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sassyduckqueen · 3 years

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Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 60

And that's a wrap on my season 3!!! I really hope you guys like this chapter. At the very least, I hope it's better than the actual miracle queen episode. I'm happy that I even got to work in some lore as well :D anyway, I'll be starting on my 'season four' which have a few oc akumas and other season 3 akumas I haven't used yet. It will also explore the guardians and their history and of course, we'll be seeing more of Mila and the Western holders. Speaking of them, two of them are characters in the actual show so feel free to guess who they might be. Will these heroes be returning? Maybe but they might not necessarily be wearing those miraculous again. Also I will be drawing up their designs at some point. Anyway, the next chapter will be one of the OC akumas, Neon Queen. Should be fun to see how that goes.

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Chapter Sixty: Miracle Queen (2/2)

~The Guardian's Temple~

Mila opened her eyes as she looked up at the sky. She was laid on the ground underneath a cherry blossom tree. She sat up and glanced around, making a frown as she did. She could see the entrance to the guardian's temple on her right, making her frown even more as she realized where she was. She hadn't been here in over three hundreds years. She slowly got up and looked at the tree before walking over to it's trunk and placing her hand on it, holding back tears as she did. The last time she had seen it was the day before her beloved was killed. The two of them considered this tree their special place. It was where their love had formed. They spoke underneath it's leaves and spend their nights gazing at the stars in it's branches. Her beloved had even asked her to marry him here. She quickly wiped her tears from her cheeks as she shook her head. No, this wasn't the real tree. That had been buried, along with the temple a century ago. This was a dream but why was she dreaming of it? She hadn't dreamt of this place in decades so why now? What had changed? Her eyes snapped open as she heard the soft sound of someone playing a pipa nearby. She looked over and saw a young man, barely in his twenties. His hair was long and dark in color with a silver ribbon tied to part of it. He wore a blue tang shirt with silver detail and light gray pants. His legs had bandages over them and he wore black shoes while he wore dark blue gloves that were elbow length and fingerless on his hands. He was sat near the tree, gently playing the pipa with his eyes closed. He slowly came to a stop and opened them, revealing they were silver in color as Mila stared in shock. He smiled softly, putting the pipa down and walking over to her as tears filled her eyes.

"T-Tóutāi..." She gasped as he stood in front of her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she covered her mouth, trying to hold back a sob.

"Don't not cry, my flower," He whispered, cupping her face with his hand. She leaned into it as he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"This can't be real..." She gasped, looking up at him. "This is just a dream..."

"Maybe," He smiled, making her chuckle. "Or maybe it isn't,"

"Either way, I don't want to wake," She whispered as he gently pressed his forehead against hers. "I have missed you, beloved... but how are you in my dreams? I thought that traitor had permanently killed you,"

"The time for answers will come soon enough, my flower," He whispered back, making her frown but at the same time, she didn't mind. He always was cryptic. She guess it came with been the celestial guardian. "For now, I must relay an important task to you... for you are the only one currently protected by my magic,"

"What is it, my love?" She asked, looking up at him.

"The balance is in danger," He stated, making her blink. "The moth has made a deadly move in the game he plays and without help, the children of creation and destruction will lose themselves to the song of the fox. The time to step from the shadows is now, my flower. Help them,"

"Tóutāi... I don't know if I can..." She gasped, looking down. "I'm not the same woman you fell in love with..."

"Of course you are," He stated, gently pressing his hand over her heart. Mila gasped softly as she felt all the love and hope he felt for her. "You are still the brave and determined woman I fell in love with. They need your help,"

"I'll do what I can," She whispered before pressing her lips to his. He cupped her face as he kissed back before they pulled away. "Goodbye, beloved,"

Tóutāi gave her a sad smile as the scene around them began to fade around them, causing everything to disappear including him.

~Mila's Office, Paris~

Mila opened her eyes as she came around from her dream. She sat up and glanced around, frowning as she heard the sound of a flute playing. She walked over to the window and glanced outside, gasping as she saw everyone around her just stood eerily still. They were staring with glowing orange eyes, making her frown deeply. This must be what Tóutāi had warned her about. However, she wasn't affected by it. Tóutāi had given her a flower necklace on their wedding day as a gift. He had explained that he had enchanted it to protect her from anyone's magic. She had never taken it off, even after his death. She placed her hand around it, mentally thanking him before she turned on her heel. She noticed her phone had a missed call, causing her to pick it up and dial voicemail. She hit play to listen to it.

"Mistress, it's Renée. Um you told me to report in if I ever came across Anatis. Well, I just did. He seemed nic-" The sound of a flute caused her to cut off, causing Mulan to frown before she heard the phone drop and it hung up. Renée and Elise had been at the Grand Paris Hotel for the anniversary of Mr and Mrs Rossi. Their daughter, Lila, had invited them to it and they decided to go since they wanted to kill time before they went to Anatis' medal ceremony in the evening. She was also planning to attend but now she had to deal with this situation. She hung up her phone and walked over to her desk. She sat down and pressed several hidden panels that caused a secret draw to pop open, revealing a circular box with the symbol of the guardians on it. She took it out and opened the lid, revealing a layer inside that was split into sessions. From the out section, she took out the cuff links and the key chain. She placed them in little boxes that resembled the miracle box. She then took all three of the miraculous from the center section, She placed two of them into the small boxes but placed the bracelet on her wrist, causing a kwami to manifest as it changed to a simple gold chain. It was light blue and green in color and resembled an octopus. It opened her eyes and blinked at her before bowing.

"Master Mulan, it is a honor to see you again," She stated, making her bow back.

"It is good to see you again, Kraak but I require your help," She stated as it nodded before she held up her wrist. "Kraak, Unleash!"

Kraak got sucked into her bracelet, transforming it into a bracelet that resembled tentacles. Mila swiped her hand over her face, creating a mask that resembled tentacles and changing her eye color to lilac color before throwing her hands up in the air. A light blue light spread from her fingers, creating her outfit and shoes. She wore a high neck vest with no sleeves that was turquoise blue in color and loose turquoise green pants that were tied at her knees. Armored panels appeared on her shoulders and hips before a blue belt appeared around her waist. She had turquoise blue fingerless gloves on and her vest had a deep blue zipper. Her hair turned into a midnight blue shade and was styled into a bun with strands of hair by the side of her head. A tentacle shaped tiara appeared on her head and a flexible claw appeared on her hip before finally her shoes manifested, completing her transformation. She grabbed the boxes and placed them into her pockets before going into a different draw and grabbing a handful of ear plugs. She shoved them in her pockets as well before going over to the window and jumping out. She took out her weapon and used it to swing through the city. She landed on a building and stopped as she narrowed her eyes. On the street below was Anatis and Lady Noir but they were walking calming and ignoring everyone who was stood staring. She jumped down and landed in front of them before glancing at them. Like the other citizens, their eyes were glowing orange, making her frown. However, they completely ignored her and walked past her. She grabbed Anatis but to her surprise, he grabbed her arm and slammed her into the ground before walking off. She got back up and frowned deeply. If she hadn't been wearing a miraculous, he would have broken her arm. She threw her claw back up and made her way across the rooftops as they continued to walk through the street. She narrowed her eyes as she determined how to neutralize them. However, a shiver went down her spine, causing her to look around. There was no one around but she felt someone nearby. To her surprise, a feeling overtook her, telling her not to attack them but to find others for the miraculous she grabbed to help wake them up. Somehow, she knew that she wouldn't get close enough to use her ability on them on her own. She looked down at the heroes who were still walking through the street before sighing and jumping across to the Grand Paris hotel where Elise and Renée should be. She landed on the roof and walked across before noticing the two girls stood by the pool, staring into space. She rushed out and placed her hands on Renée's shoulders.

"Renée?" She gasped as the girl just stared with the same glowing eyes. She looked over at Elise who was doing the same before taking a deep breathe and placing her hand on Renée's forehead. "Mind break,"

Renée suddenly gasped as the orange in her eyes shattered and disappeared before she stepped back and looked around as Mila moved over to Elise and repeated the ability, waking her up as well.

"Mistress?" She asked as Elise blinked and looked around. "What happened?"

"There's an akuma who's put everyone under some sort of spell," She explained, taking out a couple of ear plugs and giving them to the two girls. "It's the music so wear these,"

"Yes, Mistress," Renée replied as they nodded and took some from her. They placed them in their ears before Mila took out two of the boxes in her pockets. "Mistress?"

"Renée, this is the miraculous of the Wyvern," She stated, giving the box to the girl. "And Elise, this is the miraculous of the Penguin. I need you both to go and distract Lady Noir and Anatis while I go find two others to help us with this mission,"

"Why are we distracting them?" Renée asked as she took the box and put on the jacket earring. A green dragon like kwami manifested, causing her to smile. "Hello, Vernn,"

"Miss Renée! It is my honour to see you again,"

"They have been affected by this akuma and seem to be heading somewhere that I fear will lead to their doom," Mila explained as Elise took the box from her and opening it. A small penguin like kwami manifested as she put the cuff links into her sleeves. "I just need you to distract them but if you are able to restrain them then do so but please be careful. They are been mind controlled,"

"We'll be careful," Elise replied before transforming into her hero look. She looked like a magician, wearing a black tail coat over a white shirt and full length black pants. Her hair turned black with white strips and her iris turned white while her scleras turned black. A half black and half white mask appeared over her eyes and a wand appeared in her hand. She placed it on her back as Renée transformed as well. Her outfit was a one piece suit with a tail coat over it. The tail on the coat resembled a dragon's tail and it was green in color. Her main suit was the same dark green but had a light green section across her stomach and chest. Her hair turned green as well and a scaled mask appeared over her eyes as they became lizard like before her boots and gloves appeared. Finally a sword appeared by her side, completing her transformation.

"Let's go," She declared before jumping off with Elise as Mila went her own way. The two landed on a building near the Louvre Museum. They glanced around at everyone who was just stood eerily still before they noticed Lady Noir and Anatis walking past everyone, completely ignoring them. "There they are,"

Elise nodded and jumped down with Renée. landing in front of the heroes. The two of them stopped and stared at the newcomers with blank expressions but before they could do anything else, Anatis' eyes widen as if surprised before they flickered back to blue. He gripped his head as if he had a headache, making the two girls look at each other as Lady Noir just stared at them. Elise took a step forward.

"Anaits?" She gasped as he gasped before the sound of the flute got louder, making them both frown. It seemed to over take his mind again as his hands dropped from his head before he reopened his eyes. The blue faded back to orange and he took out his yoyo, spinning it. Lady Noir took out her baton as they both got into a fighting stance. Elise held up her hands as Renée held out her sword. "Please, we don't want to fight you,"

Renée pulled her back and blocked Anatis' yoyo with her sword as he tried to hit her with it. Lady Noir charged at Elise, causing her to block her baton with her wand. Anatis grabbed Renée's art and reached for her miraculous but she stomped his foot and knocked him back as Elise dodged Lady Noir's attack. Anatis growled and went to throw up his yoyo.

"Lu-" He went to declare but Renée kicked him, stopping him from summoning his lucky charm before she tried to grab his yoyo. He jumped back and dodged her as she charged at him. Meanwhile, Lady Noir threw Elise into a building. She held out her hand and was about to summon her cataclysm, causing Elise to try and crawl away from her but before she could, a figure jumped down in front of her.

"Fire Phoenix!" He declared, causing his form to become in engulfed in flames that blinded the heroine, causing her to gasp and stumble back as she covered her eyes, hissing. Anatis knocked Renée back and turned to charge at the newcomer but he suddenly gripped his head again as his eyes flickered back to blue, causing the newcomer to gasp. "Anatis!"

Anatis groaned as he stepped back but like the first time, the music increased and his eyes turned back orange. He titled his head to the side and charged at the newcomer, spinning his yoyo. Renée rushed over and helped Elise to her feet before they blocked Lady Noir's attack as she had recovered. She hissed and tried to scratch as the newcomer tried to block Anatis' attack with his fans. He managed to knock back the hero before going in front the attack.

"Guys! Hold your breathe!" A voice shouted, causing the group to look confused as a girl in an outfit that looked like a skunk summoned what appeared to be some sort of grenade. She threw it inbetween Anatis and Lady Noir, causing it go release a pink smoke. Elise, Renée and the other hero covered their mouths as Anatis jumped back, also covering his mouth but Lady Noir moved too late. To their surprise, she slumped to the ground as the smoke cleared. The girl jumped down and gave everyone a sweet smile as they took her in. She was wearing a black and white romper with a slash across her hips that resembled a tail. She had black knee high boots on and black tights with white details. Her hair was short and spiky and she had elbow length gloves on that were half black and half white. It was black with white tips in highlights and her eyes were an aquamarine color. On top of her head were two animal ears and she had a black mask over her eyes. "Hi, I'm Aroma,"

"Phénix rouge," The boy who set himself on fire stated, nodding sternly. Now that they could see him, they saw he was wearing dark red trousers with a matching waistcoat and an orange shirt. On his waist coat, he had a brooch pinned to it and his hair was bright yellow. In fact, it appeared to be glowing. His boots were dark red and knee length and his eyes were orange. Like the others, he had a mask across his eyes. It was orange and yellow, similar to a sunset. He had black fingerless gloves on hands and his fans were hooked onto his hips. He had his arms crossed and looked moody as he glanced around at Elise and Renée. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Dame," Renée replied, getting a nod of everyone.

"And I'm Snowbird!" Elise smiled as Mila jumped down and joined them. "Mistress!"

Mila held up her hand and looked around before turning her attention to the still unconscious Lady Noir. However, Anatis had managed to get away. She frowned to herself before walking over and placing her hand on the heroine's head, closing her own eyes.

"Mind Break," She declared, causing her hand to glow blue again before Lady Noir's eyes snapped open. The orange in them shattered and disappeared, causing them to return to their normal form as Mila let go.

"Annie!" She cried out before she looked around and saw the group. She instantly jumped up and held out her baton. "Who the hell are you guys and where is Anatis?!"

"Lady Noir, my name is Koro," Mila stated, walking forward. "These are my students. Phénix rouge, Dame, Snowbird and Aroma. As for Anatis... he escaped before we could free him,"

"Free him?" Lady Noir asked, blinking as she noticed all expect Koro were wearing earbuds. She then looked around panicked as she realized that she had no idea how she got to the Louvre. They had been in Master Fu's apartment and were just about to leave when they heard a flute then she woke up her. Her eyes widen in fear as she realized that they must have been under the spell of who ever is playing the flute. She put her baton away and turned to leap away but Koro grabbed her shoulder, making her look at her. "I need to to find Anatis! He's-"

"Still under the spell I know," She replied, making Lady Noir frown. "We're coming with you. You're gonna need my ability to free him from the spell and having back up will help. Especially if Hawkmoth makes an appearance. Now here,"

She shoved a pair of ear plugs into her hands, causing Lady Noir to put them in.

"Where were you heading?" She asked, making Lady Noir frown as she tried to remember. She could hear a voice in her head and it said to come to them. Somehow, they knew where she was, making her frown.

"The Trocadéro Gardens," She answered, making them frown. "And you're right. I am gonna need help to save him but this doesn't mean I trust you. Understood?"

"Got it," Koro replied, nodding before turning to her students. "Before we head there, did anything unusual happen while you were fighting?"

"Anatis almost broke out of the mind control," Dame stated, making the two blink. "He saw me and his eyes flickered back to blue and then he gripped his head like he was trying to fight it but the music increased and he went back to been controlled,"

"The same happened when he saw me," Phénix stated, making both Lady Noir and Koro frown. "Is that important?"

"I don't know..." Koro stated, frowning. "Either way, head to the Trocadéro Gardens,"

The group nodded and jumped away, following Koro and Lady Noir.

~Trocadéro Gardens~

Miracle Queen frowned as Anatis landed in front of her and bowed towards her. She was sure she had gotten control over Lady Noir as well so where the hell was her? She growled and walked up to him. She took his yoyo, just in case he wasn't really under her spell. However, he did nothing to stop her, causing her to smirk. Meanwhile, Hawkmoth frowned from his position above Miracle Queen. Her music should have put Lady Noir under the same spell yet only Anatis was here. He opened up the connection between him and Miracle Queen, making her blink.

"Where is Lady Noir?" He asked, causing Miracle Queen sigh and look at her nails with boredom.

"I don't know," She gasped, annoyed. "But I'm sure she'll turn up soon. I'm certain she's under my spell but even if she's not, we have her boyfriend. She'll do anything to ensure that we won't hurt him,"

"Find out where she is!" He snarled, closing the connection as Myura stood next to him. "Lady Noir should be here,"

"Bug boy, where is the mangy cat?!" Miracle Queen demanded, causing him to look up at her but he didn't answer her right away. Instead, he just stood there and said nothing as he stared. "Answer me!"

"Asleep," He stated, making her look at him with annoyance as Hawkmoth rose his eyebrow. She slammed her flute into the side of his face before turning on her heel as he stood there. Mayura frowned as blood dripped down his forehead.

"What the hell do you mean asleep?!"

"We were attacked by other miraculous holders," He stated, causing Hawkmoth and Mayura to gasp as Miracle Queen rolled her eyes. "They used some sort of grenade to put Lady Noir to sleep. I got away..."

"Well, there is no point in taking your miraculous yet then. I want that dumb cat to be around when I take it so I can hers too and then wake you up so you can see my success!" She growled, spinning his yoyo before she turned back to him. "Now! Tell me how amazing I am!"

"You're the most amazing person in the world, Miracle Queen," He stated in a motionless voice. She frowned before she knew he didn't mean it but it was still fun to make him say things. She went to tell him to declare that Marinette was a nasty creature but Hawkmoth jumped down and held up her hand, making her look at him before rolling her eyes and walking away. Anatis continued to stare into space.

"Anatis, who were the other holders?" Hawkmoth asked, smirking. He might be able to get the identities of his allies, which in turn would lead him to gain the other miraculous. "Did you pick them?"

"No, I've never seen them before in my life," He stated, surprising Hawkmoth.

"But your master picked them?"

"No, their miraculous are not part of our box," He stated, making Hawkmoth frown but before he could question him farther, Lady Noir threw her baton at him, causing him to step back and jump up to where Mayura was as Miracle Queen glared at them.

"Miracle Queen, don't let them free Anatis from your control!" Hawkmoth shouted, causing Miracle Queen to growl.

"He's mine! I won't let you take him from me!!" She screamed before playing her flute. She threw up the ball of light, causing an explosion to appear before it cleared, revealing hundreds of copies of her. Koro threw her claw and used it to grab Lady Noir's baton throwing it to her before the six of them charged at the illusions. Miracle Queen grabbed Anatis and pulled him away from the fight, causing Lady Noir to run follow them as the others took down her illusions. Koro went to follow but Hawkmoth landed in front of her, making her narrow her eyes.

"I assume you're the one who gave out these miraculous," He stated as she held out her hand, ready to fight.

"I am Hua Mulan, Guardian of the Western Box and I find you, Hawkmoth, guilty of misuse of the butterfly miraculous," She declared, causing him to smirk before he took out his cane and charged at her.

"Mistress!!" Snowbird gasped, going to run after them but she gasped and fell back as a huge moth sentimonster appeared. It went to charge at him, causing Dame to jump front of her and block it's stinger with her sword. Phénix helped Snowbird to her feet and ran after Lady Noir as Dame and Aroma took on the giant bug.

~Back to Lady Noir and Miracle Queen~

"Let him go!" Lady Noir growled as she charged at Miracle Queen, going to hit her with her baton. Miracle Queen blocked it with her flute and knocked her back, causing Lady Noir to slide back. She smirked and spun her flute, playing the tune on it. She threw it to the sky again, increasing the song playing and causing Anatis to grip his head. "Anatis!"

"Take her miraculous, my servant!" Miracle Queen ordered, causing Lady Noir to gasp as she gave him back his yoyo. He took it and instantly began to attack her relentlessly. She blocked his attack and fought back, causing Miracle Queen to laugh as she watched. It wasn't like how they fought during training. Anatis wasn't holding back and he was using everything he could against her. He slammed his body into her, causing her to fall. He grabbed her leg and threw her into a tree, causing her to groan as she got up. She went to punch him, causing him to grab her hand. He went to take her miraculous but she managed to wrap her legs around him and slam him onto the floor as Snowbird and Phénix appeared, causing Miracle Queen to growl as she played her flute again. "Come my servants and defeat me again these losers!"

To their surprise, a number of civilians turned up and began to trying to fight them as Miracle Queen turned her attention back to Anatis and Lady Noir, who had him pinned down. However, he knocked her back, causing her to backflip as he stood back up. He charged at her, causing her to block his arms and kick him. He countered her counter as they fought.

"Anatis! Fight against her!" She gasped, blocking his fist. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her into the floor as Miracle Queen smirked evilly.

"Kill her first then take her miraculous off her cold corpse!" She ordered, causing Anatis to wrap his hands around Lady Noir's neck. She gasped and tried to fight him, struggling to get him off her. She kicked out and dug her nails into his hands as he tightened his grip. Her eyes widen as her skin began to turn blue and her grip began to weaken. Phénix slammed one of the civilians into the ground as he rushed over towards them. Lady Noir's eyes were slipping closed as she began to lose consciousness but Miracle Queen jumped and landed in front of him before he could reach them. "I don't think so, birdie!"

She hit him in the stomach with her flute, causing him to gasp and fall to the ground. She smirked and lifted it above her head to hit him with it but Snowbird pulled out of her wand, spinning it.

"Glacier!" She declared, charging it up with a blue glow before tapping the ground with it. Instantly, the ground turned blue, causing Miracle Queen to suddenly fall over. She tried to get up but kept sliding over, allowing Phénix to get up and rush back over to Anatis and Lady Noir. Anatis still had his hands wrapped around her throat, causing Phénix to see red. He went to charge at him but stopped when Lady Noir suddenly gasped for air, coughing as Anatis shook before he gripped his head again. Lady Noir slowly sat up as he groaned and yanked at his hair.

"A-Annie?!" She gasped as he backed away from her.

"N-No!" He gasped, causing Phénix to rush over. He helped Lady Noir to her feet as Anatis stepped back, still gripping his head. "Get out of my head!"

"Annie!" Lady Noir gasped, pulling out of Phénix's grip and rushing over as Anatis fell onto his knees. She went to run over as Phénix grabbed her arm. "Let me go! I have to help him!"

"Noir, stay back!" Phénix called out, trying to pull her away from him. "He's under that akuma's control!"

"I can get through to him!" She called out, pulling out his grip and rushing over to Anatis. She cupped his face as he looked at her. His eyes were flicking between orange and blue as tears rolled down his face. "Annie, it's me. It's Lady Noir. Your best friend... remember? We're best friends!"

"Kill her!" Miracle Queen screamed as she tried to get back up again, causing her to slip over again. Anatis' eyes went to blank and orange again as he went to wrap his hands around Lady Noir's neck.

"Annie, don't listen to her!" She gasped, flinching but he stopped as his eyes flickered blue again. His eyes flickered orange again before he suddenly covered his ears and let out a loud scream, surprising everyone before he slumped against Lady Noir. "Annie?... Annie!?"

~Luka's POV~

Luka screamed once again as he tried to block out the sound of the flute as it played loudly in his head. He was more than aware of what he was doing but despite that, he couldn't stop himself. He had tears rolling down his face as he walked towards the source of the music with Lady Noir. He tried to shout at himself and stop himself when those other miraculous holders turned up and when he began to attack them. He abandoned his friend when they got the upper hand and left her at their mercy. He didn't know if they were trying to help them or not but if they weren't, he had just left her and all because of the music in his head. Music that was drowning him. He wanted to scream and break free but he couldn't stop hearing it. It briefly stopped playing when he saw that girl in the wyvern miraculous. For a second, he had seen a knight stood there instead but then the music came back and he was back under her control. It happened again when he saw the boy with the phoenix miraculous. Like the girl, he had seen someone else stood there but once again, Miracle Queen took control. It made him feel sick. He could feel her inside his head, trying to find out who he was really. Luckily, he had kept her at bay but he didn't know how long that would hold. Right now, he was trying not to listen, hoping that he could break her control before he killed Lady Noir. He didn't want to hurt her. His voice hurt from shouting but he was still strangling her.

"Glacier!" He heard one of the new guys declare, causing Miracle Queen to slip and fall. For a second, the music lessened. However it was enough for him to notice.

"Stop hurting her!" He called out, causing his body to stop strangling Lady Noir. She suddenly gasped for air, coughing as he shook. He gripped his head as the music began to increase again. "No! I won't listen!!".

"A-Annie?!" Her voice echoed, causing his body to back away from her. He was semi in control but it was still hard to break free. He could still hear the music and miracle queen inside his head.

"N-No!" He gasped, still gripping his head. "Get out of my head!"

"Annie!" Lady Noir gasped, her voice echoing. "Let me go! I have to help him!"

"Noir, stay back!" The phoenix boy's voice declared. "He's under that akuma's control!"

"I can get through to him!" She called out. He flinched as he felt her hands on his face. "Annie, it's me. It's Lady Noir. Your best friend... remember? We're best friends!"

"Kill her!" Miracle Queen's voice echoed, causing the music to increase as he tried to stop himself from wrapping his hands around her throat.

"Annie, don't listen to her!"

Luka...

"Annie?"

Luka...

"Annie?!" Lady Noir screamed before it completely turned black...

~Luka's Mind Hut~

Luka gasped as he opened his eyes, finding himself in the hut where Feng lives. He frowned to himself as he looked around. In the distance, he could still hear Miracle Queen's music but it wasn't as loud. He stood up as he sensed someone with him, causing him to turn around as he expected it to be Feng. However, the man sat calmly in front of him wasn't Feng but only resembled him. His hair was long and black. Part of it had a silver ribbon tied to it and he wore a blue tang shirt with silver detail and light gray pants. His legs had bandages over them and he wore black shoes while he wore dark blue gloves that were elbow length and fingerless on his hands. His eyes were closed, causing Luka to frown a little before he opened them and looked at him. Like Feng's, they were silver.

"Hello, Luka," He sat, making Luka blink as for a moment, the man's outfit changed to one that resembled the phoenix miraculous.

".... You used the phoenix miraculous, didn't you?" He asked, causing him to nod before a name came into Luka's mind. "Tóutāi... that's your name?"

"Yes," He replied, making Luka frown as he looked around. "Feng is somewhere else. I know you're more familiar with him but..."

"You can help me?" He asked, causing Tóutāi to nod. "Miracle Queen's song... it's controlling me... how do I stop it? I can't stop hearing it,"

"You're a musical empath right?" He asked, making Luka nod. "So use your music,"

"My... music?" He asked, confused. "But I don't have my guitar,"

"This is your place as much as it's ours," Tóutāi replied, making Luka blink as he held a pipa and began to play it. "So if you want your guitar, you just have to think about it,"

"My... guitar..." Luka muttered, confused but then he felt his acoustic in his hand. He looked down and saw it. He moved his fingers across the board and closed his eyes, beginning to play. At first, it was quiet and he wasn't sure what to play but then he began to play louder and better as he started to play Marinette's song, pouring his emotions into his music and slowly but surely, he felt Miracle Queen's control slipping even more. He closed his eyes as he slipped into the song, feeling the emotions he felt when he wrote it. When he next opened his eyes, he was no longer in his hut but leaning against Lady Noir's chest as she held him, causing his face to heat up as he pulled away.

"Annie?!" She gasped, surprised as he looked around. Miracle Queen saw him and pointed at him.

"Finish them!" She screamed, causing him glare at her before he got up. "What?! Answer your queen!"

"You are not my queen!" He snarled, making everyone gasp in surprise as he glared at her. "Time to end this! Lucky charm!"

He threw his yoyo in the air and caught the teapot before gasping as he worked out what it mean. He hooked it to his belt and picked up Lady Noir, making her blink as he jumped away and across Paris. She held onto him as he did.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered, making her look at him. "I... I nearly killed-"

"Shh," She stated as they reached Master Fu's. "It's ok. You were under her spell but you're free now,"

"I'm still sorry," He muttered as they came through the window. Anatis frowned as his miraculous beeped. He needed to detransform but he wasn't sure if Miracle Queen could see through Master Fu, who was stood staring with orange eyes. He grabbed a blanket and threw it over him as Lady Noir covered her eyes, allowing him to detransform. He caught Tikki and gave her a cookie before he walked over to the phonograph and put in the secret code. He took out the miracle box and opened it, grabbing the dragon miraculous and the snake miraculous before turning to Lady Noir and placed the miraculous in her free hand. "Time to show Hawkmoth and Miracle Queen that they don't get to mess with us or our heads,"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lady Noir grinned, taking the choker and putting it as he transformed back into Anatis before opening her eyes and greeting Longg. He put the snake miraculous on before closing the box and putting it back in the phonograph as Lady Noir held out her hands. "Plagg, Long. Unify!"

A red glow covered her outfit as it gave her a red tail with gold detail on her left leg. Her right leg got a thigh boot and her gloves turned red with gold detail. Her ears got red insides with a gold strip while two horns appeared below them,. Her collar turned red with a gold trim and her mask gained red and gold triangles. A red circle appeared on her chest with a water drop, a cloud and a lightning strike in the middle. The ring around it was green and her eyes had turned green with yellow scleras. Finally a sword appeared on her back as Anatis held out his hands.

"Tikki, Sass. Unify!" He declared, causing a green light to engulf him, turning him back into Red Mamba. "Ready to go, Black Dragon?"

"Let's go kick Lila's butt!" She grinned, causing the two heroes to jump out of the window, heading back to the Trocadéro Gardens. It didn't take them long to get there but when they did, Miracle Queen had gotten up and Mayura's moth monster was about to take down the new heroes while Hawkmoth and Koro were equally matched. Miracle Queen laughed as she twirled her flute. Red Mamba narrowed his eyes and flicked his bracelet, activating second chance.

"I don't know how you broke out of my control, you dirty beetle but soon, I'll have you back under my control!" She declared before playing her flute and throwing the ball of light up in the air. It burst and amplified the tune already there, causing it to overtake everyone as she laughed before noticing he wasn't affected. She ordered them to attack him, causing him to jump back and flick his bracelet back.

"I don't know how you broke out of my control, you dirty beetle but soon, I'll have you back under my control!" She declared but he threw his yoyo, knocking back her flute. However, she dodged it and managed to get the tune out, controlling everyone again. He flicked his bracelet back again.

"I don't know how you broke out of my control, you dirty beetle but soon, I'll have you back under my control!" She declared but this time he didn't hit her./

"Black Dragon, use water dragon!" He ordered, causing Black Dragon to nod.

"Water Dragon!" She declared, using her sword to create a shield around them as Miracle Queen used her power. However, this time it didn't affect Black Dragon. "Whoa!"

"Water blocks sound," He replied, smirking before he threw up his yoyo. "Lucky charm!"

A violin with appeared out of thin air, causing Red Mamba to grab it as he looked around to work out what to do.

"Get them!" Miracle Queen screeched, pointing to them as Phénix, Dame, Aroma and Snowbird charged at them. "Get me their miraculous!!"

The four heroes dived through the water but as soon as they did, their eyes returned back to their normal colors and they looked around confused as Miracle Queen screamed in annoyance and summoned civilians to try and attack them. Red Mamba saw Phénix and Dame light up before followed by the violin and Black Dragon's wind symbol.

"I have a plan," He stated, making everyone look at him before pointing at Dame. "I need you to use Empower on everyone in this bubble,"

"Um..." She stated, confused as to how he knew that. As far as she knew, he had no idea what her miraculous was but Red Mamba turned to Phénix.

"Once Dame uses her power, you need to activate Ash Phoenix." He stated, making Phénix blink in surprise. "Black Dragon, I'll need you to release the water bubble then use Wind Dragon to direct Phénix at Miracle Queen. Once you're there, you need to grab her fox pendant,"

"Sure thing, danger noodle," She grinned, giving him a salute. He smiled softly at her before Phénix cleared his voice.

"And the mind control?" He asked as Red Mamba smirked and pointed to the violin.

"That's what this is for," He replied, placing it under his chin. "Her song only controls if you can hear it, which is why we need Empower. Not only will it make your powers more powerful but it will amplify my own ability,"

"Alright," Dame declared, holding up her sword before charging it up. "Empower!"

A green glow appeared over the blade, causing her to tap each one with it. Red Mamba began to play the violin but he didn't just play the music, he played the emotions. On a normal level, it was power but been amplified with empower, caused it to be much more powerful then Miracle Queen's song. Phénix took a deep breathe as he felt courage replace his fear.

"Ash Phoenix!" He declared, turning into ash as Black Dragon released the water bubble.

"Wind dragon!" She declared, transforming into the actual wind. When she combined with the ash that is Phénix, they became a small tornado, which knocked Miracle Queen off her feet. Phénix reformed and grabbed her fox pendant before throwing it to Black Dragon as she reformed.

"Give that back!" Miracle Queen screamed as Black Dragon caught it.

"Cataclysm!" She declared, causing it to turn to dust as Miracle Queen screamed out as the akuma escaped. They saw Hawkmoth glare down at the scene before he jumped onto the sentimonster with Mayura and flew away with Koro going after them. Red Mamba stopped playing, causing everyone to fall under her spell again, apart from him. He quickly catch the akuma and released it before throwing his violin into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" He declared, causing it to burst into the cure and spread through Paris, fixing everything and freeing all from Miracle Queen's control. It came back and wrapped around the heroes, freeing them before disappearing. "Tikki, Sass. Divide,"

Sass manifested as he turned back into Anatis, allowing him to catch him as Black Dragon blinked as the other heroes looked around.

"Wow," Snowbird gasped, looking at Anatis with stars in her eyes. "You did it!!"

"Of course, he did," Black Dragon grinned, making him blush a little. "Anyway... Plagg, Longg, divide,"

She caught Longg as she turned back into Lady Noir, causing Anatis to smile at her before they turned their attention on Miracle Queen, who turned back into Lila. Anatis frowned deeply as he looked at her.

"Lila Rossi, why am I not surprised?" He asked, making her blink and look at him.

"Oh, Anatis! I'm so sorry!" She gasped as fake tears filled her eyes. "I was just so upset about my parents-"

"I get it," He stated, surprising everyone as he put the snake miraculous into the yoyo and walked over. He held out his hand for her, causing her to blink before she took it and he pulled her to her feet. However, his grip tightened and moved his lips close to ear, making her wince in surprise and pain. "I see you've made your choice, Rossi,"

"W-What?" She gasped, genuinely caught off guard.

"You've made it abundantly clear that we are playing on different sides of the board. You've decided to move against me and I know you're somehow working with Hawkmoth," He stated in a calm but chilling voice. It genuinely frightened her. "So let me make this very clear. You and I are at war and I will do everything in my power to ensure that you get what's coming to you, Rossi and do whatever it takes to expose you for the monster you are,"

He pulled away and gave her a smile as a chill went down her spine. He was deadly serious and she knew it.

"I'm sure you'll understand that we can't help you get home," He stated as his miraculous beeped, along with the others. "Let's go,"

The heroes ran off, leaving Lila to shake in fear as Anatis' words haunted her.

~Later that Day~

"I hereby name today Anatis day!" The mayor declared as everyone clapped. Anatis and Lady Noir hadn't turned up but no one was surprised. They had just dealt with a very dangerous akuma and as far as Paris was concerned, they were allowed a moment to themselves. Instead, they had returned to Master Fu's and given back the miraculous before taking him up to meet the other heroes and their leader Koro, which was where they were now. Anatis was leaning against the wall, unsure what to make off the whole situation. Lady Noir was stood next to him, making sure he was ok while Master Fu talked to Koro.

"I thought all the guardians had perished," He stated, making the two heroes look over. Koro looked over at the Paris skyline.

"I left before that," She explained, making them frown. Her heroes had gone home and she had reclaimed their miraculous in private. "I turned my back on the guardians long ago,"

"Why now?" Anatis asked, making her look at him. "How long have you been in Paris and why appear now?!"

"Annie," Lady Noir stated, making her blink as she gently rubbed his arm. He instantly calmed down as if her touch had soothed him. It reminded her of how Tóutāi would calm her down. Her expression softened as she looked at them. She knew young love when she saw it.

"I've been in Paris since Hawkmoth's first attack," She admitted, making them all look at her. "I was just planning to observe as I didn't want to get involved,"

"Then why did you?" Anatis asked, clearly annoyed by her answer.

"Because my beloved asked me to," She stated, placing a hand over her chest as the three of them gave her a confused look. "I am the guardian of the western box but also the wife of the celestial guardian,"

"Su Han?" Master Fu asked but to their surprise, Koro growled.

"Do not mention that traitor's name!" She growled, making them look at her. "He was not the true guardian! My beloved Tóutāi was!"

"Tóutāi?" Anatis asked, making her look at him before she narrowed her eyes.

"You recognize the name, don't you?" She asked, making him glance to the side. "I knew there was something different about you, Anatis. Not many can break free from mind control like you did and I know you knew what the powers of the wyvern and phoenix miraculous were. My students told me... just who... or what are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He shoot back, making her glare at him as he pushed off the wall. "I'm going home. Koro, thanks for your help but stay out of my way... since that's what you want,"

"You don't trust me," She declared but she didn't sound hurt.

"It's not like the feeling isn't mutual," He stated, coolly before turning to Lady Noir. "See you later, Kitten,"

With that, he jumped off and swung away. It didn't take him long but soon he landed on the liberty and slipped through the porthole, detransforming as he did. He caught Tikki and gave her a cookie before lying down on his bed and letting out a sigh. Today had been difficult to say the least. He let out a sigh and curled up as Tikki floated over.

"Tikki,"

"Hmm?" She asked as she ate the cookie.

"Who is Tóutāi?" He asked, making her look at him in surprise. "You know him don't you?"

"He was one of the celestial guardians of the miraculous," She stated, making him frown. "There's been six in total. Master Feng was the first but then there was Master Khnurn, Master Alpheus, Master Rene, Master Tóutāi and Master Su Han..."

"Koro called Su Han a traitor,"

"Well... he's the only one who isn't like the others," She stated, looking at her paws. "It's rumored that the Celestial guardians were special. You see they are the reincarnations of Hao Feng,"

"But Su Han isn't... is he?" Luka asked, frowning. Tikki shook her head. "So how did he become the next Celestial guardian and why isn't it the next reincarnation of Feng?"

"I don't know, Luka," She explained, making him frown. "I don't know,"

~Hawkmoth's Lair~

"Are you ok?" Nathalie asked as Gabriel sat, holding his head. She frowned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry that it didn't go the way you wanted..."

"Miracle Queen may have been a failure but we learnt something else today," He stated, opening his eyes. "There is another guardian in Paris. One that even Anatis didn't know about and I want her miraculous but more importantly... there might be other miraculous in the world. Nathalie, I want you to search for them. If there are other then I must obtain them!"

"Of course, Gabriel," She replied, nodding. "Once you have them, Anatis will fall,"

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Next Chapter: Coming soon

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fencesandfrogs · 3 years

Text

gathering times.

part of my broader lore series.

i’m breaking from my usual lore narration style for a moment to discuss: how cats know when to gather (because it bothers me).

anyway, i haven't seen any other lore about this, so i'd like to say that explicitly, anyone is welcome to use this if they like it. if you want to use the folklore parts (e.g., the story in "full moon.") please credit me somehow, but otherwise idgaf. (a CC0-1.0 liscence, if you are a nerd. if you're not, it's what i just said.)

section one: tracking the moon

so i have this tiny lore thing where so the cats. track the moon as starclan adding claws to the moon and taking them away. so we have four claws to mess with:

no claws: new moon

one claw: waxing cresent

two claws: half moon

three claws: waxing gibbous

four claws: full moon

but cats usually count these in terms of one claw away from new/half/full, like how people used to call november 20th 10 days from december.

also, since only new and full moons matter for most cats, most cats wouldn't think about the waning moon. hence why it's described as starclan clawing at the moon, because they don't care about the precision.

this is also somewhat decoupled from the idea of a half/quarter moon as a unit of time: cats aren't using this to track time (e.g., one claw to three claws), just as a method of measuring where in the moon they are. i'm not sure if this makes sense, i guess it's kind of like saying "monday" tells you where in the week you are, and saying "third week" says where in the month you are, but you wouldn't say "from second week to fourth week," you'd say the dates or be more specific.

look, cats track time differntly. we're going to talk about when first and why second.

section two: full moons

The leaders discussed this, and they agreed. From then on, they would meet the night after the moon had all its claws, and there were no more debates about when the gathering would be.

(full moon.)

yeah so basically i was so angry that warrior cats act like the moon is either new, half, or full i wrote 1k words of folklore about why that is. that will either be published or publishing soon, so i'm not going to recap it.

basically, the full moon is considered to start when the moon is a whisker's length from full (basically, the first night you can't see that the moon hasn't finished), and that day is the holy day for clans who celebrate like that.

the next day is the gathering.

the third day is the medicine cats' half moon meeting (we're getting to them).

mind, i'm still doing a lot of handwaving here, but i do have a limit to how realistic i demand my fantasy cat novels be.

section three: half moons

There was no celebrations to be had on half moon, and the camp was mostly quiet. Moonrise was coming soon, and Dovepaw could see Willowshine and Mothwing climbing the rocks. Jayfeather greets them, doesn’t ask where she is.

(feathers take flight --- footprints)

so basically half moon is when a whisker could be laid straight on the moon. this is still kind of vague, but let's say starclan intervenes.

i honestly can't come up with a better explanation of how they all agree, so at least this is a definition. the half moon is such a vague term like.

anyway.

section four: new moons

“Won’t everyone be asleep?” she asks, and Willowshine’s eyes glitter.

“On the night of the sleeping moon? I hope they’re not done.”

Dovepaw doesn’t know what that means. But she enters the camp, still alive, apprentices sharing fish, flower petals scattered, and she almost does.

(feathers take flight --- footprints)

okay, this is the one that i think is hardest to tell is ambigious. because you might be thinking "new moon is when there is no moon" but this has the same problem as full moon.

luckily, only medicine cats gather on the new moon. so clans can celebrate whenever.

anyway, internet says people can see a moon at anywhere from 1% to 10% as illuminated, and cats have better night vision, and you get about 3 days in the 0% to 5% range, so i'm not really sure what to derive from this.

i mean there are cycles with a new moon and a 0% moon on either side.

anyway, i'm going to say that cats call it the new moon when it's 0% or new. the first day is always the new moon. we're also going to say their vision is good enough that there's no conflict.

(how is this different from the full moon? its a pyschology thing about complete/empty. a cup isn't empty unless there's nothing in it, but it can be full with not very much in it, even if you're holding out for a full cup. also, stop asking difficult questions. i cover this in "full moon." where the answer is basically the same as this one but with better lore.)

section five: medicine cats meet every half moon

“He’s right,” Willowshine says. “Mothwing made me a medicine cat on a second whisker night, and I swear the clan slept ‘til sunhigh.”

(feathers take flight --- riverbed)

so uhh i've never understood what it means that medicine cats meet for the half moon. in older books, it's called a half moon meeting, which implies that it doesn't occur on the new moon or the full moon. but in moth flight's vision i swear they say they'll meet every half moon which is an established unit of time in canon.

so. do they meet every quarter moon or every half moon.

i've gone with every quarter moon. why? the following:

it means i can let cats stay home now and then.

it makes more sense. if you know much about human medicine, rounds/grand rounds (which are a similar vibe with less religion) happen every day to every month, depending on the scale of the encounter. i think meeting every quarter moon makes more sense because they're constantly talking about getting advice from each other, and it would be so much easier to just have jayfeather ask for littlecloud's help at the next half moon meeting than running over, since that's what the point of the meeting is.

i want to.

anyway, new moons for clans and medicine cats can get desynched. kind of like geographic north/magnetic north, and human months vs the lunar cycle. it's not super common, but it does happen and no one really cares.

they meet on a second-whisker night for the full moon. that's basically, okay, in "full moon." i say

"No," said Briarleap. "But when the moon has all its claws, there is always a time where the moon is a whisker's length from fullness. We ought not to waste our energy gathering when the moon isn't full. So the clans must gather the moonrise after the last claw is returned."

and the understanding is, the "last claw" night briarleap is talking about is called "first-whisker night" that's the holy night.

first whisker is the night they meet. because it's supposed to be properly full but sometimes there's a whisker.

and second whisker is the next night, when medicine cats meet.

yes, that does mean any clans that celebrate the full moon have exhausted medicine cats near full moon. this is why meetings are every quarter moon. so they can stay home for a meeting without missing a major important time.

alright, i believe that's all i have for this. as a fun bonus, i have some consistent warrior/medicine cat training timelines.

The typical medicine cat training period is four seasons, although after the first two to three, they are usually alloted a good amount of autonomy.

...

There’s no vigil for medicine cats. They have trained for four seasons, seen the clan at its best and worst, and have already chosen to sacrifice much of a warrior life for the good of their clan. If Willowshine decides to make Dovepaw a full medicine cat, the clan will feast in her honor that night.

(feathers take flight --- riverbed)

the implication here is that warriors train for two seasons, which is why medicine cats are given more authority around then. in riverclan, that's when they move into the medicine cat's den, because their denmates are moving into the warriors den. not always, though:

“Am I going to be all alone when Troutpaw and Rushpaw and Mossypaw become warriors?” she asks. Dovepaw has never slept alone.

(Jayfeather, alone in his den.)

“I don’t think so,” Willowshine says. “They might stay in with you until Fernstream’s kits become apprentices, or you could sleep in the medicine den. You’re always welcome.”

(feathers take flight --- riverbed)

(fernstream is an invention bc riverclan doesn't have any queens they don't age it's a problem i need to redo their allegiances for FTF.)

anyway yeah that's a different story tho.

finally, take these cute words from mistystar to dovepaw:

“Then I make Dovepaw kin, and say she is born from River, as we all are. And I trust her training to Willowshine, and Starclan, to guide her paws.”

(feathers take flight --- riverbed)

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obscurehistoricalinterests · 5 years

Text

Repossessing the Body: Transgressive Desire in “Carmilla” and “Dracula” (IV)

By Elizabeth Signorotti (1996)

Part I - Part II - Part III

Thesis: Carmilla is a story of female empowerment, and Dracula is a patriarchal response to it.

Repossessing the Body: Transgressive Desire in “Carmilla” and “Dracula” (part IV)

Stoker’s familiarity with Le Fanu’s vampire tale is certain. Farson claims that Stoker was “absorbed in the vampirism in ‘Carmilla,’ published two years after he left Trinity” but more convincing evidence is found in the original first chapter of Dracula, which Stoker deleted when his publisher requested that he shorten the book to reduce printing costs. In this section, he alludes to “Carmilla.” At the opening of this chapter, Jonathan Harker loses his way as he sets out for Castle Dracula on Walpurgis Nacht, a night “when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked, when all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.” A shaft of moonlight reveals he is in an overgrown graveyard with a great, snowy-white marble tomb before him.

Impelled by some sort of fascination, I approached the sepulchre to see what it was, and why such a thing stood alone in such a place. I walked around it, and read, over the Doric door, in German:

Countess Dolingen of Gratz

In Styria

Sought and Found Death

1801

On the top of the tomb, seemingly driven through the solid marble - for the structure was composed of a few vast blocks of stone - was a great iron spike or stake. On going to the back, I saw, graven in great Russian letters: ‘The dead travel fast.’

The reference to Styria recalls the Austrian setting of “Carmilla” and invites comparison between the two vampire tales. Whereas “Carmilla” abolishes male rights over women, Dracula reasserts those rights. This is indeed the key distinction between Dracula and “Carmilla,” one that Stoker apparently had in mind from the opening -albeit deleted- chapter of this book.

Stoker’s overriding concern in Dracula is the threat of rampant female sexual desire. Senf rightly points out that this ancient, aristocratic vampire who prays on the wives and fiancees of England’s working class reveals, among other things, the “power that negative social values from the past often have over the present.” As Troy Boone further concludes, the novel suggests that “a new understanding of sexuality and decay is necessary for any attempt to attain social order and growth” and that “for all its apparent ‘reification’ of dominant political beliefs, [Stoker’s text] exposes the dangers of failing to challenge their authority.” Both Senf and Boone present valid arguments, but, like other readings in Dracula’s critical legacy, theirs fail to emphasize the degree to which Stoker responds to the threat of female sexuality in Dracula. In Stoker’s text Dracula - and Dracula’s sense of sexuality- actually dominates very few of the scenes, whereas the sexually-charged female vampires - those at Castle Dracula, Lucy and Mina- receive most of Stoker’s attention.

For his first “experiment” in Dracula, Stoker presents the problem of Lucy’s sexual aggressiveness, a problem to which he ultimately provides a violent solution. Although Lucy’s sexuality does not become rabid until her vampiric possession, Stoker presents her from the beginning as exhibiting personality traits potentially dangerous in women. In a letter to Mina, Lucy asks, “why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her?” Her wishing for the right to have more than one sexual partner -a reality for males such as Stoker himself- makes her a threat to established gender roles. Stoker feels obliged to inform the reader that her wishes were unseemly when, in the same passage, she again asks Mina, “why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?” Lucy serves as Stoker’s paradigm of woman-gone-wrong and predictably suffers from it.

In his attempt to redress Carmilla’s defiant behavior, Stoker imbues Lucy with Carmillaesque qualities. Her sleepwalking, which indicates a propensity towards vampirism in Dracula, first occurs in her childhood, just as Carmilla first visits and “infects: Laura during her childhood. In both works, the tendency towards socially aberrant behavior arises in early childhood, but while Carmilla’s and Laura’s behavior remains unrestrained, Lucy’s is eventually checked. Stoker also suggests that Lucy has lesbian tendencies. In a letter to Mina she says, “I wish I were with you, dear, sitting by the fire undressing, as we used to sit; and I would try to tell you what I feel. I do not know how I am writing this even to you. I am afraid to stop, or I should tear up the letter, and I don’t want to stop, for I do so want to tell you all.” Lucy’s wish to share her secrets while undressing suggests her desire to reveal “what is more properly concealed,” something she knows is “wrong.” The men in the text can control Lucy and Mina’s homosocial relationship as long as they both remain accessible; they cannot, however, control what Lucy presumably has in mind.

As if to temper her questionable behavior, Stoker denies Lucy her inheritance rights and places her firmly within the male-governed kinship system. Lucy’s mother, who controls the Westenra estate after her husband’s death, dies shortly before Lucy’s marriage to Arthur Holmwood. Mrs. Westenra, Dr. Seward tells us, “had for some time expected sudden death from her heart, and had put her affairs in absolute order... with the exception of a certain entailed property of Lucy’s father which now, in default of direct issue, went back to a distant branch of the family, the whole estate, real and personal, was left absolutely to Arthur Holmwood.” Separating Lucy from her inheritance fictionally and historically positions her in a “long tradition in which women do not inherit.” Even before Lucy’s wedding, Mrs. Westenra (whose role is the “corrected” equivalent of Carmilla’s subversive mother) ensures Lucy’s total dependence on her future husband. If her daughter had any wild ideas about being financially independent in marriage, she has permanently disabled her.

Once Dracula kisses Lucy into sudden sexuality, she grows “voluptuous,” “savage,” “wanton,” and “diabolically sweet.” Dracula’s “authorizing kiss... triggers the release of the latent power and excites in [Lucy] a sexuality so mobile, so aggressive, that it thoroughly disrupts... [compartmentalized conceptions] of gender” (Craft 228). Dracula’s kiss enables women to become sexual penetrators. Using their sharp teeth to penetrate men, they reverse traditional gender roles and place men in the passive position customarily reserved for women. In “Carmilla” the penetration of female vampires - in effect, the female appropriation of the phallus - is seen as an act of empowerment; in Dracula, however, Lucy’s unmanageable sexual penetration is presented as inherently evil because it threatens fixed gender distinctions. In an attempt to cure Lucy of her reckless sexuality, Van Helsing and his crew of “brave men” perform massive blood transfusions on her. By having her drained blood replaced with a “brave man”s blood,” Lucy might survive. The act of transfusing blood, of penetrating Lucy’s body with the phallic needle and enabling the men to deposit their own fluids in her, conjures up images of gang rape. As Rubin stresses, “women [in some societies] are frequently kept in their place by gang rape when the ordinary mechanisms of masculine intimidation prove insufficient.” Ironically, Lucy’s wish to marry “as many [men] as want her” violently comes true. Each transfusion symbolizes a kind of ghastly marriage and prompts Van Helsing to fret that “this so sweet maid is a polyandrist.” Stoker gives Lucy what she wants and teaches her a lesson at the same time.

But the gang transfusions fail to cure Lucy’s sexual recalcitrance, prompting Van Helsing’s crew to attempt to mask her sexuality by surrounding her with pungent garlic flowers. While garlic plays a symbolic role in traditional vampire folklore, in Dracula its role is dual. More than just a traditional means of discouraging Dracula’s visits, the ability of garlic to disguise odors, especially body odors, suggests, as Alain Corbin argues in The Foul and the Fragrant, “a way of denying the sexual role of the sense of smell, or at least of shifting the field of olfactory stimulation and allusion.” Van Helsing and Dr. Seward saturate Lucy’s body and environs with garlic flowers not only to keep Dracula at bay but possibly to disguise the sexual odors her newly excited body exudes.

Lucy’s unresponsiveness to ordinary mechanisms of masculine intimidation while alive permits Van Helsing and company, after her death and resurrection as an Undead, to resort to the most violent means of correction available to them. Cora Kaplan argues that traditional fictional “punishment for female sexual transgressions... [is] the immediate loss of social status.” For Stoker, though, the traditional punishment is not severe enough to rectify Lucy’s transgressions. Instead, he employs vampire lore’s extreme phallic corrective: staking and beheading Lucy. In this scene, Stoker’s gang of brave, noble men carry candles dripping “sperm” (D 197) into Lucy’s tomb. Even more sexually alive in the coffin, Lucy’s “body shook and quivered and twisted in violent contortions.” But before she can perform any other sexually suggestive gyrations, Arthur, shining with “high duty” drove “deeper and deeper the mercy bearing stake” into her chest (D 216). This act of transfixation “cures: Lucy and returns her to the accepted role of sexually passive female. Arthur and his companions have repossessed the body, permanently fixing her in the “stabili[zed] distinctions of gender” (Craft 224) and the male system of alliance. Lucy’s sexuality is “corrected.”

Part V will be posted soon...

#carmilla #dracula #j sheridan le fanu #bram stoker #vampire #vampire mythos #feminism #empowerment #women #erasure #feminist reading

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breezy-cheezy · 5 years

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Mmmmmkay I have to rant about Nier: Automata for a bit; I accidentally triggered the end of the game (playthrough 2, ending B) last night and stayed up till 2:00 trying to finish the stupid “not allowed to save” phase. But y’aLL IT’S SO GOOD??????? AND 3RD PLAYTHROUGH ISN’T ANOTHER RE-RUN OF THE SAME STORY WE GET MORE STORY AAAAAAAAA

(more under the cut because there is ALOT for those who care;;;;;)

- OK SO THE MUSIC IS AMAZING??? I love LOVE that the music dynamics build in instruments and intensity as you progress towards danger/plot, but also softens again for quieter moments and just...musical storytelling is so sooooo my jam I love it. Also that the music goes 8 bit when 9S hacks stuff, it’s actually kinda cute X’D

- ON THE SUBJECT of 9S being able to hack into enemies and you getting to play that as a little teeny ship shooting down viruses and barriers and whatnot. Genius???? That added SO MUCG to the story on the second playthrough as 9S. Particularly discovering the fact that all of humanity?? Is actually extinct?? ...even BEFORE the aliens/machines attacked earth?? WH A T?????? WHAT THE HECK ARE ANDROIDS FIGHTING FOR THEN????? *every time an android salutes and says “glory to mankind” now* GLORY MY FOOT THEY ALL DEAD MOVE ON--

- I realize it probably has alot to do with the lore of previous nier games and I’ll probably have to trawl through Wiki pages soon here. Emil himself really broke my heart aaaaaah baby...his side quest is so sad. I also looked at arts and he was a really cute kid?? Before he was turned int the freaky moon skeleton thing...?? Oh my goodness......

- The secret lunar tear flower room is gorgeous. I just sat there for awhile to soak it all in...the music is so nostalgic and I’ve never heard that song bfore how do y’all DO THAT--

- Emil’s shop is pretty cute. He just drives around the ruins and sells stuff if you shoot him and he’ll stop X’’’D It did ruin alot of serious moments tho. *Engels, talking about how he’d sinned for killing so many androids and choosing death--* “S-A-L-E SAAAALLLEEE~~!! EVERY SALE’S A WIIIINNNNNN~~~~!!!! LALALaaaaaa~~~...” Me: *facepalm*

- ...I just realized the little tune he sings is a cheerful rendition of the music in the flower room. H E C K

- ANYWAY. Onto the actual game. I really really enjoyed playing as 9S for obvious reasons (bABY) but it really did add so soooo much to the pretty much surface level story when you first play as 2B. Which sums them up pretty well...2B, Battle unit 2, pushes on relentlessly, avoids thinking too hard about things and what she’s doing because oh dear, EMOTION might get in the way...9S, Scanner unit 9, on the other hand, cannot stop his curiosity. He asks questions, he sticks his nose in way further than he should to some dangerous stuff. I think he realized Machines were sentient and had feelings long before 2B, but was in denial for a good while. You learn so much more about what you’re fighting as 9S, because he scans. He observes, searches, discovers. Heck, some hacking caused him to experience empathy for the poor things, to his horror...

- Actually, there are alot of scenes where either 2B or 9S questions why a machine they’re killing is screaming for help, of crying for lost family, or loudly proclaiming loyalty to a king they’ll give their lives for...they stop for a moment, but the other quickly jumps in and reminds them that it’s just imitation. It’s not real, it’s fake, machines can’t feel, yadda yadda...it was odd to me they kept switching off on reminding, but...I think they both know, deep down, what they’re doing. But denial. Because if machines DO have feelings, if they are sentient...what does that mean for all they’ve killed...? Just...hoo BOY the moral dellimas in this game?? Scary good. The quests get that across alot.

- I don’t like the theme of hopelessness in most of the side quests?? I do see many of them as cautionary tales though. We watch many characters lose hope and the will to live after their thing/person they’re living FOR is gone. It makes me worry alot about 2B, who is a soldier through and through. 9S actually does have hopes and dreams for things outside of the war, which I love ;7; they definitely lean on each other alot emotionally on this respect though...I don’t know quite what to make of the themes of the game this far in yet;;;;

- The love between 9S and 2B is of course my favorite thing. Familial, romantic, idk. I, being me, see it as more platonic, “You’re my rock in this storm” only friend/sister/brother vibe, but as more of a fan of platonic relationships, that is what I tend to do. But 9s following 2B around like a lost puppy and trying to do all he can to help and do his job but also getting bored with said job and trying to make the most of things, asking all the “why” questions, 2B acting irritated but also always keeps him close and makes sure he’s safe....going ballistic when someone hurts her boy ;;v;; I love...2 kids. Their operators and pods are such fun dynamics too~~

- As far as endings A and B...DANG. It hit worse because you get backstory on the giant ocean machine (that 9S just hit with a giant missle, which he also had to ride to keep it on the right path...DX NO SELF PRESERVATION) he just...wanted his mama......;;A;;

- Also it’s not fair. 9S is so injured by that missle attack, then I guess Adam finds him and is like “HM. *sticks the lil boy impaled on a wall* Perfect. *proceeds to emotionally and mentally torture said child*“ like YO ADAM THAT’S NOT HOW YOU DO THINGS. Then 2B proceeds to kick down walls for her boy and kills Adam and walks off carrying 9S bridal style into the sunset. Lovely. I have a comic idea for this part, lol.

- Oh I don’t like Adan very much, he is pretty tho?? There was alot of blood though...how do machines bleed?? How do the androids bleed?? What??? I question this alot.

- HHHHHHH THE BECOME AS GODS CHAPTER SCARED ME I DON’T EVER WANNA DO THAT AGAIN DANG SUICIDAL ROBOTS SCARED ME SO BAD

- Fighting Eve was...annoying but still heartbreaking. He misses his brother so much....even though Adam is a butthead and couldn’t care less he left his little brother behind DX just everything about that fight was Tragic. Also Eve developing more self awareness and realizing “Eve” is a girl’s name and being a bit miffed LOL that’s what y’all get when your first book is the bible kiddos...I realize they’re technically like what? 2 weeks old still???

- The ENDING. From 9S’s perspective is especially scary....the corruption transforming him, 2B coming in to kill him to stop the pain, he BEGGED her to, just....hhhhhhh babies ;;A;; 2B’s soft broken crying over him as she’s forced to strangle her only friend to death just aaaaaAAAAAAAA I DIE ;;;;;;;;~;;;;;;;;;

- I was actually able to cry over it this time coz. It was 2 am. No parent awkwardly watching over my shoulder. Because the pose for this scene is...........super awkward..........like......really........their clothes are super torn up and uh. The first time I was just hoping my parents wouldn’t mistake it for a sex scene or something hhhhhghhhhh;;;;;; I really really REALLY wish the pose was different, the game does need to give the fanservice a rest, at LEAST for a scene this serious DX I’m able to ignore it but when someone else is watching I don’t wanna have to explain;;;;

- That IS a big gripe I have with the game. The fanservice. Just. Why. How is 2B’s outfit practical?? Self destruct mode???? REALLY???? Get this girl battle shorts or something please.....I guess if I looked at it more as a ballet outfit?? I might make some edits when I draw her because GEEZ.

- 9S gets some of this too. Self destruct mode, his shorts are blown off???? WHAT THE HECK???? Welp, never using that again. also why is he the only yorha boy android??????????? X’’’’D They never explain that!!

- BACK TO ENDING STUFF why were there random data hologram girls standing there, watching 2B strangle 9S?? Just...silently there...they weren’t there in the first playthrough?? I’ve seen them a couple times but they’re NEVER mentioned?? WHAT ARE THEY-- is it a glitch?? Wha--

- Teeny 9S being able to dump his consciousness into a giant machine robot guy and cradling 2B in his hand ;;~;; he’s fine y’all I’m so GLAD (I wanna draw something for this scene.... I wanna draw alot of things)

- I love Pascal. He should adopt all the sad people to his happy peace village. He already started that...what a good egg.

- The accessories option is lovely. I’ve been running around with 9S with a blue bow in his hair forever now ;7; replaced with the flower in his hair because BOYS AND FLOWERS I LOVE but I think I might give the flower to 2B because she’d look lovely with it and....I miss the blue bow X’D

- Also the AMOUNT of things this could line up with a KH universe....as far as how androids work, hearts (black boxes), memories making you...you, being able to transfer “hearts” to new bodies when the old is destroyed, POWER OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP...there’s alot. I dunno what to do with this info...

Anyway, I have alOT of thoughts and feelings on this game, it’s like...a very cool book. I’ve had trouble putting down. These aren’t even all of them but idk who I can actually rant to so here it is for the Void

I’m so interested to see where it goes!

#breezy babbles #ALOT #idk where else to put this so here #for the void #this probably absolutely makes no sense I'm so sorry #nier: automata #nier #meta #????kinda #I loooove love love 9S with all my heart and soul #he's also voiced by Mob's english voice actor which is SO MUCH CUTER #they need to hang out #I love 2B so much too #their operators are cute #pascal is cute #everyone is cute

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orlamccools · 6 years

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I got tagged by @ghoulign but tumblr sucks at notifying me so im terribly sorry if this is super late!!

Rules: Answer the questions in a new post and tag 10 blogs you would like to get to know better

A- Age: 17, but I turn 18 on June 14th!

B- Birthplace: Arizona, USA

C- Current time: 10:23 pm

D- Drink you last had: Water bc its hot af in Illinois (its almost 11 and its like 80° out)

E- Easiest person to talk to: My dad

F- Favorite song: As of right now, I'd say Ohio by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

G- Grossest memory- I was filming something for a class project and stepped in a huge piece of dog shit :( i ended up having to throw away those shoes bc they smelled so bad

H- Horror yes or horror no: I can read scary books all day long and be fine but put on a horror movie and i start crying

I- In love? Hell no, and I don't plan to be anytime soon

J- Jealous of people? Not really, usually I just try and make the best of my situation

L- Love at first sight or should I walk back again? While I understand the appeal of being attracted to people solely based on first impression and aesthetic appreciation, I think real love takes more time to develop. Keep walking buddy

M- Middle name: Rose

N- Number of siblings: 3, all younger

O- One wish: I hope we get a big thunderstorm sometime soon so this awful heat can break

P- Person you called last: My sister Ellie

Q- Question you are always asked: It's lessened since May 1st but "how is your research coming along?"

R- Reason to smile: New Lore book coming out soon, my siblings, my friends, the Unsolved bois

S- Song you sang last: Burn from Hamilton probably

T- Time you woke up: 9:30 am

U- Underwear color: Teal green

V- Vacation destination: Norway, Wales, or Mongolia

W- Worst habit: My room is literally always a mess i cant keep it clean akdkfnfmak

X- X-ray: I haven't had too many x rays but I have had a lot of EKG's, which are kinda similar!

Y- Your favorite food: Pretzels. If it were possible for a person to live solely on pretzels, I'd be that person

Z- Zodiac sign: Gemini

I'm just gonna tag some new and newish followers so: @love-is-love-101, @memecatwings , @actual-peasant, @inimitable-gabs, @yoshifics, @reblogornavy, @slythindoricequeen, @powered-by-flowers, @bastardivorcedme, and @homicideandmuffins

#maddie mumbles #ask game

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futuristicthingkryptonite · 3 years

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Elysian Gaming Gmod

Discord servers tagged with Hiring-Staff

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Steam Workshop: Garry's Mod. UPDATE Many Thanks For SligWolf for getting the models into the new format and working, he has been really helpful, I can't thank him enough to get these working again.

💦Want to join a good advertising Server? Well, I've got the right server for you!💦 ❄️🌊FrostFlame Promotion🌊❄️ - 📰Many Self Promotion Channels📰 You can advertise almost anything! We have channels dedicated to advertising! - 📰Many People to Advertise To📰 We have 1000+ Members you can Advertise to! - 📰Booster Perks📰 If you boost the server, you will be allowed to advertise in Premium Self Promotion! - 📰Unlimited Advertising📰 You can advertise your server as much as you want! There is no limit! - 📰Quick Cooldowns📰 We only have 15 minute cooldowns! You can advertise faster and more here than in every other big advertising server! ❄️Tired of seeing the same old servers? Want to join a good advertising server?❄️ 🌊Well look no farther, you’ve come to the right place!🌊

Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time.

Blood Of The Werewolf, Castle Crashers, Dust: An Elysian Tale, Gmod, Skullgirls, and Undertale Favorite Gaming Platforms ANY.

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:spades:Welcome To Legend’s Advertising:spades: :globe_with_meridians:We’re a Growing advertising server that is focused on Growing Your Server! :bar_chart:We Offer helpful and friendly staff, Vip Members Roles and a Bunch Of Different channels you can advertise in! including gaming corners We’re Always Hiring Staff And Pms! Join Now to gain members fast!

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╔═════◥◣▼◢◤═════╗ WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE ╚═════◢◤▲◥◣═════╝ ╔ Active community with cool members. ╠ We take user suggestions and feedback. ╠ Fair and down to earth admins. ╠ Always updating the server because we can. ╠ Events such as movie nights, gaming events, and more! ╚ All gaming platforms accepted. 『Rules』『1. Respect the mods and owners of the server. 2. Do not send NSFW in any of the channels. 3. Do not spam, If you are going to spam do it in spam. 4. Do not ping roles or everyone unnecessarily. 5. Involved in drama? Tell an admin they will do what's best.』 MORE RULES IN SERVER

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Welcome Delaware State Roleplay. We are a newly formed professional roleplay server who are wishing to grow and thrive. We currently don't have many members, and have been a server since November 30, 2020! Every great roleplay server has to start somewhere, and that's why we're here today, hoping to start daily SSU's and maintain a fun, professional atmosphere for our community! Applications are currently open for various ranks within our community, as we are in need of an extraordinary staff team to help us along our journey! We would like the help from experienced members who can open up divisions, and offer more to the wider community. What will Delaware State offer when it gains members? - Active Founders. - Private roleplay server. - Daily server start ups. - Professional roleplay with Some Leniency For Certain Rules. - Giveaways. - Well trained staff team. - Among Us game nights. - Events. - Looking for Partnerships. Divisions - yet to come! Ideas such as K9 Division, FBI, DOT, EMS, etc! Sub-divisions - yet to come! Ideas such as Cafe workers and Postal workers! If you happen to have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to DM any of the three representatives below!

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A server with an fresh community and hiring staff and Looking for partners. We are trying to grow to 100+ members!

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༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶ 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚃𝚘 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚 ༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶ 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚? ╰☆╮𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 ★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・ 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎 ╰☆╮𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 ╰☆╮𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 ╰☆╮𝘍𝘶𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘴 ╰☆╮𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 ╰☆╮𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ╰☆╮𝘚𝘬𝘺/𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 ★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★ ＊•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸!˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚＊ ★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

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Welcome to Shadow Legends Discord or SLDS! In SLDS, we are a small discord community about chilling, chatting, having fun and advertising! What we offer and do: Giveaways Bot Game points/coins giveaways Emotes/Emoji's Advertising anything (such as youtube channels, discord servers, bots, games, etc! NOTE: There is a 30 minutes cool down!) Music Bots Memes Leveling Points Shop Hiring Staff With these cool amazing features, what are you waiting for? Join us and be our server member!

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Due to our server being inactive we did a slight purge removing all members that havent talked, if your looking for an active community check us out! Hiya, Welcome to Flower Fields, in flower fields you can 🌻~ Make new friends 🌻~ Particapate in Nitro Giveaways and other giveaways 🌻~ We offer a wide variety of reaction roles 🌻~ Active and Non-Toxic Community 🌻~ SFW Server 🌻~ Weekly Nitro Giveaways and often gifts posted in chat

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Hello!We are hiring staff and also please join it would mean alot to us!Anyways thank you for looking at this you are amazing! <3

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StreetOutlawsDOJ StreetOutlawsDOJ is a role play server based off of San Andrea’s. Here at SODOJ we strive to preform as professional and be the best that we can possibly be for the fiveM community. We currently have three departments open which include the follow. Blaine County Sheriff’s Office Los Santos Police Department San Andreas State Police San Andreass Fire/Ems Staff team StreetOutlawsDOJ is a vMenu server with structure and discipline set in place to ensure every member of the community has the best experience that any member could ask for. All members of SODOJ are very mature and consist of adults that want to make this server strive to be the best that it can be. Some things you will find in SODOJ - Active Staff - A lot of staff positions open - CAD/MDT - EUP - Clean HUD - Clean Server - Anti Cheat - Custom Civ Cars - Custom Scripts Our discord link is below. https://discord.gg/462neN9

Elysian Gaming Gmod Skin

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We are a new dank Memer community which wants to bring every dank memer lover into a single server and have some fun, we are Oriented Dankers and we provide all of the things provided below. Enjoy your stay with us whever you join ;) Premium Perks Rob & Heist Disabled! Giveaways Other Bots Friendly Staff

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Welcome to Dreamland! Hey there! We are here to cheer you up! What we offer? • Awesome Giveaways • Safe & Fun Community And more! You could find amazing perks of boosting our server too! No! Invite your friends to share this great server!

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Hello there. This is a PokeTwo/Pokemon based server! We are now hiring moderators, we will be giving away nitro as we grow. We also offer gym battling for badges or becoming one of our gym leaders yourself :D (Elite Four if you beat us all). You can come join here to flex on us. We will be doing more nitro giveaways as we grow to do Pokemon tournaments and whoever wins gets them! You can get your own personal roles. We hope you enjoy our community! Stay safe and have fun!

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G'day, I'm here to tell you about House of Gamers What's this you might say? Well we are a Gaming/Community server where you can enjoy yourself! here's why you should join HOG Gaming Channels & VC's! Advertise your Servers & Social Media! Weekly Giveaways! A place to chillax with other users! Music VC's! [Rythm & MEE6] Friendly Staff And more! We're also looking for Staff! Interested in joining now? GREAT! Head over to House of Gamers to enjoy the listed above!

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𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 ✮ 🎀 𝑔𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓍𝒾𝑒𝓈 🎀 ✮ ✺ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ✺ 🌻Hi! We are finding a community for our server! We are glad if you join our server! We offer: - Hiring staff - Supporting LGBTQ+ - Cute, aesthetic emojis And more! We hope you will be our great great great member soon! See you soon!🌻 ✺ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ⑅ ┅ ✺ By: ୨♡୧ 𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓪𝔁𝔂 ୨♡୧

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Hello there! Are you a angry person? Or you just made a Account? Then no worries! Join my server today! We offer : 1. Giveaways 2. Cool events 3. Fun channels 4. Custom roles 5. Own bot 6. Chill people 7. Hiring staff Join today for more!

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𝐭𝐧 ; ディスコード + ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ . .˚╭┈ (+) what is 𝐭𝐧┊ ◦ project: 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐧 is a cyberpunk lore revolving around a fictional japanese city, Shin’toshi City. 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐧 discord is a fandom/community server. so, even if you aren’t interested in the lore, you can always just come to socialize! . .˚╭┈(+) about┊ │ form a community … │ ⸝⸝ a minimalistic aes ... │ ⸝⸝ lgbt+ friendly … │ ⸝⸝ fully sfw ... │ ⸝⸝ and always looking for staff (non paid) ╰───────────────────────────────

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Just talking, playing games, and sharing our videos i guess

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▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Welcome to our server▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ what we offer as a server ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ we are a new server filled with many people if any of you want to join pls come in we have not got many things but we hope to expand the server and we need moderators and admins and people to giveaway stuff like nitro - as in giveaway manager ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ we are still a smoll server and hope you will enjoy we are giving the first people to join a vip role so pls come and enjoy your stay ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

4 days ago

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We at Game Verse provide a easy to navigate server layout wich make s your grinds easier and faster, we also apply secret multipliers from economy bots and are trying to develop a big community. We plan on doing a nitro giveaway when we reach 200 members!

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Elysian Gaming Gmod Fortnite

hello im meshi and this is a new server!! this server is for anything really, the only special thing is that you dont have to censor anything!! (homophobia, racism etc. arent allowed) jokes are fine tho!! next 5 ppl to join get a special role :))

Sandbox Games 17

Welcome to Site-19 Sandbox Roleplay! A server where you chose your outcome! Either play as a prisoner and escape to become Chaos Insurgency, or prevent breaches as Foundation! And stop the Chaos from wrecking havoc! But if you can’t control the breaches, the facility might be sacrificed to an OMEGA Warhead blast,

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ressarioth · 7 years

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Hearts and Flowers

Amidst a field of flowers filled with memories, two strangers meet as if by chance. One of them doesn't want to forget, the other is trying to remember. In the end they find that what connects them is more solid than fate: a past that transcends a lifetime.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, Other

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII

Relationship: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife

Characters: Cloud Strife, Original Character

Additional Tags: Mild Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, Closure, Reincarnation, Canon Universe, Canon Compliant,Post-Canon, Post Advent Children, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Original Character(s)

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 9258

Notes: I felt like the lifestream lore screams reincarnation, so here you go. I'm aware that's not a thing established in canon, but the divergence seemed too small to tag. This is heavy with the memory of Aerith (sorry for dragging up those feelings?), but she doesn't make an active appearance. Cloud's relationship with her prior to her death is relevant though and you're free to interpret it however like. I didn't spell it out so far, but by now you might be guessing what this is about. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read.

AO3

The old church in Sector 5 is as quiet as ever but it has started to feel less peaceful. It has been a decade since Cloud encountered Aerith here and the building has become increasingly unstable since then. One stone wall crumbled during the catastrophe that nearly wiped out Midgar and would have destroyed the entire planet. Two years later a large part of the floor was torn up along with most remaining benches and since then the roof has become even more desolate. Pieces of wooden beams and roof tiles have fallen down from it and lie scattered across the place.

Once filled with water which sprouted from a crater where Kadaj's magic hit, the depression spanning across two thirds of the interior is now covered in flowers. They're even growing on top of debris, though some of them get crushed every time another piece comes tumbling down from above. The signs of destruction are never covered up completely, leaving Cloud with a sense of disturbance. It's an unpleasant reminder that nothing lasts forever while simultaneously serving as proof that from something old and broken new things can grow. A circle of life and death, ever repeating in front of his eyes as he stops by to reminisce his late friends.

The memories are no longer haunting as he stands in the doorway every other week, dedicating a few moments of silence to those he lost before returning home to his family. Tifa joined him once, when he stuck the Buster Sword into the top of the stone altar, but hasn't been back here since. To her this place doesn't have the same meaning as to him and she has her own ways of remembering Aerith.

A couple of times he let Marlene accompany him, because she wanted to see the flowers again. Once the roof started to dissemble and parts of it came raining down more frequently however, he decided it was too dangerous for her. As compensation he promised to pick her a small bouquet every time he went. (He still does even though Marlene is sixteen now and has grown out of the need for the ritual. But she always smells the blossoms with a smile when she receives them.)

To Cloud visiting the church is a routine he doesn't want to give up on. He hasn't heard Aerith's voice in years, so this is all he has left. It's where he allows himself to dwell on the memories of her and Zack without them taking over his life. They come up as soon as the ruined building comes into sight and he pays little attention to his surroundings as he walks up to the entrance. Once he's two steps through the doorway however, he realises he's not the only one who has come here tonight.

Cloud stops in his tracks, his eyes on the figure kneeling at the edge of the concave flower bed ahead. It appears to be a young girl in a light blue dress, humming over rustling noises which he suspects are her fingers brushing through the leaves. Since she has her back to him, he can only see her dark curls part at her nape and fall left and right over her tanned shoulders. Preoccupied with the flowers in front of her, she doesn't seem to have noticed his arrival.

Uncertain about how to respond to the situation, Cloud lingers near the entrance. At first he's surprised to find anyone else here, let alone a girl all by herself. Then he feels like he's intruding upon a personal moment, though it might be because that's what he comes here for. The only thing that keeps him from walking back out is worry about the girl. While for now she remains in the relatively safe area near the door, nothing is here to stop her from going further in. He may not know her, but he isn't going to push aside the responsibility of keeping her from walking into harm's way.

As if on cue, the humming stops and Cloud's alertness rises. The girl gets onto her feet and steps into the flower bed, carefully as if to make sure she doesn't trample the blossoms. Panic surges up inside him. Interrupting or scaring her is no longer his concern as he calls out.

"Stop!"

The words echo between stone walls and the girl freezes just three steps down the slope which was once filled to the brim with water. When she whirls around, the flowers rustle around her legs and a few petals fall off. Her brown eyes are wide in surprise as she takes in the company she wasn't aware of having. Though initially startled, she's recovering rather quickly.

"The roof has been coming down," Cloud hastens to explain. "It's dangerous to go any further."

Her gaze wanders upwards as she leans back her head and takes in the wooden beams and roof riddled with holes above her. Cloud isn't sure she grasps the actual danger of it collapsing onto her, but at least she isn't walking any further into the nave. She looks back to him and blinks at him in curiosity.

"Who are you?" the girl inquires.

Cloud doesn't think it will mean much to her, still he answers: "I'm Cloud."

"Cloud," she echoes. "That's a nice name."

The thought never occurred to him. It's his name, a part of his identity. He came to treasure it after thinking that he was an empty puppet, a failed experiment begging to be numbered just to have something to keep him from being no one at all. But he'd never attribute anything to it beyond what it means to him to have a name. So he doesn't know how to respond to the girl's remark. It might be polite to give his thanks, but he feels far too weird about it to actually do so.

"My name's Aurora," the girl introduces herself. Then she quickly adds: "It's a bit of a mouth full, I know."

"Is it?" Cloud questions, because he doesn't get that impression.

"A friend of mine says that it's too long," Aurora explains and tucks a strand of black hair behind her ear. "He calls me Aura for short, though I keep telling him that's not how nicknames work."

It's hard to tell if she's upset about the fact, but she's complaining, so it seems to have some relevance. Cloud doesn't feel like he's good at giving advice, especially to children. Tifa was always way better at handling the kids than him, so he didn't get much practice in the matter over the past decade either. But Tifa is not around right now, so he feels like he should at least give it a shot.

"If you don't like him calling you that you should tell him to stop until he does," he suggests.

Talking things over is something he's been practicing himself. It didn't come naturally, but as he tried he found that it helped him and Tifa a lot to come together. He worked at it with Marlene and Denzel as well, though when they were still younger he wasn't always sure how much he could say or how he should explain things.

"I didn't say I don't like it," Aurora clarifies, "it just makes little sense."

That seems like a strange thing to get hung up on — to Cloud at least. But he reminds himself that things that may seem negligible to him can be of importance to others. Kids in particular seem to have peculiar priorities sometimes, going by what he has learned from Marlene in her younger years. So he tries to level with Aurora as best he can.

"Nicknames don't always make sense," he tells her. "I've been called 'Spiky' more often than I can count."

Aurora gives him a thorough look before pointing out: "You have spiky hair though."

"Okay, bad example," Cloud admits, since he can't argue with her there.

His thoughts drift off, wondering if he can come up with a better example to make his point, but never reaching a conclusion. In the end he isn't really sure if Aurora needs him to pursue the topic further.

A look at her shows him that she seems unconcerned with the matter already. She has turned her back on him once again and lets her gaze wander over the flowers who are filling out most of the building. It's almost like she already forgot about him being there, because the growing vegetation in the ruin is more interesting than him. (If it were so, he couldn't blame her for taking more interest in a flower bed than in a stranger.) But it's not long before she twirls around, her dress swaying over her knees with movement, and gives him another curious look.

"So." Aurora tilts her head to the side a little. "Why did you come?"

There's a strange familiarity about those words which leaves Cloud taken aback, but he can't put his finger on what it is. It can't be the question by itself, because it is far too common in its wording to stick out. Yet something about the way Aurora paused after the "so", something about the intonation she used gives him a strange sense of déjà vu. He blinks twice and misses the moment to give a response.

Aurora is still eying him with interest, but instead of awaiting his answer or reminding him that he still owes her one, she adds another question. "Did you hear the call, too?"

"What call?"

Cloud hasn't heard anything and yet he doesn't perceive her question as strange. His thoughts immediately turn to the few times Aerith spoke to him eight years ago. Did Aerith reach out to Aurora from the lifestream? He doesn't know how it works or why she would speak to an unfamiliar girl rather than him, but it would at least mean that she's still there even though he hasn't heard from her in so long. Reason tells him it's unlikely and yet a part of his heart immediately clings to the possibility while another corner of it stings because Aerith may have spoken to someone else while staying silent on him.

"I don't know." Aurora shrugs. "I was just going for a walk when I felt like something was telling me to come here."

"Oh," Cloud says, the explanation leaving him a little disappointed. His thoughts wander off for a moment before he remembers to answer her question. "No, I didn't hear anything."

My friend though, I've heard her voice a few times after she returned to the lifestream. Cloud doesn't add that. He cannot think of a reason why he should tell Aurora about Aerith. In this place with someone who didn't know her it feels like summoning a ghost he thought he had put to rest. Besides, he's not one to share personal stories with strangers, kids or not.

Aurora casts a look at the flowers surrounding her, a few of them now trampled beneath her feet from her sudden turns. She appears to be around seven years old and curious about the world the way Marlene used to be at that age. Cloud figures it's a part of childish nature to be like that until it gets crushed by reality. That's a bleak notion however and he wants to chase it from his mind. (Marlene is growing into a cheerful young woman, Tifa has regained a lot more of her optimism than she had five years after the destruction of Nibelheim, Aerith was always full of kindness… It might just be him who lingers on some of the dark thoughts of the past.)

"Did you come here for the flowers then?" Aurora wants to know.

It's a close enough assumption. "Yeah."

She turns her back on him and crouches down where she's standing, her attention captured by the white and yellow blossoms once more. They're growing further apart than they used to back in the day when they only occupied the patch between the broken up tiles in front of the altar. The light of the setting sun is falling through the open wall, dying the scenery in a yellow glow.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Aurora comments on the flowers.

Since she's keeping up the conversation, Cloud figures she's not bothered by his presence. Slowly he walks over to the edge of the flower bed, while ensuring to keep what seems like an appropriate distance. He wouldn't want Aurora to feel crowded by him standing directly behind him, but it's also for his own comfort. Even though it's something that got better over time, he still can't help feeling a little self-conscious around new people. (Like his motion sickness it was suppressed while he believed himself to be an ex-SOLDIER but resurfaced once he sorted out his own delusions.)

Now that he's looking at her from another angle, he notices her hands moving between the stems, picking out drying leaves and scattering them on the ground. He's gripped by a vague sense of déjà vu again. Aerith did the same thing during their first meeting, though he never asked her what that was about. Back then he didn't care, now he thinks he should have.

"Yeah," Cloud agrees, his thoughts staying with Aerith as he watches Aurora tending to the flowers. (How often has he stared at the blossoms in his lifetime now?) "A friend of mine planted them here — or maybe they grew here by themselves and she was just looking after them. I…forgot."

It's one of those times when he wonders if memories can become as elusive for anyone or if it's just him that sometimes still struggles to put the pieces together. At first he thinks that he should know, that Aerith told him at some point — she must have! Then he starts questioning whether she ever did. He may have just assumed that she planted them because she was tending to them. She talked about this being the only place in Midgar where the flowers would grow, but beyond that he cannot remember.

Whenever something like this happens he's filled with a weird sense of uncertainty. It's a small reminder of the time when all he thought he was came crumbling down while he was trying so hard to hold himself together by the seems. Back then he lost himself and if it hadn't been for Tifa helping him through he may have never recovered. (He suspects that a part of him never did and it flares up in panic every time something escapes his memory, ready to doubt everything again.)

"Where's your friend now?"

Aurora's voice calls Cloud back from his thoughts and he wonders why she would ask about Aerith's whereabouts. "What?"

"You said your friend was looking after the flowers, but she isn't here now." She has turned in his direction as she's tending to the flowers, but pauses to look up at him with probing eyes. "So where is she?"

"Oh." He stares down, avoiding her gaze, then up as if to find the right words to formulate his answer floating between the rotting beams. "She...returned to the lifestream."

"Returned...to the lifestream? You mean she died?"

Cloud takes a breath and looks at Aurora again. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," she offers quietly and lowers her head.

Silence spreads as Cloud's gaze wanders. At first he thinks that he doesn't know how to respond to her sympathy, then it slips his mind that he should answer at all. His eyes land on the pool towards the front of the nave where the water once healed him from the geostigma. He heard Aerith's voice as he was ready to chase after Kadaj again and he got the feeling she was watching over him then.

After a moment or two, Aurora inquires: "Do you miss your friend?"

"I guess I do." Cloud crouches down by the flower bed and reaches out a finger to brush over a yellow petal. "It's been ten years. I come here to check on these flowers even though they grow by themselves, because they remind me of her and…I don't want to forget."

Aurora straightens up, barely any taller while standing than he is in his crouched position. Crossing her arms behind her back, she leans forward a bit as if to get a closer look at his face. It reminds him of the way Aerith sometimes used to look at him, but the association must come easy in a place that is filled with memories of her. It seems like a lot about Aurora is reminding him of Aerith and that can only be him projecting.

"Are you sad that she's gone?" Aurora wants to know.

Cloud takes a moment to consider whether he has actually stopped being sad or whether life is just distracting enough for him to not feel it most of the time. When Aerith died in front of his eyes it felt like a wound had been ripped open that could never heal. Yet time has more healing abilities than he would've given it credit for — once he was ready to give it a chance.

"Not anymore, not really," he tells Aurora.

"Really?" She turns away and looks to the front of the nave where Zack's sword is presiding over the water. "I don't think I could ever stop being sad if I lost someone."

The answer that comes to mind probably won't comfort her, but he says it anyway. "It's part of life. None of us can walk this planet forever."

"Then what comes after?" Aurora is still staring at the sword, though he isn't sure if she's actually taking it in or if her eyes went out of focus. "The lifestream?"

"So it would seem," Cloud confirms, putting a hand to the floor to balance himself.

She turns her head slightly in his direction, but her eyes stay trained ahead. "How does that work?"

"I'm not sure," he admits. "Someone once told me that all living things come from the lifestream and also return to it again, but I don't know the details."

"Can people come back?"

The words resound in Cloud's head and he's trying to think of a definite answer, but realises he can't come up with anything. When Bugenhagen explained the lifestream to him and how its energy forms new life and merges with its main current again in a never ending cycle it didn't occur to him that it could include people's lives. So what if they can come back, if they're born and die over and over — is it a blessing or a curse?

It's hard to imagine. He feels like he's lived two lives, but one was comprised of altered memories and a false persona he had created. It was only in his head and it didn't last long before it shattered and he had to pick up the pieces, trying to figure out who he really was. An eternal circle of life and death, like the flowers in this church — it seems possible, almost comforting. Looking at Aurora who can't take her eyes off the Buster Sword he'd liked to think so — maybe.

A new life for Aerith, a happier life even — something like Aurora seems to have. Something where she doesn't have to face hardships as a child. Something where her biggest concern is what to wear or that the nickname her friend uses for her doesn't make sense. No Shinra company to hunt her, no sorrow over her dead mother, nothing that forces her to grow up too soon. Harsh life can wait a little longer before it comes for her, until she's older and stronger. He likes the idea of that though the skeptical voice in his head is telling him that he's getting carried away with unrealistic daydreaming.

"I don't know," Cloud answers Aurora's question. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." She shrugs and he doesn't know her well enough to judge if her carefree tone is genuine this time. Then there's a shift in her as she turns and looks at him while pointing ahead. "What's the matter with that sword?"

He knows before following the direction of her finger with his eyes that she's indicating the Buster Sword sticking out of the altar. The water used to almost completely engulf the stone table and he had to wade all the way over to place the sword there. Now that the water has long since retreated, moss is growing over the stone where it used to reach.

Feeling his legs getting tense in his current position, Cloud stands back up before he answers: "It belonged to a friend of mine."

"The same friend that tended to the flowers?"

A smile crosses Cloud's face as he tries to imagine Aerith wielding the heavy broadsword. It sure would've been something to watch her beat up monsters with that instead of her staff. But then his thoughts return to Zack who carried the sword with great pride and his amusement dissolves.

"No, another friend." Cloud pauses for a moment, debating whether he should say it. But somehow it seems relevant enough not to keep it from Aurora. "He…died protecting me."

"Protecting you…," Aurora echoes and for a moment her face goes blank as she stares at the sword. But then she snaps out of her thoughts and turns to him with renewed enthusiasm. "Hey, I want to have a closer look at it, can we go?"

"I told you it's dangerous to go beyond this point," Cloud objects. He doesn't know what her sudden fascination with the sword is, but he's not her guardian or anything, so it doesn't feel comfortable letting her take the risk.

"But you're with me," she argues and comes running up to him. "You can protect me, right?" She grabs his hand and pulls at it as she adds: "Let's go together."

Cloud looks down at her in silence, unsure what he should do. Saying no would make him feel bad at this point. But protecting someone from falling debris is harder than guarding someone from monsters. Yet her expectant brown eyes are melting his resolve. He looks up at the broken ceiling as if to gauge what the chances of raining wood are. At the moment it upholds the illusion of stability, almost as if nothing would come down from it ever again. He sighs, because he knows he lost this argument.

"Fine," he relents. "But stay close to me."

Her face lightens up with a smile and she nods. "Okay!"

Cloud keeps his pace slow so Aurora can follow along with ease and guides her around any remains of wooden beams and roof tiles to minimise the chances of her stumbling over them. The whole time she holds on to his hand as if he wasn't a complete stranger to her still. It's like a sign of her trust and she makes it seem natural.

Once they arrive in front of the altar Aurora releases her grip and reaches up to the sword. Her hand barely touches the wide side of the blade sticking out of the stone even as she stands on her tiptoes. Cloud takes a gamble and lifts her up onto the altar, making sure to place her at the right side of the sword where the blade is blunt.

Her expression seems to be a mixture of awed and thoughtful as she takes in the weapon from up close. She touches the metal, singed by rust and with moss crawling up here and there. (Cloud gave up on cleaning it once the roof started coming down. It functions more like a gravestone now and not like a weapon that needs to be kept in shape.) It's hard to guess what she's thinking or why she seems so drawn to the sword.

"Sometimes I have these strange dreams," Aurora begins without prompt, her attention for the weapon still undistracted. "They go away the moment I wake up and I can only remember random images. But there's a sword like this one and I think it's protecting me."

Cloud listens, not sure where this is going. It's hard to imagine that Aurora would be dreaming of this exact sword though, so he figures it may have been some kind of broadsword and she just hasn't seen many of the likes for it to make a difference to her. It catches his interest regardless.

"Hey Cloud." Aurora interrupts her inspection of the Buster Sword and gives him a curious look. The familiarity with which she addresses him makes him feel like they've known each other for longer than this brief encounter. The impression gets brushed aside however as she voices her question: "Would your friend have protected me the way he protected you?"

Though he can't see what she's getting at with this, he answers: "Yeah probably."

His memories of Zack are still muddy. He spent a couple of months not even remembering that Zack existed and instead taking on Zack's place in several of his memories. Though he sorted out the events revolving around the mission to Nibelheim, a lot of his past is still fuzzy. The time he was held captive in the Shinra mansion remains a blank slate which he was never able to fill while his escape with Zack is a collection of random moments. The time he was part of the infantry is somewhere in between. He isn't even sure when and how he met Zack for the first time.

If what Zack did for Cloud is anything to go by though, then he wouldn't ignore anyone who needed help. So Cloud adds: "Zack was the type to do that."

"Zack…" Aurora mumbles as she turns back to the sword, yet her eyes are lowered to the ground in thought. "Zack…" She pauses for a moment before shaking her head with definiteness. "No, it wasn't Zack. He was like Zack, but different."

Surprise, shock, wonder. A sense of reality rippling around him and threatening to slip away like in a dream. Aurora can't possibly know Zack, she is far too young to have ever met him. Still, in this moment Cloud feels like she knows exactly who Zack was. Reason tells him that it can't be. He's imagining things, interpreting meaning into her words that she didn't put there, tying them up with his own memories. It must be some kind of coincidence, that the person she's thinking of happens to have the same name or that she's mixing up the names entirely.

"Aurora," Cloud starts, the thought too pressing to dismiss despite its improbability. "Do you remember Zack?"

"Mhh." Aurora puts her loose fist to her chin in thought. (It's just a gesture, Cloud reminds himself to fight off the familiarity, Aerith wasn't the only person in the world to use it.) "Dark hair, goofy grin, thought he could do anything." She chuckles at the thought before she digresses. "Emil reminds me a bit of him sometimes. But he's not who I'm looking for."

The description matches, yet it's also too vague to say for sure. What catches Cloud's attention though is her mentioning the fact that she's looking for someone. It seems to be the reason why she took interest in Zack and the Buster Sword. At least that is the impression he's getting. He still isn't entirely sure how it's all supposed to tie together — or if it ties together at all.

"Who are you looking for?" Cloud inquires.

"I can't remember what he looked like." Aurora gazes into the air for a moment and sways her upper body in thought, her dress swinging along with the movement. "At first he reminded me of Zack somehow, but there was something else about him." She looks back at the weapon, though her eyes seem to stare through it as her face turns somber. "I think he was lost, but he still tried to move forward."

A strange feeling fills Cloud's stomach. Aurora's descriptions still aren't anything concrete, but it's starting to fit together too well to be a coincidence. As impossible as it may seem, these could be Aerith's words describing him. She once said he reminded her of Zack and though she never made a comment about him seeming lost, maybe that was actually the feeling she got from him. In a way he had lost himself when he met her and maybe she sensed it.

"I wanted to help him but…" Aurora's voice drifts off and he can see her face fall, her eyes still staring ahead. "He came for me — but I couldn't stay. I couldn't help him."

With every word she sounds more upset, but that's not the only reason Cloud's stomach is starting to twist. It's like the past is catching up to him in a way he never expected. You came for me — that's all that mattered. Aerith's words echo in his head as if he'd heard them only yesterday. They were part of what led him to forgive himself for not being able to prevent her death. Learning that she never blamed him was taking one step away from blaming himself.

With his lingering attachment to Aerith it was hard to move on, but eventually he was able to do it — in part through her intervention. He never considered the other side of it. He never thought that Aerith would be the one left with unresolved feelings. Yet Aurora sounds like the ghost of her and he feels less and less like he can shake it off as his imagination going wild. He would never claim to have seen it all, but after everything that he has come across he doesn't believe in coincidences as big as this one would have to be.

These thoughts take a backseat however when Aurora turns to him and he notices the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Why couldn't I help him?"

Cloud's heart stings in his chest as he sees her like that. Whatever her dreams mean — whether she's somehow connected to Aerith's consciousness in her sleep or something else is at play here — he doesn't want her to have to be upset. Without thinking about it, he reaches out and rests his hand against the side of her head.

"Hey, it's okay," he tries to sooth her.

"It's not okay!" Aurora objects and stomps her foot, the outburst causing him to retrieve his hand as suddenly as she moved.

She's right, it isn't. For her it clearly isn't okay. Cloud cannot change that by simply saying that it is. In his experience with Marlene and Denzel as kids they always responded best when he acknowledged their feelings, regardless of whether he could understand the extent of them or not. It seems like the best approach for Aurora here as well.

"You're sad, I get that," Cloud makes another attempt to comfort Aurora. "But maybe you don't have to be. Maybe there's another way to look at it and you'll see that things aren't as bad as you think."

He wants to bite his tongue. Without thinking he addressed her as if Aerith was the one in front of him, upset that she couldn't help him while he just wanted her to see how much she did for him. But she can't be — this girl, Aurora, isn't Aerith and he's doing her wrong by not seeing her as who she is. Troubled and ashamed, he lowers his gaze, his eyes landing where the Buster Sword pierces the stone altar.

Can people come back? Aurora's words pop into his mind and Cloud scolds himself for clinging onto them. But what if people could come back, what if they did? A circle of life and death, starting over again, a soul transformed into someone new. It would explain why Aurora dreams of a life that isn't her own. It would explain why she took such interest in the Buster Sword, why she remembers Zack, why Cloud can't shake the feeling that the one she's looking for is him. It would even explain why she found her way here in the first place, as if a good-willed soul from the lifestream had guided her here so that she could meet him.

It sounds incredible, even to Cloud as he's going over everything in his head. Yet inside him a conviction grows that it's the truth — as much as a fear that in his realisation of this he may cause harm. It's like everything he knows about life and death and the lifestream is coming together and making sense. But even if he's right, even if he's in the middle of discovering something not even a wise man like Bugenhagen seems to know, he can't get carried away with it. As much as Aurora reminds him of Aerith, as much as she seems to have at least some of Aerith's memories, he mustn't forget that she's her own person.

Who knows, maybe she isn't even supposed to remember. It could be Aerith's strong attachment to him that is keeping her trapped in this state. If so, then Aurora might have been guided here so he could help her move on. The thought conjures mixed feelings in him. It's almost like now that he has accepted he cannot be with Aerith, the image of her is presented before him, almost close enough to touch but obscured and already drifting away from him again. Yet a part of him is thankful for the chance to get to be the one helping her for once.

"Are you going to tell me it was just a dream, too?"

Aurora's voice has Cloud look up to meet her gaze. It's challenging just like her tone, despite her being hoarse from crying. He was so caught up in his own head he didn't even notice her sobs subsiding, but she seems to have stopped crying and calmed herself a little. The tears are gone from her face — rubbed dry, he would guess — and her lips are pursed.

"My mum says that's all it was," she continues, "but I know it was more. It was real!"

It would be easy to deny it, to deny that he has any idea of what she might be talking about or any theory as to what is going on. But that's not the answer Aurora is looking for. Whether he's right or not, he feels like he owes it to her for even suspecting that she could've been reborn from Aerith's consciousness: a chance to figure out for herself what this is about.

"I know," Cloud assures her, almost forgetting about caution. "I know it was real."

I know why you're here. I know what your dreams are about. I have lived it after all. He stops himself short from saying it. It wouldn't feel right, as if he was pushing Aurora into a role that may not even fit her. He wants to help her but not by burdening her with his own expectations. That would be selfish. If he's going to do this then it has to be about Aurora and not his own attachment to the person he suspects she used to be.

So instead he asks: "What else do you remember?"

Cloud isn't really sure how this will go. Maybe he'll be able to confirm what his gut is telling him. But he also cannot ignore the possibility that Aurora has access to Aerith's memories for some other reason. All he can say for now is that Aurora seems to be haunted by them. So he hopes that by guiding her along to figure out why she has this connection to Aerith's past he can find a way to release her from it.

While considering his question, Aurora lets her eyes wander around the inside of the building. Then a smile touches her lips and she exclaims: "The flowers."

Looking over his shoulder, Cloud finds her gaze has stopped on a spot in the flower bed near the pool of water.

"This is the only place they would grow and I loved it here. I looked after them, I sold them." With every word she cheers up a little more and his heart grows heavier. Her identification with Aerith is becoming more and more apparent and he isn't sure it's a good sign. "He bought one from me. Then he came crashing through the roof and nearly fell on top of me — gave me a bit of a scare."

Aurora laughs at the mention of it, but it fades when something occurs to her. "Your friend…you said she looked after the flowers here."

It's like Cloud can see the pieces fall into place in her head and the realisation dawn on her face. Something inside him recoils. He doesn't want this for her. She's just a kid, why does she have to remember that life which was filled with so much pain and trouble? Aerith may have seemed like she was handling it well, but thinking back, deep down he sensed that things were weighing her down more than she let on.

"Was I…her?"

Cloud closes his eyes, his face twisting in pain. The answer is yes, he's sure of that now. When he fabricated memories of himself in Zack's shoes a lot of the feelings he attached to them were still his own: the admiration he held for Sephiroth, the pride he certainly would've felt had he made SOLDIER, the anger and grief about his hometown burning. Besides, he was there during it all, he just altered the role he played in it. Yet Aurora only seems to know the events from Aerith's perspective and her accounts felt so authentic in reflecting what must have been Aerith's emotions.

He was like Zack but different. Aerith had said he reminded her of her first boyfriend and only gradually did he learn that she was talking about Zack and that he'd known Zack himself. But despite meeting Cloud only when he was holding the fake persona reminiscent of how Zack used to be, she caught onto something being amiss. I'm searching for you. When she said those words during the gondola ride at the Golden Saucer he didn't understand what she meant. Only after her death when he had rediscovered himself did it start to make sense.

Part of him thinks he should be happy to have found Aerith again, but it doesn't feel right. For all she remembers, for all she knows, Aurora isn't the young woman who asked him to be her bodyguard in exchange for a date. She isn't the last of the Cetra who used her heritage to summon Holy. Aurora is a girl who was born into this world after Cloud fought Sephiroth twice to stop him from destroying the planet. It's not fair that Aurora should have to be burdened by the past like this. Why couldn't she just have a simple childhood for once? After all Aerith has been through, why should Aurora have to suffer for it as well?

"Cloud…you…," Aurora's voice trails off. "Are you the one I'm looking for?"

As Cloud opens his eyes he finds Aurora looking at him with a mixture of wonder and recognition. He doesn't know what to say. Her words up until now leave no doubt: she was searching for him and now she found him — or he found her, whichever it is. If it's true, if she somehow is Aerith or was Aerith, then he thinks he should be happy to get to meet her. But for however much his heart clung to the memory of Aerith, he can't feel joy about recognising her in Aurora. Aurora was crying, because Aerith cared so much for him that even in a new life she couldn't let him go. The thought leaves him with guilt, because it means that indirectly he caused Aurora pain.

"You are, aren't you?" Her words come faster in her excitement. "Yes, of course! Cloud — I remember now!" She tilts her head to the side and studies his face. "You seem kind of different, I almost didn't recognise you."

His tongue is tied. There's so much to say — Cloud thinks there has to be — but not one fitting word comes to mind. Aurora is looking at him expectantly and he cannot guess what she's hoping for, but it worries him. He never thought about the concept of reincarnation before or how it might work, but he knows how hard it is to start over when the past is clinging to one's bones. That's not what a child should have to deal with.

"Cloud, it's me, Aerith."

Frozen to the spot, unable to move. She said the name, he never gave it. It's her, of course it's her. Was there ever any doubt? Part of him knew early on, but he thought he was projecting because he couldn't let go. Now that she has confirmed his suspicion it feels more amiss than ever.

"I can come with you," Aurora suggests with hope in her voice. "This time I can stay."

Cloud shakes his head. A part of him is selfish enough to want to take Aurora up on her offer, but he shuts it down. It's wrong. She's just a kid, filled with a desire she probably doesn't understand herself. If anything, they're Aerith's feelings and they belong to the past, a past that ended years ago.

"You're not Aerith."

Aurora's face falls and he can see the tears well up again. "But I remember it! The time we spent together!"

Her eyes are imploring him, her lips are begging. She is a child indeed and none of Aerith's lifetime can negate that — a child that doesn't want to get left behind. It breaks his heart to tell her no, because he knows it can never work, not like this. He couldn't forgive himself if he allowed for her to get dragged under by those memories he nearly drowned in himself. It caused him to lose touch with his family and friends for awhile — everyone who was there with him but he couldn't see because Aerith's death and his guilt were blinding him. He doesn't want that for her.

"I know you remember." Cloud reaches out and takes hold of her hands. Her cheeks are wet with tears again. "But you're Aurora now. You've got friends and family of your own that have nothing to do with who you used to be. Don't throw that away for a past that can never come back to life. Trust me with this, I know all about it."

"But I…I have to help you," she sniffs, a tear dripping down her chin. "I have to make you happy!"

It hurts how much she clings to him, her small fingers digging into his palms. Still Cloud manages a smile for her, albeit filled with a little sadness.

"I am happy — I'm okay," he assures her. "So now it's your turn. Don't forget to find your own happiness just because of me. I couldn't bear it."

Aurora shakes her head. Her eyes dart upwards as if in search for a response, her mouth is sealed in confusion. Cloud pulls her into a hug and she presses into him. Her face easily rests against his shoulder, the altar upon which she is standing making up for the difference in height. The sobs are rocking through her body and he gently strokes her back.

"You helped me years ago, you just couldn't see it. You helped me to help myself."

Her hands squeeze into the fabric of his shirt and he holds onto her while she's letting it all out. It takes some time but eventually he thinks her breath is calming down. Her tears are going silent or maybe even drying up — he cannot tell, because her face is pressed against his shoulder and way out of his sight.

"It's alright. I'm not alone and neither are you." Cloud references the last conversation they had when he caught a final glimpse of Aerith here in this church. He doesn't know if Aurora remembers that part as well, but even if she doesn't she should be able to understand. That's why he can tell her gently: "You can let go now."

Aurora clings to him tightly. If possible, she wraps her arms around him a little harder.

"It hurts," she says, her voice quiet with a hint of her pain. "It hurts to let go."

"I know."

So he doesn't force her, he doesn't break away from the embrace. She has to be ready to release him. She needs the time to do it at her own pace, that way the pain heals the best. It took him two years, but he wants to have faith that Aurora can do better. Getting to say goodbye makes all the difference.

Cloud doesn't count the seconds, he doesn't guess the minutes. His focus is on holding Aurora and giving her comfort until she breaks away. Once she lets go of him she does it slowly and he deliberately doesn't try to speed up the process. When they're facing each other again, she wipes away the remnants of her tears even though they seem dried up for the most part.

"Better?" Cloud wants to know and she nods. They exchange a small smile, both still recovering from the load of the emotions they just worked through.

It is getting late, the light outside dimming as the sun closes in on the horizon and the air cooling off. Soon it will be dark and no parent likes for their child to be out alone at night, not even in summer. If Aurora's parents haven't been wondering where she's gone off to yet, then they sure must be starting to worry about now.

"I should take you home," Cloud notes, remembering his responsibility as an adult. "Your parents must be worried."

Aurora nods and he stretches out his arms in a silent offer to lift her from the altar. As she leans in and supports herself on his shoulders, he picks her up and puts her gently on the uneven ground. Without question she slips her hand into his and lets him leads the way back towards the entrance. Once they reach the end of the flower bed however, she slows her steps and comes to a halt. Noticing that she's no longer following, he stops and turns around to check on her.

"Can we stay just a moment longer?" Aurora requests and Cloud notices not for the first time that he finds it hard to resist the pleading eyes of a child.

With concern he looks at the darkening sky through the open wall, the last glimmer of sunlight no longer reaching into the nave. He shouldn't allow any more delays, he's the adult and Aurora should get back to her family as soon as possible. But when he looks at her again he finds his resolve melt. After all he wanted to give her the time that she needs to let go, maybe she wants to say goodbye to this place as well.

"Alright," Cloud agrees, though the word leaves his lips with an audible breath. "But really just for a bit."

Aurora nods in affirmation and releases his hand so that she can sit down at the edge of the floorboards, her feet sticking into the flower bed. He watches her with scepticism at first, thinking that the floor is dirty enough to ruin her dress, but she doesn't seem to mind. Then he smiles. It's a little thing like that which makes him think that the carefree days of childhood aren't completely lost on her yet, even if memories of her past life have been on her mind.

Oblivious of his thoughts Aurora looks at him over her shoulder and pats the floor beside her. "Come, sit down."

Cloud wasn't going to, but like this he can hardly refuse. So he settles in beside her and takes in the view of the semi-dark interior of the church. When she leans against his arm, he looks down at her, startled yet again by how familiar she acts with him. But he's willing to let her have this as well.

The shadows have stretched throughout the entire ruin. Cloud decides that once he cannot see any silver lining on the horizon from where he's sitting the time is up. It won't be long before then, but it's the most he feels comfortable to allow at this point. He knows someone must be waiting for Aurora to return home.

Cloud remembers that he couldn't look at Elmyra when bringing her the news of Aerith's death. Tifa did most of the talking and when the tears started to flow he felt dizzy and claustrophobic around everyone in the small living room. Though the worst was probably explaining it to Marlene who asked about the nice lady who protected her from the bad men. Once again he felt tongue tied and had to leave things to Tifa.

It was a strange feeling, like he needed to apologise to them both for letting Aerith die but the words never came over his lips. In the end his guilt was something that couldn't be absolved by anyone but himself. It was Aerith that helped him see that, but it seems she never realised that she succeeded. Maybe that's why Aurora was drawn here, so that she could meet him and let go of the past herself.

Cloud looks down at Aurora who is gazing into the semi-darkness as if it didn't bother her. Her face is shrouded in shadows so he can't make out her expression, but he thinks her sorrow has subsided. He's not sure what's going to happen once he has brought her home. Should he ask her to forget about him, to ignore that he lives in the same city so she can focus on the people in her new life? Could he even do that? He cannot shake the thought that it might be for the better, he cannot shake the feeling that he doesn't really want to.

There's a wish to see Aurora grow up, to watch over her. It stings a little to acknowledge that maybe this wouldn't be in her best interest. After all, how can he expect her to move on from the past when he's around to remind her of it? That wouldn't be fair, as much as he already finds himself attached to her. (He's not sure how much of that is tied to knowing that she used to be Aerith. While his head acknowledges that she's her own person, his heart may not have gotten the memo.)

Closing his eyes, Cloud suppresses a sigh. He'll just have to go with it. When it comes to kids he's doing his best not to be selfish. He told Aurora not to throw away the people in her life for Aerith's past and he's going to stand by it. So if keeping away from her helps with that then he's going to do it. It's not his responsibility to stick around and ensure her happiness, like it isn't her responsibility to do the same for him. He'll have to trust that she will find her way without him.

"Hey Cloud?" Aurora interrupts his musings.

Cloud opens his eyes to find the horizon has gone completely dark. He pushes it aside for the sake of responding to Aurora who seems to have something on her mind. With a low humming sound he indicates that he's listening while he stares ahead, letting his eyes adapt to the dark.

"Can I see you again?"

There's little point in trying to read Aurora's expression, still he turns his head towards her. It's ironic she should ask him this just as he was trying to strengthen his resolve to say goodbye forever. Now she threatens to make it all crumble again with one question.

Cloud needs to buy time to think. There's no prior knowledge he can fall back on about people being reborn. No one can tell him if one is ever supposed to be able to remember one's past life or if that is a dilemma in itself. He can only guess if continued contact to elements of one's previous life did more harm than good. It makes him feel like his choice now carries so much more weight.

"Do you really want to?" Cloud asks in return.

It's hard to tell in the dark engulfing them, but he thinks Aurora gives a nod.

"I want to," she insists. "I promise I won't ignore my family and friends like you said, but that doesn't mean I have to ignore you instead, does it?"

"I suppose it doesn't," Cloud agrees without making any promises.

He wants to say yes. As much as he tells himself to trust in Aurora growing up well and leading a good life, he'd like to be around and see it happen. There are no guarantees it will work out, but he tells himself that if he would turn out to be a disturbing factor then he could still explain to Aurora that it's better if he stays out of her life. Like that he at least would have tried to make it work.

"Alright," Cloud concludes. "Let's give it a shot."

"Yay!" Aurora leans in and gives him a hug from the side, squashing his arm between their bodies. In her excitement she starts babbling: "I'm going to introduce you to my parents. And the baby. Well, it isn't born yet but you can feel it kick in mommy's tummy. And wait till you meet Emil! He's a bit silly sometimes but it's kind of cute."

Cloud smiles at her enthusiasm and lets her lean into him as Aurora rambles. There's a mental image he gets of her introducing him to everyone as her friend from her past life. He should probably ask her to stick to having met him by chance and letting him take her home. The whole truth would probably be a bit too much for most people.

"Okay." Aurora releases him and gets to her feet. "I'm ready to leave now."

His nod is probably lost on her in the dark, but once he stands up beside her, she finds his hand with her own again.

"Let's get you home then," Cloud announces and carefully leads her towards the open door.

Neither of them is looking back as they head out, the near undisturbed scenery inside the church covered in darkness and only interrupted by their footsteps on the wooden tiles. Not even the beams remaining beneath the roof are creaking in the wind tonight. Cloud figures he worried a bit too much about Aurora's safety, but better safe than sorry aside, it was what got them to talk in the first place.

It may have been coincidence or fate which brought them together in this place — he isn't sure how much influence he ascribes to the former and how much he believes in the latter — but it doesn't really matter. Aurora found what she was looking for and he got to return a kindness which was offered to him long ago. What will come of it now, only time will tell.

#cloud strife #final fantasy vii #ffvii #aerith x cloud #original character #fanfiction #writing tag #fic: hearts and flowers #-i'm not tagging this as cle/rith bc i don't wanna get accused of leading people on-#-but yeah hello i was inspired enough to push through mental fatigue #and this is the result idek-#-also i haven't forgotten about requests but writing is hard due to my mental health-#-but i'll do my best to make them happen-

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dancing-the-hellfire-rumba · 7 years

Text

Soldiers

Warnings: ANGST. wee bit of fluff

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Challenge: This was @angelschallenge ‘s Spring Challenge. My prompt was Polliwog [it’s in bold letters in the text]

Word Count: around 1k

A/N: To be entirely honest to y’all, I don’t really like the ending. feedback is greatly appreciated :D Also really want to thank @impala-dreamer for quickly rushing the editting of this fic in her busy schedule. When I saw the mistakes I made, I was banging my head on my desk so thanks for saing my ass.

There were very few times you had the luxury to act like a child when you were young. Being brought into the hunting life at a very young age and making it your first priority to protect your younger siblings, acting immaturely, having a normal childhood was just out of the question. And your family made damn sure you were aware of that. Every moment you spent as an actual kid and not a soldier in training you owed to Bobby Singer and the Winchester brothers.

Your family were best friends with the one and only John Winchester. When you were born, a total freak accident that was simply not supposed to happen, you entered the hunting life unwillingly, head first. Everything about the life was simply horrific. The blood, the pain, the physical and mental suffering, the traumatic experiences, images, none of it was made for people, never mind a seven-year-old girl with pigtails.

Then you met the two brothers, Sam and Dean, and that shitty reality became a bit more bearable. Because even though life was throwing at you all the shit that she could muster up, you had two people there for you, two wonderful boys you called your best friends. When your two twin siblings were born, not so much of an accident this time, you and the brothers swore to protect them. And by doing so you had to train more and forget your age. You weren’t a child, no. You were a soldier.

Once in a while, ol’ Bobby Singer would take all kids to the park, just to get you in touch with your age, give you a taste of what it’s like. His heart broke at all five of you being ripped of the right to be plain children. Ungrateful, whining, stupid, immature, happy children with toothless grins and unrealistic dreams. He’d let you run off, play baseball with the boys and push your and your little sister’s swings. Occasionally, you and Dean, whom you were closer to than Sammy, ran off to the lake near the park, trying to catch polliwogs and butterflies, giggling and making meatballs and cakes out of dirt, grass and flowers.

You could count those moments on one hand.

You eventually had grown to a powerful, graceful, strong, adventurous, and independent woman. Your 18th birthday soon arrived and you ran off with 21-year-old Dean, in his beloved impala, away for the night. The best night of your lives.

He surprised you earlier in the day by grabbing you mid-training by the waist and spinning you around. You shrieked his name, grinning like a mad fool. He made you change and took you to a grassy field surrounded by trees. He got out of the car, grabbing some beers from the trunk and a blanket, and spreading it on the hood of the car. He jumped on, pulling you with him and to his side.

You had obviously fallen for him; for the green eyed, golden-hearted, amazing person that he was. How could you not? You had known him as long as you could remember and could honestly not see your life without him.

You had leaned against each other, looking up at the sunset and admiring the beauty of it all. When the stars appeared in the sky you started explaining the constellations to Dean. You told him how you and Sam had done all-nighters just studying about them because they were so interesting. You pointed, titled, and talked about the stories behind each one. When you were out of lore, Dean started talking about the childhood memories, the pranks, the laughs, the shits and giggles, the parties, the drinks, the tears, the stories… You talked about everything until it was around 4 in the morning.

You looked up at Dean who stared at you lovingly, pulling you closer and drawing your lips to his. You kissed back, more willing than ever, wanting nothing more than to stay there for eternity.

Needless to say, Dean was your first. At everything. Your first kiss, the guy you lost your virginity to, and most of all, the first, one and only love of your life.

“Here’s to us,” you said, leaning against the cold stone. You placed the bottle of Johnnie on your lips and swallowed a mouthful, feeling the sweet liquor trailing down your throat leaving a soothing burn behind it. You leaned your head back on the silver lettering of the tombstone.

Dean Winchester

1979-2017

It never really stopped hurting. The moment that demonic motherfucker stabbed Dean’s spine and smiled so sickeningly wide, you felt your knees buckle. Of course the bastard is dead. Before he even made it a step further, he was on the ground with an angel blade in his throat. Dean was on his knees, with a hand on his chest, struggling to breathe. Blood was spilling from his mouth and a panicked look was on his face.

“No no no no,” you had cursed, falling to your knees in front of you. You grabbed him from his flannel, looking over his shoulder, to his back, inspecting the wound. It was clean through.

“Hey, hey look at me. Dean! You’ll be fine, Sammy and I will patch you up, you’ll be fine” you pulled him back to look at his beautiful eyes which were now dark and not focusing. “You’ll be fine, stay with me, keep your eyes open, come on.” I cupped one hand on his face, “Dean!” He felt boneless, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and fluttering shut.

You were crying. Of course you were. It had been months but the wound was fresh and all you could do was cry about the lost love of your life. Your dead best friend.

“Y/N?” A voice called out behind you. You didn’t move, watching Sam appear in front of you. “I thought I’d find you here,” he sighed, looking at the grave. You looked down, folding your legs to your chest. Sam took a seat next to you, letting you rest your head on his shoulder. You glanced at the bottle, passing it on to him. He took a sip and placed his arm around your waist.

“It’s our anniversary,” you whimpered, your eyes brimming with tears.

“I know,” he whispered and tightened his hold on you. “What a great fucking birthday you’re having,” he muttered. You snorted humorlessly, nodding your head in agreement.

“I should’ve done something,” you said. “I should’ve seen the bastard coming, warned Dean, something.” You sniffled, burying your face in his neck and beginning to sob.

“This is in no way on you,” he said, letting you wet his shirt with your tears. He didn’t say anything else. He just let you cry it out, holding you close to him.

As time passed you became calmer, taking comfort in Sam’s embrace, eventually entirely stopping. You were left tired, drained, completely empty. Sam said nothing but got up and stretched his hand out to you. You stared at it and took it, letting him effortlessly pull you up. His hand didn’t leave yours, offering mental support.

“Come on.” He pulled you away from the tombstone. “Let’s go home”

@deanxfuckingadorablexwinchester @potato-that-needs-therapy @imagining-supernatural @imissyoualittlemoreeveryday @jpadjackles @winchestersnco @deanscolette @deanssweetheart23 @iwantthedean

#dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #supernatural #spn #winchesters #reader insert #spn reader insert #winchester x reader #dean x reader angst #dean winchester x reader angst

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netherwar-rpg-blog · 7 years

Photo

Welcome to the Wardens, Isaac! Your application for a WARRIOR OC has been accepted with an Eoin Macken FC.

It was an absolute delight to read through such a well thought out application with so many links to the lore in Norvik and across the continent, making this character have solid reasons for the way he is and the destiny he is going to find in the Wardens! The small charming details about his mother’s necklace and the Golwren family really make him a believable character in the world too. It will be really interesting to see how this mischievous man handles his newfound duties in the Wardens - especially as he will be teaming up with Fenarious followers and warriors of the Arm’s Guild which will surely create tension! He’s exactly the right character to bring a lot of pressure and fun in the plots, and I cannot wait to see how he develops down the line.

The application can be found under the cut. You have 48 hours to create a roleplay account (cannot be a sideblog) for your character and we will be updating our opening date soon!

O O C - I N F O

Name: Isaac Age: 21 Timezone: EST Activity Level: I’m a university student that works Thursday – Saturday most weeks, so I’m mostly able to be around on my off days! Extra: Anything to do with seizure activity makes me uncomfortable.

S K E L E T O N - I N F O

T H E - B A S I C S

Name: Jónas Llewellyn Golwren Nickname/Alias: Dara / “Dalrah” Gender: Cisgender male Age: 29 Class: Warrior, renegade Faceclaim: Eoin Macken

C H A R A C T E R - D E T A I L S

Nationality: Norvik Appearance: A man with dark hair and a severe nose, Jónas never quite fit in with the boys and girls on the island of Norvik, even as a child. Not even the flecks of green and gold scattered through the hazel of his eyes could tie him to the ethnic aesthetic of the islanders – all blonde hair and blue eyes, fiery red and green if they could trace their ancestry to Crywren before leaving the mainland. As he grew up, he took pride in being a bit of a black sheep amongst a flock of solemnity, growing his hair out until it waved and flowed like a lush mane, a sort of statement of his quiet rebellion.

And though one cannot deny the severe line of his nose, there is nothing else that’s very severe about him. Unlike most Norvik men, smiling and a sort of boyish playfulness and charm come easily to Jónas, the warmth of it lighting up his face no matter the island’s near-constant wintry cold. There’s a comforting ease about him, a flirtation in the twinkle of his eye that’s just dangerous enough that once the boy became a man, the color of his hair was no longer the reason he was being kicked out of people’s homes.

That aside, perhaps the most notable physical attribute cannot be found in the defined tone of his chest, but what adorns it. He wears a necklace that bears great significance to him, never daring to take it off even in his sleep; composed of a crescent moon charm and with it, his mother’s wedding band, hanging from a silver chain. The moon was given to him by his father when he was only a boy, the ring given to him after his mother’s passing.

Personality:

{ + } Easygoing ( + Charming) – Never one to sweat the small stuff, Jónas will always be the sort of man to give an easy smile, letting all the warmth in his bones shine through to put others at ease. He’s learned that in life sometimes you’ve just got to let the bad roll right off your shoulders. His mother always taught him that even in the coldest days of winter you’ve got to let the sunshine break through; there is always warmth to be found in laughter.

{ + } Quick-witted – And with not much of a filter to boot. It got him in trouble more often than not as a child and it was never a habit he learned to break. If there’s a quip to be made, Jónas is going to make it. And if he’s just got to roll with the punches (and throw a few of his own) as a consequence, so be it.

{ + } Truehearted – The man’s got his own set of morals and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t stick to them (even if they seem a bit off-center to the rest of the world). He will do what he sees as right even if that means dying for it. True to his word and the idea that nobility is defined by the actions of a man, he abides by a code of honor he’s made for himself through living and learning.

{ - } Jaded – The perceived betrayal of the Arms Guild and the true betrayal of his own flesh and blood made Jónas weary of the kindness of strangers from a very young age, and the death of his mother cemented this. Despite the warmth of his nature, there is a defined line between going out to the tavern to get sloshed and sing some songs, and letting others see what lies beneath all the boisterous laughter and slaps on the back.

{ - } Stubborn – It takes a hell of a lot to get Jónas to admit that he’s wrong. He knows his own intellect and trusts it implicitly, making him difficult to persuade. Still, he’s not hard-pressed to apologize when he realizes he’s wronged someone, the kindness and gentleness of his mother seeping through from time to time. Though the next day he’ll go back to being just as brusque as usual, any evidence of such previous tenderness swept carefully under the rug.

{ - } Mischievous – Perhaps he’s always in the wrong place at the wrong time or perhaps it’s his stupid mouth: whatever it is, it’s always getting Jónas into trouble. He’s got a bit of a knack for it. And even when he has the right to raise his hands and beg being the victim, there are likely fingers crossed behind his back. He takes great fun in a good practical joke, and he’s very well aware of how much of an irritant he can be.

C H A R A C T E R - B A C K G R O U N D

History: Jónas Llewellyn Golwren was born just four years before his baby brother, on a snowy winter’s morn, though never would the two meet in the days to come. He was named after their shared father, though this was all they shared.

As a child he often felt out of place, not quite looking like the other children for the thick, dark hair given to him by his father, and the disdainful glances shot toward his mother by those they shared both blood and name with. Still, not even the rift between he and his mother’s family could keep him from smiling as the years passed, his father not often around, but always bringing good food and thoughtful gifts when he came to visit (often the first four years or so, less after); the half crescent moon being the last before the visits stopped for good.

At twelve years old, it is difficult to receive word of the death of a father that was romanticized for all the time in between. He remembers the desperation in his mother’s eyes when they received the letter, the choked sobs burned into his memory. He remembers the feeling of the rough parchment beneath his fingertips when he ripped it from her hands. Executed in Crywren, accused of treason by the Arms Guild, the sentence carried out by the Fenarious elders. The letter gave no apology and so neither did he as he tore at it until he could no longer see it for the saltwater welling in his eyes.

When his mother spoke to the Arms Guild about compensation, they gave her only a finely forged sword that Jónas would one day grow into. When she turned to her family, they turned her away. This is when a seed of anger began to grow in the young boy’s belly that will remain buried within him to this day.

The time between his twelfth year and his twenty-fifth were dedicated to learning how to use that sword to the best of his ability and pushing that best to be better than anyone and everyone else’s on the godforsaken island where he had no family and people turned down their noses at mere mention of his name. The older he got, the better he became, and the less he cared about letting his mouth run until he was winning brawls in the streets when the moon hung high in the sky and the music in the taverns of Daelach rose up to the heavens like merry offerings to the gods of old.

And then his mother became ill.

It started one summer afternoon when they thought she’d grown faint from the sun, but from that day on Jónas became tied to her bedside. Over the course of a year he was forced to sit idly by, watching as doctors from far and wide – one even as far as the southern border of Siften – treated her time and time again to no avail. On his twenty-sixth birthday, he finally snapped, taking to the Golwren stables and stealing a horse before setting out for Whiteflow Forest, where a flower that could cure all ills was rumored to grow.

In the forest, the dead are waiting. Growing up in city life with the smell of salt, fish, and sea, Jónas had heard of such things – the corpses that dance in the night to lure the living to their death like ghostly, ghoulish sirens of sorts – but, like many city boys, he supposes he always thought them to be things of nightmare. But the cut of their claws and the coagulated blood they leave on his sword he learns are very real.

He is lucky to be one of few men who have entered the Whiteflow Forest and lived to tell the tale, but upon his return, flower in hand, he is greeted not by his mother, but by her doctors, all shuffling feet and somber faces. He wonders if the Aeltau flower can soothe the hollow of his chest, and so he has it preserved, keeps it tucked away in his satchel where it remains when he sets out across the sea by his twenty-seventh year, his mother’s ring now joining his father’s moon, never to look back at Norvik and its people.

From then ‘til now, Jónas has traveled here and there and far between, ripping through Eldris and its taverns like a gale storm, never staying in one place for long, following wherever the wind takes him. He’s fed by the money he wins that same day gambling, and he beds women just to have a place to stay for the night (or the week, if she (or, occasionally he) manages to tempt him into staying for one breakfast that often turns to two or three or more).

From lovers’ beds to tavern brawls, to the occasional act of heroism, Jónas has made a name for himself, now known across the land as Dalrah: a tornado tearing through the land like a human hurricane. Still, he’s quite pleased by his reputation. It’s given him the chance to fly under the radar, now introducing himself simply as ‘Dara,’ tongue-in-cheek, so no one can place his name or face back to Norvik.

Reason for joining the Wardens: Having faced the consequences of the impending Rifting first hand, Jónas knows the dangers that face this world, and that he is right to fear it. And so when he has a run-in with the Wardens – being in the wrong place at the wrong time as he so often is in life – it’s only instinct to lend a helping hand, sword attached. When he’s asked to join their ranks after the fact, he decides that perhaps he’s got just enough moxie left in him for one last adventure – wanting to do what is right, and knowing that if the coming Rifting is to be the death of him, he wants to go out fighting.

R O L E P L A Y - S A M P L E

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godsizemylife-blog · 7 years

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Waiting for the shore, and Amy, my “Dog and the log” of blogging lore.

Here goes God again, giving me a ”kiss” on my forehead. Truly, nothing can separate me/you/us from HIS love. In this post I start with God’s Word, which is TRUTH:

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 31-19 NLT

It started insignificantly enough, a phone call from a banker – connected by another banker at the grocery store where I, for whatever reason, chose to go two days ago to deposit a check in the small branch office there – about meeting to talk about the investment we want to make. (I just perhaps annoyingly wrote a sentence almost as long as one of the Apostle Paul’s!) I could hardly hear him over the noise of the carwash where I was waiting for my car. After all the cleaning and vacuuming, I called him back from my clean car, and God overflowed in our conversation! Dot-to-dot again! Get out your pencil and follow this:

1) He’s Christian, genuinely, not just a practicer of religious ritual once a week. 2) We both have two sons. 3) His parents were on staff of a large church in Los Angeles, and you’d know the name if I dropped it. 4) The founder of that church previously founded a solid church in Phoenix in the 80’s. 5) The solid church in Phoenix birthed a daughter church in Mesa. 6) That daughter church was the church I became a member of in 2001. 7) His mother has been active in women’s ministry for decades. 8) I have been, too, though not at her national level. 9) His mother has wanted to write a book for a long time. 10) I’ve written books with others, and one myself. 11) She lived for a time in Boston. 12) I lived in Massachusetts for four years and often visited Boston. 14) Part of her ministry is to abused women. 15) Unspoken commonality. 16) His parents now live in Prescott, Arizona. 17) He is passing my phone number along to his mother.

Did you catch all that? What part of this is “simply a banking coincidence,” and what would the odds be that this IS just coincidence? Boy, Holy Spirit, the pneuma of God, Ruach Elohim, keeps “blowing up my raft” as I float on still storm-tossed seas. I do pray I’m passing the final shoal and nearing the calm shore, BUT glory to God that He’s keeping me a float!

The song goes, ”Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise,” so I’m hereby keeping my part of the promise! Blessed be the name of the LORD!

No, I have no clear clue what this will yet be about, but God is in it, so I’m in! Jesus gets to steer this canoe still, and boy, I had no idea I was prophesying over my life when I spoke that analogy in a women’s ministry meeting (at that daughter church) and yes, often teachers have to learn in real life lessons what they teach others! Okay, God, I DO believe it: YOU are my pilot, my stern (as in rear) paddler, the one directing this raft’s passage. Help me ship my paddle and rest as YOU steer – and You know what a challenge that is to me when my mind goes a mile a minute and I think I know where I’m headed (but I can’t see around the bend as YOU DO!).

So true confession today, like many of you, I have a hard time emotionally letting God have HIS way in my life even though intellectually I know His will for me is good, regardless of the waves and winds and floating logs (and floating things – I won’t use the slang term – my kids found in the waters lapping a beach in Asia) the enemy stirs up in my circumstances. I guess if I’m that much of a target for the enemy, it MUST mean I’m doing something right for Jesus and His Kingdom!

2 Dear brothers and sisters, [a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

9 Believers who are [b] poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong,[c] and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[d] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[e] 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. James 1: 2-16 NLT

And mixing my metaphors, the words of Jesus about managing trouble:

20 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. 23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13: 20-23 NLT

May it be so, LORD Jesus, that this storm I’m still in scatters seed as far as Your wind of the Holy Spirit can take it, and may it land on good soil to produce good fruit, Kingdom purposes in lives who come to know YOUR endless love for them!

A “…BUT…” to pray: Lord, whew, in my own life I’m in the middle of ______________________ BUT You promise you will never leave me or forsake me, so I’m asking You to show me Your love and heart in a tangible way today, and I know You don’t begrudge me asking to see Your Goodness in my life! In fact, I’m trusting that my asking pleases You! In Jesus’ name, amen, and Holy Spirit, I’m listening _______________________________

Here He Goes Again … Waiting for the shore, and Amy, my “Dog and the log” of blogging lore. Here goes God again, giving me a ”kiss” on my forehead.

#Bible #Christianity #comfort #Everlasting Love #Faith #God&039;s love #Holy Spirit #Jesus #Mind #prayer #Religion

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netherwar-rpg-blog · 7 years

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Welcome to the Wardens, Isaac! Your application for THE DRAGONBORN has been accepted with a Colin Morgan FC.

It was a genuine pleasure to read through such a detailed and thorough application. You really made this skeleton profile your own precious character and I can see how much thought you put into it! The misc links at the bottom show that you’ve really imagined this Dragonborn clearly and you’ve explored his personality, his motives and background so perfectly! It makes me, as a worldbuilder, so delighted that you clearly read the Crywrenian and Fenarious lore, and used it to make a really well thought out character! I couldn’t imagine a more wonderful Dragonborn in the Wardens. I can totally understand why Aneirin wants to be free from the Elders’ watchful eyes and find his place in the world, with his dragons calling him to freedom, so we will all be cheering him on to reach those skies he so desperately deserves to explore!

The application can be found under the cut. You have 48 hours to create a roleplay account (cannot be a sideblog) for your character and we will be updating our opening date soon!

O O C - I N F O

S K E L E T O N - I N F O

T H E - B A S I C S

Skeleton Title: THE DRAGONBORN Name: Aneirin Eruantien Myrddin Frey Nickname: Eirin (air-in) Gender: Cisgender male Age: 25 Class: Ranger Faceclaim: Colin Morgan

C H A R A C T E R - D E T A I L S

Nationality: Crywrenian Appearance: Composed of sinew and skin, pale porcelain and delicate wrists, one would not expect the appearance of the Dragonborn to be that of the fair fae folk talked of in legend. Hair dark and thick, curling around teacup ears, eyes as blue as tumultuous seas, lips pouty and pink, long lashes fanning over impossibly high cheekbones, sharp collarbones and lean muscle: Aneirin is a man that’s beauty can be compared to that of a flower’s fragility in the chilly frost of a Crywrenian spring morning; and yet the power set deep in his bones makes him anything but fragile. But perhaps the most notable physical traits of the Dragonborn are those that connect him to his dragon kin. The Dragonborn’s Mark was given to him by the Druids the day he came of age, all painted with a Celtic brush; knowing that wherever he travelled, the Dragonborn could not be mistaken. The other unmistakable feature that few have yet to see is the way Aneirin’s eyes glow molten gold as a dragon’s when his power moves through him, connecting him to the earth and sky; an ancient magic making his gaze foreboding and ethereal as storms churn overhead.

Personality:

{ + } Courageous – Aneirin has never been described as faint of heart. Even as a boy, he had a lion’s heart, his mother having to hold him back as he thrashed, hoping to run and save his father from the flames of execution without a thread of fear in his entire body.

{ + } Gentle – The boy’s always had a sweet disposition ever since he was just a babe, something he inherited from his father that was nurtured by all his mother’s love. Though his voice could move mountains, it is often as soft as his touch, light and delicate. It is simply not in his nature to be brutish.

{ + } Kind – Not even becoming the prized caged bird of the Fenarious elders could change the kindness in Aneirin’s heart. His mother always taught him that kindness is the most valuable thing in the world and that his ability to give it freely is a gift from the gods.

{ - } Brash – Bold, unafraid of speaking his mind, Aneirin will not be silenced. He has spent too long bending to the elders’ will to allow himself to roll over for anyone in the Wardens; though, diplomacy is not always his strong suit.

{ - } Unrepentant – Aneirin stands resolute in his beliefs and this means that he is never sorry for standing up for what he deems is right; no matter the dissension it may bring. If he feels strongly enough about something, you will never hear him apologize for his actions.

{ - } Impatient – At the ripe age of twenty-five, Aneirin has been treated as if he was born for greatness his entire life. Kept tucked away and restrained from following the calls carried on the wind has made him antsy, fidgety, and impatient in all matters; be it waiting for a meal or running with the wind to find what the Singing Tree has gifted him.

C H A R A C T E R - B A C K G R O U N D

History: It began one fateful El Dyine nearly twenty-six years ago, when a young maiden – with complexion fair, blue eyes, and red hair – walked up to a fisherman (tall, dark features, locks thick waves that fell around his shoulders; a danger to all women’s hearts) and tucked a pretty pink flower behind his ear. Aneirin was born less than a year later.

He seemed no different from any other babe, perhaps apart from the storms in his eyes (the storms that raged just outside the night his mother borne him) and the brightness in his laugh, twinkling like starlight. And though his uncle – his mother’s brother, a healer more dedicated to the gods than any man could hope to be – warned Aneirin’s parents of the power set deep in the boy’s bones, claiming terrible things had come to him in his dreams, they simply would not listen; would not risk confiding the strange happenings around the house to the elders; would not risk the boy being taken to the Singing Tree, being taken away from them.

Inevitably, he was; after the early morning Aneirin’s father was set to be executed for crimes that Aneirin did not understand, for he was just a boy, barely eight years old. Fires climbing up the pyre, licking the leather toes of his father’s boots that still smelt of sea salt, thunder crashed overhead as the boy screamed, the hot gold of the flames reflected in eyes that shed the tears of a soon to be fatherless child, barely able to be held back as the rains came down in buckets, lightning striking fury down around those who dare accuse the man set to burn before their eyes.

Slick with water that came down like heaven’s wrath, the boy broke free from those trying to hold him back. He did not hesitate to jump into the flames. Aneirin will never forget the sound of his mother’s screams. But when the rains washed the flames away, all that was left was the boy, untouched, eyes on fire, hands and feet blackened from the ashes, clutching the dagger that had hung from his father’s belt.

The storms waged war for three days.

And so the elders took him to the Singing Tree, set him before the Great Goddess, with her barked limbs spreading wide as if to encompass the whole earth. His mother said she’d never seen the Tree blossom as beautifully as it did that day, petals lush as the winds whipped up around them. And it is the wind Aneirin remembers most vividly, knowing for the first time that it is a dragon’s blood that flows through his veins (his family’s reputation’s only saving grace after the flames).

It is perhaps the greatest grief of all that from that day forward he became a caged bird unsung, taken in by the elders and raised as a delicate thing, kept in captivity. A precious flower too fragile to tamper with, the elders did not allow him to follow the call of the winds, did not allow him to train with a sword, and didn’t even allow him to study and harness his own abilities to control the heavens.

In fact, the only skill he was allowed to hone was his natural inclination for medicine, his uncle’s healing hands seeming to run in the family. And so this was how he learned – his uncle sticking his nose in book after book until he was as well learned as a Crywrenian Druid could be. If he could not run with the winds, he would escape through means of any book he could get his hands on.

But as he grew the cage felt smaller, and the winds grew incessant in their taunting, never leaving him a moment’s peace. He knew he needed to break free, and when he heard of the faction forming in the south, he saw his opportunity.

He carries little more than the clothes on his back and his father’s dagger.

Reason for joining the Wardens: When Aneirin heard of the new faction forming in the south, he fought the Fenarious elders tooth and nail just to be able to procure a horse in order to ride south and join them. Tired of being treated like he might break at any moment, he put his foot down, kissing his mother goodbye, wishing he could spit at the elders’ feet, before spiriting away with not much more than the clothes on his back. The elders could not give him answers; the Archmages would not give him answers; clearly he had to seek them out for himself, and the Wardens could very well be his only opportunity to do so.

The Singing Tree granted him a great destiny, and it is his right as a Druid to answer the wind’s call. He will not waste it.

R O L E P L A Y - S A M P L E

There is a rustle in the leaves of the Singing Tree as lightning strikes above, silhouetting the Great Goddess in all her glory; branches spread wide, standing silent and apathetic. It is purely to taunt him, he knows, as the water comes down and soaks him through sinew and skin and straight to the bone, frame slight, pale as the fabric of the shift he’d been sleeping in clings to every curve, and shaking as shivers run down his spine; wind like icicles prickling just behind his ear as it whips up around him, pushing him forward, to his knees, carrying away the soft sob as his forehead touches dirt, fingers curling into the earth.

He wants to scream; wants his body to heave with the force of it, wretched and broken as his hand scrape the earth, digging his claws in as if he could choke the roots of this Tree that borne him. The leaves rustle, and the Goddess is laughing.

And so he does, eyes snapping up and flashing molten gold as he lets out a lion’s roar, thunder rolling; all the anger and frustration of a wounded animal, kept caged for far too long poured forth as the heavens above him wage the rage of his war.

The elders will find him sleeping at the feet of the Goddess come morning, having run as far as his feet could carry him not for the first time, but the night will bear his agony like the cliffs bear the waves in a storm.

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