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egg-emperor · 4 months

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Eggman is pretty much fascism and unchecked capitalism in human form. He is a repersantion of it they way Sonic is the representation of freedom.

In the games we get to see glimpses of the world under Eggy's rule and it is not pretty. Even in the first game, Eggman's scrap brain zone is a polluted dystopian hellhole, smog and poison everywhere. Meanwhile green hill zone is a lush paradise full of greenery.

In Sonic CD, we can see even his own robots suffer in the bad futures. They looks broken , neglected and musty. He doesn't even care about his bots. So much for a robot kingdom 🤖👑

Don't get me started on Forces where he fully takes over the earth and turns it into a bleak, broken hellhole and spews propaganda everywhere. Everyone is miserable. He even made a propaganda vid where he encourages people to accept his robotomy treatment and become his robot slaves to make life bearable.(Robots don't need food , water or clean air to breathe. They don't even think)

Benevolent dictatorship it is not. I don't know where people get that from.

Exactly, for it being such a prominent theme in the series, I wish more people would get the message and not dismiss it/miss the point and try to say "Eggman is good, actually". It's much more interesting to look at it for what it is, it's what makes Sonic vs Eggman and Eggman's goals compelling to me to analyze. Eggman is a great representation of the terrible and harmful things humanity can be capable of but without completely blaming the entire human race.

He portrays the dangers of fascism, damage of the environment, and the dangerous destructive lengths one can go to in greed for power and control. There's been many examples of him attempting to captilize on harmful things, carelessly tearing the planet/other planets apart in selfish endeavors, and how dystopian the world would be if he succeeded in enforcing his order. They've explored propaganda, manipulation, war, and invasion with him.

Ignoring the message of Eggman's character also downplays, softens the impact of, and dismisses the meaning of Sonic's character. He's all about freedom and the only thing he hates is oppression, Eggman is the oppressor of the story and Sonic wants to stop him, that way people can live in peace and freedom without Eggman stripping that away from them and forcing them to be and do exactly and only what he wants in the world he wants it to be alone.

It's cool because Eggman is also like an example of if you take your own personal freedom and desires too far with greed and a lust for power and control. To the point that you value it and yourself so much above all else, you want to force everyone else to comply by your rules and fulfill your desires, no matter how much they don't want it and it damages them and the world around you. Meanwhile, Sonic's just happens to benefit the world and people around him.

And in a world where Sonic wins, it stays beautiful, bright, lively and free with nature, wildlife, man, and technology coexisting in harmony and peace. In a world where Eggman wins you get the opposite where it's ugly, dark, dead, and controlled with nature and wildlife suffocated until it's dead- replaced by technology and reshaped in Eggman's selfish image and twisted idea of what a "perfect" world is, one where only he decides what it's like.

It shows through their characteristics, actions and outlook, and their impact on the world and people around them and that's so fucking neat. I don't know why people act like that stopped being a theme when, as long as it's Sonic vs Eggman, it's definitely always present. But I feel that a part of it is absolutely the way that people try to make it seem like Eggman isn't so bad and suggest the idea that maybe he's actually really progressive and wants to do good.

It's very clear that he doesn't lol. Such is obvious by the lengths he's willing to go to get what he wants, knowingly and carelessly hurting many people and even finding sadistic enjoyment in it at other times, all the while acknowledging that he's evil and saying it himself and owning it. He knows he has to create propaganda, lie, and manipulate others into getting what he wants and further his plans which also proves full awareness that what he's doing isn't innocent.

And of course the most obvious is how the world under his control is most often depicted as a dark industrial dead and polluted dystopian hellhole where all suffer, even his own creations, and he doesn't care because he's in control and gets to rule over it and turn it into everything he wants. And their suffering is just part of the idea, which he makes clear with his own words with Eggmanland in Unleashed and the Interstellar Park in Colors, in that he wants people to suffer.

There are times this isn't shown visually in a places of his creation and under his control, such as the Interstellar Park and Ego City. But guess what? There's still tons of danger and death due to attractions in the Interstellar park that he acknowledged and intended as features, and the PAs in Ego City with the propaganda and lies about the intention and "benefits" of animals in robots and the hint that he doesn't actually take criticism- all prove his real sinister intent in it.

It shows that Eggman can also pretty things up and sugarcoat them with visually beautiful creations, sweet words and promises of great things through lies and propaganda. That's scary because it can lure people in, only for them to be subjected to great horrors once they arrive, even if nobody and maybe not even themselves can see and realize it's all a lie and the cost that is their suffering at first, until it's too late and they face it in the most terrible and painful of ways.

And the truth would show visually eventually anyway, evident in Eggmanland's darker polluted setting. Even to the point of further destruction and decay, like CD bad future where even his own creations are broken down and abandoned. He'll destroy the world to build his new one yet even that will rot due to his carelessness as long as it doesn't get in the way of his own enjoyment, he'll use things up and abandon them when they no longer serve him.

In Forces he wants to burn the world so it will be "nothing but ashes, from which a glorious Eggman Empire will rise," willing to cause great damage to get it. That's why he happily blew up Sunset Heights, let Green Hill be dehydrated and die, had forests carpet bombed, and was willing to drop the sun on people. Hell, in the Join the Eggman Empire propaganda video, he promotes further ruination and pollution of the world after he's taken over as a good appealing thing.

And the real reason why is because it will push anyone that's still unwilling after all his attempted lies and propaganda to give in and accept the robotomy treatment, so they don't have to suffer in it anymore because they won't have a choice because it'll be that or die. But with it they'll also have to give up all their freedom and never be able to eat, sleep, or think ever again and Eggman will tell them "that's what we call "living the good life!"

And again, him saying that loving it is mandatory in the video proves he doesn't care how much it hurts people and how much they'll really hate it. He knows full well but doesn't care because it's not about what they want, it's all about him and what he wants and they have no choice or say, they literally have to comply or die. And fuuuck it's so good and messed up. That perfectly represents how terrible and dangerous and harmful his dictatorship is.

Besides the whole "what if he actually cared and genuinely wanted to help people and the world though" which this all clearly disproves, I also see people say they'd like to become robots so they don't think it's so bad. And it's like well fascist dictatorship doesn't suddenly become a good thing just because some of it personally aligns with your desires lol. Authoritarianism doesn't suddenly become good just because it's enforcing your personal morals and values.

I highly doubt anyone would still be saying this if they it really happened and they realized how much they'd sacrifice in it and what they'd have to go through as Eggman clearly doesn't treat his creations well, whether it's through abusing them or just leaving them to decay like those seen in CD bad future. And let's say even if was good for you personally in some way, it wouldn't be for everyone and most people would still suffer because they don't want it.

And let's say your biggest dream came true through it. It's still being enforced through Eggman's fascism and oppression and many will suffer from it and have to abide by it against their will. It's like how Eggman tried to bribe Sonic in the great Super Sonic and Super Eggman Sonic Channel story by saying he could give him a world of chili dogs, no paradise is one that is forced, no matter how pretty and appealing one tries to make it seem.

And in Eggman's case it's not just that but the fact his "paradise" is everyone else's hell, his enjoyment is everyone else's pain, his desires are the antithesis of freedom. Because he's deeply selfish and intends and revels in much of the damage and suffering he causes. It's inherently sinister, harmful, and only his twisted definition of a perfect paradise that serves only himself with his selfishness and self-centeredness that he can't and doesn't care to see past.

He's one fucked up bastard and that makes him so interesting and threatening, he's the main villain of the series for a reason. 💜 It's really interesting to think about the themes he represents and the many different ways they've been portrayed and explored throughout the series and the message it sends just as much as Sonic's, I wish to see more acknowledgement and discussion of it so I try my best to bring light to it with my own contributions like this!

#I looove analysis like this I looove the themes. man #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #asks #analysis #my post

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rainbowfroots · 1 year

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KNB Characters in ATLA

Okay pretend this is like, when the 100-year war is about to start, so the Air Nomads are still around.

Kuroko: Non-bender from the Southern Water Tribe. He's really determined about stopping the Fire Nation and learns how to use long range weapons that are easy to carry. I really want to say Boomerang.

Kagami: FIRE-BENDER there is literally no other option. He's actually the son of an Fire Nation soldier and Earth Kingdom woman and was supposed to be from the colonies but his parents died, and he got adopted by Alex, who's an Air Nomad.

Kise: Waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe. He's not a prince but he's definitely nobility. He's mastered pretty much every form of sub-bending for waterbending; except the plant manipulation and blood-bending.

Midorima: Earthbender, like, what else? He's the son of an Earth Kingdom nobleman who's ruling a Fire Nation colony, therefore he's sort of friends with Fire Nation royalty.

Aomine: Waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. His mom is chief and he's a bit of spoilt brat. He's the best bender they have and he's itching for adventure outside of their home to really test out his waterbending skills. He joins Kuroko when Kuroko heads out to check wtf is going on with the Fire Nation recently.

Momoi: Non-bender scholar, trained in hand-to-hand. Though she isn't a bender, she observed the waterbender healers and figured out how to do chi-blocking. She joins Aomine and Kuroko when they head out to ensure they don't do anything extremely stupid and die at sea.

Murasakibara: Airbender who sticks to the the Air Temple he was born in. Hella chill, very mellow, he's an expert in pulling pranks whenever he's bored and very good at baking pies.

Akashi: Prince of the Fire Nation, Firebender. He's mastered lightning-bending and is extremely obedient to his dad. He used to be friends with kids from the other nation(*ahem* GoM) when he was around 10 but his dad cut off all connection because he was, ya know, planning on starting the 100-year war.

Haizaki: Waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe. He's not a noble and is highly competitive with Kise, whom he can never defeat. Their training was very similar and they're both some of the best benders but Haizaki is heavily focused on combat and never even attempts healing(which is why he can't reach Kise's level, Kise figured out newer techniques because of the healing thing).

Kiyoshi: THE AVATAR!!! No it's not just because his name sounds like 'Kyoshi'. He's from an Earth Kingdom town and knows he's the Avatar pretty early but he doesn't make a big deal about it. Then the Fire Nation starts decimating the Air Nomads and RIko urges him to start learning. Kiyoshi is honestly the only person who can be trusted with this amount of power and is closest in temperament to Aang. He's froma humble background and just wants to ensure everyone gets to live peacefully.

Riko: Non-bender who's a student, she learned about all sorts of bending styles out of curiosity and even trained with a sword on her own time with her dad. She's the one who plotted the training regimen for Kiyoshi's Avatar training.

Hyuuga: A Fire Nation, non-bender soldier who Kiyoshi and Riko run into on their travels to find a firebending teacher. Hyuuga is getting very suspicious about his new orders about conquering Earth Kingdom territories, but is initially reluctant to defy. But then he sees Kiyoshi and Riko, and the three get into some trouble and Hyuuga decides to join the two, having realized that the Fire Nation is getting ready for an all-out-war against the Air Nomads.

Himuro: He's the illegitimate child of a Northern Water Tribe noblewoman. She had met a Fire Nation soldier and the two had an affair. She had Himuro but abandoned him, and he was taken away by sailors to be raised in the Earth Kingdom. Himuro grew up on the streets and on pirate ships, with only a betrothal necklace from his mom to know of his heritage which was given by the soldier. He hates the water tribe for abandoning him, and is later taken in by Alex. So he sorta grows up with Alex and he later realizes Kagami's dad is actually also his dad, and that his dad was chased away from the NWT and began another life with Kagami's mom.

Nijimura: Earthbender who's from a downtrodden background. His dad works in crystal mines but is growing weaker. Nijimura had to take over his dad's work and while mining, he became an expert in bending crystals and other non-generic forms of earth.

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bondlessprincebloodlessknight · 6 months

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Prince Dirk Lalonde

Spoilers for the Tournament Arc (which I think is most of what I post that isn't under a cut -- that arc is a lot of set up and not Super Spoilery imo)

Dirk gets the Lalonde last name because I thought "Strider" made for a nice "Snow" from Game of Thrones-esque last name for Dave to have.

He is a character defined by abandonment. His parents, the rightful king and queen of Skaia, left on a journey and have yet to return in over a decade. His cousin, seemingly the only person he feels comfortable confiding anything in, left for the Liminal Forests almost immediately after he came back from settling things down in Derse and Prospit, and not staying with him during the majority of the Tournament. Jake didn't want the same sort of relationship he did, preferring a short fling to a long term romance. He has no one and he keeps it that way -- never reaching out to John, his only childhood friend, and blocking Rose's attempts to address his issues.

He has a single minded focus which usually aids him in his royal duties, but can destroy his personal life and general mental wellbeing. Creating the Autonomous Guild was legitimately one of the only fun, low stakes thing he ever did with that focus, and even still he rarely participates or checks in on them.

He has disdain for his own emotions, especially when they conflict with or distract from his goals. He objectifies himself as a Prince, a Ruler. And yet he abuses that power to form the tournament and manipulate events to make Karkat his personal guard for his own gain. He hates himself for doing that and he feels both that hatred and that abuse of power make him weak. He is too emotional and also an unfeeling monster.

And part of him wishes he could have just been Hal. Stayed with Jake in Prospit. But he knows staying in Prospit wouldn't have been staying with Jake. It would have only been abandoning his duties.

Spoilers for Chp 32 below the cut

Finding out that his parents abandoned him shortly after the accident with his brother as a child puts a lot of things in perspective. Dirk has been ruling alone since he was about 13. He watched the family he had left break down around him behind closed doors -- the public did not know his brother existed. They could not know of their mourning or why their rulers left.

It's easy to put the pieces together to see that Dirk blames himself for all of it. For what happened to his brother, of course. For his parents leaving. For Roxy's troubles that ended with her abandoning her title and leaving her family. He is the reason he is alone, and it follows that he needs to be the one to fix everything.

He's so focused on keeping his plans on track and secret that he can't even enjoy his brief reunion with Roxy, considering her a chaotic variable out of his control, until the moment she has to leave again.

He's alone. It is his burden to bear. He even pushes Karkat away to try to protect Rose -- try to have some sort of control over her safety as she leaves him again.

Even as a ruler of a kingdom, nothing has truly felt in his control since the accident. He clings onto the little he feels he can grab and shuts out anyone and anything that might threaten it.

And yet...

Karkat chose him. Again and again. Karkat, who he tried so desperately to think of as a pawn at the start, even as he hated himself for doing so. Karkat chose him over freedom.

#jax yacks #meta #characters #dirk strider

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multistoty · 2 years

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❝ it is easily to speak so open with you. your face is like a quiet pool that will hold everything safe in its depths. ❞ idk who but 😭 i love these sentence starters and!!!!!! do what you want with it and with whoever ❤️

People seldom realize that they tell lies with their lips and truths with their eyes all the time. It was why her new betrothed Ambrose knew to be wary of those who would manipulate the poetry in the eyes of royals for personal games or maddened plans for their downfall. it was hard when their life became a chess game where no one told you what their plans were or reasons behind it though their duty said otherwise.The moon is a loyal companion.It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human.Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.But there's something about the darkness, the stillness of this hour that creates a language of its own. There's a strange kind of freedom in the dark; a terrifying vulnerability we allow ourselves at exactly the wrong moment, tricked by the darkness into thinking it will keep your secrets. For so many years she had lived in constant terror of herself. Doubt had married her fear and moved into her mind, where it built castles and ruled kingdoms and reigned over her, bowing her will to its whispers until she was little more than an acquiescing peon, too terrified to disobey, too terrified to disagree. She had been shackled, a prisoner in her own mind.But finally, finally, she had learned to break free. Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds. You can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of your hand. You can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick tick tick its final tock just before you fall asleep. You can suffocate seconds just by holding your breath. Hope has been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind.The auburn haired girl was a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction. Every butterfly in the world had migrated to her stomach and Hope felt broken open and stuffed with sunshine. His lips soften into a smile that cracks apart her spine. The coffee colored expanse of his luxurious hair calling for her ivory fingers to make a home in them. To worry the gentle feature instead of the nerves that pulled against her soul. Her vivid blue orbs were pickpockets trampling minutes and taking quick work of mapping out the man in front of her. A slight blush coloring the apples of her cheeks. It was surprisingly tender for the boyish future queen. Made her more proud of the glittering ring on her finger than the gray shadows of emotions. They had chosen to belong to each other in the wake of others attempting to take that from them. The vulnerability of the error to the throne was a power unto itself. The goalie keeping her heart safe had taken a break to let him in. To take off the mask of perfected sarcasm to the love sick broken little girl underneath. “You know, you have a really strange way of telling me you’re attracted to me. But I vow to you here and now that this wedding isn't just a planned partnership by others. I vow to be your friend and your home land wherever you continue to stare at my lips like that and stare like a kiss to my heart. If we cannot be honest with one another, we will drown in the air that fish like us weren't meant too.”

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lunarcry · 1 month

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hiii i finally read shitoris fate eps<3 spoilers for those + main story hihi

Shitori: (Still, this is quite nostalgic. When I was little, I snuggled up like this with Mother every day.)

this line knowing in msq mikaboshi opens her arms toward shitori and goes 'hm? when u were a child u would have alrdy been hugging me tho?' im unwell

Shitori: It was an Astral who adopted me, a child without a home or family. Mikaboshi was her name, but to everyone else she was a lunatic driven by hatred and obsessed with revenge. I always thought that if they got to know the motherly side of her, they wouldn't say those things anymore. They couldn't say those things if they learned of the woman that saved and raised me—the only mother I've ever known. The mother that I loved most in the world.

Shitori: But Jayne… Mother isn't crazy like everyone says. She teaches me whatever I want to learn and makes me tasty food and sweets. If I do something bad, she gets mad at me, but if I do something good, she tells me I did a good job.

T_^ shitori.................................the way mika talks about shitori too......of she cared..she cared sm.....but also mika teaching shitori things makes me sooooooooo........mika who showed love to shitori....shitori who showed love to mika.....

Jayne: Be that as it may, you don't know when madness will swallow her completely and drive her to harm others. If that puts your life in danger one day, we would be devastated. And if that were to happen, I don't think we would be the only ones to suffer. She would too, if I'm to believe what you've told me.

Shitori: That's why I'm going to stay with her. If I don't, no one else will when she needs help.

T______T

Shitori: The more I learned to do things on my own, the more Mother devoted her attention to her own developments and experiments. I knew she was modifying her body so she could stand against the power of the Astrals. It was evident in the way her body often violently trembled and her fits of temper as she became increasingly unstable.

Shitori: Mother's mad thirst for vengeance against her fellow Astrals was finally given form through the completion of the Great Wall. I'll never forget the way she looked the day that nightmarish creation was born. It was as if I were gazing at a feral beast. A howling animal that rejoiced in its thirst for blood, devoid of intelligence and reason. The kind mother that I believed in way nowhere to be found, and my faith crumbled to pieces. Seeing the terrifying weapon she had created, the skydwellers deemed Mother a threat and made attempts on her life. They only succeeded in assembling a massive pile of corpses, their power insignificant against the might of an Astral.

mika unreal hours. lokis lines about her when they talk about changing 'The Astral who ruled over the Nalhegrande Skydom was supposed to be a terrifying monster. Not only was she armed with a weapon that didn't rely on primal beasts, but she was also intent on destroying her fellow Astrals. Or so they said.' augh

Jayne: The Torhid Kingdom wishes to prevent further sacrifices and has already pledged their aid. With disputes breaking out between skydwellers and Astrals, the last thing anyone needs is for it to escalate into a large-scale war.

Shitori: Whispers of a potential outbreak of war spread like wildfire. The creation of Mother's weapon only amplified the chaos, and people began to wonder if she would destroy both skydwellers and Astrals alike.

TORHID MENTION !!!!!!! but also torhid...skull emoji. that said mika being there hating other astrals and building the great wall and this fueling the skydwellers fear of a war (that did end up happening)....

Shitori: You know something, Mother? No matter who you become, you'll always be the person I hold dearest. I love you. Even though I'm sure you don't feel the same way. Nothing's more important to you than your revenge—not me, not even yourself…

i dont think i can do this gamers. 'Goodbye, Shitori. No matter what happens, you'll always be my beloved daughter.' (in tears) shitori addresses these feelings later but her feeling that way in that moment when shitori was always important to mikaboshi..T_T

Shitori: Mother raised me. More than that, however, she gave me love when no one else would. Helping with the seal would mean betraying everything that I owed her. But I couldn't continue to turn a blind eye to all the victims of her rage and wait for things to settle. More pressingly, Mother's body was falling apart, and her mind and soul were fracturing as she bathed in more and more blood. I became certain that, sooner rather than later, she would break if something wasn't done.

Shitori: All I could see was her face, moments before the end, seared into my mind. Her eyes filled with hatred, anger, confusion, then despair.

thinks about the scene when the second seal is broken. RAUGH.

Shitori: She proceeded to reveal a bit of her own past to me for the first time. "You reminded me of myself, so I took you in out of pity." That was why she raised me, according to those words. It was painful to hear her admit as much—that there was nothing else binding us together besides sympathy for our shared circumstances. But upon seeing my dejected expression, Mother gave a troubled smile and gently pulled me into a hug. Then she told me, "Shitori, you're my dearest daughter, and I would have no one else but you. I love you."

MOMBOSHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

thinking about playable mika with fate eps that mirrors shitoris makes me dizzy. shitoris 5* is gonna be amazing if its set after act3 too <-no hint of shitori 5* on the horizon

Shitori: I really believed… that nothing mattered to Mother other than her revenge—not me, not even herself. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Do you know how she looked at me, right before the end? Her eyes, filled with despair, screamed "why?". And it finally hit me: I did this! I betrayed her! No matter how she changed, she always thought of me as her daughter until the very end! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mother!

Shitori: Still, I resolved to stay by her side, so that at the very least she wouldn't be alone when she woke. That was why I chose to be sealed alongside her.

Shitori: (This might just be me being selfish, but I'd like the chance to apologize directly one day. For now, all I can do is apologize in my head. I'm sorry, Mother. I love you so much, and I always will.)

last one makes me ill cuz of this one loki & mika convo before the seals broken

Mika: If they meet each other… and Shitori say she's very sorry… will she stop crying forever? Loki: Oh, definitely. It must be painful to feel all that guilt but have no one to apologize to. Loki suddenly gets a distant look in his eyes, as if recalling a memory.

ill get into lokis emo self at another date but mika...T_T

Shitori: I was fully prepared to die by Mother's hand upon our awakening. But I desperately hoped that I'd be able to apologize before the final blow. With that last wish etched into my heart, I drifted into a long slumber.

u kno what also makes me so upset. when io mentions shitori when they meet mika at bestia islands, and mika uses 'daughter' to speak of shitori. 'dont mention that...that daughter of mine' or whatever.......T_T shitoris her daughter thats her kid her child her

Mika: I found Shitori crying for her mom in her sleep one day. It made me think… me and Shitori have our own real moms, don't we? It doesn't matter to me, since I don't have any memories and I'm happy with Shitori. But Shitori probably doesn't feel the same way. Maybe she wants to leave here… and find her mom.

Vyrn: I got a question though. How can she miss her mom if she doesn't remember her? Mika: I already asked everyone else about that. They said even if her mind doesn't remember, her heart does.

Lyria: Maybe we'll even find your mom and dad too… Mika: My mom and dad? No, that's not what I…

THIS CONVERSATION................her heart remembers..........mika and her parents...mika and astral society...mika who picked up shitori cuz she reminded her of her own situation...mika who wants shitori to be happy......shitori is faking amnesia but mikaboshis heart.....

Blessed One: We have plenty of Astrals here in case it fails, but… Blessed One: You truly believe we'd stand a chance against her hatred? She could easily destroy the entirety of the Edgelands. Blessed One: Then we must strike before she has the opportunity to. It's prudent we take advantage of her child-like state and end her immediately, as our final mission commands us to do.

lov ppl being scared of mikaboshi

Mikaboshi never hid the fact that she was an Asral, leaving skydwellers to regard her warily, while the madness stemming from her hatred toward other Astrals was impossible to ignore.

mika astral hater boshi !!! girlie who built the great wall !!! girlie who put echidna on bestia island went hehe astrals struggle against otherworldly beings (it backfires) oh no! shes my everything

Shitori: You're asking me to betray Mother… No, I don't care what happens to this world. I just want to be with Mother.

Jayne: My poor Shitori… Forever bound to her, forever bound to misery… I'll never forgive the monster who took your happiness away from you!

'When I accepted my fate to be sealed together with Shitori following her betrayal, the monster in me died and I became a mother' ill

Mika: I-I'd never hate you either! No matter what bad things you've done, I'll never hate you!

Mika: What about you, Shitori? Would you hate me if I was a bad person? Mika's anxious words stop Shitori's breath for a split second. Shitori: Never. No matter what bad things you've done, I'd never hate you.

I CANT DO THISSSSSS

anyway going through these & hearing shitoris suffering knowing her future in one timeline is to watch everyone die & leave it together with a dying lyria thanks to ebisu & some voice telling her to keep going. and then crying nonstop while apologizing. preparing papers & ids so we can enter oarlyegrande even before eugen was born. dude she has gone through so much..........i cant write an entire post about it rn but shitori.........

main story lines but i think about these smT_^

Mikaboshi: Because I also knew the reason you betrayed me. You did what you did for my sake, not for anyone else. You even went so far as to sacrifice yourself… It was the first time anyone had gone to such lenghts for me. I felt blessed, even if your actions were a betrayal. And I did confront you at one point to hear your thoughts on that…

Mikaboshi: You're an amazing person, Shitori… It wasn't some skydweller plot that stopped a monster from destroying her own kind… No… It was all you. To know that you cared for me meant so much. It was your love that saved Nalhegrande, and me as well. That's why I know you can do this, Shitori. You can even save the world if you set your mind to it.

'Leaving something behind as a parent might not be such a bad thing after all.' T____^ mikaboshi.....

#stardust speaking !#post. mika #post. shitori

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ruthlesslistener · 3 years

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I've got a Hollow Knight theory that I think you'll be interested in! The White Lady talks about her personal shame in damming her own children and how she is willing to make up for that by preventing herself from having more of them as well as helping Ghost via giving them her half of the Kingsoul charm. Though people are aware of the fact that the King regretted his choices, but don't talk about the actions he had taken before his death. I personally think that The Pale King had a vision of the future and saw Ghost take down the Radiance and from there made his final plan. He would take the White Palace, completely change it's architecture to test Ghost, hide his true thoughts and feelings and protect his half of the charm. But that's not all I think he did, I think that in the creation of the Kingsoul the King literally gave up his soul to make it just to help Ghost regain their memories and unite with the void again. The Pale King knows that this won't magically erase what he did to his children, something that can be picked up from the lore tablet in the throne room, but he'll be damned if he doesn't help his Hollow out after what he burdened them with.

HEY OP YOU FUCKING NAILED SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN STRUGGLING TO PUT INTO WORDS FOR LITERAL MONTHS

Yes yes YES I do believe that the Pale King saw a future where Ghost rose as the Lord of Shades to take down the Radiance, and I think that's why he allowed them to come into the White Palace to take his half of the kingsoul in the first place. We know for a fact that he's capable of moving his corpse and resealing the palace, so that implies that them being able to reach him at all was something that he purposefully allowed- hell, he probably even structured the layout of the White Palace and the Path of Pain so that Ghost could understand his perspective of the Vessel Plan, as well as test if they were strong enough to get to it. He doesn't apologize for what he's done, because that would be useless, and he does make them fight for it, but everything that we find in the White Palace gives us insight into his side of things, as well as what we need to ascend beyond his plan and take down the Radiance by our own means. The challenge of the White Palace isn't just to prove that Ghost is capable of taking down the Radiance, it's also for them to win an explanation of the circumstances and to earn their right to do what they wish to determine the fate of Hallownest. The Vessel Plan was the Pale King's attempt to keep the kingdom of Hallownest under his + the White Lady's rule, but when he proved himself incapable of being the god the kingdom needed, he passed his throne off to Ghost. That could also be why Hornet was granted the knowledge of the King's Brand- the Pale King might have sensed that something was going terribly wrong before the Infection returned again, and came up with a backup plan based on a new burst of futuresight that would allow one of the escaped vessels to take Hallownest in his stead, rather than falling back under the Radiance's power.

Something that also struck me was the fact that PK's speech is the closest thing that we get to a narrator in the story, and that the Seer idly mentions that she wonders if the Dreamers or 'that old king' was watching over Little Ghost while they were collecting enough essence to power up the Dream Nail. It really does feel like we're watching Ghost's journey through the Pale King's eyes, and that the White Palace was his way of testing if his wayward child was strong enough to take on the tragedy that he left behind.

#bishoggoth #reply #hollow knight #the knight #the pale king #little ghost #hollow knight meta #hollow knight lore #hollow knight theory #saw someone say that the events of hollow knight is the tragedy of the pale king and i agree with that wholeheartedly #we're just trying to survive the aftermath of that #and prove that we will not fall to the same mistakes that hurt our siblings so badly

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ruewrites · 3 years

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Wait asks being open means requests are open right??? If yes OH MY GOD IVE BEEN PRAYING FOR THIS DAY SINCE AGES

Could you pls pls pls pls do a dialuci fic except it's a royal au? Like dia and Luci are set to get married but Luci didn't want to until he saw Dia?? I know this isn't your primary ship but it would mean the WORLD to me (*˘︶˘*).｡*♡

Meeting His Prince

AO3

Ship: Diavolo/Lucifer

Word Count: 2008

Warnings: None

A/N: Hi Anon! First of all, thank you. When I finished up WBT, I was thinking about writing a royalty au, and this request acutally made me plot it out. I guess this will be a psuedo prequel to it? But I want Dialuci to be a ship in it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

Lucifer had his clothing pressed and his crown polished. A crowned prince had to make a good impression being the shining jewel of the growing empire of Arcadia. Yet it wasn’t his clothing that worried his father. It was Lucifer’s expression.

To say he was happy was far from correct. Lucifer never gave much thought to marriage. Honestly, he’d be happy ruling Arcadia without anyone by his side. He’d spent much of his time caring for his siblings and learning how to rule over the kingdom, so an heir wasn’t an idea he was fond of. It was something he knew had been expected of him as well. Producing a strong line of future kings and queens to lead Arcadia had been in the stars for him according to his father.

Perhaps he had read the stars wrong.

The memory of Father bursting through the palace doors uttering curses under his breath. Apparently the prince had been rather persistent with his demands. His father wanted to make an alliance with this kingdom horribly so. Apparently the prince was rather effective in the way he ruled and was a skilled strategist. He would be a powerful addition to Arcadia, but he was stubborn once he’d made his decision. Strategist indeed if he could get the King of Arcadia to give into his demands. The anger in the king’s eyes when he told Lucifer that he had been chosen burned Lucifer’s very soul.

Lucifer knew where this anger was coming from, not that he cared all that much. He’d never really given too much thought to what his paternal figure wanted from him. Why start now?

His siblings had all had varying reactions: sighing about the ‘romance’ of the situation, poking fun at him, and in some cases offering sympathy. He just wanted to stay neutral about it. The end goal for him was to be a worthy future king of Arcadia, this was just a stepping stone he had to take to get there. Other issues surrounding this engagement could be figured out with time. He had time. He just needed to stay level headed.

He hadn’t noticed the clock ticking down to his wedding day, he hadn’t even realized that he’d never met his fiance despite the flood of letters that were sent his way once a month. It seemed odd. Lucifer wasn’t really sure how to react to the attention and aggressive affection. The entire situation felt more like a relationship with a paramour rather than an arranged marriage for the good of their kingdoms. For now, it was best to push it to the back of his mind and deal with it when the time came. There wasn’t any point in fighting anything lest he cause conflict that would certainly affect more people than just him.

Ah the life of being a royal.

Lovely wasn’t it?

The day of the foreign prince’s arrival, Lucifer spent hours pacing around the palace overlooking every tiny detail. Of course he could change his mind at any moment and Lucifer couldn’t have that happen. This was for the good of Arcadia. He glanced over the arrangement of food on the table one last time before letting out a sigh.

Composure was key.

He was the pride of Arcadia.

Nothing could break him.

Nothing could throw him off guard.

Nothing-

“Lucifer!”

Lucifer didn’t even have time to process the situation. Strong arms wrapped around him, suffocating him in a tight embrace. He struggled, gasping for air and attempting to escape from the steel grip capturing him. When he did manage some distance, his hair was a mess and his clothes were disheveled.

Golden eyes met his own, sparkling like gold coins reflecting the summer sun.

“You’re even more beautiful in person,” the other prince’s voice came out as a whisper, as firm hands gently cupped his face, “You’re as radiant as an angel-”

He was a puppy. A giant puppy.

“Oh how lucky I am to be married to such a gorgeous man.”

“We’re not married yet,“ Lucifer hoped he didn’t sputter as he pulled away. This was hardly the professional meeting he’d been expecting. This was their first time meeting before their wedlock, and Lucifer had been thrown off balance.

He could do professional.

He couldn’t do whatever… whatever this was.

“Well, we’ll be married soon.”

“Your Highness-”

“Diavolo.”

Lucifer stopped in his tracks. All he could do was stare at those big shiny eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Please call me by my name. I’d like to hear how perfect it sounds on your tongue,” Diavolo repeated.

Heat rose into Lucifer’s face and he hoped it didn’t show. Quickly, he turned away and started walking towards one end of the table. “In any case, you’ve had a long trip. Why don’t-”

No sooner had Lucifer sat than Diavolo swooped in to scoot a chair closer to him. This man really didn’t have any sense of personal space did he? This was unfamiliar territory. Lucifer expected him to sit on the opposite end, allowing him to keep some distance between them. That’s how people were to stay. At a nice, respectable distance to be observed and to exchange pleasantries, but no closer. Diavolo was a stranger, yet he refused to act like one.

“I want to know everything about you,” Diavolo sounded as if he was marvelling at a being from another word. It was an unsettling feeling, “You’re favorite music, what you like to do in your free time, everything about you.”

Lucifer scooted away ever so slightly. Diavolo followed.

“Why would you care about any of that?”

This was business.

“Because we’re getting married.”

That didn’t mean he had to know anything about Lucifer.

But Diavolo had a nice laugh. It was booming and made Lucifer’s lips twitch upward ever so slightly. Everything about him was warm. Warmth Lucifer had never known before.

He tried to touch his face once more, Lucifer turned away. It was instinct. Lucifer wasn’t accustomed to being touched.

“You act like no one’s ever acted like this with you before!”

“That’s because no one has,” his eye glanced toward Diavolo, “My family isn’t exactly touchy.”

More specifically his father. He didn’t like touchiness, he thought it would make them weak. Therefore, physical affection wasn’t common when their father was around, especially not with Lucifer. He was their crown prince. He needed to be strong and rule without anything in his way.

Diavolo’s demeanor changed, his shoulders fell, his eyes widened, and his mouth fell.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not anything worth pitying. It happened and there’s nothing that can be done to change it,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair, “It’s what he thought best for the future of Arcadia.”

You threw a wrench in his plans.

And for that, well, Lucifer couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied. After pushing him and his siblings to follow certain path all of their lives, it was nice to see something not go as planned for a change. Lucifer wouldn’t be having heirs, and that was fine by him. Any interruption counted as a victory for him, no matter how small.

“I am sorry,” Diavol’s voice was more even and calmer than it had been before, “For how I have been behaving though. It must have been startling to you. Please forgive me.”

Lucifer turned his head back towards him and quirked his eyebrow.

“My own father was very affectionate when I was young, I suppose I just miss it, and I’d like to share that with you, if you’ll allow me.”

Lucifer thought for a moment, allowing silence to permeate in the room. If asked, he’d say he did it to make Diavolo sweat, but in reality he was genuinely thinking it over. “I suppose, perhaps with time.”

The way he beamed made Lucifer’s heart skip a beat, “Then let’s get to dinner and start to know each other a little better, shall we?”

***

Enjoying the evening had not been on Lucifer’s list of things to do, but he wouldn’t complain.

“You like dogs? I could get you a dog as a wedding present.”

Lucifer laughed, “Father wouldn’t allow it. He’s not fond of animals.”

“Well he can’t stop me from getting a present that you would like. “

This man defying his father? Heavens help them. Perhaps Lucifer liked him a little more than he thought. It wasn’t something he was used to. He’d never had a relationship like this before. This was the first time he felt like he’d had a genuine conversation with someone outside of his family. For once, Lucifer felt a little relaxed.

Diavolo was genuinely interested in what Lucifer liked. He wrote down how Lucifer took his tea, wanted to listen to all of his favorite songs with him, and what he liked to do in his free time. He wanted to play chess with him and spend time with him in any way he could.

It made Lucifer’s feel warm and his chest lurch. He loved the smile that found its way onto his face and how Diavolo’s voice surrounded him. Perhaps he’d found a new favorite song.

He felt like he’d known Diavolo for ages.

He made it easier for Lucifer to breathe.

“Diavolo-”

Diavolo froze. His eyes went wide again, “You said my name.”

Lucifer didn’t get a chance to move before he was being lifted off the ground and spun in the air. Diavolo’s booming laugh surrounded them.

“Oh you said my name! And it was perfect! More than perfect!” he lowered Lucifer only to bring him into a kiss. Now it was Lucifer’s turn to freeze. His face quickly turned red as his eyes flew open. He stiffened, and tried to bring himself back. He’d never been kissed before. A crown prince had to be careful when it came to his image, and he’d had more important things to focus on than starting romances that would lead to nowhere. He’d always known he’d be married off to someone else, so he didn’t really see a point in seeking out others for romance.

Lucifer never thought about what it would be like to be kissed.

He wasn’t exactly sure about what to think now.

When Diavolo pulled away the terror seemed to set it. “Oh I’m sorry! I- I went too far-”

As he mumbled, Lucifer felt himself come back. It was when he realized how nervous the other prince was. He was energetic and was the opposite of Lucifer himself. Instead of going silent like Lucifer did, Diavolo seemed to ramble even more. With a chuckle and the shake of his head, Lucifer put his finger tips under Diavolo’s chin and brought his focus back to him.

Lucifer wasn’t one to be won over so easily, but there was something about this man that made him think their union wouldn’t be a bad one. Perhaps he could make his life a little more interesting.

If he could force his father into doing something that he didn’t want to do, like agreeing to the condition of Diavolo getting to marry his crown prince, Lucifer figured he would like him.

“I will have to kiss my husband eventually, you’re an awfully excitable man Diavolo. I think I quite enjoy that about you,” he smiled, before placing a gentler kiss onto his lips.

If Diavolo wanted to play the role of adoring husband Lucifer wouldn’t stop him. Maybe marriage wouldn’t be as bad as he thought. Perhaps he could rule Arcadia with another person effectively after all.

When they pulled away, Lucifer caressed his face, “I think I could see myself participating in acts of affection in private.”

He and Diavolo walked a little closer on the rest of their stroll, and he found himself leaning into his shoulder every now and again.

Perhaps he could get used to this.

Perhaps he would lead Arcadia into a new age, and be an even better ruler with Diavolo at his side.

It would be a future to look forward to.

#ruewrites #anon #ask #anon ask #royalty!au #arranged marriage!au #obey me #obey me diavolo #obey me lucifer #dialuci #diavolo x lucifer

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lightrises · 3 years

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"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

#hollow knight #hornet (hollow knight)#hornet hollow knight #hk hornet #the radiance #hk radiance #herrah #hk herrah #hollow knight meta #sup folks it's been a minute since i dropped a whole dang essay but Here We Go!!!!!!

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multi--kpop--fanfics · 3 years

Text

There’s Blood On The Crown

prince!Xiaojun x queen!reader

genre: angst, horror, royalty!AU

warnings: heavy dark themes (blood, major character death, betrayal)

Part of THE CROWN - a collab call by @earth-to-that-asian

Word count: ~1.7k

Author’s note: The fic was beta read by @jaemotel and @intokook , who also made the header (thanxx bby💕). Inspired by the song Intro: Crown by Purple Kiss

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you say,

What if I ruled the world?

“Now, you may rise, Your Majesty, Queen Y/N”, the priest announces and you rise from your knees, the diamond crown resting proud but heavy on your head. You walk towards the balcony of the castle and look down, where the rest of the civilians awaited for you. You were their Queen now, the one who would guide them through thick and thin, especially after your beloved husband’s death, the late King Kun.

“All hail the Queen!”, the crowd chants as you raise your hand and wave, the beaming smile on your face acting as a facade, masking your true feelings - uncertainty, sorrow and most importantly, fear.

Fear, because you trusted no one in the council. They never liked you in the first place, not only because you were the late King’s wife, but because you were also a very skilled fighter, one of your most valuable assets, hence why you were the Grand General of your kingdom before getting married to Kun.

These weasels hated seeing a woman in power, simply because they wanted that power for themselves. But none of them had the guts to step up and claim the crown. They only knew how to scheme, bribe and conduct murders without ever getting blood on their hands.

There was only one person you could trust, the only one who truly recognized your strength and dedication to the crown - Prince Xiaojun, Kun’s brother and your brother-in-law. He was the only one who welcomed you with a warm smile and would always be respectful towards you. Everyone in the kingdom knew of his gentle nature and the civilians were always delighted to see the two of you take walks through the town. He treated you like family. And family is always there for you, just like Xiaojun today. You turn your head back and smile at him, an equal smile spreading across his handsome face. However, by the time you have turned your head back, his smile is instantly replaced by a clenched jaw and a stern gaze, burning with hatred and jealousy.

Nobody knows

It means nothing to me

Xiaojun enters the throne room, fully-armored, his sword sheathed on his back and his hunting knives strapped on his sides. You were seated in the throne, your white cape falling gracefully around you, the diamond crown and your silver chest armor shining from the sunlight that is creeping through the colored glass windows. Your image is a sheer contrast to Xiaojun’s, his armor being pitch-black, almost resembling an angel of Death.

“Ah, Xiaojun, what a delight to see you!” you state, smiling to him. “I haven’t seen you wear this armor in a long time. May I ask what’s the occasion?” you ask with curiosity. “I have decided to go hunting” he replies nonchalantly and you smile even wider, unaware of the true meaning behind his words. “That’s wonderful! Perhaps I could join you? I’ve been dying to leave the castle gates and get my blood boiling through some action” you slightly pout, albeitly tired from sitting around and letting your armor and sword get rusty.

He chuckles at your reaction and he unsheathes one of the daggers from his arm and traces his finger along the edge of the blade. “I will not have to leave the castle to go hunting… In fact, my prey is right in this very castle” he states and takes slow yet steady steps towards your direction. “I-I don’t think I follow..” you stutter, fear starting to take over your senses. “What I am trying to say, dear Y/N, is that my true prey is not just within this castle - It’s right in front of me”. The realization then hits you.

It’s invisible but you know it’s mine

So where do you see yourself?

“You want the throne?”, you ask in shock, not wanting to believe that the one person you trusted ever since you stepped your foot in the castle was the one who wanted your fall. “I don’t want just the throne. I want the power that comes along with it”, Xiaojun admits, his ominous gaze fixated on you. The imminent danger awakes you and you yell with all your power towards the throne door.

“GUARDS!” and within seconds, your two strongest guards barge through the throne room, clad in heavy armor. “Prince Xiaojun has attempted murder against the Queen and is hereby guilty of commiting betrayal to the Crown. Seize him at once!” you yell and the guards point their weapons towards Xiaojun, who has seemingly raised his arms in surrender. “The accusations Her Majesty has made against me are completely false!”, he bites back, “Besides, I haven’t attempted murder..”, he adds and silently pulls out another dagger from his sleeve, “..Yet”.

In a split second, he throws the daggers towards the guards and he hits them both in the blind spot of their armor, their cloth-covered necks, the sharp blades of the dagger cutting through the flesh. The guards are now flat on the marble floor, their lives slowly slipping away from their bodies that lay in blood. After recovering his daggers from the dead bodies, Xiaojun hears the familiar sound of a blade being unsheathed. He turns to you and he sees you holding your sword, your cape discarded on the floor, standing a few meters away from him.

“Finally, the queen has stepped down from her throne!” he spits, his voice dripping venom. "The Queen has a crown and she will do everything to protect it. Even if it means killing the prince", you prepare yourself and get into a fighting stance. "How ironic, to share the same goal at a moment like this", Xiaojun points out and unsheathes the sword from his back, "It's a shame you won't be alive to witness my success".

I am running for the crown

I keep breathing when you drown

You charge at Xiaojun with full speed, your sword in a secure hold. He throws a dagger at you to cut off your advance, but you duck down in the last second and you avoid it, closing the distance between you in the meantime. You fling your sword upwards, in an attempt to cut through his waist armor, but he is fast enough to parry your attack with his own sword. "You're fast, I'll give you that. But not fast enough", he mocks and pulls another dagger from his thigh, landing a deep cut on your forearm, making you cry out in pain.

The blood is staining your pristine blouse, but you don't care - you only want to stay alive in order to defeat Xiaojun. You kick his knee with full force and he groans, falling on his knees. "You know better than underestimating my skills, Xiaojun", you hatefully spit back and get up. You switch your blade to your intact arm and swing it towards his face, but he raises his arm and catches the blade mid-air. "I don't - I'm just reminding you how inferior your skills are compared to mine" he replies and holds the blade still, his fist now bleeding from the sharp edge. "You haven't even landed a proper cut on me, yet your arm is still bleeding from a mere dagger", he continues and stands on his feet, twisting his arm and the blade as well.

You grit your teeth as you fight back the pain from your own arm being twisted and you lift your leg to kick him in the face, but alas, he's fast enough to swing his sword again and land another cut on you, this time on your leg. You feel the muscle joints being ripped apart and you scream once again, the blood gushing from the fresh wound. Xiaojun takes advantage of your vulnerable state and pulls the sword out of your grasp and throws it at the other side of the throne room. He then kicks you on the chest and you fall flat on your back, the diamond crown falling from your head. You try to stand your ground, but Xiaojun immobilizes you with his own body.

"It's truly a pity, Y/N. We could have been the most powerful and loved royals in the world… But you just had to fall in love with the fool of my late brother, didn't you?", he asks and caresses your cheek, the pretentious affection making you scrunch your face with disgust. "You will never be like Kun, you monster" you grit your teeth with anger, "Do you know why? Because he was always faithful to the people. Because the people are the true crown-"

You never get to finish your sentence, as a dagger is piercing your throat, ridding you incapable of breathing. The stream of blood starts pooling around your spasming body, staining the marble floor, your clothes and the diamond crown that lays next to your head.

I believe myself no doubt

Xiaojun watches your last moments with a blank expression on his face, still on top of you. "Ironic, isn't it? The King and his Queen, dying by the same hand, clad in the same armor. Truly, the most perfect of tragic endings". You are unable to answer, the last of his words dealing the finishing blow to your form. You have stopped moving and a single tear falls from his face. "Even in death, you are still the most beautiful woman I've seen in my whole life, Y/N" he whispers and leans in to kiss your now lifeless lips. "Worry not, my love, you may meet your beloved husband now. The crown is in good hands".

He stands up and takes the blood-stained crown in his hands. He places it on top of his head, the blood dripping on his soft blonde locks. He slowly walks towards the throne, the edge of his sword scraping the marble floor and creating a line from the blood on it - your blood. He looks at the painting that rests above the throne, a painting of you and King Kun smiling fondly, wearing the same crown that now rests on Xiaojun's head.

"You know, both of you were wrong. I never betrayed the crown. In fact, I was the only one who did everything to protect it", he speaks as he sits down on the throne, "And I succeeded, my beloved family. All thanks to you. You may now rest in peace", Xiaojun says with a soft smile on his face, making him look like an angel.

An angel of Death.

My Lord

How come I never lost my faith?

#xiaojun angst #wayv xiaojun #xiao dejun #royalty au #wayv angst #horror #the crown: a collab call #wayv fanfics

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imagineabrighterworld · 3 years

Text

Tenya Iida with a Princess S/O

You first meet him as a page

Tenya Iida was the second son of a family of nobles. There was no doubt that he would have a bright future ahead of him. You were the crown princess of the land, your brother instead opting to travel as an ambassador. This meant it was up to you to greet each of the noble families closest to the crown.

Bunching the fabric of your skirts in your hands, you wend your way down the spiralling staircase to the main foyer, your ladies in waiting trailing after you with varying levels of excitement. Today you got to meet the noble families of Florrum! It was scary, but it was also a little exciting. After your brother passed the crown to you, it was now your responsibility to make the people love you. A scary thought, but you were ready for it.

“Ooh this is so fun! I hear the Iidas’s and the Eijiro’s are coming today!” Your best friend and lady in waiting Ochako Uraraka squeals from behind you. “The Todoroki’s are already here too! Shoto was kinda cute don't you think?”

“She knows that silly.” Momo Yaoyorozu chides, pulling Uraraka slightly in order to fix a stray strand of hair out of place. While she didn't speak it, she used the excuse of managing Uraraka's hair to avoid speaking about the young white and red haired noble. "We just met them yesterday.”

You pause your trek down and pull the two girls to hide behind the banister as your father’s voice echoes in the room. Four voices accompanied his own, two of which you didn't recognize. Those must have been the Iida's. The third was a boy who had accompanied Shoto Todoroki, his name was Izuku. So either the fourth was Shoto, or it was the youngest Iida son.

Peeking around the corner, you scan the group of adults before looking at the younger boys following them. It was indeed Izuku Midoriya, and a boy who looked much like the eldest Iida.

His eyes flash to yours upon noticing the three of you crouched like spies. Immediately he rushes to his father’s side, grabbing his hand and chopping the air in your direction with vigor. “There are three strange girls over there!”

With an embarrassed queal, you duck further down and use the top layer of tulle fabric to cover your face. On the other hand, your ladies in waiting stand up to get a better look of the boy.

“So that's Tenya?” Ochako questions while nudging your arm. “He looks kinda serious.”

“ ‘Raka it is not polite to call strangers by their first names.” Yaoyorozu helps you up despite your tremblings. “Come on, my lady, let’s see him.”

He was overbearingly polite, but it was sweet

Standing in front of Tenya Iida you bulster up the courage to look him in the eye after being dragged by your friends to approach him. It wasn't queenly at all, and now you missed your elder brother more than ever. He was good with greeting people. This was still new to you.

The boy bows a perfect right angle, nearly flinging the glasses off of his face. You wouldn't be surprised if they weren't his first pair to go flying. “My apologies Princess! My name is Tenya Iida, from the prominent Iida family! It is an honor to meet you!”

His father smiled crookedly behind you, looking at his son and back to you. He bows his head. “Princess, it is a pleasure to meet the future queen.”

Glancing back at your friends for strength you curtsy to the men in front of you, grateful your hair was blocking their view of your flushed cheeks. “Likewise. I hope you enjoy your stay here. My staff are ready to cater to your every need.” Was there something else you needed to do? Was there a piece of etiquette you were missing? There had to be, why would the young Iida still be bent at the knee if you did say the right words?

Your question is answered as the elder Iida taps his son on the shoulder. “That will be enough Tenya.”

The boy straightens immediately, his face pink with sheepishness. “Right!”

Looking him in the eyes, a smile creeps its way onto your face.

He was cute.

“Pardon me Tenya Iida-”

“Yes princess!”

“Would you like to join my friends and I for a game?”

He looks put off, but soon a look of excitement replaces it.

“I would!”

Now friends, Tenya stayed at the castle to become a squire, and became somewhat of a guard

He was now a decent acquaintance, someone you enjoyed being around. Surprisingly he grew to like your little touches and was accustomed to how you would cling to him when you were afraid. It was endearing. But unfortunately it didn't last after your quirk finally presented itself.

Now at age 14, you couldn't see yourself without your friend by your side. Iida had fully integrated himself into your clique of ladies in waiting and squires. Your shyness seemed like it was finally out of your system, allowing you to bloom and show your potential as Crown Princess!

Walking in the market place with Tenya by your side, you greet the people by name, having jotted down notes ages ago to help remember the faces of your kingdom.

“Isn't this wonderful?” You question your friend as you examine a dressmakers shop, peering in through the window before the scent of honey bread pulls you away to the bakery. “Everyone is so lively and peaceful. After the contract with the Todoroki’s, everything has been tranquil.”

Tenya hums in agreement, his eyes glued on the dress you were staring at moments before. He moves along with you after you give his hand a small tug.

The hand holding was a small rule of yours- of his. Ever since he lost track of you in a market place at the age of 8, he vowed to hold onto you whenever you two went out. He didn't want to risk losing the future queen. And his best friend.

Suddenly you feel a warmth course through your body. In an instant you jerk your hand away from his and use it to. stable yourself by holding onto the table behind you.

The baker screams. “Look at what you've done!”

“Princess!” Tenya reaches out to you before halting, looking at something on the ground.

In fear, you look at yourself, wondering if something had spilled onto your clothes, but there was nothing there. Next, you check your arms. It is from your arms that you realize what has happened.

Your quirk, after years of waiting, had finally shown itself.

What used to be a simple wooden table with baskets of bread on top, was now solid gold. The metal had already begun creeping down to the ground beneath you and up your arms and legs.

You screech and back away, scared to touch anything else around you.

The townsfolk watch in amazement as the creeping gold stops in its tracks, slowly pooling back to the table where it stayed there.

“Princess-” Tenya attempts to reach out for you only to be waved away. Your heart was beating out of your chest, gold hued tears spilling from your eyes. “Please- don't touch me- I don't want to hurt you.”

Slowly clenching his now empty hand into a fist, he nods. “Lets get you to the castle.” Removing his cloak, he drapes it over your shoulders and guides you back to the castle.

He doesn't touch you.

Your quirk was dubbed the golden touch, a blessing and a curse

Once news spread about your ability to turn normal objects into pure gold, you become the most highly sought royal of the nine kingdoms. This meant you would need even more guards than ever. It was not at all an ideal situation for you, as your parents now were questioning whether finding a suitor with a strong quirk would be better than simply hiring arms.

You fought against it, not wanting your life to be dictated by a quirk you didn't want. For 14 years you were quirkless, for 14 years you were happy, why now did it choose now to ruin that happiness?

Learning that Tenya was a potential knight of your personal guard left you winded.. Or in your case, glowing

Now at the age of 18, often hiding away from the public and sometimes even your own friends, in fear that your emotions would stir up trouble, you are met with a letter that could potentially change the course of your life. Possibly.. if you could convince your parents. See, you were the Crown Princess, the future Queen. Queens weren't supposed to fawn over their knight.. but maybe you could be the exception?

Tugging open the heavy wooden doors of your room you walk across the lounge area to the staircase leading up the turret. It was from the turret where you sat at the balcony and watched the world from above. You didn't have much say in the matter on when you could leave the castle now that every thief and king knew of your quirk, but this balcony did offer some reprieve from your loneliness.

“Don't get too close to the railing princess, we've already replaces it twice now.” A familiar groggy tone says from beneath you. You look into the tired eyes of the Captain of the Guard, Aizawa Shota. His scarf was partially bound around his fists as he pulled several of the knight trainees closer to him. “Turn it to gold again and you'll be signaling to every mercenary in the land which room you are in.”

With a sigh you step back and adjust your elbow length gloves to keep your skin from touching the metal bars. “I understand.”

He mumbles under his breath before turning his attention back to the recruits in front of him. There was around twenty in total, some you recognized from your old travels in the town outside of the castle. But there was one that caught your attention and held on tight.

Tenya Iida.

The same rush of warmth hits you as you run back into your room, holding the wall as you spiral downstairs. Unbeknownst to you, your golden touch seeped right through the gloves, turning the turret walls and steps pure gold. Only when you were in your room pacing back and forth with cheeks as red as a rose did you see the mess you had made. Nearly everything you came in contact with was gold, even your hands.

Looking into a mirror, you whisper in horror as gold flecks spread up your neck like an expensive collar. “Why is this happening?”

Always the gentleman, Tenya came to your aid

“Princess?” A knock resonates through the room. “I saw you earlier- I don't mean to intrude but it would be dishonorable of me to leave a girl to cry alone!”

You pull the door open slightly, peering up at him with wet eyelashes and a pink nose. “You saw me cry?”

He halts his prepared speech, his mouth open as he tries to come up with the right words.

“You.. You looked distressed. So I assumed..”

“You assumed I was going to cry.” You wipe your eyes, a teasing smile on your face. “That’s rather bold of you Sir Iida.”

“I-I-” He bows his head, “I apologize for my bluntness!”

He definitely had potential as a warrior, but you were also focused on something else

You had to admit, as you both grew older, you were more than twitterpated He was charming and bluntly honest, unlike the suitors you were presented with that would leave you in tears of frustration. Did you need to lower your standards in order to make your family happy? You didn't think so. And beyond that, Tenya was a knight, one who came from a noble family. His pedigree wasn't important to you, but it would definitely help in getting your parents approval.

Observing the trainees from above, you take deep and slow breathes to keep your heart beat steady. With a few months of testing your quirk, you've realized it was emotional based. Rather than golden touch, it was more of a golden aura. It reacted with you.

But it was difficult to keep your heart at ease when Tenya Iida came into the picture.

Your heart skips a beat when the sound of his laughter raises to your turret. He was with Midoriya and Ochako, your lady in waiting most definitely there to keep her sights on the green haired knight. How you wished you could join them. Laughing with them. Talking like you had before.

Tenya looks up at you from his spot below. He didn't have his glasses on, and his hair was slicked back to keep out of his eyes after his long training session with Aizawa. He smiles and waves. “Good evening Princess! How about joining us today? I can assure your safety.”

The tiles underneath you turn a rose gold as your heart stops.

Could you join him?

Aizawa was the best wingman you could hope for

By some heavenly fortune, the Captain of the Guard saw your struggle and stepped in. Why he did it? He said nothing. Maybe it was because he could smell the desperation rolling of the two of you and grew tired of it.

“Just get down here Princess, I’m going to be here the whole time.” Aizawa motions you down. “If you don't join us he won't focus, and that will cost the head of whoever he spars with.”

The blood flushes from the face of a blonde knight looking extremely uncomfortable at the prospect of sparring with the young Iida.

“Ah- Okay, I'll be down soon.” You catch a glimpse of Uraraka giving you a thumbs up, missing the way Tenya watches you with a look of excitement mixed with dread.

Of course he wanted you to join him and your other friends, but.. He hadn't been as close to you ever since your quirk presented, what if he stumbled or messed up while you were watching? Would you think less of him? Would you kick him off of your guard? Would you be ashamed of being his friend? Or were you no longer friends?!

His engines begin to smoke as he panics, his face blank though his mind was running a mile a minute.

Damn your shyness!

Taking the stairs two at a time, you scramble to your vanity to check your hair and add small touch-ups of makeup before launching yourself out of the room. You barely remember to inform the guards at your door of where you were headed before continuing your journey to the training grounds.

What did you do to deserve such a perfect vantage point to watch them? To have the opportunity to see your knights train? Or rather, to see Tenya, a boy who for the years you've known him, refused to train in front of you.

And now not only was he inviting you to watch, but even the Captain of the guard agreed to it!

Finally at the front doors of the castle, you brush the tulle layers of your dress and do a once over. Everything was in place, and you had no spots of gold to rat out the thrumming heart in your chest. You looked fine!

Taking the left path to reach the training grounds, you can’t help but pick up the scent of smoke. It was odd, but you knew where the smell was coming from. It had to be Iida. He was the only one with a quirk that gave off the smell of smoking fruit. An odd combination, but you were used to it after all the times he short circuited as a child by bump in trees.

What was he stressed out about?

Thats what you would ask when you found him, but instead, he found you.

Turns out he was just as shy as you

Iida had spent a good five minutes pacing in a circle, pressing the fine grass into odd circles. He wasn't ready! He was definitely not ready for you to see him! You were his princess, someone he held in the highest regard, and someone he wanted to protect. Ever since he met you and discovered what kind of person you were, he vowed to become a knight so you could rely on him. You were infinitely precious to him, and so he worked hard every day so he could protect your smile.

“Aizawa Sensei-” His engines were roaring to life, and he couldn't help but run. Where he was running to? He didn't know. But before his captain could order him back he was already running around the side of the castle to reach the front doors. He assumed you would get to the grounds by the side doors, but life had it out for him as he bumped into you and took a tumble to the ground.

Your golden aura was your second best wingman

When words failed to work, your quirk led the way. It was emotionally activated after all.

Iida’s eyes are as wide as dinner plates as he sees you laying underneath him, excuses were sticking to his tongue, unable to come out as he processed the vulgar situation.

Which, wasn't as vulgar as he saw it. You were laying on the grass next to him, half underneath him as he used an arm to prop himself up in order to keep from crushing you.

“Ah-!” He sits up swiftly, bowing until his head was pressed flat against the grassy floor. “My humblest apologies Princess! I didn't mean to hurt you!”

You slowly sit up, plucking a blade of grass from your hair, seeing it had turned gold under your touch. In fact, gold was already spreading from your body to your clothes and to the earth below.

But this time, you didn't feel embarrassed.

“Tenya?”

The young knight raises his head to look at you, his face tight with anxiety.

You reach out your hand and cup his cheek, allowing a golden glow to cover you both. You smile and place a small kiss on the tip of his nose. “Its alright.”

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

Hacked penny isn't over yet I think. Juan did say he can't keep boosting her aura forever, so its more like a bandaid on a stabwound. Is it better than nothing for the situation? Sure, but it's not fixed.

I don’t think it’s over either based on that dialogue, but at this point, no matter what happens in the next few episodes, the arc is ruined for me. Like taking “Salem is attacking Atlas with an unstoppable whale grimm. However will our heroes combat it?” and reducing the outcome to “Ruby’s group did nothing, Yang’s group chose their friend over the safety of the kingdom, and Oscar destroyed it with a weapon no one knew he had before the actual plan we’d been building up could be implemented,” you can’t erase how the show raised the stakes and then shrugged them off, even if we do get something good in the final hour. The damage is done. So how has Penny been treated the same way?

Penny is hacked right when she’s holding up Amity. Will this mean Ruby’s message won’t get out to the world? No, Penny stays herself just long enough to complete it.

We see Penny fall, unconscious, as a cliffhanger. Will she be damaged/killed by that fall? Will the Ace Ops be able to snatch her up while unguarded in the tundra? No, sometime off screen Penny apparently woke up again and flew herself to Ruby.

Penny crash lands among the group, clearly hurt and apologizing for something she doesn’t explain before passing out again. Will the group finally leave to discover whether Pietro and Maria are okay? Find out what happened to cause this? No, they turn on the power so that Klein, the butler-doctor, can do something unnamed to help Penny, since he’s also a scientist, I guess.

Penny wakes up again and the hack continues. Will she unwillingly use her Maiden powers to hurt someone in the mansion? Like Klein, the very minor character few care about and whose injury/death would provide a distinct consequence to all this? No, Nora calms Penny down by reminding her that she’s... multifaceted?

Penny is overtaken again and starts to leave, revealing that she is to open the vault and self destruct. Will she succeed in escaping? No, the Hound stops her, knocking her unconscious again (third time, folks!), even though it makes no sense why he’s trying to bring her back. Watts hacked Penny to open the vault for Salem. Salem knows he did this because Watts contacted them. So why is Salem sending the Hound to stop Penny from doing what Salem wants? Why the attempted detour to the whale when Penny is already on track to the end goal? The Hound should have been focused on the group, giving Penny the means to escape.

So Penny has demonstrated how dangerous she is in this state, has revealed she’s after the Relic, and that she’ll self-destruct upon getting it. Will the group try desperately to find a way to fix or contain her? At least put up a guard to watch over her? No, they’re more focused on Emerald and Summer angst. Jaune seems to just conveniently spot Penny escaping again.

The group captures Penny and is faced with a (stupid) choice: let her go, or kill her. Will they make that choice in a volume where they continually refuse to make choices? No, Ruby comes up with the nonsensical solution of, “We can combat the technological virus by having Jaune boost what supposedly makes Penny human.” Okay.

Except Jaune shouldn’t have even been able to do that. Putting aside the growing list of convenient things his semblance can apparently do, he was just as exhausted as Ren back in the whale. They both needed a break and then Ren’s aura broke immediately afterwards. So Jaune should be at the end of his rope, right? No, just a short time later he has enough aura to try to heal Nora and boost Weiss and fix Penny long enough for the group to focus on other concerns.

With the added issue that that’s still not how Jaune’s semblance works. Every time he uses it — to boost someone’s aura to heal, to boost a semblance, etc. — he has to keep doing that for the person in question to experience the benefits. We see it on screen, via the aura itself or just by having Jaune touching them. The moment he removes his hand that boost is lost... yet now, suddenly, Jaune touches Penny for a second and she remains in a boosted state? She’s not completely fixed, no, but they came up with a short-term solution that is illogical on its own while simultaneously ignoring two of Jaune’s limitations: being low on aura and the need to continue boosting someone in order to create that benefit. To justify Penny not returning to the state she was in when everyone was piled on top of her, Jaune should be glued to her side and amplifying her aura constantly — a far, far shorter solution than what the episode actually gave us.

There’s no consistency here. There’s no meaning. When Jaune warns that he can’t “keep this up forever” I have no emotional investment in that because this entire arc has been dodging consequences, most recently ignoring established facts to do so. That line is meant to make us worried — “What happens when Jaune can’t boost Penny anymore??” — but like “What happens when Penny wakes up??” or “What happens when she attacks??” we already know that there’s no actual danger here. There won’t be any consequences. The show has pulled back too many times before. For the entire second half of the volume the show has gone, “Omg Penny is in danger/is dangerous!” and then undermining those stakes in the most frustrating way possible. Something happened off screen. The butler can fix her. Nora held her hand for a second. She’s knocked unconscious again and no steps are taken to prevent the next escape attempt. Jaune’s semblance bends the rules of this world to implement a temporary fix that doesn’t really add up.

At this point, the claim of, “Penny is still in danger!” has lost all impact because the show has refused to commit to that danger for seven episodes in a row.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #Anonymous

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primroseprime2019 · 3 years

Text

Speed Metal

On a dirt road, a familiar shiny red Aston Martini DBS V12 sports car with white decals was driving down one of the many back roads towards a local hot spot for street racing. The driver had the radio playing. "As metropolitan PD continues to crack down on illegal street racing, citing the danger to both drivers and pedestrians-" the new reporter was cut off as the driver switched off the radio. He was uninterested in listening to more reports of local cops attempting to put a stop to illegal street racing.

Oddly enough, the radio was switched off automatically, not by a person's hand. This car was known other than the Decepticon Doctor, Knockout. He knew that Ember would probably kick his aft to kingdom come if she found out about Knockout's activities. However, Knockout didn't care as the thrill of illegal street racing was too hard to resist.

Up ahead, three other cars were waiting, with the drivers revving the engines. The ref walked out in front of cars as Knockout pulled up. They were all waiting for the right time to start and for everyone to arrive. All the cars were built for speed and had many modifications that were illegal. The Decepticon car intrigued the large muscular, tattooed driver of the muscle car Knockout had pulled up next to.

"Not from around here." The driver commented, referring to the car model. "European design?" He asked curiously, only to get no response from Knockout. The driver didn't like being ignored like that. "Sure is pretty. Too pretty..." The driver said with a grin as he tightened his right hand into a fist. 'This race is for fully grown men, not prissy little boys with pretty cars.' He thought. Using his ring, he scratched the paintwork on the driver's side door.

Knockout used his side view mirror to inspect the damage. Then he turned to the driver, who just shrugged, satisfied with his work, and rolled up his heavily tinted window.

"Big mistake!" Knockout gritted as he changed gears.

The ref held the flashlight above his head and switched it on, signaling for the race begin. All four cars took off, eager to beat their opponents to the finish line. For Knockout, he was eager not only to be the first to cross the finish line, but also to obtain his revenge against the driver who scratched his paintjob. The race was mean and grueling. The driver had the lead. He looked in his rearview mirror and smirked at the other drivers behind him before going even faster. Flames were escaping from the engine through the exhaust pipe as the RPM meter read dangerously close to seven thousand.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of squealing tires. He looked in his rearview mirror once again and saw that Knockout was quickly gaining the upper hand in this race. He rammed himself into the car. It was time to make this human pay for damaging his paintjob.

"HEY!" The driver cried out in protest.

With one single ram as they turned the corner, the driver went over the edge, destroying the guardrail. The car didn't even tumble down the cliff face or see-saw on a particular ledge. It just headed straight to the bottom, upside down, and the sound of the car crashing as music to Knockout's ears.

"Dude..." The driver moaned.

"You scratch my paint, I scratch yours." Knockout sneered dangerously before driving away, intent on reaching the finish line.

◊◊◊◊

Paige walked down the stairs of the school and she looked around before she saw a boy staring at her. She stared back before she walked over to Jack and Arcee who was in her vehicle mode.

"You okay?" He asked. "I just wanna go to the base," she said quietly as she sat down behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Alright, alright," he said softly, reassuringly. He knew she'd be having some bad days where either she'd be quiet and try to hide in the back of the class or she would just start crying and clutching at her head. And this was one of the days.

"Turn on your music okay?" He said gently as he placed her earpods in her ears. She nodded and closed her eyes as she started to listen to the soundtrack from Collateral Beauty.

"Hey! Cherry moped!" Jack glanced at Vince who stood by his car.

"Um, this 'moped' has dual carbs and can go from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds," Jack boasted rather proudly before he drove off.

They soon pulled up to a red light. "Uh, Jack, a lady's vital stats are her own business," Arcee reprimanded him quietly. Jack almost rolled his eyes at that.

"Hey! Nick, right?"

He heard another female voice call out to him. He turned to face the corner and saw Sierra standing there with her best friend.

"Actually, it's Jack," he said. "Jack. Sorry. I'm Sierra," she said with a sheepish smile.

"I know," Jack said with a light blush that was concealed by his helmet.

"You once offered to take me for a ride?" Sierra reminded him. "Of course I did," Jack said instantly, "at anytime."

"I'm your guardian, kiddo," Arcee said quietly, "not your wingman." "So? How about now?" Sierra asked him hopefully.

"Uh...," Jack went to answer, but he stopped short when he saw Vince pull up next to him.

"Hey, hey! Small world!" Vince remarked.

"We're having a conversation," Paige spat.

"Cheer captain here might enjoy watching you take on four wheels of muscle car," Vince smirked as he gestured to Sierra and her friend who were standing there gossiping to one another quietly.

"Are you challenging me to a race?" Jack asked in surprise.

"You catch on quick, ponch. What do you say?" Vince asked impatiently.

Jack saw Sierra encouraging him to accept the challenge. He looked at Paige who was frowning at him. Honestly, she was caught in the middle and she thought it was a terrible idea. Optimus had set rules and for good reasons. Reasons like this one.

As soon as the light turned green, Arcee took off at lightning speed, causing Jack and Paige to yell in surprise at the sudden takeoff.

"You didn't let me answer!" Jack exclained. "Nope," Arcee said.

"But Arcee, we can smoke him!" Jack objected.

"Yep," she said, earning a frustrated sigh from her charge. "You just don't get it," he said.

"I don't make the rules, Jack. Optimus does," Arcee said, "and rule number one, in case you guys missed it: never abuse power for personal gain. And that includes horse power."

"Oh come on! I could finally get him to leave Paige alone!" Jack exclaimed. "As much as I would love to kick his tailpipe for messing with Paige, my answer is no," Arcee said firmly as Vince drove up beside them.

"Vince, maybe racing isn't such a good idea," Jack declined, causing Vince to laugh tormentally.

"Figured. You ride around like you're bike's something special. But it's just a chunky, lunky trike! And ugly!" Vince tormented before racing away as soon as the lights turned green.

"That's it! The yahoo's going down!" Arcee proclaimed before racing after Vince at high speeds.

"Whoa! What happened to rule number one?" Jack asked.

"Gets bent. Just this once," Arcee decided, much to Jack's excitement and much to Paige's dismay.

◊◊◊◊

"Yo, girls! Your pals, Darby and Kendrick, they're-."

"Ready when you are, Vinny!"

To Vince's surprise, when he turned his attention away from Sierra and her friend, he saw Jack, Paige and Arcee next to him all revved up and ready to go.

"Dirt road by trucker's ranch. One hour," was Vince's answer.

◊◊◊◊

When the hour had passed, Jack and Vince were on the dirt road at trucker's ranch ready to go. Sierra, Paige and Sierra's friend stood by the edge of the road eager to witness the showdown between muscle car and motorcycle.

"From here to the next mile mark. Ready. GO!" Vince yelled before taking off.

"Well, that was fair," Jack remarked sarcastically as Arcee took off after Vince.

As Vince and Jack rode past, Sierra and her friend had to place their hands on their skirts to stop themselves from flashing what they had underneath.

"That's why I wear pants," Paige said to Sierra and her friend.

"Uh...Arcee," Jack trailed off.

"Winning isn't enough, Jack. You wanna make him CRY," Arcee cut him short. Vince was surprised when he noticed that the motorcycle was no longer visible through his rearview mirror. He heard the sound of an engine next to him. He turned around and was surprised to see Jack and Arcee riding along next to him! Jack waved casually as Arcee pulled a wheelie and swerved past him at impossible speeds.

"Wha?" Vince gasped.

Arcee did a little honk in victory as they drove past the mile marker before Vince. Jack let out a whoop in celebration.

"OUTSTANDING!" Jack cried. "You know, now might be a good time to give Sierra just a quick ride around the block?" He asked hopefully.

"Don't push it," was Arcee's answer and he grumbled.

◊◊◊◊

"Ah, Breakdown, Comet. Has there been any change in Megatron's condition?" Ember asked as she walked into the medbay.

"Only cosmetic," Breakdown answered honestly as he folded the buffer back into his arm.

"Well, I am sure that you and the good doctor have been doing everything in your power. Where is Knockout?" She asked, looking around. As if on cue, the Decepticon medic walked into the medbay.

"Can you believe what some skinjob did to me?" Knockout huffed as he inspected the scratch on his arm.

"Have you been out street racing with humans again?" Ember frowned. "I'm not only an automobile, I'm an automobile enthusiast," Knockout said nonchalantly.

Ember frowned deeply, "we run a tight ship around here Knockout. I strongly suggest that you request permission from me next time you decide to disappear on your little jaunts."

"No worries, Red," Knockout said dismissively. Ember gave a low, warning growl.

"Mistress Ember," Knockout corrected. "The day our master emerges from stasis, I shall gladly relinquish that title," Ember huffed, "but I believe that outcome is unlikely something to do with the quality of medical care around here. So continue buffing as we do want Megatron looking his best for the memorial." With that, she turned and walked out of the medbay.

Knockout groaned, "buff this." Comet gave him a look, "Knockout."

"You hush," the Decepticon medic huffed.

◊◊◊◊

Arcee drove into the base. Jack and Paige dismounted Arcee, allowing the Autobot to transform into her bipedal form.

"Not a word to anyone," she said firmly. "Our little secret," Jack said with a wink. Arcee smiled and she walked away.

"Dude! Vroom vroom vroom! And the winner is...," Miko smirked at the two of them.

"Jack!" Paige finished as she and Miko performed their handshake.

"Miko, who told you?" Jack asked nervously.

"You kidding? It's all over school!" Miko told them.

"You beat the pants off that blowhard bully Vince!" Raf cheered, "And I'm sure he'll leave Paige alone now because of how protective her big brother best friend forever is!"

Raf and Miko let out yells of surprise as Jack and Paige suddenly pulled them into a group huddle.

"You guys have to keep this on the DL. Especially from Optimus," Jack hissed.

"Why?" Miko asked.

"Because that race totally broke rule number one: never abuse power for personal gain," Paige said, "and I'd rather not let the Prime know that I'm the target of bullying."

"What are you four doing?"

Jack, Paige, Miko and Raf jumped and yelled in surprise as they turned around and saw Optimus standing there with a curious expression on his face.

"Uh...nothing," Jack answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Just talking about...stuff at school," Paige shrugged.

"Top secret stuff!" Miko piped in.

"Stuff you don't wanna know," Raf added.

Optimus let out a hum and raised his optic ridge. He knew something was up. Thinking that the four of them would tell him eventually, he left them to their devices. As soon as he was out of earshot, they all let out sighs of relief and slumped against one another.

"That was close," Jack sighed in relief.

"I can't believe we lied to him," Paige moaned.

"I can't believe how robotic we sounded," Miko retorted.

"How did we manage to keep the secret so long?" Raf asked, causing the other three to laugh.

Raf was right. If they had trouble telling a lie to the leader of the Autobots, how did they manage to keep the secret of their existence for as long as they had so far?

◊◊◊◊

At school, Jack walked down the stairs, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Hey. I've been looking for you," Sierra said as she came out of the school with a duffle bag, "The race! How great was that?! I was like, 'Yeah! Go Jack!'"

"It was no big deal," Jack shrugged.

"You got that right!" Vince agreed as he shoved his way past Jack, "If you think you can run with the big boys, The Circuit. 11 PM."

Paige walked towards Jack and she stopped when she saw Vince and Sierra. Jack was staring at Vince before he frowned, "...fine. If I win, you leave Paige alone."

Paige widened her eyes and Sierra smiled. Vince huffed, "deal."

◊◊◊◊

"You agreed to WHAT?!" Arcee demanded as she drove down the road with Jack and Paige.

"It was some kind of secret racing club. I don't know. I had no choice. Sierra was right there!" Jack defended himself.

"You always have a choice Jack," Arcee said sternly, "and what part of 'just this once' did you not understand?"

"I know, I'm sorry," Jack sighed, "but we're on right?"

"We are not on," Arcee said firmly as she drove into the base.

◊◊◊◊

Knockout was driving down the road when Breakdown called. "Knockout, Ember's looking for you. Where did you go?" He asked through the commlink.

"Oh, just out for a little drive," Knockout said, "I just roll from town to town sniffing around until...the next opportunity presents itself. He saw a car race past him and he changed gears to catch up with it.

◊◊◊◊

Back at the base, it was pretty quiet. Everyone was off doing their own little thing...except Raf who remained behind to play video games. He was actually doing well...until Jack distracted him and caused him to crash.

"Raf? Uh...is there any way I can borrow Bumblebee for an hour?" Jack requested nervously, causing Bumblebee to widen his optics in surprise. "Don't involve me in this!"

"Jack," Paige said in a warning tone. "Jack, you know racing's against the rules," Raf said, "what if Optimus found out?" "He'd be mad!" Bee exclaimed, his doorwings twitching with nervousness.

"But Raf, he's gotta get the girl!" Miko exclaimed, "and beat the bully!"

"Jack, I appreciate you protecting me but I don't need you getting into trouble because of me," Paige said.

"This isn't because of you, Paigey," Jack said sternly, "I'm doing this to protect you. And to prove a point."

"Well...," Raf trailed off, still unsure about letting Bumblebee race.

"Come on, Raf. Just this once?" Jack pleaded him sincerely. Raf looked both worried and unsure.

◊◊◊◊

The moon cast a luminous shadow over the circuit. Racers and their girlfriends lingered around the starting line of the track. They were conversing. Talking about how they were going to win the race against some of the best. So they were amazed when they saw a black-and-yellow muscle Camero roll up onto the scene.

But no one was more surprised then Vince as he waited patiently at the starting line for the race to start. He couldn't even HIDE how surprised he was when Jack rolled down the window so they could see eye-to-eye.

"Bike's in the shop," Jack shrugged.

Vince didn't say anything in response. He just turned to the track laid out before him. Suddenly, something beautiful blocked their view. Jack leant back into Bumblebee's seat in surprise at the sight. It was Sierra. She just stood there smiling and waving at him innocently.

"Circuit drivers, are you ready? Make it mean but keep it clean! Fire 'em up in 5...4...3...2...1!"

However, behind them, nobody noticed another car pull up. What was more important was the fact that Jack and Bumblebee didn't notice the new racer. And that is because the new racer is Knockout.

When the countdown had finished, Sierra threw her hands to the ground and crouched low. Then she turned and watched the drivers begin to race around the circuit. They didn't notice Knockout riding along a little too close to them.

"The Autobot they call Bumblebee," Knockout remarked. Knockout decided to make himself known. And to do that, he rammed himself into Vince's car and immediately took the lead from him.

"What's Knockout doing here?" Bumblebee buzzed when he spotted Knockout.

"What was that, Bee?" Jack asked worriedly before glancing in the rearview mirror as Bumblebee continued his concerned bleeps, "Wait. I know that car."

Jack yelled out in surprise as Bumblebee suddenly veered right and began driving along the wall. Knockout immediately copied his actions...with a gun popping out from near his cap for the fuel tank! Immediately, the Decepticon began firing shots at the young Autobot. Bumblebee did his best to avoid Knockout's shots. Vince breathed out his surprise as he saw Jack and Bumblebee drive up the wall and jump off the track. Knockout immediately followed suite.

"Can you lose him, Bee?" Jack asked nevously, earning bleeps in response, "What'd you say? ...I hope that means 'yes.' Cause I'd rather not call base for back-up."

◊◊◊◊

"Anyone seen Jack?" Arcee asked casually, causing Miko and Raf to freeze nervously.

"Not since we last saw him," Miko answered nervously.

"...they're racing, aren't they?" Arcee asked knowingly.

"Just this once," Raf piped in nervously.

"Did you know about this?" Arcee asked Nightwalker, WhiteRain, Bulkhead.

"No...maybe...a little," Nightwalker answered nervously. Bumblebee suddenly called in. "Bumblebee to base. We're being chased by Knockout. Require backup."

"You're being chased by Knockout?!" Raf repeated in disbelief. "Take evasive action?" Bumblebee asked.

"That sounds like a Decepticon," Miko remarked as she stood up with her first clenched.

"Bee, do not engage. Your first priority is to keep Jack safe," Arcee said firmly, "until I get my hands on him." "Arcee, let me come," Paige said.

"Paige, no. I'm not putting you in danger," Arcee said firmly. "Jack is my best friend and my brother," Paige said sternly, "and I want to kick Knockout's tailpipe for shoving me into that museum's glass last week."

"Anyone else scared of her right now?" WhiteRain asked, earning nods from Bulkhead and Nightwalker.

Arcee frowned at Paige before she sighed, "alright." She transformed into her vehicle form and Paige climbed on. Bulkhead, WhiteRain and Nightwalker transformed into their vehicle forms and drove after Arcee.

◊◊◊◊

Bumblebee and Jack continued driving along the road. They had a hard time shaking Knockout off their trail who continued to fire at them. So Bumblebee leaked some oil on the road behind him. The laws of friction didn't agree with rotating tires coming into contact with slick oil. So as the story goes, Knockout lost control of the car.

"Slick," Jack remarked.

Bumblebee drove himself back onto the track in the circuit and backed himself under a bridge. Knockout eventually regained his footing and began driving back towards the circuit. He came to a stop at the beginning of the bridge Bumblebee was hiding under. Sensing Knockout's presence, he shut off his lights and engine. Jack froze, trying not to make a sound or move. His internal sensors read no signs of any Autobot or Decepticon in the area. So he put pedal to the medal and drove right out of there.

"I think we lost him, Bee," Jack whispered. Then Jack was faced with another problem. And that problem was Vince. Vince came to a stop in front of the odd duo. His face was beginning to turn red in pure anger.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Jack groaned.

"Darby," Vince growled as he pounded his fist into his open hand.

Knockout just happened to hear that, having not fully left the facility at this present time. Burnt rubber made its mark on the road as the car suddenly activated its breaks and made a complete stop in the middle of the road. He used his sideview mirrors to look for a sign. ANY sign of his foe. So when he saw the colours of bumper lights, he immediately changed gears and reversed back to the bridge, another advantage of driving on an empty road taken by him.

"Vince! You have to get out of here, OK? You win! Congradulations! Now go!" Jack pleaded.

"No. No. Start and back-up, loser. We're finishing this race! Don't wanna take it to the finishing line? Fine! Then we've got something to settle right here! Right now!" Vince proclaimed.

Vince's rant was suddenly cut off by his own screaming. Jack was surprised and concerned as a giant black hand reached down and scooped up Vince into his palm. And that hand just happened to belong to Knockout. Vince yelled out in surprise as he was thrown into the air while Knock Out transformed into his vehicular mode. Vince landed in Knockout's passenger seat with a grunt. He protested as the sunroof slammed shut above his head and the seatbelt wrapped themselves around his frame tightly, preventing any means of escape for Vince.

"What's going on?" he demanded, afraid of what could happen.

An Energon zapper appeared before Vince's eyes. Energon sparks flew from the prong for his head. As he felt the sparks take their effect on him, Vince moaned and slumped forward into the seat as he passed out. Satisfied with the current state of his captive, Knockout switched on the ignition and drove away, putting pedal to the metal once again. Jack ran up the side hill onto the road in the hopes of stopping Knockout for getting away with the bully. But he was too late. Knockout was gone, disappearing in a cloud of sand and dust as he disappeared into the dark horizon.

◊◊◊◊

"Breakdown, you'll never guess what I'm packing," Knock Out gushed excitedly as he continued down the highway with Vince unconscious and bound in his passenger seat, "Bumblebee's human friend! And when the Autobot attempts to stage a rescue..."

"He has a...breakdown!"

◊◊◊◊

"Bee, he's getting away!" Jack cried as Bumblebee approached him, bleeping his idea to him, "I-I-I can't understand you! Look. I'm not Raf! Can't you just honk once for bad news and honk twice for good news?"

Bumblebee seemed to like that idea. Finally, he found a method of communication Jack would understand. So he honked twice, telling Jack that he had good news indeed. Jack virtually melted in relief at understanding the mute Autobot. Well...he did until he saw Arcee, Nightwalker, WhiteRain and Bulkhead arrive. And Paige was with them and she wasn't happy.

When Paige hopped off of Arcee's vehicle form, she marched over to her best friend/brother and whacked him on the head, making him flinch and rub the back of his head.

"Jack, we need to chat," Arcee said, placing her servo on her hip. "Later, Arcee. Vince got snatched by that slick sports car 'Con!" Jack announced.

"What would Knockout want with that guy?" WhiteRain asked, surprised.

"He probably mistook him for Bumblebee's human friend. I'm not even Bumblebee's human friend," Jack said, "Look. It doesn't matter why they took him! Vince is in trouble!"

"Oh well. Tough break for Vince," Bulkhead shrugged carelessly, making Arcee, WhiteRain, Bumblebee and Nightwalker look at him.

"Bulkhead!" Paige and Jack exclaimed. Bulkhead looked at them, "what? Hear the guy's a jerk. Even more so to Paige."

"Okay, no argument there but the guy's also innocent," Paige huffed, "he doesn't deserve to get hurt- especially by the Cons."

Arcee furrowed her optic ridges before she transformed into her vehicle form, "hop on."

◊◊◊◊

"They should have called by now," Raf said worriedly, "do you think Bumblebee's okay?"

"Don't worry Raf. Bulkhead and WhiteRain won't let anything happen to Jack or Bee," Miko said reassuringly. Then the two heard heavy pedesteps and turned to Optimus walking into the main hangar.

"We should just tell Optimus the truth," Raf whispered. "Absolutely not!" Miko whispered back, "we made a deal! Just act completely normal."

"Raf, Miko, do either of you know where the others have gone?" Optimus asked as he walked up to them.

"Why, no sir," Miko said nonchalantly, "we do not know."

"Miko is correct," Raf said with a nervous smile, "we do not know." "Why would we know?" Miko asked as she and Raf nervously smiled at the Autobot leader.

Optimus only raised an optic ridge at the two.

◊◊◊◊

The chase for Knock Out and Vince continued, despite the fact that it was – by now – the early hours of the morning. But they wouldn't give up. Especially since their secret was at risk. When they heard the sound of a car coming at an intersection, they stopped to allow the car to go through. The red and white car whizzed by. Jack, Paige and Arcee realized that it was Knockout. So they immediately took off after him.

"Bumblebee brought company," Knockout observed.

"On your guard, boys and girls. Could be a trap," Arcee warned.

"And remember. No shooting," Jack reminded the two boys.

"Speaking of safety, Jack, this is where you get off," Arcee said. Paige looked to Jack and flicked her tail.

She and Arcee took off. As they drove around the place, Bumblebee, Nightwalker, WhiteRain and Bulkhead saw a giant hole in the wire fence. Suspecting trouble, they immediately transformed into their bipedal modes and unfolded their blasters. Paige was climbing up the water tower, ready to attack from above in case trouble came.

Knockout turned his front lights on, temporarily blinding Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Then from the wall next to them, Breakdown and Echo broke their way into the fight. Breakdown's hammer hit the road between Bulkhead, Nightwalker, WhiteRain and Bumblebee, causing the two to flip away. Bumblebee stood ready to fight. But Breakdown easily knocked him out of the way. Eventually, he did the same to Bulkhead. Nightwalker and WhiteRain charged at Breakdown and Echo, taking out their weapons.

Vince was still in Knockout's passenger seat unconscious. However, Knockout's didn't care at the moment. His mind was occupied with another quest.

"Where's the two-wheeler and the little half breed?" he asked himself. Arcee and Paige dropped down onto the Decepticon medic's hood.

Arcee started punching at Knockout's hood. "Hey! Watch the paint! It's custom!" He snapped.

"Seriously?" Arcee grinned. Paige, as she was in her lioness form, dug her claws into the hood of Knockout's car.

The tires squealed as Knockout rolled out, with Arcee and Paige riding along on top of him. The fight between Breakdown, Bulkhead and Bumblebee continued, unaware of the situation with Arcee, Paige, Knockout and Vince.

Outside, Jack's attention was captured by the sound of squealing tires. He turned and saw Knockout attempting an escape with Arcee and Paige standing on top of him, trying to maintain balance. Eventually, Arcee and Paige lost their balance and fell off. But Arcee transformed into her vehicular mode and caught Paige before the two chased Knockout into the night.

"That's my girls!" Jack cheered to himself quietly.

◊◊◊◊

"Uh, Breakdown, in case you're looking for me, things got messy. So I hit the road. One scream is enough for today," Knockout said through the commlink.

No sooner then Knockout had said that, Breakdown turned around and found himself smacked in the face with a lamppost, sending him flying through the same wall he broke through before. And that hit was courtesy of Bulkhead.

◊◊◊◊

The chase between Autobot, Galatrian and Decepticon continued. Arcee and Paige were hot on Knockout's tail. So Knockout added more pressure to the accelerator and gained more miles ahead of them, causing Arcee and Paige to groan in frustration at yet another lost chance.

"Eat my dust," Knockout smirked at them. There was a loud truck horn and Optimus drove up beside Knockout. With a gentle nudge from the Prime, Knockout lost control of himself and drove into a ditch.

"Optimus, Knockout has a hostage," Arcee said. Optimus transformed into his bipedal form and he walked over to Knockout.

Optimus picked Knockout up and held him in the air by his rear bumper. Knockout screamed in pain as Optimus riped the driver's side door off of the main frame. Carefully, Optimus reached inside the interior of the car and freed the still-unconscious Vince from his current predicament. With Vince safe in his servo, he simply threw Knockout to the side as he transformed.

"Do you know how hard that is to replace?" Knockout had screeched after observing the damage to his arm. That was when he realized he was outnumbered.

Bulkhead, WhiteRain and Nightwalker aimed their blasters at the Decepticon medic.

'Scrap! If I'm not in trouble with these bots, then I'm in trouble with Ember!' Knockout thought before he transformed into his vehicle form and sped away.

Optimus turned to the others. Bumblebee drove up beside Arcee, Jack inside his vehicle form.

"Optimus... this is my fault," Jack sighed. "We must get this boy to safety. Explanations can come later...from all of you," Optimus said sternly.

Nightwalker lowered his head and WhiteRain's shoulders slumped guiltily.

"We're in trouble," Bumblebee said quietly.

◊◊◊◊

Vince came to hours after he was taken from the circuit by Knockout. Only, he didn't find himself in Knockout's car. He found himself in Bumblebee's passenger seat with Jack driving.

"How did? What happened?" Vince groaned as he sat up.

"Some guys jumped you under the bridge. They tossed you into their trunk. Must have been some kind of initiation," Jack shrugged convincingly.

"Really?" Vince asked, startled. "Yeah. Found you knocked out on the side of the road," Jack said before he stopped next to Vince's car, "Look. I gotta be honest. After what I saw tonight, I think racing isn't really my thing."

"I hear you, Darby. Hard to win a race driving a pedal car!" Vince sneered, causing Bumblebee to put pedal to the metal and drove away.

◊◊◊◊

Knockout walked down the hallway as Echo and Comet walked over to him. "What happened to you?" Echo asked, noticing the damage on his arm.

"Knockout, to the control bridge. Now," Ember announced through the commlink. Knockout lowered his helm and the three walked to the command center.

When the doors opened, Comet walked over to Breakdown and Echo walked over to Soundwave.

Ember turned to Knockout, her optics showing bridled fury. "You were supposed to be tending to Lord Megatron," she said sternly, "instead... you decided to go and defy my orders and pull a careless stunt like this."

Knockout flinched as he lowered his helm, not wanting to meet his leader's optics. Ember was no angle. As the alpha of the Decepticons, she would not hesitate in punishing soldiers. Even if those soldiers were her friends.

Ember looked to Starscream, "Starscream will be the one to give you a lesson you won't seem to forget." She turned back to the screens as Starscream walked towards Knockout.

Comet widened his optics and he stepped forward but Breakdown put his arm in front of the young mech and silently shook his helm.

"Not to worry," Starscream said to Knockout, showing a sharp claw, "your punishment shall be merely... cosmetic."

No! Not the finish! Anything but the finish!" Knockout pleaded before Breakdown, Echo and Comet cringed at the sound of screeching metal and the sounds of Knockout's screams.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

◊◊◊◊

The next day, Jack walked over to Arcee and climbed onto her vehicle form. "Hey, Jack. Do you have time for that ride?" Sierra asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Sierra. I can't right now," Jack apologized regretfully.

"No problem. I guess I'll just see you around," Sierra shrugged sadly before walking away.

"Hop on," Arcee invited as she pulled up next to him.

"Whoa. Really?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Just this once," Arcee emphasized.

◊◊◊◊

Jack smiled as he and Sierra drove down the road, enjoying the sights before them.

#fanfiction #self insert #transformers prime #my ocs #the girl among the gods

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nikkoliferous · 4 years

Text

"Loki brought it all on himself"

Ok, we need to talk about this frequent claim that Loki deserves all the bad things that have ever happened to him.

Firstly, let's just get this out of the way. The amount of gaslight in the assertion that Loki “broke his family's trust” is unbelievable. As in, I literally cannot believe there are people who genuinely think this. They turn canon completely on its head. Loki's family betrayed his trust—by kidnapping him as an infant, lying to him for his entire life, raising him to despise the Jötnar while knowing that he was actually one of them, and chronically mistreating him—long before he took on any villainous behaviour. Loki’s story is very much one of what can happen when you push even a good person too damn far.

The worst thing Loki can be accused of having done prior to the complete mental collapse he suffers upon learning his life has been a lie, is letting a handful of Frost Giants into Asgard to crash Thor's coronation. He does this partly—in his own words, and he has no reason to lie about this to Laufey of all people—to protect the kingdom from Thor's foolishness and immaturity. And he is not alone in his belief that Thor is not ready to be ruler of Asgard. Odin himself, in a scene that did not make it into the film, expresses doubt about this, and Frigga, interestingly enough, reassures him by reminding him that Loki will be by Thor's side to counsel him and, for lack of better phrasing, keep him from doing too much damage.

So I think we can dismiss that action as a "betrayal" of his family's trust—and even if one does want to consider this a betrayal, it certainly isn't one on a scale that merits spending thousands of years enduring psychological torture (which is what solitary confinement is).

Another assertion frequently made is that Loki manipulates Thor into going to Jötunheim to confront Laufey. Loki most definitely manipulates Thor—but at no point does he suggest doing that. Thor comes up with that harebrained scheme all on his own. The most Loki does is attempt to manipulate the rift between Thor and Odin by playing into Thor's sense of righteous anger and his resentment at being shut down. Not only does Loki not suggest at any point that they should confront Laufey, but he actively takes steps to prevent them from reaching Jötunheim. He tries to talk Thor out of going; he orders a guard to inform Odin of their plans, expecting they'll be intercepted in time; he takes the initiative to speak for them to Heimdall, very likely because he knows Heimdall dislikes/distrusts him. And after all of that fails, he attempts to talk Thor down from starting a war once they're standing in Laufey's court. Interestingly enough, I never see anyone claim that Thor betrays his family's trust by reigniting a war with the Frost Giants, endangering the lives of his family, his friends, and his would-be subjects. It's almost like all the accusations of betrayal that people level at Loki aren't based on any sort of objectivity or moral high ground at all and are merely rationalizations by people working backwards from the conclusion that Loki is “evil”, simply because the narrative has framed him as a villain.

We also need to reckon with the fact that Loki did not "steal" the throne. Thor was stripped of his power and banished to Earth (which was not Loki's doing) when Odin fell into the Odinsleep (also not Loki’s doing). After Thor, Loki is next in line for the throne. That's literally just how the royal line of succession works. With both Odin and Thor incapacitated in one way or another, the responsibility of ruling falls legitimately to Loki. Frigga herself names him regent-king. Loki neither banishes Thor from Asgard nor forces Odin to go napnap, nor indeed does he even attempt to manipulate Frigga to pass the role of regent onto him—if anything, he’s shocked when she does so; therefore, it is completely unreasonable to accuse him of having "usurped" anything.

It’s equally unreasonable to claim that Loki “arranged for” Thor’s banishment, yet I see people say the same time and time again. Let us just recall that 1) Loki attempts to intervene when the fight between Thor and Odin begins to escalate

and 2) This is Loki’s face upon Odin’s inexplicably extreme punishment.

Look, I know Loki is known as being a liar, but if you think his shock here isn’t genuine, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

Now, I could stop right here because the claim is that Loki betrayed his family’s trust first and thus brought everything on himself. And as I’ve clearly demonstrated, any villainous actions Loki takes, be they in the first Thor film or thereafter, come after learning the truth (aka having his trust broken by his family). But because I know how much people love to move the goalpost when it comes to Loki, let’s just go on to address why none of his actions are truly villainous in the classic sense of the word.

Every wrongful action Loki takes in this film, outside of the aforementioned interference with Thor’s coronation (which we’ve already established may have been ill-conceived but certainly was not a “betrayal”) is a reaction to various betrayals against him or a result of paranoia fueled by a complete emotional collapse.

“Trying to kill” Heimdall is not a betrayal because Loki is defending himself from Heimdall who is attempting to commit regicide. (Also, if Loki had wanted Heimdall dead, he would be. The fact that he’s not, is a demonstration of Loki’s benevolence, not his ruthlessness).

Lying to Thor about Odin being dead is cruel, but it’s not borne of a desire to hurt Thor. Both the lie and, later, sending the Destroyer are borne of desperation, because as Tom himself has stated, Loki believed Thor would kill him if he made it back to Asgard and learned the truth. This is a moment that, if there were any justice in the MCU, ought to have haunted Thor for the rest of his life:

That’s one Jötun who definitely fears him.

This goes far beyond the claim that he betrayed his family, but I’ll address it anyway: tricking the Frost Giants by inviting them into the palace under false pretenses is not a betrayal because there is no established relationship of trust between Loki and the Jötnar. You can’t betray a trust that doesn’t exist.

And attempted genocide is definitely not a betrayal of his family’s trust because genocide is literally what this family does. Genocide is their entire legacy. Despite claims to the contrary, this was an established fact well before Ragnarok. (”So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?” “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god, just like you.” “[What of the lives you took on Earth?] A mere handful compared to the number Odin has taken himself”). If anything, trying to destroy Jötunheim was an attempt to live up to the family name. It was misguided and wrong, but it was in no way out of line with what Loki and Thor were raised to do. Asgard is a warrior culture; killing their enemies is not perceived as immoral, but honourable. In fact, one of the reasons Loki’s actions were likely seen as dishonourable is because he used the power of the Bifröst rather than engaging the Jötnar in direct warfare. (Though it is possible, given the state of Svartalfheim, that this was also done in the past to wipe out the Dark Elves). But what was it that Odin said when he was yelling at Thor in the Observatory prior to banishing him?

Odin: “Do you realise what you’ve done? What you’ve started?”

Thor: “I was protecting my home!”

Odin: “You cannot even protect your friends! How can you hope to protect a kingdom?”

At no point does Odin state that killing the Jötnar is wrong. But he does criticize Thor for putting his friends in danger by going to confront Laufey. (This is still not the catalyst for Thor’s banishment. That comes later, when Thor calls Odin “an old man and a fool”). Loki, however, conveniently knows a way to destroy the Jötnar without risking any Asgardian lives. And since a condemnation of killing their enemies is not a part of Odin’s diatribe, he has no reason to believe that Odin disapproved of that part of Thor’s misbehaviour. So now he can say, “Look, Father. I did what Thor couldn’t!”

Thor: “Why have you done this?”

Loki: “To prove to Father that I am a worthy son. When he awakens, I will have saved his life. I will have destroyed that race of monsters and I will be true heir to the throne.”

Only, as we all know, it's in vain.

There’s only one moment in the entirety of the first Thor film that I would class as a genuine betrayal of his family’s trust, and that is that he puts both Frigga and Odin in harm’s way when he invites Laufey into Asgard under the false pretense of allowing him to slay Odin in his sleep. This was very short-sighted of him; what if he’d been too late and his scheme had gotten Frigga killed before he’d arrived to intervene? Betraying his family was not his intent here, but in his highly emotional state of mind, he did endanger them needlessly— much like Thor needlessly endangered his friends and his brother by going to Jötunheim and starting this whole mess to begin with. (However, I never see fans criticise Thor for this. And they should. My point here is not that Loki should not be criticised for endangering his family, but that there needs to be consistency. If you’re going to call out Loki for endangering his loved ones, you need to call out Thor as well. If you’re going to call out Loki for mass slaughter, you need to call out Thor as well).

In short, I think my favourite thing about the vast majority of Loki antis is their blatant disdain and lack of empathy for the mentally ill and the abused. And by ‘favourite thing’, I of course mean that it disgusts me.

(Tagging @magicmastered and @just-another-human-2019 because you both expressed interest in the post 😘)

#thor (2011)#loki meta #loki #thor #lady sif #the warriors 3 #heimdall #odin's a+ parenting #frigga's b+ parenting #mcu #loki derangement syndrome

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alexhogh7137 · 4 years

Text

The Battle Between Love and Fire-

Ivar the Boneless × Reader

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Scare

Word Count 3k

Warnings: slight angst, heavy fluff

The day after your father's attempt to end your life, you finally gave your best friend a proper burial. You and her mother wept the entirety of that day which you knew was bound to happen. You lost Thyra and you can never bring her back, but her mother informed you continuously that it was not your fault. But deep down, you will always feel a sense of guilt because the man that took her life was none other than your own father. Nonetheless, she is in a better place and is having the best time with the gods above, which brings you as well as her mother, some comfort to this tragedy. After Thyra was buried, her mother went back to Wessex, but not without having this conversation with you:

Helga "Thank you, Y/n. The burial was beautiful."

"Mmm, I am glad that I could do that for her. She did not deserve this." You began to cry again.

Helga "No she didn't, but in the end, she died for what she felt was the right thing to do."

"I would much rather have her here than her gone, Helga. She did not have to sacrifice herself-"

Helga "Your father didn't give her that chance. He killed her because she never left your side. She loved you, she still loves you."

You sniffle, "I loved her all the same. She was my sister, even if we weren't blood, she was always my sister." She nods and wipes a tear off of your cheek.

Helga "And you were hers, my sweet girl."

"Well on the plus side of life as we know it, the king is dead and Wessex will be safe again."

Helga "Oh, that is wonderful isn't it?" You nod, "But who will rule the kingdom?" You still have not thought of the concept because of all of the chaos, so you do not know what to say to her.

"I-For right now, I would like for you to gather a list of good men and women that you think will suit for being in charge, and send me the list. Once I have the letter, I will return to Wessex and give the final decision."

Helga "In charge?"

"Exactly. You see, they will not be a king nor a queen but the kingdom needs a sense of guidance and leadership in order to stay a kingdom." She nods, "But I will return every chance I get to check on everyone, especially you Helga." She smiles, "And as for a king or queen, my daughter will be queen of Wessex when she is of age."

Helga "Oh Y/n, that is so wonderful!"

You smile, "Yes. But my ruling is beside my husband. Wherever he is, I am. Ivar is the king of Kattegat, therefore I am the queen of Kattegat."

Helga "I understand."

"So, when the time comes, my daughter will rule with honor and dignity."

Helga "And so she shall."

"Now, you get home safely, yes?"

Helga "Yes. Thank you again sweetheart."

"You are so welcome." You hug and say your goodbyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five Days Later…

Ivar has sent a letter to the prince of Kiev to ask for his approval of traveling to visit. It is only a waiting game as of now.

Hvitserk "He is just going to love you, Y/n."

"Oh yeah?"

Hvitserk "Yes. He is a sucker for beauty such as yours." He caresses your cheek, making you blush.

Ivar "Yes but this time, I will be going there with my own queen." He smiles.

"A very pregnant queen, at that." You say as you rub your growing belly and sigh because you feel huge. You still have a few months to go before your little goddess joins the world but you think to yourself, 'how am I going to get any bigger than this?!'

Ivar "You are glowing, my sweet. You are more than perfect."

"Thank you, my love." He leans down and kisses your lips, "I'm just so excited to meet her."

Hvitserk "She will bring so much joy to our lives."

Ivar "Oh that is certain. As soon as she is born, she will be a new and bright, shining light in all of our lives." You smile at the thought. You and baby girl have gone through so much together and she hasn't even been born yet. She will be told stories about how strong she is and she will learn of her legacy and past ancestors. She will know all and then she will make her own story, create a wonderful life for herself, as you did.

Hvitserk stands up from sitting down on a tree stump and walks over to join his brother in eating some chicken wings. You use your belly as a table as you snack on little bits of whatever you could find. You catch Ivar just staring at you and smirking.

"What?"

Ivar "Oh nothing." Hvitserk chuckles.

"What is it? You were staring."

Ivar "What?! I cannot stare at my beautiful wife?" He shouts, making you giggle.

"But I am just eating, how can I be-"

Hvitserk "It does not matter, you are always beautiful, Y/n." You don't know what to say. They make you feel so special and so loved that you are lost for words most of the time.

"Thank you, Hvitserk." He winks at you and continues to eat. After a few minutes, Ubbe and Torvi come join you three outside, enjoying the weather. Today is the first warm day of the year which brings your heart joy and warmth.

Torvi "Uh, it is so lovely today." She says as she sits down next to you.

"It is."

Ubbe "Maybe it will melt the little snow that we have left."

"I'm sure that my dragons are enjoying this weather.." you say as you look over at them, playing with each other.

Ivar "Mm, do you remember when they experienced their first snowfall, my love?"

"Oh of course I do. They were so small." You smile at the memory, "Their eyes sparkled!"

Ivar smiles, "It was the cutest thing!"

Hvitserk "Where was I?"

"On a trade shipment with Ubbe." He nods as if he remembered.

Hvitserk "Now we have new memories with them-"

Ubbe "And many more to come, aye?!"

You smile, "They are such a blessing, aren't they?"

Torvi "A true gift from the gods, just like your daughter." She places her hand on your belly.

"Mmm." That's all you can say, really. You are just so grateful to be carrying this miracle child in your core that you can only say the bare minimum.

Ubbe "So, has Prince Oleg sent a letter yet?"

Ivar "Not yet. He will though, I am sure of it."

Hvitserk "Will you be coming with us, brother?" Ubbe looks over at Torvi and she looks saddened. She hates it when Ubbe is gone for long periods of time, and if he were to go, he would not be home for two weeks. So Ubbe thinks for a moment before answering his brother.

Ubbe "I do not think so."

Ivar "And why is that?"

Ubbe "Because I would like to stay home with my wife and children." Torvi smiles.

Ivar nods, "I see, well, will you look after Kattegat while we are away, huh?"

Ubbe "Of course." You three spend some time together before you all had to attend to your responsibilities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Few Hours Later…

"Do you hear that?" Ivar looks over at where the sound is coming from and nods.

Ivar "You go inside and rest-"

You and Ivar have been helping around the village: checking in your people, feeding them and making sure of their wellbeing, while Hvitserk and Ubbe tended to the hunting. You were just about to go inside to rest your body when you heard commotion going on by your dragon's resting rock.

"No, I can rest later." You don't let him respond before you walk off and towards your dragon's. Once you see what the noise was, you were infuriated.

"Hey! They are not toys, get off of them!" To your shock, there are children attempting to get on top of your dragon's, making them very irritated.

Ivar "Aye, you four, c'mere!" Once Ivar joined your side, the kids left your dragon's alone. When the four boys got in front of you two, they could not look either of you in the eye.

"Why would you do that to them? They are not a playground."

"I am sorry, my queen." They said.

"You could have gotten seriously hurt, boys. I care for your safety, as well as my dragon's safety. So please, do not attempt to get on them anymore. Do you promise?"

"We promise." The eldest one said for the four of them.

"Right...you boys run along now." They scatter as soon as you give the order. But soon enough, their parents come to you, begging for their forgiveness.

Ivar "The only person or person's allowed on those dragon's are your queen and I."

"I understand completely, my king." The mother said, "I turned away from them for a second and-"

"They are fast kids." The father said.

"I understand, truly I do. Anything can happen in a matter of minutes or even in the matter of seconds. Your children could have gotten seriously hurt."

Ivar "It is a good thing that your queen heard them in time."

"And I am forever in your debt, my queen." The mother said.

"All I ask from you is to keep a better eye on your boys. I might not be able to come to their aid the next time something occurs."

Ivar "In fact, isn't that your job, hmm? As their parents, you two should watch over them and keep them safe, no?"

"Yes!" They both said.

Ivar "Then keep them safe by keeping them close. If those dragon's weren't kind and gentle, your children could have been eaten in seconds. Do you understand?" They nod.

"Good. Now, I suggest you inform them of what we told you."

"Of course, my queen." The father said.

"Very well, if you'll excuse me." You walk past them and towards your dragon's who are very agitated. You place your hand up for them to sniff you. Once they do, their senses calm instantly.

…

"I know, I'm here." Neith lays her head down by your feet so that you can pet her scales.

"I won't let anyone use you as their playground. Any of you." You say as you look over at your boys. They blink at you so that you know that they understand you.

"Tomorrow, we can go flying, how does that sound?" All three of them bolt their heads upwards in a playful manner.

"I will take that as a yes." You laugh. You feel a pair of arms wrap around your waist.

Ivar "Are they okay now?"

"They are. They were just confused is all."

Ivar "Mm, I could only imagine how that made them feel."

"I told them that I would fly with them tomorrow. We haven't done that in such a long time..just me and them."

Ivar nods and kisses your forehead, "Just be safe while you fly, hmm?"

"I will." He smiles and takes you inside for the both of you to rest.

As night fell, all you could think about is taking a warm bath and then placing your head on a cold pillow and falling asleep. Your feet were swollen and your legs felt like they were going to break in half so you figured that a warm bath would suffice. Therefore, you asked for a maiden to run one for you, to which she obliged.

Ivar pulls you into his side while you wait for the water to fill up. When you are in his arms, you forget all about being sore.

Ivar "A bath will help, my sweet."

"Mm, I know."

Ivar "Oh look," he looks at the entrance, "the idiot's are back."

"Hey.." he laughs.

Ivar "Sorry, I know." Hvitserk smiles as soon as he locks eyes with the mother of his daughter. He makes his way over to you and he sees how swollen you are and he frowns.

Hvitserk "Are you alright?"

"Oh I am fine. Just been on my feet for too long. The maiden's are running me a bath."

Hvitserk "Oh good." He kisses your head.

Ivar "Any big catch today, my brothers?"

Ubbe "Three deer, a few rabbits.."

Ivar "That is good. Now that it is getting warmer, more food to catch aye?"

Ubbe nods, "That is true."

"My queen, your bath is ready."

"Wonderful, thank you dear." She bows and tends to other matters. "I will be out soon."

Ivar "Do you need help getting in, my love?"

"I think that I can manage." You offer a warm smile before wobbling your way to the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you undress to get into the tub, you realize how hard it is to balance by yourself. Your feet are the size of pumpkins *to you, they feel like they are* and your legs feel like they are about to go numb from the aching. You try and hurry to get yourself into the tub before you physically can't do it yourself. But in rushing, you fall short of breath and have to take a breather by the vanity. You look at yourself in the mirror and realize that this feeling is not a burden, it is a pleasure to be able carry a human within you. This calms down your breathing but you hear a knock on the door, making you hurry up to cover yourself.

"Uhm, who is it?"

Hvitserk "It is me."

"Oh, come in." When he enters, he offers a small smile.

Hvitserk "I had to come to see if you made it in safely..."

You sigh, "I am kind of glad that you did."

Hvitserk "How can I help?"

"I can't get the back of my dress." He walks over and undoes your dress and helps you into the tub without hesitation. "Thank you." Your eyes begin to close as the warmth of the water sinks into your skin and through your bones. Hvitserk kneels down and sits by the tub.

Hvitserk "Of course, kitten. I'll always be there to help you."

"And I will do the same for you, Hvitserk." He giggles, "What?"

Hvitserk "Nothing, sweetheart. You are just so sweet is all."

"I try to be. All of the time...it's draining.." you sigh as he begins to play with your hair.

Hvitserk "I know this to be true. I try to be as kind as you but sometimes it gets me nowhere.."

"I suppose I am the way I am because of my parents."

Hvitserk "That is why. Our parents shape us, but our pain and suffering strengthens us."

"You are right."

Hvitserk smiles, "Are you feeling a little better now?"

"You always make me feel better Hvitserk."

Hvitserk chuckles, "No I meant, is the bath helping you."

"Oh, yes it is. Thank gods.."

Hvitserk nods, "Good. That makes me happy, love. But, I will be outside if you need me, I am starving." He kisses your head.

"Okay." You say as you laugh. As he leaves, you can't stop smiling.

When you get out of the tub, your muscles are so relaxed that you had to force yourself to get out of the warm bath to get to your bed. You can't take the chance of falling asleep submerged in water, gods know what could have happened if you did. So without hesitation, you got out of your bath and slipped on a soft robe and made your way to the door. As you open it, Ivar is waiting for you on the bed.

Ivar "My sweet, how was your bath?"

"It was divine!"

Ivar "Mm, that is good." He smiles and then he frowns.

"Ivar, what is it?"

Ivar "Nothing Y/n, I've come to the realization that Hvitserk has not had the pleasure of your company in quite some time."

"Oh, yes I know. Just with the battle and everything, I needed to be by my husband's side at all times." He smiles and kisses your lips.

Ivar "I love you so much, do you know that?"

"I do, I know it well. I love you too, beloved." He kisses you again but more passionately, making you both moan.

Ivar "You go ahead. You can sleep with him tonight if you'd like."

"Are you certain?"

Ivar "Absolutely. I always seem to forget that that little princess in there is not truthfully mine, she is my brother's-"

"She is still your daughter, Ivar. Just in a different way."

Ivar smiles from ear to ear, "I know she is, but I have to be kind...you taught me to be kind and loving. So, yes..go be with him tonight. If you need me, you know where to find me."

"Sweet dreams, my love." You kiss him once again.

Ivar "You as well, princess." You are so happy that Ivar said those words because you were hoping to be with Hvitserk tonight. You haven't been in his arms since the night before the battle. With great haste, you made your way to Hvitserk's room. He was already in a sleep state when you opened the door and found him on his bed.

Hvitserk "Hey..is every-"

"I just wanted to be with you tonight, is that okay?" He rises from his position and opens his arms for you. You allow him to engulf you with his arms and immediately feel a sense of tranquility run through your body.

Hvitserk "I was hoping that you would be with me tonight. It's been so long."

"I know. Ivar suggested it because we have not been able too, so I was not going to refuse his offer." You laugh.

Hvitserk "I am glad that you are here, kitten." He kisses your head but you pull his face down and towards your lips. He captures them with love and affection. It feels like the very first time he ever kissed you and that feeling is one of the best feelings that you have ever experienced.

Hvitserk "I love you."

"And I love you back." He smiles and kisses you again. After a while, you both fell asleep in each other's embrace. Today had its obstacles, but it ended in a wonderful way.

@hvitserkmarcosource @youbloodymadgenius @ivarsgoddess @a-mess-of-fandoms @herestherealproblem @saldelys @heavenly1927 @conaionaru

#the battle between love and fire #alex hogh andersen #hvitserk #vikings #ivar the boneless #ubbe lothbrok #marco ilsoe #ivar the god #ivar lothbrok #hvitserk lothbrok #torvi vikings

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wesavegotham · 4 years

Text

Talia, Damian and choosing between good and evil

Before Grant Morrison created Damian in 2006 Talia was seen as one of Bruce's greatest loves for a long time. She was the first love interest of Bruce that showed him from a more passionate side:

Bruce and Talia loved each other, but Talia could never really choose between her loyalty to her father and her love for Bruce, even though in most stories she would end up helping Bruce against Ra's.

While she was morally gray, Talia was originally a kind character, who fought against child rapists, murderes and other villains, patched Bruce up when he was hurt or down and even threw herself between Bruce and bullets that were about to hit him. In the 1987 graphic novel "Son of the demon" the two even married and Talia got pregnant. Bruce went pretty much overboard trying to keep Talia and their unborn child safe and almost got himself killed in the process. Which is why Talia lied to him about suffering from a miscarriage and asked him to leave her. Later she gave birth to their unnamed son and gave him to an orphanage:

The graphic novel was later taken out of continuity because DC didn't like the implication of Bruce having sex and not knowing that he had a child when he's supposed to be the world's greatest detective.

The reason I'm mentioning this story is because it would later serve as the base for Damian's creation in 2006. While the idea of Bruce and Talia having a child came up in Elseworld stories before (Ibn in "Kingdom Come" and Tallant Wayne in "Batman: League of the Batmen") the introduction of Damian marked the first time their son became canon in the main DC universe.

When Grant Morrison started his run on Batman he decided to bring "Son of the demon" back into continuity, but didn't bother to read the graphic novel he only vaguely remembered. His vague memory ended up basically destroying Talia's original character, something she hasn't recovered from since 2006.

In his memory they didn't have a consensual relationship and Talia raped Bruce to have a child. Morrison reduced her to the "Asian Babymama" trope and turned her into a mustache twirling villain, a worse version of Ra's basically, who turned evil because Bruce rejected her. Suddenly she was willing to sacrifice both Bruce and Damian to reach her goal of ruling the world. I have a lot of issues with this premise, most importantly its racist and sexist undertones, but this post wouldn't end if I started ranting and there are fans who are more knowledgeable about Talia and better at explaining why this sucks so much.

Grant Morrison later admitted that he remembered the story wrong and tried to explain that Talia went evil because of the continuity changes Superboy Prime punching the universe caused (Don't ask, comics are weird) and that when Bruce accused Talia of drugging him Bruce was actually lying about getting drugged, because he didn't want to admit to himself that he had loved her and slept with her out of his own volition.

If you don't believe me, here is the link to the interview: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/hotb/2016/11/15/064-the-zorro-of-arkham--an-interview-with-grant-morrison

Think what you will about that explanation. Fact is, the last time Bruce commented on Damian's conception he said this:

So to all the people who love to yell that Talia is a rapist and Damian a rape-baby, kindly shut up. Morrison's mistake got retconned years ago.

Anyway, Damian inherited Talia's struggle to choose between Ra's and Bruce, only that they turned Talia into a second Ra's and gave all her previous conflicts to her son, which is probably one of the reasons DC is unwilling to return her to her former character.

Some writers like Patrick Gleason have tried to give her some redemption, like when he wrote that Talia had been posessed during Morrison's run and cleansed during her resurrection, but the rest of DC pretty much ignored his attempt.

I'm not a fan of DC's extremely black and white, good and evil narrative they have created for Damian and the execution is pretty lackluster.

First of all, it's pretty racist that the Al-Ghuls lost a lot of their complexity over the years to serve as Damian's dark and evil side of the family, while the batfamily (which is pretty white) is presented as the light and good side. It gives me major "white saviour" vibes and has lots of unfortunate implications, especially because DC likes to pretend that Damian is white and only touches his arab/chinese roots when they write him in a more negative light. DC does the same thing with Talia, where they draw her as white when she's more sympathetic and give her brown skin when she's evil.

Second of all, DC loves to label Bruce as a man of high morality, but I think he's actually a pretty bad hero and parent. Some part of me is convinced Talia isn't allowed to be a better mother because it would make Bruce look bad in comparison.

I talked enough about why I don't think of modern Batman as a good person and a hero in my previous post, so I'm going to focus on Talia and Ra's Al-Ghul.

Making Talia evil robs her of her character and history, erases one of Bruce's most important romantic relationships and after a while it just lacks story potential. If the Al-Ghuls have no redeeming qualities then writing Damian struggling so much between the two sides becomes baffling after a going through this character arc several times.

You can argue that Damian got gaslighted for years and that he was still an impressionable child, but if the Al-Ghuls are really as evil, brutal and selfish as DC writes them nowadays it makes it really hard to sympathize with anyone who thinks about joining them (which happens a lot with the batfamily).

Another fact that DC loves to forget is that originally Ra's used to be an eco-terrorist. He planned to wipe out some part of the human population to save plants and animals from extinction, which is extremely relevant today. Ra's is a villain, we don't have to argue about that, but he used to have more depth that made him interesting as a character and made it more plausible why someone might join him. He also loved his daughter, which explained why Talia struggled to leave him in her old stories.

The way they are written now it makes little sense why Bruce should have so much respect for Ra's, something that made their relationship special, there is no reason why Bruce ever loved Talia and decided to sleep with her and there's no reason why Damian should ever return to the League.

Establishing a more loving relationship, both between Bruce and Talia, even if it's in the past, and a better relationship between Damian and Talia has a lot more story potential for Damian's seemingly never ending storyline where he can't decide if he wants to follow Bruce's methods (whatever that means for modern Batman) or the way of his mother. Because as it stands his character developement is stuck in a loop where he just looks like a boy who is unable to learn and can't see how one of the possible options has nothing going for it.

#Talia al Ghul #Damian Wayne #bruce wayne

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