn’t leave you before those men were gone, they would after the fact: because you would shatter and have to put the pieces together, for no apparent reason to those outside.

Yet, you persevered. You had to, because the alternative was losing yourself. Losing friends and family could burn your soul, but not having one to begin with couldn’t allow you to build your life again. If they’re gone, one day, you would be free. And that meant the freedom to collapse, to be torn apart, to wail and cry until your throat was dry, but it would be your freedom.

You closed the door behind you as you thought. You had been in your mind so long those past months, you built a world made of horror and left everything else outside to be picked up on your way back, when everything would be alright. You laid on the bed with exhaustion cold on your skin, crushingly heavy on your bones.

You didn’t know the exact moment when you fell asleep, but you could swear you rested awake for several hours into the darkness and the silence. But for all you knew, you could have been dead to the world the moment your head touched the pillow, into something dull and aphonic that parodied the ease of sleep.

All you knew was that you were awakened by the filtering light pouring inside, warming you up into the spring air and the early summer notes it carried. You had a week of masks ahead of you, dense, impenetrable, but to endure to the best of your capabilities.

One day it was shopping with your mother, the other talking to friends. One evening it was going to meet family members you had neglected to visit, and the following morning you would walk around the beach to experience something long gone from your life. And every night, it was talking to your fiance and listening to him talk about his studies, forgetting about what your existence was and being everything you wanted to be again.

“What do you want to study?” He asked, once. And you stayed silent for a long time, indifferent to the way your mind couldn’t work on thinking about yourself as someone in a future that belonged to you. You could conjure the hope for it, overwork your spirit until you could put on a façade for everyone, but the concrete result of your plan and all its consequences were alien, distant, and nothing but the damned apple in the coils of a snake.

Your fiance asked again, you blinked the disbelief away. Or so you thought, because the words still wouldn’t come and your brain was failing you with violent rapidity. He wouldn’t suggest anything else, just wait and wait, and your head was a blank slate void of ideas in those seconds. When he assumed enough time had passed, he came to fix the situation a bit, “You remember when we talked about you going to university?”

You did remember, suddenly. You confirmed your memory and felt relief in his voice when he continued with his thought, “I wanted to know what you would like to study.”

You had to think about something, yet you couldn’t find a single spark of life that could guide you. You lost so much time to demented tormentors that you couldn’t even consider the possibility of pondering on that question. Your fiance did propose, long ago, to support you through school, and you remembered dreamingly waiting for him as you admired the building where he took classes.

When you still felt a bit more control, when autonomy wasn’t something so foreign and unfamiliar yet. Maybe that was the start of the end for you, when their presence started to spill even more into your mundanity that it replaced it. When you started to think about them from morning to evening, even when you were far away from their cove.

You stammered, he noticed. He didn’t fault you for the indecisiveness, as he explained, because he was nervous the months before his enrollment as well, unsure if he would pick the right path for himself. However, he didn’t care if you would change your mind once, twice, three times in your first year; you would need time to settle into a future, because it had to fit you as you wanted, not as others demanded.

And despite the desire to have everyone else shut up about their normalcy, so that you wouldn’t be reminded of your plight, you accepted what came from him. Maybe it was because he knew what he was saying and he was choosing his words with attention, with all the concern of someone intent on staying. He was taking an oath, with light words and solemn intent, and you were conflicted between your desire to cave to your need for comfort and your crave for his safety.

But what was the point in demanding from him to forget you along with everyone else? Loneliness and lack of options were deadly in this battle, and even if he was merely a man with no connections and no power, it was still soothing the way his voice could mend your soul and calm your mind. It made you hold that mask with less belligerence, cracking it less between your fingers.

You spent the hours of that evening talking about faculties, classes and possibilities, and your heart could beat again in that atmosphere. Made of risk, opportunity and the allure of everyday that you lost like sand between the fissures open along your body.

It was corrosive, scraping along the burning flesh and leaving tears in its wake, but you wanted it. You wanted that ache, you wanted to feel the white-hot anger along with the fear. You wanted to hate them for what they were stealing from you, or you may end up forgetting how to feel that resentment. There were times when it melted, escaped the confines of your brain, and you were left numb to their actions; and you didn’t want that, you desired the depths of hatred in your soul, the disgust and the anxiety, the pit under your feet as you walked.

And thinking about that lost future with your beloved, drawing the lines smudged by the side of your hand, it served you well in that intent. Because when he handed you a brink, it would fall, and leave the wall incomplete. Because when you were about to rebuild it, they were there to stomp on your hard work and tear down anything else.

Menaces, menaces, there on Earth to torment you until your mind would break and your muscles would give in. And even the soothing sound of your darling’s voice wouldn’t shoo away the whispering enveloping your being, their voices echoing, thundering, bouncing on a wall, on another, splattering on the floor and leaving behind a mess.

It was as if something cracked, letting everything pour and flood the husk left behind by their attentive, meticulous carving. If you had to carry their scars, their markings, may they be reclaimed with the bile and the scalding blood levigating them. Until those men’s passage was nothing but a memory, and then nothing anymore.

You closed the call with the flames of rage licking at the edges of your body, burning you, burning their images. It sealed the pact you made with yourself, of enduring whatever stretch of torture you were left ahead of you. Freedom was your goal, however you would obtain it – be it death, be it abandonment.

That night, the first one in a while in which you wanted to be awake, you observed the sky with new eyes. Not hopeful, not resigned, but incensed and mad. And your quest may be doomed, you may be the pitiful man screaming to the heavens and challenging those impossible to fight, but you needed it. You needed to find the motivation, the motion in your steps, and the force inside your performance.

Your workday came, the usual routine: get ready, take your car, drive to the house. Each moment was a bucket of gelid water over the fire you tried to preserve, with your own breath as fuel, the oxygen alimenting it to height you couldn’t even imagine before.

Your weapons were lousy, meager, worthless, and you hoped they would stay like that – because they weren’t to be used. But until you could, until that flame roared, you begged yourself to resist and fight with what you were given. If you did, you could return.

The day morphed between morning and afternoon, the men around you buzzed and pried. A request, a demand, nothing new and nothing odd. They continued to bother you for your entire stay, and you were ready to jump to attention. There was still rigidity in your steps, you had to summon all your willpower to even look them in the eyes, be cordial, act like you cared or like you even considered them.

Your fervor dimmed in their presence, returned to its glory in the few moments of calm you could make for yourself between one order and the other. Constant, always on your feet and never thinking too long, or you would lose your nerve and let it all slip away.

Your triumph was close, though. The door was a promise made by the end of the day, by the pink hues of the evening waiting beyond the threshold and down the road to your house. You survived another day, you survived with your spirit intact and still burning, even if it was but the minute sparkle of a match struggling to keep alive.

Only a handful of steps separated you from the first victory you could consider your own, the first drop in the vase after the drought. An outcome to keep close to your chest, let it warm your poor limbs, guard and shield with jealous frenzy from the tendril of those jackals. Yours, and only yours, digged up between your hands withered down to the naked bone.

But to that light, there was a shadow imposing itself from behind. It didn’t touch you, it didn’t demand, but you knew you had to stop when you acknowledged it; and it was aware of you knowing, because when your movements stopped, his started.

It was as if everything else fell down, into a void. It was you and it was Risotto, the only two being who ever existed. You breathed in, deep but controlled, to not alarm him and to feed that dying flame, those last ribbons of warmth deep inside your stomach. Air in, air out, slow as you could as Risotto arrived right in front of you.

Despite your knowledge about his involvement with the entire plot and obsession they had with you, you could hardly picture Risotto curved on his desk to watch picture after picture of you, listening to every hushed secret of yours the others were to confide him, scheming the next move and the future he wanted with you. But when those hollow eyes stared down at you like judgment was nigh, you could at least believe the demented corruption that mind held.

He bowed his head in pretend gratitude, in mocking politeness. Yet he was imperturbable, and cold, a glacier on your way to the sun on the horizon. His mouth was bringer of nothing, but misery; in that moment too, he could report nothing but foreboding omens, “Thank you. For everything, today.”

Each word was a pause, each syllable a meaning. Spoken with caution and with perfect delivery, an old actor basking into the applause of the public for his last exhibition. And like the bow to finally depart, Risotto’s arms raised and reached for you. Fangs ready to bite and tear the tender meat, leave it raw against the air.

He held you, more than a hug. It was a famished, desperate clawing at your soul to make it bleed, and bleed, and bleed dry. Head against his chest, calm heartbeat in your ears, drumming away against the membrane until it was as symbiotic as that of your mother the day you were born.

Your blood rushed to that rhythm, and the tide extinguished the last attempt to live on of that match. As if Risotto reached into the depths of your soul, and his fingertips closed around the head until the flame was suffocating around the lack of oxygen.

It ended there. Like every other time, you were left boneless and without yourself, between the arms of a man you didn’t want to see as human. Warm, and you hated it, that he was flesh and blood and brains and bones, that he was there and that he was breathing what you couldn’t gulp down as you were suspended between life and hell.

He left you shattering on the ground, wished you a good evening, and pushed you towards the door. The fragments breaking, hitting the floor, you on the carpets of that house. You looked behind into the hall, some of them there to watch the scene like critics, like judges, like birds of prey ready to hoard what you were leaving behind. You hoped with everything in you that those shards left cuts on their hands.

The drive back home started as badly as you could imagine: halfway, you had to pull over and double down to dry heave at the side of the road. Your throat contracting, releasing, tight and bound as your ribs felt like they were closing in to shield you further. On hands and knees on the dirty, long enough that someone stopped near your car to help you.

What could you do? How did you end up sobbing and step back from a stranger with concern deep inside their eyes, a hand on their phone ready to call for help? You begged, begged, down where you were. It was a simple, sudden illness that would disappear as soon as it came; you staggered on your feet, let them hold you up and leave you on your car seat.

After countless questions, to be sure you would be fine, they drove away. You watched the rear of their car pass, not before they slowed down near your position to check on you. Then silence that came after the asphalt was grinding under the wheels, cracking in the emptiness.

Only then, only in solitude, you fell apart piece by piece. Your head between your hands, between your knees, fingers tense and red for the strain to pull at your hair. The stress against your hairline, tugging once then twice, just to feel something else than the humiliating frustration and bottomless despair brought by that one, single embrace.

It took so little, so very little, and they could destroy any prospect or plan you wanted to build. For days took out of your life to pose as a monument, they came and raided and pillaged, left beaten earth under their feet and you to rebuild the incomplete ruins of what was left. Nothing, as usual, and each time the houses were a bit more crooked, a bit more bare, a bit more empty and useless against their attacks.

The problem was that, was it not? That you invited those barbaric acts inside your life, you didn’t stop and you couldn’t stop. You would have to endure invasion after invasion, in a lone effort of rebellion, unheard and unseen. You could do nothing to stop them efficiently, so you had to simply deal with the consequences and hope they found greener pastures.

However, you hated it with all your might. Because it was easy for them, it was impossible for you, and you deceived yourself in an everlasting instinct of seeking hope and reason to that chaos made of fear, impotence and resignation. An eternal struggle between wanting to keep that nature, that humanity behind a lock, but wanting to get rid of it to feel it pass and go, so that you would not be drowned anymore.

In your desperation, you truly wanted help once more. Who else could do so, if not the man who was there with you for the entire way. Sharing your pling, feeling it with you, your former fiance was a few keys away from you, in the palm of your hand. You dialed his number without thinking, with all the intention, as a second nature now that you could count on no one but him, and yourself, and whoever is beyond you looking down.

The line is hooked, it rings. You never noticed how long, resounding and echoing those sounds are, atonic and dragged to travel from one end of your mind to the other. Finally, the sound of the phone being picked up and your beloved’s voice greeting you with a yawn and a sigh.

It anchored you slowly, the exchange you had with him was calm and measured. You never vented or let your emotions take over when you were talking to him, but he was aware of the heavy note behind your words. He was aware of what you were carrying on your shoulders, but somehow he knew not to push a conversation about the topic, to just talk to you normally as he did months and months ago, before everything.

It was selfish to demand anything out of him, you should have done the most graceful act of care towards him and let him go towards a brighter future, but you craved so much the only feeble light like in that void. If you couldn’t ignite those flames inside of you for long or ever again, at least you wanted to rely on the external source of guidance. No matter how lost he was too, at least he was with you.

As your mind returned to progressive stability, you heard the weariness in his voice. He talked about projects and groups of students awake until the early hours of the morning to complete assignments and study. It wasn’t the substance that interested you, as much as the simple thought that he was fine and well, still living and still growing.

He would be there with you, in that growth. It wasn’t like the others, because he stuck around and he would share it. It wasn’t like those who simply flaunted normalcy, who craved abnormality and would remind you of the spiral of events, of circumstances and complete, utter, all-consuming horror you were in. He was different, he would lull you back into everyday life when everything ended; one in the arms of the other, ready to rebuild or renovate as you both changed, and grew, and matured – with this tragedy too.

“I have to go,” the conversation ended there, with a soft departure. You blinked exhaustion and daydreams away, just to listen once more to that calming voice, “I’m tired, sorry. I don’t think I can talk more tonight. Can we meet tomorrow to catch up?”

Your heart was beating in your throat, suddenly aware and awake. It had been a while since you met up with him, since you allowed that piece of your life back in its rightful place. Were you truly so egotistical to indulge that request of his, put him in grave danger only to satisfy your own need for reassurance? But then, who were you to deny it, who made you decisor of everything and anything?

You accepted, told him you would meet him in front of his house. He giggled with the tune of your early days, when you were still young and only starting to know each other. When you were naive, and happy, and unaware of anything that would come – be it a prosperous relationship or a declining situation.

With the promise hanging over your heads, you both said your goodbyes.

Despite the call, it took more time to recollect your complete calm, reconnect the wires. You couldn’t allow yourself the recklessness of driving without paying attention to the road and the other drivers. When you were ready, you adjusted your place inside your car and drove off.

That evening, you didn’t force yourself into any type of conversation and your mother understood you were more tired than usual. She didn’t insist, leaving you to sink into a deep sleep as soon as you were done with dinner. As always, your rest was devoid of anything.

You woke up unrefreshed, but pushed forward so that you could see your sweetheart. There was no special effort in your preparation, but each brush of your hair and each step closer to his home brought a sense of freedom and apprehension together to weigh down your soul. Even when you called to make sure he was still willing to meet you, you could feel something gripping your airpipe until you weren’t conscious.

It was ringing. Ringing, ringing, still ringing, and he didn’t pick up. You assumed he was showering or getting ready, maybe having breakfast and forgetting all about his phone for the time being. You retried a few times before deciding that it wouldn’t matter anyway, he was a man of his words.

You walked with somber silence, despite the rumble of the city all around you. You knew where he lived, he knew who you were looking for, yet your brain didn’t register much when you arrived at the right place, seeing the right man.

You moved as if everything was slowed to an almost-alt, just like those past few months felt. You unable to make sense of it all, struggling to even twitch, while the world moved on around you and without you. And despite it all, there was someone right behind you to walk in your steps and reach out to you.

A man, with a skull cracked open against a wall, a few steps right of the door to his apartment building. A man, with vacuous eyes staring ahead of him into the mob all around him. A man, cold to the world and stiff on the ground as he fell ungracefully on the floor with his brains spilling.

Someone was moving to cover him up, so that the public wouldn’t see the spectacle of macabre. But you continued walking over the scene, until a policeman stopped you in your tracks. He was young, evidently so, but he already carried hair white as snow. Besides that, you couldn’t catch any other detail of his appearance.

You raised your eyes to his face, then dropped them back down to the mass under the cover. You moved slowly, your hands holding onto the uniform of the person right in front of you, your knees giving out right under you.

You didn’t cry or wail, just vomited all over his shoes, on the floor and under the eyes of everyone present. You were sure some reached the corpse mere feet away from you. The policeman was not as concerned at the mess as he was at your weakened body collapsing right in his arms.

You didn’t know what to feel for a while, despite the questioning around you. You felt like you were walking under the rain, torrential, frustrated and furious about ruining your clothes and your hair and your bag and everything else that could be ruined. And you wanted to seek nothing but shelter, a place where you could feel the rain growl and rage, then dim and fade.

And you reached it, a shelter. Under it, you stopped for solace, only to find a gelid wind outside that fuming rage and that sustaining energy. Cold, unforgiving, aided by the roar of the thunder and the flash of the lighting, the rain progressively louder and stronger.

You felt cold for the first time since your climb towards a solution. It was always a possibility, it now became a reality. They had to eliminate him, and they put in your mind that dread of the potential – the potential to hurt those around you, for real and without remorse.

And when it clicked, you were aware of how to feel. You screamed enough to empty your lungs of air, until you couldn’t breathe anymore.

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken #risotto #yandere x reader #yandere

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moon-in-daylight · 4 years

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heyy! love your fics! i've seen you take requests so i'm testing my luck here. can we please get a dhawan!master x reader fic where reader is forced to pilot the tardis (like reason w her or link with her telepathically idk) to get the master to a hospital as he's passed out and kinda dying? like some angsty action that turns out fine in the end, please? thank you

Dispensable / Dhawan!Master x reader

Summary: You’ve always felt safe by The Master’s side, but when he endangers himself to save your life, you start wondering if his efforts to protect you are really worth it. Especially now that his life depends on you learning how to pilot a TARDIS.

Words: 4.6k

Warnings: Blood, weapons, injuries, insecure!reader, a little angst maybe.

A/N: Anon, I’m sorry this took me so long. I’ve just been out of inspiration lately and this is what came out after a month of writing. I hope you still like it though 💖

It wasn’t unusual for The Master’s plans to go terribly wrong sometimes, as it wasn’t unusual that you regularly got hurt in the middle of your adventures as a consequence.

Luckily, it was nothing too serious most of the times. Maybe you would get some scratches while running on the quiet days, some scars on the most serious days when you had to face some extremely angry alien civilization… And, in the worst scenarios, you had almost encountered your reaper face to face.

It was inevitable to suffer some unfortunate accidents while travelling inside the TARDIS. You knew that from the very start, that your least developed anatomy would barely be able to follow a Time Lord’s way of living, especially one’s with so much love for chaos and destruction. You were well aware that while you travelled with The Master death would always be keeping an eye on you. Yet, you gladly took the risks that staying in his ship entailed.

From the first moment you had stepped a foot inside that console room, you had known there would never be a way of turning back to your old life. Not after seeing the things, places and eras he could show you with the simple pull of a lever. At first, the main reason you stayed with him was the time travelling.

Though it was extremely dangerous and you feared The Master could abandon anytime and anywhere when he got bored of you, you decided to endure his rage filled words about your species and his several rules on how you should behave to try and get him to show you the stars. He wasn’t an easy person to deal with, but you had grown to both love and deal with him, and you liked to think he had done the same with you too.

After more than a year aboard of his ship, you trusted him almost blindly, confident that he would do anything he could possibly do to try and get you uninjured of the deadly situations you faced daily.

He was way more gentle and caring now than he was when you first met him, though that was something he would never admit out loud to you. But his change of behavior was evident. You noticed it by the little thing. By the way he always kept an eye on you when you were outside of the TARDIS, on how he threatened anyone that seemed barely interested in hurting you… He almost seemed a different person now. He even took care of your wounds when he couldn’t prevent you from getting hurt, and making sure you got the fastest recovery possible instead of leaving you to deal with them on your own.

You supposed he had gotten used to having a ‘human pet’, and that he took the trouble of taking care of you mainly because he didn’t want to have to take another human in his TARDIS to replace you if you were ever missing. Too much inconvenience to have to take another pet now that he had finally grown somewhat comfortable with your presence… Either way, and despite the many risks you faced time and time again, you always felt save by his side knowing that he wouldn’t let you die that easily.

While being by his side, you barely could remember what fear felt like.

That was, of course, until you found yourself in the worst situation you could have pictured.

The day had started as any other, with The Master taking you to New Earth in the middle of the First New World War, following your request of wanting to know more about the future of your species. The Master had told you repeatedly that humanity’s history was not worth seeing, that they were little more than amoebas. But your curious self had insisted him so many times about wanting to see your future that he had eventually given in.

You didn’t exactly liked what you saw there. The cruelty, the hatred that your own race processed against their own… The senseless death and unnecessary barbarism between those of their own blood… The Master had warned you that it wouldn’t be pretty, but considering the fact you were already used to face every possible form of chaos by his side, you had been sure that nothing he could show you could be worse than the damage you had already seen him cause to distant planets and civilizations.

Now that you ran for your life in the middle of an open battlefield, hand in hand with The Master as he tried to guide you to the safety of his TARDIS under a never-ending rain of bullets, you realized your mistake. You had never imagined a war could be so bloodthirsty, so atrocious… The Master hadn’t said it, but you were sure he was jealous of the destruction and despair caused by your species.

The two sides of the conflict were ready to do anything to get even the slightest advantage over their enemies, and of course, The Master had decided he should turn such horrible situation in his favor. He had manipulated both, the leader of the resistance and the supreme general of the new Earth’s forces, to make them believe the other would throw an offensive in the middle of the night. That way, while everyone fought to death in the middle of the battlefield, you and him could sneak into each side’s bases and steal whatever could be useful or valuable.

The Master’s plan was executing itself perfectly, to the point where it was all being too good to be true. Everyone had seemed to believe him and, though you were suspicious that things were never that easy with him, he appealed to your specie’s stupidity to justify the fact that no major complications had met your little scam. If everything went as he had planned, you would be in and out of each fortress in barely ten minutes, with your pockets full and the armory of the TARDIS completely renewed with new nuclear weapons. But just when the both of you were emptying the armory of the rebel band, two guards caught you red-handed.

Apparently, before indulging their soldiers into a bloodshed battle that would likely finish all live on the planet, the leaders of each side had decided to make things the diplomatic way. And for the first time in a very long time, they had decided to unite forces against a common enemy, you and The Master. You would’ve been proud of them, had your life not been in such danger.

Now, getting yours and The Master’s head was top priority to every living being in that planet, and you almost doubted you would be able to make it to his ship alive.

You had ran alongside The Master from angry crowds hundreds, maybe thousands of times now, but never before had you felt so trapped. The TARDIS was somewhere nearby, and every step you took closer to her was a sigh of relief that left your already tired lungs. Bullets and all kinds of projectile weapons were thrown in your direction, and The Master had to keep you even closer than usual to his body to prevent you from getting hurt.

When the disguised aspect of the TARDIS finally met your eye, you thought you had never felt happier in your life, but your legs were beginning to get tired and you felt yourself losing all the strength in your body, struggling to stabilize the rhythm of your breathing.

One last push, you repeated yourself internally as you forced your body to not give up, to resist until you could collapse on the safety of the TARDIS’ ground.

With every passing second, you could see your destination getting closer, but that little time felt eternal as you did your best not to lose focus and sprint those last meters for the sake of your life.

You only let go of The Master’s hand so you could extend your arms to push the TARDIS’ doors open, get inside and quickly close them after you. But the only thing your hands laid on was the ground as you tripped and fell only a few steps away from the ship.

Your heart sunk in your chest as your bad luck struck in, realizing that you didn’t have enough time to stand up from the ground before the hordes of soldiers reached you, probably killing you instantly. This time there was no way out, and you closed your eyes while you met your unavoidable fate.

This wasn’t a bad way to die, you supposed. You hadn’t lived too long, but you had lived your life to the fullest, running away through the stars with a psychopath alien and visiting places most of your kind couldn’t even dream about. You were at peace with yourself, suspecting that The Master wouldn’t be too affected by your loss and knowing that you had already lived longer than what could be expected of such a fragile being living such a dangerous life.

You were ready to let the rest of your body hit the floor and say goodbye forever, but then The Master’s hands gripped you tight from each side of your body and pushed you up and forwards, giving you the last boost you needed to reach the TARDIS’ doors.

“What are you doing?!” His angry tone reprimanded you as he positioned himself behind you to shield you from your persecutors. “Run!”

Taking The Master’s hand in yours again, you finally made it to the insides of the TARDIS, the comfort of the familiar console room greeting you as she hummed happily at your arrival. As soon as the doors closed, you threw yourself onto the Time Lord, surrounding him with your arms to pull him into a victory hug, or more a thankfulness hug for having saved your life seconds earlier.

You squeezed him tight as you let fear crawl out of your body, starting to feel safe again by his side. For a moment you had truly believed he wouldn’t turn back for you, that he would simply get inside his ship and forget about the fact you had ever existed. But now, after watching him risking his own life to save yours, you realized there wasn’t a single place in the universe where you could really be endangered if you were with him.

As your breathing calmed and you stopped hearing the throbbing of your heart buzzing in your ears, you heard him hiss slightly at the same time you felt the lower part of your torso dampening. Getting away from him, you discovered your shirt was covered in blood, and immediately, you lifted it up to find there was no wound underneath.

Looking again in The Master’s direction and finding that his belly was also covered in the thick liquid, you didn’t let him time to say anything before undoing the lower buttons of his shirt and discovering a bullet wound on the right side of his torso.

Blood was quickly coming out of it, and you were quick to tear the lower side of your shirt so you could use the fabric to press against the bullet hole and stop the bleeding. You had always seen that work in movies, but the material was soon soaked and you realized you couldn’t stop him from bleeding out when you found a second wound a few centimeters above the first one.

“You’re going to bleed to death…” Fear was starting to form in the pit of your stomach as your mind rushed trying to find a solution to the mess developing right in front of you.

“Don’t exaggerate.” He said, as if he had just gotten an insignificant scratch. “I will be fine.”

“No.” You shook your head, taking some piece of clothing you had left in the room earlier and placing it over his belly in hopes it would do something more than the piece of fabric you had used earlier. That didn’t seem to stop the bleeding either and you started to become more and more desperate. “You need to regenerate.”

The Master frowned at you, and then you realized the weak state in which he was. In normal situations, he would have look way more threatening and powerful with the simple act of just lying his eyes on you. Now, looking at the titanic effort he put in simply trying to stay awake was enough for you to pity him.

When you thought of The Master, many adjectives came to your mind, but pity had never before been a word you would’ve use him to describe him.

“I’m not going to regenerate for something so stupid.” He immediately refused, and you cursed him internally as you guided him to the nearest couch, hand still pressing on the side of his body as you helped him sit down as comfortably as possible.

“You’re dying.” You tried to reason with him, but his stubbornness was too much to handle at the moment. He didn’t say a thing as he let the weight of his body collapse on the piece of furniture, and you watched him in desperation. “Please, just do the goddamn thing!”

You pressed the fabric in your hands harder against his wounds, wishing that he would listen to you for once in his life. When you got no answer from him, you lifted your stare to his face again, realizing he had lost consciousness.

“No, no, no, no...” You muttered as you shook his body slightly, trying to get him to wake up. “Wake up, come on. Just wake up and regenerate!”

Seeing that he wouldn’t respond, you immediately decided to check for his heartbeat. Or more correctly, heartbeats. Placing two fingers on the side of his neck, you found that the rhythm of his two hearts was starting to get very similar to the one your single heart made, and then you realized just in how much danger he was.

You were no doctor, but he had already lost a lot of blood. If you did nothing, you feared he could be dead in less than a few hours.

You had been under The Master’s care and protection for so long that now that you were the one that had to look after him, you felt completely helpless. How were you supposed to help him? All you knew about Time Lord’s biology was that they could regenerate when in life or death situations, and he had refused to do it, so you were out of ideas.

“Please, help me…” You felt your eyes watering as you cupped his face in between your hands, shaking it from side to side slightly in yet another attempt to bring him back in himself and get him to help you save him.

You didn’t get any response from him, but you heard the TARDIS humming intensely at you. And you felt relieved to at least have received a single answer to your plea, even if it was by some piece of seemingly inanimate, alien technology. Turning your head to the center of the room, you watched the console lights flicker as she indicated you to get closer to the controls of the ship. Understanding what she wanted you to do, you looked at The Master one last time.

“I’ll never forgive you if you dare to die on me.”

He looked as calmed as you had ever seen him, eyes closed and facial expressions completely relaxed. Your last thought while looking at him before rushing to the controls, was that you wished you could see that serenity in him more often, in better situations that the one taking place now of course.

Placing yourself before the buttons and levers of the console, you found yourself completely lost. You had seen The Master piloting the TARDIS billions of times, but looking down at the controls you couldn’t recall any of the movements he made while doing so… Was it really that hard to show you how to pilot the TARDIS? Hadn’t he thought it could be useful in a situation like this one? And why couldn’t you have a better memory? How could you have seen him doing so many times and not have the slightest idea of what to do?

You searched around the console in hopes of finding a piloting manual, some instructions, or at least some note handwritten by the dying Time Lord that could give you some clue on how to put the time travelling ship in motion. But when you found nothing and realized you wouldn’t even know when or where to take the ship to if you knew how to pilot it, you started to feel impotence taking over you.

The Master was dying because of you, because he had stopped to help you, a simple, useless human. And you weren’t able to do anything to help him, to make things right. You were the one dying, not him.

Feeling the lump forming in the back of your throat you wished you could turn back time and stop him from helping you get to the ship.

How ironic was that? You were inside a time travelling machine, desperate to go back in time, and you simply couldn’t. You had never felt so small and worthless in your whole life as the tears started to fall down your cheeks.

“I don’t know what to do…” You looked back towards The Master, his unconscious body laid on the other side of the room. Your eyes examined him with an apologetic look for a few seconds before the TARDIS’ hum called you again.

Following the sound she made, you realized she was trying to draw you attention to one specific lever of the console, one she had pointed out by illuminating it with a characteristic purple light. Assuming she was trying to guide you, you got closer to the lever and pulled it without thinking it twice, desperate to at least try something to fix the situation.

When you heard the approving hum of the TARDIS and noticed the way she illuminated a close button in the same purple light, you proceeded to push that button too, and then the next one she pointed you to. You honestly didn’t know what any of those controls were doing or if you would be able to follow her instructions well enough to get The Master somewhere safe, but you had no time to waste with doubt and second-guessing.

You rushed through the console’s controls, pulling and pressing as soon as the TARDIS indicated you what it was that you had to do next. After pulling one final lever, you noticed the ground beneath your feet tremble as the ship entered the time vortex. You looked back at The Master one last time as the ship landed in an unknown location and time.

“Is it done?” You asked her, quickly wiping away the tears that had fallen from your eyes seconds earlier.

She gave you yet another hum, and you supposed you would need to go outside and figure out if you had succeeded in piloting the TARDIS to the right place. When you ran outside and found yourself inside a building that seemed like what you knew as a hospital, you finally let out the breath that you had been holding.

By the time The Master woke up again, he was lying inside a hospital bed, a sharp pain on his side and a little dizziness caused by whatever substance they were putting into his IV, which he quickly took off without even acknowledging what it was. He attempted to get off the bed to try and find out in which planet he was, or how he had gotten there, but he found himself too weak to move, the stabbing pain on his side making him desist from it.

Giving up and lying his head back on the pillow again, he caught a glimpse of something that look like a bracelet on his right wrist. When he looked at it, he realized his data was printed on that bracelet:

SPECIES: Time Lord

AGE: ?

NAME: Doctor

He immediately frowned at the name of his older enemy on his own hand, and for a second he theorized about being dead and having been sent to the profundities of hell as a punishment for his numerous crimes during his extremely long existence. For a second he feared he would have to live as The Doctor for the rest of eternity.

If there was in fact something similar to hell, he was sure this was it.

Your entrance in the room interrupted his thoughts as he sighed in relief by seeing you. He let out the air too fast out of his lungs, and he couldn’t help but hiss in pain.

“How are you feeling?” You asked him after you realized he had gained consciousness back again, closing the door behind you.

“Better than ever, love.” He said with that smug smile on his face, trying to ignore the intense ache on the side of his torso.

You looked at him for a few seconds, upset that he would act as if nothing had happened. Well, he was The Master. He was an expert in being annoying, you thought. What else could you expect from him?

“I hope it’s really hurting, you thick idiot.” You spitted out, not holding yourself back as you bitterly let him know just how angry you were with him. Had you been anyone else, you wouldn’t have probably lived to tell about it “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! I thought you were dying!”

“Dying is not something I’m very good at, as you can see.” The Master casually said with a pompous smirk on his face, one you wished you could slap off him. You simply decided to ignore his comment.

“Why didn’t you just regenerate? Do you have any idea how many trouble you would have spare me?”

“I thought you liked this face, pet.” He raised an eyebrow at you, arrogance showing all over his face as you couldn’t help but blush slightly. It was true you found him attractive, but he clearly didn’t need you to boost his already enormous ego.

“I would have rather have you alive with a different face than dead with this one.”

For barely a second you could see the façade in The Master’s eyes fall apart as you said those words. You knew he wasn’t very keen on talking about feelings, but you hoped he knew you were being serious.

“How did we arrive here?” He quickly changed the subject. “And why am I The Doctor now?”

“I brought us here. The TARDIS taught me to pilot her” You started to explain, watching the surprised look on his face as he tried to imagine you maneuvering his ship. “And well, when they asked me what your species was so they could give you the right medication, I thought I would tell them the truth, but when they asked me for your name I figured telling them they were treating one of the most dangerous criminals in all of time and space wasn’t such a great idea.”

“I would have rather you letting me die before letting anyone think I was her.” He rolled his eyes and ripped off the bracelet on his wrist, clearly annoyed by the idea of being mistaken for his former best friend.

“If you hadn’t stopped for me back then I wouldn’t have had to do it!” You pointed out in frustration, tired of him only complaining. You knew The Master would never thank you for saving his life, but those comments he made were starting to get you on your nerves. The Time Lord started at you in confusion for a few seconds, eyes glued to your face as he tried to decode what was going through your mind before forcing himself inside of it. After staying silent for several seconds, you decided to ask right away. “Why would you risk your life for me anyway?”

“You’re my pet, dear. I’m supposed to keep you safe.” He replied as if it was an obvious thing. When you had first met him, you had never thought you would hear him speak that way about a human.

“Not if it costs you your own life!”

“Did you really want me to abandon you?” He asked, tone deadly serious and eyes inspecting you carefully.

“No, but…” Sighing, you tried to find a proper way to express what was going on inside your head. “I would never want you to get hurt because of me. I’m only human, and my life is so ephemeral and fragile… Your life is way bigger and exciting than what mine could ever be, and you shouldn’t put it at risk because of me. I’m dispensable.”

While hearing your words, The Master regretted every time he had told you how inferior you were because of your ‘human condition’. He had seen you as dispensable at first, but he no longer considered you anything other than his equal, his partner in crime. The fact that you had grown to see yourself as something of less worth than him was almost as painful as the injury on his side.

“Don’t you ever say something like that again.” He warned you in what almost sound like a threatening tone. “You’re not dispensable. If you were I wouldn’t have you in my TARDIS. I did what I did, and I would do it again if I had to, love. I promised to take care of you and that’s exactly what I’m going to do, no matter the cost. Is that understood?”

A little taken aback but moved by his words, you simply nodded, trying to regain composure again.

“Good, now help me get out of here.” Without giving you a second to react, he immediately attempted to get out of the mattress. You quickly rushed to his side to try and get him to lay back again.

“What are you doing? You’re still not ready to go!” You tried to convince him to stay in the hospital for a little longer, to give himself some time to fully recover. Deep down you knew everything you’d try would be useless, knowing that he would run away from that room at the first chance he got. He would probably even want to go plan his next heist right after arriving the TARDIS, as if nothing had ever happened.

“It won’t take long for the staff to discover you lied about my identity, and they’ll want some explanations.” He began to explain to you. “We need to be gone by the time they arrive.”

Closing your eyes, you realized he was right. That was one of the few inconveniences of travelling around space and time causing chaos and destruction, you couldn’t stay anywhere for too long if you didn’t want to get caught, and The Master was a wanted man in practically every corner of the universe.

“Okay, we are leaving.” The Master’s face was adorned with a pleased smile as he heard your words. “But don’t even think about getting into trouble for the next few days. You’re going to get a full recovery first. You have to promise me.”

“I promise you, pet.” He stated as he leaned onto you to use your body as support when he got up.

“Oh, and I’m piloting the TARDIS, by the way.” You added, gaining a warning look from him. “What? You are going to need a lot of rest in the next few days and I have to practice in case I have to pilot her again.”

#Dhawan!Master #Dhawan Master #Dhawan!Master x reader #Sacha Dhawan #Dhawan Master x reader #Dhawan!Master x you #Dhawan Master x you #Doctor who fanfiction

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earthfire-75 · 3 years

Text

What Is and What Should Never Be

(A great big thank you to @brownskinsugarplum76 for being my beta for this fic)

Chapter One

I don’t know how I got here, on this plane, or even how I came to be curled up in the arms of a man I barely knew. So much had happened in such a short time, starting earlier in the week.

Monday, my friend asked me to go to a concert with her. It was to see Led Zeppelin. She had introduced me to their music a year ago. I could admit that I liked their music, but concerts weren’t really my thing. Too much of a stick in the mud, as she would say. But I knew how much it meant to her to go, so I agreed.

Tuesday I went in for my scheduled check-up appointment and found out I was pregnant, to my surprise. My boyfriend and I had been careful, or so I thought. To make matters worse, said boyfriend of two years, I might add, broke up with me then and there. Even had the balls to accuse me of sleeping around.

Wednesday and Thursday I was crying my eyes out still, to the point of making myself sick no matter how much my friend tried to comfort me. Friday afternoon saw us driving to the hospital when I started having contractions and I had a miscarriage. After a couple of hours of observation, I was sent home with a prescription for pain medication in case I needed it.

The rest of Friday was spent arguing over whether to still go to the concert the next night or not. My friend argued it was probably too soon for me, and she didn’t want to leave me by myself. I argued that she should still go because she had been waiting so long to see her favorite band play live.

Eventually, I proposed a compromise. We would both still go together, rationalizing that she would still get to be there, and she wouldn’t be abandoning me in the process. She was reluctant at first, but eventually gave in. We picked our outfits for the concert and set them out and then listened to Houses of the Holy as we got ready for bed.

Saturday morning was spent getting ready for that evening. Once there at the concert, though, my mood seemed to shift for the worse. Sadness, depression and the occasional thoughts of suicide, something I hadn’t told my friend about, shifted to a fight or fuck instinct. I was hoping to fuck more than fight, but things don’t always work out how you want.

I was eyeing the frontman like he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen before. And I had been drinking for quite some time by that point, despite my friend’s efforts. I was swaying my hips to the music, finally forgetting the past few days and losing myself to a desire I wasn’t expecting as I watched the frontman dance around the stage.

“Give it up, sweetheart. You’re never getting a piece of that.” I heard another female voice from my left side, and that was all it took for fight to take over. Before I could think about the consequences of my actions, I turned and took a swing at her, hitting her square in the nose. Security separated us before it could escalate, but instead of dragging me outside, I found myself plopped down on a couch next to my friend.

I was vaguely aware that there were others in the room as well. Three, actually. One was on the couch with us, talking to my friend. Across the room at a table were two others talking among themselves though they would look over now and then. My eyes had gone blurry, either from being that drunk or because I was starting to tear up again and trying to hide it, I wasn’t sure.

A few minutes later and the door opened again and two more figures entered. Even though I couldn’t make out any details, I could tell one man was large and intimidating. It made me curl up into a ball and hide my face in my friend’s back. I heard hushed arguing, or maybe my hearing had been affected by the alcohol too? But then I felt the couch dip on my other side and a hand gently rubbed my back. I couldn’t help melting into it and began to relax.

The next thing I knew, I was curled into a hard body, my head resting on a shoulder and my fingers twisted around ringlets of long golden-bronze hair with hints of copper. I smiled briefly as I was somehow reminded of a beach where I often played at as a child; a place that always brought me comfort. I took a moment to take in the rest of my immediate surroundings and found an expanse of golden tanned skin, a chest, with a smattering of dark blonde hair.

Slowly, I looked up, following a path up his bared chest and up his long neck until our eyes met. Such beautiful stormy blue eyes they were. He was looking at me with a kind of fascination and I know my breath hitched when I realized who I was now staring at. He looked so much younger than he was at that moment. When I tried to disentangle myself from him, he held me in place with a gentle arm around my waist and pulled my hand back towards his hair as if he wanted it there.

“Don’t go, darlin, please. Stay.”

How could I deny those pleading eyes? Swallowing hard, I returned to my previous position in his lap and curled his hair around my finger again. I was at once grateful for the comfort he seemed to provide me and afraid of it. Because I knew if I relaxed enough, everything from the week up to this point would catch up to me. Point in fact, I was already starting to feel the prick of tears behind my eyes. Just when I thought I was all out...

Inhaling a shaky breath, I curled myself further into the man beneath me, burying my face into his chest, as if trying to crawl inside him to hide from the world. I felt his other hand come up to cradle the back of my head, and he made a confused, helpless sound at the back of his throat. I tried to voice that my tears were in no way his fault, but sound wouldn’t come. My throat was too tight to speak and I didn’t trust my voice not to shake, and tremble anyway.

“Anjelika?” I heard my friend call, then felt the surface behind me dip as someone sat down behind me. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I thought this would help you get your mind off of things.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know if she’d be ok with me saying. I do know her enough to know she wouldn’t want to be crying in front of everyone. Is there somewhere more private?”

“Yeah, in the back.” I felt his arms shift, one remaining on my back while the other slid under my legs, just behind my knees. He stood, taking me with him and carried me down a small hallway; moments later I was placed on a rather soft surface. A bed, from the feel of it, too soft to be anything else.

I still clung to him as if it might save my life and he lay down beside me. “It’s alright, darlin’, not going anywhere if you don’t want me to.” He wrapped an arm around my waist, as if to prove his point.

My friend sat on the bed behind me, rubbing my back comfortingly. “Is it alright if Jimmy stays?” She asked. I lifted my head up and turned to look back, seeing the dark haired man who she had been fawning over standing by the door. I nodded in agreement, more for her sake than my own. Jimmy sat down next to my friend and I turned my attention to the man holding me.

“We never did get to make proper introductions, did we, darlin’? I’m Robert.”

“Anjelika,” I introduced myself through a sniffle.

“Angelic,” he whispered reverently, brushing my hair away from my face. “Do ya know how appropriate your name is, darlin’?”

I blushed despite myself and smiled weakly up into his gorgeous blue eyes. “You’re too kind, Robert. Which is also rather appropriate for you.” My tears were starting to subside because this man made me feel better about myself. Because he made me feel wanted.

He laughed, “I suppose it is!” He took a moment to gently wipe away the tear tracks from my cheeks with a feather light touch. He kissed my forehead then, though the kiss was soft and lingering. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” He asked softly.

I didn’t really, but acknowledged that if I did, it might help somehow. Taking a deep breath, I explained what had happened earlier in the week, the pregnancy, the breakup, losing the baby just the night before... everything.

“Are you alright, love?” The accent was thicker than Robert’s, so I assumed it was Jimmy.

“Oh, darlin’. Anjelika, I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Robert held me tighter then, pressing another soft kiss on my cheek. A few more tears escaped my eyes, but I didn’t break down again.

Desperate to change the subject, I asked Robert, “You’re a fan of Tolkien, yeah?” I recalled my friend telling me that.

He smiled in response. “I am. Even have a book or two in my bag. Did you want to borrow one, darlin’?”

I bit my lip to suppress a shy smile. “Read to me?”

“Great, now I gotta listen to him talk the entire flight! He never shuts up as it is!” Jimmy mock complained.

“Quiet you,” Robert teased back, “everyone loves the sound of my voice! Besides, how do you expect me to deny the beautiful lady a request?”

“Willpower?”

Robert just rolled his eyes and shook his head before he got up to retrieve one of his books. When he returned to the bed, he sat with his back against the headboard and found where he left off in the book. With the invitation of joining him with a slight tilt of his head, I sat up as well, finding my place pressed against his side with his arm holding me close. As he read to me from the book, his voice so soft, lulled me back to sleep.

I woke up briefly, looking up at Robert. He was still reading from his book, so I probably hadn't been asleep long. I reached up and traced the lines of his cheekbone and jawline, thinking how much his features were feline-like. That and his wild hair, reminding me of a lion’s mane. “My lion,” I whispered softly, making him stop and look down at me, but I had already fallen back asleep.

I was woken again by the feel of Robert’s fingers running through my hair. “We’re about to land, darlin’. Time to wake up.”

#led zeppelin #robert plant #RPF #first RPF #long post

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

Note

On that ask about show/tell, if I may, it reminds me in some ways of how Rose Quartz was treated by SU. She was always said by everyone to be perfect, yet everything associated with her in season 1 is dangerous, and what everyone says about Rose doesn’t match up with what the audience is shown. It seemed deliberate, to later sweep a rug out from under people's feet. Do you think it's possible that RWBY is setting up a similar rug with this idea of 'heroism=always right' and 'kids v adults'?

(You definitely may :D)

I’ll admit straight out that I don’t have the knowledge that a lot of other SU fans do. I’ve always watched the show purely for entertainment, mostly turning my brain off and just going along for the ride, allowing others to do the analysis, theorizing, etc. That being said, to my mind the discrepancy between show and tell in that case did seem deliberate, but the show actually acknowledged that conflict in a way RWBY has yet to. In SU we’re suppose to pick up on the disconnect and grapple with it, both to fuel interest—who is Rose Quartz really?—and, ultimately, learn more about the main characters. To provide a concrete example, we have Pearl’s obvious love and devotion, at odds with, as you say, the rather dangerous and at times even cruel choices Rose has made. We hear Pearl say “You’re wonderful” and watch her cry over Rose choosing to abandon them to give birth to Steven (among other potential flaws in her character). There’s a definite disconnect, but for me I never thought—like with RWBY—“Why is the show trying to convince me that Rose is 100% good when she’s clearly not?” The message seemed to me, “The show isn’t telling me to think anything, it’s providing me with information that I can now interpret for myself. Pearl believes Rose is 100% good, but we have seen otherwise. This tells us that Pearl’s perception is skewed. Her love has blinded her, just as their devotion and trauma have blinded the other gems. The stories they feed Steven are sanitized out of love (don’t speak ill of the dead), fear (did we lead that rebellion for nothing?), his age (he’s just a kid who lost his mom), and lack of knowledge (they don’t know a lot of what we’re shown). It makes perfect sense then that what they say doesn’t match up with our more objective knowledge. I wonder when the characters will learn/acknowledge what we the audience have known for a while: that Rose is a far more complex person than they’ve painted her as?” Which is precisely what the show does. We get to watch everyone grapple with these revelations and those arcs validate the audience’s reading of the text. We knew Rose wasn’t 100% good like everyone said she was and now we get to watch the rest of the cast catch up as they realize that. We knew that revelation was coming and anticipated it.

This acknowledgement of the discrepancy is particularly evident through Steven. He’s the one always asking questions about his mom, expressing anger, doubt, becoming frustrated with these platitudes he’s given that don’t add up to the facts—he picks at that conflict between Rose the story and Rose the person like a scab and, because he’s our protagonist, we do too. We’re encouraged to grapple with it, question it, decide for ourselves where we fall before Rose’s true nature is finally revealed. RWBY Volume 6 had none of that. It would have been a very different story if Ruby had pushed back against the rest of the team. Or the team had pushed back against her. If our newcomer (Maria) had pushed in from the outside. If the story’s structure had provided hints (i.e. music that conveys the message that Ruby is making a mistake in attacking Cordovin as opposed to the triumphant music we got, things like that). In short, if the volume had done anything to say, “We’re providing you with multiple perspectives here that you’re meant to debate. Do you think Qrow was justified in hitting Oscar? Do you think they made the right decision in stealing the airship? We’re acknowledging that there’s no black and white thinking here.”

Instead, the show insists it is black and white. That there’s one answer and the answer is The Protagonist Is Always Right. Every aspect of the show said loud and clear, “We agree with this! This is good! Hop on this bandwagon because absolutely no one is going to challenge it!” The closest we get to the story questioning any of the characters’ horrible actions is when the group reacts badly to Jaune attacking Oscar (and even then the show pulls back in the worst way: no one really calls Jaune out on his shit, no one reaches out to Oscar, there are no consequences to Jaune’s actions (like Oscar leaving, which everyone expected), Yang is only worried about him. The overall message is the same we got for episode after episode: the protagonists can really do no wrong. Even when we subtly acknowledge that they make mistakes there are no repercussions. There’s no growth. Those mistakes are inconsequential). It’s only through the viewer’s personal experience that we might question what’s happening on screen, because the story in no way encourages us to as SU does. It’s only thinking to ourselves, “Does someone who does all this really fit my definition of a hero?”

Thus, there’s nothing within the story itself, to my mind, that tells me RWBY is setting up something larger; that this OOC, protagonist-centric writing is setup meant to be turned on its head. Is it possible we’ll start Volume 7 with criticism of their actions? Absolutely, but so far I’ve seen nothing that makes me terribly hopeful it will be there. At this point I expect that any push-back will be framed as largely undeserved: Ironwood reams them out for their choices but the scene is highly sympathetic towards the group. We’re supposed to feel sorry for them getting punished over something they “had” to do, not satisfied that they’re finally learning from their mistakes. We already saw it with Qrow. Rather than encouraging us to take his fears about stealing the airship seriously, we’re instead encouraged to side with the group in viewing him as a pessimistic drunk who doesn’t want them to succeed only because he’s given up, not because the plan is actually absurd. The show came down hard on the side of kids in the kids vs. adults debate, thereby undermining any criticism adults might have. The show made Ruby’s plan entertainingly badass, pulled strings to make sure it succeeded, had Cordovin change her tune in the most absurd way, Qrow too, Jinn is randomly team Ruby, they walk away with absolutely 0 consequences… from a narrative standpoint everything is telling us, “They’re heroes who did the right thing.” If even evil, mean Cordovin ends up approving of Ruby by the end of it all, who is Ironwood to question her? He must be delusional. He must be wrong. Because every other character and every plot point is holding up a neon sign claiming that Ruby is right.

In comparing the two shows, it’s also worth keeping in mind that Steven Universe is just tighter writing all around. Is it perfect? Of course not, no show is, but it has been meticulously planned by Sugar from the get-go and I can easily see that work in the final product. When something doesn’t add up in Steven Universe, like with Rose, I have complete faith that this conflict is there for a reason. We notice it, the show confirms that we’re supposed to notice it, and it’s eventually resolved. Sadly, I don’t have nearly as much faith in RWBY’s writing.

#rwby #mymetas #spectralscathath #long post #steven universe

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cefstickles · 6 years

Text

Vulnerable Information

Hello everyone! I’m sorry once again that this isn’t a request. I have them almost ready to go I promise. Thank you for being patient with me. This is just to hold you guys over until I get done with stupid finals!! Anyways please enjoy this tickle fic I threw together last night for my friend @tinysidestrashcaptain! (She is so awesome and a really go writer! Go follow her and check out her stories.) I’m also gonna tag another amazing tickle fic writer @ticklyfandoms and you should also follow them because their content is beautimous!

Love you all and thank you so much! Hope you enjoy!

Vulnerable Information

(ships): Logicality

Words ~ 2,499 ~

Warnings: Tickle fic, some angst at the beginning, very teasy at the end

It was one of the moral aspects clumsy weeks. Patton had been dropping just about everything he touched. From breakfast yesterday morning, to Roman’s sword collection later on, and finally just now he dropped an entire stack of papers he was helping carry for his boyfriend Logan. As he watched the papers fly everywhere across the mindscape, Patton’s emotional threshold about had it. He broke down, sobbing right there in the middle of the hallway, unable to follow Logan down the steps he had traveled down not a minute before.

Logan heard the sudden exasperated cry from his boyfriend upstairs and he instantly abandoned his own stack of papers he was carrying. He raced up the steps until he saw the papers flying past. The logical aspect frowned knowing exactly what had occurred. Patton had managed to yet again drop something else. Normally he would be angry, but the last thing that Morality needed right now was his wrath. Logan took in a deep breath as he walked around the corner and swept away the enormous loose pile of papers that was covering his wailing boyfriend.

“I’m *hiccup* sorry Logan!! *hiccup* I can’t do *hiccup* anything write.” He picked up a pencil trying to make a pun, except he dropped that too causing himself to cry more. Logan frowned sadly as he tried to lead his boyfriend off the floor, only to see him to slump back down again.

The thump the moral aspects’ rump made when it hit in contact with the floor alerted the other two aspects of Patton’s current distressed state. Roman and Virgil were in the kitchen not a moment later, helping pick up the loose leaves without question. Logan tried one more time to pick his sobbing boyfriend off of the floor and this time succeeded, wrapping one of the moral aspect’s arms around his own shoulder.

“Take care of dad, Logan. We’ll clean this up.” Roman nodded with Virgil in agreement, and the logical aspect thought, knowing the two probably wouldn’t put them back in alphabetical order like he had them. He shrugged the matter off however, knowing his boyfriend was more important than any sort of information he could filing at the moment.

Silently thanking them, he exited the room with the moral aspect leaning onto him like his life depended on it. Seeing his boyfriend in such a state as this about broke his heart in two. Logan then led him, runny-nosed and teary-eyed, to his own room, opening and closing the door behind him. Before Patton knew it however, he was picked up bridal-style and placed on top of Logan’s bed, his eyes transfixed on the ceiling, and then his love’s face came down to his level.

Patton felt his tears and cries began to slow as the logical aspect began to wipe his eyes and his nose lovingly with some Kleenex™. Logan then pressed a gentle comforting hand to his face, watching the emotional myre slowly relinquish its hold on his boyfriend, until all that was left were gentle sniffles. Patton finally turned his head, but was kindly shushed by Logan.

��My dear Patton. You do not need to apologize for the papers. I understand it has been a hard week for you. Do not worry about what I need to do. My primary focus right now is taking care of you.” Patton sniffled once more and sighed leaning his head against the logical aspect’s hand for grounding and reassurance. Logan smiled and signaled for his boyfriend to scoot over.

“May I lay with you dear Patton?” The moral aspect lifted his head, giving Logan a small smile as he made room for his boyfriend beside him. Gingerly, Logan laid down beside him, and immediately grasped the hand closest, raising it up to his lips kissing it gently. Patton gave a tiny giggle and a final sniffle, as the sadness finally subsided from his eyes and facial features. Logan gave content sigh of relief and stared into Patton’s beautiful brown eyes, his own lighting up as Patton’s happy smile returned.

“T-thank you Logan!” He wiped his nose with his cardigan once more, before cuddling into his boyfriend and wrapping his arms around Logan’s sides. The logical aspect flinched slightly, but allowed himself to be trapped by the moral aspect.

“Anytime my beloved.” After about five minutes of an absurdly long hug however, Logan began to squirm out of Patton’s grasp, to which the moral aspect whined persuasively.

“Nooooo...stay with meee...please?” Logan rolled his eyes fondly.

“Patton. I would cuddle with you, but I have work to attend to.” Patton only squeezed tighter.

“Nooooo!! Work can wait!!” He nuzzled his face into the logical aspect’s chest, causing Logan to raise an eyebrow.

“Are you positive you only want me to stay Patton? Or is there something else you were getting at?” Patton stopped moving in his grasp for a second to think of his answer, before desperately shaking his head.

“No I just want to spend time with you.” The little giggle at the end of his sentence betrayed his true thoughts to Logan. The logical aspect chuckled at this.

“I am not sure I believe you, dearest. I think I’ll ask again. Was there something else you wanted?” He pushed himself down until he was eye-level with his boyfriend, their noses touching and Patton’s arms now wrapping around his neck.

“Nope!” Patton blushed knowing full well he would be found out eventually by his preceptive boyfriend and found out he was not a moment later.

“I’m not quite sure I believe you Patton. Perhaps we should test your null hypothesis, if I reject it...then there should perhaps be some consequences involved, don’t you think, Patton?” The logical aspect rested his fingertips, starting at Patton’s wrists and slowly began to travel their way down his arms stroking slowly. Logan didn’t take his eyes off of his boyfriend once, even as his giggles began to increase. Once he felt the sleeve of Patton’s shirt he stopped, watching Patton squirm closer and not away from him.

“Patton?”

“Eheheh. Yes Logan?”

“I believe I found out what it is that you wanted.” He gave him a knowing smirk slowly making tiny circles with his thumbs on the undersides of his arms, that were still currently wrapped around his neck. Patton began to give a series of soft squeals, as he did his best to keep his arms around the logical aspect’s neck. “But...for research purposes, I need you to tell me what you want.”

Patton shook his head defiantly unable to speak from the delightful sensations coming from Logan’s strategic hands.

“Now Patton. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is you can deliberately tell me what it is you want right now and I will give it to you. I can assure you that this course of action will cause you to blush less in your cheeks than the hard way. The hard way entails my hands resting right where they are and a large amount of verbal teasing, until you decide to comply, telling me what it is you want.”

Patton grinned through his giggles, deliberately choosing the hard way from Logan’s perspective.

“I see the hard way is the path you have chosen. Do you wish to continue? Because there is no escape once you have made your choice, dear Patton.” Logan’s hands gripped Patton’s arms, preventing escape. Patton blushed and closed his eyes, shaking his head furiously.

“As you wish then.” Logan began to move his thumb once again, only this time in a quicker and lighter fashion. “So...I will state my hypothesis in question form and you must repeat it back as a sentence if it is true. Patton Sanders, do you enjoy being tickled?”

Patton’s eyes widened as he shook his head vigorously refusing to open his mouth. The speed of Logan’s thumbs quickened as he let out a low and growly chuckle.

“Lying will get you nowhere. How am I able to get results if your stubbornness inhibits your ability to cooperate? Allow me to try again. Do you, Patton Sanders enjoy my fingers gently wiggling against your skin, the rush of adrenaline as I squeeze your tummy, and the tiny kisses I apply to your sides?” Patton’s laughter flushed with his face, growing redder by the minute at Logan’s teasing voice. The moral aspect once again shook his head through his laughter, continuing to deny the logical aspect’s words.

“Patton you are only making this harder on yourself.” Logan began lightly squeezing the area under his arms now. “I will state my hypothesis once more, do you Pat-”

“YEEHEHEHS!! Yes I do!!”

Logan raised an eyebrow in victory. “Oh? Do what Patton?” He left his thumbs there hovering just outside of Patton’s armpits.

“Ihihihih doo like it!”

“What is this ‘it’ that you like, Patton? Please. Do tell.” Logan smirked gladly he was finally getting the upper hand of the battle.

“I LIKE BEING TICKLED!!” Patton practically yelled it and arched his back of the bed, badly wanting Logan to stop hovering and get on with it, but Logan moved his thumbs away just in time.

“Well why did you not say so in the first place, my dearest Patton. So...is there anything in particular you would like me to do with this piece of information?”

Patton shrunk back and made eye contact with his boyfriend, surrendering himself to his vulnerability. “...tickle me? Please?”

Logan smiled fondly as his fingers creeped back towards their target. “With pleasure, dearest.” It only took his digits a second to enter into the defined arches of his armpits, wiggling his index fingers lightly and stimulating as much area as possible. Patton shrieked at the touch and held Logan’s body firmly, refusing himself to respond to the fluttering touch.

Logan chuckled at his boyfriend’s antics. “You are quite adorable in this state, Pat. I know you adore the act of gargalesis and your responses to my touches are quite entertaining to watch. Could you tell me how much you are enjoying this...by...let’s see here...a show of hands? Raise your arms to the sky dearest Patton. It is my intention to maximize your pleasure from this stimuli.” Patton’s chuckles heightened as he shakily stretched his arms to the sky, doing his best not to clamp down. In response, Logan slowed his tickles too, until it was only gentle stroking and gentle giggles. It was then that Logan attacked in the deepest part of his armpits causing an enormous amount of laughter to bubble out and Patton’s armpits to come clamping down.

“You seem to be quite ticklish here my dear Patton? Are you enjoying yourself? Would some verbal teasing put your over the edge per se, however? Tickle tickle tickle my dearest Patton. I know you like it!”

“NAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!”

“No? I thought we just established that you did...perhaps a different area is in need of a tickle however.” Logan smiled fondly. “Where should I tickle you next? Your ears? Your nose? Your ribs? Or your toes?” He gently stroked a fleeting finger over each body part as he named it, soaking up the tiny giggles Patton expelled from his lips. “Perhaps your belly would suffice for now.” As Logan reached his hands down Patton’s arms flew off of Logan’s neck as he tried to protect his tummy, shying away from Logan’s touch.

“Ah ah ah. None of that Patton. Hands down at your sides please. You know you are going to enjoy this.” Patton’s face couldn’t blush anymore as he complied slowly lowering his hands to his sides and letting Logan lift up his shirt, slowly.

“Eheheheheheh!! Go faster!!”

“What? Am I not allowed to tease you?” He slipped his index finger gingerly into his bellybutton wiggling it a bit, before lifting up the rest of his shirt and proceeding to gently squeeze across Morality’s abdomen. Patton’s whole body shook with laughter as he gripped the bed sheets, enjoying all of his boyfriends touches. “You are truly adorable Patton.” He then moved from squeezes to subtle scuttles all about his tummy, scratching at various speeds and intensities.

“AHAHAHHHAHAHAHAH!!!” Patton tried not to squirm, but his self defense mechanisms were fighting against his freewill. Logan slowed down his tickles until it was only two index fingers drawing obscure equations on Patton’s bare belly, his laughter subsiding into tiny giggles.

“Lohohogan?”

“Yes Patton?”

“Can you...please tickle my sides?”

“Why yes of course my dear Morality! Thank you for asking.” His fingers then lightly trailed to either side of his stomach beginning to flutter again at a more intense speed. Patton’s laughter skyrocketed once more as he almost jolted off of the bed. “Judging by your responses, you must be very sensitive here. Perhaps some kisses are in order.” Patton’s laughter when silent as he felt Logan’s lips trailing up and down his right side, peppering him with kisses and blowing the occasional teasy raspberry. He switched to his other side soon after, giving it the same treatment fondly. He ended his escapade on Patton’s belly, with one final gigantic raspberry, right on the top of his navel, causing a silent shriek to course through the entirety of Patton’s body.

Patton thought his tickling session was over after that glorious ending, but he was wrong. Logan’s lips then shot up straight to his neck, peppering the area with kisses and sending the moral aspect back into happy hysterics. He nipped with his mouth and tickled with his fingers, soaking up every beautiful sound that gave way out of Patton’s mouth. He only stopped however when he felt the joyful tears trickle down off of Patton’s face and onto his own cheeks.

He retreated and memorized the way Patton looked after a tickling session, hair tousled, eyes happy bright, and his smile. Oh goodness his smile is what got Logan everytime he looked at the moral aspect. It was like a whole world of opportunities was waiting for him, and all Logan had to do was explore it. In how many ways could he get Patton to smile like that? He could only wonder because he was sure the possibilities were endless.

It took him a few minutes to regain himself, the ghostly tickles beginning to subside leaving a yawning and tired Patton in their wake. He grabbed out towards Logan once again, pulling him back into his embrace and dozing off quietly.

Thus Logan found him in the same position again, but this time he didn’t want to move Patton. He too found his eyelids growing heavy and his personage tired. His real work that he needed to do had already been completed, as far as he was concerned. Perhaps this is what the moral aspect had needed all along. Logic quickly filed away the new found information in his mind, that if Patton was ever having another clumsy week, all he needed was a good tickle.

#sanderssides #sanders sides #logan sanders #logic sanders #thomassanders #thomas sanders #patton sanders #morality sanders #logicality #logicxpatton #logan x patton #loganxpatton #tickle fic #tfic #cefsfic #cefspost

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slivermxgic · 3 years

Text

{cis woman; she/her; bisexual} – harley quinn who comes from dc has been spotted in sydney. they are twenty five years old and are a human. they have been called +intelligent, +bubbly, -crazy. it seems like their memories are missing. i’ve also heard that they are a dead ringer for margot robbie.

“I have done everything you said. Every test, every trial, every initiation. I have proved I love you. Just accept it!“

ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖: Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel (Real Name, formally) , Harley Quinn (Better known as)

ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖: Harls, The Cupid Of Crime, The Maiden Of Mischief, The Mistress Of Mayhem, The Clown Princess Of Crime, The Queen of Gotham City

𝔸𝕘𝕖 : twenty five

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕤: human

ℍ𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕟: Gotham City

𝕆𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 : Psychiatrist

𝕊𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕆𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 : bisexual

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤: single

𝔹𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪: July 20, 1990

𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥: finding bruce the hyena in chinatown

𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 : good/evil/neutral

character life:

movie history:

Harleen Quinzel was born to unnamed parents on was born on July 20, 1990 in Gotham City (in the comic books and in the animated series her parents were named sharon and nick quinzel, in the animated series sharon was her alcoholic mother and her father was a deadbeat dad who was also a greedy gambler and con artist) in the movies her mother is i believe not mention in the movies and her father is unnamed . (also in the book books she has three younger brothers barry, frankie and ezzie, in another universe and timeline and different comic book harley has a sister named Delia Quinzel , in that same universe she has a daughter with the joker who she gives up and the joker doesn’t know she exist named lucy)

her family life was highly dysfunctional since her drunkard father constantly tried to abandon her even though she always found her way back home

sometime during her childhood her nothing good for father sent her to the orphanage run by a nuns while there her attitude landed her into multiple trouble to the point that Harleen smashed a nun with an oar.

once she reach high school Harleen became known as a model student, achieving excellent grades as well as extensive gymnastics training. Because of her efforts, she was rewarded a full scholarship to Gotham City University where she majored in psychiatry under Dr. Odin Markus (comic book : she was an Honor Student and a Gymnast. She attended Gotham University so that much was in common with the movie however she initially went to college for Veterinary and Biological Science, but for some unknown reason she left that field to pursue Psychiatry. She excelled in her field, eventually earning a place as a psychiatrist at a prominent hospital, but her interest in criminal psychology led her to transfer to Gotham City's famed Arkham Asylum) not long after her graduation, Quinzel's theoretical thesis made a huge success that it led to her transfer into the job as a psychiatrist intern at Arkham Asylum

the joker one of Harleen patients imprisoned there by none other then Batman,because she talked to him so much at one point she took a particular interest in him, to the point now she regularly visiting and speaking with him.

As their sessions went on, Quinzel was gradually manipulated by the psychopath to the point where she eventually fell in love with him, and the Joker got her to smuggle a machine gun into the sanitarium, leading to his escape.

Before leaving however, the Joker subjected to Harleen shock therapy, he electrocuted and tortured her until she was completely no longer sane, to the point where she was insane this only greatly affecting her mental state even further

Harleen chased down the joker because she wanted him to take her with him, so they went to Ace Chemicals there the joker asked Quinzel to pledge an oath and was asked if she would die for him. She responded in the by allowed herself to fall into the vat of chemicals after she jumped into the chemicals the joker almost well he considered leaving her to die but promptly changed his mind and jumped in after her, pulling her up to the vat's surface. He then kissed her, and Quinzel awakened with the same frontotemporal dementia that her lover received via exposure to the chemicals and oxygen deprivation.there she got the name harley quinn the name was born (in the comics when she realized his intention, she had struggles against him, but he shoved her into one of the chemical vats and watched her sink to the bottom. Afterwards, he drained it and found her inside, alive, but changed. She had lost touch with reality)

in the movies the joker giving her a red-and-black Harlequin costume (in the comics she choose the costume herself)

on October 13,2014 a fellow crime boss monster came visited a strip club owned by the Joker, greeted by the Joker himself. the joker asked for harley to come over once he noticed the other’s male’s lustful attraction towards her pole-dancing, calling her a "bad bitch" and greatly angering the Joker.. Monster T, having become aware of the Joker's sarcasm, attempted to assure him that Harley is his girl, and that he wanted "no beef." The Joker, however, just shot Monster T in the head with no waring.

after the two left the joker’s trip club, the joker drove with harley in the passenger seat in Gotham City street. they were being chased by batman , harley decided when the batman jumped on the car hood that shooting the bat would be a good idea (not that would do anything since his suit is bullet proof) the joker tried to attempting to shake Batman off, made a sharp turn that sent his car flying off the road and straight into the water knowing full well harley would not swin, the joker abandoned both the car and harley (she was saved by none other then batman himself but before that he knocked her out because she was trying to stab him)

after batman saved her , he put her on the hood of the batmobile, he checks for a pulse, but does not find one. With very much reluctance, the bat proceeds to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to try and revive her. A pleased Harley recovered and began to kiss him. Her advances were rejected and she was taken by him into captivity

Quinn was transferred to Belle Reve supermax

after putting several guards into into the hospital, Quinn was eventually given her own special cell to keep her locked up and to keep the guards safe. she was put was put inside a small electrified cage inside of a barbed fence to keep her in contained.

she wasn’t given any comforts or clothing; she used the bed sheets supplied for her gymnastic routines

while in prison the sadistic guard, Hunter Griggs, usually force-fed and tortured Quinn,so he has earned her anger over the prolonged months

one day while she was in prison she was visited by a government official (since she was recruiting villians for task force x ) harley was meditating when argus director Amanda Waller

task force x was a group of villians that undertake high-risk, covert missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences (the task force was eventually nicknamed suicide squad by one of the members deadshot

harley during their current mission try to escape on a helicopter with the joker (her chip has been disabled) their helicopter is hit with a missile. As both her and Joker both attempt to make their escape, a sudden explosion throws Harley out of the helicopter and she lands on the rooftop below and watches the helicopter, with Joker still in it as it crashes into a nearby building

the suicide squad defeat Enchantress and her brother Incubus

she is back in prison but this time she is enjoying her new espresso machine, the wall outside her wall explodes, allowing The Joker's gang to break in and storm the prison. Harley's cell is forced open with a buzzsaw, allowing Joker to enter and reveal himself to Harley he is still alive. Harley embraces her once lost love and Joker tells her that they're going home

harley relationship was board line abusive he has he's beaten her, thrown her out of cars, and buildings, as well as constantly berating her and giving her the cold shoulder all while manipulating her into loving him .

sometime after they return home , the joker grew bored of harley and broke up with her, he had one of his henchmen throwing her out into the streets.

she adopted a hyena, which names Bruce after Bruce Wayne. (she isn’t aware that he saved her and both put her in jail and that he is batman)

for a time she never publicly said they were broke up until she drove , stealing a truck and sending it hurtling into Ace Chemicals, resulting in a massive explosion.

the few she did tell didn’t believe her so she was left largely alone and friendless

she would soon discovered that declaring her independence came with consequences everyone who she had ever wronged deciding that it was open season on her and they all came after her

she was couldn’t do anything in peace not even to enjoy her favorite breakfast sandwich without being attacked.her past has finally caught up with her

the Black Mask captured her , she wasn’t sure what she had done to anger him . she had managed to get out of the situation by offering to find his lost diamond for him , he let her go but told her to find a Cassandra Cain

she found Cassandra in Gotham City Police Department, she breaks into the police department makes her way pat the guards towards cain cell and She breaks her out, but her actions also result in the release of the other prisoners in the cell-block, resulting in a three-way fight between her, the escaped prisoners and the other mercenaries sent to try to capture Cassandra Cain

during the fight harley’s skills are tested and she wins

she has to lay low with cain for a while and bonds with her

she and the birds of prey win the fight against the black mask

sometime after that the birds of prey go get tacos and she and cain ditched the rest and set off in their own adventures and during that time she finds bruce her hyena in chinatown and she takes cain under her wing

Sydney :

harley has no memories she had no memories of the joker or the trauma she has been through , not even memories of the birds of prey or task force x/suicide squad. cause she has no memories she isn’t aware of her real personality or that she isn’t sane .

her personality with no memories is like her personality before she meet the joker and went crazy. she back to her kind none crazy personality.

she back to working as a Psychiatrist however she isn’t a Psychiatrist for criminal like she was before she became harley quinn

harley believes she lived in Sydney her whole life and that she is an only child and she had loving parents

#fadcd.intro #joker tw #abusive relationship tw

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misssakurapetal28 · 6 years

Photo

Here’s my idea/present to all Dappling and Rapple fans that I’ve working on ever since I was on vacation. Of course I could’ve done better on both the picture and the idea, but I did way better than I expected. So the picture explains my headcanons and ideas for a true finale of Ever After High, which involves around the 3 girls Apple White, Raven Queen and Darling Charming. If you would like to just enjoy the pictures, then just fav it and move along. I hope you like it:)

However, if you would like to hear my ideas, then carry on to the cut.

@theotherbackgrounder @love-that-eah @smolwonders @klaudioss @ankicacicero @teatime-with-maddie @kittycheshirehearts @frostbite883 @apple-cookie-white @white-queen-of-hearts @gaybellethorn @chatnoirs-baton @frostbite883

Just a couple of people that I know that might like this. Only when you guys have the time of course ;)

Warning: It is VERY long, so just read CAREFULLY and tell me what you all think. You can disagree, but just do it tolerably.

This picture is inspired by Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ever After High it’s self and the idea I had for a series finale for the EAH webseries. I know it’s very unlikely that any of this is going to happen at all, but this is just an idea that I thought of and wanted to share it with all of you. This idea would happen in a format which the viewer “chooses” their ending. Their are mainly 5 endings for this, but I only consider two of them as true endings. I imagine if it was on YouTube, then as the first part of the finale comes up, the video will link you to two videos. What are these so called “endings”? I’ll explain as I go along. Keep in mind some parts aren’t thought out completely yet, so if something seems off, forgive me.

I imagine the last season being more plot focused, having a story that goes along till the end of the series. The story starts off with your basic usual things that you would see from the show. At some point (as a side story of some sort), if Darling really was proven to be Apple’s true prince, then I would think that they would eventually start hanging out together or dating. Raven and Dexter would also date too. However, I do imagine at some point, Raven and Dexter breaks up.

Maybe it could be because Dexter and Raven decided that they should break up because they wanted time to truly find their selves and what they want to do in the future. Either way for some reason, they do break up (for a short time based on what ending you choose). Ever since the break up, some unusual things have been happening in Ever After and it’s school (things like water fountains stop working, power flickering on and off until stopping completely, walls falling apart, floors cracking little by little, lockers unstable, objects with magic/power starts to disappear and cease to function etc). Students (including the main characters) are starting to notice these things, but what really worries them at one point is when the magic starts to act out of control and sooner or later, the magic just starts to disappear in general. Individuals with power like Raven, Farrah, Faybelle etc. still have their magic and powers, but it’s starting to get weaker and act out of control.

Of course the girls (and the boys too) are wondering what’s happening. Sooner or later they find out that Ever After and the school isn‘t the only places in the fairytale world that is experiencing this power/magic shortage. Other places like Wonderland are losing their magic too. Little did anyone know that there’s more meaning to this as one meets the eye. The Fairytale world is in great danger of perishing and can cease to exist.

There are actually two guardians, two dragons, two begins who protect the magic/power of the fairytale world and brings balance (these characters are my ocs). Yin (a boy) and Yang (a girl) work together in harmony to create this balance so the universe won’t fall apart. Some of the students (mainly Apple) went to them for answers (I imagine even Giles, The Evil Queen, or a whole different character telling them where the two are, considering that I think they would be veterans to these kind of things). Apple herself speaks to Yin and Yang. The reason why everything is falling apart now (and out of nowhere at that, despite the royal and rebel conflict being over) is because of Apple and Raven’s actions and the story book of legends being gone. Remember when Apple and Raven solved the “royal and rebel” conflict by taking the pages in the book and disappear them into the students so everyone will be giving the choice the follow destiny or not?

Well, it was not their choice to make. What they didn't know is that there's real consequences to changing the system like that. With them doing this, it damages the peace within the fairytale world, even if it’s slightly (slightly to the world can be a lot). Some of Yin and Yang’s magic was in the real story book of legends, which explains why things abrupt like it did. With it’s power being anyway damage, changed, destroyed or gone can be risky and dangerous.

Even though both Apple and Raven are very strong individuals compared to others, it still was’t enough to keep things stable. Another reason why things are falling apart is because the royal and rebel system didn’t fully perish after all. You see, Apple eventually found out about the kiss that Darling gave her (even though it was meant to be CPR), so Apple and Darling have been dating and seeing each other a little bit more before this to see how everything goes. However, Apple was still was worried about destiny...and Raven.

Would her destiny still be the same even if Darling was a girl? Would her destiny still be the same even without her and Daring be together? Is Darling her true “prince”? Will everything turn out fine between them or for themselves in general?

As for her thoughts with Raven, I like to think that Apple and Raven are very close, as friends or as anything more. She shows Raven support the best way she can, but deep down she worries for her best friend everyday. Raven has a kind soul, while also being a strong young woman. She would never want to lose her, under any circumstances. Could that even mean if she were to....be with someone else?

Like she said, she doesn’t want nothing bad to the people that she loves, including Raven. With all of these events happening all at once, things are starting to be abrupt, because of Apple and Raven changing the natural order of things and they both are wary of their destinies. With the storybook of legends gone and with people like Raven being hesitant about their destines, everything is hitting the rocks. Despite her doubts, Yang tells her for a fact that Darling IS following her destiny and is mostly likely her prince. However, Yang knows that something is bothering Apple. She asks her, “Is your destiny what you REALLY want?”.

Apple answers with telling her that of course it’s what she wants. She wants to be happy with her prince and live her happily ever after as the next Snow White, to be queen. However, Yang knows she feels like there’s apart of Apple that isn’t at ease, that she does want her happily ever after, but she just doesn’t know who she really wants it with or anybody at all. For Daring and herself to be told their whole life that he was meant to be her prince and for it to be told to be all wrong was troubling for her. And for her to find out that her true prince is proven to be a female no less?

At this point, Apple kind of fell into a hard place. Yang knows that Apple have a lot of important people in her life, but she believes that the person that can make her really happy, is Raven Queen. As friends, as anything more, even as friendenemies, there was always something. Apple tries to deny it, saying that her and Raven are just really close friends, nothing more. However, Yang isn’t buying it.

With everything they’ve been through together, the power and courage they shared and the future that they will create together (friends or more), she believes that they do have some kind of strong connection. Apple doesn’t know this, but regardless of who she ends up with in the end (even if she chooses neither), she has the power to change the fairytale world, along with Raven. Yang COULD be wrong, but she really feels this. If Apple wants to save everything, she herself has to make the choice of what she wants to happen.

Yang explains to her along the lines of:

“Darling is your true prince. She’s a loyal and courageous girl with a heart of gold, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend your life with her if you don't want to, even if it is destiny. I sense something between you and Raven for a long time, that there might be something strong between you two. I knew from the start of your lives that you two would be different from everyone else. However, regardless if you decide to be with Darling or Raven is entirely up to you. Regardless, you along with Raven will change the world someday. Breaking through destiny will be a challenge, but there’s nothing that I don’t think you nor Raven can’t handle. If you still don’t understand, let me ask you this: Do you want to be the princess that Darling saves? Or be the prince that saves Raven? In other words, do you want to follow your destiny or not? Regardless of what choice you make, just remember it is yours to make and no one else’s...”

Yin and Yang gives her the directions on what to do now. They want Apple and her friends to get a very special magical and powerful artifact from an abandoned place that no one has gone to for centuries (I figure it would be a lost/underground/buried castle of some sort). Only a true ruler can control this magical artifact, one of the most powerful items in the world, which is also connected to the fairytale world. If anyone were to possess it will gain great power. Regardless if the world changes for the good or bad is entirely up to the one who owns it. She wants Apple herself to claim it and turn it into a magical specter and use it to rule. Yang entrusts her with this artifact and thinks in the end, she will make the right choice.

Apple, Raven and their friends prepare to travel to find it, however I imagine that there might be an antagonist that would probably try to get it for their selves so they can rule the fairytale world. Maybe The Evil Queen, Faybelle (though I feel like she would care too much for the fairytale world to do this, even if she wants to be a villain) or a whole new different character? I even imagine more than one antagonist trying to get it since it’s such a powerful item and it probably can attract evil forces. However, I want to keep things simple.

Even with all that Yang said on Apple’s mind, the characters proceed to find this artifact to set things right and fix what’s been done, with the antagonist trying to inconvenience them of course. However, its nothing that the kids can’t handle. They’ve had worse (I would imagine one of them saying this and as for a source of humor, maybe would say something like “we had hair days worse than this” XD). With their skills, smarts and magic touches, they call handle just about anything (especially together). After traveling for a while (or using some kind of transporting spell maybe or use some kind of transportation), they managed to find the source of all the magic disappearing INSIDE the castle (convenient huh?).

There’s a “black hole” type plot device obstacle that’s been taking all the magic, but if the girls manage to get the artifact, then this black hole should close up and everything shall be restored. Easy right? Not quite. Despite their brave and their strong efforts, the villain got their little grubby hands on it. The world is starting to change to darkness and was getting even more corrupted than it was. Raven also tries to close the hole from the outside, but it doesn’t work.

With no other option at this point (since the antagonist is invincible at this point), Raven comes with a very dangerous (but last and only other) idea: what if she tries to use her magic to close the hole from the inside? Things could still be damaged, but the hole would be stopped from causing anymore damage. Apple disagrees, trying to convince Raven that its too risky and they should just fight the enemy instead and take the artifact by force. She says that it’s their “destiny”. Raven wonders what she means by that, so with nothing to lose (and heated at the moment) Apple explains to Raven why all of this was happening in the first place and it’s their job to fix it.

With telling Raven everything, it did a bit more harm than good. Raven was so surprised...and distraught. EVERYTHING that she’s been fighting for, everything that she’s done to change destiny. All of it...was her fault. All she ever really tried to do is to break from destiny. All she wanted to do is change the ways for the beautiful, yet cruel fairytale world so everyone (including herself) can be happy. She deserved better than her destiny. Everyone did.

However, to her...it seems like all she really did was endangered everyone even more. Why did she have to open her mouth? Why couldn’t she just signed that book? Why? Well, she’s taking full responsibility now. If saving everyone meant that she would lose her freedom, her LIFE, then shall be it...

Apple tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. She’s made up her mind. She said her goodbyes to everyone and told them that she was sorry for everything, especially to Apple, one of her dear friends. She charged, going into the black hole filled with darkness and tainted magic and power, trying to close it from the inside. Apple wants to go in with Raven, to save her, to prove that there’s another way, to prove that they can defeat the evil queen together, but someone grabs on tightly to her arm, stopping her from doing it. It was her prince, Darling.

She told her there WAS another way, but not....this way. By going after Raven, she’s putting her own life in danger. Darling cares for Raven too. She’s her friend and she would jump in after her instead of anyone else, but she knew it was too risky, too dangerous, especially for a being without the kind of powers that Raven had. She had to think smart here for the world, for everyone, for her princess...

Darling tells Apple that she’s here for her, that they can stop the villain together and save Raven when they get the artifact. Darling tells Apple that she deeply loves and cares about her and she will always be on her side no matter what. She will protect her. Apple does take her idea and words in consideration, however she still worries about Raven. She feels that if she can save Raven, then Apple can talk some sense into her and they can both defeat the enemy and restore what’s been lost. At that moment, Apple remembers everything that Yang told her. Is this that moment?

Is this the moment where she has no choice but to chose her destiny and to decide who she loves the most of them all? As she thinks, I imagine two videos (or 5 if you would count my other ending ideas) that will link the viewer to what ending they desired. Here are the endings:

Choose Darling (Apple chooses to be Darling’s princess, official ending 1)

If this is chosen, then Apple will go with Darling. She will look into Darling’s eyes with a smile. They hold hands and along with the other students, they go to find the villain so they can save Raven and the world. Apple and Darling approach the villain who was outside, with the students in the background, ready to fight back, ready to save their school, their home, their world. The villain scoffed and sends a evil blast at them. Darling takes action while Apple watches in surprise and fear, wondering what’s going to happen next.

Darling lodges at the enemy with her sword, but they stop it. She tries to use her magic touch also (when she tosses her hair, time will slow down), but it was only a little effective. The enemy was too powerful. The battle went on for minutes which seems like hours. Darling lodges at them, trying to get them once more.

However, not only she misses, but she’s hit. Apple yells for Darling, feeling that she might got seriously hurt. Dexter and Daring also yelled for her. The enemy throws back an injured Darling. who’s in quite some pain right now. They say something along the lines like “Foolish naïve child, did you honestly think you would be the prince of the story? You can’t even aim right!”. However, even in pain, Darling says with a smile “I wasn’t aiming at you...dummy.” What they didn’t know is that Darling hit an already weakened support beam behind them, causing the ruble above it to clasp onto them.

With some time to get the artifact, Apple gets up and runs...to Darling. She went to help Darling up and get her to safety first. No one she cared about was going to die today, as so she thought. She picks Darling up in her arms and asks her if she was ok. Darling struggled to get her words out, but she response with a meek “I’m fine”.

Apple slightly chastise Darling for doing such a thing and risking her life for her. Some tears form in Apple’s eyes, worried about Darling’s heath. Darling apologizes to Apple for making her worry. Darling puts her hand on Apple’s cheek. She wanted to stay with Darling, but she knew things weren’t over.

She leaves the students (mostly her brothers and Holly) to watch over her while she gets to artifact, but the villain is already out of the ruble. Even if they was still a little damage from Darling’s damage and the ruble that fell on them, they nearly almost got the artifact. They was sure that they was going to get it, however Faybelle shoots passed Apple and gets it by the last bit of her powers. She blasts her bolts into the villains face and grabs the artifact, with the villain landing down on the hard ground. The guys tie them up so they won’t move.

Milton and some of the school staff (main ones like Giles, Baba Yaga etc.) manage to come at the last minute once they found out where the kids were going. Of course Milton lectures them and tells them what they did was really dangerous and they could have gotten seriously hurt (with Darling hurt, that’s just resting his case). Giles however understood the kids intentions and convinces him to forgive them and understand where they was coming form.

Milton calmed down and all of the adults tried to listen and understand what is going on. Apple told them and while a bit baffled, they realized that it wasn’t over yet. They have to restore everything and save Raven. Apple wants the artifact, but...Faybelle has it. Everyone looks at Faybelle, knowing that it’s most likely that she won’t give it back. Apple begs for Faybelle to give it to her, so she can restore the worlds magic, everything can go back to normal and they can save Raven.

Faybelle is hesitant, thinking by having this, she can be the most baddest powerful fairy of them all. She can finally live up to what she wanted to be. However, should she really do this? She might deprive of the world of the power, magic and strength it needs to heal. Was it really her power to have? Despite wanting this power, she knew she wanted everything to go back to normal again even more. So, she does the right thing and gives Apple the artifact.

The artifact glows with Apple’s touch and transforms into a golden scepter with artifact (which was a shiny red jewel) in the middle. With her scepter, she changes everything back to normal. After that, everyone goes to save Raven. Apple uses the scepter to reverse the black hole, so everything that went into it was brought back, including Raven. Raven was unconscious.

Apple was about to approach her, but Dexter ran past her and came to Raven’s aid. Dexter was the first person that Raven saw when she opened her eyes. Dexter asks if she was ok and tells her what happened. Before Raven can really answer, he hugs her. In the end, everyone went back to Ever After High.

Since everything was back to normal, a week later, there was big celebration that took place in the evening time to night time. All the students (even some civilians from books end and from some other words). Apple and Darling danced the night away (Darling was healed and better at this point). Apple and Darling basically danced and waltz ever since the celebration started. They was happy and having a lot of fun together.

While dancing, it dawned on Apple that Raven and her didn’t talk since that morning. Apple tells Darling that she will get back with her, she just wanted to talk with Raven for a bit. She feels like there was still some “unfinished business” left over. Darling understood, since somethings still need to be solved. With Darling giving her a kiss (lips, cheek, hand, forehead, whatever works for you or the story), Apple separates from her slowly by hand with a smile and goes to find Raven.

She asked around to see where she could find her. She asked around to see where she could find her. She asked Cupid (who didn’t know where she was), she asked Daring (who was dancing with Rosabella) and she even asked Bunny (who was dancing with Alistair). Though it didn’t help much, they did say that the last they saw her, she was with Dex. She finally finds her, off from the party with Dexter.

She seems a bit better and it seems like she and Dexter were happy, talking with each other, even laughing happily. She did thought about leaving her alone, but Raven cached her at the corner of her eye before she left. Raven called out to her and she turned around. She walked over and asked both Raven and Dexter if everything was ok. They both say yes and Apple asked Dexter if she could talk to Raven alone for a minute. Dexter says yes and he walks away, giving the two some space. Raven and Apple finally get down to talking.

To make it short, Raven thanks Apple for saving her and she’s glad that things worked out for her and Darling, and her newly found power. Apple agrees, but she still wonders if she’s cut out for having this power and the throne. Raven does think it’s kind of unlike Apple to doubt herself so easily, but Raven tells her that she will be a wonderful queen. Raven mentions to Apple that her and Dexter have been spending time with each other all week and was thinking about getting back together with him. Raven even asks Apple about her Darling.

Apple tells Raven that her and Darling are having a great night together, but she just wanted to take a break and talk to her. Raven gave her a baffled look, wondering what she wanted to tell her. Apple tells Raven that she is one of her most dearest friends in the world and nothing is going to change that. She wishes Raven luck with Dexter and tells her that if there was anything that she needed her for, ask her anytime. Raven pauses for a few seconds, then smiles and embraces Apple, with Apple returning it.

Apple tells Raven that no matter what happens, they will always be best friends and Raven agrees.

In the end, time fast forward to years later, where Apple White is queen. In the halls of her kingdom shows many windows and frames with pictures on them. One showed Apple and Raven, both are now queens to their respective kingdoms. One shows Apple, happily together with her prince, Darling. One shows them with their adoptive daughter, Dearest Charming-White. There are plenty more, but it’s up to you to think about the rest ;) The story ends with Dearest looking at the windows, with her mother Apple calling her.

Chose Raven (Apple chooses to be Raven’s prince, official ending 2):

If this is chosen, then Apple will go after Raven. She will take one last look at Darling, with Darling staring back at her. Apple apologizes to Darling and tries to break out of Darling’s hold. Darling tries to tell Apple that it’s too dangerous, that she could be lost forever, but Apple says she can’t let Raven go. That she needs her. Despite Darling’s protest, she realizes that she can’t stop her at this point. Darling lets Apple go, telling her that she trusts her. Apple gives Darling a very humble thank you. With that, she charges and jumps into the black hole, going after Raven, with a sad and wary looking Darling watching her...

Inside the black hole, it’s very dark and windy. It’s like a black never stopping ocean that sucks you up and takes all your magic, making you weak. Apple was a bit horrified, looking at all the tainted magic and objects that is in the hole, but she had to hocus focus. Apple “swims” forward into the hole, trying to find Raven, however with every stroke she toke, she got weaker and weaker for some reason. Could this be the black hole draining her energy? Everything was going black, until the point where she stopped “swimming” and everything was completely black...

Everything goes bright again. Apple sees a little girl, running freely in the world of Ever After. She has blond curly hair, blue eyes and is wearing a pretty red dress. It’s Apple herself, a younger Apple. Is this a illusion? A dream? Maybe it’s a flashback?

Apple literally saw her life before her eyes, watching her young self and all her struggles, all she learned. For most of her life, she was told that she was destined to follow her mother’s foot steps, be the next Snow White. The Evil Queen (Raven) gives her the poison apple, it puts her to sleep, her prince charming (Daring) comes, gives her a kiss and it’s happily ever after. Maybe her reasons for wanting everyone to follow destiny isn’t so selfish after all? That’s what she wanted...until Raven made a stand on Legacy Day.

Apple then saw flashbacks of all of what her and Raven been through. To Raven wanting to finally sign the storybook of legends, to finding it and destroying it for everyone to have a choice, to fighting for everyone to have a destiny, regardless of who you are or who your parents were. It was like yesterday that they didn’t see eye to eye, feuding over destiny and the next day it’s almost like they couldn’t imagine their lives without each other. They certainly went through thick and thin together.

From childhood to now, even after what her and Raven caused, is going off script entirely bad? Could this battle for freedom ever end? Could she still have her happily ever after, even if it isn’t exactly the same? Apple realizes that no matter what happens, Yang is right. Her future is hers to make, regardless if it changes some things or not.

She can still be a royal and have what she wants. She knows what she wants now and what she needs. Apple opens her eyes, determined as ever! She uses all her strength to swim through the endless abyss of the black hole. She finally saw Raven, but...her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving...

Apple tried to shoutout for Raven, but it didn’t work. She swam to her and grabbed her hands, pulling her close to her. The black hole was most likely too much, even for Raven. The black hole did a lot of damage from the outside, just think how it would effect anything from the inside. She shook Raven, calling out her name, trying to wake her up, but nothing worked.

Apple could barley tell if she was breathing or not. Apple fears it might be too late. No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be the end. Apple bring Raven in for an tight embrace, with their foreheads touching. She starts to slightly shiver and a tear comes from her right eye, trying not let the tears or whimpers come out, but it was hard.

As they both are in the darkness of the black hole, her tear hits Raven’s face. All the sudden, Raven starts to glow and she wakes up from her sleep (it could be a coma or death, your choice). Apple felt so many feelings at that moment. Happy, relieved, surprised, angry, confused, so many. Apple quickly hugs Raven and tells her how happy she is to see Raven awake.

The situation starts to come back to Raven, including what she did. Raven is once again distraught, still feeling guilty about what she did. She thought it was even worse that she bought Apple into it, especially since she was the one who wanted to follow destiny in the first place. Apple tells Raven to stop it and tells her to quit lying to herself. She was telling her that she had the right intentions and that everyone had the right to be happy. That’s something she wished she would had learn sooner instead of lying to herself also.

Apple tells Raven from the bottom of her heart that it’s ok to flip the script, that it’s ok to be something else. They both might be the daughters of a fairytale characters, but what they decided to do with the position is entirely their choice. Apple says that she believes that she can make things right, but she needs Raven to be by her side to do so. They can still make things right. Raven tells Apple that she is really an amazing person, because she grew so much from where they began. Perhaps you could say, she was the fairest of them all?

With all the energy that they had left, they both pull each other in a warm and tight embrace. Apple tells Raven that she loved her and Raven respond with a “I love you too, Apple”. Just then, there was another glow and afterwards they both felt stronger than they did. They were surprised, even baffled, but even so they was most glad. Raven had enough strength to teleport both her and Apple out of that hole.

When the two transported out of the black hole, half of the students were there waiting for them, with Briar, Maddie and Faybelle in front. Maddie hugs Raven in relief while Briar does the same with Apple, then placing a hand on her shoulder asking her if she was ok. Both let the girls know that they was fine. A little shaken up, but fine. Wanting the info on what’s happening, Apple and Raven ask and Briar told them some bad news.

The staff arrived while they was in the black hole. They tried to stop the enemy and get the artifact away from them, but they end up kidnapping them and now their hold hostage, Apple and Raven (along with the others) got outside as fast as they can only to see everything in chaos, the others including the enemy outside, with the staff members being in red bubbles. Dexter and Daring was catering to their injured sister, Darling. Apple crouches down to their level, asking if they was all ok. Dexter and Daring said they was fine, but Dexter explains that Darling was hurt because she tried to go up against the enemy to protect the students. Furious and tired now, Apple and Raven demands the villain to let the staff go, but of course they refused.

A powerful blast from the enemy headed towards them, but Raven made a magical force field to shield her and Apple, only for it to be destroyed and both of them flew back. Apple found it hard to get up, but she mostly managed. She wanted to ask Raven if she was ok, but before she could Raven already had gotten up and used her powerful blast to take her enemy down, but the enemy send an even more powerful blast back. However, Raven dodged it. The battle went on for a few minutes, which seemed like hours. With every blast and defense Raven conjured up, she got weaker and weaker.

Both Raven and the villain send blasts at each other which collided with each other, creating big sparks. The tension raised as both of them tried all their might to take the other down (with Raven having to try a bit harder). Raven tried her best, but the enemy blast ending up triumphing over her and her blast. Raven was hit and landed on the ground with a big thud. Apple and the other students ran towards the girl, attending to her aid.

Apple picks up Raven into her arms, worried about her health. Raven tells them that the enemy is too strong and she thinks that she can’t defeat them. She apologizes to her fellow schoolmates, saying that it's all her fault. If it wasn’t for her and her stupid rebellion, then none of this would be happening. Raven’s eyes started to water as everyone including herself saw as everything around them was getting worse by the minute.

Hope seemed like it was lost, until Apple had a plan. Her and the students huddled up to listen to her plan and a few minutes later, approached the enemy. Milton shouted at the students, trying to tell them that it’s too risky, but to students ignored his warning. Within a few seconds, the students charged, with magical individuals like Faybelle, Farrah etc blasting at the enemy head on. Other powerless students threw things like rocks, sticks, different kinds of objects at the villain. Ramona and Cerise even tried to get a go at them, but even after all of that, nothing worked and the villain blew all of them off as it was child’s play.

However, just then, something from behind them grabbed the artifact. It’s was Briar! That would only mean that the students did all of that just to stall the villain, while Kitty teleported Briar behind them! Briar ran pass them, but just as she was almost to Apple and Raven, the villain tripped her and the artifact went flying. Everyone had their eyes on it as they saw it flew across the sky.

Just then, Apple sprung into action and ran to grab the artifact, while the villain did the same. Both fans as fast as they could and end up jumping for it. Before it this the ground, a hand catches it. It was Apple’s hand. A big burst of energy send the villain flying.

Apple’s serious looks slowly disappears and it turns into a relieved look. Everyone cheered and gathered around Apple and Raven cheering with victory. Raven had a mix of dread and happiness on her face while looking at Apple. Apple smiles while holding the artifact in the air. The artifact glows and transforms into a golden scepter with artifact (which was a shiny red jewel) in the middle.

Apple once again looks at Raven, walking closer to her as Raven took one step back. There was a long pause, but Apple reached her hand out to Raven. Raven was hesitant at first, but Apple says something among the lines of “Raven, please. It’s like I said, I want to make things right, but need you by my side to do so”. Raven disagrees, saying that Apple is just as strong as her on her own. Apple agrees, but she has no more regrets.

She wants Raven to help. She wants her to be by her side. She...no...they both deserved it. It took a little convincing, but Raven took Apple’s hand, then grabbed the scepter along with her. With her scepter, the two girls change everything back to normal.

The black hole was reversed, so everything that went into it was brought back, including all the power, magic and objects. The staff was released. Milton was a bit pissed, since the students went off, however Giles helped him see what the students tried to do. Milton understands and congratulates them on a job well done. In the end, everyone went back to Ever After High.

Since everything was back to normal, about 5 days later, there was big celebration that took place from evening to night. Apple was talking with her mother, Milton and Giles about the party and congratulate her on a job well done. When Apple was finished talking with the adults and went to attend back to the party, Darling approaches her with a hi (she seemed better from her injury). Apple and Darling talks about the events that happened before and Apple thanks Darling for being a true knight and protecting everyone.

She also apologized to her for going on her own to save Raven. Even though she doesn’t regret saving her, maybe she should have found another way. Darling doesn’t forgive her, because there’s nothing to forgive. It was risky, but Darling said she understands why she did and she was doing what she thought was right. Apple thanks Darling for all her kindness and loyalty and that she will always be one of her dearest friends.

Though even her heart sunk a little bit, Darling was happy anyways and understood. Apple hugs Darling, with Darling hugging her back. With that, Darling continues off to the party, meeting up with Daring, Rosabella and Holly. As she was walking and thinking to herself, it just dawned on her that Raven and her didn’t talk since that morning. She still feels like there was some “unfinished business” left over.

She asked around to see where she could find her. She asked Maddie (who didn’t know where she was), she asked Ashylnn (who was dancing with Hunter of course) and she asked Briar (who was dancing with Hopper). Though it didn’t help much, they did say the last they saw her, she was with Dex. She finally finds her, off from the party with Dexter like the others said. She was talking with Dex.

She seems a bit better and it seems like her and Dex are talking about something important. She did thought about leaving her alone, but Raven cached her of the corner of her eye before she left. Raven called out to her and she turned around. She walked over and asked both Raven and Dexter if everything was ok and if they was having a good time. They both responded yes and Apple asked Dexter if she could talk to Raven alone for a minute.

Dexter says yes and he walks away, giving the two some space. Raven and Apple finally get down to talking. To make it short, Raven thanks Apple for saving her and she’s glad that things worked out for her and her newly found power. Apple agrees, but she still wonders if she’s cut out for having this power and the throne. Raven does think it’s kind of unlike Apple to doubt herself so easily, but Raven tells that she will be a wonderful queen.

Raven mentions to Apple that her and Dex broke it off, for good. Acting oblivious about it, she asks why she broke things off with Dex. She told her that she was pretty sure that they was meant for each other. Raven wasn’t too sure herself, but she told Apple that it might be because she actually had feelings for someone else.

She tells Apple that she will always care for and love Dexter, but she wasn’t in love with him, not anymore it seems. Apple knew that Raven was taking about her and she felt the same way, but she knew it wasn’t that easy to admit at this point. She was nervous, but her and Raven continued to talk. Apple wasn’t going to tell Raven how she felt, until they both bring up Raven’s close death experience. Apple realized that she there where times that she almost lost Raven.

She (along with her other love ones) almost went poof, she almost lost her to Courtly, almost lost her to destiny, to darkness, she even almost lost her a few days ago. Apple wasn’t about to stand around and let Raven fight alone anyone and vice-versa. She cared about her too much for these things to happen to her. Even if she knew that she can’t stop everything, she can still at least try. She loved her too much for these things to happen to her. Yes, she loved Raven Queen.

The person that was meant to be the villain of her story, she actually was in love with her. Now she turned into one of the most important people in Apple’s life. Not because of story, not because of destiny, but because she loved her and wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. She wanted her happily ever after with Raven Queen. Apple (nervously, but confidently) told Raven her true feelings about her and told her that she never wants to lose her. Even though Raven was sort of speechless, she blushed and smiled, telling Apple that she felt the same way. Raven gives Apple a kiss (lips, cheek, hand, forehead, whatever works for you or the story). Apple was nervous about what was going to happen in their future together, but both her and Raven knew that what ever comes their way, they will face it together.

Apple tells Raven that no matter what happens, they will always be together forever after and Raven agrees. They hold hands, looking up at the night sky...

In the end, time fast forward to years later, where Apple White is queen. In the halls of her kingdom shows many windows and frames with pictures on them. One showed Apple and Raven, both are now Queens of their kingdom, holding hands. One shows royally ever after Apple White with her royal magical scepter. One shows Apple and Raven with their biological daughter, Dove White-Queen (the reason why she is their biological daughter is because she was created by magic). There are plenty more, but it’s up to you to think about the rest ;) The story ends with Dove looking at the windows, with her mother Apple calling her.

Well those are the main endings. There are 3 endings that I thought about, but doesn’t have much of a story to it like the others. There’s the Chose Alone Ending, where Apple doesn’t know what to do. I imagine in this ending, all the pressure was too much for Apple and she breaks. To make things different in each ending, maybe Darling can be the one to save Raven and get her out? Or she gets trapped in along with Raven?

The students could end up saving the day similar in the Choose Raven Ending, but instead of Apple getting the artifact, I imagine the adults (mainly Milton) holding on to it for safe keeping. Things could take a turn for the worst and Darling and Raven could be lost in the black hole until someone gets them out (It could be a few minutes or a very long time). Apple of course feels guilty because she wasn’t able to save neither Darling or Raven, two people that was important to her. There was no celebration and some people might see Apple in a different light.

I imagine Apple even continuing to attend school, leaves the school and goes home to her mom, or she just runs away in general, feeling that she let everyone down. No one hears from her or knows where she went if that was the case.

For the 4th ending (Chose Both Ending), I imagine Apple wanting to stay with Darling, but still wanted to save Raven. With convincing, Darling goes with Apple into the black hole to save Raven. Rexter probably would be canon, but neither Dappling or Rapple are. Apple sees both of them only as close friends. She even becomes queen and says single or she becomes queen and marries a completely different person.

Bad Road (possible, but unofficial ending 5) would be almost a combination of the Choose Darling Ending and Chose Alone Ending. What if Apple really had no interest in Raven at all? What if all of this pressure strains her and Raven’s close bond? What if Raven really did love Apple and due to Apple being distant with her and supporting everyone following their destiny, she feels heartbroken?

What if she felt lost and fell into depression or something similar to that? What IF all the students (probably even all of Ever After) saw what going off script can do to the world, maybe everyone could be scared of all of the destruction happening again, that their society is even more strict with destiny now? So not only Raven lost Apple, but lost mostly all the supporters that she had (while Raven having the mentality of all of this being her fault in the first place).

If this ending happened, that would mean that all of Raven’s efforts were pointless from the start, all for nothing. Eventually, one day, Raven does end up as the evil queen due to falling into despair. I also would think that her mother’s influence would have something to do with it. One day, Raven poisons Apple and kidnaps her. However, she didn’t do this because she’s bitter of Apple now, but she feels that if she couldn’t have Apple as Raven Queen, then she could have her as The Evil Queen. What happens after this? It’s up to your imaginations...

Well, it was a lot of thinking and writing, but here’s all my ending ideas. Sorry if some parts seem biased ^^; I tried really hard to give both pairings the same treatment and give the endings it’s own individuality. You see, the reason why Apple and Raven seems to be close even in the Darling ending is because I really think that regardless, Apple and Raven are close, friends or more. It’s not because I really love Rapple (even though I ship that over any canon or non-canon couple in the series), it’s because their considered best friends now. However, I am starting to slowly like Dappling and Rexter since I’ve been spending more time with it.

Anyways, I’I hope you guys like it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

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attacksoftheclones · 6 years

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THE LAST JEDI REVIEW

SPOILERS ahead, you have been warned. Also #long post.

I had so much faith in this film. I had so much faith in Rian. With overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, I know my opinion on this film lies within the minority – but here it is anyway.

To get my thoughts on The Force Awakens out of the way, my problems and gripes with the film were the same of that of many others. To sum it up, yes I agree that it was a retread of A New Hope and I thought it fell short greatly in terms of world building. When you have a galaxy from a long time ago in a place far, far away, the possibilities are endless – I didn’t want to see a Tatooine 2.0 or a third Death Star renamed as Starkiller Base. I also felt that the lack of explanations given paired with the abundance of questions it produced tarnished much of it. What additionally disappointed me about Episode VII again much like many other people, was additionally how much more childish it felt compared to other Star Wars films, an obvious attribution to Disney’s reign on the franchise following the six installments of Lucas’ story. There were things I liked, though. I thought Finn was an interesting character and really enjoyed the idea of having a stormtrooper that defected to the Resistance and I anticipated exploring the mentality involved in both making that decision and how such a decision would have consequences in The Last Jedi. I of course enjoyed having a female heroine and finished the film aching for answers on her past just as everyone else had. Of course, what I was most desperately excited for following The Force Awakens was the return of Luke Skywalker.

Whilst I have been vocal (on twitter) about the issues I did have with the film, my excitement for The Last Jedi was in no way diminished. I do not dislike the sequel trilogy for the sake of a preconceived agenda, I would say I was very open to this film. The trailer already established a clearly beautifully shot and notably darker take on the trilogy, something I have come to prefer as a prequel fan as I like the complexity that comes along with it. My excitement was further enhanced because The Last Jedi was the first Star Wars film I was going to see in a cinema and I was keen to feel the excitement of a midnight premiere. I knew experiencing the opening credits for the very first time simultaneously with everyone else, booming with John Williams’ iconic score would be thrilling to say the least. And it was.

The opening was strong, Poe and BB-8 were as endearing as ever. Surpassing his mandate from General Leia and at the risk of increasing the already dangerously high casualty rate of the Resistance, we are introduced to an “at all costs” Poe in this film that largely sets up his arc for what is to follow – which turns out to not actually be much, much like the rest of this film. I never disliked Poe Dameron in any way following The Force Awakens but I knew this film had to really “ignite a fire” in the character for me to become attached to him solely because the previous film produced very little Poe content to go off of. We know he is a fantastic pilot and anything further than a more hot-headed attitude really isn’t established for Poe in this film. Poe spends his time battling his superiors Leia as well as the newly appointed Admiral Holdo, suffering the disappointment of being demoted for the recklessness that we see from him in the opening scene that costs the Resistance more than they can bear. Poe’s arc ventures little from arguing and to be fair wouldn’t have been as dissatisfying if it weren’t so ridiculously dragged out by director Rian Johnson as the only arc for the Resistance, other than suffering from a low supply of fuel. Yes, it was good to see a more of the reality of war in the Star Wars universe which hasn’t really been explored since the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (although being aired on Cartoon Network of course did limit this in areas). We watch the spirit of the Resistance suffer and dwindle, but this unfortunately is carried out through an ultimately pointless and boring side arc of being low of fuel and being tracked by the First Order that left me sighing every time a scene transitioned back into one at the Rebel base. Whilst part of this of course is also due to the anticipation of desperately wanting answers to Rey and Luke’s futures on Ahch-To, the overall story for the Resistance is a back and forth, cat and mouse quest where nothing is ultimately achieved by the end of the film.

Which brings me to: Finn and Rose.

Finn, or should I say the writing of this character, disappointed me in this film and I left incredibly frustrated. From the trailers and TV spots I expected to see Finn and new character Rose (who I was enormously excited to see for both diversity reasons as well as her portrayal by the amazing Kelly Marie Tran) infiltrating the First Order undercover where we would ultimately see Finn finally rid himself of the burden of his unfinished business with the Order, particularly with Captain Phasma. I hoped to see Finn tackle the trauma of returning to the place that birthed him into a life of indoctrination and anticipated a showdown between himself and Phasma who was ultimately representative of his suffering. Instead, Finn (after disappointingly initially attempting to escape the Resistance) along with unknown Resistance mechanic Rose are sent secretly by Poe to put an end to the tracking of the Resistance fleet by the First Order. This arc was convoluted and even positive reviews will tell you that their adventure is unnecessary and unexciting. Providing little to absolutely nothing for the ending of the film, Finn and Rose’s adventure felt like a trip right out of Star Wars especially on Canto Bight, where every alien species in sight was blanketed in brown and absent of the diversity and colour we were introduced to in the prequels. The character shrouded in secrecy by Lucasfilm up until the release of this film, DJ (portayed by Benicio del Toro) whom Finn and Rose meet along the way (much to their later dismay) was additionally not at all worth the mystery that surrounded him and delivered nothing but a petite punch to what little direction this film had. When the time came for them to go undercover as First Order officers, the battle I so looked forward to seeing between Finn and Phasma was short and as a consequence anticlimactic. If that were not disappointing enough, by the film’s end pairing Finn and Rose together romantically with little foundation for this plot point felt cheap and took away from the heroic moments they did have throughout the film. Whilst I don’t personally believe any romance is necessary between Rey and Finn at all or for any character for that matter,The Force Awakens did poke at the possibility and this was only furthered by Finn’s constant mentioning of Rey throughout The Last Jedi. This caused any romantic direction for Rose and Finn to additionally seem one sided on Rose’s part.

Luke. I struggle to decide where to begin in writing about one of my all time favourite Star Wars characters in this film, mostly because I am genuinely insulted at how the character whose heart and spirit was the savior of the original trilogy was treated. Despite Mark Hamill making it publicly known that he initially completely disagreed with the direction Johnson wanted to take Luke in in this trilogy, I did not fear a change for Luke Skywalker. I was excited to see what could torture Luke’s soul so much that he would isolate himself from everything and everyone he has ever known and place himself alone on an island with the sole purpose to die there (as he makes clear in the film), wishing for the Jedi to come to an eternal end. I expected something, being either an action from Rey or a reminder of his old self, to eventually charge him back into action, allowing us to see a changed Luke Skywalker but one who still held all the heart-warming elements of his personality we have come to love. I know this would have been a predictable route and that we were told to expect the unexpected, but I will not shift from the belief that this is what would have been most true to Luke’s character.

Luke acknowledges early on that leaving the island as a one-man force against the First Order will do little to change the drastic state of the fight and I agreed with this. I agreed with his feelings of failure and disappointment after having his nephew destroy his new Jedi order and the unquestionable devotion he put into it. After all, this was a character we know has always followed his heart and to have that backfire would undoubtedly shake him and his core values. What I did not agree with was the extremely snarky attitude of the character, one that would leave Rey hopelessly chasing after him in circles around the island. One that would leave her to sleep without comfort and shelter, one that would refuse to train her despite two small lessons he agreed to give her in some cold-hearted attempts, in which once realising that she had great potential leads him to abandon her in her fear. Luke never returns to the fight with Rey in the Millennium Falcon, although we do at least get to see him momentarily revisit it. He doesn’t oversee the training of a new apprentice. Luke remains on the island and in an utterly bizarre end, he projects himself apparently so powerfully through the force into battle with Kylo Ren whilst actually still in meditation on Ahch-To and somehow gains a cocky and uncomfortably amusing persona (he slow motion dodges Kylo’s hits and winks awkwardly enough to almost break the fourth wall) as a now all powerful Jedi master. This effort presents him as seemingly immortal until it is over and we see Luke disappear into his cloak in front of a sunset much like Obi-Wan’s death in A New Hope. However much like the final confrontation with Kylo Ren it is confusing, unclear and most of all dissatisfying as it doesn’t even feel real, especially as we have never seen the force used in this way before and much like Leia’s use of the force in this film it is quite jarring. I’m already preparing for the “Is Luke Skywalker really dead?” theories, although I do believe with the film’s ending that the answer is yes. It is clear that this trilogy wants to be free of the burden of appealing to original fans of the franchise in ridding itself of Lucas’ founding characters to entirely become its own – which whatever that is, is also totally ambiguous in this film’s cluttered and shambolic end. The destruction of the Skywalker lightsaber was infuriating to say the least, not only as a metaphor for Disney’s cleansing of anything remotely Lucas in this franchise but as an insult to the franchise’s most iconic characters – Anakin and Luke. I felt as if I were witnessing a punch in the gut to Luke saying “I am a Jedi, like my father before me”. The way this trilogy began already majorly undermined the victories of Return of the Jedi, but this film went even beyond that as if it were to render it meaningless especially with the characterisation of Luke. I unapologetically hate everything Disney has done with Luke Skywalker especially as I truly believe that in his heart he is truly the child of his mother, Padmé and this film unlike the original trilogy following the prequels was in no way reflective of that. And I’m not even going to give time to that bizarre green milk and fish scene.

In no way do I mean disrespect to the amazing Carrie Fisher when I express criticism of Leia in this film and what she was given to do. Of course as always it is amazing to see Leia doing what she does best – where she is in a position of power as General Organa and fighting ever so bravely for the Resistance. As mentioned before, I was incredibly disappointed with the Resistance arc considering the Star Wars universe provides endless possibilities for arcs that exceed dwindling fuel supply. Yes, I understand that this was supposed to be more of a ‘war film’ than previous episodes and thus resources and lack of them are a reality of that, but considering this has never been an evident problem particularly during Star Wars: The Clone Wars and additionally how exaggerated this difficulty was by the duration of the arc it took me out of the film. When Rian Johnson and others had stated that Leia’s ending had been left untouched and that she leaves this film with a definitive and dignified end, I expected something big from Leia. Instead we largely see Leia pondering in this film and reprimanding Poe. No I did not want Leia killed, but considering she spent the majority of this film in a coma I feel an actual end to her story here would have been more effective. I hated that she was sidelined by a coma as if any other storyline other than her being unconscious wouldn’t have been better for her. She’s the Leia and she deserved to be able to leave a lasting punch in The Last Jedi. I was so excited to see Leia use the force, but what we saw was the moment that took me out of the film the most. It was quite frankly cringe worthy and uncomfortable to watch and I’m sure many who did enjoy the film would still agree. I felt as if I were Han Solo, desperate to shout “that’s not how the force works!”. I feel that with the knowledge of Carrie’s passing, with some clever editing they could have easily given Holdo’s final act for the Resistance to Leia. It would have truly showcased Leia as the ultimate Resistance fighter. Instead, I fear a poorly executed off screen death.

The Last Jedi has long endured the speculation of force ghosts ever since its’ predecessor, particularly with the release of concept art for the return of Anakin’s force ghost. An appearance of Obi-Wan was practically expected by many including by myself, especially as his voice was heard in The Force Awakens and it would have been fitting to see his reintroduction with the recent news of the Kenobi standalone film. It would have been the perfect way to tie all three trilogies together for continuity purposes, which I already felt this trilogy was in need of. Despite my pro-prequel agenda which I will admit to without shame, I believe this was completely necessary for this film. To have the return of Anakin particularly would have served so many uses whether he spoke to Luke, Rey or Kylo Ren. In an era that lives in the shadow of Darth Vader (who has several mentions in this film), if anyone’s input was needed it was the man behind the mask’s. Instead, original trilogy nostalgia was again used to drive the audience with the return of the clumsily edited addition of force ghost Yoda. If you know me personally you would be aware that I am not a fan of the character at all, but with that aside the Yoda we did see I still believe to be out of character. I do not believe that Yoda would have encouraged the complete removal (well literal burning) of the Jedi teachings even after the rise and fall of the Empire. Modifications and large ones at that yes, but a complete disregard for them I do not feel he would be an advocate for. I fear such a lack of rules regarding force users now will pose more problems for future films more than anything else as it now seems unclear who gets to hold a lightsaber and who does not.

Rey and her parentage continued to be built up throughout this film and I won’t lie and say it wasn’t my number one question going into this film. I did expect her to be no one, but I also expected some sort of alternative (and original) reason for her strength with the force. Whilst I don’t expect every strong force user in the galaxy to be a Skywalker or a descendant of someone related to or in affiliation with one, Rey as the daughter of some unknown junk dealers will not leave this movie free of Mary Sue claims (although I don’t intend to promote those claims either). If she had the force and had undergone training both in the previous film and in this film she would be free to express such strength but without it, Rey feels poorly written and left me not caring for her as much as I had truly hoped to in this film. The lightsaber plot point was also completely thrown out of the window with it now not so seemingly belonging to Rey anymore. Rey was barely trained in this film, so nothing should have changed since just weeks earlier in film time. If we are being told to accept that she is so powerful on her own, why is her power continuously linked to Kylo Ren’s by Johnson in this film? Rey also felt extremely poorly written by Johnson due to a very clear lack of continuity with the character between this film and the last, especially considering that The Last Jedi picked up just moments from The Force Awakens and Rey should not have suffered any discrepancies in character at all. Of course she was not going to be as bubbly and excitable as she had been in the previous film, but so much about Rey was wrong in this film. The Rey who had no problem telling men to stop taking her hand and that she would not give them anything became a Rey that suffered forced and utterly unnecessary sexual tension and who became flustered at the sight of a shirtless man. It is completely out of character for Rey to have even considered trusting Kylo Ren, as if he had not just killed someone she saw as a father figure just weeks before when all she has ever wanted was family. Rey cries at Kylo Ren proving yet again even after a brief team up with her that all he wants is power, again as if she should not already hate this man with every fibre of her being. Even Rey’s identity quest is yielded to Kylo Ren as it is he who reveals her parentage to her. Rey is never left to stand on her own in this film, instead she is forced into a somewhat parallel arc with Ren that never allows her the same independence as she exemplified in the dynamics we see within her friendship with Finn. Rey desperately needs to be written into some sort of solidarity where she can finally have her own concrete idea of herself and I believe this would most effectively occur in a situation where this trilogy’s big three finally unite and share the same path (and in doing so additionally allowing for a more concise end to the frayed path The Last Jedi has created).

Lastly, Snoke. His early scenes with Kylo Ren genuinely had me thinking that the character was far more terrifying than I had initially ever expected. I knew that the intention was for him to be more evil than Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious and I began to prepare myself for this. However, the first issue I found with the Supreme Leader was that we still are never offered a backstory or context for the character. We know Snoke is old and lived to see the rise and end of Darth Vader. So where was he during that time? How did he come to power? Why does he not know that it was Vader who defeated the Emperor and brought down the Empire, returning to the light as Anakin Skywalker? Rey is apparently made eventually aware of this, but neither Kylo Ren nor Snoke seem to be aware despite having far more of an interest in the man that the galaxy feared the most. The other great conflict I had with this character was that for someone apparently so powerful, he was killed so easily. For him to not have the ability to sense a lightsaber being turned against him by his own apprentice was the thing I was most surprised got through the writing room, especially considering the reason Vader was never able to overthrow the Emperor all those years was because Palpatine would have sensed such a betrayal through the force. Someone supposedly more powerful than Palpatine not being able to do the same was unrealistic and disappointing particularly because I enjoyed Snoke and Kylo’s scenes in the first act of the film, as well as the first act of the film in general.

Overall the film felt crammed, messy and long. Much of the film could have been shown the light of the editing room again to tighten the many series of events occurring simultaneously. Whilst beautifully shot with some breathtaking cinematography and stunning visuals, some shots felt included for the sake of showing what magic could be worked with the camera and CGI in 2017. This film suffered from the weight of a tiresome back-and-forth battle with an inconclusive end that didn’t seem to forge any path for its sequel and where neither side of the fight ever actually ever feeling large enough to dominate the galaxy in the way that the Empire did. The film was crowded with characters but barren of any development for them, in some cases true character not seemingly present at all. This film suffered from the consequences of mystery box storytelling, where no reward is gained by the audience because the “mysteries” that have been hyped up detract from all else. “I am your father” is arguably the greatest cinematic reveal of all time, but it was not advertised to be that way prior to the film’s release, allowing it to have its’ full intended shock value effect. A movie sold to audiences as one that holds great reveals and twists in an already established and ever-expanding universe was bound to disappoint, especially with fan culture today. Additionally, the humour of this film was often jarring and too “2017” for the Star Wars saga. Not already being a fan of Kylo Ren as a villain in any way, I would surprisingly have to say Adam Driver gave the best performance. However it is hard to say where Kylo Ren goes next, having now eliminated both his enemies (Han and Luke) as well as his accountability to the Supreme Leader. I additionally found the soundtrack for this film to be the least memorable Star Wars score to date, although Rey’s Theme made a welcome return.

Ultimately I know many people have loved and will love this film and I think everyone has “their” Star Wars. Mine is clearly not in this era and I’m happy to accept that. It isn’t because my ‘ship’ or theory did not come true, but rather my worst case scenarios did. Yes I’ll see Episode IX, but I now have a completely new idea and set of expectations for what Star Wars is today and it just doesn’t happen to be my favourite. Again, I never wanted to hate this trilogy for the sake of it and I had no intention to. I am of course also ready to accept that there are those with opinions that are the complete opposite of mine.

Now if you need me, I’ll be rewatching Episodes I-VI.

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tricksheart · 4 years

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AKIRA’S CHILDHOOD / PRE-GAME EVENTS Parts 1 / ???

Born to parents Katsuya Suou and Maya Amano in the year of 2000, month February, day 26th. Due to circumstances surrounding his birth, as he should had not existed because of the events of Persona 2 Eternal Punishment, his ability as a TRICKSTER cause time to flow backwards and changed many reality events leading up towards his initial birth. Battles and chance encounters between his parents and their persona teammates / adventures were now taken place in the year 1999 instead of early 2000, actually lining up with the original reality that proceeded the Batsu one. Essentially, due to his birth, everything was now as it should had been. As in, if the evil being Nyarlathotep didn’t destroy the universe the first time around. Even some of his parent’s friends could remember their bonds and relationships, resulting some of them living together. One big one was his uncle Tatsuya moving in with his ( Tatsuya’s ) long time lover and friend, Jun Kurosu. They couldn’t get officially married but still wished to be together forever. Everyone considered / still considers Jun to be family and treats them like so.

But not everything is perfect. His parents can’t be in the same vicinity for more than three days at most on a good day. As punishment for his parents actually having Akira and ruining some of the consequences of the remembering curse, the evil being Nyarlathotep manages to still make his mother Maya die if she spends time with her husband Katsuya for more than the allowed numbers of days. It’s a brutal and bloody death and doesn’t allow any warning time. By that moment, it’s game over. The only clues are pains and shortness of breath located in the chest area. It’s where his mother had gotten stabbed in Persona 2 Innocent Sin and triggered the grand cross effect, killing everything in the world in one fell swoop. The warning signs started to manifest on day one.

So in an effort for a temporary solution, his parents were still married but lived separately from each other. The reasons behind these events were kept from Akira ever since the day that he was born. He never once understood why his parents were living in two different places. All that he knew was that they shared custody rights over him. Akira usually lived with his father on the weekends and weekdays with his mother in her apartment complex. Wanting to be a normal family unit and not quite understanding the consequences that would happen if his parents did decide to live in the same household, he kept pestering both sides. But no one would listen to the pleas of a small child and instead he kept getting passed around week after week, month after month, years after years. Eventually in his last year in grade school, he stopped questioning it all together and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth mentioning anymore because no one cared. No one stood up and asked the real questions, the truth lost in a fog. There was no justice to be found and his father, who he had previously admired and saw as a hero, was a complete and utter hypocrite.

At that time, Akira started causing trouble in his hometown. Minor things like graffiti art on walls, getting into small fights, pranking everyone and anyone he had met, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and being rude and vulgar. In his mind, he was just a pain in the ass that was causing his parents to still be married. Clearly, it was him that was the problem and would solve itself if he disappeared or acted up so they would abandon him and go along with their own lives. Even thinks it would had been better if he wasn’t born into the world. So Akira was going to raise hell because that was what he was only good for, his purpose in life at a crossroads and unclear. A reverse fool if you will. Just getting by and not really living life to it’s full potential. Just a punk and a damn brat. A trash of society.

It’s one of the reasons why he stood up to Shido back in March of 2016 because his life didn’t mean shit to him or anyone else. He had nothing to lose or so Akira had thought. Actually being arrested and pinned with a crime that he didn’t commit shattered his reality and place in life. His hell raising rebellion spirit that all he had left suddenly got taken away from him as well. Everything in that moment flashed before his eyes quite literally and figuratively. All he was trying to do was stop a drunk man hitting on a scared woman crying out for help. It was the right thing to do at the time right? Even a punk like him should had at least done something, anything. It’s something that had pissed him off and he acted on his impulses to be someone that mattered for once in his life. However, every good deed doesn’t go unpunished. His actions had life alternating consequences.

Not to mention that is was his own father that had booked and processed him in jail during that fateful night. To think that his own father would actually uphold a frail law rather than listen to the innocent pleas of his very own flesh and blood sent a chill through Akira’s veins and a betrayal so deep inside of his heart and soul. Growing up he saw his father as his hero. The one who risked his life everyday keeping all citizens safe and taught Akira how to cook & bake. To not fold to the injustice around them and to do the right thing even if you’re the only one who believes its right. Not some cheap Sentai Rangers on TV who were so superficial and fed corporate forced values onto it’s audiences. Now realizing that his father was a complete and utter sham broke Akira’s trust in him.

And the final nail to the coffin was that both of his parents agreed to the court’s ruling and passed him off to a complete stranger in the huge city of Tokyo. He should had been careful what he wished for since this would definitely get him out of his parents hair for being a ‘pain in the ass’ but why did it feel so suddenly empty and cold? That they could just pay some random person money for their trouble and send him off to who knows where? Maybe deep down they didn’t really want him to be born or part of their life. He knows that type of thinking isn’t right but when they ship him to Tokyo with a crude moving box and nothing else, he can’t help but have that thought in his mind. Maybe everything was a mistake and his fault?? Self doubt and withdrawing into himself begins as he starts the new school year filled with uncertainty, fear of the unknown and his heart & soul shackled in the isolation room in the heart of Mementos. A wanted dangerous sinful criminal due for rehabilitation through the guillotine.

Not much later finds out that he’s been a pawn in a rigged game from the start of his trip to Tokyo and used to prove a point to the masses of humanity. Also, the stranger known as Sojiro Sakura had said, the past truly follow you wherever you go. He just didn’t think he had to fight the crawling chaos’s, who had cursed Akira’s own family, own father ( as a persona ) in order to destroy a false reality. Ironic that everything came in a full circle even if he himself had no clue about the events surrounding his own birth. Fate has a funny way of making everything a fucking comedy and a tragedy at the same time. Maybe that’s why he’s always laughed mockingly and replied all the time, ‘Now that’s comedy!”.

#I have more hc's but that's all I can write about it tonight;;#[ we call them TRICKSTERS. HEADCANON ]#childhood hc's;;#pre-game hc's;;#[ the Joker curse. KATSUMAYA CHILD verse ]#long post: tw #more lore under the cut;;#akira was a problem child for sure growing up;;#most under the cut for heavy themes;;#and to save dash clutter;;#he didn't know kindness; compassion and empathy until he got sent to Tokyo;;#and that his life did matter and have purpose;;#it was him finding out that he had unconditional love for people that he cared about and that he could make a difference that changed him;;#his own sense of justice and going off the beaten path;;#also what the fuck did I just write?? I hope it all made sense;;

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nezzfiction · 5 years

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ENMY Chapter 91 - Fourth Crusade (Part Three)

Chapter Synopsis: The Kingdom of Vacuo faces its most daunting challenge since its conception. Salem has launched the Fourth Crusade. Reinforcements from the Atlesian Fleet are deployed, but still too far away to make a difference.

While the death of Vacuo’s ruler and the capital’s inevitable destruction marches down its predetermined course of fate, there are still those who stubbornly refuse to submit. This is the story of those who make forge their own destiny.

Series Synopsis: Team RWBY is disbanded, and Yang must find herself new allies. For her, that might very well be yesterday’s enemies. Joining up with the likes of Emerald, Mercury, and Neo, the four will comprise Team Enemy(ENMY).

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below

Fourth Crusade (Part Three)

We don’t believe in accomplishing the impossible.

Until the time comes when we no longer have a choice.

Then we move the mountains and skies.

Then we move Heaven and Hell.

I always wondered where I went wrong that fateful day.

Raven was angrier than any time I’d ever known her. Qrow and Tai also.

I should have said something—done something. There was a point where I was afraid they might start fighting each other.

Me, afraid…

Some team leader I was.

…

Raven said Temujin was going to die and all her old friends faced the same danger, or worse.

She wanted to leave.

Qrow and Tai called her selfish and irresponsible.

And as I stared down at Yang cradled in my arms, I agreed.

But part of me wanted her to stay for my own selfish reasons.

And that was the last day STRQ Team would ever be together.

…

I was their leader, and when they needed me to lead them most, I failed.

I watched my team tear itself apart in front of me, and didn’t lift a finger to stop it.

It’s only now, I know what I should have done.

What we should have done.

…

We all wanted the same thing, but bringing that truth to the surface is always difficult. I guess that’s the same for everyone.

I have this thing… this ability.

With it, I can see people’s dreams, even walk through them. I can glimpse what they wish for the most.

There was never stopping Raven from leaving for Vacuo. She wanted our support, our understanding. Even though, she pretends not to care what we think. It broke her heart when none of us took her side.

Qrow wanted to help the Faunus cause too, but Ozpin and even Shepherd asked him not to interfere. He wanted to stop Raven from leaving more than any of us—and he blamed himself more than any of us. Qrow saw himself as a failure, when all he wanted to do was watch out for his big sister for once.

Tai loved Raven, but love can turn to hate so quickly. I don’t think he’ll ever forgive her for abandoning him and Yang. All he wanted was for us to stay together as a team. He wanted us to stay one big, happy family.

He probably wished for that more than I did.

I…

I wanted to be with Raven above everything else.

She was my partner, my best friend, my…

I loved her.

…

I’d dream forever about how that day could have ended differently. We all did.

The right word or the right sentence. Raven stopping at the front door. Her turning back, and deciding to stay in Patch. Still a sister to her brother. Still a mother to Yang. A member of STRQ Team forever.

And always the one by my side.

…

But that’s all they were.

Dreams.

We can get lost in them if we’re not careful, or worse, they can be taken advantage of.

And we can’t stop having them, either.

I think a big part of a lot of us is we wish we could want less. Feel less of that hurt when we don’t get what we so sorely need.

But I also think that’s a part of what makes the human soul—our dreams.

That’s why the only thing we can try to do is bring them to life with our own hands.

I searched a long time for the answer to that day, to what we should have done.

And after all this, I finally know.

It’s a bit late.

But I found a way to make our dreams come true.

All it will take is a little bit of luck,

A little bit of determination,

And just a little bit of courage.

X X X X X

“Thank you for lending me your help, Knives,” Summer spoke to the girl, whose body she currently possessed.

You don’t have to thank me, the small voice replied.

You’re helping me save Temujin.

And I was the one, who reached out to you in the first place.

“Yeah. But without your Semblance, none of this would be possible. So I felt like I should say thank you one more time.”

……You’re welcome, Knives replied shyly. But you should save your thanks for if we actually manage to change the future.

“True enough.”

Summer grinned inwardly.

“Such a good girl.”

The small thought made her dig her feet deeper into the stone floor. Summer tightened her grip around the daggers stopping Camlann’s claymore from running her through to Temujin. The Grimm knight’s strength and stamina were practically limitless, but still, the little girl managed to hold on.

Temujin was behind, straining her Semblance. Gravity, atmospheric pressure, even the chemicals in the air bent to her will. And still, Camlann withstood the hostile environment collapsing around it. Its massive body pushing forward one step at a time, inching its blade closer to its mortal enemy’s neck.

The stalemate brought the world around them to a halt. A density filled the throne room of the Hanging Gardens.

Meanwhile, Blake and Adam watched the war of attrition from a distance. The dark-haired girl showing a particularly conflicted expression.

“It seems Titan’s death affects me more than I realize. Else, I’d never find myself hesitating to such degree. Or is it the freshness of this new vessel?” the Witch’s speech fell from Blake’s lips. “My apologies for letting this drag on.”

Blake brandished Gambol Shroud and pointed its barrel between Summer and Temujin. She knew a simple pull of the trigger would be enough. The two couldn’t afford to divert their attentions elsewhere. They were completely vulnerable.

…

Still, when the Witch willed her finger to squeeze, it would not.

“……Blake,” she said to herself, like lecturing a child. “How long do you plan to resist? Temujin’s suffering only prolongs until her Semblance inevitably exhausts. We are performing a mercy.”

The Witch sighed, paying no attention to the rest of her body, which was now trembling uncontrollably.

“The past will not repeat itself. Titan destroyed my previous vessel. Salem is no more. You are the Witch now. Do you understand? You will kill who I want you to kill.”

Blake’s arm shook so hard, the gun almost fell out of her hands. But no matter how much the host fought, the sights of her weapon eventually tracked back to Temujin. The trigger was now being pulled. Only a few more ounces of pressure, and it would all be over.

…

The Witch sighed.

“Unbelievable. Your stubbornness is frustrating, but admirable. I’ve chosen a very good vessel this time around.”

Blake let her arm drop to the side.

“Adam,” she snapped.

But nothing happened.

“Adam.” Blake ordered more firmly.

When she turned around, she saw the young man had stabbed his sword through his own leg. Blood trickled freely from the wound. Adam collapsed to one knee.

“…Truly inconceivable,” the Witch mocked in awe. “Blake, I can more or less understand. But you, Adam. Temujin treated you like a disgrace when you grew beyond her control. She hated you for stealing Blake away.”

“She…! Could have ended me whenever she wanted…! Even now!” Adam answered with pained breaths. “Temujin has always put our people above all else…! This is the least I can do!!!”

“A noble sentiment. You are hereby ordered to consume Bane.”

The Witch’s command sent a lump down Adam’s throat. He knew what the action entailed, but despite his inner protests, his hand went to the pocket of his coat. A polished shard of obsidian quality drew shakily between his fingers.

The Bane would rob Adam of his reason. Only a beast would be left, a beast driven by nothing but his baser instincts. A hound that would follow the Witch’s orders to its letter.

With his last trace of sanity, he looked to Temujin. He didn’t know what to expect.

There was only warmth in the old Faunus’ eyes. An understanding and acceptance of what would come next. She bore no ill will towards him. A pre-conditioned forgiveness transcended the wordless stare.

Adam felt tears swell, right before his whole world reeled back into nothingness. Only the sharp cuts of crystal on his gums could be felt. And then, rage rushed out from the pits.

The berserker ripped the sword from his leg, no thought spared to worsening the wound. On the contrary, once the blade was free, the opening in the muscle tissue closed rapidly. Bane increased his healing factor, as well as cause Adam’s features to grow more bestial. His Aura began to overflow like a broken faucet.

The young man’s katana was returned to its sheath and his body lowered into his signature iaido stance.

At the same time, Camlann abruptly changed the angle of its sword. Displacing the blade up, the Grimm pressed close to Knives’ significantly smaller body and swiped its elbow in an upper cut motion. The girl’s guard broke, her daggers sent flying in different directions.

Not giving her a chance to draw replacements, Camlann brought the point of its toe to her midsection. Knives’ was able to bring her hands to catch it in time, but the kick sent her flying to the roof.

“No!”

Summer was out of the way. Adam had a clear line of sight on Temujin, and Camlann was ready to follow through.

Knives’ Semblance flashed a future coming to fruition. The veil draped over events yet to happen was being lifted. A familiar blade piercing Temujin.

You have to stop them! Knives cried from within.

“This… will have lasting consequences.”

DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO! JUST SAVE HER!

“Alright, Knives.”

As Summer’s feet met the ceiling, a burst of silvery Aura enveloped her.

The moment Adam launched his attack, a ghostly afterimage appeared in his way. Its figure obscured by a white, misty cloak. Beneath its cape, a pair of chakrams flew out. The cyclic blades caught Adam’s with perfect timing, putting a stop to it, while almost breaking the katana itself.

As quickly as the apparition appeared, so too did it evaporate.

“If I wasn’t used to seeing Raven’s techniques, that could have gone a lot worse,” Summer thought to herself.

At the same time, Camlann attempted to cleave through Temujin, but a triple strike from a descending Knives forced the claymore into the floor just short. With the weapon imbedded, the little girl landed on its spine, trapping the weapon deeper into the foundation.

“Temujin!” Summer shouted.

There was a slight reluctance, but the elder dismissed it. The activating of her Semblance increased the gravity of Camlann’s arm, holding it firmly in place.

Knives expelled a short breath. Just as the host and its possessor were about to let relief sink in, a small fluctuation in their connection occurred. Almost like the two personalities were being ripped from one another.

What is this? Why is this happening?!

“I used my own Semblance with your body,” Summer answered. “It was too much to force through our connection, and you might wake up soon.”

I can’t! We need you to fight!

“It’s alright, our bond should hold for now. Also, we managed to buy enough time!”

Just then, Blake’s ears twitched in the direction of the throne room’s entrance.

“Hmph. Unwanted guests of the most annoying variety,” she said without a hint of worry. “Adam.”

The berserk swordsman moved next to her, and together, they disappeared in a tuft of black smoke.

The instant they were gone, a man with short blond hair appeared at the entrance door. With him, flew a bird which quickly turned into a human upon landing.

The moment they passed through the archway together, Blake and Adam reappeared just above. Their blades poised and ready. Gravity guiding their ambush towards unsuspecting prey.

“Sanctuary!” Summer called.

Though the voice was Knives’, Taiyang reacted to the keyword and the authority of its tone like it was second nature. The man planted his feet. A solid stance rooted his core to the earth. As he channeled his Aura through his immediate surroundings, Chinese trigrams interposed the floor. The tattoos of his Semblance’s activation appeared all over his skin, as well as on Qrow’s.

Blake and Adam’s swords struck the pair’s necks, but only managed to cause sparks to fly, as if they connected with solid steel wall.

“Yellow Jacket!” Summer gave the following order.

Qrow and Taiyang moved. While Blake blinked out of harm’s way, the blonde martial artist circled Adam. Ducking below a wide-arcing slash, Taiyang took the swordsman’s back, putting him in a body lock.

With Adam’s limbs trapped, unable to defend himself, Qrow leveled his sword and thrust. The young man’s abdominal was pierced clean through. Qrow’s blade only stopping when it met Taiyang’s body.

As the old partners finished their combo, Knives shared another Precognition with Summer. The prediction of the future shifted slightly for a moment before returning to its course. In the changed timeline, the manner in which Temujin was killed was different, but it was a deviation nonetheless.

We can do it! Changing the future is still possible!

“Yes, but the price might be too much.” Summer said doubtfully.

What do you need?

“…More. More than what I’ve already asked.”

Then, take it!

“ If I do, the damage will be irreparable. It will be the worst-case scenario.”

I don’t care!

“Knives…”

Please! Temujin is everything to Mouse and me. If there’s a price to pay for even one chance at saving her, I’ll pay it! I don’t care what it takes!

“…I understand,” Summer acknowledged with a solemnness. “It’s probably why I was able to bond with you.”

There was movement beneath her feet. Then, Camlann freed its blade from being stuck in the ground. And with a speed that belied the Grimm’s mass, swung its claymore at the girl who once stood on it.

Just as the edge cleaved the side of Knives’ arm, the visage trailed away. Dissipated, like a mere mirage. Only a sliver of wisp left behind, before that was gone too.

A light ring from a wind chime could be heard. It was both gentle, but piercing. And like a ghost, a figure in a bright-white cape landed next to Qrow and Taiyang. A disturbing likeness to one they knew so dearly was shining through.

“Hey, guys. Did you miss me?” Knives addressed the two.

They could see the girl’s irises shimmer silver under the familiar hood. A ceaseless discharge of power flowed from them, like a force trying to break through. It was causing cracks to develop in her pupils.

“Summer? Is that really you?” Qrow murmured in disbelief.

“It is,” Summer nodded. She brandished a faint image of her chakrams—a pair of circular blades. Their diameter was the length of her legs, decorated like wreaths of thorns and roses.

“Shrike,” she ordered, before taking off at a run.

Qrow matched his movements to her. Taiyang conjured tattooed characters to blanket both their skins.

The dashing pair flanked Camlann with light-footed maneuvers. Countless strikes rang out from the knight’s armor. Because they were reinforced by Taiyang’s Semblance, their attacks cut deeper grooves than they would otherwise.

If the situation continued, the Grimm might have been brought down by a thousand small wounds. But Blake realized what was happening, and intervened.

She appeared at the Grimm’s side. Her fast bladework danced in Summer’s mirror opposite. A lightning chain exchange between light and dark rippled the air. Every collision made the atmosphere scream with the clashing elements.

“You’re killing her,” Blake commented. “You’re forcing your Semblance through whatever connection you have, and it’s killing her.”

The Witch observed the fissures in Knives’ eyes, like flaws growing in shattering glass.

“No!” Temujin yelled. “Summer! Stop using Knives this instant!”

Summer realized the Witch’s words weren’t meant to taunt her, but to incite Temujin.

“This is what she wants!” she cried out. “Knives decided this herself!”

“I don’t care!” Temujin protested. “I won’t let either of you put her life in danger any longer…”

“No!”

“She will not die on my behalf!”

“Temujin!”

But it was too late. Temujin activated her Semblance and emptied the air around Knives of oxygen. The girl could only keep what breath was still in her lungs and retreat, or risk losing consciousness.

“Finally,” Blake smirked.

The Witch immediately double teamed her assault with Camlann. A flurry of vicious strikes cut Qrow’s Aura to ribbons, and almost did the same with his flesh. But the veteran Huntsman backed off just as his defenses were giving out. The tattoos across his and Summer’s skin pulsed with a yellow burn.

As soon as Summer was out of Temujin’s territory, she parted her held breath.

“Dragonfly!”

Qrow unfolded his sword into its scythe form. He swung it around once to generate momentum. On the second return, Taiyang leapt onto its edge.

A fiery sonic boom lit the chamber as the fighter was catapulted at Camlann. The once glowing tattoos on his comrades reappeared on his skin. The damages they took transferred to him, awakening the strength that was previously dormant.

Blake tried to intercept, but her attack only seemed to amplify Taiyang’s strength, as he blew passed her.

Camlann stabbed its sword-arm into the ground. It dug it in like an anchor to withstand the oncoming force. The Grimm’s shield went up, large enough to cover its whole body.

Taiyang pulled his elbow back in preparation. When he reached the optimum distance, his hand thrusted out. A firm stance was taken at a zero-point distance.

For a brief moment, the world came to a strenuous halt.

And then, Taiyang’s palm connected with Camlann’s aegis. The martial artist interposed trigram formations onto the bony surface, and the characters erupted.

An explosion of fire sundered the Grimm’s shell off its wielder’s body, and with it, a number of scales from Camlann’s armor. The previous attacks from Qrow and Summer’s Shrike combo set up enough damage for the bone to rupture.

Taiyang had to concentrate a majority of his Aura into the blow, but the result was irrefutable. He was about to finish the Grimm off, when Blake almost severed his arm with both her blades.

A low chime resounded, and Taiyang was shifted back to his comrades’ side with Summer’s hand wrapped around his.

“Honestly, must I do everything?” the Witch rolled her eyes and scowled.

She drew a number of Bane shards from her pouch, and knocked them to the back of her throat. Taking so much of the substance led to a thick mist engulfing her body. Only a pair of haunting amber spheres with thin slits was visible through the fog.

Suddenly, nine shadows of giant cats erupted from the clouds. Their yellow eyes mimicked their original, as they pounced at Summer, Qrow, and Taiyang from different directions. The attack not only distracted them, but obscured their vision. And it was there, Blake found her opening.

“A bit underhanded. But one shouldn’t really concern themselves with foul play when carrying out one’s destiny.”

Blake’s actual body turned to the wounded Camlann, and reached out.

“And so, the wheels of fate resume their turn.”

Summer and Knives shared another vision of the future. This one, more vivid than the others. Its events overlapped the present with exact likeness.

With a callous motion, Blake grasped the base of Camlann’s sword-arm, and ripped it from its shoulder.

“GRAAAAHHHHH!!!!” the monster wailed in pain.

The Witch paid the creature no mind, as she held the Grimm’s torn limb weightlessly in her hand. Within the same breath, she threw it with a flick of her shoulder.

The point of the sword made-javelin, soared towards its target with frightening speed.

“Ah…” Temujin exhaled.

“So, this is how my story ends.”

X X X X X

The moment she closed her eye, Temujin felt a symphony of echoes cascade around her.

“All I wanted was for Raven to stay.”

“Vacuo will not die!”

“Where is Temujin?!”

“I have to get back to Cinder!”

“Is Yang alright?”

“Blake’s here! I need to see her!”

“The world will start over.”

“How will the Strongest survive now?”

““TEMUJIN!!!””

Her conscious slipped deeper into the darkness. Her corporeal sense homed in to the figure floating before her. A woman cloaked in ghostly white whispered.

“I know your dreams, too.”

Summer’s smile could barely be gleaned beneath her hood.

“You do, do you?” Temujin questioned.

“Temujin, the fabled Fang of Vacuo and Great Khan. Hero of the Third Crusade and Savior of the Faunus people.”

“I am a plague and a tyrant. The worst kind. One that is championed by the people.”

“That’s not what you are.”

“I’ve sent countless to their deaths, and have taken the lives of countless more. Do you know what I feel after all of that?”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Temujin chuckled mockingly, as if to accost herself. “Nothing.”

“That’s not true. You and I know that. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be trying so hard to find a way to die.”

“My death will serve as small recompense, and it is all I can offer.”

“Like I said, I know your dreams—your wish.”

“…”

“It hasn’t changed since the day you were reborn in the desert. It hasn’t changed since you were a little girl. And it’s no different from your brother’s, from Raven’s, or from any of your people’s.”

“I was a tyrant, or I was very much close to becoming one.”

“You wanted prosperity. You wished for your people to live free, strong, and with pride. You taught your loved ones to take charge of their own destinies. That’s the opposite of a tyrant.”

“I sacrificed them without regret.”

“You wanted to save them at any cost. And you always regretted…You just never allowed yourself to face it until now.”

Temujin felt something prick her heart. It hurt more than any wound she suffered in battle. It spread and overwhelmed her with a sickening nausea.

““TEMUJIN!!!””

Several cries echoed around them. Voices of many she recognized. They were reaching out for her with all they could, with every desperate measure.

“Can you hear them?” Summer asked. “Will you really ignore them?”

“…”

“They’re willing to do anything to save you, like you would for them. They don’t care what Grimm they have to face, or fight whatever the Witch brings, or even if an army of immortals stood in their way.”

“…Idiots.”

“They’d break any rule. They’d ignore whatever the fates wished.”

“All of them…idiots,” Temujin worded with a shiver.

“Yes. We all are.”

“I wish I could deny them.”

“You can’t. That’s the nature of wishes. Sometimes they’re the same, sometimes they’re different and they conflict with each other. And they all vary in strength.”

“…”

“Your wish to die a noble death?”

“…”

“It’s actually pretty weak,” Summer grinned. “There are two especially who are really stubborn and good at fighting yours and fate’s wishes.”

“I wonder who that would be?”

“You can make a guess.”

X X X X X

Temujin opened her eye to the sound of shattering glass. Somethings or someones had broken through the windows of the throne room. And a pair of familiar figures rushed into her field of vision. Their outstretched hands trying to stop Camlann’s sword from piercing her.

The worry on their faces was something she felt guilty about cherishing. It was a sight she would engrave into her memory for the rest of her life.

Not bad for the last thing I’ll ever see.

X X X X X

Summer and Knives watched the prediction play out, and then diverge into two clear paths. The culmination of all their efforts led to this single crossroad.

Summer activated her Semblance along with her Maiden’s Inheritance. The consequences of forcing her abilities through a proxy would exact an unbearable price. But a price Knives would have paid a hundred times over.

Her shade flickered to Raven’s side. Summer’s hands grasped the sword at her waist and cast the Grimm sleeping within to a deep slumber.

That should nullify Salem’s contract for a little bit.

Now, do what you need to do.

X X X X X

Raven and Yang launched themselves from Ilia’s airship, through the windows of the throne room. They watched the claymore fly towards Temujin in slow motion. The mother and daughter willing everything to reaching the elder woman in time.

They were close enough to see the peaceful expression on Temujin’s face. The expression of one that accepted their fate as sealed. A spirit of resignation.

…

But they would never allow such a thing.

As Temujin opened her eye once more to see them rush to her aid, she could tell what they were thinking without them saying a word.

““FUCK FATE!””

The Grimm blade pierced its mark and blood was spilt. Yang and Raven caught its edge with their barehands, and ripped it away before it could bore any deeper into Temujin’s skull. The monstrous arm was flung to a nearby wall, while the two caught the old Faunus on each side.

“Temujin! Speak to me! Don’t you dare die on me, you old bat!!!” Raven shouted desperately.

“Hey!” Yang also cried with tears in her eyes. “Come on! You don’t get to die just like that! This is bullshit! Wake the hell up, grandma!!!”

There was only silence.

…

Then,

“Mmm…!” Temujin grumbled incoherently for a moment. “Damn it.”

She lifted her hand to check what used to be her remaining eye.

“Bastard took the other one.”

“You stupid, old bitch!” Raven pressed her head into Temujin’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably. “Who gives a fucking damn about your eye! You’re still alive!”

“I give a damn. It was my last one…”

“Well…! At least you can’t make fun of how I look right now.”

“Yes. But I don’t think I’ll ever forget how you and Yang had the same sniveling noses when you thought I was going to die.”

“You’re the worst!” Yang said with tearful laughter.

“You really are,” Raven agreed.

…

*Clap*

Raven and Yang turned to the source of sarcastic applause. Their tempers instantly flaring with unquenchable hate.

“Bravo,” the Witch ended with one more clap. “I do love theater.”

“Salem…” Yang snarled.

“Oh, no. Not Salem,” Blake corrected. “Salem is no more. I am the Witch now. Not merely a host, but the legitimate article.”

The girl smirked, and gave a flick of her wrist. A dark grimoire appeared aloft in her hand.

“And with it, comes all my immortal capabilities. I’m sure you must understand what that means, Raven.”

The swordswoman only glared silently.

“You are now outmatched. And in the process, failed to stop me from taking Miss Belladonna’s body,” the Witch glowered. “You, as well, Yang Xiao Long. You failed your former partner and lover. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. Tradition as old as rhyme.”

“We’ll see if you’re still singing that same tune, when I rip you out of Blake like the leech you are!!” Yang roared. “I’ll save her!”

“Oh, I’m sure you believe that, dear. But then again, how will you save this girl when you can’t even save yourself?”

Blake’s nine clones assembled beside the original. From the grimoire, a number of emblems flew from its pages, and engraved themselves into the replications. Each lent a certain special characteristic to its wielder.

Blake’s shadows then, leapt to attack. Multiple unique Semblances were activated in tandem. Every one of them with an ability previously recorded in the Witch’s grimoire.

“Nightingale!” Summer called out.

Raven’s body moved almost of its own accord. The blade of a katana grew from the underside of her wrist, like an extension of her forearm. She moved in concert with her partner. Traces of Summer’s Aura within her soul sang in harmony with her beloved’s.

The pair’s figures blinked in and out intermittently across the throne room, parrying the various strikes of Blake’s clones. A melodious song weaved through the wind of their every step. A lethal duet they had not performed in years, but a rhythm they comfortably fell into.

In the meantime, Taiyang snapped to a responsibility only he could fulfill. He rushed to Temujin’s side, dodging the apparitions of the Witch along the way, while protected by Summer and Raven.

Once he reached the elder, Taiyang laid his palm across her bleeding eye socket. The glowing characters of his Semblance transposed onto her. The blood stopped and the wound cauterized.

“She’ll be fine for now,” he said to a worried Yang. “Right now, we need to—”

His words were cut short, as Adam’s blade was barely blocked by Yang’s gauntlet. A slash that would have otherwise cleared Taiyang’s neck.

“Damn…! Could you give a girl a break?!”

Adam only frothed at the mouth, not seeming to understand anything.

“You no longer have the resources to fight, Yang Xiao Long,” all of Blake’s clones said at once. “Your soul is spent.”

“That’s fine, though!” Summer interrupted. Her pair of rose chakrams fending of the rapid flourishes of Gambol Shroud. “Our team will take it from here.”

“Hmph. The illustrious STRQ Team. A shadow of an exaggerated legend. It wasn’t so long ago you were at bitter odds with one another. Do you truly expect to work under such faulty pretenses?”

“Harbinger!”

As soon as the call went out, Summer withdrew to conserve Knives’ strength, and Raven and Qrow dashed shoulder to shoulder.

“Still remember how to do this, little brother?”

“I can take the lead if you’re feeling forgetful.”

“Just make sure you keep up.”

As the Branwens flew to their targets, they left a trail of black feathers in their wake. Raven saw the Death in their enemies. Thin red threads outlined the fatal flaws in Adam and Blake’s bodies, guiding her blade. Her movements, in turn, paved the path for Qrow’s.

The younger sibling’s Reaper Semblance synchronized with his sister’s. Each fall of Raven’s attack was followed by Qrow’s scythe. The lethal one-two combo decimated the shadows of the Witch. But as her clones fell one after another, the main body only paid attention to Camlann’s sword-arm embedded in the wall.

Blake ripped it from its spot, turning it over in inspection. She then, paid the wounded Grimm with a pitiful look. The knight was still on one knee, leaning on its broken shield for support.

“Do not worry, Camlann. Your wish will be fulfilled yet.”

Blake held out the dismembered limb towards its owner. Dark tendrils sprouted, connecting the two with an eerie Magic. The grotesque sinew pulsated and crunched, until the knight’s body was devoured into the sword. A new cursed artifact was born.

“Hm,” Blake marveled, holding the claymore upright. “This may be one of my finest works yet.”

Dark lightning traveled up and down the artifact’s edge. An ominous bloody glow irradiated its hilt to its ridge. One test swing made the wind roar with a murderous storm.

Who first?

Perhaps, Yang Xiao Long?

Temujin would also make a fine test.

The Witch loosened and retightened her grip on the new version of Camlann. She also rechecked the control over her body.

The assimilation is progressing smoothly.

Enough of it seems complete, in that Blake can no longer interfere.

The girl bolted for where Yang and Temujin rested.

…

“Summer!” Raven shouted upon noticing.

“Don’t worry,” Summer whispered within her. “We won’t let anything happen to either of them. We’re with you.”

Raven stopped in her tracks, and felt a familiar Magic swell within her. It was an ability she used only a handful of times. Like the Magic Ozpin granted her and her brother, which let them transform into birds, Salem granted Raven something as well.

It was in no small way one of the reasons Temujin was able to overcome the Third Crusade and go blow for blow against the previous Spring Maiden.

“Onimaru!” Summer called.

Raven’s form warped and twisted. The core of her soul was drawn out from within, while her physical body retracted in its opposite. The purest derivative of her Semblance and personality was borne in the shape of an Odachi.

Raven’s alternate form shone with the deepest black steel. A thick, viscous smog drifted along its spine, like oil floating in water. Simply keeping still, its ink painted the canvas of the atmosphere. Beautiful, ceremonial threads of crimson decorated its handle, while tassels weaved from its end like a tail.

At the same time, Summer’s figure blinked in Blake’s path with a low ring. Raven’s sword form flew to her partner’s grasp. As the two made contact, their wills and strengths became one. The braids of the Odachi wrapped Summer’s arm, fusing their Auras.

A rush of chaotic energy exploded from the godly blades meeting each other. Camlann’s wrath electrified the air around them. Raven’s brushstroke reaped death with each breath.

“I can’t believe you’re here, Summ.”

“Really? I can,” Summer replied to the echoes of the sword.

“How did you know this was going to happen?”

“Cause I knew we could make it. Because I knew this was what we wished for.”

A shockwave caused the pillars in the room to crumble slightly. Blake and Summer traded blows with their greatswords an immeasurable amount of times. Each exchange rippled the fabric of reality, bringing forth influences from the Never Realm.

The lightning from Camlann intertwined with the fiery ink of Raven’s calligraphy. Summer felt her hand guided by her partner’s embedded technique. A devastating horizontal slash and reverse was performed like the flight of a swallow’s return. Meanwhile, Blake thrust Camlann with a force culminated from the wrath of thousands of fallen Crusaders.

The roof tore open and the combination of thunder and brush streaks scarred the sky.

“This is what should have been,” Summer said. “This is what we should have done all those years ago.”

In spite of the clash of cataclysmic proportions, or perhaps because the situation demanded the partners’ inner hearts to unite, Summer and Raven’s inner thoughts were shared.

“We should never have left you alone.”

“It’s not your fault, Summ. I made my choice to leave the team. I needed to save Temujin.”

“And I’m saying we should have gone with you. It doesn’t matter the reasons. We all wanted the same thing in our own ways.”

“…”

“But it’s today we do it right.”

As Summer finished the thought, Raven realized what she meant. A warmth she hadn’t felt for so long brimmed like a mad joy.

Taiyang, Qrow, and Summer were here with her. STRQ Team was reunited, here in Vacuo. Together, they were saving her home and helping her protect Temujin. It was like a dream come true.

“…I love you, Summ.”

“Hehe! I love you, too!”

“Hey, Tai? You get the feeling we’re missing something important?” Qrow appeared.

“Dunno,” Taiyang shrugged. “But I’ll tell ya, I haven’t enjoyed a fight like this in a long while!”

Synchronizing their assault with their leader, the two men joined their teammates on each side. The complete onslaught of STRQ Team became an overwhelming contest against the Witch, who’s hands were failing to keep up.

It was then, Blake felt heat tickle just above her shoulder. She ducked the sneak attack, vanishing to an empty space of the chamber. The fist of a blazing gold narrowly missed her.

“Damn it! If I wasn’t running so low on fumes, I would’ve gotten you!” Yang complained.

In the break from her opponents, Blake made a quiet assessment of her situation. Temujin was barely hanging on to her life. STRQ Team were a formidable threat, but they were approaching their limits, especially with Summer possessing Knives. And Yang was in the worst condition of them all.

On the Witch’s side, her only ally in Adam was overdosed on Bane and crippled by fatal injuries. Her strength, complimented by Camlann’s artifact, could overwhelm STRQ Team over time. The problem was the newness of her vessel.

Blake was strong. The Witch had been preparing her body for some time now, but the demise of “Salem” came earlier than expected. Contrary to her earlier bluff, the young Faunus wasn’t completely capable of harnessing all her Magic yet. If the battle continued, she would risk the same long-term damages Knives was accruing from Summer’s possession. It was too early for the Witch to sacrifice her new vessel. That is, unless the benefit outweighed the penalty.

And then, there was still the previous host trying to break control.

“…Yang!” Blake cried.

“…”

“You have to end me!”

Yang recognized the tone as her former partner’s. There was no questioning it. Whether the Witch was letting the personality surface on purpose didn’t matter.

“Yang—!”

“No.” Yang shook her head. “I’m not killing you, Blake. Not ever.”

“Please…! You have to!”

“Did you really just expect me to say, ‘Sure! No problem’?” she flashed a confident smile. “I’m going to save you no matter what.”

“…Really? After all that’s happened?”

“You’ll never stop being important to me. Things change, but that never will. I’m coming for you.”

Yang lowered into a fighting stance. The engines of her Ember Celica gave a violent sputter before firing its afterburners. Red painted her eyes.

It wasn’t just Yang, but STRQ Team also readied to resume their desperate battle. Haggard or not, they held the same unwavering determination as the younger. The idea of taking Blake’s life never crossed their minds.

“Hm,” the Witch remarked with amusement. “I can use that. If you’re not willing to destroy this body to defeat me, then I won’t have to worry about—”

“Blake?”

The young girl’s ears perked at hearing the familiar voice. It felt like her heart suddenly stopped beating, and her breath was taken away. The Witch couldn’t force the body to move the way she wanted.

“Blake, you promised me, right?” Ilia approached. “You remember? You still in there?”

“…Illy. D-don’t…!” Blake staggered back, clutching her head. “Don’t come near me…!”

“Blake,” Ilia stepped closer. “It’s time to come home. It’s time to come back to me. I’m right here.”

“Stop! I can’t hold her back!”

“Yes. You can.”

“She’s too strong!”

“You’re stronger!”

Ilia was now close enough, and grasping Blake’s hands. The sword of Camlann fell to the side.

“I love you, Blake.”

The lines in the girl’s face knitted with anguish, while the black in her eyes warped. Two souls within the body warred for influence. The yellow glow in her irises shimmered with change. Then, in a tone that was completely genuine,

“I love you, too, Illy. I haven’t forgotten our promise,” Blake nodded tearfully.

Her soft expression hardened, as she turned to her former partner. A quiet determination burned there.

“Yang?”

“Yeah, Blake. I promise I’ll bring you back to Ilia.”

“……Thank you.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Blake smiled, and returned to Ilia with a meaningful look. She leaned in to leave a soft kiss on her lips, before stepping firmly away.

“It’ll be a little longer, I think,” she said apologetically.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long,” Ilia replied with a sorrowful grin.

“I’ll try not to.”

A thick black smog swirled Blake’s body, and engulfed the entire throne room for a moment. When it dissipated, the girl was gone.

…

Ilia looked to Yang.

It was no secret she harbored a lot of resentment towards her. But it was in this moment, the two completely understood one another. The determination to save the same cherished person was a bond a long time coming. A wordless vow was shared.

“So,” Yang started awkwardly. “Does that mean we’re friends now?”

And just as quick as the understanding formed, so too did it break as Ilia clicked her tongue with annoyance.

“Not on your life, Xiao Long.”

“—Not until you get Blake back for me.”

X X X X X

Summer’s strength abruptly left her and her grip on Raven with a sudden jolt. Her small body went limp, like it was struck with instant paralysis.

Raven dropped to her human form and caught her.

“Summer! Summer, what’s wrong?!”

The misty visage of the woman evaporated to reveal Knives heaving heavy breaths. Her sweating chest raised and fell, like her tiny body had just been freed from carrying an impossible burden. The Silver in her irises pale—before cracking open completely.

“Summer…” Temujin groaned. “What have you done…?”

“It’s the price for channeling my Semblance and the Maiden’s Inheritance,” Summer’s voice came distantly from Knives’ lips. “It’s supposed to be impossible under any other circumstance. But Knives is a very exceptional girl, Temujin. You should be proud.”

“…”

“She’ll be blind from now on. Her Semblance is gone, too.”

“What?!”

“Knives understood what it would take from the beginning and the risks that would come with me possessing her. And she did it, anyway. If you want to blame me, I’m fine with that.”

“Knives…” Temujin wept. “Knives, why for someone like me?”

“The same reason you would do anything for her.”

“Damn it…! Stupid girl!”

“Love and stupid go together a lot,” Summer gave a small, deprecating chuckle. “Raven?”

“Yeah,” the woman clutched the girl’s hand, while she stared blankly into nothing. “I’m here, Summ. We’re all here.”

“Sorry, I kinda sprung all this without warning. I’m sure you all have questions.”

“Only about a thousand of them, but what’s new?” Raven gave a stifled chuckle.

“I missed you. All of you. But like all things that are too good to be true—”

“They don’t last.”

“Nope. No, they don’t.”

Summer sat up with painful effort. Although she was blind, she seemed to sense where everyone was, as she turned to each as she spoke.

“Qrow, Ruby needs as much training as possible before the final battle. It’s only half, but she needs to learn how to use the Maiden’s Inheritance too.”

“Seriously? You appear out of nowhere, possessing some girl, and that’s all you have to say to me?”

“Your leader’s orders are absolute.”

“Heh!” Qrow wiped his eyes. “Haven’t heard that for way too long.”

“And don’t forget to give Yang the Relic.”

“How do you—never mind. Of course, you know.”

“Tai, once I leave Knives’ body, I won’t be able to regulate her Aura. Use your Semblance to keep her from dying.”

“Yeah, alright,” Taiyang sighed. “You got it. Leader’s orders.”

Summer produced Raven’s old sword, and handed it to its rightful owner.

“The Grimm inside it will wake once I leave Knives. Once it does, your contract with the Witch continues.”

“I figured as much,” Raven answered bitterly, as she took the sword. A familiar dread bound her soul to the accursed weapon once again.

“We’ll talk more when the time is right,” Summer promised all of them. “I’m not supposed to be here in the first place, so I’ll hold off on hearing all your complaints for the moment!”

The rest of STRQ Team chuckled at their leader’s words.

“And, Yang?”

Yang swallowed hard as she stepped towards her.

“I’ll see you and Ruby in Menagerie.”

“………Alright, mom…” she answered uneasily. Yang tried to control the emotion rising in her throat, but it only made her hiccup painfully.

“I’m so proud of how far you’ve come. Just a little bit longer now. I know you can do it.”

“……Alright, mom.”

Summer smiled fondly. The edges of her lips then, relaxed and her eyelids drifted close. Summer’s presence receded, and the original host of the body became its only occupant.

…

“Well,” Raven nonchalantly stood with a huff. “That didn’t go as terribly as it could have gone.”

“You mean, us being a Team again?” Taiyang clarified.

“Mostly because Summer was here. You two bozos were extras.”

“Of course,” Qrow rolled his eyes. “Would it kill you to just say something nice to us once in a while?”

Raven opened her mouth, and then closed it.

“…Thank you. Both of you. For coming.”

Taiyang and Qrow blinked with surprise, before breaking into embarrassed smiles.

“Oh god,” Taiyang massaged the back of his neck. “I feel old.”

“You, too, huh?” Qrow chuckled.

The three shared a quiet moment together. A small rewrite of history. The day STRQ Team disbanded was overwritten with today’s reunion, no matter how brief.

“Qrow, Tai,” Raven spoke. “You look better. Less drunk and depressed than I’ve seen in a long time. Make sure whoever’s looking after your sorry asses keeps doing it.”

““Uh huh…”” they both groaned, looking away.

“And just in case you idiots get any dumb ideas, know that we’re still enemies after this. The same goes for you too, Yang.”

“I know, mom,” the daughter rolled her eyes. “I’m coming for you too, you know. Blake’s not the only one I’m dragging back home.”

“…Don’t get cocky. Well, then. I guess I’ll see you all on the full moon.”

Raven turned and was about to leave, when she stopped.

“Take care of yourself, you old prune.”

“As much as a blind woman can,” Temujin waved vaguely.

“And don’t,” she paused. “Don’t do something stupid like trying to kill yourself again! Or I swear, I’ll stop you just so I can kill you myself.”

“Oh ho ho! Who taught you to speak that way?”

“……I really thought I lost you this time.”

“……I’m sorry, Raven.”

“The most stubborn old woman in Remnant apologizing. This really is the end for Vacuo.”

Raven drew her blade, and sliced open a portal.

…

“Get out of here, while you still can.”

X X X X X

With the battle in the Hanging Gardens finished, Yang made her way to the throne room’s balcony.

Dusk was now setting in, as she saw smoke stacks rising from the North, West, and South. The armies of Grimm were still launching their endless assault on the capital despite their master’s retreat. From the looks of it, it was only a matter of time before they broke through the Walls and Vacuo was lost.

“Really can’t catch a break,” Yang sighed into the wind.

She basked in the somber moment, while Qrow joined her side.

“How are ya, kiddo?”

“Are we talking physically, mentally, or emotionally? Not that the answer isn’t the same for all of the above…”

“I hear that.”

“How’s Knives and Temujin?”

“Your dad’s making sure they’re stable until medical teams arrive.”

Yang paused.

“……And Adam?”

“The Bane’s taken its toll, but he’ll live.”

“Ilia bringing the airship around yet?”

“Soon enough. You sure you still wanna do this, kid? Don’t know how much good you can do in your condition.”

“The war goes on,” Yang gave a tired shrug. “My team’s still out there. And I need to make sure there’s something here when the Atlesian Fleet arrives. I can’t just let Vacuo fall like this. Not after everything.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. You know, we might actually die before we see Summer again at this rate,” Qrow commented, while observing the continuous swarms of Grimm in the distance.

“Since when is anything in life guaranteed?”

“True.”

Qrow reached in his pocket, and pulled out a chess piece.

“Ozpin wanted you to have this.”

“The Relic from Beacon’s exam?” she cocked her head. The Maiden Inheritance within her resonated with the object’s appearance. “What…is it?”

“It’s a memento from the Old One. Titan’s last gift to the Children of Remnant.”

“It’s not going to take over my body, is it?”

“I will admit, it’s similar to the cane Ozpin left. But no, you’re not going to be the next vessel for anybody. Titan’s gone. I’m pretty sure, as a Maiden, you felt that.”

“Yeah…” Yang took the chess piece in her hand and examined it.

Without a second thought, she channeled her Aura through, and felt something funnel back. A wealth of information flooded her brain, or more accurately, an insight. Her very concept of the world shifted ever so slightly, but nonetheless significantly.

“Yang?” Qrow checked.

“I think… I just learned Magic,” Yang muttered in disbelief.

“Seriously?”

“Kind of. I can’t…use it exactly, cause I’ve never done it before but…” Yang was in the process of organizing her newfound thoughts. “They’re more like instructions, but not?”

“Anything in there to help us out at all?”

“One specific thing, as a matter of fact. But I need some time.”

Yang tapped her in-ear communications.

“Em! Minerva! Nai! How long will the Walls hold out the Grimm?”

“Yang?! I guess from the sounds of it, Temujin hasn’t bit the dust!” Emerald replied.

“Wait, what do you mean? Temujin was in danger?” Minerva questioned in surprise.

“We can talk about that piece of drama later,” Yang cut them off. “How are the Walls?”

“We are holding defenses here in the Northern theater,” Minerva answered.

“We are somehow also managing the Southern Walls,” Nai checked in.

“Looks like the West is where it’s gonna fold,” Emerald said. “Bean’s doubling down over here. There’s more Grimm being committed to this sector. It’s probably gonna hold for another hour, maybe two tops. Then, we’re fucked up the ass.”

“Damn it! That’s not enough time!”

Yang slammed her fist on the guardrail. Her mind was quickly thinking of ways to prolong the battle. Minerva and Nai could move to assist Emerald, but they would take too much time. Their respective areas could also fall in their absence.

They needed more. More time, more people than they had, more resources, but any resemblance of anything like that was still too far away.

They needed a miracle.

…

Yang’s radio suddenly crackled, followed by a voice from one she didn’t expect to hear.

“Do not lose heart,” Cinder’s words resounded confidently from the other end.

“Immediate reinforcements are inbound.”

#rwby #yang xiao long #Blake Belladonna #Summer Rose #raven branwen #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #TEAM STRQ #ENMY

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readingraebow · 5 years

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Dark Places Section Three

Libby Day (Now) - Libby Day (Now) (approx pages 246-345)

1. What kind of place does Runner live in? What does he tell Libby happened the night of the murders? He lives in an industrial sized mixing vat on the edge of an abandoned government project. It's a toxic waste dump that's basically filled with aresenic. So, yeah, now he lives there. And he tells Libby that he thinks Trey helped Ben murder his family. He says that Trey was a bookie looking for his money and since Ben was with Trey that day, he thinks they went to the Day house looking for money and, when they couldn't get it, murdered the whole family. And Runner also tells Libby about Diondra's pregnancy and that he thinks they might've killed her as well.

2. When Patty goes in Ben’s room, what does she find under his bed? What does she do with it? She finds all the little girl underclothes that Ben bought for the baby. And since they are in such varying sizes, Patty just assumes these are the underwear from all of his "victims" that he kept. At this point, she just assumes everything she heard at the Cates house is true. And because she doesn't want the police to find everything, if it is true, she burns all of the underthings in the fireplace.

3. What did Trey and Diondra take Ben to do? Why was he afraid to take the first swing? They took him out to kill a cow. But first they did some prayer thing to the devil and then Diondra went first and started stabbing the cow. Then Trey started in with his axe. But Ben just stood there, watching. He didn't want to join in because he didn't know what it would feel like. Because, he figured, it would be like all the other things he'd tried: weed, alcohol. He knew if he got a taste for killing, he wouldn't be able to stop. So he didn't want to start. But he did. Eventually, he did join in and help.

4. What did Lyle tell Libby about his past that he hadn’t told anyone else? The fires in California in 1999 were started by him. He was a kid, out playing in the woods behind his house. And he was playing with a lighter, just trying to see how close he had to get to light the foxtails on fire. And then he looked back and everything behind him was burning. And it was so windy that it was blowing the fire to other parts of the forest until, suddenly everything was on fire. And he tells Libby because that's what drew him to her story. He thought she might've been like him. Just a kid who made a mistake but whose actions had big consequences.

5. Who is Polly Palm? Who is Crystal? Polly Palm is Diondra. Back when the murders occurred, she used to use her "stripper" name (the name of her childhood pet + the street she grew up on) whenever she ran away from her parents and needed a different name. Well, she was reported missing shortly after the murders and she's been using that name since, living in hiding. So that's the name she's using when Libby tracks her down. And Crystal is the baby she was pregnant with when the murders happened/when she disappeared. Crystal is Ben's daughter, Libby's niece.

6. Why did Ben and Diondra come back to Ben’s house to get money? Who was in the doorway of Ben’s room listening, and what did this person hear? There were a bunch of messages on Diondra's answering machine about Ben molesting little girls and when Diondra heard them, she assumed Ben was going to be arrested and didn't want him to wait around for that to happen. So she decided they were going to run away. She said she still has $200 but they'll need more if they're going to disappear. So Ben says he has some money he's been saving and he says his mom always has a couple hundred hidden somewhere around the house. So they go back to the house to look for money and while they're looking, Michelle is waiting outside the door. She overhears that Diondra is pregnant and says she's going to tell their mom. Diondra chases her down and strangles her. And Ben literally just stands there watching??? He halfheartedly tries to stop her but then he just ends up standing there, with his hand on her shoulder, while she murders his sister. WHAT????

7. What do we learn Patty did to help with finances for Ben? So to help save her family and her farm, Patty hired the Angel of Debt to murder her so he kids could collect the insurance money and, if Ben was arrested for the molestation, legal costs. But it all went horribly wrong. When Diondra was strangling Michelle, Debby went looking for her mom to get help but instead found her mom being murdered. And the Angel of Debt had made it clear that no one else could see his face so he picked up an axe and started hacking at Michelle. Then he found the already loaded shotgun because he thought that would be easier and came back and shot Patty. After he left, Diondra decided to "help" (or something? I still have no idea what she thought she was accomplishing) and she drew all the Satanic stuff on the walls and threw food around and it was her footprint they found (she had giant feet and wore men's shoes) and her blood on Michelle's sheets (finally the DNA evidence everyone wanted!). And she told Ben to go look for Libby (so it was Ben's voice she heard) and bring her inside so they coULD KILL HER TOO so then Ben would be a victim and everyone would forget the molestation thing and he could collect the insurance money all by himself and he could take care of his family. Instead he went out, saw Libby and yelled for her to stay where she was (great plan since it was FREEZING) and went back to help Diondra and also erase any evidence of her being there (he went around and wiped up footprints and her fingerprints). So, basically not what Patty had planned to help her family out AT ALL.

8. What did you think of the ending of this book? Did you see it coming? How do you like this book in comparison to one of our previous reads, Gone Girl? I honestly absolutely hated the ending of this book. I thought it was stupid. Hiring a hit man to kill you so your family can collect the insurance money and then leaving your sister to pay to raise your four children is a stupid, cowardly way out. And Ben standing by and watching his crazy girlfriend murder his sister, DOING NOTHING TO STOP HER, and then going to prison for her and protecting her for 25 years is equally stupid. So I hated the ending and it honestly made me hate the rest of the book as well (though I was getting there on my own with how poorly paced the middle was). And compared to Gone Girl, I liked this one a sliver more. I don't flat out hate it, the way I do with Gone Girl. This book had exactly one redeeming quality for me that puts it a notch above Gone Girl: I didn't guess the ending in exactly five minutes so that was, at least, better. But, honestly, Gillian Flynn mysteries are just not for me. I still kind of want to read Sharp Objects just to be absolutely sure (and because I really want to watch the show) but if that one also falls flat, then I'm done. I just can't do popular mysteries. I really can't. They're all so, so unbelievably bad. *curls up with an Agatha Christie to set the world right again*

Section Three Reading Journal

*sigh* So as you can see, I hated this book. And I’m honestly really annoyed that that ended up being the case because I really was liking it at the beginning. But then the horrible pacing happened. And then, the worst ending OF ALL TIME. (That’s not true. Please see my review of Little Disasters on Goodreads for that gem.)

Anyway, I can’t begin to even tell you all the ways this book made me mad. Because there are so. many. A few of them I’ve already detailed but that might take more explanation.

So. The one thing I did actually like about this book is that I didn’t flat out guess the ending from the beginning. I thought it was weird that Michelle was strangled and the other two were more ~connected. But I didn’t immediately guess that there were multiple killers. I did catch the Angel of Debt at the beginning though and put that together with Patty when the foreclosure happened. And I guessed Diondra killed Michelle pretty early on. (Though for quite a while, I honestly thought she killed them all.) But Debby was the one I could never make fit. So, for that tiny little mystery, I do give this book some credit.

Not that I liked any of it. I honestly don’t know how a book could take characters that I didn’t really ~like but, at least, didn’t mind (though Patty I did actually like until the end) and make me flat out hate every single one of them in the span of about 30 pages. Because all of their motives were absolute crap and they were all so fantastically weak. And I literally wanted to just Silver Linings Playbook style chuck this book right out the window.

But let’s break this down. Patty is about to lost everything and instead of sticking around and figuring it out (she had a sister who loved her and would’ve helped her get back on her feet, I guarantee it), she decided to just die and leave her kids to be raised by someone else. As any good mother should. Ben hated his little sister but also seemed to hate his girlfriend (he said himself that if he would’ve run away with her, he probably would’ve killed her when she got on his nerves) and his future child, who he never even wanted, but stands by and allows his crazy girlfriend to kill his sister and then protects her in prison. Because that seems normal. (And even though he wasn’t a molester, he definitely was a pedophile and I hated how the book pretty much glossed over that???? Straight up making out with an 11 year old and getting off on it is not normal. That’s Cement Garden territory.)

Then that brings us to Libby. Because I could’ve almost forgiven all of her quirks and how she just allowed herself to be the victim for her entire life and never even try to move on or care about anything more than money. But then she forgave her niece. I’m sorry. SHE TRIED TO KILL YOU. And you knew her, what, ten minutes before that? And had a family bond with her already? Crystal was raised by an actual psychopath. That messes a kid up. But, instead, she’s just going to let her go. I’m not saying Crystal needs to be in jail (that’s more Diondra, not as much Crystal) but I’m saying she could probably use a lot of therapy to undo all the damage done by her mother and by letting her off the hook, Libby is basically saying that her behavior and her mother’s teachings are alright. And they’re not. So what’s going to stop Crystal from becoming her mother in the future? And possibly also becoming a murderer.

So. Short story about how I flat out hated every character when I finished this book all because of the ending. And toward the end of section two/the beginning of this section this book honestly got pretty hard to read. Because I was bored. The pacing in this book was absolutely terrible and so much of it was unnecessary. A good mystery is short and to the point with the mystery buried in the details, not under a pile of crap that you hope distracts the reader (or bores them) enough to not catch on. And Gillian Flynn has never really learned how to do that. But, then again, the people who have made popular mysteries bestsellers seem to not have noticed that. Probably because the best written mysteries are not popular. And that’s honestly sad to me.

Anyway, if this movie is still streaming somewhere I’ll probably watch it. Because I really do like the cast. (Hi, I watched the first season of Good Girls and I love Christina Hendricks and I watch to watch all the things she’s in now so THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR.) And I’m kind of hoping the movie cleans up this mess of a story. Though, honestly, there’s no fixing that ending. *sigh* So, if I do end up watching it, I’ll be sure to write a review here.

But, now, I’m going to read something I actually like. And I’m so, so glad this book is finally over so I can be on to other things. It’s been a rough few days.

#trcbooks #2015: dark places #2015 reading challenge

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