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anonymousewrites · 1 year

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There's a Will; There's a Way (Book 4) Chapter Ten

Dazai Osamu x Fem! Reader

Chapter Ten: Sky Casino

Summary: The ADA and the Hunting Dogs both arrive on the Casino and the Decay of the Angel's territory.

Lucy bounced up and down and glanced around. It was nerve-wracking to be infiltrating such a fancy casino. She stood out like a sore thumb in her dress. True, it wasn’t shabby, but it wasn’t the ornate gowns or suits of the truly rich (or those trying to seem so) around her. Lucy huffed and tapped her foot. Akira had said she’d return and disappeared a few minutes ago. Lucy was all alone without the one person who could actually act like she fit in.

“Alright, let’s go, pinky,” said Akira, moving like a shadow to Lucy’s shoulder.

The girl jumped and looked, wide-eyed in surprise, at Akira. She was wearing a long black gown with high neckline and long sleeves. Two long slits along the sides allowed for graceful movement.

“Where did you get that?! Is now the time?!” hissed Lucy.

Akira threw a hand over her shoulder and leaned in. To all the world, she looked like a doting sister reassuring her anxious sibling. “I don’t waste time. I want this to go off without a hitch. And quite frankly, standing around in bloody, ripped clothing won’t be covert, will it? So, let’s get on with our job, shall we?” She stood up straighter and began to walk forward.

“How did you even get that?” asked Lucy, hurrying to catch up.

“Charmed it off a girl in the bathroom,” teased Akira. Seeing Lucy’s shocked look, she rolled her eyes. “Nothing like that.” I already have someone I love. “I spilled champagne on myself, and I convinced her that I needed a new outfit. She happily agreed, and she has another dress. Rich people are like that.”

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. Starting out this mission by stealing a girl’s dress wouldn’t be very good. However, it seemed to go better as they weaved through the crowds. Akira even focused and didn’t look at the poker games. No one thought they were out of place. People’s gazes fell on Akira, but that was because of her stunning appearance, not because she looked suspicious. However, a sudden wail attracted everyone’s attention.

“Please! That was my entire fortune!” cried an older gentleman.

“Kojak full house,” said the dealer. “You lose.”

“One more game!” begged the poor man. “I can’t pay for my daughter’s surgery any other way! Please! If I have the money, I can save her! Don’t abandoned a ten-year-old child! Please, please show mercy!”

Akira suddenly couldn’t hear the world. The chatter buzzed around her in a dull thrum, but it barely registered. Somewhere in her mind she registered telling Lucy to go on while there was a distraction as she continued forward. All she could hear was the desperation in the old man’s voice. That type of need to protect one’s child couldn’t be faked. Akira could feel the urgency radiating from him, the pure need to save his daughter. He’s protecting his daughter…His ten-year-old daughter…Barely young than I— Her heart clenched. He must really love her… Without thinking, Akira strode forwards. She disregarded Lucy’s attempt to stop her. Flicking her wrist, yen from the sleeve of her dress dropped into her hand (she had it so she could bribe guards). Before Akira could arrive next to him, a young man walked into the room and gained everyone’s attention.

“What’s going on here?” he asked. He wore an elegant ensemble of cream, white, grey, and purple. He had long hair, which was white on one side and lilac on the other. Grey eyes gazed at the situation with intensity.

Sigma, just the man we’re looking for, thought Akira, slipping the yen back into her sleeve and melting back into the crowd. However, now is not the right time for making our move.

“M-Manager!” stuttered the dealer. “I apologize! I will handle this at—.”

“Silence.” Sigma stepped closer to the two men. “I will have no unsightliness. Anyone who damages our elegance…we don’t need in my casino.” He held up a playing card. “Look! There’s an illegal blemish on this card’s rear. This hand is annulled.”

“Huh?” The poor man blinked.

Akira tilted her head. Interesting. A member of the Decay of the Angel is helping someone with seemingly no manipulation.

“Sir.” Sigma knelt and took the man’s hand, smiling kindly. “I’m deeply sorry for our staff’s improper behavior. If you’d like, I can be the dealer for you next hand.”

Fascinated (and unable to leave without being obvious), Akira watched as Sigma carefully dealt the cards in a manner that allowed the poor man to win. No patrons noticed since they weren’t looking for it, but Akira’s criminal nature allowed her to see. She couldn’t help but smile and clap with the crowd as the man celebrated. Her heart was overjoyed to see that a father was able to save his daughter.

Alright, she thought, turning. Time to go. It all worked out. Akira glanced over her shoulder at the exit of the room. She needed to find the others. And if I don’t…I’ll find Sigma again for myself.

Inside a small room, Lucy released Atsushi, Kyouka, and (Y/N) from Anne’s Room.

“Where’s Akira?” asked (Y/N) in concern while Atsushi slipped out for a moment to lead Tachihara to the coins.

“Some guy was pleading for money to save his daughter, and she went towards him. She told me to go, and I tried to stop her first, but she wouldn’t listen,” said Lucy.

(Y/N)’s eyes softened. Akira…you act so tough, but whenever you see and father-daughter bond…you melt. “It’s alright, I’m sure you tried.”

Atsushi reentered the room, out-of-breath. “Will she be alright?” He looked to (Y/N).

She smiled. “Akira will probably turn up in the nick of time to save our asses at some point. It’s a helpful habit of hers. And if she runs into trouble before then, she can put up a hell of a fight.” She better. She’s my best friend. I can’t lose her.

An explosion rocked the ship suddenly.

“Lucy, will you please check what happened?” asked Atsushi.

“I was already going!” huffed Lucy, leaving the room for a moment.

Tsundere, thought (Y/N) and Akira.

Lucy returned and explained, “That explosion blocked off the casino’s exit.”

“We just lost our only escape route,” said Kyouka. “Nobody can get out of this casino now. We’re stranded here, surrounded by a vast army.”

“It’s just as Dazai planned it,” said (Y/N). “As crazy as it seems, he wants this to become an all-out brawl. We must capture the man who knows where the ‘page’ is. We must capture Sigma.”

They listened intently to the sounds in the halls outside. At length, the noises of fighting echoed into the room.

“I hear combat!” said Atsushi, due to his sharp hearing.

“That means…!” breathed Lucy.

“The Hunting Dogs are on the move,” said (Y/N). “It’s going precisely as Dazai planned.”

“Let the Hunting Dogs find the coins, have them take control of the comms room, and stop the detonation signal,” said (Y/N).

“But that room’s in the heart of the enemy. Dostoevsky would have multiple plans to guard it. Even the Hunting Dogs may have trouble,” said Kyouka.

“That’s why we’re here.” (Y/N)’s eyes were severe and serious. “We’ll fight alongside the Hunting Dogs to stop the Decay of the Angels and prove we’re innocent.”

“We’ll capture the manager, stop the attack, and ally with the Hunting Dogs,” said Atsushi. “Three birds with one stone. That was Dazai’s plan.”

“The battle’s begun,” said (Y/N). “Let’s go.”

They stepped into the hall.

“Are still worried about Akira, (Y/N)?” asked Atsushi.

“She’s knows the plan.” (Y/N) frowned for a moment. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already found the fight.”

Akira turned a corner and immediately backtracked. Hunting Dogs were running down the hall and would soon be upon her. Thinking quickly, she reached into her hair and pulled out a pin. Akira picked a room’s lock and slipped inside. It was empty except for the TV, which was playing a video of Sigma next to picture of Tachihara and a girl Akira recognized as Teruko.

So… Akira narrowed her eyes. He’s the spy in the Port Mafia. She wasn’t upset about Tachihara betraying the Port Mafia (except for the possibility of Chuuya getting hurt), but she was angry at the Hunting Dogs chasing after Akiko, (Y/N), and their Agency friends. Can’t do anything right now, though. (Y/N)’s trusting me to follow the plan. For her, I’ll put aside my anger.

“I repeat,” he said. “If you see these two, attack them at once! You won’t be tried! We’ll erase all debts for anyone who hits them, ten thousand if you wound them, one hundred for a KO, a million for death! I’m broadcasting to the whole casino! As police, they won’t hurt regular citizens! Do not be afraid to engage them! It’s first come, first served!”

God, that is super tempting, but… Akira sweat-dropped, (Y/N) would kill me. She frowned. And if those Hunting Dogs get too offtrack… She groaned. Dammit, I better make sure those civilians don’t mess everything up.

She extended her claws and ripped the bottom of her dress off to allow for more mobility. It hung loosely around her knees. Before leaving the room again, Akira picked up a kitchen knife. She opened the door and stepped out. Other patrons of the casino stood in their doorways holding various weapons. One woman was standing next to Tachihara with her husband.

Shit, shit, shi—!

The dark-haired woman stabbed him in the side.

“Wha—?!” he gasped.

“Tachihara! Behind you!” warned Teruko.

Akira moved lightning quick. She launched herself off the nearest wall and rebounded off the opposite. She ended up flying between Tachihara and the husband going to attack. With a deft slice, Akira broke the wine bottle. Redirecting herself off another wall, she barreled into the husband. He hit the opposite wall hard and slumped to the floor while Akira rolled to her feet. His wife hurried over in concern.

“Relax, I didn’t kill him,” said Akira, rolling her eyes.

“You—!” Tachihara narrowed his eyes.

“Me!” chirped Akira. She threw her arms out dramatically.

Tachihara pulled the knife out of his and threw it at her. Without a care in the world, she leaned back and watched it fly by. Her eyes widened as the knife curved around and sped back. Akira caught it with ease, however.

“You sneaky bastard! You have an ability,” said Akira.

“Not the only one!” cried Teruko.

She leapt forward and morphed into an adult woman. Akira flipped backwards into the mass of confused casino patrons. To attack her, Teruko and Tachihara would have to risk hurting civilians, something they could not do.

“Gamblers and debtors! Addicts and alcoholics!” announced Akira. She pointed her knife at the Hunting Dogs. “You all know the price on their heads! You all know it’s first come, first served! This would be an terrible opportunity to miss!”

“What’re you doing?!” hissed Tachihara.

Akira looked to the civilians around her. “I’d get to killing them if I were you.” Now that they know people are going after them, the Hunting Dogs will be able to avoid being incapacitated. The plan is back on track.

The casino patrons turned to the Hunting Dogs. The lure of money invaded their minds. They clutched their weapons tightly and attacked. Akira darted into an open room and thrust the knife through the window, shattering it. She stepped up onto the windowsill. Far below, the earth stared at her. Tachihara burst into the room behind her. Akira faced him.

“I do hope you didn’t hurt anyone~!” She pouted, licking the wine dripping down her arm and winking playfully.

Tachihara glared. “Surrender yourself.”

“No thanks!” Akira smirked while remaining aware of the knife set that Tachihara could manipulate easily.

Tachihara frowned. “Why did you help me but then lead us into a fight? Isn’t that—”

“Counterintuitive?” offered Akira. She shrugged. “Maybe to you. Or maybe I just know what I’m doing. I mean, people often survive fights if they know they’re facing one.”

She wants us to survive? Tachihara furrowed his brow. His brain was clouded, as if he couldn’t get to the answer to everything going on. As if…something was stopping him. “Why are you doing this? You aren’t an Agency member…Why would you help these terrorists?”

“They’re innocent,” said Akira. Interesting…he’s asking questions. None of the other Hunting Dogs have. She nearly chuckled. Maybe the Port Mafia rubbed off on him.

“What, you just trust them? Even after trying to kill your friend?” Tachihara raised an eyebrow.

“Coming from me, that should count for something,” said Akira. She glanced outside. “You should really start to think more critically about this whole situation. You seem mildly intelligent.”

Tachihara blinked and narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“Anyways, I’ve got to go,” said Akira. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to kick your ass, but I’m busy!”

“What?”

Akira smirked, gave a two-finger salute, and fell backwards off the window. Shocked, Tachihara just stood and stared.

“Tachihara! We need to go, did you catch her?” called Teruko.

“No! Let’s just get to the comms room. The sooner we stop the Agency’s plan, the better!” said Tachihara. He threw one last look over his shoulder to the window. Think critically, huh…?

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bonky-n-steeb · 3 years

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𝐵𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑇𝐻𝐸

𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴

𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙆!𝘽𝙐𝘾𝙆𝙔 𝘽𝘼𝙍𝙉𝙀𝙎 𝙭 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍 | 𝙈𝙊𝘽!𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙍𝙊𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬: Your life is as good as it gets. The perfect husband, the perfect daughter, the perfect job. But what you are unaware is that your husband is a deadly assassin and your long-lost friend, now a fearsome mob boss is hell bent on getting you back. But what you don’t know can't hurt you, right?

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: psychological disorder, PTSD, domestic abuse, yandere, obsession, violence, cursing. If you find any of this triggering please DNI. Also inform me if I left something out.

ᴛʜɪs ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇᴛᴀ ʀᴇᴀᴅ, sᴏ ᴀʟʟ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ᴍʏ ᴏᴡɴ

My previous account was deleted so I’ll be posting the stories again. I’ll be changing this one, so yeah.

Inform me if y’all wanna be tagged!

As the Winter Soldier entered the house, his instincts kicked in. The house was too quiet for his liking. He kept the bags on the sofa and started climbing up the stairs towards your bedroom. Oh, how much he loved you. You had never left his side, not when he lost his arm, not when the guilt became too much to live with and he cried his eyes out near you while you said sweet nothings into his ears. He wanted to keep you by side always, he wasn’t ever letting you go. Soon he was going to ask you to leave your job and stay at home looking after him and Iris.

He couldn’t stand to see the tired look in your eyes, how you managed everything, your job, your kid, the house and most importantly him. In the beginning he was afraid you wouldn’t love him, that you would only love Bucky, but you loved him just as much; though you were unaware that he existed in Bucky. Bucky was an idiot to let you roam free and be away from him, especially when the world is filled with cruel people. He was a fool to let you be friends with Thor or any man in general. You were only his and Bucky’s. He was Bucky only, but he was much stronger and capable than Bucky. He was the one who would protect you, not Bucky. The Soldat loved you much more than Bucky ever could.

As he opened the door, he noticed you were in the bathroom. As he entered inside, for a second even he was shocked. You were sitting with your legs folded and staring wide eyed at his computer. He noticed you were watching his files and videos and you were so dumbstruck that you didn’t even notice him standing at the door.

But seeing you watch him do the deed sent a weird wave of pride through him. He wasn’t ever going to tell you any of this, after all it was highly confidential and your life could have been jeopardized. But seeing you now, watching his skilled work with awe, made his chest swell with pride. He deserved to get his work appreciated by his wife; after all, he had put sweat and blood in it, and you weren't even aware, but not anymore. What he failed to notice was that it wasn’t awe on your face, it was unadulterated fear.

He could clearly see as your eyes filled with tears and you pressed a hand on your face. He knew you were scared, but he would tell you not to be. For you, there was nothing to be afraid of him. As you started to puke, he went and held your hair in one hand while with the other he quietly shushed you. The last thing he wanted was to see you suffer. He wanted to protect you, keep you safe from the world, not hurt you.

After you emptied your stomach, you slouched besides the toilet and huffed loudly. The tears from your eyes weren't stopping. “Peeking in other people’s stuff ain’t a good habit, doll.” he said calmly as he folded his hands while leaning against the door frame.

Your eyes widened when you realized that it was Bucky shushing you all this while. But why would he do that, now that you had found his secret. Maybe he was being merciful before killing you. Wait, he was going to kill you!!! You had seen top secret information and there was no going back. You averted your gaze from him as you stared at the laptop. Another video of Bucky’s murders running on it.

You couldn't exactly make out what the video was as your eyes were filled with unshed tears. “He had a big ass fence and four huge dogs guarding the house. But well, all dogs can be lured by treats.” he said shrugging as if he was talking about your neighbors' dogs and not of the person he had killed. And you realized he regretted nothing; he was talking about murdering people with pride rather than guilt.

“Make it quick.” your voice was barely audible as pathetic sobs escaped your eyes. The Winter Soldier titled his head in confusion, “And what made you think that I’m going to kill you?” you looked up at him with even more fear. “I wasn’t supposed to see all this. And I’ve seen enough movies and read enough books to know what happens when you see stuff you aren't supposed to.” you shivered violently at the thought.

The Soldier chuckled dryly “You are right, if they know that you’ve seen all this, then they wouldn’t bat an eyelid in executing you. But... who is going to tell them? Not me for sure. I just need one promise, you aren't ever going to tell this to anyone, no matter what, no matter whose life is at stake. You are going to pretend you never saw any of this. Delete all this from your brain right now!” he ordered.

His commanding voice sent shivers down your spine, “I promise, I promise not to tell anyone....... I'm sorry, please.” you had no idea for what you were apologizing or pleading for. “It's okay.” he said with a faint smile as he picked you up gently and you wondered whether it was the same man capable of killing people in the blink of an eye. As you quietly sat on the bed, you dared not look at him; he on the other hand was lovingly staring at you.

You wanted to tell him to give up this job and start anew, but you knew this wasn't the right timing. “Don't worry, I’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to do anything. Just sign your resignation and I'll turn it in. You'll be safe in this house. You don't even have to ever leave it. The hospital doesn’t even pay you enough for your handwork.”

You looked at Bucky with shock and betrayal, you absolutely adored your work. You wouldn’t ever give up being a surgeon and saving lives. You had spent years trying to reach where you were today, and you loved doing what you did. How could Bucky ever say something like that. He was always so supportive but well, he wasn’t the same Bucky he once was.

“You wouldn’t ever meet any other man. Doll, you don't know how this world is, there are lunatics, murderers and all kinds of bad people. But I’ve vowed to keep you safe and I will. Just don’t, just don’t stop loving me.”

“You are joking right? You don’t mean that... do you?” You asked unsure of his words. “Why would I joke about this?” Your heart beat so loudly that you knew he heard it. To keep you inside your house like a prisoner, had he lost his mind? You enjoyed your freedom more than anything. And at that exact moment you realized that Bucky had utterly and completely lost his sanity.

“You can’t do that! I love my job and I’m not resigning anytime soon. I have friends for Christ’s sake. I have a goddamn life James! What the hell do you mean I won’t see any other men?” You lost your cool. Enough was enough. He couldn’t control your life; you wouldn’t let him.

You took a deep breath; you didn’t want him to misinterpret your next words and ignore you. “James, I believe it should be the other way around. I think it’s time you drop being a hit man. It’s not safe...” at your words he tilted his head and squinted his eyes. But still you continued, “It’s clearly dangerous. The things you’re doing, they could jeopardize all our lives, you, me, Iris. And the way you kill...” you cleared your throat and shook your head.

“It’s not safe for your mental health too. Look Buck, you think I don’t know, but I know you secretly cry at night. You feel guilty, so just stop now. We’ll work it through before it’s too late.” You said while rubbing his arm.

“Think about Rissie, she misses her dad so much when you are gone. Maybe take a job where you won’t have to leave and you can be with her so much more. Also... the lives that you’ve... umm.... they are taking a toll on you. You are not present with us anymore Buck, you stare off and don’t give a shit as to what we say. And it’s not just me that notices. You get irritated so quickly, it’s difficult Bucky. But it can all change if you want, Buck.”

Soldat’s talented ears ignored every word you said and only paid attention to the fact that you care about him so much. He doubted that you would get hysterical knowing what he did, but instead you were worried for him. You were ready to forgive him. He was the luckiest bastard.

You saw his love-struck expression and you knew he wants listening to you. “Bucky...!!??? Listen to what I’m saying! Leave that goddamn job!” You lost your cool and yelled at him.

“Do you know why I took that job? They gave me a chance! They gave me my arm back. I would’ve hated being a burden to you and now look, I’m capable to taking care of you. You don’t understand, I can’t leave that job. They gave birth to me.” Your heart ached at his words.

“Bucky, nothing matters if I’m gonna lose you...!!! You are all that matters. And working for Hydra hasn’t fixed you; it had broken you even more. I miss my Bucky. Please, ple....”

At your words, the Winter Soldier snapped his head towards you, “What did you say? Huh, you miss who?” You narrowed your eyes and you couldn’t quite get the meaning of his words. “What? I said I missed Buck, you were so sweet not controlling, I just...” you stopped talking seeing the deadly expression on his face.

“That idiot Bucky is not going to save you! It’s me! I’m the one who will keep you safe. I love you so much more than Bucky ever has. Don’t you understand. Bucky is weak and he is not coming back.” You winced at his cruel words.

“James, you are the Soldat right now? You.... you need help.” You stuttered. At your words Soldat lost his cool, couldn’t you understand and accept his love for you. He raised his flesh arm and slapped you across the face. What was in Bucky that wasn’t in him. He was right, you only loved him as you thought it was Bucky; you didn’t love the Soldat. But he was Bucky, too right?

“Bucky!!!” You held your stinging cheek. You might have tolerated his words but how dare he hit you? You weren’t the one going to sit back and take his shit. In the heat of the moment, you slapped him back. “How dare you?” you screamed at him. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he knew he had messed up big time. The Soldat was scared of one thing: your anger and resentment in him. He hated when he upset you.

“James enough is enough. I’ve had too much of your shit! All I try to do is support you and care for you. I literally handle this house, a job, I look after Rissie, and I take care of you like you are a child. Not once have I ever complaint.

James, I love you so much, but it’s so taxing! Love is not supposed hurt; it’s not supposed to be one sided. I try everything I can to help you. But you? You just don’t care! All you do is come up with stupider excuses. Keeping me home? Making me leave my job? What the fuck is wrong with you?” You shook your head and pinched your nose.

“Look James, I can’t do this anymore. I think we should take a break. We both need to breathe. We need to take a look at things from a different perspective....” before you could continue, he snapped.

On moment you were trying to talk some sense into him and the next you were pinned to the wall with his metal arm squeezing the life out of you. Your eyes widened and you desperately tried to breathe, but he had blocked your windpipe. “Jame...” you couldn’t even continue your sentence.

The Soldat was furious. How could you? How could you suggest that he leave you? You didn’t need a break, you needed him. Only him. And he was going to prove it to you. He wouldn’t let you leave. You started banging your hands on his arm but it was of no use. His eyes were dead, like in the videos. And that scared you more.

Finally, your arms gave out and you were on the verge of passing out. Yet that didn’t stop him, he was a madman with a point to prove. But then a small blood vessel burst open in your left cheek. And when Bucky noticed that, he came back to his senses.

He quickly left his grip and ran back, bumping into the bed. You sagged back down the wall, wheezing. For minutes or for hours you couldn’t tell, you both didn’t dare move. You were shivering and sobbing. And he was contemplating everything, how could he?

He wasn’t the Winter Soldier right now, he was Bucky. Why did the Soldat had to ruin everything? He was fine till it was limited to killing, but ruining his marriage. What could he ever possibly do to make up to you?

Bucky was the first one to speak up, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I... that wasn’t me; or maybe that was. I don’t know. I’m so confused. You were right, I shouldn’t have joined Hydra. I... I don’t know what to say, what to do.... ,,.... please say something, don’t stay quiet. Please.!” He pleaded with tears in his eyes.

“Tell me, tell me what shall I say so that you wouldn’t snap.” Your voice was hoarse and it was hurting to even say one sentence. “You are right, we should give each other space.” His heart broke to million pieces, but he knew it was right. The Soldat could come back any moment and he was too unstable to stay with you and Rissie.

“I’ll... uhmm.. I’ll leave. I can come here for an hour everyday till...” he suggested. “Please, please don’t. You are too scary. Think about Iris. Just go to Rachel, you’ve denied it for too long and look at us. If she says you are stable enough, come back anytime. But... not before.” Rachel was your friend and an excellent psychiatrist. “Oh, okay. Forgive me please. I’m sorry...”

“Leave please!” You quietly observed as he picked up his duffel bag, which was packed all the time for emergency, and left the room. You got up and followed him, all while thinking of the beautiful moments you shared with Bucky. “Goodbye.” He said and you nodded as he left the house in his car.

“Umm, are you okay? I was worried, I don’t mean to pry. I just heard some commotion.” Sam said as he entered your front yard. Sam was neighbor and a dear friend. He had moved in soon after you had. But you had known each other much before that. He used to frequently visit your hospital with one reason or another. You guessed he had a thing for one of the nurses but he never agreed. He was a light hearted person and you enjoyed his company.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I appreciate your concern.” you tried your best to smile. His eyes quickly went to the bruises on your neck. “You don’t have to be formal, tell me. We are friends. Are you fine? Do you need something.” You couldn’t stop your tears at his concern.

“I’m not fine, but I don’t want to talk about it right now.” You said wiping the tears off. “If you need me, anytime, I’m just one call away.” He gave you a warm smile. “Thanks Sam. I’m so glad you are my friend.”

“You are hell bent on giving me diabetes with your sweet words, lady. Take care of yourself. I’ll be right next door.” He said as he saw you walk into the house.

He quickly exited your house and removed his phone from his pajama. He had to make a call.

☮︎︎☮︎︎☮︎︎☮︎︎☮︎︎

You were in your own thoughts. Bucky hadn’t once called you or showed up in the past six days. You had expected him to come back the next day or at least call.

As you walked back home from the hospital, you didn’t notice the huge Greek god of a man walk straight into you. “I’m sorry.” You said out of instinct without looking up.

You stopped right in your tracts when you heard a familiar yet much affirmative voice calling your name. You turned around and stared right into his eyes. He had changed, become much much bigger and stronger than before. But his eyes, they were the same.

“Steve?!” you asked with sudden excitement. He gave you a radiant smile which instantly improved your day.

Lost in the joy of meeting your long-lost friend, you were both unaware of the pair of eyes keenly observing your every move.

#chris evans #sebastian stan #mcu #marvel #dark!bucky x reader #dark!bucky #mob!steve x reader #mob!steve #winter soldier #winter soldier x reader #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #Steve Rogers #Bucky Barnes

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hoaqins-funk-house · 3 years

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Springtrap

Yandere

Male Reader

Part 1

Sitting in the black swivel chair, you spin once or twice before coming to a stop, grimacing at the feeling of sticky floors beneath your shoes. This place is brand new, how the hell are the floors sticky?

Actually, on that note, how is everything so covered in dust?

Sighing, your mindless fidgeting comes to a stop as the phone, just as dinky as the walls around you, begins to ring. You pick it up but put it back on the table, eyes drifting to the laptop and swing-out tablet. When you flip the former open, you note the four buttons, each relating to something you would have to reset when it comes time to. The latter has cameras that are scattered around, including a separate tab for vents. There’s an option to block off vents, which sends a chill up your spine as you glance to the big ass one at your side.

You decide to block that one off for now.

Humming, you familiarize yourself with the layout of the place, deciding to ignore the shadows that crept through your vision.

Your unenthused eyes scan and take in everything. The replicas (you had seen the originals, and they were permanently stained with both the smell and color of pizza sauce and lawsuits) that were in and around the office, as well as the little bobbleheads that sat on your desk of the animatronics, which were, for some reason, human? You boop the one who you assume to be Freddy, hearing the familiar squeak.

A small smile comes to your lips.

It was at this time that you realized you had completely ignored the man on the phone, but you couldn't really bring yourself to care.

The little drawings that were put up were authentic; not just anyone could recreate what a child's mind spits out and decides to draw.

That Freddy looks a bit fucked up.

The posters were cutely designed, and after getting the gist of what everything was and how everything works, you were on your phone the rest of the night.

When six strikes, you casually leave, giving the building a quick once over as you leave the doors, locking them behind you.

If every night is going to be like that, this is going to get boring.

He’s stuck.

This suit traps him like a rabid dog, eager to stay gripped onto his neck.

Still, things would be changing soon.

He can feel it.

He can feel it as a fresh breeze, the first in many years, hits his nostrils, sending a wave of euphoria through his system. The bloodied musk that hung in the dank room was not a pleasant one.

He can feel it as his body accepts this new host, more and more, until soon, quite soon, he will become one with his vessel.

Just as the animatronics before him did.

He ponders.

Why was he being freed from this prison of his own design?

Is he being taken somewhere?

…

Will there be a night guard to terrorize?

A grin takes to his broken lips as he ignores the pain and blood that comes from them. Oh, a night guard! Truly, that will be a sight!

He can't wait.

For now, however, he must play dead.

My, that voice that shouts with excitement from behind him…

It sounds so familiar.

"Bring the truck around!" He calls. "I found one, a real one! It's got the rips, the weird colors, and what I am going to assume is pizza sauce! Ohohoh man, I hit the jackpot with this one! Fazbear's Fright needed something, and here it is!"

His congratulatory tone made the man within the suit want to throw up. Finding him was nothing to be happy about; he is despicable, incapable of redemption, and an awful being.

And you know what?

That's just the way he likes it.

So to have someone happy to find him, especially for their own purposes?

He won't let it stand.

Yeah, if this place has a nightguard, he'll kill them without mercy before burning the entire thing to the ground.

Might as well make it fun for himself.

As light peeks through, clearly originating from a flashlight, he feels his pupils shrink, resisting the urge to let out a groan as his weak eyes ache from their decades of being in the dark.

"Whoahoh! This one looks gnarly!" The same man as before speaks, probably referencing the organs and tendons that were showing. "C'mon, let's get it up!"

His grin only grows as two people lift him onto a dolly, beginning the move.

Goodbye, saferoom.

And hello, Fazbear's Fright.

Humming, you walk into the building, skimming over the decorations once more before noticing something.

The papers that had fallen onto the ground from before, they had dirt on them. Not surprising on its own, but when they were in the shape of tire tracks?

You decide to follow them, using your memory of the cameras to guide you through the building, which was already rather linear anyway.

Entering the last area, you could see a rather dilapidated animatronic suit, with organs visible and its fur matted with blood. Real blood. The old Springbonnie suit was nearly green from how old and dirty it was.

Your eyebrows raise. "Is that guy just stupid or did he knowingly bring in a suit that has a dead body in it?"

Honestly, you didn't care. "Eh, whatever. It'll probably start moving when I start my shift… I've heard those rumors about the other locations." You turn, stretching, unaware of the eyes that followed you or the head that turned your way.

Damn, does he want to kill this one?

Well, he can think it over more soon. After the merge.

He grins again, feeling his uneven, gouged skin begin to flare with pain.

You exit the room fully, making your way back to the office with all the urgency of an ADHD-riddled person doing laundry.

Which is to say… not much.

You fall into the chair, cursing as the thin mesh cushion does nothing to protect your tailbone from the metal frame of the chair. The phone rings not a moment later, you picking it up and laying it on the table again, eager to ignore it just as you had done before. You stretch again, arms raising above your head as you begin to flip through cameras, finding the rabbit in the same spot it was in before.

You yawn.

Hopefully it starts moving soon, or else the entire reason you took this job would be unfulfilled.

You were bored, and you remembered this place from the times you had gone with your younger brother, who was now in his early twenties. You, however, were 28 years of age, with nothing better to do than 'investigate' the Fazbear's Fright that opened up. Still, if that rabbit has a corpse in it, it should make things more fun.

As you lazily flip through your cameras, you set it down and look to the side, seeing a rather dirty looking man with an eyepatch and fox ears. To his confusion, before he could lunge at you, you reach out and swipe a hand through his chest. You continue to swipe forwards and backwards, the incorporeal man stuck standing there until you leaned back.

"So, you're a ghost."

His mouth opens as if to retort, but he just gives up and leaps at you, you not even looking at him anymore. He closes his mouth halfway through the jump, and with an unsatisfied sigh, he disappears.

You continue flipping through the cameras, checking in on the rabbit a couple of times before shoving the tablet out of the way, opening the laptop to have it ready and sitting back in your chair.

You glance towards a shifting figure in front of the window, the hat and bear ears telling of who it is. He limps along, eventually falling beneath your view before seemingly phasing through the wall and leaping at you. You stare passively as he does so, him not completing the jump to instead stand in front of you, confused.

For shits and giggles, you wave your hand through his chest once or twice.

"Why… aren't you… scared?" He croaks, voice ruined from years of no use.

"Oh, was I supposed to be scared?" You genuinely ask. "Uh, sorry. If you do it again I promise I'll hyperventilate."

"Don't try to… lessen your survival chances…"

"Okay. My bad."

He sighs, and after annoyedly rubbing his face, he disappears.

You flip out your cameras once more, finding the screen obscured by static and a small error in the center. Lazily, you reset cams.

When your screen clears, you check the rabbit. He looks… strange. Like his body is evolving in front of your eyes.

To be honest, you don't give enough of a shit to watch a potentially world-changing discovery if it looks that gross. You aren't paid enough to, anyway.

At this pay grade, you even coming into the damn building is volunteer work.

You check your phone for the time, seeing a cool time of one in the morning.

"Aside from that science experiment gone wrong happening in the back room, it's still really damn boring."

However, it's still not boring enough to watch that transformation or whatever. That corpse (well, at this point, you kinda doubt it's dead) can do whatever the hell he wants with that suit. It's his body, not your business.

After another fifteen minutes of staring at a wall, you check the cameras to the sound of loud clicks and pops, now seeing a heavily scarred man with 1.5 rabbit ears in place of the suit. He takes one step out from his original spot, body heaving forward before he lifts himself up, looking up at the camera with a grin.

"Huh. That's new." You say, watching him jolt forward, continuing to take steps before relearning how to walk smoothly.

It only takes him a moment to rocket off.

"I doubt that's good." You mumble, beginning to flip through the cameras to follow him before playing a sound in the room behind him, making him pause. He turns, walking back with a confused expression.

Continuing to flip through cameras, you watch as the man, who you'll dub Rabbit Guy, wanders, seemingly having lost his focus. Hearing a sound to your left, you pay no heed to whoever it is, instead waggling your hand in what you would assume to be their torso.

"You're strange…" They say.

"Uh-huh. If you'd excuse me, I am currently working on keeping Rabbit Guy the hell away from me." Your voice is monotonous but sincere; you aren't trying to be sarcastic or mean, just trying to tell them the facts.

Glancing to the side, you see that it was a child, so you were waving your hand in his collar. "Oh, my bad. Does that… make you guys uncomfortable?" You ask, retracting your hand.

"No, we can't feel it."

"Huh." You blandly respond, playing the sounds to lead Rabbit Guy back to where he started, before resetting sounds as you weren't able to play them anymore.

It seems like Rabbit Guy is getting progressively more and more annoyed at being led back, if his attempts to move fast enough to avoid the sounds or block out his ears meant anything.

His body was responding to the sounds, not him.

It was then that he disappeared, so you check vents, finding him in one that led directly to the room beside your office.

You block it off, much to his annoyance, before yawning and sitting back as any thumps you hear from inside the vents come to a stop.

You find him standing in the room where he had entered the vent, irritated as he glares at the camera. Preemptively, you reset all, thankfully right as cams and sound go out.

Sighing, you lazily check through cameras, brows slightly furrowing as you look for him. He was completely gone, not in vents or in rooms. It really is unfortunate how many blind spots and shadowed areas there are.

When you hear the thumping of the vents, you search through them, only finding a stupid knick-knack laying on its side halfway in your sight.

Looking to your side, you peek into the vent, leaning down to see if anything was there. Your gaze meets Rabbit Guy's.

"Shit." You say, quickly switching cams over to this one and holding down the seal button.

Your eyes shift back to him, finding him way too close for comfort. As you lift your finger to let the gate close on the vent, the man (who was crouch walking) catches it, forcing it back up. You hear something grind that definitely shouldn't be grinding, and you have a feeling that that vent cover just might be broken.

Getting out of the vent, he stands over you, waiting for some sort of plea or… literally any response at all.

"So, you, uh… come here often?" You ask, leaving him genuinely at a loss.

"Wh- was that a pickup line?" His rough, baritone voice catches you slightly off-guard.

You weren't expecting something that was pretty much a zombie to have such a good voice, or a slight british accent for that matter. "Was it? Shit, more people've flirted with me than I thought."

"Really? That's all you can come up with before your death? I'd hate for those to be your final words." He lightly teases, leaning against the wall with a mean grin.

You look up at the ceiling with a vague smile, his eyes widening momentarily. "To be honest, of any place to die, I'd much rather have it be in a place where I know I'll reach the front pages than in some random alley."

His grin falls into a frown as he watches you turn to him, the smile still on your face. It feels strange.

He feels strange.

Why does a random night guard make him feel so…

So… comfortable?

You were calm, collected, not making any sudden moves or even attempting to exit the chair. Theoretically, the perfect prey, but not a satisfying kill.

If he even wants to kill you, that is.

“What’s your name?” He asks, watching as you spin to face him in your chair. You would be taller if you stood, but he would still have a few inches on you.

“Y/N. You?”

“I’m… William. Or, rather, I was, when I was well and truly human.”

“And now?” You ask.

“I don’t exactly have a name.”

“Can I still call you William, then? Well, if I live long enough to do so?” You ask, eyes moving up to meet his. Looking up at him like that… He wishes the hot feeling in the pit of his stomach would go away.

“...Fine.”

“I mean… are you going to kill me?” You ask, face not shifting as he glares down at you.

“I won’t kill you on the first night, you need to give me more entertainment.” At least, that’s what he told himself.

“Oh, so we’re both here for the same reason.” You blankly say, his face contorting from a glare to confusion once more.

“You’re here… for entertainment?” He slowly asks, answered by your nod.

“I’m certainly not here for the pay. This place gives like half of minimum wage but I can’t complain about it because the other part is supposed to come from tips. Somehow.”

“How do you even live?”

“Well, right now I’m on an paid leave due to some unfortunate deaths in my family. To be honest, I never really cared for any of them, but hey. I’ll take any chance for a break I can. Then I got bored.”

He huffs out a laugh. “So you went to another job on your break?”

“Listen, getting a month off leaves a man with little to do when capitalism has left me with no hobbies. Besides, this gives me a great excuse to continue avoiding people.”

His lips curl into an amused grin as he leans forward, lowering his head to be eye level with yours. "Well, you won't be avoiding me." He practically purrs, you averting your eyes at the tone he uses.

Why would he say it like that?!

His golden eyes follow you as you close the laptop's screen, enjoying your reaction. You…

He'll keep you around.

You're entertaining and friendly. Open, and… warm.

He wonders.

You're human, and fully alive. He's a revived corpse who merged with his vessel. You probably are very warm compared to him.

When he comes back to his senses, he notices you slowly raising out of your seat, hand outstretched towards him.

Well, might as well take the chance.

He grabs your wrist, looking down at you unimpressed. You quietly huff, falling back into your chair and forcing him to move away from the wall in order to not dislocate your wrist.

Well, his hypothesis is correct. You are very warm.

He feels the tightening in his gut, not wanting to let go but knowing that he will have to.

You, however, don't actually care either way. You begin your attempt again, this time with your left hand. Slowly raising out of your seat, you actually manage to stand fully up before he notices again, grabbing your other wrist.

"What are you even trying to do?" He asks, a light sneer on his lips.

"Well... uh, I was trying to… boop your nose? If you're bonded with one of the original suits, then I figured either you or Fredbear would have the sound effect."

He lets out a few short laughs, his sneer replaced with the same amused grin as before.

"I'm afraid neither of us have the sound effect. That only came about with the second and third generations of animatronics."

You hum, interested.

His eyes quickly scan over you, taking in your form. This position, practically holding you hostage… Needless to say, he didn't dislike it.

Still, he releases you as he catches you glancing at what he assumes to be a phone. Things have advanced quite far since he was trapped.

You turn it on quickly, checking the time. “Well, we have around an hour and a half before my shift ends, so…” Pausing, you check the time again. An hour and a half?

He steps closer, you glancing back up at him before leaning back as he leans forward, looming over you. “Tomorrow, you best make this more fun for me. I’ll greet you, but then I’ll head to the back. Try and stop me from getting in.”

“Uh, sure. Are you still planning on making the punishment for loss, uh, death?”

His eyes narrow in coordination with a widening grin. “That’s for me to know. You either figure it out, or you don’t. It all depends how well you play.” His gruff voice slightly echoes in the mostly empty building, you nodding in response.

“Oh, cool. Can I tell my brother about you?” You ask suddenly, him quirking a brow as he stares down at you, easily at least half a foot taller than you. He was always tall, but now that he’s in this new form, he grew to be somewhere from 6’6 to 6’8. You sit down once more, exacerbating the height difference.

“Feel free to. Just know that if he ever comes around here, he won’t be alive for very long.”

“I doubt he will. He’s always preferred Foxy the most because he has taste, but-”

“Taste? For liking that liability-strewn fox? You like him as well?”

“To be honest, I never really liked any of them more than the other. I was in my emo phase when I went to see them, so it was practically illegal for me to like anything. But Foxy had sharp teeth and a wicked lookin’ hook, so… I guess I did.”

He hums, clearly slightly annoyed.

“Are you jealous that I liked the fox more than the rabbit that isn’t even the same generation as you?”

“I really should kill you.” His irritated expression shows the truth to your statement.

“It’s okay, I’m willing to call Springbonnie my favorite.”

Now, William was confused. Your tone… you weren’t joking. You were being genuine about something as stupid as this? What is with you?

“You’re very confusing. I think you joke, and then I listen to your tone and you’re genuine. But still, I wouldn’t mind if you did so.”

“It’s not nearly as confusing as how time passes in this place. It’s been like ten minutes since I met you but the clock says like three or four hours have passed.”

“What? Really?” His brows furrow as he steps closer, finding another excuse to close the distance between you both as he leans over the chair, seeing you pointing to the screen. “How strange…”

“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like tomorrow’s hunt will last for six hours, then. Thankfully.” You sigh.

“What, do you not want to feel like my prey for six hours straight?” He grins, leaning over further until his arm rests on your shoulder.

You shiver. “Why do you have to say it like that?”

“Because it makes you react, obviously. It’s entertaining to watch you squirm from something as simple as... the tone of my voice.” Of course, in order to prove his point, he does exactly what he did before, lowering his voice a few pitches and upping the growliness of it.

In covering your eyes, you also cover your cheeks, which have gained a slight flush. “William, I am begging you. Please, please, please, stop talking like that.”

And, naturally progressing, he was left somewhat stunned by the sound of your pleading tone. There’s just something about it, especially as you say his name, that makes him want to…

...makes him want to chase, and capture, and possess forever.

You as his prized prey, and him as the hunter.

“I’ll use it when necessary.” He vaguely answers, watching your head droop.

“I’ll take what I can get.” You concede breathily.

He chuckles, hearing the chime of a bell, signifying 6 in the morning. "Well, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, then. Don't keep me waiting."

"Asshole. I won't." You turn your head away from him, hiding the flush on your face, and stand up, stretching. "See ya, William."

He hums, eyes tracing your form as you stretch. It was a nice view, watching the button up shirt crease around your back as you stretch, clearly hinting at the muscle beneath. His eyes did drift lower once or twice, and that's how he figures out that damn, you have a really nice ass!

You begin to walk out, and he follows you with his eyes, watching you turn past the replica Freddy husk and unlock the door, exiting into the fresh morning. His eyelids droop, gaze slipping up as his lips curl into a wide grin.

“Y/N… I won’t kill you. Especially not when I’m presented with such an ample opportunity to make this into something so entertaining.”

Well…

Is that the only reason?

Of course, he knows it isn’t.

His grin falls, leaving him coldly leering at the aged panels above him before his sight shifts back to the room around him. As he exits the office, he glances at the stained and shaded glass of the door, not allowing much, if any, light in. He turns away, heading back to where he was originally.

As he walks, he lets his form shift, feeling his body grow to his previous monster rabbit self, the creaks of his metal joints loud in the silent building.

He ignores any shadows that creep in the edges of his vision, the specters traversing without sound.

“This is going to be… boring.” His voice, far rougher than before, comes out unfeeling and croaky. As he returns to his previous position, slouching over once more, he decides to use his old tactic to pass time; inflicting enough pain on himself to fall unconscious. It doesn’t matter if his dreams are infested with darkness, nor how much he suffers in them.

It was better than the boredom of sitting in one position with an unchanging environment.

He begins forcing his muscles to flex and strain within the suit and pull against the beams they have welded to, making him grit his teeth before the searing pain fades away, along with his vision.

Goodnight, Y/N.

“Yo.” You greet your brother, the man tiredly yawning as he ruffles his hair.

“Heya, Y/N. What’re you up so early for?”

“Well, I got bored and got a night shift job at this dinky little horror attraction opening up next week. I decided to tell you about what happened there before I head off to sleep.”

“You got bored during a break from your job so you… got another job?”

“Y’know, William said the same thing.” You say, your brother narrowing his eyes at you.

“A coworker?” He asks.

“Eh, not quite… he is the reason I stayed up to talk to you, though.”

He hums, walking around the couch you were splayed on with your shirt half unbuttoned.

“So, to begin my tale, you remember Freddy’s? The pizzeria with the animatronics?” You question.

“Yeah?”

“Well the horror place I went to is based off of that; it’s filled with replicas and a few actual things from the pizzerias of the past, but something came in tonight that was… different.”

“Which was?”

“An animatronic. One of the originals, Springbonnie. Granted, the suit was ripped to shit and covered in enough dirt to be green, but it was authentic. It even has the dead body! Well - not so dead body, but still visible.”

“Did you call the cops?” He asks, worried.

“Hell no! I’m not paid enough to give a shit about what could-or-could-not-be a dead body. Either way, he transformed into a human, which was rather odd, but-”

“Just to be clear, this rabbit had a dead body inside and transformed into a human, and you don’t question it?”

“No. Continuing on, he got into my office and then we talked for a bit, I learned that his name is William, time passed really weirdly, and then we struck a deal where I have to keep him out of my office or I'll maybe die.”

“You’re still going back there?! And ‘maybe die?!’”

“Yeah, he said the knowledge about whether or not I die from losing the hunt was ‘for him to know.’ I didn’t question it further.”

“You know, Y/N, sometimes it feels like I’m the older sibling. You’re fucking stupid.”

“I’m well aware.”

He leans over the couch, glaring down at you. “Then wisen up and quit that damn job.”

“I’m good. William is good company.”

“He threatened to kill you!”

“And? He hasn’t. Yet.”

“You infuriate me, gayboy.” He says, stepping away from the couch.

“Cool. I’ll sleep here for now, when you get back from work I’ll definitely be up.”

“Whatever.” He waves his hand at you, ignoring the middle finger pointing his direction from behind the couch’s back.

---

Part 2

also a lot of the stuff i write from now on may be male reader inserts lol

heres my springtrap design

here's the updated design lol

#springtrap #springtrap x reader #william afton #william afton x reader #afton #fnaf #fnaf x reader #fnaf 3 #yandere #yandere fnaf #yandere springtrap #five nights at freddy's #yandere x reader #x reader #male reader #male insert #reader insert #fnaf springtrap #gay

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mothra-obeyme · 4 years

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Reaction of you asking the brothers + undateables to protect your drink at a party

! Obviously a trigger warning because this may be a sensitive topic for some people !

All women understand/know the situation when you're at a party and have to go on the toilet but you don't want to leave your drink unsupervised because we all know that there're people out there that take that opportunity. Who do you ask?

Masterlist

At first when you asked him he was confused but then quickly realized what you meant when you asked him to protect your drink

It's was a good decision to trust him with your drink because he's not really active at parties and he's protective so believe me when i say he will make sure your drink is protected

Oh lord have mercy if he sees someone drugging your drink at a party because that would not end really well

After you come back would ask if you got drugged at a party before tho

He would be really confused at first because he is vibing on the dance floor right now so you would have to explain why but when he understands believe me he is going to protect that drink with his life

He will scream at anyone who comes in a 6 feet radius of your cup and is not afraid to beat people up to protect that drink

make sure to praise him for doing a good job when you come back from the toilet

How did you get him to come to the party

He isn't one to do much at a party or drink alcohol so you're pretty safe with him watching your drink

He may get a little intimidated if someone bulky looking comes up to your drink but he wouldn't back down to protect his normie friends

"I only did this because if they drugged you i would've no one to play video games with."

( He also feels like an anime protagonist protecting the female love interest so make sure to thank him )

Understands it as soon as you tell him that you have to go on the toilet and ask him to guard your drink

He also isn't the most active one at parties i think we all would trust him with our drinks at a party

He also can easily intimidate someone if they're trying to put drugs into your drink

And of course he isn't above beating someone up if he has to you just got to make sure that he doesn't kill anyone

As soon as you come to him with your drink in your hand he knows what's up so you don't even have to ask him to protect your drink

Somehow manages to still keep the party going while perfectly making sure that no one drugs your drink

Don’t be fooled by his friendly aura because he can easily burn you so hard if you try to drug the drink that you will cry

and of course he wouldn’t be above beating someone up for you

You can return the favor through protecting his drink at a party because we know that it also can happen to men

He is such boyfriend material

You would have to explain to him why he has to protect your drink but once he understands it he will also be your personal bodyguard ( If isn't that already )

He would just be eating all the food at the party while making sure people stay away from your drink as far as possible

Really he would just be your personal bodyguard

You're afraid of walking back from the party alone? He's making sure you get home safe or he might as well carry you back home if your too drunk to properly walk

Another "How did you get him to this party?"

When you ask him to protect your drink he was a little confused

"Why do i have to protect your drink when you go on the toilet?"

But when you told him he was very understanding and took your drink

He is literally having his head laid on the bar the entire time so it wouldn't be much of a difference to protect your drink

Glares at anyone that comes near your glass but it doesn't really work well when he literally somehow managed to come to the party in his pajamas

When you come back he may act annoyed but he's thankful that you trusted him with protecting your drink

It's probably on one the masquerades he organizes

When you asked him to protect your drink to go on the toilet he's confused because he never experienced the fear of being drugged

You have to explain to him that there are stupid people who want to drug you and kidnap you to do bad stuff to you

But when he understood he immediately tells Barbatos to set a meeting to discuss that topic

When you reminded him of the thing that made you come to him he of course protects your drink

He is the future king of the Devildom so believe when i say no one will dare to drug the drink he's holding

After the party he will ask more about it to make you feel more comfortable in the Devildom

Also on one of the masquerades

He is asking to protect your drink before you even think about asking him about it

A little taken back you thanked him and went to the toilet

So this can go 2 ways:

1. No one will come near him because this is fucking Barbatos

2. Some idiot still tries to drug your drink which will end pretty badly for him. Like he will pull a Sebastian Michaelis and throw silver wear at them if he has to

When you come back he will give it back to you with a neutral smile and you being oblivious that he just nearly killed a demon with a fork

Please trust him with your glass he will protect it

I think he would know that something like that happens because he isn't that dense

"Of course i will protect your drink MC, Do you need anything else? A tissue? Are you hungry?"

He really doesn't want to fight anyone so i just see him perfectly holding your glass without spilling anything while dodging everyone the demon tries to do to your drink while still holding a conversation

Solomon:

He may be a little bit shady sometimes but he wouldn't just let anyone drug your drink without doing anything against it

He also knows of course what you mean as soon as you ask him to protect your drink and will gladly do it

Either he lets the glass just float near him or he uses his magic so that nothing is able to get into your drink

He will diss anyone that tries to come near your glass

He also isn't against using his magic to humiliate or attack someone if they really don't want to give up

Luke:

Also one of the masquerades

Just don't try to explain it to him just say that he gets sweets when he protects your drink from shady looking people

He will bark scream at anyone that comes near your glass and will protect it with his little dog angel life

Simeon may has to pull him back from trying to beat every demon near him

Make sure to give him his sweets and praise him when you come back

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #shall we date #obey me leviathan #obey me asmodeus #obey me headcanons

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jackoshadows · 3 years

Note

GRRM talking about exploring redemption specifically with Jaime and stating he personally hopes there can be a possibility of redemption for everyone is in his 2014 Rolling Stone interview. It’s a pretty well known quote, kind of a weird one not to know if you’re gonna weigh in on the big Jaime redemption debate... I guess you can just go for GRRM saying he finds it weird people crush on Jaime and the Hound instead, but it doesn’t really seem the most relevant one to me.

Alright, so I looked up his 2014 Rolling stone interview where he talks about redemption:

Q: Both Jaime and Cersei are clearly despicable in those moments. Later, though, we see a more humane side of Jaime when he rescues a woman, who had been an enemy, from rape. All of a sudden we don’t know what to feel about Jaime.

A: One of the things I wanted to explore with Jaime, and with so many of the characters, is the whole issue of redemption. When can we be redeemed? Is redemption even possible? I don’t have an answer. But when do we forgive people? You see it all around in our society, in constant debates. Should we forgive Michael Vick? I have friends who are dog-lovers who will never forgive Michael Vick. Michael Vick has served years in prison; he’s apologized. Has he apologized sufficiently? Woody Allen: Is Woody Allen someone that we should laud, or someone that we should despise? Or Roman Polanski, Paula Deen. Our society is full of people who have fallen in one way or another, and what do we do with these people? How many good acts make up for a bad act? If you’re a Nazi war criminal and then spend the next 40 years doing good deeds and feeding the hungry, does that make up for being a concentration-camp guard? I don’t know the answer, but these are questions worth thinking about. I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there is no possibility of redemption, what’s the answer then? [Martin pauses for a moment.] You’ve read the books?

Q: Yes.

A: Who kills Joffrey?

Q: That killing happens early in this fourth season. The books, of course, are well past the poisoning of King Joffrey.

A: In the books – and I make no promises, because I have two more books to write, and I may have more surprises to reveal – the conclusion that the careful reader draws is that Joffrey was killed by the Queen of Thorns, using poison from Sansa’s hairnet, so that if anyone did think it was poison, then Sansa would be blamed for it. Sansa had certainly good reason for it.The reason I bring this up is because that’s an interesting question of redemption. That’s more like killing Hitler. Does the Queen of Thorns need redemption? Did the Queen of Thorns kill Hitler, or did she murder a 13-year-old boy? Or both? She had good reasons to remove Joffrey. Is it a case where the end justifies the means? I don’t know. That’s what I want the reader or viewer to wrestle with, and to debate.

Q: I don’t know if somebody like Jaime or Cersei can be redeemed. Cersei’s a great character – she’s like Lady Macbeth.

A: Well, redeemed in whose eyes? She’ll never be redeemed in the eyes of some. She’s a character who’s very protective of her children. You can argue, well, does she genuinely love her children, or does she just love them because they’re her children? There’s certainly a great level of narcissism in Cersei. She has an almost sociopathic view of the world and civilization. At the same time, what Jaime did is interesting. I don’t have any kids myself, but I’ve talked with other people who have. Remember, Jaime isn’t just trying to kill Bran because he’s an annoying little kid. Bran has seen something that is basically a death sentence for Jaime, for Cersei, and their children – their three actual children. So I’ve asked people who do have children, “Well, what would you do in Jaime’s situation?” They say, “Well, I’m not a bad guy – I wouldn’t kill.” Are you sure? Never? If Bran tells King Robert he’s going to kill you and your sister-lover, and your three children. . . . Then many of them hesitate. Probably more people than not would say, “Yeah, I would kill someone else’s child to save my own child, even if that other child was innocent.” These are the difficult decisions people make, and they’re worth examining.

So reading through this, GRRM says that he is exploring the answer to the question - Can the villains in my story be redeemed? As he points out in this interview, the answer to this question in 2014, was that he didn’t know.

He also compares Lannister villainy to Michael Vick, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Nazi war criminals. He asks if Nazi war criminals deserve forgiveness after feeding the hungry for 40 years. What do you think? Do you think Nazi war criminals deserve forgiveness and redemption?

But fandom has decided that according to this Jaime has now been redeemed and anyone who questions the existence of said redemption is a Jaime hater who lacks an understanding of how Jaime Lannister is totally a good guy now.

Oh and look, he is also talking about Cersei Lannister’s redemption in this same interview. Funnily enough, I don’t see anyone in fandom talking about Cersei’s redemption arc when GRRM is asking the same question with her character as he does with Jaime’s. He is talking about whether Cersei Lannister can be redeemed - Cersei has murdered babies!

GRRM is also asking if the Queen of Thorns deserves redemption for taking out baby Hitler. No one seems to be talking about that either.

GRRM also questions if Jaime’s attempted murder of a 7 year old is justified by framing it as the character trying to protect his own children. In my opinion though, this is a guy who is in his thirties, engaging in careless incestuous adultery with the Queen, in the enemy/guest’s home where the enemy could have come upon them anytime and then tried to murder a child to cover it up. Not justified, at all. This is Jaime Lannister about Joffrey:

Because Joff was no more to me than a squirt of seed in Cersei's cunt, and he deserved to die.

I don’t know, the character does not come across as caring for his children. It was more about saving his and Cersei’s lives than it was about his children. And Cersei tried to stop him from murdering Bran.

Who had the harder choice to make? Jaime has sex with his twin sister, the queen, in Winterfell - because he just doesn’t care - and then tries to murder Ned’s child to cover it up. Or Ned, who wants to save Jaime’s children from Robert Baratheon’s wrath, warns Cersei to leave as soon as possible and in doing so dooms his entire family.

Ultimately the author is exploring the question of whether the baddies in his novel can be redeemed. Not that they will be redeemed or that they are on a path to redemption. He wants there to be a hope for forgiveness for his baddies at the end of their journey. Villains doing good for 40 years - can they be redeemed? In whose eyes do they need to be redeemed?

Jaime could be redeemed in Brienne’s eyes - because she loves him and he helped save her life. Does this mean Bran Stark should forgive him? Does this mean the small folk in the Riverlands who suffered and died because of the WOT5K brought about by his careless adultery should forgive him? Does this mean he is redeemed in the eyes of the reader?

As I stated, in my previous posts, from my interpretation of Jaime’s arc, I don’t see any redemption from Jaime Lannister in the books yet. He is still arrogant and self- serving. A little humbled by the loss of his hand - but able to brag all the same about being ‘Goldenhand the Just’ because he hanged some hungry outlaws. No introspection or acknowledgment of his past actions. We did see some guilt in the dreams he has about abandoning Elia and her children to the Mountain’s mercies despite having sworn an oath to protect them. What he will do about all that? I don’t know.

He did not abandon Cersei because she’s a bad person who murdered babies. He abandoned her to the mercies of the Faith Militant because she was unfaithful to him - because of the personal injury to him. He sees keeping his oaths with respect to Sansa as salvation and then sends off Brienne to do his job, while being engaged in enforcing Lannister rule in Westeros.

The comparison to Theon Greyjoy comes about because Theon has accepted his wrong, Theon is full of remorse and regret. Theon wishes he could go back and do differently. Theon is a broken man - and yet, despite being so afraid, he risks all to help Jeyne Poole - a character no one cares about.

'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid? ' 'That is the only time a man can be brave‘

Saving Jeyne Poole is not going to earn Theon Greyjoy any rewards. But he does it because it’s right - not because it makes him feel good. Does it mean that Theon Greyjoy - who murdered two little boys - is now redeemed and will get a happy ending?

So yeah, can Jaime be redeemed? The author will try to answer that question in books yet to be written and leave it up to the reader to decide if the character has indeed been redeemed. Thus far I see no redemption, in my opinion and as per my interpretation of the text. Take that as you will.

#GRRM #Rolling stone interview #asoiaf #anti Jaime Lannister #Cersei Lannister #Theon Greyjoy #Queen of Thorns

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

Note

If it's not a plot point, how did HuiSang go back in time? MingJue used his saber as an anchor, but HuaiSang didn't have his yet?

part 3 of Same River Twice (ao3) (time travel Nie bros) or tumblr part 1, part 2

Being four years old again was a lot harder than Nie Huaisang thought it would be.

In fairness, he hadn’t expected to go back that far, but he supposed it wasn’t really up to him – if he’d wanted to have more control over his destination, he should have used the ritual on the saber that belonged to him.

But Aituan - dear Aituan, good Aituan, his Aituan - wasn’t strong enough to support the ritual by itself, not after all those years of playing happy paperweight instead of cultivating. It was Nie Huaisang’s neglect; he had let Aituan’s spirit grow kind but not strong, because someone should be able to be that way, the way he’d once thought he himself could be under his brother’s protection.

No, Nie Huaisang had known that if he wanted to do this crazy stupid thing, the only one that could help him was Baxia.

Bazia, who had grown strong beyond her years with the blood of evildoers, who had always indulged him, who adored Nie Mingjue more than was usual even for a saber of their bloodline –

He missed Aituan.

After the end of it all, when he no longer needed to hide his true face away behind a mask of incompetence, he had started to carry Aituan with him at all times, the way his brother had always wanted him to, and so that meant that his long-neglected saber had been by his side when he’d knelt before his brother’s tomb to begin the ritual. And when the forbidden array began to tear his body apart, Baxia indifferent to anything but the result, Nie Huaisang could feel his saber’s spirit reaching out and wrapping around his own spirit to protect him from the pain –

He’d thought that he might see Aituan again, when and if he woke up in the past, but it was not to be: right now, he’s only four. Aituan wouldn’t even have been forged yet, surely, or at most its still-unformed spirit would be lingering in a dormant not-yet-finished state in the special forges reserved for the clan, hidden deep within the Unclean Realm.

He missed Aituan. He hadn’t thought he would, given how casually he had always left it behind, but he did; he missed it dreadfully.

But it was still worth it to come back.

It had been worth it even just for the chance to try to come back. They had all been so broken, after everything that had happened. Nie Huaisang had had no choice but to avenge his brother, no choice but to use the only means available to him when no one would have believed him, his own hand too weak to lift the saber to do the job that needed to be done. He was a Nie, when all was said and done, and even the world itself was insufficient a sacrifice to lay before his brother’s memorial tablet.

He did not regret his choices.

And yet – the result, in the end, was too much, too bitter to swallow. Lan Xichen’s eventual death at his own hand, when the guilt became too much for him and seclusion proved no remedy, had destroyed Lan Wangji, and even light-hearted Wei Wuxian had not been able to continue to smile once he realized that the injuries incurred at Guanyin Temple, both physical and mental, had damaged Jiang Cheng permanently, a decline the other man had hidden away out of either love or spite or both until it was too late to fix; they would never reconcile in that life, and the tragedy of the two heroes of Yunmeng sealed forever in stone.

Out of an entire generation of the Great Sects, Nie Huaisang was the only one left standing, and he had been broken into sharp jagged pieces so long ago that he didn’t really count.

He did not regret his choices - but in a better world, those choices would never need to be made.

He would make sure it went better, this time. Not just for himself, but for all the others, and most of all for his brother, who had only ever wanted to be righteous, to fight evil and help the innocent, and who died because nobody had listened to him, just the way they hadn’t listened to Nie Huaisang in all those years of walking alone on his road of vengeance. His brother, who loved him when he hadn’t been worthy of his love; his brother, who deserved the world and more.

His brother, who he sometimes even thought –

There’d been a moment there, when he’d been watching his brother train, that he’d had the crazy idea that Nie Mingjue had come back, too – that the burden of the future was not Nie Huaisang’s alone to bear.

It had been when his brother had done that maneuver, the one he’d liked so much during the Sunshot Campaign, and Nie Huaisang had been the only living being who had known that the reason he’d trained the trick so hard in his youth was not because it was hard to block or because it granted the mercy of a quick death but rather purely because it looked awesome. Nie Mingjue had thrown his saber and recalled it with a flick of his wrist, and he’d grinned as if he hadn’t a care in the world and –

And that’s when Nie Huaisang ruined it by bursting into tears.

Because he was four, and four year olds didn’t have good internal emotional regulation, apparently. He’d thought at first that it would be an advantage to be so young – who would suspect a child barely old enough to wear proper clothing of scheming in the shadows? – but being four had turned out to be much trickier to manage than he had thought.

All of his feelings were so much, so immediate; it was as if the emotions of an adult were simply too large to fit into his child’s frame. Sadness, however minor or fleeting, was enough to utterly consume him, making rational thought impossible; a single pang of hunger was the same as starvation; and even joy –

His brother abandoned his training for him in a heartbeat, found and gave him a fan to amuse him, carried him around all day in his arms even though it meant he’d had to report for punishment – he said that Nie Huaisang would never be a burden to him, that he could live the life he wanted, no matter what, and that in the end his brother would always be there to hold up the world for him –

No, his brother couldn’t have come back in time with him.

His suspicions (surely even a talent of Nie Mingjue’s caliber wouldn’t have learned a trick like that so early, and so well?) simply had no basis in reality, a remnant of the paranoia he had cultivated in his heart as a guard against Jin Guangyao’s treachery. It was only Nie Huaisang’s fantasies tricking him, letting him dream that he was hearing the words that he would have given his left arm to hear when it was too late.

After all, none of the things Nie Mingjue had said were by themselves unusual – even by age four, everyone knew that Nie Huaisang wouldn’t amount to much of a talent, born as he was with weak muscle tone and barely any cultivation at all; they knew he was lazy and unmotivated, and more than likely to turn out to be nothing more than a good-for-nothing. Only Nie Mingjue had remained steadfast in believing that Nie Huaisang could make something of himself, valuing him when he hadn’t even valued himself.

No, it wasn’t so strange that his brother would say such things to him. It was only with Nie Huaisang’s knowledge of the future that the words seemed to be more than mere encouragement, that they seemed to be aimed directly at absolving him of his future worthlessness, forgiving him for having been the anchor around his brother’s legs instead of a support –

His brother couldn’t have come back with him. He couldn’t have, because if he knew what Nie Huaisang had done in his name, all those dirty tricks in the dark that were just like what he’d so disdained in Jin Guangyao, then he wouldn’t have said those words full of love, wouldn’t have thought them, wouldn’t have –

Nie Mingjue must never know, Nie Huaisang swore once again in his heart. He’d be careful, hide his tracks, make sure that his moves in the shadow couldn’t be detected by anyone at all; his brother that longed to be righteous would never need to know that his little didi that he treasured so much wasn’t worthy of his love.

He’d fix things, make them better, and Nie Mingjue would never know that things had ever gone any other way. Nie Huaisang would bear the burden alone, just as he had those many years, but this time he would have his brother by his side.

It would be worth it.

Still, being four was hard. Nie Huaisang had started making moves right away, but his ability to manipulate people seemed to be significantly impaired – or maybe it was only that he’d underestimated the effect of his changes, that he’d acted before he’d fully figured out everyone’s personalities, and so ended up changing things more than he meant to.

For one thing, he’d never meant for Nie Mingjue to be the one to go to Yingchuan.

Nie Huaisang had used Wei Wuxian for his own purposes in his previous life, and he wouldn’t have been able to avenge his brother without him – he owed him karma, and such debts ought to be repaid as swiftly as possible. He’d figured that sending some Nie sect retainers to the area would be a good way to do that; even if they couldn’t save his parents, they should at least notice that there was a little boy in town waiting for his parents to come back from a night-hunt. At best, Nie Huaisang had figured on Wei Wuxian having a few extra years at the Lotus Pier, and maybe avoid developing that dog phobia of his.

He hadn’t expected Nie Mingjue to volunteer to go, though he supposed his brother was twelve, and therefore reckless and a little bit stupid in a way that Nie Huaisang probably shouldn’t find as adorable as he did, being only four himself. He definitely wasn’t expecting his brother to come back and tell him that he’d not only managed to save Wei Wuxian’s parents but that they were coming to Qinghe for some reason.

That was his brother in a nutshell, though. Typical overachiever.

Nie Huaisang wasn’t sure exactly how this would change things. He hadn’t intended on making such large changes, as it would swiftly render his knowledge of the future useless, but on the other hand, the future had turned out quite so badly, and after all in the end he knew the important things. He knew who was a good person and who wasn’t, he knew about the war that would come, he knew what tricks to be afraid of – no, it was better this way.

This way, he wouldn’t be tempted to blindly rely on a future that might change; this way, he wouldn’t risk the same future happening again, wouldn’t allow tragedies to take place when they didn’t have to. Instead, he’d do what he’d always done and react to things as they happened, turning each event to his own advantage.

Even if he wasn’t quite sure what possible advantage he could get from Wei Wuxian as a young child.

“Is it nice there?”

Nie Huaisang refocused and looked at his brother, who’d apparently finished his training for the day. It was so strange to see him with cheeks still rounded by lingering baby fat and Baxia disproportionate in her size; if he hadn’t later grown into a giant, he would have been seen as having been a bit too ambitious when he wielded her. “What was that, da-ge?”

“I asked you if it’s nice there,” Nie Mingjue repeated as he settled down next to Nie Huaisang in the shady part of the training field. “Wherever it is that your mind flew off to. It must be very interesting to keep you occupied for so long.”

Nie Huaisang ignored the teasing and immediately wiggled over, putting his head in his brother’s lap. His brother indulged him, moving Baxia to his other knee as he inspected her for any nicks that might need to be sharpened out later.

His brother always indulged him.

“I was just daydreaming,” he said, and it was even mostly true. The line between daydreaming and active scheming was a very fine one.

“Still thinking about maps?” his brother asked. “I know I said you were too young to take the ones out of the library, but maybe we can go to the market to buy some cheaper ones…”

Nie Huaisang shook his head, feeling guilty. He didn’t really need a map. After all, a map couldn’t tell him what he needed to know: he couldn’t be sure that Meng Yao was in Yunping City right now, even though that was ultimately where he ended up. And anyway, even with a map, it was impossible for him to find a way to go there now, as a four year old – he could do many things by mail without being noticed, but even he couldn’t think of a way to mail order a whore and her son – and even a cheap map was an expensive purchase for a twelve year old with a limited allowance.

“I just like thinking about other places, that’s all,” he temporized. “You went to Yingchaun – what was that like?”

“It’s not too far beyond our borders, so it was mostly the same, I guess?” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a little helpless. “Same animals, plants, weather…they say the further that way you go, the spicier the food, but we must not have gone far enough, since I didn’t notice a difference.”

“What about the people?” Nie Huaisang said, deciding to try to get more information about Wei Wuxian instead since he already knew that asking Nie Mingjue to act as a travelogue was an exercise doomed to frustration. “You said someone from Yingchuan was coming – are they from the sect there?”

“The sect – Yingchuan Wang? Certainly not. They’re barely a sect as it is; they were servants in Qishan once, but then either got thrown out or left in a huff and now they eke out an existence as a medium-sized fish in a small pond. They send their children to be servants in Qishan whenever they can manage it, and still ask for help from us on the sly because they can’t afford to deal with their problems themselves. No one of note there.”

That wasn’t entirely true, Nie Huaisang thought; after all they had produced the horror that was Wang Lingjiao. He wonder if there was some way to make use of her. She was about their age, and she hadn’t yet committed any of the atrocities she later would. Of course, one did need to account for the trouble that was her personality…

“– sure you’ll like him,” Nie Mingjue was saying, and then he grimaced. “It’s his parents I don’t quite know what to do with.”

Nie Huaisang sympathized more than Nie Mingjue would ever realize. Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren had excellent reputations as cultivators, but beyond that he knew nothing about them but their son – they were wild cards, their impact on the state of play totally unpredictable.

“Father has charged me with taking care of them while they’re here, because I’m the one who invited them,” Nie Mingjue said, and reached up to rub the space between his brows the way he always did when he was stressed. “It’s not like we’re doing anything special with them – they’re just guest cultivators, not joining the sect – but at the same time…I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

He didn’t say whether it was on their guests or on their father.

A moment later, he nudged Nie Huaisang a little. “You’ll help me, right?”

Nie Huaisang would burn the world down for his brother.

However, practically speaking, he was currently four.

“Of course, da-ge,” he said. “How can I help? What can I do?”

“You,” Nie Mingjue said with satisfaction, “can be a subject of conversation.”

Nie Huaisang had the distinct feeling that what his brother meant was that he planned to throw him to be a cute child at their guests every time the conversation hit an awkward point, but surely he wouldn’t –

It was exactly what he did.

Nie Huaisang really wished he could blame this on his brother being twelve, but honestly his brother had always been a little like that. He’d only ever gotten away with his terrible social skills and even more terrible sense of humor because he was tall as a mountain, with a reputation for being taciturn (in large part due to his following the rule of “if you have nothing good to say, say nothing”), and of course there was always Baxia adding some intimidation effect.

It was a bit of a start to realize that in some ways, the Headshaker had been better at some of the parts of being Sect Leader than his beloved older brother.

It was not, however, a realization that Nie Huaisang had a lot of time to dwell on, because he had Wei Wuxian to deal with – and if he’d thought that the other boy was a handful when they were teenagers, it was nothing compared to him as a small excitable child visiting a new place for the first time.

Some things Nie Huaisang had expected: Wei Wuxian was bright, lively, intelligent to the point of brilliance, talented at whatever he picked up, and at all times inclined towards mischief.

He hadn’t, for some reason, expected the overwhelming hyperactive curiosity about – everything.

Wei Wuxian was five years old, really five, and he had some interesting gaps in his knowledge base.

Complicated talisman craftsmanship? No problem.

How to buy paper in the marketplace? No clue.

The particulars of setting up camp in the middle of a forest? No problem.

How to deal with servants? No clue.

He could guide himself at night using constellations, but he couldn’t name all five Great Sects; he could cook for himself but didn’t know how to order food from a restaurant; he could sing songs but he’d never played catch-me or hide-and-seek; he could play bait for a vicious yao but had never met a cat –

That last one was a bit of a problem, since the Unclean Realm had a bit of a stray cat problem.

Well, it wasn’t a problem at the moment, since Wei Wuxian loved the cats, but it was going to be a problem when one inevitably tried to claw his face off when he tried to pet them more than they felt like accepting.

It’d probably end up being Nie Huaisang’s problem, too, since Wei Wuxian liked to stick to him no matter where he went – or rather, he liked to stick to him, follow him around, get bored, and drag him off to do something else. Usually something childish (understandable, since he was a child), and extremely distracting from what Nie Huaisang should be focusing on.

…a great deal of fun, though.

Nie Huaisang’s initial fondness for Wei Wuxian had, he would admit, been primarily nostalgic in nature, but it wasn’t very long before the other boy swept him away with all the same things that he’d enjoyed back in the Cloud Recesses: he was spirited, witty, and clever, a bundle of trouble and inventor of adventures, and he made even the most boring things a lot more interesting.

They ran around the Unclean Realm, pretending to be explorers who happened upon a mysterious realm; they went to the market and bought one of every treat; they volunteered to feed the ducks and pigs and chickens; they pretended to be vicious beasts and practiced their prowling and hunting on long-suffering Nie disciples; they climbed trees and crawled around the caves; they made their way into the laundry and tried on everyone’s clothing –

At any rate, Nie Huaisang had always been lazy and carefree by nature, and old habits were hard to resist. He was still young enough that most of his day was free and excess training was discouraged to avoid distorting his musculature, and well, he was four. Everything was funny to a four year old.

Funny, and very distracting.

Still, it couldn’t go on forever. He had scheming to do.

“Da-ge,” he whined, taking advantage of his current size to crawl into his brother’s lap. “Da-ge, he’s always around.”

“Says the one who’s leading him into trouble half the time.”

“Da-ge! I don’t! He’s the one doing the leading!”

His brother smiled. “Is a leader the one at the front of the battlefield or the one whispering plans into his ears?”

“…they’re only my idea about half the time. At most.”

Nie Mingjue laughed. “If he’s really bothering you, I can talk to his parents.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Nie Huaisang said quickly. He still didn’t know what to make of Wei Wuxian’s parents.

He’d tried studying them with an eye towards what he knew about Wei Wuxian as an adult, but the resemblance was blurry at best. Wei Changze was a gentleman, talented and charming; he always had a smile on his face, his eyes curved a little as if he was always laughing at some internal joke, and more often than not there was something lighthearted on his lips – there was definitely something of the future Wei Wuxian there. But it would be wrong to think of them as too similar: unlike his son, Wei Changze was prudent and thoughtful, contemplative almost the point of being reserved, cognizant of the dangerous undercurrents that made up sect politics; he wasn’t arrogant, and that made him nothing like Wei Wuxian at all.

No, the arrogance was all from Cangse Sanren.

She was a fierce woman, teeth bared whether in smile or grimace and hand often lingering by the whip tucked into her belt, somehow seeming both straightforward and yet mysterious – intense, arrogant, uncaring of all convention, she would let nothing in the world stand between her and her principles.

Nie Mingjue liked her on sight, of course.

Nie Huaisang was a bit more worried about the way she sometimes remarked about the ridiculousness of human law, usually during one of the enthusiastic philosophical discussions she’d been having with Nie Mingjue during their occasional spars – Nie Huaisang supervised only once, then realized that four-year-olds shouldn’t be worrying about their blood pressure and also that Cangse Sanren was probably good enough to not murder an over-enthusiastic twelve-year-old in the middle of his own sect. He’d mentioned it subtly over breakfast at one point, but that’d only gotten Nie Mingjue started up with their father about the differences between human and natural law when what Nie Huaisang had actually meant was that he wasn’t entirely sure Cangse Sanren thought of herself as a human.

She also had a way of sometimes looking at Nie Huaisang with a strange sort of smile, as if she knew, and ever since then Nie Huaisang had avoided her as much as possible.

“Well, if you don’t want him bothering you all the time, and you don’t want me to talk to his parents about it, what do you want to do?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“I just think he needs other friends,” Nie Huaisang said earnestly, widening his eyes in a way that made his brother look deeply unimpressed (but also amused). “Maybe someone at a different sect, so he can spend time writing them letters.”

Not that Wei Wuxian was especially proficient at writing, which made sense for his age, but Nie Huaisang had rather a lot invested in having managed to convince Nie Mingjue that his level of writing (full words!) was normal.

“Letters,” Nie Mingjue said, looking deeply skeptical. “Who were you thinking?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nie Huaisang lied. “Someone our age. Probably from another of the major sects, since he still needs to learn all about the way the cultivation world works…oh, I know! How about the Lan sect? Don’t they have a second young master right around our age?”

He wasn’t being very subtle, he had to admit, but practically speaking, who cared? There wasn’t anyone around to catch him at it.

And it would be truly a pity to rob Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian of their chance for an epic romance - hopefully one that would end a little more happily.

His brother frowned thoughtfully. Probably searching his memory for confirmation, since it was still another year before he met Lan Xichen for the first time, but in the end he nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. The Lan sect is known for their rules and etiquette, and that’s precisely what Wei Wuxian requires most, and he’ll definitely get along well with Lan Wangji. I’ll write to – no, I’ll speak with Father; if he approves, we may be able to set up a meeting. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to foster relations between our sects at an early age.”

“That’s a great idea!” Nie Huaisang said. It was, too – maybe he could knock some caution into Lan Xichen’s head when he was still young enough to appreciate it. “And maybe we can visit Gusu one day!”

“You and your maps,” Nie Mingjue teased. “All right, all right; I’ll see what I can do the next time Father’s back.”

There was a wrinkle in his brow at that, which Nie Huaisang couldn’t blame him for it: their father was extremely busy at the moment, off dealing with Qishan aggression, and that meant they only ever saw him occasionally, and even then only at breakfast. It must be uncomfortable for Nie Mingjue, who loved their father dearly, and for Nie Huaisang, well…

He’d been back in this old body for a month now, adjusting slowly, and the one thing he couldn’t quite deal with was their father, as he was now: a good man, as temperamental as any Nie but in the main part thoughtful and steady.

Nothing like the monster he remembered.

It wasn’t fair to judge a man by what he was like following a deliberately induced qi deviation, Nie Huaisang reminded himself, just as he’d learned not to blame his brother for the lashings of his worsening temper during that period of spiritual poison. And yet – Nie Huaisang truly didn’t know what he’d do when the busy period subsided and his father came back to help guide their training.

He just didn’t remember what it was like to have a father instead of just a da-ge.

Something to worry about in the future.

For now, though, he had a pair of future lovebirds to introduce – and connections with another sect to build, so as to better gather support for the upcoming war.

Still, contrary to his expectations, the Lan sect weren’t their first visitors.

It was the Jiang.

#mdzs #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #my fic #my fics #time travel nie bros #same river twice #misfits-den

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piccolini-cuscino · 4 years

Text

Domesticity

An SVR operative, you’ve been tasked with taking out a Danish businessman who specialises in organ harvesting after several Russian nationals go missing in Denmark. But when the mission goes awry – thanks to a wiry looking man in a Savile Row suit – you’re well and truly at the mercy of MI6 to stay alive. They have an interesting proposition for you...

Pairing: Neil x f!Reader Warnings: Guns and murder and stuff I guess 😂 Notes: I wrote a short thing super quickly, because Neil’s now living rent-free in my brain for the last effing week. Let me know if you’d like a little continuation of this!

“…And be careful. This place is crawling with CIA, MI6…”

“I can handle myself,” you said, yanking out your earpiece and stowing it in your bag. After all, you had done this a hundred times before. Taking out seedy little men. Drug traffickers and arms dealers, mostly. Small-time.

But this job landed on your lap utterly by chance. You were in the area, and your organisation wanted intelligence and a clean kill. Your target was Klaus Møller – a Danish billionaire who ran a clean energy company as a front for his black market organ harvesting operation. When several Russian nationals disappeared in Denmark, dispatch traced it back to Klaus and called you in.

Walking into one of Klaus’ lavish parties was like entering another world; chandeliers and marble and gold overwhelmed your senses for a moment. The foyer bustled with servers in penguin suits, doling out glasses of bubbles from magnums of Moët. Still, you thought, with this much going on, killing Klaus would be easy.

See, Klaus didn’t mingle. He preferred to patrol the upper levels, glaring down at his guests until it all became too much and he retreated back to his study. This would be too easy.

You gave a cursory glance around the foyer for anything suspicious and came up blank. It was now or never.

Taking the winding marble staircase step by step, you kept your eyes lasered in on the crowd below. But casually so. You couldn’t afford to arouse any suspicions. About halfway up, you carefully screwed the silencer on to the end of your pistol through the fabric of your bag. And when you reached the top, Klaus’ study was only a few paces away.

But three armed thugs guarded the tycoon, sitting lazily around the room.

“Gentlemen,” you nodded, wandering inside, your presence urging them to their feet. Clearly, they didn’t think you were a threat – a pretty girl in a pretty dress wasn’t uncommon in Klaus’ mansion. But then, you whipped out your pistol and sent the three men to their death. You didn’t even bat an eyelid.

Klaus, on the other hand, looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack. His portly face had turned the shade of a beet and glistened with sweat. “I suppose you have come to bargain?” he heaved.

Just as your lips parted for a clever retort, the look of terror on his features intensified. A bullet almost grazed your nose as you whipped around to look at the intruder. And then your own heart raced when you realised that Klaus was dying, and you hadn’t extracted a single piece of useful information.

“He was mine,” you seethed, marching up to the man in the Savile Row suit. “I bet you’re fucking MI6. Why are you here?”

“Actually,” he smirked, jabbing something into the side of your neck, “I’m here for you.”

A fluorescent strip light buzzed above you, burning its way right through your eyelids. As groggy as you were from the sedative, you quickly realised that your hands and legs were bound, and you were in some sort of shipping container. And you weren’t alone.

“Now, Little Miss U.S.S.R,” the familiar voice began. The bastard from MI6 broke into the periphery of your vision and sat on the seat opposite you. “As far as MI6 sees it, you’ve botched your mission.”

“And what was that?” You sneered.

“Let me finish,” he smirked. “Tell me, what does the SVR do to agents who fail?”

“They’re eli–“

“Eliminated, aren’t they?” he asked, getting to his feet.

“Let me guess. You’re going to offer me freedom in exchange for intelligence?”

“No, my dear. I’m offering you a new mission.” He kneeled down in front of you and eyed you for a moment with his tongue subtly grazing his lower lip. “I’ve studied you for months, and no one kills like you. Personally, I don’t care too much for bloodshed and that’s why I need you. And in exchange, protection. No intelligence exchanged. Russia’s secrets, as gruesome as they are, die with you.”

His voice seemed to soothe, and you hadn’t realised how far forward you had leaned, subconsciously trying to close the gap between you and your adversary, until you sat up straight again. “What’s the mission?”

“I’m glad you asked,” he chuckled. “We’re to pose as man and wife, and await further instruction back in London.”

“And what’s the catch?”

“No catch,” he said. “Killing comes quite naturally to you, so I don’t imagine what lies ahead will be too difficult. It’s probably better than dying.”

“Alright.”

“Good,” he said, moving behind you to undo your restraints. “For the purposes of this mission, you can call me Neil. And you, are my darling wife, Margaret. Together, we are Mr and Mrs Harris. We don’t have children yet, but we do have one dog, Hugo, who bites. You’re a school teacher and I’m a lawyer. How’s your English accent?”

“Good enough.”

#neil x reader #neil tenet #tenet #robert pattinson

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the-muses-are-herd · 4 years

Text

Recent OC list.

A handy little reference... that I’ll update later, with the proper info. For now, just a list of recent OC’s I have been using for RP:

- Todd Mannix.

SETTING: A story of mine, loosely based on “The Fox and the Hound” (primarily the novel, but frankly, a few other sources as well). Fantasy, kinda… Steampunk setting. A world loosely based on early 20th-century America (as in the continent), with technology being a touch more advanced and magic existing but being rare and regarded as a very risky type or energy to tap into.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Red Fox.

SEXUALITY: Pansexual.

AGE: 25 (loosely).

OCCUPATION: Jack-of-all-trades.

PERSONALITY: Extroverted, quietly calculating.

DESCRIPTION: A globe-trotter adventurer whose charming looks hide a seasoned survivalist. Frequently seeking new sights and thrills, loyal primarily to his best friend, the more laidback Toby.

- Toby Slade.

SETTING: Same as Todd.

GENDER: Male

SPECIES: Hound dog.

SEXUALITY: Bisexual (not entirely set in stone just yet)

AGE: 27 (loosely).

OCUPATION: Former hitman, currently jack-of-all-trades.

PERSONALITY: Businesslike and formal —save with his close acquaintances, with whom he reveals a more sarcastic, yet well-meaning, demeanor.

DESCRIPTION: Former member of a mercenary team, quit to become an adventurer with his best friend, the more adventurous Todd. Holds himself to a code of honor that is frequently challenged by the often outlandish situations their adventuring leads to.

- Camazotz.

SETTING: Housamo (aka Tokyo Afterschool Summoners); this OC is one of many that I basically came up with during a long talk with my boyfriend.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) (*)

AGE: 26.

OCCUPATION: Medical aide / independent researcher.

PERSONALITY: Entirely focused at work and in battle, but very easily distracted in his free time. Somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he’s often mistaken for a child, which is only exacerbated by his love of sweets.

DESCRIPTION: A bat Transient hailing from Anáhuac (**); descended from a long line of executioners, Camazotz long decided that he wanted to be a healer instead. This new world gave him the perfect opportunity for that, and so he set out to join the ideal Guild for his plans. Though regarded as too adorable to take seriously by most people, Camazotz is a hard-working individual, determined to achieve his goals.

SACRED ARTIFACT: A string that grants ‘Divine Mercy’. However, Camazotz does not like using this Artifact except as a last-resource option —ostensibly it is a healing device. But in truth it has two outcomes: If the patient has wounds that might have healed over time, the string heals them instantly. If the wounds were lethal, the string kills them —the divine mercy in question. Camazotz believes there must be a way to repurpose it to find a third option.

GUILD: Tamers.

(*): Look up photos of them, by the by. It’s the cutest stuff in the world! :3

(**): Anáhuac is a concept I use in lieu of the game’s “El Dorado”. This territory includes other territories derived from Prehispanic mythologies, such as Hanan Pacha (see Chuychu, below).

- Chuychú.

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Alpaca.

AGE: 28.

OCCUPATION: Librarian.

PERSONALITY: A flirty, somewhat vain, yet sharp young man.

DESCRIPTION: Hailing from Hanan Pacha (*), Chuychú has been liaison between gods, astronomer / researcher, and now part of a Guild that mixes magic and scientific research. His main objective is to study and catalogue divergent timelines, including previous time loops. Generally pacific by nature, leaving the fighting to the bodyguards in his group, he is nevertheless more than wiling to defend himself or others in a pinch.

SACRED ARTIFACT: The star mirrors —two twin orbs. One shows time and one space. Chuychu primarily uses them to study cosmic and time anomalies. Can also use them to show others their own past or divergent timelines (an ability he usually reserves only for people who might need a push in the right direction). In battle, he can combine their effects to create a profound vertigo effect, powerful enough to knock down all but the most resilient opponents.

GUILD: Tama Scholars (**)

(*) = A world based on Inca mythology.

(**) = Another concept my boyfriend and I came up with together. A group more interested in research than in fighting, based on Tama as it is the site of Tokyo’s biggest library.

***

- Juan Darién (aka JD)

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Tiger-man / Human (see below).

AGE: 17.

OCCUPATION: Student.

PERSONALITY: Self-assured, if somewhat stubborn. Because he believes humans to be naturally prone to evil, he figures that his human form is not beholden to the same restrictions he imposes upon himself as a tiger. Consequently, in his tiger form he acts in what he understands to be a virtuous way (some say, self-righteous) and in his human form as a creature of desire. Yet his true personality is that of a naive young man still learning about the world.

DESCRIPTION: The son of a tiger-man and a human woman. Lived peacefully in a small village in Yvy Tenondé (*), until the townspeople, who did not approve of this mixed marriage, burned their home. Juan Darién lost his parents that day, and since then came to believe that humans are evil by nature. Later, coming to a different world via a pillar of light, he joined the Aoyama group, figuring that their beliefs are the closest to his notions of good and evil. He considers his tiger form his true, and pure nature, and sometimes dons his human form purely to excise out his “sinful temptations”… or used to, until a fateful day when his ideologies led him to clash with one of the Crafters.

The experience with the resulting Exception, and the intimacy necessary to cancel it, have led JD to question several of his long-held beliefs.

SACRED ARTIFACT: A medallion that represents “Split”. He uses it to switch between his two forms, identifying the tiger side as “Juan” and the human as “Darién”. Only recently has he begun using both names at all times. The medallion can also be used in combat to split App users from their Artifacts. However, this can be a double-edged sword. Some Artifacts will simply go inert without a wielder, but others will go wild without a user to anchor them.

GUILD: Missionaries.

(*) = Part of the same world that includes Anáhuac and Hanan Pacha. Loosely based on Guaraní mythology.

NOTE: Based on a character by Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga.

***

- Fortunato.

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Lion.

AGE: 40.

OCCUPATION: Security guard.

PERSONALITY: Serious-minded about his job and about what he is to protect, be it arts, relics, or knowledge. Generally friendly otherwise, and particularly kind to children.

DESCRIPTION: A transient who journeyed from his word looking for his twin, Sopho. Together they formed a duo dedicated to guarding all manner of temples and sacred spaces, descending from a long line of guardians. In this world he fulfills that role in his guild’s library base, together with a wolf transient whom Fortunato regards as a brother-in-arms. Quite protective of his guild and his friends, perhaps in part derived from his job.

SACRED ARTIFACT: A morning-star flail that can hide doorways or reveal them. In battle Fortunato uses it to lock his opponents into a combat room that he alone controls.

GUILD: Scholars.

***

- Phyx.

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Female.

SPECIES: Sphynx (winged lioness)

AGE: 35.

OCCUPATION: Linguist.

PERSONALITY: Inquisitive, to the point that sometimes she’ll hyper-focus on questions. Especially when meeting somebody new. Nevertheless a capable leader and a fierce warrior when needed.

DESCRIPTION: A transient from Aaru. Phyx was the guardian of a massive temple until curiosity led her to explore the contents of this temple herself, finding a vast wealth of knowledge and culture. When she journeyed to another world, she sought a similar place of culture, finding it in the largest library of the city. Leader of the Tama Scholars. Under her leadership, this Guild is less interested in imposing a specific Ideology than in preserving records of several matters —including the many time loops that have come to pass before.

SACRED ARTIFACT: A golden scepter that controls light. At it’s most powerful it will summon a light beam that can annihilate in seconds. There is a second, subtler power it has —Phyx can use it to reveal hidden passages or messages.

GUILD: Scholars.

- Yasy Yateré.

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Unkown —shapeshifter, presents as a golden hare-man.

AGE: Unknown —claims to be 18.

OCCUPATION: Greenhouse keeper.

PERSONALITY: Polite, friendly and approachable. Has a more playful side that he reserves for his “golden friends” (see below).

DESCRIPTION: A mysterious, elusive Transient from Yvy Tenondé. He generally stays out of App Battles and what few people contact him have found Yasy to be an okay, if slightly reserved, fellow. However, he has a side that only a few have seen. Every so often, Yasy will find a boy who catches his fancy, and use his powers to get close to him. When the time is right, he will give them a kiss that tastes like honey and wild berries —which will entrance them, after which he’ll take them to his secret garden to play. Yasy eventually gets bored of these “golden friends” and will let them go. What is he truly searching for? Even Guilds like the Wisemen and the Entertainers have not been able to crack this mystery just yet.

SACRED ARTIFACT: A baculum decorated with small precious stones. It controls neither plants nor mesmerism, as his opponents expect —instead, it lets him control emotions or even make people drowsy. Yasy prefers to escape rather than to defeat his opponents. However, an opponent who pushes too far will find themselves confronted with Yasy’s true nature: One of the seven children of Kerana and Tau, god of Evil. His genuine appearance and powers are not quite so whimsical.

GUILD: Unknown. Has been rumored to be part of either the Rule Makers or the Genociders, but neither group has ever confirmed he is in their ranks.

- Amber.

An AU variation on Kounosuke, using concepts from “Steven Universe” and later “Houseki no Kuni”.

Basic info can be found here --though it is now slightly out of date.

- Hugh Cahil.

SETTING: A particular AU that I use along with my boyfriend that is, uuhhh….. “Morenatsu but with Sci-fi stuff. Also a lot of characters from other Fandoms”.

GENDER: Male.

AGE: 21.

SPECIES: Tasmanian Devil.

SEXUALITY: Gay.

OCCUPATION: Drama teacher. Moonlights as the drummer for “The Carrions”.

PERSONALITY: Blunt and straight to the point, yet fiercely loyal to his friends and to their friends in turn. Highly gregarious.

DESCRIPTION: The kind of cool teacher whose students flock to for his unconventional choices in teaching (one year he had this drama class do a stage production of “You’re good man, Charlie Brown” followed by “Dog sees God: Confessions of a teenage blockhead” (*) ). Singaporean, though of Australian origin, recently Hugh has been focusing more on his band, as they are finally starting to get their first breaks.

(*) = Look up the plot to these plays. You are in for a quite a treat!

- Karnevil.

SETTING: Mutanimals / TMNT.

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Hyena.

SEXUALITY: (Undecided)

AGE: Unknown (roughly estimated to be in his late 20’s).

OCCUPATION: Former hotel doorman; currently, mercenary.

PERSONALITY: Obsessive, yet wiling to bargain.

DESCRIPTION: A victim of two separate mutations, first from human to hyena-man, then briefly to brainwashed servant and back —but in the process discovered a dark desire deep inside of him: To eat the flesh of living human beings. Mutants, too. He has forgotten his original name in lieu of his chosen monicker. Will lend his augmented speed, strength, and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth and claws to any employer wiling to provide him with what he craves. Yet once the hunger is sated, he has found himself aimless and often adrift in life…

- Moy

SETTING: TMNT / Mutanimals.

SPECIES: Mutant Leopard with purple fur.

GENDER: Male.

AGE: 26.

OCCUPATION: Former truck driver, currently freelance courier.

PERSONALITY: Disciplined at his job, used to be timid. Currently becoming more and more outspoken.

DESCRIPTION: An exchange student from Guatemala who extended his stay working all sort of off jobs. He was considering leaving when disaster struck and he found himself doused in Mutagen even as he clung to a dyed paw he had won in a fair years ago. The mutation gave him the additional, uncommon power to teleport. Finding himself with no real barriers for the first time in his life, Moy has decided to explore every nook and cranny of this strange world —and beyond!

NOTE: Based on the character “Moykat” from the licensed Mexican TMNT comic back in the 90’s.

#reference #OC

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magickhajiit · 3 years

Text

The Disgraced Son

My first Sons of Anarchy Fanfiction. Thanks to @cappucin-hoe for beta reading my first chapter.

All Chapters

The first 24 hours are the worst, with nothing but the constant hum of the prison and the occasional passing guard for company. It's near enough torture to a man who despises isolation. Not one of the guards glances his way. There’s no need to acknowledge a disgraced son, a man who was a rat, and a traitor to his own family. Without the reputation of the Sons protecting him, he feels almost as exposed as he did standing in the Mayans' warehouse, his kutte being taken and his last connection to his family being ripped away. Morbid thoughts burrow into his skull when he’s sat motionless in the cell so he moves. He does a variety of push-ups and squats, when that fails to expel his rising anxiety he paces up and down the cramped cell, getting more frantic with every passing second.

He’s so wrapped up in his pacing he almost doesn’t notice his new visitor but it’s hard not to detect the presence of Tully, an AB shot caller who leads hundreds of men, men who wish for Juice’s early demise, based purely on his darker shade. No guards are trailing him, Tully’s well aware of the fact they’re not needed. Not when, over the previous year, every misstep of Juices was met with harsh punishment, conditioning him into little more than a beaten dog that still comes when his master calls. Juice’s eyes immediately jump to the swastika etched upon Tully’s pale skin, a symbol of hatred that reminds Juice of his own secret.

Tully returns his observation, darkened eyes light up with a look Juice can't quite discern. He rattles off the exact plan Bobby and Jax had told him before he was sent on his suicide mission to Stockton. Not a word from his mouth is rushed. Each sentence is drawn out giving Tully, with a sick fascination, more time to watch every emotion that filters across Juice's face. He watches the way Juice’s jaw clamps shut and the way his hands tremble before they're tightened into fists, he also watches the way his wall breaks down and emotion seeps through at the mention of his task, to bloody his hands once more and kill Henry Lin.

Thinking about the murder still sickens him. He knows that act will break whatever pieces of him still remain and he’ll receive no comfort nor mercy after the fact; he'll most likely receive a shiv plunged into the nearest artery, undoubtedly courtesy of Tully himself. It feels unfair, the fact that, despite his best intentions, he’s in this position, cut off from his estranged family and far, far away from his Chibs. Chibs is a scar on Juice’s soul that won’t heal. Every time Juice thinks of him turning away on the road a fresh wave of pain hits, threating to pull him under and suffocate him.

Lin’s murder shouldn’t matter. Juice’s part to play in it is simply his ticket back into Samcro, back into Chib’s favour. But it does matter. And days later when Tully has taken his payment and placed him in the room with Lin it still matters, but it doesn’t stop Juice from taking the blade and finishing the job.

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rpmemesbyarat · 3 years

Conversation

RP Meme Lines from "AHS: Coven" Episode 9: "Head"

You get a little older, we'll add a little hooch in there.

That will really keep us warm.

There's nothing to be nervous about.

Keep your hands steady.

Just like we practiced on the range.

I don't wanna miss.

I was the same way when I was your age. Worse, even.

I couldn't keep my breakfast down. Ruined my shirt.

We've been hunters for generations.

You stay here.

You'll get a clean shot.

Put her down!

No mercy. Never forget what they are.

We need to talk.

You and I ain't got nothing to say to each other.

Take your skinny ass and that filthy thing and get out.

You don't wanna talk to me? Fine.

I won't be long.

This better be good.

That one you can keep.

What makes you think I want it?

Why'd you keep her around?

She amused me.

You thought you could use her as a bargaining chip.

What'd she say? I can't hear.

You shut up.

I came here to talk terms.

You think it's so easy. Stroll in here and expect we gonna fix this truce?

Oh, to hell with the truce.

What I'm looking for is an alliance.

Are you insane?

I told you to shut up.

You can't trust them as far as you can spit.

Now, we need to stop this petty quarreling.

We've got bigger problems than what goes on between us.

How many dead?

This concerns you and your people as much as it does mine.

You're making a mistake.

I can live with that. Not too sure about you, though.

Can't protect your own and expect me to do it for you.

You're kidding yourself if you think that after they're done with us,they're not coming after you.

I'll fret about that when the time come.

Right after I pop the champagne.

Take this filthy thing out back and burn it.

I don't ever wanna see it again.

Sweet release. At long last.

Could people please not move things?

Let me do it. It's my mess.

I need to say something, or I'll simply explode.

I need to know for certain that you don't think I did this to you.

You were like a baby bird pushed too soon from the nest.

Will you be my mother now?

I've always loved you like a daughter.

Wrap your arms around me, dear girl.

I don't need magic to tell me what I already know.

I know you would never hurt me.

I never doubted you for a second.

I thought you were in Europe.

Nothing a few silver bullets couldn't take care of.

A lot of things have happened. Some of them out of my control.

You don't take initiative, [NAME].

You follow orders.

Your only job is to gather intelligence.

You don't get your hands dirty.

You're the man on the inside.

Don't think.

You'll just end up getting somebody killed.

I'm much more capable than you think.

An innocent desk clerk and a maid lost their lives because you were sloppy.

Your recklessness puts everything we've worked for at risk.

The hunt isn't only about the kill.

A good hunter stalks his prey with care and only strikes when the time is right.

We need you back inside that house.

Tell me you don't actually have feelings for her.

You haven't forgotten what she is?

I'm part of a sacred order.

Don't think I don't appreciate the sacrifices you've made.

I know how confusing it can be to pretend to love someone who's your enemy.

What a marvelous invention.

So before we move on to our lobster bouquetière a little melon ball palate cleanser.

Should we be looking into it?

Selling it, perhaps?

Forgiveness is and always will be the high road, the preferred road.

Would that we had such luxury.

Not to worry. It's just a bit of monkshood in your balls. Causes temporary paralysis.

It's supposed to be quite terrifying. Is it?

Are you terrified? You should be.

At any rate, I'm not going to kill you. Well, maybe after dessert.

I put a lot of effort into the key lime pie.

I do love a key lime pie, even more than an île flottante.

I was never worried you'd be hapless enough to try.

[NAME], you're a fatuous fool and a drunk!

You're weak-willed, boring, and your fashion faux pas give me nightmares.

I know you had the best of intentions but you could've asked me first.

There are secrets in the flames, and I came back with more than a few.

Why do they look so familiar? The generous donors wish to remain anonymous.

Hurl your baseless accusations. They have no power now.

You're the one that should be put to the stake.

You were the one found guilty of a capital crime.

I could have you banished.

You wouldn't dare.

I hear they're not seeing anyone right now.

Stop it! Stop it right now.

The real danger is outside these doors, not inside.

I'm tired. I need to lie down.

It's dangerous out there.

We'll see to absolutely everything.

Hug me again.

Why don't you go tell someone?

Ugh, sick people really gross me out.

We've been looking everywhere for you.

Who said you could come in here?

Get out before I call security.

You brought this darkness into my home.

When did he tell you that?

You're a liar. Or a lunatic.

I don't believe it.

You're mocking my grief.

That proves you're a fraud.

How can you know that?

She doesn't deserve your help.

You bring nibbles? I'm starving.

Time for some sensitivity training.

What fresh hell is this?

I wanna die. I'm ready.

So we're gonna have a little film festival.

No, wait a minute.

What's happening to me?

You're feeling the wrath of broken promises.

Oh, wow, that's some stinky shit.

Now, you never use this unless under extreme circumstances.

Hey, can I try the incantation this time?

Damn. That is so cool.

We make a great team.

You're such an awesome leader

I've got so much to learn from you.

I meant to change the locks.

Let go of me.

I said, let go.

You're drunk.

I needed the courage to come back.

Can you see my heart? Can you see it's bleeding? That I'm living in a hell of regret and remorse? That my life has no meaning without you?

Can we have this conversation alone, please?

I've told you how I feel.

Take your stuff and leave.

No, I'm not going anywhere.

I'm filing for divorce.

All I want is to protect you.

Your shit's in a box in the closet. Get it and then get out.

You got a dog?

You hate animals, and all other living things.

We needed some protection around here.

Why do you think I came back?

Females are more loyal and aggressive when it comes to protecting their families.

What's in there?

You have to leave now.

I'm not certain

I know how to thank you.

I'm sure this isn't enough, but in truth, nothing could ever be enough.

You've given me a gift that can never be repaid.

I confess I had dark moments.

The thought of losing my son shook me to the core.

I questioned my faith in the Almighty.

Why does he say that?

God knows all.

I can't accept that.

I wanna be a good father.

We're done. Maybe one day you'll understand.

You knew you'd get away with it.

My turn.

Now it's your turn.

Like to play another hand?

Yeah, you just keep dealing till I win my money back.

What did you do to him?

What we need is a guard dog, one who will attack on command.

You kept your eyes closed your entire life.

What is that heinous caterwauling?

If this doesn't touch your soul, you don't have one.

When will my perdition end?

I gotta go.

Sit your ass down and get yourself to work.

Go back to sleep, baby.

Go back to sleep.

#rp memes #rp starters #rp meme #roleplay memes #roleplay meme #roleplay starters #ahs coven #ahs

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blacksunscorpio · 4 years

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Hi Scorp, What does it mean to love on your dark side? I need some examples. Phrases to say to accept the darkness rather than repress it. I'm a 4th house Pluto Stellium

What it Means to Love on Your Dark Side

We're all born like blank canvases. However, at some point during our childhood development, we are taught information that teaches us to separate things into right and wrong. Into, good and evil. The minute we eat from this proverbial tree of knowledge, our shadow is born and consciousness begins to divide itself into multiple parts. Moreover, in our cultural socialization process, we begin to compartmentalize these habits within us that are “kosher and acceptable to the world” [ this is termed as the Persona] and those that are unacceptable [The Shadow]. The latter as a result is usually forced to be hidden away/

But. contrary to popular belief, your shadow is not an error or a flaw, It is a part of the natural order of who we are. Not the sum of us, no, but a significant part. It’s not a problem to be solved; it’s an enigma that must be faced. It has the power to connect us to the depths of our own imaginations. It’s there to protect you.

Example 1.

Let's say that you have had a bad experience with someone. They’re a pathological liar. Manipulative. Condescending and have maybe subjected you or someone you know to said nastiness. One day, they do something nice for you or say something nice to you and you think to your self:

“SMH...This fake ass bitch [gender neutral], they’ve got an agenda, this piece of shit never does anything unless it benefits them”

You don't say thank you. That is your shadow self reacting to the perceived threat this person has been. The problematic individual you’ve observed them to be in the past. Once bitten, twice shy, right? When this happens, don’t be ashamed of this reaction. That is your shadow self picking up on the queues your conscious self absorbs. Instead of telling said person what you really think of them talk to your shadow self instead,

You say: “Thank you for being alert enough to protect me.”

Example 2.

Let's say that you’re a woman, you see a man. He is gorgeous. Well-groomed. Charming. The bulge in his pants is considerable, Whatever. The bottom line, your body is filled with lust. You are more aroused by looking at this man that you’ve been in any of your past relationships. But alas, you see a glint of silver on his left ring finger. He’s married. But you want him anyway.

This is your shadow-self triggering your need for stimulation. Showing you you are fertile. In touch with your sensuality. Your need for passion. For Pleasure. No matter the cost. But instead of letting your shadow self overpower your other-selves and cause you to break up a marriage.

You say: “Thank you for showing me, that I am not frigid, but that I’m capable of unrivaled levels of passion.”

The Next Level is Working With Your Shadow Side.

Utilizing its energy to achieve a justified end. Revenge, for example, is one of those things. [I’m sure you, like others with Plutonic placements, can understand this.]

When you feel wronged in some way, your shadow self’s visceral reaction is to want payback. We teach people how to treat us. When you feel this urge, Think of it like this: That it is your shadow self giving you an alert from the Universe

The message the universe is conveying through your shadow? That you’ve been appointed teacher in your enemy’s karmic lesson.

Workplace perks? You get to choose the curriculum.

Lesson Plan One: The Success Option.

You glow up. You spit on your adversaries and sneer because they aren’t worth your time. Beat your enemies at everything. Be ruthlessly happy. Let them test your commitments but fail trying to see you give up on them. They stress themselves with pop quizzes trying to figure out how to beat you. How to keep you down. They do homework on your social life, your next move, your job. You give them midterms worth 50 percent of their grade, the subject matter? A 7000-word essay on why you’re so unbothered. They pull all-nighters trying to piece together how you keep shitting on them.

You say: “Thank you, for showing me that basking in my success is not narcissistic but an acknowledgment of my strengths in the face of opposition.”

Then there’s Lesson Plan 2: The Hard Knocks Approach.

[Growing up in Brooklyn, with a West Indian and South American family, I’ve seen and done it all.] This lesson plan is more militant. More offensive. You crush your enemy totally. It’s been taught by every successful general in the ancient world. Just like the 48 laws of power says “All great leaders since Moses have known that an enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.” This goes for something as simple as ignoring the "mercy rule" during your college basketball game, never letting the opposing team catch up to making sure a rapist not only loses his freedom [jail] but making sure he's never able to get an erection ever again.

I believe there is no shame and it is absolutely okay to admit that sometimes, a person just needs a good ass-whooping. Whether that’s a physical brawl, a perfectly manufactured curse or hex, a lecture that lays all their dirt bare, a lawsuit, or something as simple as a witty clap-back.

Whatever you do, your mission as the educator is to make sure the student [i.e the enemy] graduates with a B.A. in humility with a concentration on never fucking with you again. Your curriculum here is not to bend them or get them pressed like lesson plan one.

But to break them.

Experience is the best teacher, after all. When this level has been achieved, we say:

“Thank you shadow, for being a messenger, for helping me teach and for allowing me to take part in balancing scales.”

Sometimes the universe speaks to you through your shadow self. It alerts you to methods of facing challenges. Your higher self teams up with your shadow and adds a bit of cosmic guidance, and your conscious self processes and executes. This is why it is important to love on all parts. Integration is key. The Higher, the Conscious, and the Shadow. They make up the sum of who you are. At the end of the day, we use both hands every day, don’t we? We have two for a reason. Unless you learn to first embrace that darkness within, you can never pursue the light of self-love in a balanced way. The more our darkness is avoided, the more it metastasizes within us, waiting like a volcano to erupt at any moment. And because it is powerful, it can have chaotic repercussions if left ignored. But when it is acknowledged and respected, it will only appear to whisper not scream. It will come when it’s called instead of burst in unceremoniously. It will be like a well-trained guard dog. Dangerous? Of course. There to protect? Naturally.

#asks #shadow self #higher self #conscious self #good q #balance #astrology asks #astrology and psychology #my writing #perspective #bruja tips #witchblr #astro tumblr

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flameleads · 3 years

Text

Anonymous asked:

Hellhound leashed, you fire-spewing dog. How does it feel? To see the carnage again? Do not avert your eyes, the images will only slither beneath your lids. How does it feel? The scent of burning flesh? You may desperately avoid it now, such a painful reminder, and yet you smell it in your dreams. A dog's nose is keen, and every step of the way you will be reminded of your reeking sins. The cookware crashes to the ground, your ears perk up. Gunshots. A bone gives out underneath your ash-caked foot; Snap. Death. But before death, agony. Dog teeth are not meant for mercy. Dog teeth are not meant for love. You know. This is why you are their weapon, the leash a silver chain. The same chain you keep safe and warm within your pocket. You want this. You always have. Perhaps it was fate, and we all know how fate goes. So, why do you hurt? You kill because you are good at it. Let that be enough. Now, look. Lower your hand, the deed is done.

Lower your sight and behold - your son of bloodshot golden eyes, a scream carved into his frozen features as the rest of his body burns. That bullet alone would have been a more peaceful death. Dog teeth are not meant for love. Will you pull them out? Or will you keep destroying everything you care for? Will you lay down your arms and accept your punishment before you harm him so? Will you wrap that silver chain around your neck and step off your sinner's path into the fall? You know well there is no other escape. Not for you, and not for him. They will take your sons from you. Only fair, to save them from such a monster. You had no right to ever make them believe loving you was okay.

So, hellhound leashed, you fire-spewing dog, without teeth you can still speak, but will the words come out right - when you sin your last and still tell them you love them as the chain rattles against the rain-slick wood until it straightens with a jolt and then -

Snap.

...You had no right to make them watch this.

Scare the Flame Colonel | Currently accepting.

How cruel this voice was to find him when he thought he was safe. Inside the four walls of his home with his family, he let his guard down just enough. A pair of gloves sat in his pocket next to the pocket watch inscribed with a single word: Flame. No, he didn’t need either of them here. Surely he could put them away where they belonged, somewhere out of sight where he needn’t look at them or acknowledge their existence. Yet, the first two words he heard had him reaching for them without thinking. His weapons---he needed to be armed.

A soldier still at war, still fighting, still breathing despite Death surrounding him on all sides.

Hellhound leashed.

Leashed, yes. So very careful, he never let it loose after the war. Hadn’t he? He left that demon behind where it couldn’t hurt or kill anyone ever again. It never should have come to life, known how the desert sun burned everything it saw, what sand dunes felt like under military issued boots. What killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians alike allowed the beast to thrive as it left destruction in its wake. As it calmly marched forward, it took the last breaths of the innocent as their own and used the oxygen to kill again.

SNAP.

And again.

SNAP.

And again.

SNAP.

His body sat on the edge of his bed, but his mind transported him to the desert. He wasn’t in Central anymore.

Standing in the midst of rubble and decay, he looked to the ground. Ash was all that remained of a once tethered leash. Following the trail, Roy dared to meet the beast’s gaze. Eyes formed out of obsidian, volcanic glass acting as a mirror, glared back. Blood dripped from its mouth as it growled, heat emanating from its body while it threatened to burn him too. Another feast, something to satisfy the bloodlust nestled deep in the demon’s belly.

"They’re demons.”

All State Alchemists bore that moniker. Every single one of them slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, in minutes compared to the hours or days it took other battalions. The Flame Alchemist, though, was the one who wielded hellfire. Their precious Hero of Ishval, the hound born in hell, followed orders and left no survivors. Corpses charred beyond recognition, filling the air with their pungent odor with skin that clung to the skeletons that remained.

Roy remembered it. His breathing quickened as that keen sense of smell didn’t allow him to forget, color leaving his face as his stomach churned. How it reeked. Gunshots fired in the distance had him gripping the watch and gloves with one hand, his other extended and poised to transmute. It shook in the air as his boot crushed bone with ease. Bones couldn’t be broken that easily---they shouldn’t be.

Cremation, if done by a professional, happened at thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit and lasted for hours. Two fingers creating a spark with proper ignition between them made the process take seconds.

What a good killer you are.

And he was. He followed orders, and he followed them well. Why though? Why did he continue killing when he knew he shouldn’t? That it was wrong, abhorrent---he knew it in his very soul, one that wept in his tent for all the lives he took. Why didn’t he stop?

“You want this. You always have.”

Flame alchemy was his and his alone. No one else could claim its power, its beautiful, symphonic destruction. He didn’t want to share it. It belonged to him. Civilians, soldiers, killers, Homunculi---the targets didn’t matter. The hellhound bared its teeth and killed, and it reveled in a job well done. Fighting real monsters Killing made him feel alive.

Even if the person he killed was one he swore to protect, cherish, love. His son with eyes and hair of gold looked back at him, and he recoiled. He backed away as he lowered his trembling hand. What had he done? What did he do? Leashed hellhound---it wasn’t leashed when it hurt his son, biting him with the intent to sink bloodied teeth in further, to eat the heart the bullet missed.

He let it loose. He let this happen.

“Dog teeth are not meant for love.”

That was all he was: a dog of the military. The Hero of Ishval. Amestris’s hellhound. As such, he wasn’t designed for love. Weapons couldn’t receive it, and they certainly couldn’t give it.

Heart racing, he struggled to breathe, choking on the smell of burnt flesh as he should. One hand still clutched his watch and gloves. This chain was the leash, one that might be strong enough to hold the dog back. If he coiled it around its his neck, he could hold it himself back. He could still save his family, his precious sons. Save them from the monster.

“ You had no right to ever make them believe loving you was okay.”

No, he didn’t, but he let it happen. Edward and Alphonse believed loving him was okay, the former even going so far as to counter that logic.

“You don’t think yer worthy'a love but you don’t git ta decide that.”

No, he didn’t.

Alas, that didn’t stop him from believing knowing he wasn’t meant to have it. Gloves dropped to the floor in front of him, he held his pocket watch in both hands and stared at the chain. A gun would be quicker. His alchemy would be quicker, and he deserved to feel the pain he inflicted on others. Two thousand five hundred degrees Fahrenheit---he deserved to know what that felt like. But, he never managed to use a gun on himself, and he could never turn his fire on himself except to save his own life.

How fitting. How cowardly.

That same cowardice led his hands to wrap that chain around his neck. He ignored the tears that ran down his cheeks. These hands knew how to kill better than most. They knew the human body well, how to hurt it, how to kill it in multiple ways. This was for the better. He needed to keep his sons safe from him, from the hellhound. It continued to snarl, preparing to unleash another attack. Quickly, before it was too late, he needed to---

“You wanna know what ta fuckin’ do? LIVE.”

Edward Elric’s voice was what he heard as his pocket watch, the second one he received after the first caught a bullet, clattered and hit the floor. God, what was he doing? What the hell was he doing right now? If Edward knew---if his sons knew what he just started attempting, they’d... they couldn’t... he couldn’t...

“I was accepting my punishment,” he thought to himself, not daring to say it aloud. He deserved to be punished, didn’t he? He and the hellhound were one in the same. Before it hurt anyone else, he needed to put it down. It wasn’t supposed to live this long. Again, though, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. For the umpteenth time, these useless hands of his couldn’t kill the one person, one thing that---

Out of the desert and back in his home, his body shook as he sobbed. Was his door closed? He didn’t check. Didn’t matter. He couldn’t do anything about it now. The leash wasn’t around his neck, but he was, for the time being, immobilized.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The words looped in his mind. “I’m so sorry. Don’t Forgive me.”

He wasn’t made for love, and he couldn’t have forgiveness.

#people on the streets (ee da de da de) | anonymous asks #ic; light a fire | roy #ic; I have the honor to be your obedient servant | answered asks [ prompted ]#scare the flame colonel | prompt #long post tw #violence tw #war tw #blood tw #self hate tw #death tw #suicide tw #choking tw #body horror tw #burns tw #murder tw #killing tw #[ if I missed any let me know ]#thread: Wolf's Den

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badchoicesposts · 4 years

Text

In a Land of Myth...

Chapter 10

Summary: When Selene, a young sorceress, arrived in Stormholt she had every intention of remaining anonymous. King Constantine Rys had strict rules on sorcery. The act itself was punishable by death, and she had no desire to be burnt at the stake for her “crimes”. However, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to remain unseen when she becomes Prince Liam’s personal maidservant, and it seems that it’s her job to protect him from everyone that wants to kill him.

Disclaimer: This AU is a cross between TRR, The Crown and The Flame, and BBC’s Merlin. Merlin follows the tale of King Arthur and the sorcerer Merlin. Merlin comes to Camelot where magic is outlawed and is made Prince Arthur’s servant. You do not have to watch the show to understand this fic, but it is based on the BBC show Merlin so the story line will be similar. I don’t own the plot to Merlin or any of the TRR characters.

Word Count: 4,672

Author’s Note: This series is finally back and with a new mood board! Thanks so much for being so patient with the fact that it took so long!

Taglist: @flowerpowell, @bobasheebaby, @alexintheskyy, @slytherincursebreaker, @kingliam2019, @furiousherringoperatortoad, @goldenbirdcrystalcage, @burnsoslow, @zilch3, @desiree-0816, @sanchita012

Let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist!

Catch Up: Masterlist

Everyone had gathered in the council chambers for the sentencing that was about to happen. Madeleine and Regina were standing on either side of Constantine. The queen’s face was hard, and Selene quickly noticed that she was looking anywhere but at her husband. Madeleine was staring down at Drake with sympathy. Selene hadn’t spent much time with the woman apart from when they had spoken during the tournament, but she could still tell that the thought of Drake being harmed was troubling her. Bastien and Leo were standing together nearby with Savannah in good health, sobbing into Bastien’s shoulder. Selene fought back her own tears as she took in the scene, realizing the horrible outcome from what had been her positive intentions.

However, the look on Liam’s face was absolutely heartbroken as he took in the sight of his best friend on his knees, awaiting a death sentence from his father.

“What is going on?” Liam demanded walking up to his father.

“Your sister was infected by the disease,” Constantine said, directing his words to Drake.

“Yes.”

“And she has recovered? She is the only one who has been afflicted to make a recovery. Were you the only one with her during this time?” Constantine continued, as Selene made her way to stand with Bastien, Savannah, and Leo.

Drake’s eyes flitted to her momentarily, before returning his gaze to Constantine.

“Yes,” he responded in a monotone voice.

“And this is what you used to cure her?” he asked, holding up the poultice.

A look of shock crossed his face as he properly looked over the item for the first time.

“I’ve- I’ve never seen that before in my life,” he said, genuinely worried this time.

“It was found under her pillow,” he said, gesturing towards Savannah.

Drake continued to stare at the poultice, a look of realization coming towards his face as he glanced back over to Selene for a second.

“Undo your enchantment. Put an end to this plague,” he barked, causing Drake to flinch.

“Father! Drake isn’t a sorcerer. I have known him all my life. So has Leo and Madeleine. I would be prepared to swear on his innocence,” Liam pleaded with his father.

“His sister is the only one who has survived this curse. He was the only one with her as she lay dying. The court physician has not been able to find a cure, but he knew how to stop it,” Constantine argued.

“Father, please!” Liam continued.

“Drake is a good man. Just as his father was,” Leo said, moving towards them with a fire in his eyes.

Constantine seemed agitated at Leo’s attempt to remind him of Jackson Walker’s sacrifice and raised his hand to silence both of his sons.

“Undo the enchantment, and I will show you mercy,” he said, looking down at his prisoner once again.

“I am not a sorcerer. I can’t undo it!” Drake said, his voice laced with fear this time.

“Then you have forced my hand. Under these circumstances I have no choice but to sentence you to death,” Constantine said, his voice filled with controlled anger and hatred.

The room erupted with noise and protests at his words, and Selene felt a few tears escape her eyes as she watched two guards move forward and force Drake onto his feet before beginning to drag him out of the room. Selene made a split second decision, not seeing any other way of stopping Drake from being put to death because of her crimes, and moved towards Constantine.

“I did it! I used magic to cure Savannah. Drake’s not the sorcerer, I am!” she said, stopping in front of him.

“Selene!” Bastien exclaimed, looking at her as if she were crazy.

Everyone stood staring at her in shock, Constantine almost seemed amused.

“I place myself at your mercy, my king,” she said, bowing her head slightly as Constantine regarded her with curiosity.

“Guards, take her away as well,” Constantine said, causing one of the guards to release Drake’s arm and grab onto her.

“Father, I can’t allow this. I know for a fact Selene is innocent. There’s no way she is a sorcerer,” Liam said, pulling her away from the man holding onto her and keeping her protectively at his side.

“She admitted it,” Constantine simply replied.

“She saved my life. I trust her completely,” Liam insisted.

“Yes, she has saved your life and trouble has seemed to follow her since. Was she not the one who alerted you that Sir Neville was using an enchanted shield?” Constantine asked.

“Yes, b-but that was because she witnessed it first hand, not because she is an enchantress,” Liam sputtered out.

“Why would she make up a story about curing Savannah Walker?” Constantine continued.

Liam hesitated for a moment.

“I’ve seen the two of them together. It is obvious that she has feelings for Drake Walker, and she was simply trying to save his life,” he said.

“I don’t have feelings for him! I’m telling the truth,” she insisted irritably.

Liam glared down at her for a moment, but the two were pulled out of their stare down by Constantine’s low laugh.

“These must be very strong feelings if she is willing to give her life for his,” he said. “I will excuse you once and only once. Don’t waste my time again. Guards, take him away.”

The guards nodded to their king and began to drag Drake away. Liam gripped Selene’s arm and pulled her out of the room as well before anyone could say anything else. After they had made it far away enough from the council chambers, she roughly pulled her arm out of his grip and rounded on him angrily.

“Why did you do that? You can’t actually believe Drake is responsible for this?” she practically screamed.

“I know Drake isn’t responsible for this, but it won’t do us any good to have the both of you arrested,” he explained calmly. “My father has it in his head that Drake is the one who caused this. He would have executed you and then when the plague didn’t end, he would go after Drake again. I would have lost the both of you.”

Selene noted the sadness in his voice as he spoke, but didn’t mention it.

“How do you know I was lying? How do you know that I’m truly not the one who saved Savannah?” she asked.

Liam looked conflicted at her words.

“I guess I don’t. But, whoever saved Savannah Walker did it out of the kindness of their heart, and whoever caused this plague did it out of spite and evil. So I don’t know if you’re lying or not, but I don’t believe that you’re evil, Selene. You shouldn’t have to die for something you didn’t do,” he finally said.

“What about Drake? How do we save him?” she asked.

“We have until sunrise tomorrow morning to find the person actually responsible,” he said.

Selene nodded her head and hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had been on her mind for the past few minutes.

“Can I see him?” she asked quietly. “I- I need to see him before we do anything else.”

Liam studied her features, noticed the look of hurt and despair on her face and nodded slowly.

“Follow me.”

Liam led her down to the dungeons of the castle and stopped to speak with the men guarding the cells before motioning her along.

“Go ahead. You only have a few minutes,” he said, showing her which cell to go to and walking away with the guards to give them some privacy.

Selene cautiously approached Drake’s cell and saw him sitting on the floor through the bars of the cell doors, his hands still chained together. He looked up when he noticed her and she smiled at him sadly.

“Drake, I’m so sorry,” she said, fighting back her tears once again as she sat down on the floor next to the cell.

The man scooted closer to the cell door and smiled at her softly.

“Don’t be. You saved my sister’s life,” he responded, letting out a laugh at her shocked expression.

“How did-” she began to ask before he cut her off.

“Besides from the fact that you announced it to everyone earlier?” he said, causing her to scoff defensively.

“Liam convinced everyone else that I was lying,” she said.

“I’m not everyone else,” he said, with a smirk. “It was fairly easy to figure out once I looked at all of the facts.”

“What facts? Have I really been that sloppy?”

“No. But first you save Liam’s life when no one else would have been able to. Then, you ask me to steal a dog statue, and the next day you have a new pet. After that my sister got sick, but miraculously healed immediately after you visited her. And, finally, the most damning piece of evidence was that you made the poultice with the handkerchief I gave you,” he concluded, letting out a genuine laugh at the cringe on her face.

“Drake, I’m so sorry,” she said with anguish as she wrapped her hand around one of the bars on the cell door.

Drake smiled at her sadly and, because of the shackles, raised both of his hands to wrap one of them around hers.

“Don’t be. Like I said, you saved my sister’s life,” he responded, as she let her tears fall freely.

“And I’ve practically ended yours in the process,” she cried.

“Shhh, Selene, don’t cry,” he tried to soothe her, which only made her cry harder. “Hey, look at me.”

She wiped her eyes and looked up at him. She was supposed to be the one comforting him, but instead it was happening the other way around.

“Promise me you won’t blame yourself for this,” he said softly.

“But, it’s my fault,” she sniffled.

“Promise me,” he insisted.

“No, I won’t have to,” she said determined, drying her eyes again. “Liam and I are going to figure this out. I’ll get you out of here.”

She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile and rose to her feet. Selene navigated the castle halls with determination. She found Bastien outside with a group of new recruits, instructing them halfheartedly.

“I made a mistake,” she said, pulling him aside. “You can yell at me for it later, but right now I need to figure out what’s contaminating the water so I can help Liam prove that Drake’s innocent. But, I can’t do it without your help.”

Bastien looked at her for a moment, his steely eyes fixed directly on her face. She couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. She wasn’t sure if he was angry or not, but she could tell that Drake’s sentencing wasn’t sitting well with him.

“Follow me,” he finally said.

He whispered a few words to Leo and then began leading her around to the back of the castle. They walked through a small back door that led to a large stone staircase, grabbing a wood torch and igniting the top to light their way. They travelled through an underground cave for a while before they came to an underground reservoir.

“This is the source of all of the water in Stormholt,” he said, leading her over to the water.

Selene looked over the pool of water. Nothing seemed awry, and the water itself looked perfectly normal.

“Maybe we should take a sample, and Xinghai can-” she began to say before being interrupted by a loud splash behind him.

A loud roar broke through the silent air, and Bastien pulled Selene behind him as they turned to look at the creature that had just jumped out of the water. The beast was larger than any man and was made up of sickly green skin that resembled a thick hide more so than human skin. It had huge fangs and long, threatening claws. Selene knew that there were some creatures she had never encountered before that existed, but the sight of the beast still shocked her nonetheless. With another loud splash the creature disappeared back into the water, leaving Selene and Bastien frozen with fear.

“What was that?” she basically shrieked, as Bastien pulled her away from the water and back through the caves to their chambers.

He walked to his wardrobe and felt around the inside of it for the small latch located on the floor of the piece of furniture. It opened to reveal a small compartment that a person wouldn’t have noticed unless they had been looking for it. He pulled out a thick book and began flipping through it as he approached her.

“An afanc. A creature born of clay,” he said, resting the book on the table in front of her.

She looked at the picture of the creature in the book and shuddered as she read how powerful a sorcerer must be in order to create one. She realized that whoever they were dealing with was much more trouble than either one of them had originally thought. However, their focus at the moment needed to be on figuring out how to defeat the beast before Drake was burned at the stake.

“How do we stop it?” she asked, noting that the book had not given any information on that topic.

Bastien walked back to his wardrobe and pulled out several more thick volumes. Selene had to stop herself from questioning why he hid all of these books from her as he dropped them onto the table as well.

“I’m not sure. But, the answer may be in one of these books.”

“We don’t have time to look through all of them,” she said, grabbing the book on top of the pile and flipping through the pages. “This could take forever.”

She racked her brains for a solution, for some way to fix the mess she had created. Only one answer came to mind, and she already dreaded having to go through with it.

“Excuse me,” she said, grabbing her cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders.

“Where are you going?”

“To get help,” she said, leaving the room without another word and descending past the dungeons and into the depths of the castle.

Once she had reached the small ledge that led to the cave, she called for help. After a few moments, the large blue dragon made his appearance in front of her, the chain around his ankle glinting in the light from her torch.

“I wondered when you would seek me out again,” he said, in a low voice.

“I need to know how to defeat an afanc,” she responded, deciding to get straight to the point.

“Yes, it seems that you do,” he replied in the same tone of slight arrogance that had bothered her when she first met him.

“Can you tell me?”

“You must trust the elements at your command.”

“The elements? What elements? I don’t understand. What exactly do I need to do?”

“You can not do this alone,” the dragon responded. “You are one side of the coin. Liam is the other.”

“So, Liam has to help me,” she stated. “But, what exactly do we have to do?”

“Trust the elements,” he responded again, flapping his wings and rising into the air.

“Wait!” she called after him. “What does that mean?”

The dragon simply chuckled in response and flew out of sight, and Selene was left standing dumbfounded on the ledge. She had to try her best to control her anger as she left the dragon’s underground prison, the skirt of her dress flowing out behind her in the wind. Would it really have been that difficult for him to just tell her what she needed to do? Why did he insist on giving her vague answers all of the time?

“Do you know anything about the elements?” she asked Bastien when she had once again met up with him.

“The elements? No, why?”

“It’s supposed to help me defeat the afanc.”

“Where did you run off to?” he questioned, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Please just trust me. Drake only has a few hours left,” she said, her voice filled with anguish and desperation.

Bastien’s gaze softened.

“Liam was right. You truly do have feelings for him don’t you?”

“I-I don’t know what my feelings for him are, but I need him to live for me to figure them out. He doesn’t deserve to die for this, Bas.”

Selene hadn’t realized that while they were talking Bastien had been leading them to the Xinghai and Hana’s quarters.

“If anyone knows about elements it’s Xinghai,” he said, knocking on the door before pushing it open.

Xinghai had been examining a vial full of water when they had entered. There was a shriveled up flower suspended in the liquid.

“The flower has only been in the water for a few minutes,” he explained while lowering the vial down to rest on his work surface. “Whatever is contaminating the water is killing quickly.”

Selene looked to Bastien nervously for a moment before speaking.

“Xinghai, do you know anything about elements,” she asked.

“Elements?” he gave her a questioning look before continuing. “Yes. The study of the base elements is at the heart of the scientific process. The four base elements are earth, water, wind, and fire.”

Bastien and Selene shared a look of realization as the physician continued to ramble on about the scientific process and elements.

“Wind and fire. The afanc is made of earth and water, so wind and fire should be able to defeat it,” Bastien said, causing Xinghai to stop his lecture.

“Afanc?” he questioned.

“A magical beast. It’s what’s infecting the water,” Bastien said, causing Selene to look at him with surprise.

“Xinghai knew my mother before her death. He knows of my knowledge of magic,” he explained, emphasizing the words my knowledge to indicate that the man didn’t know that either of them currently possessed magic abilities.

“I should go talk to Liam,” she said, nodding to indicate that she understood what he meant.

She began to run out of the quarters when Bastien called her back.

“Selene, be careful,” he said.

“I’m always careful,” she retorted with a smile, once again taking off in search of the prince.

“Selene, where have you been?” Liam asked, when they finally ran into each other in the palace courtyard.

“We need to go. The water is being infected by an afanc. A magical creature made of clay. If we stop it the water will be safe again,” she said, leading him back down to the caves that housed the underground reservoir.

“How did you find out about this?” he asked, chasing after her, his sword clenched tightly in his hand.

“Um, Bastien's mother?” she said nervously.

“What?” Liam asked, pulling her to a stop and looking to her with confusion.

“His mother was a sorceress.”

“Right, she was killed during the Great Purge,” he filled in.

“Yes! After I talked to Drake this morning we went down to the water reserves to see if anything seemed out of the ordinary when a beast jumped out of the water,” she said, beginning to walk again.“He recognized the beast as an afanc because he had seen it in one of his mother’s books.” She hoped it was a convincing enough lie and was grateful when Liam didn’t question her further.

“I’m coming with you!” a voice called behind them, causing them to both turn in shock.

Madeleine stood before them, her arms crossed over her chest and her jaw set in determination.

“You can’t,” Liam said, walking over to her.

“Why? Because I’m a woman. That excuse doesn’t work so long as Selene is going with you,” she said, causing Liam to roll his eyes.

“You know that’s not why. If anything were to happen to you my father would kill me,” he said.

“He’ll get over it. I’m coming with you,” she said.

Liam looked over to Selene for help, but she simply shrugged in response. Liam finally relented and the three of them continued walking. They stopped when they reached the back door that led under to the water reserve and each grabbed a wooden torch.

They reached the water reserve and began approaching the area with great caution, Selene and Liam both keeping an eye out for the creature. They stood around the pool of water, expecting the beast to jump out at any moment, but were unpleasantly surprised when they heard a loud roar come from somewhere behind them.

Selene and Madeleine shrieked as they all spun around, catching a quick glimpse of the monster they were trying to but an end to. The creature was revolted by the sight of the fire and disappeared a moment later.

“What was that?” Madeleine asked, having missed the conversation earlier.

“I’ll explain later,” Selene said, already on edge.

“Did you see which way it went?” Liam questioned her as he tried to follow after the beast, but was hindered from doing so because the large cave was made up of several tunnels that all went in opposite directions.

They heard another loud roar coming from their left and took off after the sound. The snarling got louder as they got closer and closer to the beast, all fearing for their lives, but none willing to turn back. The air was thick with tension as they caught sight of the afanc once again. The creature recoiled as the fire got closer to it, but did not back down. Selene could not claim to know what was going through its mind, but surely it must have thought it could kill them before they killed it. The animal was ferocious and larger than a bear. They were measly opponents.

Liam held out his sword in front of him and positioned himself into a fighting stance. He and the afanc danced around each other as they prepared for battle, and the creature continued to growl and hiss.

“Use the torch,” Selene instructed.

Liam obeyed and held the torch farther out in front of him, his sword still at the ready just in case. He waved the torch out in front of him, the fire coming closer and closer to the beast, but not harming it. Madeleine followed his actions with her own torch, doubling the amount of fire that was surrounding the creature. Selene knew that the rest was up to her. She hadn’t fully explained to Liam how to defeat the beast so he did not know what was required to defeat it. She mumbled an incantation under her breath, and the area was suddenly filled with a strong breeze. The breeze collided with the fire, causing the flames to fan out in front of them and incase the afanc, burning it’s flesh as it groaned in agony.

The trio stood silently for a moment after they were sure the creature was dead. Liam finally broke the silence a while later, saying the words she had been waiting to hear since that morning.

“Let’s go release, Drake.”

As they passed by the water reservoir once again on their way out of the caves, a flash of white caught her eye. She allowed Liam and Madeleine to walk ahead of her and bent down to pick it up. The item resembled an egg shell, but was much bigger and whiter than a chicken egg. There were several ancient markings on the shell as well.

“Liam, wait!” she called, running to catch up with him and showing him the shell. “Before we go speak with your father about releasing Drake we should talk to Bas first.”

He looked at her skeptically for a moment causing her to continue.

“I don’t want him to accuse Drake of summoning the afanc.”

“And what good will that shell do?” he asked.

“I don’t know. But, I have a feeling,” she said, not being able to fully put her finger on what it was about the shell that was so compelling to her.

It was almost as if she could feel the magic radiating off of it.

“Okay,” he finally responded skeptically.

She smiled at him in gratitude and they left the caves, both feeling significantly lighter knowing that the cause of the plague had been identified and taken care of. However, there was still a sense of dread in the pit of Selene’s stomach. The feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to her. She had gotten this feeling several times before, but each time it had been followed by something bad happening. It hadn’t always been something extreme, for example she had once gotten the feeling only to have gotten stuck out in the rain while on a patrol with Liam. Other times it had been more serious. On one occasion she had experienced it, and that year her village’s harvest had not been as fruitful as hoped and most of the inhabitants had a rough winter trying to scrape together enough food to survive. However, this time Selene was sure that something truly terrible was about to happen. It would be more than just a minor inconvenience.

“Bas!” she called as she entered their chambers with Liam close behind her. Madeleine had returned to her chambers in hopes that Constantine wouldn’t find out that she had ever come with them.

“Are the two of you alright?” he asked, coming over to them with a look of concern.

“We’re fine. The afanc is dead,” she said with a small smile.

Much to her surprise Bastien pulled her into a hug. He squeezed her in his arms lovingly and let out a sigh of relief.

“We were going to speak with Constantine about releasing Drake, but I saw this on the ground when we were leaving the caves, and I wanted to speak with you first,” she said, handing him the egg shell.

Although Bastien’s facial expression didn’t change, Selene could see the distress behind his eyes.

“What? What is it? I can feel it, Bas. I can tell that it’s not good,” she whispered so that only he could hear.

Bastien cleared his throat and brushed her off, a look of discomfort still evident in his usual stoic gaze.

“It’s nothing. The afanc hatched from this shell,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “Completely harmless. The two of you should head down to the cells to release Drake. I’ll speak with Constantine.”

~~~

“Damnit, Selene!” Lucretia growled in frustration.

She angrily swiped her hand through the water in the stone basin she was standing over. The waves, which she had been using to watch the events that were unfolding in Stormholt just a few moments earlier, became still and clear once again. With the enchantment that was allowing her to watch as everything played out as if it were a movie gone, the water was now just water.

She paced back and forth in front of the basin frantically. Her afanc was dead. It was supposed to bring about the fall of Constantine Rys and his son, and with that, the fall of Stormholt as well. The afanc was her ticket to revenge. But, now because of Selene the creature was dead.

“Selene. Selene,” she whispered the young witch’s name repeatedly.

She had heard of Selene. She was the one the fire-users spoke of, although by a different name. She was the one that was supposed to help Prince Liam unite the lands.

Lucretia had once rejoiced over that prophecy. But now, she couldn’t even picture it coming to pass. Constantine Rys hated magic, despised it. There was no way any son of his would ever be any different. No, she needed to be rid of them all. Constantine had brought this upon himself after all. He should reap the consequences of all the problems his bigotry had caused, and that is exactly what he would do. She would end the Rys line for good.

#the royal romance #the royal heir #trr #trh #liam x mc #liam #king liam #drake x mc #drake walker #drake walker x mc #bastien #trr bastien #bastien lykel #my fics #playchoices #choices #choices fics #playchoices fics

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