#book of death implied | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yushox · 2 years

Text

He looks at the scarred face of the man who he once loved, the man who was so afraid of showing his face. The man who clearly no longer cares about his looks, too occupied with being on the run to make a new mask.

"Dream.. what are you doing in Kinoko?" his voice sounds weak, the heartbreak barely hidden under a thin veil of a slight tremor.

The man stares at him while pocketing the TNT "I should leave...", he says knowing that he can't.

George sighs, pale and nearly crying "Yeah, you should."

"George~!" a hand appears on the ravenettes shoulder and slowly the rest of the body becomes visible, the god quickly notices the unwelcome guest "Ah, hello Dream, we finally meet."

Dreams eyes have widened from the surprise "Who-who are you? Why do you look like me?"

"Ofcourse, questions questions questions, I'm XD, the god of this server and the creator of two very special books, one of which is in the possession of someone who has not used it as intended." The God says sweetly, relishing in the sight of the other man paling considerably.

Dream stares at the hand XD has on Georges shoulder "George.."

Said man sighs and tears up "Dream. I would have been your king, I would still follow you, still care about you... still love you. If only you would do the same. But you made it more than clear I.. WE meant nothing to you," gently, he puts his hand on XD's intertwining his fingers with the Gods "now my heart belongs to someone else Dream. I wish I could give you another chance. I wish I still felt anything for you. But, everything you have done recently, said recently. I... I simply don't feel anything for you anymore."

"So you... you went and fell in love with someone who looks like me because..?" Dream asks, feeling I'll to his stomach.

"At first it was to pretend, because I still loved you. But then I got the word that you killed Tommy in prison. I lost all care for you that day because XD came to show me everything you did to Tommys corpse and how you enjoyed every single second of what you did," George says shaking "then, out of revenge I decided to give my hand to XD," he says, not looking at the God for a second "he not only took it, he took me, completely. He gave me the same love and care I didn't know I craved from you Dream. So I let him mate me."

The green-clad man feels a wetness on his cheeks that he hasn't felt in ages, he tries to speak but only silence comes out of his mouth.

"Goodbye Dream, and, never, Ever, come near Kinoko again. It is protected by my mate. And XD.. I do not care what you do to him, he means nothing to me anymore."

XD squeezes his mortals shoulder gently, finally getting the proof that he can drop his disguise. George turns to him, staring at his real form with understanding in his eyes "I perceive you my God." the shorter smiles and hugs XD, understanding the Gods true form even though he's a mortal.

Dream steps back, stumbling as he turns and runs. The image of his Gogy loving someone else ingrained on his mind for the rest of his already miserable life.

George looks up at his mate with trust and love, giving his soul away.

XD understands and takes his mates soul, wraping tendrils around his mortal, shredding him to pieces, and raising a celestial from the remains, now the mortal is no more.

Georgenotfound: was killed by DreamXD, 0 lives remaining

GeorgeHD has joined the server

19 notes · View notes

star-reyes · 1 year

Text

Queer baiting in comics is BACK, BABY

2K notes · View notes

brekitten · 24 days

Text

Be Careful What You Wish For

Tucker could make fun of him for not reading comics all he wanted, but Danny really did enjoy reading them. He just didn't have much time to after the Accident, with all of the ghost attacks.

He had the time now, he supposed. There were no ghost attacks anymore, not with Vlad "taking care of them".

He was almost scared to find out what the Fruit Loop meant by that.

Danny sighed, staring up at the bare white ceiling of his bedroom. He missed the stars he'd had stuck to the ceiling of his room back home. Because Vlad's mansion wasn't home, was it? It wasn't ever going to be, no matter what.

Again, he began to think of the heroes he'd always admired, the ones that he had always fantasized about when he was younger, as if they would fly out of the comic books and take him and Jazz away, take them to parents that would actually pay attention to them. Now, Danny would take his parents not paying attention to him over them being dead.

Danny sighed, his eyes slipping closed. He wasn't tired, but he wanted to pretend that he was somewhere warm and safe, anywhere but here.

"Man, I wish superheroes were real... I could really use one right now."

Then came a gentle whisper in his ear, one that promised the safety and warmth he was desperate for. "Your wish is my command, little Prince."

Danny jolted upright, but it was too late. One moment, he was sitting in a bed that wasn't his own, could never be, no matter how hard he tried to pretend it was, and the next, he was sitting in a field, cornstalks swaying gently in the warm breeze.

Where... was he?

190 notes · View notes

savebatsartedition · 2 months

Text

Happy Birthday Hiccup Horrendous Hadock the Third!

I've never really had a chance to celebrate this little guy's birthday, so I went ALL out! (Are you kidding me? 10 year anniversary year of How to Train Your Dragon 2, year of the dragon, AND a leap year?? There was no way I was missing it.)

So, as a little gift I made two things for him! :D

How to Throw a Birthday Party - A short oneshot set after the ending of the final book in the series. (Under the cut or in the link right there. 2,088 words.)

PISTA TOMA - Httyd books meme - I've been wanting to make one of these memes for a while, and I have had no luck in figuring out characters to make it with, so if the above fluff fic didn't suite you, enjoy a little bit of vague angst. ...in animation meme form. (Youtube video below, but if you want to see the scratch version, possibly to remix, the link to that will be in the description.)

youtube

Notes: If there are any canon inconsistencies, it’s because I haven’t read one of these books in a little under a year lol.

I did try to write it like it was really a How To Train Your Dragon book though. :3 It’s really fun to try to do haha.

Hiccup yawned and stretched in his bed, feeling the Woodensfang and Toothless' warm wings flicker against his side as the little green dragon grumbled something half asleep about the mean master waking him up. Light gently glowed from the doorway into the main room in the hut, and for a moment Hiccup felt quite like going right back to sleep.

He rolled back into his pillow, planting his face right down in the soft fabric and feathers and hissing out another yawn in a failed effort to suppress it. At his side Toothless also hissed, and as Hiccup did his best to get back to sleep (in his tiredness, he was entirely unaware of how much his movements were disturbing Toothless), the little dragon’s bright green eyes snapped open to stare angrily at the back of Hiccup's head.

“ Mean Hiccup! ” Toothless all but yelled, causing Hiccup to jump up in alarm as if he had been shot, “ T-t-Toothless was JUST getting to bed! ”

Hiccup nearly fell backwards out of the bed as Toothless headbutted him in the shoulder, his little gossamer wings flickering in the dark morning air as wisps of smoke rose from his toothless mouth.

Holding his shoulder, Hiccup regained his balance and began to apologize to Toothless. It seemed that even after achieving relative peace after the Dragon Rebelion, there wasn't much he could do about Toothless' attitude.

Hiccup chuckled and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, fumbling for his helmet (just a regular old Hooligan helmet, that pretentious bloodstained crown would never again touch his fiery hair if he could do anything to help it) before placing the familiar weight on his head.

As Hiccup adjusted the helmet in the reflections on a shield that had apparently been put in his room with him, Toothless flapped up onto his shoulder, seeming to have forgotten all about being tired as the distant scent of breakfast reached his little warty nose.

“ W-w-ill Toothless get some of that fish downstairs? ” Toothless asked, starting directly into Hiccup's eyes even as Hiccup focused on his reflection, “ T-toothless KNOWS there's food downstairs ,” he placed a claw over his heart, “ Toothless can s-s- SMELL it, ”

Hiccup laughed and finished readjusting his helmet. (It was surprisingly difficult to get it to intentionally miss covering his dragon mark.) “ Yes Toothless, ” he said in dragonese, which was the language dragons and hopefully humans spoke to each other in, “ I'm sure you can have the fish, ”

Toothless whooped in joy and jumped into the air, turning a little summersault before landing on Hiccup's helmet. (Which very quickly titled out of the position the boy king had so carefully put it in.) Hiccup sighed and reached up to pet the small dragon. Things had gone back to normal so easily, it was almost as if they had never even changed in the first place.

“ T-toothless is the best lost thing, after all, ” Toothless all but crowed, turning circles on Hiccup's helmet as he headed out of the bedroom and into the main room of the makeshift hut the vikings had set up. (Though he was sure to grab his sword along the way, just in case. Vikings worked fast, as the hut proved, and even if they were in a state of peace, he had no proof they would stay that way for very long, no matter how much he wanted them too.)

“ Yes Toothless, ” Hiccup replied back absentmindedly, skirting around the sleeping forms of his mother and father and past the empty rolls where he knew some other Viking royalty had been put to sleep, “ Yes you were, ”

He hadn't thought about it when he was in his room, but he was pretty sure that Fishlegs and Camicazi had been missing from their own blankets when he had woken up.

Quietly he slid open the front door, careful to shush Toothless until it was closed again in case he started yelling again. (He had seen his mother twist in her sleep when Toothless had last crowed.)

“ Do you think Toothless will get to have c-cod?! ” Toothless asked excitedly, “ T-toothless is in the mood for cod! ”

“ Does it smell like cod? ” Hiccup asked him, reaching up to pick up the little dragon (and also to fix his helmet, again), " If it smells like cod you can probably have cod, ”

"Or tuna," Toothless said thoughtfully, "Toothless ALSO in the mood for tuna..."

It was a shockingly warm day out for the season, but Hiccup still shivered as a chilly ocean breeze flew past him. Toothless didn't seem to mind it so much, but he didn't argue as Hiccup placed him back on the soft fur of the vest over his shoulder.

Hiccup followed the scent as Toothless struggled to place it, though he was also somewhat unsure of what it could be, he was hungry. Maybe it wasn't smart to be walking around camp as a newly crowned King of the Wilderwest all by his lonesome, especially when he was still fairly bruised, but he didn't care. He was hungry, and he was still tired, and maybe he wasn't thinking quite straight.

He turned a corner between the tents, and suddenly the source of the smell was within his reach.

A campfire, with a large pot presumably containing many kinds of fish hung over it, sat at the center of a small clearing in the tents and huts, but that wasn't even why his heart suddenly glowed.

“Fishlegs!” he called, waving to his friend as Toothless crowed and leapt off his shoulder, aiming straight for a pile of delicious fat fish that had not yet been added to the stew, “Camicazi!”

His two friends waved back at him, grinning wide grins, but they weren't the only ones around the campfire.

“We were going to invite your parents,” Camicazi told him, elbowing him in the side good-naturedly, her mood dragon Stormfly winding around her legs like a very long, very purple cat as she wished Hiccup a good morning, “But they were dead asleep and we didn't want to wake them,”

”Hey Hiccup!“ Fishlegs grinned at him, though he looked somewhat ill (which Hiccup guessed probably stemmed from the fact that a very sleepy looking Barbra the Barbarian was sitting and chatting with some of Camicazi's Bog Burglar friends.) ”Good morning for fish, right?“

Hiccup shrugged and smiled. (Though he certainly agreed with Fishlegs, he didn't want to insult the shivering shape of his friend's vegetarian hunting dragon Horrorcow, who had once again found her place as a large lump under Fishlegs’ vest.) ”Good morning to see you guys!“

”Hiccup!“ called a voice that Hiccup recognized as Thuggory the Meathead, ”Are you gonna ask Toothless to wait until everything is done cooking or are we starting right away?!“

Hiccup turned to see the tall Viking Heir struggling with Toothless, who was eating a humongous tuna that Thuggory seemed to have been right about to dump into the stew.

”Oh Toothless!“ Hiccup called, racing over to his snickering friend and taking him (complete with the fish larger than he was) into his arms, ” Don't you want to wait until all the cooking has been done? “ He said, continuing in Dragonese.

Toothless giggled and continued chowing down. Clearly he preferred the taste of nice raw fish. (Hiccup couldn't say he agreed, but he was glad that Toothless seemed to be subdued for a second or two.)

Hiccup placed the tuna and dragon on the floor together, trying to ignore the loud sounds of chewing that floated up from them as he reached out a hand to shake Thuggory's hand. To his surprise, the Meathead heir laughed and drew him into a hug instead.

Hiccup nearly choked as he was lifted into the air, his feet dangling for a couple of seconds as Thuggory greeted him, before he was set back down.

”It's great to see you again Hiccup,“ Thuggory explained, ”Especially after all that cool stuff you did back there,“

”Good to see you again too,“ Hiccup laughed, though he didn't really like the constant references to the battles of the Dragon Rebelion, ”Just doing what a friend of dragons has to do,“

”Hiccup!“ called Camicazi, catching up with him. (Though Fishlegs lagged a few steps behind, not so secretly making eyes at Barbra, who was now hissing at her cat Fearless and showing the Bog Burglars how sharp the claws of the little animal were.) ”Hey!“

Hiccup turned to her, though he was momentarily distracted by the sight of several Hooligan boys sitting together on a large rock. He had missed them more than he had expected in the time he'd been gone, it seemed, because even the sight of Dogsbreath (who was laughing with Clueless about something for a change) put a smile on his face.

“Yeah?” he asked, shooting Speedyfist a smile, “What is it?”

“Aren't you going to ask why we're all here now?!” he asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. Even though she was a head or so shorter than him, Hiccup thought she could look extremely intimidating if she chose to.

“Um,” Hiccup thought for a second, but, still groggy from sleep, he had nothing. “Breakfast?” He asked, giving her a pained smile as she slapped a hand to her face and sighed. (*”Boys,“*)

”It's for your birthday!“ Fishlegs said, finally stumbling over to the group.

“My what?” Hiccup asked, completely blindsided by that answer. Hadn't his birthday been quite a while back now?

”You only get one once every four years,“ Camicazi pointed out, speaking slowly and patiently as if she really believed he was as stupid as she pretended she thought he was, ”and we felt bad that you missed it, so we wanted to throw a celebration!“

“My- ah!” Hiccup yelped as Toothless' sharp claws dug into his leg, he seemed to have had his fill of the fat tuna, “What- Thank you-“

Thuggory slapped him on the back, laughing again. ”It's what dragon markers do, eh?“

Fishlegs nodded, and even Horrorcow stuck her head out from under his vest for a second to speak. ” I do wish we had considered vegetarians before planning the meal, “ she said politely, ” do you happen to have any carrots? “

Hiccup frowned and stuck his hands into his pocket, he always carried a slice of carrot precisely for this purpose. ” In fact I do Horrorcow! “ He grinned, holding it out to the sad looking hunting dragon, ” enjoy! “

She thanked him and immediately began chomping into the orange vegetable. Hiccup smiled, to his tired mind, the interaction hadn't seemed odd at all, but as Camicazi spluttered into laughter and Fishlegs blinked at him in confusion, Hiccup began to realize that it might have sounded a bit odd to those that didn't understand dragonese.

“I should start teaching you guys dragonese,” he mused, scratching Toothless between his horns as he turned to look at the mess of fish guys he had left on the sandy rocks below them. (And on Hiccup's boots it seemed.)

“You're just not gonna address that?!” Camicazi half shrieked, half laughed, nearly doubled over at the force of her laughter, “You just had a carrot in your pocket? Why?!”

Hiccup brushed a strand or two of hair out of his eye and, in a fake offended voice, told her that he cared about his friends enough to do so if the friend in question called for it.

This caused her to howl with laughter again, and this time Hiccup couldn't help but join in. This all felt strangely comfortable, for some reason. From the small circle of closer friends that were giggling with (and at) him, to the gaggles of Hooligan boys and Bog Burglar girls on opposite sides of the fire, to the random smattering of hunting and riding dragons that had decided to stay with their humans, this felt nice.

“Thank you all,” Hiccup murmured, still scratching a now purring Toothless and Thuggory began to call that the stew was done, “It really means a lot that you would do this for me,”

�� And for m-me! ” Toothless said, yelping happily and jumping into the air as the covering once again came off the large pot, which he seemed to have just realized was the perfect heat for a dragon such as himself, “ T-toothless loves fish baths! ”

And it was all Hiccup could do to warn Thuggory that he was about to half to fish a very happy little dragon out of their food.

#httyd books #httyd #writing #animation #hiccup horrendous haddock the 3rd #toothless #Thuggory the meathead #snotface snotlout #fishlegs no name #camicazi #horrorcow #implied death #eyestrain #video #Youtube

39 notes · View notes

milo-igidk · 1 month

Text

pov keefe in unraveled

#i am genuinely like #did we need this #why a fox or swan shannon can you be normal for five minutes pls give my boy a cat or smth #also emotionally support pet that doesnt show up in the next book implies bittersweet goodbyes or pet death and im not ready for that cause #why cant he have a single good thing in his life that he doesnt loose 😭#kotlc #kotlc thoughts #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fandom #keefe sencen #kotlc unraveled

30 notes · View notes

regallibellbright · 4 months

Text

So, I've been thinking about Toby's knives.

Well, okay, I specifically think primarily about Toby's main knife, but there's something interesting to be said about all three of the knives she "regularly" wears (silver, iron, and the new one.) All three of them are gifts. All three of them are given to her by someone expecting Toby to be a hero.

"Ms. Daye?" "Yes, Dare?" It was like trying to leave kindergartners with a babysitter. If I was lucky, they'd run out of questions before the sun went down. Maybe. "Here." She pulled a knife out of her sleeve, offering it to me. I didn't recognize the style of the blade, but if it was street legal, I'm a Kelpie. "In case you don't scream fast enough." "Good idea," I said. She looked almost disappointed by my reaction - she was still young enough for the rules against saying thank you to seem pointless. I winked, sliding the knife into my belt with the edge facing outward to keep me from cutting myself. She brightened, reading the unspoken gratitude in my eyes. She was pretty smart when she let herself be.

(Rosemary and Rue, Chapter 21, pages 239-240)

The first and most important, of course, is Dare's knife. And yet, this is a pretty minor moment. There's no sign this particular knife is special to Dare - it's mentioned earlier she's got enough weapons on her at the moment to clank. Manuel will ask for it later, claiming it was a loan, but that's the most he can say - and May, who would know, corrects him that it was a gift.

By this point, Dare's already told Toby she wants to get away from Devin and take Manuel with her, and Dare asks because Toby's already her hero. She got out. Dare doesn't get to, in the end. And so the knife that Dare all but offhandedly gave her becomes a keepsake, and one of Toby's most valued possessions. As Toby says taking it in A Local Habitation, maybe Dare's knife would help her be someone else's hero. Eventually, it does. Dare's knife is Toby's promise to herself not to fail anyone again. It's the justification she uses when she needs to go back and confront Blind Michael. (Incidentally, May tells her they can get a new knife in response. For all that she remembers being Dare, she doesn't yet understand what the knife is to Toby.) It's so tied to Toby's identity that when she loses her way home, among all the allies she can't recognize or only knows as enemies -

[Quentin] walked toward me, pausing to bend and gingerly retrieve a silver knife from the floor. It looked sharp. It also looked well-used; there were flecks of blood dried on the hilt, and streaks of something much fresher on the blade. "I'll just, um, hold this for you, for now," he said. "I promise I'll give it back when you're ready." "You can't give it back when it's not mine," I snarled. At least I could talk.

(A Killing Frost, Chapter 19, page 266)

Toby thinks at this point that she's sworn to Sylvester and can return to him, not knowing she's banished. He's not part of her way home anymore. But the knife is. When Toby can't recognize the knife, it's because she's not herself anymore. (Incidentally, it says a lot about how thoroughly Sylvester fucked up, particularly in AKF, that Shadowed Hills isn't home anymore.) On top of that, because of its link to Dare, the knife is also Home - the shitty flophouse for changelings with nowhere else to go run by an exploitative crime lord, but also the place where Toby learned to fight and survive. Sylvester's tried to teach her, but she's not the kind of knight to use a sword.

Moving on:

Then Acacia's hand was on my shoulder, and a knife was landing in the dust beside me. "Kill him or let him go, Amandine's daughter, but don't torture him," she said. "Make your choice. You haven't got much time." I looked up. "Acacia -" She looked down at me, the short tendrils of her hair curling around her face. When I distracted Blind Michael, that must have broken his hold on her, allowing her to rip herself free. "No. You let others make your choices too often. Kill him or let him live, but do it now. No more games." "I don't know what to do." "You always know. You just don't listen to yourself." She shook her head, turning, and started to walk away. The Riders parted to let her pass, still silent, still staring at me. Choices. Oh, Oberon's blood, choices. I put the candle between my teeth, keeping my knife pressed tight against Blind Michael's throat. The flame licked at my cheek, filling the air with the hot smell of singed blood as I reached out and picked up Acacia's knife. I almost dropped it when the metal hit my hand. Iron - it was made of iron. It would have to be; did I really think I could kill one of the Firstborn with silver alone? That was never an option. Not really. ... "I'm sorry," I said. "I can't forgive you." I lifted my hand, bringing the two knives together, and slammed them together down into his throat. Iron slices through faerie flesh like it's nothing but dry leaves and air. That's what iron exists to do: it kills us. Silver can do almost as well, if you use it properly. Acacia's knife was iron, Dare's was silver, and I held them together as I thrust downward. ... It didn't really matter; he was dead, I had won, and I couldn't fight anymore. No more children would suffer because of him. In the end, I'd proved myself as a child of Oberon's line, no matter how much I tried to deny it; I was a hero...

(An Artificial Night, Chapter 31, pages 295-296)

A longer passage there because Acacia's knife is by far the one that gets the most dramatic focus when Toby receives it, for obvious reasons. But it's also more significant than the moment itself. Up to this point, the closest Toby comes to considering herself a hero in more than Dare's eyes is just before the Ride, where she thinks that all her kids are safe (except Katie, who she can't save,) and that she should run before the Ride begins, even if it kills her, because at least then she'd die a hero. There's even a moment early in the book where the Luidaeg calls her a child of Oberon (five pages after Toby reflects to herself that the children of Oberon are heroes,) and Toby thinks to herself that the Luidaeg's wrong, since she still thinks she's Daoine Sidhe.

But she claims it here, because she has no option not to. You can't kill one of the great monsters of Faerie and not accept that you are, ultimately, a hero. So long as she's herself, Toby won't deny that she's a hero again.

Toby carries Acacia's knife with her regularly for the period of time between the end of An Artificial Night and the events of Late Eclipses. This is all but exactly six months - she receives it on October 31, 2010, going back to confront Michael almost immediately after being freed from the Ride. She stops being able to carry it regularly once Amandine changes her blood, in early May 2011. (I’d have to reread Late Eclipses in full to get the exact point it ends, since she’s still carrying it even though she can feel it in the scabbard at the very end.) After that, she keeps it secured at home unless her blood’s changed far enough back towards mortal that it’s safe. But she always keeps the iron knife, and she always brings it with her when she IS more mortal than fae. In The Brightest Fell, she notes the hilt fits perfectly for her. She has to throw it off her when she changes back in Chimes at Midnight, but once the False Queen’s been ousted, Toby apparently makes sure to reclaim it from the treasury. It’s not a good idea to lose a gift from one of the Firstborn, after all. And you never know when you might need to kill another one, especially when one of them is your (terrible) mother. Which she considers, to some extent, at the start of The Brightest Fell, and openly threatens in its ending to get Tybalt and Jazz back.

In short, Toby thinks of the iron knife as being a part of her life for much longer than it actually was, consistently. Part of it’s definitely that it represents the balance of her blood the way she was used to for most of her life - after all, when she gets another blood choice vision in CAM, the choice is presented as iron and silver knives for human and fae. But it’s also the knife she used to kill one of the Firstborn. Dare’s knife is Toby’s promise to be a hero going forward. Acacia’s knife is Toby choosing the title, and all the danger that comes with it. She stabs them both into Michael at the same time. When she’s rebalancing her blood, in CAM, she does the same thing to herself.

"... You do make the first cut, though, and you use my knife to do it, since yours is probably covered with something unspeakable that would despoil my beautiful creation." "Or she can use mine," said a male voice, from behind me. I turned. There was Oberon, still in his mostly-unassuming buise, the antlers on his brow small enough not to attract more attention than he wanted. He was wearing red, which was a little odd, since he wasn't part of the official wedding party, but he was also Oberon, which meant absolutely no one, not even his daughters, was going to tell him "no". And he was holding a knife by the blade, offering it to me hilt-first. I blinked, first at the blade, then at him. "Sire?" I asked. This was one of those things that probably held some great meaning and import no one had ever bothered to explain to me, assuming it wouldn't be important enough to matter. ... "I would be honored," I said, and took the knife from Oberon's hand, turning to face the cake. ... Oberon was gone when I turned around, leaving me holding his knife. I tightened my grip on the handle. I wasn't putting this one down until I could return it to its owner.

(And With Reveling, the novella/epilogue to When Sorrows Come, pages 360-361)

Today would be the first day I carried two knives to Arden's Court. The first, the silver, was familiar. The second was relatively new, although it felt natural and easy in my hand, and was made of a material I still hadn't identified. In a very real way, it was the only gift I had received on my actual wedding day. ... The knife was different. I hadn't even realized it was a gift at first; I'd thought it was just something I could use to cut the cake. But when I'd tried to return it, the Luidaeg had interceded, explaining that once her father - you know, Oberon himself - handed someone a weapon, it was a grave insult to hand it back, and did I really want to insult my grandfather, the Lord of All Faerie, on my wedding day? Was I that eager to become something genuinely unpleasant and leave Tybalt functionally a widower? I was not. And so now I carried a gift from the father of us all on my left hip, sharp and deadly and ready to be used. But no pressure.

(Be The Serpent, Chapter Two, pages 9-10)

Oberon's knife is given with so little ceremony Toby doesn't realize it's truly a gift at first, at a time where - for once - Toby does not actually need a knife for standard stabbing purposes. Oberon's knife immediately has the kind of importance that Toby isn't entirely comfortable with it, in stark contrast to how quick she is to accept the iron knife and how thoroughly the silver knife has become an extension of her identity. She's gotten used to being a hero, and even a hero of the realm - she lets/asks Aethlin to re-recognize her hero status so she can help investigate, which may or may not mean she's now a hero of the entire Westlands as a realm, not just Maples. (Neither of them bothers to specify.) But when a god gives you a knife, it's understandable to be a little hesitant about it. It's given under the most gift-like circumstances of the three - Dare's was a preemptive gift for self-defense, and Acacia's came with a direct request: Kill Blind Michael, or not, but choose. Oberon's gift is more to have than to cut that cake, even if it's not laid out until later.

Dare's knife's metal isn't actually specified in Rosemary and Rue - it's specified when things are iron in that book, but Toby never actually bothers to mention what they use instead. It comes up for the first time in A Local Habitation, instead. What's important to know at the time is that it's a knife, and a pretty unexceptional one, because Dare thinks Toby might need it. Acacia's knife, of course, is immediately singled out as iron. Oberon's knife is just left as "a knife" in And With Reveling (most importantly, a CLEAN knife,) but when it first comes up in Be The Serpent its material is explicitly mentioned as unknown. We immediately know that will be important. Oberon's children are heroes. The man himself does not give weapons lightly.

The Luidaeg waited until the door was closed behind her before she spoke again. "I saw my father hand you a knife at the wedding," she said. "I know he didn't take it back. Do you have it with you?" "I do," I said, and touched the knife belted to my hip. "Show me." Pulling the knife from its sheath felt like a promise I didn't want to be making, as if by doing so, even when asked, I was committing to using it for its intended purpose. The Luidaeg held her hand out and I dropped the handle into her palm, letting her take the blade for me. She lifted it toward the light, squinting. "Hmm," she said. "I think it's antler, rather than bone, but it should still work." "Oh, go- Wait, what?" "Antler. You know what those are, don't you?" She offered the knife back. I took it. "They're the handles on the stag. Not that I'd suggest grabbing them if you don't have a damn good reason, since the best-case scenario when you do that is being stuck on the end of a pissed-off stag. Bone would be better, but I guess Daddy has a renewable source for antler. He drops them every spring, right around Moving Day, and we used to use them for all sorts of things. There's a piece in every hope chest." "You're telling me that I've been carrying around a piece of Oberon?" I demanded, staring at the knife in my hand. The Luidaeg nodded, apparently untroubled. "He isn't good at showing people he likes them, but he must like you, if he's giving you one of those. He tends to keep them close, given what they're used for." "What's that?" "Murder, mostly." She said it so lightly, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "Silver and iron for a Firstborn, silver and bone - or antler - for our parents. Not that we know that for sure, of course. It was just what the magic seemed to indicate, and what the oracles Saw, back when there were enough of us to ask." I kept staring at the knife. I couldn't seem to take my eyes away. "So you're telling me this knife could - could -" "Could kill Titania, if you used it correctly and caught her off-guard, yes, I am," said the Luidaeg.

(Be The Serpent, Chapter Twelve, pages 161-162)

Oberon's knife is a piece of himself, and it is the ability to kill one of the Three, if Toby dares, if Toby deems it necessary. Granted, that last part was also the case with Acacia's knife - she's Firstborn too, after all. (And of course, ANY knife has the capacity to kill a changeling like Toby starts the series, or Dare.) But coming from the King of All Faerie, it feels even more tremendous, particularly because it's given when the only one of the Three active is Oberon himself. He's actually surprised when Toby discusses killing Titania or threatens him in Be The Serpent. He isn't actually expecting her to start thinking about killing gods with her god-killing knife. Oberon doesn't think about things he knows A LOT. Toby probably gets it from him.

But he's already given her his absolute trust. You don't give someone the one kind of knife that can kill your wives and yourself if you think they would use it irresponsibly.

Toby's wedding is in many ways, in- and out of universe, a recognition of her heroism. Oberon's knife is, as well. And with it comes the burden she's locked herself into: She's the one who brought Oberon home. She's the restorer of the Roane. She's the one who will go to the Heart of Faerie. She has broken the bindings on Titania, set on her by Oberon himself, and destroyed the illusions of Titania; unraveling something of Maeve's seems as inevitable as finding her and bringing her home as well. The antler knife isn't just marking her a hero, it's marking her as something all but mythic.

Even a hero would be nervous about that responsibility.

But for all the weight it carries, it still feels natural to use, just like the iron knife. The antler knife and the role it brings with it are just as much a part of Toby as the silver and iron. And by the time she receives it, she's more than earned it already.

#violence #moreso than the sheer fact of Knife Meta implies there's a death scene under the cut #october daye #october daye series #meta #wall of text below the cut #spoilers through the most recent books; quotes through Be The Serpent #toby daye #Dare october daye #Acacia october daye #Oberon october daye #not gonna tag the other appearances here but I feel like the knife-givers deserve it

39 notes · View notes

yourleastfavoriteguyinthechairr · 1 year

Text

for whatever reason i just find it fvckin hilarious in the firefly episode where the guy working for niska is being so dramatic like ‘i will hunt you to the ends to the earth and the blade of my knife will be the last thing you will see’ and mal’s just like ‘darn’ and kicks him into the spinning engine like lol you dead

and when he does it with the other guy working with niska and he’s just like ‘YUH UH HUH ILL GET HIM THE MONEY oh god please don’t kill me-‘

#firefly #captain mal #malcolm reynolds #mr niska #tw: death #implied gore #murder #inara serra #shepherd book #kaylee frye #river tam #simon tam #jayne cobb #hoban washburne #wash #zoe washburne

129 notes · View notes

twolovelyberries · 2 years

Text

love of two is one! (here, but now they’re gone)

#WE CAN BE LIKE THEY ARE! COME ON BABY! (DONT FEAR THE REAPER!)#harrow the ninth is an insane book i cannot stop thinking about this #i’m not immune to constantly drawing giant hands and then thinking of reasons for them to be there…#the locked tomb #harrow the ninth #sorry if anyone looks wrong as usual i Did Not check for any alecto appearance details so the Body is just off the top of my head :)#harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #alecto the first #griddlehark #a little bit #the locked tomb fanart #my art #my art 2022 #tw implied death #illustration

599 notes · View notes

miraclemaya · 2 months

Text

wizards are evil.

#ive been thinking about a story im 'writing' and like original one of thr characters was very much going to be implied to have in the past #tortured people to death repeatedly #but i think that would make readers greatly dislike her to the point that that would make them stop the book #even though that's just what wizards are about #you don't become a wizard by respecting morality

19 notes · View notes

whumpshaped · 5 months

Text

tw implied murder, implied captivity, dehumanisation, death wish

“It’s always the unwanted ones,” Whumper said with palpable disdain, grabbing Whumpee by the hair and yanking their head back. “The ones that survive. Like cockroaches; ugly fucking things, yet here they are, happily skittering around like anybody wants them.”

Whumpee didn’t have the energy to argue anymore. All they wanted was to follow their friends, to leave this miserable existence behind and hopefully meet them again in a better one.

And yet here they were — skittering around.

#whump #whump drabble #death wish #implied murder #implied captivity #dehumanisation #its not rly a drabble #idk #whatever #it has capitalisation its basically a book

32 notes · View notes

rotzaprachim · 6 months

Text

*breathes in and out through mouth* everyone is scared and grieving and still waiting for news of their families everyone is scared and grieving everyone is scared and grieving*

#Jewish communal leader hurt me very and I mean VE TU deeply today #I mean very #I think in what was to her mind a not passive aggressive way she felt the need to explain the Israeli Side and Israeli history #But like the nail in the coffin was implying that I don’t feel as deeply for the people in Israel #I don’t understand the depth of suffering of the people in Israel #Because I was bothered on Saturday zoom Torah by how Netanyahu has used this for more war crimes #That the fact that I care about Gazans means I don’t feel enough grief or a normal Jewish grief as she sees it for Jews #To me this is jsut unconscionably cruel #Also that the majority of Jews don’t support a ceasefire or at least local Jews #Well if that’s true I want no part of it. Not now or ever again #I can’t believe she felt the need to like. Explain the news cycle to me #I didn’t get this off a tiktok ma’am #I read yo@v g@llant in fucking haaretz. I heard what he said #*no one in Israel is calling for mass death* clearly they are #Anyway she told it was whataboutism to care about the reprisals on a civillians population from what Hamas did #And to feel better being part of a community or doing soemthing active. Maybe read this book on feminism I’ve already read #I’m just so hurt by it all!#Telling another Jew they don’t feel or care enough for ‘am yisrael is the deepest cut there is

22 notes · View notes

chocomars · 2 years

Text

— And there was her heart, breaking all over again for love of him.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit — Siege.

#the book may be boring #but the fact teen ahsoka had a crush on rex in legends always stick with me #her lil baby crush is so cute #and yes the quote is from ahsoka to rex in her pov 😌#rexsoka #captain rex #ahsoka tano #star wars #the clone wars #star wars the clone wars #swtcw #star wars rebels #implied death #marsdraws #marsrb

407 notes · View notes

louisegluckpdf · 9 months

Note

is popular mechanics one page long

yes here she is 😇

#cw child death #implied. but yeah #asks #book club

26 notes · View notes

clonerightsagenda · 3 months

Text

Honestly my two biggest questions going into the Lockwood tv show adaptation will be

Did they find a way to preserve the humor of the narration in a visual format

Have they Made Up A Guy to give Lucy an alive straight love triangle

#re: the second imo the most elegant option would be aging down that swordsman who hangs out with marissa #idk what his deal was anyway or why he still had the sight #he's already obsessed with them and frankly it's hard to believe a 14 yo has better upper arm strength than an adult man #now a lot of that can be explained if he's being aged to death by the gate #wonder how old the orpheus society members *really* are...#anyway to be clear i don't want this to happen #I just suspect it will in some form and am preemptively making up a guy to get mad at #my mom asked me nervously 'these books don't have romance do they'#and I went well it's mg so it basically maxes out at some implied crushes #I do however have dark suspicions about the tv show #'may your work be turned into a netflix show' <- ancient curse probably #lockwood and co

9 notes · View notes

crzyimp · 8 months

Text

Chapter 9.

Reading this chapter another time, then and now, left me somber. It starts out joyful with our favorite monk's parents' meeting. His father, Guangrui, gained a blessing to go to the capital for examination and job; getting first in rank and personally being praised by the Tang Emperor. Spent 3 days on horseback going around the capital. Then we're introduced of Xuanzang's mother, Yin Wenjiao(referred to as just Lady Yin later on), who sees a handsome, smart, and high ranking official during his 3 day parade; throws down a embroidered ball at her future husband knocking off his black cap. Though I like to think she went: "YOU!" pointing at him from the tower and aimed for his head. Really making sure that this guy's dense and doesn't get a hint. Actually, does that mean she technically proposed to him? Anyways they get married, move to city for Guangrui job, and picked up his mother along the way. Even saved a golden carp and sending it back to its river! Guangrui mother gets sick and forced to stay at a rent house. A little bump in the road, but that's fine since the couple can retrieve her in the fall.

Then Liu Hong appears captivated by Lady Yin's beauty and rips the young couple future away by killing Guangrui and stealing his identity. Forcing Lady Yin to comply to his demands. They dump Gaungrui's body in the river where thanks to saving, not actually a carp, his body and soul is preserved until his is avenged by his murderers.

Lady Yin is miserable in her situation, wishing to eat Liu Hong body and sleep on his skin. But kept her dark thoughts to herself and didn't enact on them; as she was pregnant with our monk! But not happy news as Bastard Liu Hong will kill our future protag the second he gets the chance. Thanks to divine intervention and luck, Lady Yin manages to send the baby away. By writing a letter in her own blood and biting off one of his toes before sending him off on river; tied by her garment before found by a monk.

So our monk, nicked River Float, and then called Xuanzang once he turned eighteen and joined the monetary; he learned of his orgins and set off to right wrongs. He succeeded, reuniting his mother, who helped him get in contact with grandfather. Who later just destroyed Liu Hong in a brutal fashion. I strongly don't think Xuanzang was there to see that part as he was probably with his mother, who already tried to kill herself once saved. She does it again after they toss Liu Hong's heart and liver into the river, seeing her husband body floated up. Who comes back to life!

Happiness as Xuanzang's family all together again, his father joins the Emperor court, and he continues with his studies in the Way. Except for Lady Yin, who succeeds in taking her life. Bittersweet ending.

Now for my notes and theories. You cannot tell me that this boy wasn't bullied by his peers for being an orphan. He had nothing, no name, probably no friends, and put all his efforts into studying the scripture as a source of comfort or even proving his worth to be there. (I could ramble more on his upbringing and the similarites with him and Wukong's background, but that could be for another day)

Besides the luck and divine intervention(and Sha Wujing eating his past lives), another clue that Xuanzang might be special is when he cured his grandmother blindness by licking her eyelids.

Or the pain and guilt that despite everything he did failed to save his mother.

But that's enough rambling from me for now.

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

#tw suicide #cw suicide #implied suicide #journey to the west #jttw #xiyouji #xuanzang #jttw tag #jttw book club #Buddha really told Golden Cicada get fucked for all your next lives #I could explore more into Lady Yin and her death #Also what happened after she bite off Xuanzang's toe? Did she bury it #hide it or a more terrible thought did she ate it?#I have more thoughts on this chapter but I feel like I could go on forever taking everything apart.

12 notes · View notes