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azriels-shadowsinger · 2 months

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No. 13 for Azriel please ❤️❤️🤌✨

“Everything reminds me of you, it's driving me insane”

Azriel x Reader

wc: 1.4K

a/n: kinda inspired by cardan’s letters. if yall read the cruel prince series then u know. get ready for some angst yall.

prompt list

“This is the last straw Azriel. I can’t handle not being a priority in your life! You always choose Rhys, Cassian, Elain, work, or literally anything else over me. I have only seen you once in the past week, and we live together for Cauldron’s sake! I feel like I live with a ghost. You’re gone before I wake up and you return after I fall asleep!” You yell between tears. “I can’t do this anymore. I love you, but it is too painful to keep living like this.” Azriel realizes where this is headed.

“Y/n, please. I’ll be better. I promise!” He begs, desperation in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Azriel. You had your chance, multiple actually. It’s too late.” You turn away, unable to look at his heartbroken face without potentially giving in. You can feel his shadows attempting to reach for you as you walk out the door.

———

January 7th

Dear y/n,

Rhys won’t tell me where exactly you left to, but promised he would deliver this. I understand that you are angry with me and that you need some time to calm down. I hope that you will return soon so we can work this out. I love you and I’m sorry.

Sincerely,

Azriel

———

January 29th

Dear y/n,

Point taken, dear. I know I messed up, but it’s been weeks and I miss you.

I know you are getting these letters. Rhys said he ensured they would be delivered. I guess that doesn't guarantee that you will read them. Nevertheless, I am sorry for my actions and I am taking steps to create boundaries in my life so that I can have more time for you. I can prove it, if only you would just come home.

With deepest apologies,

Azriel

———

February 14th

My love,

I had hoped you would return before Valentine's Day. You always loved celebrating this holiday. I know you won’t see them, but I still got you flowers. They're on your nightstand.

It's been over a month. I miss your voice. Please come home.

Azriel

———

March 7th

Y/n,

If this is your way of punishing me, then consider it a success. I’m a wreck without you. Please come home.

-Azriel

———

March 30th,

My heart,

I am begging you to come home. Come home and yell at me, come home and fight with me, just please come home. I love you and I’m so sorry.

Always with love,

Azriel

———

May, 15th,

Y/n,

I understand what you meant about feeling like you were living with a ghost. Everything reminds me of you, and it’s driving me insane. I am haunted by these traces of you around our home. Please end this torment and come back to me.

-Azriel

———

June 7th

I’m sorry.

I love you.

Why are you doing this to me?

I hate myself for causing this and pushing you away.

Do you still love me? Do you even miss me?

Please come home I can’t take it anymore.

I love you I love you I love you I love you

I miss you.

———

Y/n,

This is my last letter. I won’t bother you anymore after this. I hope that wherever you are, you are happy. I will always regret taking your love for granted.

Eternally yours,

Azriel

———

It was another sleepless night for Azriel. He was plagued with the memories of every single time he chose something or someone else over you. He’s past the point of beating himself up over it, but rather, he considers this the worst punishment of all. Being forced to relive each memory over and over, unable to change it. Hating himself and drowning his sorrows in whiskey.

He hears a knock at the door. It’s probably Cass or Rhys, doing their weekly check on him, since he rarely leaves the house anymore. Azriel chooses to ignore them.

They knock again.

“Fuck off, I’m not in the mood tonight guys.” He barks in the direction of the door, taking another sip of his whiskey.

Another knock.

Cauldron boil him, his brothers were relentless. He was going to open the door, but only to yell at them to leave. He grumbles angrily to himself all the way to the door.

“I said I wasn’t-“ It's not Rhys or Cassian on his doorstep. Instead, he sees you, holding a stack of letters. His letters.

This is another dream, he thinks. He must have fallen asleep on the couch. When he wakes you will be gone again, having torn the rip in his heart even wider. But until then, he lets himself indulge in the dream. Azriel doesn’t hesitate for another moment before pulling you into a tight hug.

“My dreams must be especially cruel tonight because somehow I am able to smell your perfume. I can feel your heartbeat.” He mumbles, face buried in your hair. His shadows encompass you two, whispering in Azriel’s ear y/n, y/n, y/n

“This isn’t a dream, Azriel.” You say softly, pulling away to look at him and placing a gentle hand on his cheek. It takes him a moment to realize what’s happening, but as soon as he does, he pulls you back into a hug, even tighter than before. You feel hot tears fall onto your shoulder as his shadows surge around you.

“My love, my heart, my star. You came back to me.” He sobs. Your heart breaks at the pain in his voice. You had known he was probably upset about the breakup, but in an attempt to heal and move on, you never opened his letters… until last night.

After several long minutes of intense bear hugs, he finally manages to let go. Well kind of, he can’t seem to let your hand go yet.

“We should talk, Az.” You say nervously.

“I will do anything you want if it means you will stay.”

Gods, you were the worst person in the world. This poor male, who you still love desperately despite your best efforts, is so broken over you leaving.

“I’m not going anywhere, Az.” You reassure him. He finally loses a small bit of tension in his shoulders a the words, but his hands seem to hold tighter. You take a deep breath, trying to prepare for what you have to say.

“I didn’t read your letters until last night. I was trying to get over you, and so I avoided reading them. In an attempt to move on, I had convinced myself you were happy without me. But I couldn’t move on. I couldn't stop loving you. When I finally read your letters, I realized you truly had changed. I should’ve read them months ago. I should've never left. I’m so sorry Azriel. I understand if you need time or if you can’t forgive me but-“ He cuts you off.

“I forgive you. I don’t need time. I only need you here.” He’s so quick to dismiss every mistake you made, it breaks your heart. It will take a long while to reassure him that you aren’t ever leaving again, maybe a lifetime, but that’s okay.

You take notice of his dark circles and how skinny he has gotten. Gods, has he eaten at all since you left, you wonder.

“Let me make us some dinner, then we can talk more, okay?” Azriel nods and reluctantly lets go of your hand, following you to the kitchen like a lost puppy.

———

After several long hours of tears and brutal honesty, you and Azriel lay in your bed, embracing each other.

You spent the next week holed up in the house, reconnecting and reigniting your love for each other. You even took extra time to apologize to his shadows. They were very happy that you were back and made sure to show you so.

True to his word, Azriel never took your love for granted for as long as you both lived. And true to yours, you never left again.

I think I may do this prompt again later with someone else in more of a rivals to lovers type scenario, but I kinda just felt like this was fun for this one and wanted to try it idk

prompt list

taglist: @fxckmiup

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #azriel #acotar fic #acotar fanfic #azriel acotar #acotar x reader #azriel x reader #my writing

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yourejinx · 4 months

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Undeniable Bonds

Azriel x F. Reader

Warnings: angst, as per usual. SPOILERS for other SJM series. Mentions of blood, descriptions of injuries, mentions of death, feelings. Not proof read.

Author’s note: Merry Christmas everyone! It took me MONTHS but is finally here, hope you like it. Sorry for making you wait for so long, life has been nothing short of chaotic. I'd like to thank @crazylokonugget , I read your comment. It was the rush of inspiration I needed to get back into writing 🫶🏻

CHAPTER SIX

The moon was shining big and bright above the night sky in the city, there was music being played by the river despite the chilling winds of the winter and laughter filled the air around The Rainbow. It all seemed so livid, so peaceful and merry in contrast with the emotional turmoil brewing in your insides.

You were feeling everything at once, every single thing you had tried to keep concealed for centuries now was ready to combust. You felt confused, and angry, resentful, wary…and underneath it all naively hopeful. It would be a lie to say you had successfully gotten rid of your feelings towards Azriel, if anything all the awful things you've done to each other hurted all the more because of that. He was a friend once, and a good one. Gentle, caring, protective, used to actually enjoy the other's presence, go on walks during the nights when the world felt too heavy, just silently supporting each other. Shared laughs at stupid jokes played at Cass and Rhys, sneaking around while in other courts just for the fun of it, knowing no one would ever find you. You were a team. Until one day you weren’t, he just decided it wasn’t worthy and that was it.

How were you supposed to open up to this person, when he hadn’t even seen the worst in you and deemed you unworthy? How could you ever trust him again? Yet, here you were, walking side by side next to the Sidra like the old times. You could punch yourself in the face just for considering this, every anxious trait screamed at you to leave, you didn’t owe him a single thing, didn’t have to explain anything. So why did you keep walking alongside him?

“So…uhm,” He started, nervously scratching at his nape. Trying. He was trying to be open, didn’t hold up that mask of coldness to conceal his emotions, not once. “You and Lucien..?”

“None of your business.” you snapped out of instinct.

He avoided looking directly at you, focusing on some distant light across the bridge.

You let out a deep breath, this wasn’t going to work.

“Just talk to him.” Amren’s voice rang in your head. Try. You had to try, you didn’t have to let him know much just…let the conversation flow, right?

“It was a long time ago, even before Amarantha..” you started, casting a sidelong glance at him.

He turned to you, features soft under the moonlight. Gods, he was unfairly beautiful when he wasn’t an ass. You fixed your sight on the river, if only to keep on track. “Nothing really happened, we were young and drunk at one of Tamlin’s masquerades, we made out and that was it.”

He nodded slowly and cleared his throat, “And now?”

“Is this what you really want to talk about? He’s my friend, not that I owe you any explanation. Or is this your way to ask if Elain is available now?”

You couldn’t help it, the audacity of this male prying into your private life as if he hadn’t been lusting after Lucien’s mate of all people. Hypocrite doesn’t begin to cut it.

“I don’t care about Elain, I care about you.”

You wanted to laugh. “Since when? If I recall correctly you despised me until a week ago, you were either insulting me or just blatantly ignoring me in favor of her, or anyone else really. Then all goes to hell and suddenly I’m worth living for?!”

He grimaced, “You– you remember that?”

You sighed tiredly and sat down on a bench overlooking the Sidra. “Yes, I remember. I just…I don’t understand you.”

Azriel just stood there beside you, shifting his weight uncomfortably, not being quite sure what to do. When he didn’t move or say anything you continued, “I want to believe you,” you swallowed around a lump “but do you hear how it sounds? After all we’ve been through. I trusted you and you threw that in my face, how do you expect me to believe that you care about me?”

This wasn’t going as he was hoping for, but at least it was something. You were speaking to him more than two sentences, which was a lot more than he deserved to be honest. You could yell at him, curse him, punch him in the face if you wished and he would take it. No complaints. Anything if it meant you’d show him how you truly felt, he wasn’t sure he could endure your silence again, knowing how much he had hurt you. He needed you to let it all out, so he could do something to fix it.

“I don’t expect you to believe me right away, of course not. I know that I have to earn your forgiveness and one day if I’m one lucky bastard I might earn your trust back once more. But I also know that even when I try to make things right you may not forgive me at all, and I’ll accept that too. Honestly? I just want to know how you feel with all that has happened. The only thing that matters now is you.”

You let out a shaky breath, turning away from him. “I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, everything is a mess.”

He moved then, crouching in front of you and grasping both your hands on his own, making you look at him. The earnest way he was looking at you, the desperate feeling swimming in his eyes that traveled all the way through the bond. It made you gasp, with all that’s been going on you forgot to put a shield up. Now you could feel him, all of him, which meant he could feel you.

“I have no damn right to demand such mercy from you, but if for a single moment you find in your heart a spec of doubt, a small sign of will to forgive this coward for wronging you so unfairly, I just want you to know how sorry I am, for everything. I regret it all, I wish I could take it all back. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, until the day I part from this earth I will fight for you.”

You were quite sure your bottom lip was trembling as much as his hands were, trying miserably to contain the unwelcomed tears pooling in your eyes. Those were such nice words, the silly part of you that always longed for his recognition wanted so desperately to believe, but there were still too many unresolved things, too many questions still running frantically through your head. And one recurrent thought…

“Did I really have to die for you to notice?” Your words hung heavy in the air, with a mix of accusation and vulnerability.

Azriel, gaze intense and haunted, looked as if you had just punched a hole through his chest. In that moment, the shadows that bound him seemed to soften, and he confessed the truth that had long eluded you both. It wasn't the brush with death that made him take notice; it was the fear of losing you that shattered the carefully constructed barriers around his heart.

"No, it's not about noticing, it's about realizing what it means to lose you," he admitted, his voice a low, gravelly murmur. Azriel's jaw tightened, a small sign that betrayed the internal struggle within him. "It's not so simple. The thought of a world without your laughter, your presence....Losing you was the worst of my nightmares coming true. I've always cared, but I let my past dictate my actions, and I was cruel to you because I couldn't bear the thought of history repeating itself. But I was wrong, and I almost lost you because of it."

“What do you mean?”

You had unconsciously leaned in closer to him and he swallowed audibly at the intensity in your eyes —obsidian black that sometimes showed swirls of violet and blue. Like lightning striking the midnight sky. They were a rare sight, a beautiful one, he knew that only happened when you felt too much. The telltale sign of the emotions you were so desperately trying to hold back from reaching him.

“I will tell you everything you want to know, in time. I will lay my heart down for you to step on if you wish. But I believe that is a conversation on its own, I wish to explain everything to you and I don’t think I can do it tonight.” He looked almost pleading. “There’s nothing that can excuse the way I treated you, I’ve been a coward, and an asshole and you have every damn right to be angry with me, to hate me. That much I understand. I just hope you’d be willing to listen when the time’s right.”

You supposed it was fair. It still made you uneasy and you pulled back a little, ignoring the hurt that flashed through his eyes. Given how strained your relationship was, you guessed it was normal he was still doubtful about sharing too much too soon. You weren’t that willing to particularly share much of yourself yet, if ever.

Gods, you wished you could rage about everything that has happened, and hated the way his words had soothe an ache in your heart you were making an effort not to acknowledge.

Time. It would take time to heal, and trust, and effort on both sides to make this work. Whatever this white flag he had weaved tonight meant. You knew it was the right call to make, for the sake of everyone, to try and make amends. That didn’t mean it was going to be easy, some things were too deeply engraved in your heart to let go.

Did it make you a weak, spineless female to want to give in to him? What was the cost of it?

“Alright,” you muttered, standing to your feet, Azriel followed you. “If I agree to do this, I’ll need you to be patient. I’m not ready yet to let you in, I still have my doubts about this. I think you understand why. But I want to try to be friends again, that’s as much as I can offer you right now.”

Friends. That was a lot more than he had dared to ask for, even if in his heart he desired more. It wasn’t about him, nor his desires, it was about you and giving you what you need. So if what you needed from him was friendship, he’ll take it. Make the most of it.

Azriel nodded, something sparkling to life in his eyes that wasn’t there before. The bond thrummed quietly with emotion. Hope.

“One step at a time?” you offered, extending your hand to him.

“One step at a time.” He repeated, taking your hand.

It was awkward but welcomed, the feeling of something settling within your chest. The mating bond had been neglected for so long that the weight of it felt weird now, as if a missing limb had been spoken into existence. Azriel seemed to notice too, absentmindedly reaching his hand up to rub at his chest.

You tried not to shudder when he gently tugged at it and opened your mouth to suggest keeping the ends closed for the time being. Unless until you were more comfortable with each other. It was way too intimate and overwhelming otherwise, and that you were not ready for yet.

“Maybe we should–” you stopped as you felt something warm and thick dripping to your lips. Pressing two fingers to the spot and watching them stained red. Blood.

Azriel quickly caught up to the movement, body stilling in alert.

“What's wrong?” he asked, stepping closer.

“I don't know,” A strong pang shot too fast to your head making you gasp and causing you to fall forwards. Azriel’s arms instantly wrapped around your shoulders, holding you to him. His shadows were in a frenzy, surrounding you both while he inspected your face for any signs of injury.

“Y/N? Talk to me, where does it hurt?” He sounded agitated.

You could hear Azriel’s voice being muffled and muffled by the second, could feel his warmth and the firm press of his body against yours, but everything was quickly becoming a blurry image. Like some distant dream everything started to fade from sight, the whole scenery changing, twisting and re-adapting.

Velaris had been replaced for a cold, dark room, the air thick and musty. The sound of crashing waves filling the otherwise silent space. Rusty chains hung wicked and ancient from the stone walls, an iron coffin sitting vacant across from you, open and expectantly waiting for its occupier. You couldn’t move a single muscle, only stare through eyes that were not yours, scent with a foreign nose, the smell of fear, and blood, and immense sadness.

You blinked twice — or rather this…person whose mind seemed blending with yours did— and gazed down to gauntlet-covered hands. Iron, yet again. There was a slight tremble to this other body, a female’s body, from pain so deep from within her guts and the fire blazing underneath, it rose and rose and rose, flaring until it was pushed down and forced to remain still.

She looked up again, to the lone white wolf lying a few feet away, already watching her. The animal tilted his head to the side as if in contemplation and blinked three times.

“Are you okay?”

—----------------------------------------------

Sound was the first thing to return to you, hurried, hissing voices coming from somewhere around you.

“I swear on the Cauldron I'll have their heads on spikes as ornamentations for your throne.” A low, deep growl laced with intent. You recognized Azriel’s baritone voice from beside you.

Violet and blue-ish gray greeted you when you finally opened your eyes, immediately recognizing the Town’s House living room.

What in hell had that been? It occurred to you that you had dreamed about her before, the female, recognized the same lemon verbena and crackling embers scent from previous dreams, although never catching a full look at her. Who was she? Was she in danger? Was this a warning?

Frowning you propped up to your elbows to sit, back resting against the couch’s armrest. Feyre gave you a soft smile, sitting down next to your legs.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, worry staining her features.

“I'm fine, just a little dizzy.” You craned your neck back to look at the male standing behind the couch, one of his shadows slipping away to caress your cheek before returning to his master. “What happened?”

Azriel's honey gaze settled upon you, shoulders sagging a bit from relief at the sight of you awake. “You were unconscious for a few minutes, I flew us back here and called Rhys. I didn't know what to do. Are you sure you're ok?”

“Yeah, I'm alright. Thank you.” You tried to smile softly but barely managed to slightly lift the corners of your mouth. He nodded, unconvinced. After a moment to cringe, you added, “Whose head are we having on spikes?”

Silence.

Rhys cleared his throat. “Your brother’s and Damien’s.” Suddenly the room’s temperature dropped. Feyre shifted uncomfortably in her place. We hadn’t openly discussed the situation yet. “If this is a side effect of whatever they did to you, we need to find the–”

“It 's not.” you interrupted him.

It wasn't like you didn't want to find them and finish what had started two centuries ago. But it was your fight, you didn't wish to trouble your family with it. Didn't want Rhys particularly involved out of anyone, he was the reason they came back. Albeit unbeknownst to him. They still lusted after his crown, his throne, they wanted vengeance. Your blood as well as his.

Azriel stared at you, contemplative. You could sense he wanted to ask more but was debating whether it was pushing a boundary or not. It was all new to the two of you, too fresh to know what was appropriate.

Fidgeting with your entwined fingers on your lap, you decided to offer some truth. Even if they didn't believe you, even if it sounded crazy.

“This has happened to me my whole life. It doesn't always knock me unconscious, most of the time it's just dreams.”

Rhys frowned but it was Azriel who asked, “What sort of dreams are those?”

“I can't fully explain because most of the time I don't understand them. But it is almost like my mind goes somewhere else, like I share one consciousness with another. A female. Though I haven’t figured that out until tonight. I've seen scraps of her mind, and the places She's been, but I don't know her face.”

You could practically see the engines in Feyre’s mind working. She had stayed silent for most of the interaction, paying careful attention to each word.

“And what happened in this…dream? What did you see?” asked Rhys this time.

“Not much, she seemed to be in some sort of mausoleum? It was barely lit, few candles here and there. It had to be some isolated place next to the sea, I could hear waves crashing against rock. The air was thick and musty. There was a wolf with her.”

“Do you think it is possible you're dreaming about someone in the Summer Court?” Azriel caught your attention once more.

“I don't know, could be. But it feels off. There were chains on the walls…and an iron coffin. But she was alive, I think. Maybe she’s a prisoner?” You turned to Feyre then. “You’ve been there when stealing the Book of Breathings, does this sound familiar? Some place you may have seen?”

She shook her head. “No it doesn't. That doesn't mean it does not exist, I didn't get to see much of the Summer Court. But why would Tarquin keep an iron coffin?”

You sighed, rubbing your temples. “I don't know, it doesn't make sense. Why would I be dreaming of a female in the Summer Court? How do I relate to that?”

“What if they're not dreams, per say, but visions? Like Elain's…” she pursed her lips, deep in thought.

Azriel tensed beside me, I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. I hadn't seen Elain around that much after Solstice night, coming to think of it. Does he think it's my fault?

“Hadn't thought of it that way. Honestly, I read too much, since I was a kid. I was convinced my mind made it all up until it started to happen during day time. But either way, I don't think this is the case. I mean, nothing that I dreamt of has happened, and if it did, it didn't involve any of us. So we have no way of knowing about it.”

“It still bugs me. There has to be some explanation to it. It clearly affects you, I don't believe it's normal that these dreams cause you nosebleeds and make you pass out. What if it gets worse?” Rhys pointed out.

“Beats me. I know as much as you do.”

“We’ll have to look into it. Whatever this is, and whoever that person may be. Is there something else you remember?” Azriel's brows were pulled together tightly, but his eyes were gentle when he settled them upon me.

“I just…one time I recall feeling her, here in Velaris. I — she— saw you two.” You pointed to your high lord and lady. Rhys stilled. “But it was like she was falling from the sky, or rather falling through. You were pregnant with little Nyx.” You told Feyre and turned your head to look at Azriel. “I don't remember much about it. I must have passed out, you found me in the hallway shortly after.”

Azriel gave a tense nod. “I remember you lying face down on the top of the stairs, your books thrown all over the place. Your nose wasn't bleeding though, I thought you were drunk.” he said apologetically.

I shrugged. “You didn't know, and I couldn't explain either.”

“If this is a person that's been here without us knowing, then we must start to investigate immediately.” Rhys cut in.

“But where do we start?” I asked.

“I'll see if the wards of Velaris had been tampered with, for starters. Maybe we can find some imprint of magic. In the meantime I’d say you learn about bonds and connections, how they work, check your mental shields. If you have access to her mind then there's a possibility she has access to yours, there has to be a link somewhere.”

“Alright, I'll start to look into it right away. There has to be something in the library about mental connections.”

“You should rest now.” Azriel placed a hand on my shoulder. “I'll help with the research tomorrow. We can go to the library after training the Valkyries. If that's okay with you.”

You nodded and relaxed a little. Ignoring the warmth that his touch had spread across your back.

“Yeah, it's fine. Tomorrow then.”

—---------------------------------------------------

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#acotar #azriel shadowsinger #azriel x reader #acotar fanfiction #acotar fandom #azriel fanfic #acotar series #azriel #acomaf #acowar #undeniable bonds

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jae-birde · 5 months

Text

This was supposed to come out weeks ago, but I got stuck in the editing process and then I got sick… so yeah, this took a while. But now it's done!

This is also cross-posted on AO3 here.

This fic is dedicated to both @somerandomdudelmao and @tapakah0, both of whom are incredibly talented and huge inspirations to me, both in terms of writing and in drawing, so thank you both so much.

Anyways, spoilers up to chapter 16 of Cass' Apocalypse series.

Donnie was standing in the middle of a crowd.

It was safe to say that he was very much not used to being surrounded by such crowds, even in the Resistance. He was never the one that everyone would crowd around; that was always Leo or Raph or Mikey or April or… literally anyone but him. Even considering that, and even thinking about the few times people did crowd around him, there was something very different about this one. Something off.

He looked around. He could tell that they were talking — their mouths were moving, and sound was certainly coming out — but it was indecipherable, and none of the people had a distinct form, which was quickly beginning to become very unnerving.

Donnie looked around, and a tug in his gut had him scanning the crowd for his brothers.

"Mikey?" He called out. "Leo! Where the fuck are… you…?" Donnie trailed off, frozen at the sight of the pink veins covering his hand. His hands, actually.

"What…?" His mind was suddenly thrust backwards — or was it forwards? — in time, remembering when he'd first seen signs of the infection.

The infection.

"No! No, no, no, no, no…" Donnie couldn't help the desperation in his tone, his horror growing as he watched and felt the infection creeping through his veins, killing him all over again. Only this time, it didn't give him the mercy of time, the pain instead seeming to flood his senses. He sucked in a sharp breath and felt it get caught in his throat. He felt the way the virus weakened him, sapping his strength like poison as it happened all over again. He closed his eyes at the wave of pain that crashed over him, a sick feeling settling in his gut.

His legs gave away, and he dropped to the ground with a groan, one hand out to catch his fall, the other wrapping around his stomach as a pain shot through it. The pink was all over him now; he could see it. It seeped into the ground around him, trying to pull him down with it. He opened his eyes, looking up at the crowd desperately.

"Please— I—" Donnie stopped, staring at the crowd around him.

They all stared back.

"Why are you…?" He trailed off, looking around, hoping to see any sign of someone moving to help.

No one moved.

"…Just looking…?"

The crowd hovered around him, indistinct forms still murmuring incomprehensible words. The pink of the virus encompassed him, and he felt himself growing weaker with every second, pain wracking his body as he sunk lower onto the ground.

"You're already dead," one voice said, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

They're the first words he heard that weren't his own since he found himself in this crowd, and they made it feel as if the world was crashing down on him.

"What's the point?" Another asked, voice void of emotion as it echoed around him.

Donnie stared at them, uncomprehending. "But… I'm not?" He tried to push himself up, but his arms trembled and gave out under him, and he collapsed again, strength weakening by the second.

"Not… yet… Donnie closed his eyes, tears stinging at them as he lay there, forcing himself to take breath after shuddery breath.

This poison had practically consumed him. It had sapped away his strength until he could barely move.

And he didn't particularly want to.

The crowd's murmuring had silenced, but he could still feel their presence around him, their forms towering over his prone one.

Donnie couldn't open his eyes. He felt a tear track down his face as he lay still, letting the pain, cold, and exhaustion wash over him and sweep him away. He couldn't do anything now. He was overwhelmed by the pain and misery caused by the infection. There wasn't anything that could be done at this point anyway; he was too far gone. There was an insistent tug around him, pulling him into the ground.

You are dead after all, a voice whispered in Donnie's mind. It's just bringing you to where you belong.

And Donnie didn't have the strength to fight it anymore.

But then he didn't have to.

He was being carried. It was a familiar enough feeling to him, his brothers and sister all having done it at one point or another for him, but this hold was different. Familiar in a way that he was clinging to, even before he realized who it was. And then, all at once, Donnie recognized who it was.

Leo.

Donnie nearly cried at feeling his brother's arms holding him again; he would recognize his twin's hold anywhere. He felt safe in his brother's arms in a way he hadn't felt for a long time. He knew that Leo would keep him safe. Donnie felt himself go slack in Leo's arms before he felt a gentle weight on his head and cracked his eyes open.

And there was Mikey, floating just in front of him, dark hair obscuring most of his face, but his little brother's sad smile was visible.

There was a glow around Mikey, a pale orange that was nearly white, that seemed to emanate from him in an aura. There was soothing warmth pouring from Mikey's touch that chased away the freezing cold of the Krang infection, and Donnie felt himself leaning into the sweet, blessed relief, despite the memories poking at his consciousness, whispering in his ear that it wouldn't help. Mikey had tried everything he could before; all it ever did was leave Mikey more tired than before. It wasn't worth it. Donnie didn't want his brother to feel that not when he'd just found him again.

"You know… that won't really help…?" Donnie trailed off despite himself, lost in an odd mix of pain and relief as the warmth of Mikey's mystic powers seeped through his veins, chasing away the cold of the virus in a way that Donnie had never felt before.

"Hm… yes." Leo mused, and Donnie felt a stab to his heart from hearing his brother's voice for the first time since he died.

Mikey's hand glowed brighter, and Donnie felt the mystics wash over his body. The pink that had nearly covered his hand turned white, and Donnie reached for his brother, desperate to hold onto Mikey's hand while he still could.

"Yes," Mikey continued, taking Donnie's hand in his own and squeezing tightly, his other hand gently holding the side of Donnie's face.

Donnie felt Leo gently rub his shell, and he relaxed further into his brother's hold, smiling up at Mikey, tears in his eyes.

"We do," Mikey concluded, the glow from his hands growing brighter before Donnie was left blinking from the brightness of it.

And suddenly, he wasn't looking at his brother anymore. He wasn't being carried.

His eyes shot fully open, and he sat up, eyes darting around his desk as he remembered where — and when — he was. Coffee mugs were grouped to the side, and paper notes were scattered across the desk's surface. Glowing purple screens were the only thing illuminating the otherwise empty room.

Donnie straightened up, rubbing at his eyes before dragging his hand down his face as his posture slumped. Mikey and Leo were still out there.

He looked up at his screens.

He just needed to find them.

Besides. Death was fixable after all.

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thedroneranger · 10 months

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The Drone Ranger's Be Kind Rewind ⏪

A rec reblog series dedicated to the fics that we love so much, we've re-read them!

The Top Gun fandom has been going strong for over a year, and while we continue to churn out amazing new content, let's be kind and rewind to look at some of the OG content we love!

And don't forget to reblog when you re-read! Continue to show your comfort fics and favorite creators some love. It helps keep the fresh content coming :)

I'm kicking off this series by sharing some of my favorite re-reads, as well as one of my own (older) fics I think is worth your time.

Throughout the summer, I'm inviting friends—other creators and readers—to share their lists, so stay tuned!

If you're interested in participating in the Be Kind Rewind, message me! The more, the merrier—let's keep this going as long as we can!

You can also join the tag list here to be notified when a new list drops!

fics below the cut (listed in alphabetical order by title)

Dime Store Cowboy, Jake Seresin, @seasonsbloom This is the first cowboy Jake fic I read, and it's still my favorite! A sweet little two-shot where Jake teaches reader the cowboy hat rule. Yeehaw! 🤠

Flyboy, Jake Seresin, @kryptonitejelly This is the first Jake fic I read and loved. While everything in this universe is fantastic, A Drunken Confession is what my brain immediately goes to when I think of Flyboy.

Full of Surprises, Robert Floyd, @withahappyrefrain This is my gateway fic to the Bob Fucks agenda. And when I saw Abby wrote a follow-up. I damn near died.

The 1%, Bradley Bradshaw, @notroosterbradshaw I know I'm not the only that loves this fic, because it appears on my dash quite frequently. And every time, I re-read and reblog it!

The Boyfriend Experience, Bradley Bradshaw, @notroosterbradshaw Appears less on my dash, but a classic Bradley fic, nonetheless. I recently re-read it and fell in love all over again. Cass is the absolute king of the slow burn. Definitely read everything in this universe!

The Craftsman, Bradley Bradshaw, @roosterforme I'll read about Roo and Baby Girl as long as Em keeps writing about them. Once in a while I like to re-read my favorite moments, and this is one of them! I remember screeching to Em about how much I would love a house hunting fic—she delivered! 🦄

Bonus: The Grey Sweatpants, Bradley Bradshaw I requested this for Roo and BG, and I'm obsessed with it. Em did the concept such justice, and it's so Roo and BG! I hope you enjoy as much I do!

The Only Thing, Jake Seresin, @justfandomwritings This fic is amazing. It's a Jake fic written in Bradley's point-of-view. Sounds weird, but it works so, so well.

Trouble In Paradise, Bradley Bradshaw, @sunlightmurdock The Toxic King 👑 forever my king (don't at me). As is TiP Jake (still one of my favorite Jakes). And this fic is forever in my heart since it's the first one I read in the fandom—what a welcome! I stan the ending, btw. 💛

Until I Found You, Bradley Bradshaw, @cherrycola27 The cutest of meet cutes. Nik is also the king of pilot!reader fics—this is no exception. Read it. Love it. Reblog it.

Bonus: Battle Plans, Jake Seresin Full disclosure: I requested this for Nik's Dagger Deities celly. In true Nik fashion, she gave us everything, including the kitchen sink! 🧅

Creator's Own

You Get Me Closer, Bradley Bradshaw This is actually the very first fic I wrote for the TGM fandom! It's inspired by the Nine Inch Nails song, Closer. Give it a read! I hope you enjoy!

Tag list and friends: @petcr3 @desert-fern @mygyn @horseshoegirl @the-annoying-fan @sagittarius-lovewitch @wkndwlff @dingochef @sweetwhispersofchaos @galaxy-of-stories @taytaylala12 @malindacath @violyn20 @awildewit @potato-girl99981 @shanimallina87 @blue-aconite @djs8891 @linkpk88 @furiousladyking @daggerspare-standingby @princess76179 @jstarr86 @hecate-steps-on-me @darkheartcherry @soulmates8 @roosters-girl @dempy @mayhemmanaged @roosterisdaddy36 @hangmanscoming @s-u-t @mavrellover91 @chicomonks @averyhotchner @penguin876 @kmc1989 @xoxabs88xox @mak-32 @dakotakazansky @startrekfangirl2233 @cassiemitchell @seitmai

A kind reminder, this is a 18+ blog. While not all stories in the recommendation list are 18+, please respect boundaries and do not interact unless you are 18 years of age or older.

#tgm be kind rewind #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #robert bob floyd #jake seresin #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bob floyd #top gun maverick #tgm #top gun #robert floyd

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dailycass-cain · 10 months

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Cassandra Cain in Video Game Media

Tonight, I'm going to cover the various appearances Cassandra Cain has in video game media. Some might surprise you, even startle you, and even might get you interested in said game (that are available).

Now her first appearance in video game media is a rather infamous one, Batman Dark Tomorrow released for the Game Cube and X-Box. The game is rather infamous for being quite awful for its atrocious controls and camera angles.

Cass (along with Tim Drake Robin) show up after you defeat Stage 3 after beating Scarface & the Ventriloquist. And that's about it. Just a random appearance. 🙃

A fun little note is the game's story was written by Scott Peterson, who had a slight hand in Cass's Vol. 1 ongoing throughout the Puckett/Scott run. So it's highly probable he snuck her in for this scene.

The second appearance of Cass in a video game is one usually forgotten but released a few months after the first, Batman: Toxic Chill (2003). An educational game where you as Batman would solve various puzzles to progress.

The game's character design is HEAVILY influenced by BTAS. However, with a KEY difference, the Batgirl is Cass (and voiced by Christiane Crawford).

Later that same year, we'd get the game's sequel, Batman: Justice Unbalanced, and again Cass would be in the game (voiced again by Christiane Crawford).

Her roles in both games are relatively minor just showing up, and the vocal performance by Crawford is quite good.

After that three-prone assault in 2003, we'd have to wait until 2011 for the next time Cass as Batgirl would show up in a video game. This time in DC Universe Online.

Yeah, you read that date right in 2011, several years after she had abandoned the role (and would soon be wiped away with the New 52).

She appears in the game as a vendor for hero characters. Mindy Raymond voices her in the game.

There's just so great irony in the fact that this game has Cass walking around as Batgirl when DC was shoving Barbara Gordon everywhere else as THE Batgirl at this time.

Not only that, but when Cass was reintroduced as Orphan in 2016, she was still Batgirl here. And the game still exists to this day and she’s still the Batgirl in it!

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure is our next surprising Cass appearance which came out in 2013 (at the HEIGHT of her being labeled "toxic" by DC).

Cass is one of MANY DC characters in the game. She's not just Batgirl in the game, but also her Black Bat persona is here too!

Fun little Easter Egg, if you type in Kasumi you'll get Cass instead (go figure 😝).

2013 would see the release of the mobile version of "Injustice Gods Amongst Us" a vastly different version of the fighting game on consoles and pcs.

However, Cass (a reskinned Babs Batgirl) is among the unlockables in the game. If I recall right from friends who played the game she's highly difficult to fully unlock.

As I said in my Alternate Universe reading guide not much is known about this version of Cass. But she was name-dropped in the last comic released (a prequel to the series, Injustice: Year Zero #2),

2020 would see Cass appear in another mobile game, DC Legends.

This would technically have her appear in her Orphan identity but it's never explicitly listed. In the game she's listed as "Cassandra Cain: The One Who is All".

Much like Injustice, she's hard to unlock buuuuut a bit easier to attain than that game. Once fully geared up and evolved into the game's "Rebirth" mode, she can be an absolute beast and bane to many players.

There is one tiny bits of note. In last year's Gotham Knights video game, it was revealed one of Barbara Gordon's rejected concept costumes was heavily inspired by Cassandra's Batgirl look.

In Batman: Arkham Origins (2013), Cass's pop is amongst the files of rejected assassins Black Mask was pondering to hire to kill Batman.

He's also listed in the game as an acquaintance of Lady Shiva (who does appear in it). Sadly, nothing ever comes of these little bits.

There you have it. Every single video game appearance of Cass. SO FAR...

#cassandra cain #video games #dc comics

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theladyofdeath · 1 year

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The Holiday {10}

Ships: Nesta x Cassian / Aelin x Rowan

Written alongside @snelbz

Trope(s): Christmas, fluff, love at first sight, enemies to lovers, New Year's

Summary: Nesta has just been dumped. Aelin hates her job. Both women need an escape from reality and with Christmas quickly approaching, it's the perfect time for a getaway. After discovering a trend where people can swap houses for a non-traditional vacation experience, these two women decide to spend the holidays in each other's homes. With their houses comes a series of unique experiences and a couple of handsome suitors. It's time to see just how much a change of scenery and two weeks of Christmas solitude and romance can change a person.

A/N: We've reached the end! Shelby and I have another story in the works that we hope to share soon. Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoyed! x

Rating: M for mature - language, smut, substance use, etc. 18+.

Inspired by The Holiday (2006).

Aelin hadn’t been home for more than an hour when there was a knock on her front door. Lysandra and Aedion were supposed to be stopping by later this evening, Christmas presents in tow, so she was fairly sure it wouldn’t be either of them. Bumping her thermostat up a degree, silently promising herself she’d never take advantage of central heat and air again, she headed for the front door.

She found Cassian on the other side, a stack of envelopes under his arm. He smiled warmly. “Wanted to give you time to settle in, but didn’t want to forget to bring you your mail.”

The breeze was blowing hard, but it wasn’t nearly as cold as the wind that ripped through Orynth. She was surprised that she almost missed the brisk chill that had settled into her bones.

She knew it wasn’t the wind or weather she missed. Knew it wasn’t the city or the mountains.

“Thank you so much,” she replied, stepping back and letting him in. She took the bundle of envelopes from him and shut the door.

“First of all, I hope you had a great trip,” he said, putting his hands in his back pockets. He looked at her, hazel eyes wary before he added, “Secondly, I’d like to apologize for having sex in your bed.”

Aelin came to a halt, her brain malfunctioning until his words settled. “You had sex in my bed?”

He rocked back on his heels. “The sheets were washed.”

Aelin stared at him for another minute before saying, “Yeah, I’m going to need the whole story. Come in. Drink.”

Cassian didn’t need to be told twice. After slipping off his boots, he followed Aelin into the kitchen and sat at her kitchen table.

“So,” he began, when Aelin went to retrieve their drinks. “Tell me about your trip.”

Aelin couldn’t help but smile to herself as she grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine and whiskey out of the cabinet. She poured one of each before walking back to the table. “No, no. First you explain.”

Cassian went into his tale about all the events that led up to him bedding Nesta, and as Aelin watched, she couldn’t help but notice that he’d never talked this way about another woman before. His eyes lit up and his smile softened every time he said her name.

Thinking back to her conversation with Lysandra, Aelin crossed one leg over her knee and asked, “Are you smitten, Cass?”

Scoffing, he took a large drink from his glass. “Men don’t do smitten,” he explained, his eyes falling on Aelin’s Christmas tree. “Doesn’t mean I don’t miss her and her fire like hell though.”

Aelin completely understood, more than Cassian could guess. Swirling the wine in her glass, she admitted, “I can’t very well give you and Nesta shit for having sex in my bed when we didn’t even make it off the couch.” At his confused expression, Aelin pointed to herself and then at him. “Pot, meet kettle.”

A slow grin spread across Cassian’s lips. “Good for you, Ace. It’s about time you got boned by someone who isn’t a complete ass. At least, I hope he’s not an ass.”

“Not an ass,” Aelin agreed. “A complete gentleman. I haven’t stopped thinking about him once since I left his house this morning.”

Cassian lifted a brow.

“That’s right, I spent the night,” she said, with a wink as she took a drink. Cassian chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence. “Was it just a fling? With Nesta?”

Cassian gave his glass a thoughtful stare. “No,” he said, at last. “It wasn’t. Yours?”

“I love him,” Aelin said, simply, and once the words were out, she thought that Cassian would call her ridiculous, but he never did.

Instead, he asked, “What now, then? Are you going to stay in touch? See him again?”

“I’d like to see him again. It’s not like he can just hop on a plane and fly across the world though. He’s got a seven-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.”

He nodded, as if he understood. “Mom’s not around?”

Aelin shook her head. “Car accident.”

“Damn, that’s horrible.” It got quiet for a minute. “What’s his name? And his daughter?”

“Rowan,” she replied, hoping she didn’t sound like the lovesick girl she felt like. “And Sutton.”

“Sutton. That’s a nice name.” His words sounded sincere, but Aelin could tell his mind was elsewhere. “You love him? This soon?”

She could tell it wasn’t doubt behind his question, but something else… Something that sounded suspiciously like hope.

She smiled, thinking of his laugh, the surety she felt when her hand was enveloped in his. “I do. There’s just something about him, something I can’t get enough of.” Watching him, she could see the wheels turning in his head. “Do you…love Nesta?”

“Cauldron, no,” he laughed and his eyes softened. “But I could see myself loving her. Easily.”

“She’s kind?”

“Not at all,” Cassian said, and then laughed at Aelin’s bewildered expression. “She’s something else entirely. Indescribable.”

Aelin chuckled as she shook her head. “Fair enough. Must’ve been someone pretty great to catch your eye. I know how you are.”

“Handsome as hell?”

“Picky as hell.”

“Same thing.”

Aelin huffed a laugh as they each took another drink, settling back into their comfortable silence. When Aelin had met Cassian, she swore she had found her male counterpart. They’d gotten along since their first conversation and had plenty of memories to prove just how good of friends they were meant to be.

“When do you have to go back to work?” Cassian asked.

Aelin sighed. She had been trying not to think about that. “Tomorrow.”

Cassian’s head fell to the side as he watched her. “Do I sense that your time away has persuaded you to finally get out of that hellhole?”

Aelin frowned, staring at her glass. “Honestly? I’d love nothing more than to never step foot in that place again, but I’m good at what I do. I thrive there. And I get paid well.”

Cassian nodded, and his eyes went soft in that way that told Aelin he was about to say something she didn’t want to hear, but needed to. “You’re an amazing lawyer, Ace. You can work wherever you want — or, hell, open your own small practice — and still thrive and get paid well. Life is too short to be working somewhere that makes you miserable and where people don’t appreciate you.”

He was right. She knew he was right. “Easier said than done.”

“The hard things are the things that are worth doing,” Cassian said, taking a sip of his whiskey. “I dropped out of college to pursue music and now I play for scraps while waiting tables every time I don’t have a gig. And you know what? I’m happy. Take that step. You won’t regret it.”

When Aelin met Cassian all those years ago, she never thought he’d be the voice of reason in her life. She held up her wine glass and, with a grin, Cassian clinked his glass against hers.

“We’ll see,” Aelin said as she downed the rest of her drink.

<.>.<.>.<.>

Rowan had showed up at Nesta’s with a new heap of firewood only to knock on the door and find Nesta’s eyes lit with humor.

She held up a very familiar black beanie and asked, without so much as a hello beforehand, “Does this look familiar to you?”

Rowan, standing on the front porch dumbfounded, hesitated. He thought he’d lost that in his truck somewhere, or figured Sutton had worn it outside and lost it.

Nesta quirked a brow. “Now, tell me how your hat ended up buried in my couch.”

“I…” Rowan began, but nothing had come out after that.

Nesta grinned. “Shit, you’re blushing, Whitethorn.”

“I’m not blushing,” he mumbled, snatching the hat from Nesta’s hand, very much feeling like his face was on fire.

She huffed a laugh and stepped aside. “Come on. A drink for the pile of wood, unless you actually want to let me pay you this time.”

“I’ve known you since college,” Rowan said, stepping inside and kicking off his boots. “Friends don’t pay.”

“But friends do get with the guest staying in my house?” Nesta crooned, walking into the kitchen.

Rowan groaned. “Suddenly I feel like you’re never going to let me forget this. And I didn’t…get with her.”

Nesta looked over her shoulder, brows raised. Rowan was pretty sure his face was on fire again.

“So,” Nesta began, pouring coffee into two cups and setting one in front of Rowan, who stood across the counter from her. “Tell me about her.”

“You know her,” he said, spooning sugar into his coffee, purposefully not meeting her eyes.

“I don’t, actually,” she said, trying to hide the smile growing with her coffee cup. “I texted with her to set this up, that’s all. You, it seems, know her far more intimately.”

It was quiet for a moment before Rowan admitted, “I’m in love with her.”

Nesta nearly choked on her coffee. “You love her?”

“No,” Rowan corrected. “I’m in love with her.”

Nesta had been Rowan’s friend for a long time. They’d met in college and had become neighbors by complete chance. She was one of the first people outside of their families to meet Sutton when she was born. She’d been around for his happiest days.

And his saddest.

“What about Lyria?” She asked, carefully.

“What about her?” Rowan said, a sad smile on his face. “She’s dead, Nes, and I’ll miss her every day for the rest of my life. But that doesn’t mean I can’t love someone else. She would want that for me. She’d want Sutton to have someone, a woman she can look up to, in her life. No one will ever take Lyria’s place, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love Aelin.”

Nesta smiled softly as she nodded. “I agree. Lyria was an incredible woman. She would want your happiness. Sutton’s, too.”

Rowan nodded, lost in thought. Nesta could tell his entire world had been turned inside out and he was trying to adjust. “Anyway. Enough about me. How was your trip?” Nesta hesitated, and that was all Rowan needed to ask, “What?”

“I also met someone,” she said, quietly. “I don’t love him by any means…but, I don’t know. He was…interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“Kind.”

“Kind? That’s new for you.”

Nesta narrowed her eyes. “Don’t be rude.”

“It’s not rude if it’s honest,” Rowan murmured, taking a sip from his mug. “Tell me about him.”

Nesta did. She told Rowan about Cassian, about how they met and the night they had spent together. She held nothing back. With Rowan, she didn’t have to. “I didn’t think I would find anyone after Tomas, at least not for a long time. Cassian was a pleasant surprise.”

“I never liked him,” Rowan admitted, leaning on the counter and crossing his arms. “He was a prick.”

“So you’ve told me,” Nesta said, rolling her eyes.

“But this guy isn’t?”

Laughing into her mug, Nesta nearly covered her kitchen in coffee. “Cassian? Oh, he certainly is, in the most aggravating, infuriating way.”

Rowan was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, amusement on his face. “It’s like one of your books, isn’t it?”

“As a matter of fact, it is similar to something I’d write, yes,” she sighed, laughing at herself.

Rowan smiled, a warm smile that was full of affection, yet vastly different than a smile he’d give Aelin. “You know, Aelin was reading one of your books while she was here.”

She glanced at the shelves along one wall. It was full, top to bottom, of her favorite books. Books from every genre, special editions, and merch she loved, but there was one shelf in particular that housed her own stories. It felt like bragging, putting her books up there, but she was proud of herself and all she’d done.

“And did she like it?” Nesta asked, curiously.

Rowan chuckled. “Don’t know. I, uh, didn’t ask.”

“Wasn’t a lot of time for talking?”

Rowan gave her a look.

Nesta just smiled. “I’m glad you found someone, Ro. Especially someone that has such good taste in literature.”

“I’m glad you found someone, too,” Rowan said, quietly. “Even if he’s a prick.”

Nesta snorted, bringing her mug to her mouth. “So what now? Long distance?”

Rowan nodded thoughtfully. “We thought we’d try it. See how it plays out, where it goes. You?”

Nesta nibbled on her bottom lip. “No. We parted on good terms, but I think it was just a nice holiday fling with a good guy, you know? We’ll leave it at that.”

“And you’re good with that?”

Nesta wasn’t sure how she felt about never seeing Cassian again. He had been on her mind since he had left the night before along with a steady ache in her chest. She nodded anyway. “Not much I can do about it, right?” Rowan opened his mouth, surely to protest, but Nesta quickly asked, “How’s Sutton? I miss that kid.”

Rowan, getting the hint, dropped the subject. He knew better than to argue with Nesta, although it was something he enjoyed doing from time to time just to push her buttons. He knew this was not the time, though, or the subject, so he told her all about Sutton’s Christmas break instead.

Nesta didn’t bring up Cassian again.

<.>.<.>.<.>

“It’ll be fun.”

“But do we have to go at eight? That’s so…late.”

Rowan’s deep laugh came through the phone. “It’s not that late. I recall you staying out until sunrise more times that I can count.”

Nesta snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m not twenty-one anymore and I prefer to be in bed at nine.”

“Too bad,” Rowan said, and Nesta could hear his truck engine rev. “Aelin is excited to meet you, so you’ll be there.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nesta said, shutting her laptop and stretching out her legs. Truth was, she was excited to meet Aelin, too. In the last month and a half, since Rowan began his long distance relationship with the woman that stayed in Nesta’s house over Christmas, she was all he could talk about. Any woman that could win over Rowan must be a force, and Nesta was intrigued.

“Are you sure you want me there, though? I mean…it’s Valentine’s Day. It’s kind of weird.” Nesta started chewing on her lip. “Why don’t I just chill with Sutton? I know she’s going to her grandma’s , but—”

“You’re going.”

“You two should have a romantic—”

“You’re going.”

“I don’t want to be in the way—”

“You’re going.”

“Ro—”

“You’re not going to sit at home and be alone on Valentine’s Day. Me and Aelin will have our alone time. She wants to meet you. It’s a nice restaurant. When was the last time you went to the city and had a nice meal?”

She knew he wasn’t going to let this go. He was stubborn — nearly more stubborn than herself, which was saying something.

Nesta typically spent Valentine’s Day with Rowan and Sutton, watching movies and eating junk food, but this was different. She was basically going on a date as a third wheel.

“I don’t know, Ro.”

“Meet us there at eight,” he said, voice final. “Don’t be late.”

“I—”

“See you there!” He hung up, leaving Nesta staring at the wall with her mouth set in a straight line. Fine, she’d go for a little bit, have a couple of drinks, meet Aelin, then go home early and be in bed at nine thirty at the latest. Rowan was right. It would be good for her to get out. Since getting home from her holiday in Velaris, she had kept herself holed up in her cottage, working on her next novel.

The plot line was suspiciously familiar. Where most of her stories were far fetched, outlandish stories, situations and circumstances full of excitement and intrigue, this one was…more understated. She’d never borrowed so much from her own life and for a moment, she felt bad about putting details about what had happened between her and Cassian onto page, no matter that she’d tweaked them enough to not be obvious to anyone that knew them.

She hadn’t asked his permission either. There hadn’t been a chance. She knew she was just as capable as reaching out as he was, but he hadn’t. So she hadn’t either.

Maybe that made her stubborn — actually she knew that made her stubborn — but if Rowan and Aelin could carry on an entire relationship from another country, was it so hard to send a single text?

Shaking her head, she decided that she wouldn’t spend her Valentine’s Day thinking about Cassian, even if he’s all she thought about most days. It’s why she chose the plot of her new book to begin with. She hoped getting it out on paper would help take him off her mind, but it hadn’t. She only thought about him more and more.

After a long, hot shower, Nesta straightened her hair and did her makeup. Considering it was a nice restaurant they were going to, Nesta really took the time to pick out something nice to wear. On the daily, she wore leggings and oversized sweaters, but today…she chose a dark blue dress that hugged her curves perfectly. She may not be going out on a date for Valentine’s Day, but she could still look hot as hell.

The mountains were still covered in snow, but Nesta still slipped on her heels and trudged through the snow covered ground to her car. The drive to the city was peaceful, but as soon as she was down the mountain, she wanted to climb right back into her comfy clothes and her bed.

She had never been so excited and not excited for something at the same time.

She pulled up at the restaurant, the valet opening her door and taking her keys, and then she was entering the front doors, looking around the dim interior. Live music was playing somewhere within. The lights were low, candles flickering on each table.

Most of which were set for two.

It was far easier to find the table seated for three than Nesta liked to admit. Rowan’s shock of silver hair helped, but the larger table off to the side did stand out just a bit.

But the sight of the woman sitting to his left had Nesta’s feet moving.

Aelin noticed her before Rowan did, her eyes meeting Nesta’s over his shoulder. The smile that bloomed over Aelin’s features was gorgeous and she stood.

Rowan was the first to greet her, smiling brighter than she often saw him smile. He gave her a hug before saying, “Nesta, this is Aelin.”

“It’s nice to officially meet you,” she winked, as Nesta took a seat.

“You too,” Nesta agreed, unable to look away from the woman. She could see why Rowan had been so quickly captivated by this woman. She was stunning, her demeanor bright and welcoming with a hint of mischief. “Rowan hasn’t been able to shut up about you.”

Rowan shot her a look, but Aelin laughed. “Hasn’t he? Aw. I think he likes me.”

Nesta already liked her.

They fell into a comfortable conversation of small talk. Nesta asked how Aelin’s job was going, and she told Nesta that she had quit and was trying to open a small practice of her own. They talked about Sutton for a while, too, and Nesta shared her favorite stories of the kid that she loved so dearly, which made Aelin giggle and Rowan proud.

With every conversation, it took everything in Nesta not to ask about Cassian.

But she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. It was not her place to ask.

“How’s the book going, Nes?”

Rowan was the one who asked, one arm draped over Aelin’s chair.

“Good.” She didn’t want to admit that from idea to drafting to publishing, this would likely be her quickest yet. “My editor isn’t even done with the last one and I’ve already called her about the new one.”

Rowan just laughed, shaking his head as Nesta flushed, but Aelin’s interest was piqued. “You’re a writer?”

That blush deepened. “I am.”

“That’s amazing,” Aelin gushed, eyes bright. “What sort of books do you write?”

“Romance.” Nesta was being awkward. She knew she was, but she couldn’t help it. It was why people often didn’t learn she was a romance author. Publishing under a pseudonym was the only way she was able to look her father in the eye after her first book deal. He’s asked what it was about and she’d told him he didn’t want to know.

If all the people she saw on a daily basis had an idea of just how she could use the English language to describe sex and cocks and the like, she’d never show her face in town again.

“I love romance novels!” Aelin was sitting on the edge of her seat. “I want to read one of yours.”

Rowan coughed, clearing his throat, locking eyes with Nesta, who narrowed hers at him.

Aelin caught the subtle shift. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, taking a drink. “Something stuck in my throat. What’s the name of your best seller, Nes?”

With a small sigh, she said, “Better or Worse.”

Aelin’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Oh, wow. That’s the same title as one of my favorites.”

“By Clare Beddor?” Nesta asked, unable to stop the small smile forming.

Aelin hesitated, then cocked her head. She looked from Nesta, to Rowan, then back again. “I’m sorry…are you saying that…you’re…”

“Clare Beddor,” Nesta confirmed, pointing to herself. “Made the name in my freshman year of college. It stuck.”

Aelin’s mouth fell open as she gaped at Nesta. “You’re…you’re Clare Beddor? The author? You write books? That’s you? The author?”

Nesta laughed quietly as she took a sip of her wine. “That’s me. I kind of lay low under that name…but yeah, that’s me.”

Aelin just stared, completely baffled. “Holy shit. Not to be a total fangirl, but you’re my favorite author. Like, I’ve read everything by you.”

This started a long conversation about every single one of Nesta’s books. Rowan politely sat through it all, although he had only read a couple of Nesta’s books — completely out of friendly politeness. Aelin had clearly read them all, though. She and Nesta discussed every book in detail. She brought up points that Nesta wouldn’t have even thought about.

“I just, I can’t believe that’s you,” Aelin said, once about a half hour had gone by. She turned and nudged Rowan in the arm. “How could you have not told me!?”

Rowan huffed a laugh, putting his arm around the back of her chair. “I had to see the look on your face when you figured it out for yourself.”

Nesta grinned as she sipped the last few drops from her wine glass. As Rowan leaned over to kiss her cheek, Nesta’s eyes drifted toward the stage, where a young woman was beautifully playing the piano. The face of another musician drifted into her mind, the man of a voice she longed to hear again.

Trying not to think about Cassian only made her think about him more.

As she turned back to Rowan and Aelin, the pianist finished her song. Soft applause was scattered throughout the room, most people too focused on their partner sitting across from them to notice a change in the music. Nesta took a drink of her wine, listening as some began playing an acoustic guitar. She recognized the song, its title lost in her memory, but the melody was familiar. Unable to remember where she’d heard it, Nesta hummed along to the opening notes as fingers strummed along the strings.

And then she noticed Aelin and Rowan had gone quiet. Even if she hadn’t been speaking throughout dinner, the two of them had. But now, their focus wasn’t on each other.

It was on the stage behind her.

Nesta hesitated, about to ask what was wrong, but then she heard it.

Heard him.

His voice filled the space around her, captured her and enthralled her. Her body froze as her heart beat a little bit faster, and all at once, her mind went blank and filled with thoughts. For a split second, she thought she was losing her mind, thought she had finally thought of him far too many times and was now going mad, but there was no mistaking that voice. That voice could not be replicated, and this was no dream.

Nesta looked over her shoulder at the stage and met his eyes.

Cassian was already watching her as he sang, as the lyrics tumbled effortlessly from his lips while he plucked the strings. Nesta was so shocked that she didn’t react, couldn’t react, could hardly convince her heart not to beat out of her chest.

Cassian was here.

He shouldn’t have been, considering he lived halfway across the world and they hadn’t spoken a word since Nesta left Velaris, but there he was…serenading her in front of a room full of strangers.

She wanted to turn back around, wanted to snap at Rowan and hiss at Aelin, wanted to demand what was going on, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of his. Nesta often reacted to shocking news with hostility, it was one of her many defense mechanisms, but she couldn’t this time. This time, she was simply in awe.

The song came to a close, one of his originals he’d sung at the Illyrian, but he played on. A cover was next, You and Me by Lifehouse. It was one of her favorites, though she hadn’t told him of her love for the song, and her eyes burned as she watched him play. If anyone else in the restaurant was paying him attention, there was no way he would know it. His eyes had been on her since the moment she turned around and she couldn’t tear her gaze from him.

It was only the two of them, despite all of the people around, and when the song ended, she was relieved to see him stand and set his guitar in the case as his feet.

Before she knew what she was doing, Nesta was on her feet, heading for the stage.

Her feet moved of their own accord, her heart overtaking her racing thoughts. Cassian had just risen to his feet when Nesta stepped up on the platform, and when he opened his mouth to say whatever the hell it was he was going to say, Nesta captured his lips with hers before a word could be uttered.

Cassian’s hands went around her waist, instantly reacting to her grand gesture, sinking into the kiss. Nesta clung to him, still unsure that he was real, that he was truly there, that she wasn’t imagining things.

He had flown halfway across the world to see her.

To sing to her.

To hold her in his arms, when she should have been nothing more than a fling. At Christmas, he had told her that it had been much more than that. She wanted to believe him then, and even though they left on good terms, doubt had still lingered.

Now, as their kiss softened then broke, that doubt vanished. She looked up into his eyes, searching his face as he smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she breathed, and laughed quietly. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was bored,” he said, shrugging. Nesta gave him a nudge and his grin widened. “Aelin said she was coming here for Valentine’s Day, and I tagged along.”

Nesta looked at him for a moment before asking, “Why?”

“I missed you,” he said, without a second of hesitation. “A lot. I had to see you.”

Nesta looked around, remembering that they were in front of a room full of people. No one was paying them any mind. No one but Rowan and Aelin, who watched in triumph as their plan unfolded.

Taking his hand, Nesta pulled Cassian off the stage and through the restaurant until they were standing outside in the cool, February night air. Although spring would come soon, winter was still in full effect. Light snow fell from the darkened sky but Nesta hardly registered the cold as she looked to Cassian, who was watching her with eyes that had her knees feeling weak.

Still, she said, “You haven’t called. Haven’t texted.”

“Neither have you,” he said, simply, hands in his pockets. “Phones work both ways.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Liar.”

Nesta chuckled and shook her head. “I missed you too, for what it’s worth. I’ve wanted to call, I just…”

“Am stubborn?” Cassian offered.

Nesta nudged him again, but Cassian caught her hand and pulled her closer to him. “I’m not any more stubborn than you,” she said, melting into him.

“I’m not stubborn,” he said, voice low in her ear. “I just prefer to fly across the world to sing to you instead of sending a text.”

Nesta couldn’t stop her laughter and didn't want to as she felt Cassian’s lips form a smile as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She was going to question the warm sensation growing in her chest, taking the place of the hollow ache she’d been doing her best to ignore since she returned to Orynth.

The door of the restaurant opened behind them, the murmurs of quiet conversation and laughter carrying out, before closing again.

“Well, I think that was a pretty good surprise, don’t you?”

Without releasing her hold on Cassian, Nesta turned, locking eyes with Aelin. Her fingers were laced with Rowan’s and she looked as inclined to let him go as Nesta did with Cassian.

But Nesta stepped away from him and looped her arm through Aelin’s. “Do you want to go dancing?”

The sparkle in Aelin’s turquoise and gold eyes confirmed that they were going to be fast friends.

As they walked down the sidewalk, snow catching in their hair, Aelin and Nesta began to talk. She could hear Rowan and Cassian doing the same a few steps behind them and she smiled to herself.

Yes, this had been a pretty good surprise, but it wasn’t just Cassian and the dinner itself. This whole situation had been a surprise. Nesta never could have imagined that when she decided to swap houses and get away for the holiday that she'd find herself here.

It was supposed to be a getaway. A break from real life.

She never could have imagined that it would become so much more.

As she looked around her, at the pure joy and happiness on her friend’s faces, Nesta knew she wasn’t the only one who’d been taken by surprise and got a holiday she would never forget.

#nessian #rowaelin #collab #snacmc collabs #snacmc collab #fanfic #fanfiction #crossover #acotar #tog #the end #sjm

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ellievickstar · 2 years

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Climbing Out (Chapter 4)

A/N: Hello everybody! I have nothing to put here except that you are all AMAZING PEOPLE! Like you guys have been so supportive of this series, etc. I love you guys so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it’s more uh filler.

Ship: Azriel x Reader, archeron!reader

Warnings: I forgot that there is mentions of abuse and violence here and there but it is like one or two lines but if it still is triggering you may leave :) And uh heavily UNEDITED :D

Official Masterlist

Climbing Out Masterlist

Requested? No. Inspired? Yes! This series is inspired by Just Another Stereotype but the storyline is slightly different.

I chose to fly with Cassian. Feyre flew with Azriel and as we waited for Rhys, Cass and I made jokes.

“What’s so funny?” Azriel asked, raising his eyes brows as I doubled over in laughter. I giggled again as I said between breathes. “Cass was just telling me about some stunts you guys did when you were still in training,” Azriel’s brows furrowed as he looked at Cassian. “Cass?” He mocked. Cassian just shrugged, “It’s old Fae language for friendship,” “No it’s not!” I hissed as I slapped his forearm, he feigned extreme hurt.

Azriel’s eyes darkened in, anger? But I ignored him. I could hang out with whoever I want and doesn’t have the right to be mad because he is my enemy. My mate. I snorted inwardly. He would not be my mate, I hated him.

“We have to go, come one,” Cassian urged, lifting me as he flexed his wings…and jumped into thin air. I screamed as we begun to fall but with another flare of his wings we were soaring again. The magic of the wall was suffocating as it tried to reach for me through that hole.

It felt like I had gone through in the nick of time.

I was breathing hard as we landed, I doubled over as I sat on the snowy ground — and giggled. “That was absolutely thrilling,” I grinned wildly and Cassian chuckled, offering me his hand. I took it and was quickly hauled to my feet as Feyre motioned for me to follow her. Mor was behind us as she winnowed. I acknowledged her with a nod.

Approaching the large double doors of the manor, I knocked the door, Feyre beside me. Nesta opened it and her eyes fell on me.

“What did they do to you…?” She asked as she opened the door wider and reached for my face. I flinched away from the touch, the sight of the hand spearing towards me. She paused.

“They did this to you,” It wasn’t a question. Nesta glared at Feyre as she demanded, “How could you let this happen? She is barely an adult! You dragged her into this mess,” Feyre was silent as insults were flung at her but Rhysand was not inclined to listen to the mockery of his mate.

“Last I checked, Feyre was also killed and turned Fae, what’s so different about Y/N?” He asked. Nesta rolled her eyes. “As if you would understand why,” I blinked before sighing and glancing past Nesta. Elain was there with her hand over her mouth, gaping at me. “They…they stabbed me in the gut and let me bleed to death, they almost couldn’t be bothered to bring me back if Feyre didn’t ask them to,” I admitted.

It had been true. Everyone had been excited to meet Feyre curse breaker, the one that answered the riddle who fought the wyrm, who defended them against Amarantha. However, not all were eager to see the one who helped her read the riddle, who taught her how to fight properly, the one who slipped out of her cell to check on everyone, every night when they were asleep. Small sacrifices of myself to give them hope yet it was nothing. To them at least.

Stepping inside, I approached the dining room, only to glance behind me once. But it was enough to see the longing in Azriel’s eyes as he looked at Elain. A part of me stung as I turned around my head and composed myself for the meeting, another part of me felt relieved. Less attachments meant less of a need to live. My job was almost done I just had to finish the war and I could disappear forever. I had no one else anyways, and if my mate could be happy with someone else then I had no complaint. At least I got to see mine.

We all sat around the dining room and as it the clocked striked, the mortal queens winnowed in. Winnowed. I looked to Rhys and Feyre and they looked equally stunned. Guards filed into the room and the Mortal Queens appeared. But there were six, not seven.

They sat as he eldest looking of them crooned, “You have an hour of our time,” I blinked. What a narcissist. The rest begun debating back and forth with the queens but I was so tired, I couldn’t care enough to waste my energy. That’s when the mortal queens begun mocking Rhysand.

“I do not have enough breathe to convince you because I know you will say no,” I said. “But think on this: We were murdered, Feyre and I, to become Fae. We were killed. Her neck was snapped and I was stabbed in the gut and left to bled out. I was nearly not revived. They were too busy with Feyre cursebreaker,” My tone was composed, my back straight. The image of a lady. “But I am here because there are children, there are families counting on us to not be butchered. There are innocents on both sides, and regardless of what Hybern has said, they will butcher us all and if you need evidence of that then I have plenty,” I finished, looking every single one of them in the eyes, not backing down.

“We will see this evidence the next time we return, I assume,” The eldest asked. I nodded and that was enough. They left without another word.

“What have you done,” Rhysand demanded. And I laid back in my chair. “I solved the issue before it could be presented,” Was all I said simply. “All we need is something to show them that we are sincere and something to show them that Hybern will kill us all,” I shrugged. Before laying my head on the table. I was beyond tired. “I’m tired, I want to go home,” Was all I said as I sighed and stood. Only for me to collapse, as my head hit the table and darkness surrounded me.

tag list: @moonfawnx @bankerfrog @younxii @hideing @flightlesslittlebirdie @menagerofmischief @famousbasementpainter @owllover123 @bookworm-nerd6 @gigisssz @bethany-bee0128 @cityofidek @aetherl0l @valeridarkness @starrstrucked @judig92 @starlit-terror

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immersed-in-mischief · 2 years

Text

Gold ( Sugar Daddy/ CEO Tom Hiddleston x Female Reader) Chapter 2

Color Series Masterlist

My Masterlist

My song inspiration for this chapter is a whole mood! If you want to get the full effect of the power of this chapter, listen to this song on repeat. Amazing!

"...You should've known better

Better to fuck with someone like me

Hey you, forever and ever you're gonna wish I was your wifey

Should've held on, should've treated me right

I gave you one chance, you don't get it twice

We'll be together never, so baby you can bite me..."

-Bite Me by Avril Lavigne

Chapter 2

“Well, if it isn’t Little Orphan Annie. Glad you could finally join us.”

You rolled your eyes as you approached the booth in the corner of the café.

“Knock it off, Cal. You know she hates that.”

Taking a seat next to Cassie, you gave her a big hug while sticking your tongue out at Calvin over her shoulder. When he gave you an overdramatic surprised face, you couldn’t help but laugh at him. After giving in and leaning over the table to kiss his cheek, you took your seat and browsed the menu in front of you.

“Sorry, guys. Professor Matthews went over time… again. I swear that man loves to hear himself speak and just assumes that we do, too.”

Once you placed your order, Cassie gave you her signature “I’m about to ask you for a favor and you’re not going to like it face”, causing you to groan out loud at the sight of it.

Cal didn’t even look up from his cell before responding to the noise. The three of you had been best friends for so long now that words were hardly needed anymore.

“Oh, it’s a good one. She’s already asked me, and I told her I’m washing my hair tonight, or whatever excuse you girls use all the time.”

“Yeah, in the 1950’s, Calvin. Just spill it Cass. What do you need?”

You watched as she took a sip of her drink to stall for time before sighing and let it out.

“Okay, so Jen has this thing tonight and it may have ended up a little off on the head count and she needs a few more servers. It’s only a couple of hours… three tops!”

Letting out a chuckle, you bit your lip and waited for her to finish before delivering your excuse. The look told her your answer, however.

“… and you have plans don’t you. I’m assuming with Tom based on that goofy look on your face.”

“As a matter of fact, I do. He’s finally rescheduled our dinner from last month. If he feels bad enough for canceling on me three times now, I might even be able to talk him into staying the night as well.”

Cassie rolled her eyes at you and gave up the fight, knowing you would never cancel a date with him. You had only canceled on him once and that was due to food poisoning. The two of you had ended up just staying in together while he cuddled with you on the couch. It had been one of your favorite nights together, actually.

“So, you and Daddy Warbucks are still a thing?”

“Uh yeah… why would we not be?”

When he didn’t respond, you and Cassie both looked over at him to find him looking nervously between you and the phone in his hands.

“Calvin, why does your face look like that?”

When he handed the device over to you, the headline of the article made your stomach drop.

IS LONDON’S MOST ELEGIBLE BACHELOR OFF THE MARKET?

Tom Hiddleston was seen over the weekend with the daughter of his rival company, Julia Hastings. Hiddleston and Hastings seemed very cozy together over dinner before strolling hand-in-hand through a nearby park. A close source says the two have been together for some time and wedding bells may be in the near future.

The photo included was certainly Tom. As you scrolled through the rest of them, your hand began to shake. They were seated across from each other in an intimate restaurant with their hands together on the table as he stared at her with a smile. In the park they had a photo of his arm around her waist as she looked up at him. The final one made you feel physically sick.

His hands were on her cheeks and he was planting a very heated kiss on her lips.

“Sweetie? Are you okay?”

Snapping out of it, you quickly handed the phone back to him and tried to play it off. Your laugh even sounded fake to yourself.

“I’m sure it’s not what it looks like. The media loves to twist things around. Plus, we have an agreement he is very serious about. Hell, even the two of you aren’t supposed to know about our arrangement.”

The rest of lunch had been awkward and eerily quiet. You felt their eyes on you, but you avoided theirs as much as possible as your mind raced. Even now as you sat in the office at home clicking on article after article, your head was spinning. After the news broke earlier today, it was as if all the outlets had picked up the story. The more you read, the harder it became to believe that this was a misunderstanding.

You hadn’t realized how late it was until you heard his key in the door. Without moving from your spot, you continued to scroll through the posts and flood of photographs of the two of them. As the same photo came up again, you froze and stared at it once more. The kiss held so much passion. You only knew that because he used to kiss you like that. Based on the sound of his voice, he was on the phone as he searched through the house for you. Glancing into the office as he headed for the master bedroom, he almost walked past you. Upon finding you, he covered the mouthpiece of his cell and whispered to you with a confused look.

“Baby girl, why aren’t you dressed?”

You finally turned to look at him with a blank stare. Just as his eyebrows furrowed, you reached over and turned the monitor towards him. His eyes quickly darted to the photograph on the screen and quickly returned to yours. Watching as he went pale and swallowed hard, he once again addressed the person on the phone.

“Ben, I’m going to have to call you back. Something just came up.”

Without a word, you leaned back in the chair and crossed your arms over your chest. After ending the call and placing the cell on the corner of the desk, he knelt down in front of you so he was eye level with you.

“I assure you, it’s not what I looks like, darling. Will you please let me explain?”

Staying silent, you tilted your head and waited for answer. The scowl never left your face. Tom sighed and gently traced his thumbs over your knees before meeting your gaze again.

“It’s for my public image. Apparently at my age, the team thinks our shareholders would respond better if I looked like more of a family man. Plus, I’m in talks to buy out Hastings Financial. If it looks like a personal deal instead of them going under, their stocks are less likely to tumble. It’s only for appearances, Y/N. You’re the only one for me, princess. You know that.”

When his hand came up to graze your cheek, it was impossible to stay upset with him. Your resolve was quickly fading.

“You could have just told me about it before I had to find all of this, Tom. I would have understood, but I can’t if you don’t talk to me about it.”

His smile made the rest of your anger melt away.

“Here, get up sweetheart.”

Once you were standing, he took your spot in the chair and pulled you into his lap. With you curled up in his lap, he wrapped his arms around you and kissed the spot on your neck that he knew made you giggle.

“I’m sorry, love. You’re right. I should have given you a head’s up before the story broke. You didn’t deserve to find out this way. Can you forgive me, baby girl?”

Letting out a sigh, you let him pull you into a kiss. When you gave in, he started out with a few short kisses until you finally wrapped your arms around his neck. Once he knew you had your guard back down, he kissed you like he really meant it. For the next few minutes, he held you tight against him in the spacious office chair and kissed you until your lips were red and swollen. Finally pulling away, he reached up and tucked your hair behind your ear.

“Now how about you get ready and I’ll take you to dinner? I thought I’d take you to your favorite place. I even got us the back room to ourselves, too.”

He playfully slapped your bottom as you went to leave the room.

“You should wear the gold Ralph Lauren dress. That one’s my favorite.”

Leaning against the doorframe you gave him a sexy wink.

“Yes, sir. I’ll try to be quick.”

With the smile now back on your face, you missed the way his fell as you disappeared down the hall. Giving the screens one more glance, Tom pinched the bridge of his nose before closing all the browsers to hide the photographs that he had been fighting to get removed all day.

After fixing your lipstick in the mirror, you began to make your way out of the master bath to go find Tom. Luckily, you had already done your hair and makeup earlier in the day after getting ready for class, so you just needed to touch it up after changing clothes. Looking around the room for your cell, you made your way back into the office, quickly spotting it on the desk.

As you reached over for it, a text tone went off. Just as you glanced down, you realized that Tom’s cell was still discarded on the corner of the desk from earlier. The name on the screen made your breath catch.

Julia.

You were reading the words on the screen before you could stop yourself.

Hope your business meeting goes well tonight. Can’t wait for you to get home. I love you, baby.

Just as you began to reread the words to make sure you weren’t imagining them, the screen went black once again. Quickly hitting the button on the side, you were met with the passcode screen instead. The idea came to mind before you could stop yourself. Grabbing your cell, you shot a text off to him to see if you could bypass it to get to the text messages once again. The seconds felt like an eternity while you waited for the message to arrive on the cell in your hand.

Instead of seeing the screen light up once more, you were met with the sound of a separate text tone sounding from the living room. Your world came to a halt in that moment as you slowly made your way out of the office towards the sound. What you found when you rounded that corner was his back to you as he faced the bar across the room. In his hand was a cell phone identical to the one you were currently holding. Tom’s head whipped around to you upon hearing your heels on the tile floor behind him.

“Show me.”

His mouth was agape as he panicked and tried to find the right words.

“Give. Me. The. Phone. Thomas.”

Knowing there was no way out of the hole now, he caved and gently placed the device in your outstretched hand. You were met with another lock screen. All it took was you glaring up at him to get the passcode from him. His voice was barely a whisper between the two of you.

“Your birthday…”

Upon entering the two digit month and two digit day, the device came to life to show your text on the screen. Once it was open, you scrolled to find all the messages between the two of you in a single thread. Backing out of it, you found it to be the only thread on the phone. Now moving frantically, you found the phone icon and quickly scrolled through the call log.

One name.

You opened the contact list to find you were the only name that graced the screen. He had a woman waiting for him at home who thought he was at a business meeting tonight instead of dinner with you. His side piece. The other woman. His secret that was so damaging that you had a hidden phone dedicated to you and only you. Not only did you not get access to any part of his life outside of this home, you didn’t even get the privilege of the prick’s actual phone number.

Slamming both phones against his chest, you looked up at him with tears in your eyes.

“Your little publicity stunt wants to know when you will be home from your fucking business meeting tonight, Thomas. Oh, and she says she loves you too…. You lying bastard.”

When you turned to walk away, he reached out and grabbed your wrist.

“Baby, I can explain-“

“NO!”

You ripped your arm out of his hold so fast it flung him forward and he nearly spilled the whiskey in his hand. All he could do was watch as you started pacing the floor in order to put physical distance between the two of you.

“Clause 3?! Are you fucking serious right now, Thomas? That’s the one you decide to break, huh? You are so damn obsessed with your stupid agreement that you lost your shit when you found out that I told Cassie and Calvin about us! I was forced to get an IUD because you’re too good for condoms and you are out there fucking whomever you please! I guess I do need to get tested now, don’t I?! Apparently, you’re the one that’s the whore in this arrangement now, Daddy!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

His yell vibrated off the walls and silenced you immediately. It didn’t have the intended effect though, and only served to end the fight and all discussion in the moment. Your voice was small and weak as the words cracked.

“get out…”

“What did you just say?”

You lifted your head and looked him dead in the eyes, finding more strength this time.

“I said get out. I want you to leave.”

His laugh sounded almost evil as he chugged the whiskey in his glass. Stepping towards you a few steps to set the empty glass down on the kitchen island, the look he gave you was full of arrogance.

“You want me to get out, huh? Last time I checked, princess, this house and everything in it was mine. I’ll leave it when I’m damn well ready.”

“You know? You’re exactly right!”

Before he could react, you stripped off the diamond tennis bracelet and earrings and threw them at him with all of your might. They just missed his head and clanged against the floor across the room.

“Y/N, are you insane?! Those were expensive!”

He looked back at you just in time to see you urgently tugging the gown over your head before the ball of gold fabric traveled across the distance and hit him in the face. Just as he reached up to pull the material away, he realized too late that he was blinded to the Louis Viton heel that flew at him full force, colliding with his forehead with a loud thud.

“FUCK!”

He bent over to hold his head and heard the impact of the second shoe dent the dry wall behind him. With the shoe and gown now on the floor in front of him, he looked up to find you standing before him in just your matching bra and panty set with tears streaming down your face. Your eyes were filled with rage as you turned around and stormed back towards the back of the house. He was quickly giving chase and was surprised when you turned left to head towards the guest rooms instead of heading back into the master bedroom.

“Baby, please stop!”

The door at the end of the hall flew open with force and collided with the wall behind it. Based on the sound of the impact, he knew there would be a hole from the doorknob he would need to get repaired. Stepping inside the guest room, he was stunned to see that it had been painted a deep teal color since the last time he saw it, which was honestly the week you moved in over six years ago.

The thing that shocked him the most was that it no longer appeared to just be a guest room. It was lived in and slightly messy. Snapping out of it, he crossed the room to find you reappearing from the closet with a shirt and jeans in hand.

“Darling, will you just stop? Let’s talk about this.”

“So, you can lie to me again? Not a chance in hell!”

You quickly buttoned the jeans and threw the shirt over your head as you made your way back into the closet. He watched you hop on one foot as you slipped on a pair of flats and pushed your way passed him and back out of the room and towards the front of the house once again. By the time he rounded the corner of the living room, you had your purse and phone in hand as you headed towards the front door.

“Y/N WAIT! What are you doing?!”

Snatching the keys to your Audi off the hook, you turned around to glare at him one last time.

“What the fuck does it look like?”

“Please, baby girl. Don’t leave. Not like this. Julia doesn’t mean anything to me. I swear! You’re the one that matters to me, not her!”

The look you gave him was so full of hurt and disappointment.

“Then why isn’t she your dirty, little secret?”

The sound of the front door slamming shut behind you filled the silence of the house. When he could no longer hear your car in the drive, he took a deep breath and went to rub his face. The second his hand came in contact with his forehead, he let out a loud hiss.

“Bloody hell!”

Making his way across the hall into one of the guest bathrooms, he groaned at the sight of the large knot that had already formed on his forehead from your shoe. Luckily his forehead took the brunt of it and he didn’t end up with the heel to an eye. Gently prodding the bump, it was already bruising and was bleeding from a small gash.

“Fantastic!”

Rolling his eyes, he started searching the bathroom for any bandages. Upon not being successful in this bathroom, he headed towards the master. When he didn’t find very much in there either, he stood in the doorway and glanced around the bedroom. It was as if he was looking at it for the first time. There were no personal effects in the bathroom other than the sparse toiletries that he knew were the ones he preferred. The room held no other items that were specific to you. He knew that the bottom two drawers were his clothes, and the top right was the lingerie you wore for him. The rest of the dresser drawers were empty.

Making his way over to the closet, he turned on the light to only find the gowns he had purchased for you to wear on the rare occasions he took you on a date. Sadly, he knew that other than himself, the maître d and waiter at the few restaurants he took you to were the only people who had ever laid eyes on the outfits. Always one for privacy, he always made sure to keep the dates secluded and out of the public eye. He had never looked at it like that, but you were right. You had been treated like something he was ashamed of and didn’t want a soul to know about.

The private residence under the company’s name instead of his own. The second cell phone in case his had ever been stolen. No public outings together. Dinners together in seclusion. He never spoke of you to anyone other than Ben, his best friend. Hell, Gale surely had her suspicions based on her responsibilities at work, but she never once voiced them or asked questions.

You truly were his dirty, little secret.

The blood trickled down to his cheek and he remembered his original mission. His interest was peaked, and he made his way back down the hall to the other side of the house. Stepping foot inside the teal bedroom once more, he noticed the bathroom held a wide stock of beauty products in the shower and along the counter. Searching the drawers, he finally located a small first aid kit. Quickly cleaning the wound, he threw a bandage over it to stop the bleeding.

He made the connection now. This was your bedroom, not the master. How had he not noticed it before? Tom had always assumed you were neat and tidy, but his experience told him that women were not exactly minimal creatures, especially when it came to their bedrooms and beauty products.

His eyes scanned over the various items, and he smelled a few of the lotions and perfumes. They all differed from the ones you usually wore around him, but he vaguely recognized them on nights he surprised you with visits. Stepping into the bedroom, he now felt like he was intruding. It felt wrong to be in this space, as if it was too personal. He knew every inch of your body, yet the person that resided in this room was a stranger to him. The photographs scattered around the room showed a man and a woman on either side of you in various destinations.

Calvin and Cassie

He had met them once long ago, but it made since that they would be in the photographs since he paid for them to join you on your trips. The smile on your face in each of them was one that he missed. You looked truly happy… something he hadn’t seen in ages. Not with him at least. The photograph on the wall beside the closet broke his heart.

The day you graduated with your undergraduate degree nearly two years ago.

You had begged him to go and even said it would mean so much to you since he had helped make it happen. Like a complete fool, he said no. It was “too big of a risk.” The hurt in your eyes still haunted him. Because he was afraid to get photographed together by the press, he turned down your invitation even though he was so very proud of you. Seeing the tassels around our neck just made it worse. You had graduated with honors due to your stellar GPA and was a fraction of a point away from being top of your class. To celebrate together, he had planned a special trip for the two of you, but then later had to cancel due to an issue at work. Calvin and Cassie joined you instead for your dream vacation that he spent months planning. The two of you hadn’t traveled together since then. You quit asking to go with him and asked to go with them instead. That’s how he began funding vacations for two people he didn’t even know.

Turning the light on in the closet, he noticed it was filled with mostly casual and comfortable clothing he didn’t think he had ever seen you wear. Now that he tried to remember, other than tonight, he didn’t know the last time he saw you in anything other than the revealing lingerie on the other side of the home. The answer made him angry with himself.

It was because he would see you long enough to satisfy his craving before leaving once more. He truly hadn’t spent more than a few hours in this home with you in years. A direct path in and out of your- … the master… bedroom and that was it. He honestly couldn’t recall the last time he had even slept beside you. No wonder you used the term whore earlier, because that was certainly how you had been treated.

Making sure not to disturb anything else, he made his way back into the living room and grabbed his cell. He finally read the text you spoke of from Julia. Quickly throwing out a reply, he scanned it before hitting send

Business meeting is going to be late. Not sure when I’ll be home. Don’t wait up.

Just as he hit send, he rolled his eyes and sent a short second one.

Love you too

It had been three days since the fight, and he hadn’t heard a word from you. Not a single reply to any of his calls or texts. Drumming his fingers over the surface of his desk, he turned and stared out the window and wished he had stayed that night. When you didn’t return by 1am, he discarded the bag of frozen peas he had been using on his head to try to reduce the swelling and left to go home to Julia. Now he didn’t know when you came home, or sadly if you came home. With the lack of contact, he was beginning to worry about your safety. Grabbing the suit jacket off the back of his chair, he quickly made his way out the door and to the elevator.

“Gale, please forward my calls to the cell. I’ll be out of the office for the remainder of the afternoon.”

The woman simply nodded as he rushed past. Tom tried to call you a few more times on his way to the other side of the city. He breathed a sigh of relief when the Audi was parked back in your space in the circle drive. After knocking a few times with no response, he pulled out his key.

“Darling?”

The house was eerily quiet.

“Baby, I know you’re still mad. You have every right to be after the way I’ve treated you.”

When he glanced towards the island in the kitchen, the light shimmered off a series of perfectly placed items. His entire world fell apart. There in a line together against the cold tile was your keys to the home and car, your cell phone, and the necklace you hadn’t taken off in six years since the day he gave it to you in this very spot. His body filled with panic as he instinctively raced towards the master bedroom out of habit.

“Y/N! Where are you?”

The room looked the exact same, as well as the bathroom. Making his way down the hallway, he stopped in each room as he frantically searched for you. Once he made it to room at the end of the hall, he fell to his knees in the doorway. The deep teal walls and gray carpet were the only things that remained in the space.

It was empty.

Gold:

@hayden429 @cryingismyonlyhobby @emerald-alone @scandinaviancanadian @kneelforloki

All posts:

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@pakalanalei

@joyful-enchantress @asgardianprincess1050 @donttouchmylaevateinn @dangertoozmanykids101 @morganmofresh @mad4marvelloki @huntress-artemiss @sititran

@moon-mayari @themorningsunshine @mm2305

@sophiaedits @christineblood @meyocoko

#loki fandom #loki fluff #tom hiddleston fluff #loki fanfic #loki laufeyson #tom hiddleston angst #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston fanfiction #loki angst #loki smut

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buckyswintersoldiermask · 3 years

Text

The Super Soldier and His Friend

Part 7

Bucky Barnes x friend!reader

(Bucky x Sam, Sam x reader, Sarah x reader)

⊙ Bucky Masterlist ⊙ Main Masterlist ⊙ TSSAHF Masterlist ⊙

Summary: Bucky tells Yori the truth, and tells you that you’re his family. Bucky invites you to go with him to Louisiana for a cookout with Sam.

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: spoilers for FATWS Episodes 5 and 6

A/N: this is the final part of the series, I hope it’s to y’all’s liking :)

I don’t want FATWS to end :((

“You weren’t amending, you were avenging.” Those words rang in Buckys mind. He truly wasn’t amending, so he knew what he had to do.

“So you’re going to tell Yori today, are you sure today is the day?”

“I’ve waited long enough, he needs the closure (y/n) and it’s one step closer to me making amends.”

You patted his shoulder and gave him a warm smile, “I’ll be at my place, come over if you want, when you’re done.” He nods before you both leave his apartment. You went into your apartment just hoping the best for Bucky.

He’s had so much growth since you’ve met him, he’s finally getting closer to peace. Something he’s wanted since you met him.

Bucky didn’t take long. Bucky knocked on his door, Yori surprised to see him, he let him in. They sat down and Bucky told him straight up,

I, uh, have something to tell you. About your son.

Yori was confused to say the least, what could Bucky know about his son? Bucky and Yori sat down as Bucky slipped off his glove.

He was murdered. Bucky said, making Yori even more confused.

By The Winter Soldier. And that was me. Bucky finally spits out, as his voice shakes. Taking everything in him not to fall apart.

“Why?” Yori asked, Bucky inhales, trying to compose himself, “I didn’t have a choice.”

Yori showed Bucky out after that. Bucky took a little walk afterwards, before showing up at your door.

Once he knocked on your door and you saw his face, you knew he had told him. He had tried to tell Yori multiple times, but this time he stuck with it. You let him in and he sat down on your couch.

You stood just a few feet away from him, wanting to know if he’s okay. “So how did it go?”

“I told him, he asked why, and I told him why.”

“I know that was hard and I’m proud of you.” Bucky nods, as you pat his shoulder.

“Do you want to stay for a bit?” He nods again and you grab a bunch of delivery menus from your kitchen. “You’re lucky I don’t have work tomorrow.”

“Your hours are never consistent. Why do you even work there?”

“Well some of us aren’t a World War II veteran and need to work to have a roof over our heads.” You retorted, passing him a menu. “Order us some food, and if I didn’t have a job I wouldn’t be able to pay for our food.”

He smirked before ordering the food as you brought 2 sodas to the table. Setting them down, before sitting down across from him. “Do you want to talk about it?” He shook his head, popping the lid on the soda off.

Trying to lighten the mood you say, “Well I know what we could talk about.”

“And what’s that?”

“Sam’s new suit.” You say, before opening your own soda.

“I’m not following.”

“That’s a nice suit. The Wakandans did good.”

“How did-“

“Just a hunch. Now let’s talk about your suit.”

“My suit is fine.”

“I mean it could use some tweaks.”

“We are not doing this.”

“Sam’s suit is better than yours.” You blurt out, teasing Bucky more. His mouth drops open in fake shock.

“Take it back.”

“He has wings and a shield. You just have a jacket and some pants and a gold and black metal arm.” You exclaim, making Bucky roll his eyes.

“And here I thought you were my friend.”

“I am, and as your friend I’m saying your suit needs an upgrade.”

“Alright, fashion expert.”

After some more light bantering between the two of you, your food arrived, you paid for it then brought it inside.

You noticed the bag being extra heavy than usual. “Geez, Bucky how much did you order?” You asked, taking containers out of the bag.

“Enough.”

“Yeah enough to feed 6 people.”

You and Bucky ate as he told you about him and Sam stopping the flagsmashers. It was nice to hear Bucky and Sam working together and not being a pain in each other’s sides. You saw Sam’s speech on TV the other day, it was beautiful and inspiring. Sam is Captain America.

It was way past 12am and Bucky decided he should go home. Even though you didn’t mind him staying, he insisted. “Will you be alright tonight?” You asked, making sure he’d be okay after that day's events.

He nods, “if not, I’ll come over.” You give him a tight hug before he leaves.

It was quiet and calm in your apartment as you were getting ready for bed. Bucky seemed fine after talking to Yori but he knew he’s always welcome at your place anytime. Which you always expressed. You were getting ready for bed and was interrupted as you heard a knock on your door. You groaned as you trudged to your front door.

You unlocked it to see it’s Bucky. You let him in and close the door behind him, “why didn’t you just use your key?”

“I didn’t want you to think someone was breaking in.”

“Good point,” you sat down on the couch and patted it, telling him to come sit down. “You okay, Buck?” You asked, remembering what he said earlier. He sat down beside you as you got ready to listen to what he had to say.

“Yeah, I just wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

“Sam invited me to a cookout in New Orleans and I wanted to know if you’d come with me.”

“I’d love to, only if Sam and his family are okay with it. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“I asked him if it was okay. He said you’re welcome to come.” You smiled, “well if it’s okay with him.”

“I got us plane tickets.” He says, handing you a plane ticket he bought.

“You just knew I’d say yes, huh?”

“I just want all of my family to be there.” You stare at him for a moment, with a jaw dropping expression on your face.

“You’re family (y/n/n). I thought I had nothing when Sam gave up the shield, but I had you. Even though we are an usual pair of friends, you’re very important to me.”

“So that’s why you came here at almost 2am? To tell me I’m your family.”

“Yes?” Bucky answered, unsure of how you were taking this.

“I love you too, Buck.”

You glanced down at your plane ticket to see the date you’re supposed to be leaving.

“We’re leaving in 2 days?!”

“Yes..” you glared at him as he slouched in his seat avoiding eye contact with you.

After about a 3 hour flight, you and Bucky landed in New Orleans. You rented a car and you were on your way to the dock, where the cookout was.

“Wait.” You said, making Bucky stop the car abruptly.

“What happened?”

“We have to bring something. We can’t show up empty handed.”

“What should we bring?”

Bucky drove to the store and the both of you settled on a cake with buttercream icing and 2 liters of soda. You pull up to the dock and Bucky puts on some shades and his jacket. You shook your head as you grabbed the drinks and Bucky got the cake. Music was playing, food was being cooked and everybody was just having a good time when you walked up.

The first people who greeted Bucky were Sam’s nephews, Cass and AJ. Bucky pretended to fight with them for a little bit before walking over to the table and placing down the cake. You came behind and placed the drinks on the table as well. Bucky glanced around looking for the man of the hour. He was getting hugs and pictures from people in the community.

Bucky brought you over to Sam, giving him a hug. Buckys come a long way from ignoring his messages to hugging him, you thought. Bucky glanced over to you, introducing you to Sam.

“(y/n), this is Sam. Sam, (y/n).”

“Nice to meet you in person, Sam. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Anyone who’s friends with Bucky is a friend of mine.”

You met a lot of really nice people that day. You talked to Sarah and offered to help her cook. And man did she put you to work. After you were done, you sat at a picnic table, enjoying the atmosphere.

You watched as children played on Bucky's metal arm as he talked to Sarah, which warmed your heart. Bucky’s arm being a bar to play on for kids. It was nice to see him happy and peaceful there in Louisiana.

Bucky excused himself before coming over to you, “you okay, doll?”

“Yeah, I’m just taking it all in. You fit right in down here.” Bucky nods, agreeing with you, he does fit right in. “Why don’t you come over here with me, Sarah and the kids?” Bucky questioned as he grabbed your hand, leading you over to them.

“I know you two have met.” Bucky smiled, as you sat down at the table.

“Yeah, (y/n), helped me with the food earlier, she’s the one that deals with you in New York.” You laugh, before nodding at Sarah’s comment, “that’s me, though, I feel it's a mutual thing, we deal with each other.”

“Thank you for being so welcoming.” You said as a big smile appeared on your face.

“Of course.”

The music continued to play as everyone danced around, chatted, and ate. The sun began to set. Bucky went to talk to Sam for a moment and Sarah went to go talk to some more people. You stayed there watching the kids play, such innocence and beauty. You glanced over at Sam and Bucky as Bucky nudged his shoulder, a huge grin on his face. You had never seen him smile as much as he smiled that day.

Sam and Buckys moment was short but sweet. Bucky came back and sat next to you, still smiling.

“You’re really enjoying yourself.” You said, turning to him, making eye contact.

“I am, I’m really glad you came (y/n/n).”

“I’m glad I came too.”

That day Bucky realized something. He had a family and he was finally happy.

A/N: tell me what you thought about this part! Might make an alternative ending or something idk.

Bucky Tags: @ragnaroqk @mollysolo @mogaruke @whothehellisbuckybarnes @amelia-song-pond @fredweazleyswh0re @tinylumpiaa @i-reblog-fics-i-like @weenersoldierr @stephthepeach @sammypotato67 @ttalisa @mxltifaves @supremethunda @hanniebee33 @gamerartisy @afraid-to-be-me @qhbr2013 @kidswhofightmonsters @bahama-mama-llama @teti-menchon0604 @jbreenr

TSSAHF Tags: @nialeesato @marvel-ousnesss

Taglist

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x reader soft #bucky fanfic #bucky fluff #bucky imagine #bucky one shot #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes one shot #bucky x female reader #Bucky Barnes x friend reader #Bucky Barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x fem!reader #Bucky Barnes x you #buckyswintersoldiermasksfics

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rachelbethhines · 3 years

Text

Tangled Salt Marathon - Rapunzel’s Return Part 2

Continuing on from part 1 -

https://rachelbethhines.tumblr.com/post/635068926214258688/tangled-salt-marathon-rapunzels-return-part-1

Summary: When Rapunzel tries to defeat the Saporians by herself she gets captured; but once Varian realizes that the Separatists plan on using one of his potions' destructive properties to destroy Corona, he and Rapunzel work together to stop it.

Let’s Talk About What a Let Down the Sapiorans Are

Throughout seasons one and two the Sapiorans were built up to be this intriguing race of people with a complex past and real problems that are sadly relatable to this day. They had a history, goal, motives, and special abilities like magic.

Yet all we got was a really bad hipster parody.

Heck, the crew can’t even keep it’s stereotypes right because they mostly slide into hippy territory instead. Hipsters, Yuppies, and Hippies are three distinctive counter culture movements for three different generations with completely different social concerns and fads.

Basically Chris tried to “stick it to the kids” again and just wound up insulting his parents' generation instead because he’s that oblivious of other human beings.

And that’s not even taking into account that previously the Sapiorans were living on the run as nomads in caravans not dissimilar to common Romani stereotypes, so the show is once again making negative racial connotations due to thoughtlessness.

Why Do You Have a Secret Underground Room Hidden Behind Your Workshop Xavier?

Like that not a thing normal people happen to have lying around there workspace. We still are given zero explanation for why Xavier has all this plot convenient knowledge and rare unordinary plot useful stuff.

Given his previous connection to Saporia and Zhan Tiri wouldn’t it not have made more sense to reveal that he is an actual plot important character in season three rather than keep him as just the exposition fairy?

So Was This Before or After the Saporian Take Over? Cause Either Answer Makes This a Dumb Plan.

Why would the guards, especially Cap, just give up? Did they even bother fighting and then lost to Varian’s weapons or were they told to stand down by a brainwashed Frederic? If they knew something was wrong then why not stay and help? What makes them think they even could find Rapunzel given how no one knew where she was heading and her letters were infrequent? What difference would they think finding Rapunzel would do?

Basically, just like with the “former cellmate” line, we needed to actually set up and establish this conflict rather than relying solely on exposition dumps. Because what we get here doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It goes against established character and leaves a lot of unanswered plot holes.

More Promotion of Authoritarianism From the Show

Remember that these are the same people who formed a lynch mob to hunt down a fourteen year old all because the king told them to. The same king who had been lying to them for years and placed their lives and homes in danger for months. The same king who persecuted the poor and orphans for years. Him suddenly sending townsfolk to the mines isn’t anything new, so what are these people’s breaking points? Anyone else would have revolted by now.

But noooo, they need Rapunzel to do it for them. Cause Rapunzel is royalty and they can’t do anything without royal permission because they’re sheep. Sheep that’s been subjugated for years and conditioned to be afraid of their “beloved ruler”.

I understand from a meta point of view why you would want your main character to take charge but...

Like this isn’t inspiring.

It’s disturbing.

Why are we promoting blind loyalty to a person who’s not earned it just because they were born special? In a freakin’ kids show no less!

Oh and still no one bothers to call out King Frederic’s abuses here, FYI.

Take Note That Quirineon is Activated By Heat

This will be important later on in the review.

He’s Already Built Grenades For You. Wouldn’t Those Be Better Because They’re Easier to Control?

He’s already built explosive chemicals for you. You just used them in part one of the episode. And it came in an easy to use form rather than an unstable, and untested, mess that could literally blow up in your faces since no one, not even Varian himself, knows how to control it yet.

You Don’t Hammer Out a Cast Iron Pan

It’s literally in the word. To make a cast iron pan you pour the metal into a casted mold. You don't hammer it out like you would with a sword or something. And you can’t even go with the “rule of cool” here cause Rapunzel surrounded by molten metal and fire would have been far more impressive looking.

Yes I’m being picky cause I’m stalling. I don’t care. This is just yet another instance of the crew not paying attention to details like they should.

Behold The Final Time Eugene Will Ever Call Out Rapunzel’s BS

This is the last time Eugene will hold an honest discussion with Rapunzel like an equal to her. By the end of this episode he will have transitioned into full on doormat mode.

Also burying negative feelings and not addressing issues is who Rapunzel is. She’s been pulling this shit since day one. It’s what causes 90% of the conflicts in the show. Have you not noticed Eugene?

So This Episode Has Contradictory “Lessons”

The episode presents this idea that Rapunzel needs to open up to others and trust again after Cassandra’s betrayal. The problem is that the episode doesn’t follow through on that. It makes a knee-jerk decision to go with a “responsibility” lesson that wasn’t built up to instead at the last minute.

More on this later.

Varian Doesn’t Actually Interact With the Saporians at Any Point.

The only person Varian interacts with is Andrew. We have no concept of how he fits in with the rest of the group and what his dynamics are with them. What do they think of Varian? What does Varian think of them? The consequence to this is to further divorce Varian from narrative, even though this is supposed to be his redemption episode.

As I said in the last part, you can easily write Varian out of this episode and nothing really changes plot wise. That’s bad writing.

Also I was robbed of Khary Payton and Jeremy Jordan exchanging lines. I was this close to having audio material for my BH6 crossover, dang it!

Behold The One Time the Black Lady Gets a Line!

I think her name is Juniper?

You can tell it’s her because of the shadow on the wall.

Anyways they casted this part and only bothered to give the character a single line? What a waste!

But this just goes back to the series' poor representation. The only WOC in the show are presented as “shifty” and untrustworthy, even when they are ultimately “good guys”. The majority of them are straight up villains tho, and even as antagonists they’re not afforded any real screen time.

And the only other outright black women on the show is the inventor lady who was given zero respect and the ghost of a barbarian.

Once again, I don’t think the crew are intentionally racist. I think they’re just sloppy. They wanted to be more inclusive but they failed to actually give voice to minorities behind the scenes and so failed in representing them well. This is a problem with the industry as a whole, not just this one show, and must be talked about as such if we wish to change things for the better.

None of this “Stuff” Holds Any Real Meaning

We get several callbacks to season one through Cassandra’s personal things that she left behind, but none of this stuff holds any real personal meaning. It’s just there. They wind up triggering these big emotional reactions from both Rapunzel and Cassandra but the audience is just left confused because what they’re crying over are things that have little significance to these characters. Even this line from season one is just dripping with sarcasm and not some pleasant past memory that either Cass or Raps holds dear to their hearts.

Way To Go, Dumbass

It’s not that she went alone, or that she broke down when it finally hit her that Cass left, that I’m making fun off. The episode already addresses those two points.

No, what ticks me off is that Rapunzel has taken down killer robots, ghosts, and monsters before now with her magical hair but a handful of regular dudes can just bring her down? I don’t care how much alchemy they got. Depowering your main character for no stated reason just for narrative convenience is poor writing.

Because If He Didn’t He Would Have DIED, Rapunzel!!!

He literally would have freakin died had he not done something! He was left inside a jail cell to rot away! Before that he was threatened with hangman’s noose! Before that violence from an angry crowd! Before that he was left alone to starve and/or die from exposure! There was no way out for him except to fight!

And here you are inside the very prison that you kept him in and you still don't have the fucking self awareness to put two and two together!

This Right Here the Assassination of Rapunzel’s Character and the Killing Blow to the Series

Yeah, and what about after the storm? Hun, bitch!?

We’ve spent two damn seasons watching Rapunzel stepping on people and making excuses for herself and the one time when she should realize her actions are wrong and finally own up to her behavior and she still does not fucking change.

This is supposed to be a coming of age story! That means the main character is supposed to grow and learn shit! But when it matters most, Rapunzel only digs in her heels and refuses to change!

Why should I care about this character anymore if she’s just going to keep on being selfish no matter what? Why should I bother watching the show if it fails to deliver on its premise? How is this in any way shape or form an appropriate message for children!?

If you’re watching the series for the first time, then it’ll take awhile to register just how awful this scene is and how it really is the beginning of the end, because they did have time to turn things around after this. But they didn’t, and here we are.

This Isn’t a Real Apology

It’s not a real apology if all you do is make excuses for yourself. Rapunzel doesn’t address what she actually did wrong here and it has nothing to do with her stupid promise.

She neglected and enabled the abuse of a child for a year and three months, and she’s not even sorry for it!

You Were Never a “Friend” Rapunzel

Friends, actually do shit together. They enjoy each other’s company. They care when the other is hurt or in trouble.

Rapunzel only came to see Varian when she needed him for something. Even now, after this confrontation, that’s all she’ll ever do. She does not actually care about Varian, because the creators will not let her care.

And Here Comes the Death of Varian’s Characterization

In order to make this stupid, forced, “redemption” work the writers had to do a complete 180 with Varian’s character and his motivations. Instead of freeing his father, seeking revenge, or just, you know, surviving, he now suddenly cares about “being friends” and “being accepted by people”, only he has no reason to want any of that!

Rapunzel is a shit friend. Heck all the mains are crap friends to him. They ruined his life and the townspeople tried to kill him. Why would he want anything to do with any of these a-holes!?

Varian doesn’t get assassinated in the same sense as Rapunzel and Cassandra do. He doesn’t suddenly become a hateable dumb douchebag or anything, but he nevertheless has his character retroactively sabotaged by the writing.

Uh, Were You Not There When Your Dad Rounded Up a Lynch Mob Against Him, Raps?

I believe you were. Also Varian literally told you to your face that he had to go into hiding cause the townspeople were willing to attack him just because those rumors that you failed to stop and pretended not to know anything about.

Just because the characters shout something repeatedly does not make it true. The audience isn’t dumb. They can remember what happened only two seasons ago.

Where Was the Inciting Incident For This Change of Heart?

Why should he even want their forgiveness? Why has he given up on freeing his father? Why is he having second doubts about overthrowing the kingdom that persecuted him?

If you’re going to drastically change a character’s motivations, goals, and moral alignment then you need to present an in story reason for that change. We don’t get that. There’s no inciting incident on screen for us to see the shift in his character development.

The audience is left to only infer, and that’s poor writing. The audience shouldn’t have to do the work of the writers for them. Characters’ motivations and goals should not be guess work.

The only thing we can glean from this is that he had a change of heart while in prison and that’s a horrifying thing for the show to suggest. That’s basically justifying Frederic’s abuse. It also recontextualizes Varian’s arc into one of submission to his abusers and not one of learning to do the right thing simply because it’s right.

Once Again, Were You Not There For Season One Rapunzel?

They had a year and three damn months of chances. These people actively tried to do him harm just for simply seeking help. He has no reason to trust them nor you.

Why Are We Shoulding All of the Blame Onto the Abused Child?

Yes, he did do all of those things, technically, but they’re being presented here without context.

The Queen enabled his abuser who was threatening his life and destroyed his home. He kidnapped her as a last restore when all other methods to get out of his desperate situation failed.

The princess he threatened neglected him for three months and repeatedly refused to help him, even throwing him out into a deadly snow storm. Despite him being her responsibility, thereby making her neglect a flat out abuse of power.

He would have died a slow and painful death in prison had he not helped to overthrow the kingdom that persecuted him.

I’m not going to pretend that what Varian did was right or that he shouldn’t feel sorry for what he did, but this is a highly skewed version of events that are being recounted here just to create bias in the viewers. It’s manipulative writing intended to gaslight the audience.

Also, why does he even want a second chance!?

Doesn’t This Undermine The Saporian’s Goals?

The Saporians wanted to reclaim their ancestral homeland so that they would no longer be a displaced people. How does blowing up that homeland help them?

Season three just throws all logic out the window. There’s barely a single villain who doesn’t undermine their own goals at some point with their stupid actions.

So Why Varian and Andrew Not Some Other Team Up?

Out of all of the various recurring baddies in the show Varian and Andrew have the least in common. I’m not saying that they couldn’t work together, but doing so required more set up than this. Because as is, this is a very contrived teamup.

They have diametrically opposed goals and moral alignments. Varian doesn’t bring anything to the table that the Saporaions couldn’t have supplied themselves. Meanwhile the Saporians have failed to offer Varian anything that he could want.

At best it’s a marriage of convenience for them to both break out of prison together, but even that is contrived because we don't know why neither of them were sent away on the prison barge with the rest of the season one villians.

Better combinations would have been

Varian & Lady Caine

Andrew & Lady Caine

Varian & Cass

Andrew & Cass

Varian & Zhan Tiri

Andrew & Zhan Tiri

Varian & Hector

The Baron & Varian

Andrew & Staylan

King Trevor & Varian

Like there were tons of options here that the writers just ignored, even though any of them would have made more sense than the one they went with.

The Andrew and Varian Dynamic Can Be Seen as an Allegory for Grooming; Unfortunately the Writers Didn’t Consider That Implication.

Yeah... That’s pretty much what Andrew has done here. He’s groomed this desperate and lonely teen to become a child soldier for him. And one only can only pray that’s all he tried to groom him to do since they were trapped inside a confined and enclosed space together for several months.

Listen, I don’t mind children’s shows touching upon darker subjects. Often fantasy is a good way for people to process complex themes and uncomfortable real world situations through the safety of fiction. It can even be helpful for those who have had the misfortune to experience certain traumas.

I’m not complaining that TTS is too dark.

I’m complaining about it being shit.

All of the crap Varian goes through is just thrown in there for shock value. It’s not here to commentate on the real world nor provide a complex story. The situations are brought only to then be outright ignored. This isn’t thoughtful nor deep. It’s not meaningful nor heartfelt. It’s just hollow drama done in bad taste.

You’re Not In a Position to Judge Rapunzel

You got captured first because you decided to throw yourself a pity party.

Would He Though?

I’m pretty sure Quirin is very well aware of how shitty Frederic is. If anything I would think he’d be pissed that his son, that he tried so hard to protect, was mistreated in such a hordenous way.

This isn’t some satisfying ending to Varian’s arc. It’s a heartbreaking revelation that he’s been beaten down by his abusers.

Varian’s Arc Isn’t Actually About Validation, and Rapunzel Giving It Here Doesn’t Really Change Anything

I spoke about this before on its own, but Tangled the Series places far too much stock in validation. Yes, it’s an aspect of his character arc, but it’s not the end all and be all of his motivation. It’s not the force that drives him to do what he does.

His primary goal is survival, both for himself and for his father. His secondary goal is gaining his father’s approval, but that’s not because he’s seeking generic praise, it’s because his father is emotionally distant. The “validation” is a mask for the real issues which are to fix his relationship with his dad and avoid the guilt of having possibly killed him in an accident.

Rapunzel has fuck all to do with that.

He doesn’t need to hear approval from her. He needs her to get her shit together and help him!

Rapunzel’s and Varian’s Situations Are Nothing Alike and Rapunzel Doesn’t Know Jackshit

Rapunzel you were dumped by your bestie because you’re a shitty friend.

Varian was neglected and abused by those who were supposed to take care of him.

Unless you’re drawing parallels to how Frederic and Gothel treated you, and even then neither of them denied you basic fucking needs!

This should be an “Oh Shit! I’ve become just like Mother Gothel” moment for Rapunzel, not an “Oh yay! Someone to share in my personal misery” moment.

Man, Rapunzel suuuuuucks!

Also This Still Isn’t An Actual Apology

Once again, Rapunzel is not admitting what she did wrong here. She’s not actually acknowledging Varian’s pain, nor what she needs to do to make admins with him.

What she’s doing is making things all about herself again. She’s talking about her feelings. About what she is facing. Rapunzel is an incredibly selfish and egotistical person and the show is trying to present this as a positive thing by rewarding her for such behavior.

Varian’s Redemption Should Have Nothing to Do with “Friendship”

Varian has no reason to want to become friends again with the woman who ruined his life and abused him.

But more than that, redemption shouldn’t be dependent upon Rapunzel’s friendship, nor even her ‘forgiveness”. Varian should be able to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing, Rapunzel be damned.

This cheepens not only his character development but also Rapunzel’s development as well. Rapunzel is not allowed to grow as a person and accept that not everyone wants to be her friend, and that people may have valid reasons to hate her even, and that doesn’t make them evil.

It also rushes through Varian’s arc undermining what the audience had to get through to get to this point.

OK, Let’s Talk About The Goatee

I wouldn’t have minded the beard had it just not looked like a fucking barcode. There’s production art where it looks fine. But just wiping it away ties back to what I was talking about in part one. It’s denying Varian the chance to grow up. This is supposed to be his coming of age story as well but the crew won't let him do that because “rule of funny” apparently overrides what the characters actually need in order to develop.

Once again, the show isn’t a sitcom. You can have comedic moments but the comedy doesn’t need to outright undermine the drama.

Once Again, Shouldn’t Eugene Be the First Person to Jump to Varian’s Defence?

You mean the orphan on the streets who stole stuff and fought to survive when the adults failed to take care of him? Is that what you’re talking about Eugene? Cause if I remember correctly that was you not just three years ago.

You Mean Rapunzel Needs Him To Make Her Feel Better About Herself

Spoiler alert, but Varian doesn’t actually do anything after this point in the episode. His entire “redemption” is just about making Rapunzel feel better about herself after Cass has rejected her. He’s literally become the rebound.

How Come Varian Suddenly Became Shorter Just for This Shot?

I know the meta reason is to reflect that scene back in Queen for a Day when Rapunzel promised him that she'd help him before everything went tits up. Where he was also drawn shorter in that episode to make him seem more verunable, but here he’s just suddenly shorter for only two shots and then suddenly back to his usual height.

Crap like this is why I insist that Varian didn’t actually get any taller in season three. The show just has always been inconsistent with his height and most of the “evidence” for his growth are cherry picked instances where the show drew him smaller than usual for reasons, like here.

So Where Did They Get That Much of the Explosives and How Did They Get Them So Fast?

Only Varian knows how to manufacture that stuff. Why would he make that much of it if he was still in the experimental phase with it? He’s even surprised that they have so much, so where did they get it? If they made it then, how did they make it so fast?

So This Plan Goes Nowhere

Spoiler alert: Varian doesn’t actually get to do any of that. In fact he’s kind of pointless for the rest of the episode.

Why Would the King and Queen Care About a City That They Can’t Remember?

Like this revenge doesn’t make sense. It’s just a contrived way to get Eugene and Lance out of the way.

If the Quirineon Explodes From Being Exposed to Heat Then What Good Does Just Dropping It Do?

Yeah, remember? The stuff explodes when heated. Simply dropping it shouldn’t do anything other than make a mess on the ground maybe.

All That Build Up and Varian Still Doesn’t Get to Do Anything Useful

Up till this point, Varian was shown to be the most competent threat in the show. Yet here they have him be a screw up twice in a row just for comedy antics and to glorify Rapunzel again.

If you got to nerf other characters just to make your main look good then you’ve failed to establish your main character as being capable in their own right.

Remember That This Boy Was Trapped in a Jail Cell With This Guy for a Year!

No, I’ll never be over this.

Andrew is the most directly violent and scummy out of all of the villians in the show.

If he’s willing to do this now, if he was willing to do this to his ex-girlfriend, then what the heck was he willing to do when he and Varian were trapped alone together?

So Andrew Just Willingly Sacrifices His Own People Here....Even Though His Goal Was to Give His People a New Home....

People need to use this gif more often when concerning this show and the villains’ ass-backwards plans.

And yes they survive because of Varian alchemy. But that was on accident. Andrew had no way of knowing that would happen. He’s willing to destroy his own people just to blow up his ancestral homeland and for what!? What does he gain from this action?

The Mind Wipe Kills Frederic’s and Arianna’s Characters; Littraly

Frederic and Arianna are effectively dead at this point. Anything that made them, well them, has been wiped away. Their personalities, hopes, dreams, their on going stories and development, just gone. And we never get them back, even when their memories supposedly return.

Varian’s Not Even Allowed to Get the Idea On How to Save Corona...In His Own Redemption Episode No Less

This is his episode! We’ve spent two years building up to this point and you can’t even let him help? He’s denied the chance to make up for his own mistakes! Just so Rapunzel can play hero and be a very shallow representation of what a bunch of men think a “strong” woman should be!

It’s fucking insulting. That’s what it is.

Making a female character the center of the universe to the point where other people are just props for her is not empowering!

No It’s Not!!

Uh you wouldn’t even be here had you just fucking helped Varian to being with you dumb bitch! This is very much you and your father’s mess!

Even now, while pretending to be responsible, Rapunzel can’t actually be responsible and own up to what she did!

She’s fucking 20 and the 16 year old shows more maturity than her!

Also Your Hair Can Protect Two People at Once Rapunzel; Remember?

There’s no excuse for leaving Varian out of the action. We’ve been shown multiple times now that Rapunzel’s magic hair can protect her and other people at the same time.

Having Rapunzel Save the Day By Herself Undermines Everything the Episode Was Trying to Establish

What happened to needing to “trust again” and letting other people help you? Having Rapunzel save the day alone just tosses out the lesson that the show was trying to build up to.

The show tries to frame this as Rapunzel learning “responsibility” but that also does not work. For one it was never established that she needed to learn that within the episode itself and secondly, she doesn’t actually do anything different from what she usually does.

Being an action hero isn’t the same thing as being responsible. Being responsible is being considerate of others, doing the borning shit or mundane crap that you hate, and being mature enough to recognize your own failings and admitting when you were wrong.

So in the end Rapunzel is neither responsible nor more open to others.

And There’s the Death of Eugene’s Character

Lance, who has maybe exchanged all of three sentences with Raps, is more distrught than the guy that supposedly wants to marry her. This isn’t heartwarming, nor it is growth. It’s just lobotomizing a character right in front of our eyes.

In this very episode he was worried about Raps going to face the Saporians by herself and was, guess what, fucking right to do so. But he doesn’t give two shits if she gets blown up!?

Ooookaaaay.....

This is the completion of turning Eugene into a doormat. From now own he shan’t be allowed to have any thoughts or feelings of his own that disagrees with Rapunzel.

The Eugene we knew is now dead.

But Of Course the Show Rewards Everyone for Behaving In the Dumbest Way Possible Anyways

Don’t expect any of these grossly out of character moments and oxygen deprived logic to be addressed nor fixed within the show. The series will keep on shoving unearned endings into our facing while insisting that this is positive development.

How Did Y’all Get Here Before Varian?

Yes, he was left on a roof, but he can climb and y’all were outside of the city.

Yeah... A Year and Half Fucking Later!

Ok, a year and three months, but that’s still not any better. Worse, all this implies is that Rapunzel would not have ever concerned herself with trying to free Quirin had Varian not broken out of prison. She would have literally left them both for dead and we’re supposed to find her suddenly doing the bare fucking minimum heartwarming and inspiring?

Where Was the Inciting Incident to Use the Decay Incantation for This?

How did Rapunzel come up with this plan? When did she come up with it?

When the hurt incantation was first found no one mentioned how it could be used to save Quirin. No one even gave Quirin a thought. Since then the incarnation hasn’t been brought back up, ever. This is a pretty big leap in logic for Rapunzel to suddenly think of this.

All it highlights how Varian was originally meant to be there to translate the scrolls and incantations in order to establish all this but of course it got cut so now it just comes the fuck out of nowhere.

Not Letting Varian Have Anything to Do With Saving His Father Is Even Worse Than Not Letting Him Save the Day

This has been his motivation since the beginning. It’s been the driving plot for a season, and now that the time has finally come what does get to do?

Hold a dang bucket.

Part of coming up with satisfying endings is following through on what you’ve established. The audience needs closure. Simply freeing Quirin isn’t enough, we need the carthartis of Varian specifically fulfilling his goal.

I don’t know how to break this to you Chris, but this isn’t Rapunzel’s story. Not this segment of it anyways. It’s Varian’s and it just so happens to connect to Rapunzel’s. She shouldn’t have been center stage for this.

The Series Blows It’s Load Too Early with the Incantations

This is the last time we’ll hear any of the incantations sung on screen, cause someone in budgeting didn’t know what was important to throw the money at and what was not.

It’s not bad here, but if we could only hear one incantation only once this season it needed to be in the finale with the final heal incantation.

Varian Was Right All Along

Also, all this does is justify Varian’s actions in season one. Rapunzel was indeed the only one who could free his dad according to this. For a series that desperately wants to shove all of the blame onto an abused child’s shoulders they sure go out their way to prove him right.

So How Is the Hurt Incantation Suppose to Work?

There were so many fan theories after this scene because Varian and Quirin don’t respond to the hurt incantation the same way previous characters had.

No one is gasping for breath, Varian can touch Raps without burning his hands, and Rapunzel can control the direction of her power. ect.

Turns out there was nothing there, the writers just didn’t know what the fuck they were doing and made the hurt incantation very inconsistent just like all of the magic in this show.

BULLSHIT!!!

You literally turn into a villain because she gave up on you!!!!

She also didn’t give two shits about you throughout the entirety of season two.

Why are we just pretending like season one didn’t exist!?

Why!?

The Note!!!

No It Fucking Didn’t!

Does That Look Like “I’m Proud of You Son” To You?

Chris went on to confirm that, yes, the note did hold more information that then got cut. Pretty much confirming all that we suspected. That Varian was cut from season two and his story hastily shoved back into season three at the last minute.

Below is the link to the tumblr post he made.

https://cnotes.tumblr.com/post/190534585146/apparently-one-of-the-writers-said-a-while-back

What’s worse is that his defense is such bullshit. The below exchange pretty much sums it all up.

This Doesn’t Actually Resolve Anything and Is Therefore Unsatisfying to Watch

Part of the reason why this conclusion doesn’t work is because it doesn’t actually address any of the problems that they have in their relationship. Quirin never owns up to what he did wrong. There’s no discussion of what Varian was up to while he was entrapped, no conversation about what secrets Quirin hid from his son, and zero admission of wrongdoing on either side.

Also Varian has done nothing significant to earn those particular words. Saying I love makes sense, but in context saying “I’m proud of you” does not. It doesn’t even work on a meta level cause the episode prevented Varioan from accomplishing anything.

It’s empty.

There Could Have Been More Screen Time to Fix This If Not for Season Two Mucking About

https://discord.com/channels/427940661589704715/569296212218347522/777635115978457098

Above is the link to the original storyboards. It doesn’t fix everything but there’s a lot more satisfying emotional beats including adding Ruddiger back in who is suspiciously absent for the entire episode for no stated reason.

This version was cut due to time. Which, like with the Crossing the Line song, didn’t need to be had they been more effective with their usage of time in season two.

They also could have had a better conclusion to Varian’s arc in general had he not been cut from season two altogether.

So What Does Freeing Quirin Add to the Series?

I’m serious. What does freeing Quirin at this point and time do for the story?

It doesn’t add any character development, Quirin just wanders around aimlessly in the background until the finale and even then his part in that is a pointless dead end. Varian doesn’t gain his emotional closure, just empty, hollow “praise”. Nor is he allowed to accomplish any of his established goals. No new lore or history is exposed. No mystery uncovered.

There’s no reason why this couldn’t have been done later in the season. Provide more tension and keep up the consequences of the characters actions. Give the mains something to do and work on until Cass and Zhan Tiri show up again.

The only reason why this is here is to wrap Varian’s story up as soon as possible so he won’t “steal Cassandra’s spotlight”. That’s it. He’s rewarded for conforming to Rapunzel’s will and all the fans should shut up and be grateful, at least according to Chris.

I Like This Song But It Wasn’t Needed

It doesn’t add anything to the story. It’s just a generic celebration song. Which would be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that we have a limited number of songs, even less than in previous seasons, and the story isn’t over yet. This is the wrong place to put a victory song at.

Especially when we could have had a song that furthered Varian’s redemption instead. Yeah, that was cut too.

So Is Varian the New “Lance” This Season?

He’s right there! This is his dang focus episode!

Why hire Broadway singers and not let them sing!? Why waste talent and money like that?

Also These Lyrics!

Did Glenn Slater just not read the scripts before writing the songs? That’s all season three ever does! Give the mains what they want without earning it. Even in this very episode!

So Is This Rapunzel’s 20th Birthday or Not?

Ok I have gotten into many a heated debate about how long season three is supposed to be. And that’s because what the crew says doesn’t match what the series shows us.

By all accounts this should be Rapunzel’s birthday. According to season two she’s been gone for one year, and there’s the lanterns that they fly specifically on her birthday.

But no one verbally says it’s her birthday and I’ve heard conflicting accounts from different members of the crew. Some stating that it is her 20th birthday and some disagreeing that it is.

Well I’ll take what evidence that the show actually presents to its audience on screen over what the cast and crew says after the fact any day of the week, so I’ll be gathering up this evidence and proving by the end that season three is two years not one.

But the fact that I must comb through series to prove this, the fact that we can even have this debate, and the fact that the crew have to state basic info after the series is over is just proof of the bad writing.

Fun Fact: Cupcakes Weren’t Invented Until the 20th Century

Yeah, that’s the fault of the OG film, and yeah it doesn’t really mean much, but still it’s one more thing to add to the pile of stuff that doesn’t fit.

Plus I’m just a hardcore nerd for historical cooking and I like to share my knowledge.

Yeah But How Can He Trust All of You Again?

You’re the ones who let him down first; repeatedly. And you only started to make things up to him once he became useful to you. What assurance does he have that you won’t mistreat him again next time he’s in trouble or is no longer of any use to y’all?

Yes, Let NOT Show What the Main Character Is Actually Going Through

Yup, this is “Rapunzel’s show” but we’re not going to let Rapunzel have any focus on her feelings or give any insight into her thought process about what is the main conflict of the series now.

Conclusion

Ducktales was robbed!

I can’t believe this shit won an Emmy for “best writing.” It utterly fails on every possible level. It fails to be a continuation of the ongoing story and it fails to be a stand alone episode. Even the very structure of the story is fundamentally flawed. The only reason why it’s not the worst episode of the entire series because the finale and the penultimate episodes exist.

Anyways...I finally made it through. It literally took my entire weekend but I’m finally caught up. Next week I’ll be going back to the usual one episode a week schedule.

#Varian #tangled #anti-rapunzel #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tangled the series #Eugene #andrew

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melisusthewee · 3 years

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WIP Wednesday - Let’s Talk Music

Thank you to @cleverblackcat @kittynomsdeplume @noire-pandora and @morganlefaye79 for tagging me!

I don’t have any writing to really offer today. I’ve been trying to work on that Haven fic but unfortunately Aloysius hasn’t been co-operating with me despite all my best efforts to make him speak. I may take a break from writing and pivot towards completing some art memes, but Wednesday just sort of crept up on me and here we are. So instead, I’m sharing something that both is but also isn’t a work in progress?

It’s “in progress” because while I’m happy with where it currently is, I’ve said that about playlists and soundtracks before and later changed them. I’ve worked hard on this and talked several friends’ ears off about songs I’ve heard or artists that seemed to work and thanks to their feedback I think this is a really good one. It’s gone through several edits as well, and may potentially even go through more down the road. So I’m saying this counts for today.

If you give it a listen (and I hope you do because I’m very proud of it so far), I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover an artist you didn’t know before. It clocks in at around 51 minutes and features 13 tracks which span Quinn Trevelyan’s story and important events of the main game through to Trespasser.

If you are interested, below the cut is a list of tracks and a brief blurb or description about who or what they’re meant to represent. I was going to go into things in more depth and talk about how I built it, why I picked the songs I did, and the B-Sides that were left on the cutting room floor, but after realizing I had written nearly 4 pages about just as many songs, I realized it was too much for anyone to read. So below is just a very brief summary and I think that most of the music would speak for itself, but I’m happy to expand more on anything that anyone finds either interesting… or confusing. (There is also Solas content because I knew a few of you love that.)

You have to click on this sentence to go to the playlist because Tumblr’s coding for “Read More” seems to be conflicting with the HTML code to embed a functional playlist. Because of course it is.

Quinn’s tarot card is the Wheel of Fortune as his story is a series of unpredictable highs and lows. What the Maker giveth, He also taketh away. The playlist follows that trend of highs and lows with upbeat songs followed by darker or more mellow ones. Whenever I create a playlist, I try to think of a general tone or sound that I want to be carried through the soundtrack. I want the overall genre or sound to tell the story as much as the individual songs. Because of that, you’ll see artists repeat a couple of times, and when they do it’s always intentional. You’ll also notice that most of the vocalists are male. This was again intentional because this is Quinn’s story, and he’s a man. They are his songs and I wanted the vocals to reflect that.

The Cult of Dionysus - pre-Conclave Quinn

Quinn at his most basic and stereotypical before any character development happens whatsoever - poppish, upbeat, and maybe just a little obnoxious. He smokes, he drinks, he fucks, and nothing else matters.

The Sound of Silence - Aloysius’ Theme

I like Aloysius as a more practical view and examination of Quinn and the cult that grows around him. He affords an opportunity to look at Quinn both as the Herald but also as just a person. He is stoic and mild-mannered, a dutiful soldier, and an excellent foil for Quinn. This is also absolutely a reference to an Arrested Development joke.

Isle of Dogs - Quinn’s true theme

Quinn is a walking disaster constantly falling victim to his own hubris. There’s a morose sort of resentment to the lyrics, of someone who is constantly struggling against the tide. In a lot of ways, this is basically a reaction or push back to all the crap I have put him through.

Providence - “In Hushed Whispers”

There are no Templars here. The first few lines relate a lot to the dismissal the fledgling Inquisition receives from what remains of the Chantry, but the rest of the lyrics are very much about the mages and Fiona’s dealings with the Venatori.

Seven Devils - “In Your Heart Shall Burn

No male vocals in this one to symbolize the change in perspective. This is both a bit of an easy and obvious choice for this story beat. Female vocals for Corypheus might seem strange, but when I created my Warden’s soundtrack I tended to use powerful choruses and female vocals for anything related to Blight, Archdemons, or the darkspawn. I carried that idea over to this as Corypheus is one of the seven Magisters.

Caesar - becoming the Inquisitor

This is a softer and quiet interlude in the wake of the loss of Haven and struggle through the snow. If the previous song marks the end of the first act, this song marks the beginning of the second.

King - “Here Lies the Abyss”

In my written world state, Alistair is both the king and the Grey Warden contact (this goes back to that longform fic I am working on). I suppose it’s a bit unfair because in the end that has a major impact on why Quinn makes the decision he does at Adamant (a rather threatening letter from the Warden helps too). Think of this as a duet between Quinn and Hawke.

My Type - the love interest

“Here Lies the Abyss” was completed first, then a romance triggered, then “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts”. This is that sort of inbetween interlude and is very much inspired by how I may have flirted with multiple characters a little too much and basically triggered several romances at once. I also went into Quinn’s playthrough having no idea who I was going to romance and just let him shop around. And it came down to a coin flip in the end, so “you have a pulse and you are breathing” is pretty much the only standards he has.

Boheme Supreme - party at Halamshiral

All I have to say is that I love techno swing, every single lyric in this song is perfect, and I want you all to picture Quinn Trevelyan walking into the Winter Palace with his Inner Circle entourage around him, dressed up in that outfit I drew with that peacock feathered cap and having a drink in his hand throughout the entire night’s affair.

Hell’s Coming With Me - “Doom Upon All the World”

This is the climax of the main game, the rematch between Quinn and Corypheus which I have to imagine is more impressive in concept than it was in game. I chose the dialogue option when Corypheus calls Quinn an imposter, “I am the Maker’s chosen” as his final challenge. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this main is actually very Andrastian. But he is, and the lyrics, “I am the righteous hand of God/And I am the Devil that you forgot/And I told you one day will see/I’ll be back I guarantee/And that Hell’s coming with me” are the perfect declaration.

Paradise - Jaws of Hakkon & The Descent

Another interlude song. If the previous one is triumphant than this one is the beginning of a bad turn. In the interim between the events of the main game and the Exalted Council, things begin to go wrong in little ways. His relationship with Cassandra begins to break down, eventually ending in the two of them having frequent spats and going their separate ways after returning from the Frostback Basin. This song is deceptively sarcastic about how good things are.

I Still Love You, Judas - Solas’ Betrayal

Solas… oh, Solas. Does this song indicate a very complicated and layered relationship between Quinn and Solas? Yes! Have I attempted to unpack any of this? Nope! Have fun with this one!

Tagging for this week: @kita-lavellan @silvanils @nivenor-krosis @drag-on-age @rosella-writes @inquisitoracorn

Battle Cries - Quinn and Cassandra

I saved this one for the very end because it is a story within a story. It is sad and bittersweet, but also not. This entire thing feels to me like a duet between Quinn and Cass on what was good, what could never last, and that it’s all over now but that’s okay. Because “this isn’t a breakup, dear heart, it’s a season finale.” Does this mean that Quinn sounds like Joey Batey when he sings? Sure, why not.

#wip wednesday #oc: quinn trevelyan

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real-american · 3 years

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Supernatural: A dedication to its memory and how the show changed my life

Fifteen Years. 15 years and over 300 episodes of the greatest show on TV. 15 years of joy, heartache, tears, fun and inspiration; and for me, 15 years, two marriages one divorce, two tattoos and a show that brought me the love of my life. Supernatural has impacted us all on so many levels. I could easily write a 15 page academic paper on the seasons, the meanings behind each season and all the little things that made the show so great. Things such as the music, the brothers Winchester, the family dynamic, and the beautiful 1967 Chevy Impala (my dream car should I win the lottery. Black four door version of course). I could go on about each major and minor character, how they impacted the show and what each of them meant to me and the fans but this is not what this is about. This post is about how Supernatural changed my life and how it impacted me.

First a few housekeeping things to address regarding the final season and the series finale. I thought the pre finale show was excellent but definitely could have been longer and included more. However I do understand they only had 42 minutes or so to cram 15 years of memories and characters in so I understand they had to only hit the highlights. They should do a longer version for the Blue Ray 15 season collectors set which I'm sure they will make and that I am definitely getting. Regarding the final season, I thought it was excellent. My wife, who is also a big fan of the show (more on her later) didn't think it was as good as other seasons but enjoyed it none the less. The ending was good sort of expected with the two boys ending up in heaven together, but I was surprised they killed Dean in the sort of nonchalant way they did. Sort of anti climactic for the greatest hunter in the world. The final speech to Sam was heartbreaking and heartfelt and I loved it! I also loved the symmetry of how Sam's son Dean also gave him permission to leave this world as Sam gave (original) Dean all those years later. I'm glad they didn't show who Sam's wife was and she was just left as a mysterious place holder. Originally I thought maybe they should have had him with Eileen but in retrospect the way they did it was better and honestly I'm not sure if she (or the other AU folk) were even brought back with the rest of the world. Maybe someone can clear this point up for me. I was really surprised they didn't do the "carry on my wayward son" beginning but I soon figured out before it even happened they were going to do it in the end of the episode which turned out to be much better. All in all I give the last season an A- and the finale and how it ended an A+ Again there is a lot to say about the final season, the final episode, and all the seasons but I will leave that analysis to other people. This is about what the show meant to me specifically about how it helped me through my darkest days and ushered in my brightest of days which I am living now. This is that story.

I wasn't with Supernatural from the very beginning. The show premiered in 2005 and I honestly hadn't heard anything about it or did I know anything about it for a few years. I came off active duty from the Marine Corps in June of 2005 and after fighting my beloved country's wars for a few years I was out of the loop on many things. I first came across Supernatural on TNT catching a re run here and there but with no real interest and only getting bits and pieces of the story. In 2010 I met my first wife and was a casual fan at this point seeing enough re runs on TNT to get a general idea of the storyline for the first few seasons but again only as a casual fan. At this point of my life I was also falling down a dark hole. My alcoholism which is a result of my PTSD from my combat service started to get really bad. I was drinking more than most people could handle but as my father was, highly functional. This led to me staying with and eventually marrying my first wife which was a bad idea. She cheated on me constantly and probably didn't even really love me. We were also polar political opposites (you can figure out my political viewpoints from the rest of my blog) and not compatible really in the least. Why I ever stayed with her and married her is beyond me at this point in my life. So there I was drinking my life away in a bad relationship and trying to figure out how to manage my life. Then Supernatural came on Netflix and I decided to give it a real shot. This decision changed my life.

I quickly caught up on the first six seasons and started watching the show live starting with season 7. I was hooked. I loved everything about it. Dean and Sam, Cass the car, the brotherly love, the monsters, the angels, everything but I still didn't know how this show would impact me in the end. I continued to drink myself to death getting unhealthier fatter and no longer resembling the fit Marine I once was. I was in a constant haze drinking an entire bottle of whiskey every night to drink away the pain of my bad marriage and the pain of not being loved and cheated on by my wife. Supernatural was the one bright spot in my life.

In 2014 I finally divorced my wife but this was only the first step. I continued to drink and destroy my life causing me to get fired from my job. Fortunately I was hired on back into government work making much better money and with having no wife and no kids was finally able to live a little better financially but I was lonely and alone except for the alcohol. I continued to find refuge in the bottle but also in Supernatural. I watched every episode as it came on, re watched all the old episodes, blogged and facebooked about it to the point that I am sure I was annoying the one or two friends that I had. The rest of my life was a blur. Get up, stumble into work drunk or hungover, go home sick and jonesing for my next drink, bottle of whiskey till one in the morning, a few hours of sleep and starting the whole cycle back over. I was fat, ugly on the outside, ugly on the inside, and a bad human being. My drinking got so bad I destroyed my liver and was medically discharged from my job but was given retirement for all my years of service to the federal government. So now I was 33 retired with a pension and VA disability and really nothing to do but sit at home drink whiskey and watch TV. I had no love in my life, one or two close friends who didn't like being around me anymore because of my drinking, and my family was worried but couldn't get through to me. Even after my father died of alcohol abuse in 2015 I still continued down my destructive path. Finally in February of 2017 I was hospitalized and was told I would be dead in less than a year. I truly believe I was touched by God at this point because I went home dumped out three bottles of alcohol and never touched the stuff again to this day.

Now I had to learn to relive my life all over without alcohol. I started to exercise and lose weight (90 pounds in 5 months) I went back to church, and I started to try and find love again and of course needing distraction and something to occupy my mind I dove deep into Supernatural. I re watched and re watched again all the old episodes, I poured myself into analysis of the plot lines and characters, I got tattoos on my arms (the demon trap and the anti possession symbol), I obsessed with everything Supernatural. It helped me stay sober. When I wanted a drink I would watch an episode, when I was feeling lonely I would go hang out with Sam and Dean. When I wanted to give up I took refuge in the Impala. I became a super fan. So far Supernatural got me through my divorce, was my bright spot in my alcoholic haze, and helped me stay sober when I first gave up my demons. I cheered harder during the happy moments of the show and cried harder in the sad ones. I was an emotional wreck and my feelings only seemed to come out while watching the show. Although I had quit drinking, got rid of my toxic ex wife and started to improve my life, I was still not happy. I was alone and lonely but Supernatural came to my rescue once again.

Throughout 2017 and the first part of 2018 I managed to be in two relationships. I poured myself into them grasping at them as if they were my reward for turning my life around and ignoring all the signs that they were not good relationships. I was still learning to relive my life as a sober person. I never integrated back into society after I left the Corps in 2005 and finally I was doing so but it was a hard journey. Inevitably those relationships failed and I was utterly heartbroken each time, but Supernatural was always there through the good times and the bad. When my heart was broken I would go find refuge in my favorite show forgetting about my problems and trying to help Sam and Dean solve theirs. Finally in May of 2018 I decided to try and find love again. This time it would be different and this time it was Supernatural that helped me get there.

As part of my recovery and daily routine I started to eat at my local diner everyday. Everyday from about July 2017 to the present time in this story I would go in, order 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, sausage, and toast. Everyday I would sit in the same spot at the counter (counter 6 was the name of the spot) order the same thing and even had my own special coffee mug. I knew everyone who worked there by name and they all knew me by name. They knew my order and had it ready for me when I came in. It felt like a magical place, a place that would forever change my life. There was one waitress/cook that I didn't see very often. She mostly worked the night shift but occasionally I would see her if I was there later in the day than usual or if she occasionally worked a morning shift. I was drawn to this woman. About the middle of May in 2018 I decided to maybe try and work up the courage to ask her out. I would always look for her when I went in hoping she was working that day hoping she wasn't too busy so that I could exchange a few words with her and hoping she would even notice me. Then one day in July I went in and she was there. I said hello and ate my breakfast but we didn't talk much. When I was paying for my meal the other gal working there asked what my plans were for the day and I said oh nothing much just gonna go home and watch Supernatural. Then she turned around. The woman I had been trying to talk to, the one I wanted to ask out, Michelle was her name. She said, "I love that show I'm watching season 13 on DVD right now". I perked up a smile came across my face. Nervously I said, "oh cool yeah its my favorite show" Michelle nodded and turned back to work, I went to my car got in and smiled. I knew how I was gonna break the ice now next time. A few days later on my daily visit to the diner I went in a little later than usual. It was about 3 in the afternoon. It was dark and gloomy, raining, and cold. It felt like a Supernatural episode. It felt like a 67 Impala should have been in the parking lot and two good looking hunters should be in the corner on a laptop researching their current case. It felt like a magical moment. Turns out I was the only customer in the whole place. It was just me the waitress and Michelle who was cooking that day. They took my order without asking as the usually did and I could already see Michelle had already started cooking it. She finished and brought it to me herself. We exchanged a look and a feeling of confidence I have never had in my life overcame me and I said to her, "So are you enjoying season 13?" That is how it all began we started talking about the show. How we started watching it who our favorite characters were, how much we loved this season or that one. The conversation was seamless. We got into other get to know you topics around our conversation about Supernatural and it was like we were old friends talking about a show we loved. Eventually I got up and went to pay the waitress and she turned to go back to the kitchen in the back. Feeling an opportunity slip away I said "hey Michelle, maybe we should go get some dinner some time and watch some Supernatural together". I held my breath. She would surely smile and politely say no. She probably gets asked out all the time by the customers, beautiful woman that she is. Then she smiled and said "sure that would be great" I must have smiled so big and my heart skipped 10 beats! I got her number which she wrote on a order ticket and the rest they say is history. Ten months later I wrote ,"will you marry me" on the back of that order ticket and gave it to her at counter 6 at the diner where we met, where we first started talking about Supernatural, where my life finally changed for the better forever, and she said yes! We were married two months later on our one year anniversary and we just watched the final episode together yesterday. We both had tears, we both smiled when Sam and Dean, soulmates, were finally together at the end because we both know how it feels to be with each others soulmate. We held each others hand and said goodbye together.

Supernatural has forever changed me. It has been with me through every major event in my life over the last 15 years. Through the dark times, through the hard times, and finally through the current happy times. I guess it is ok that Supernatural is over now. I no longer need it. I have my wife, my Michelle, my soulmate. I am finally happy. I have Sam and Dean's permission to move on and they have mine. Good bye Winchesters. Good bye and thank you. You have taught me to carry on and find my peace when I'm done, and to cry no more. This is but one man's story, one of so many. How many lives has this show changed? How many people have found comfort in the adventures of Sam and Dean? I'm not sure the answer. Too many to count I would wager. 15 years and 300 episodes of the greatest show ever on TV. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

#supernatural #SPN #spn spoilers #SUPERNATURAL SPOILERS #Supernatural ending

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bestworstcase · 4 years

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my most controversial tangled opinion is that the sundrop/moonstone lore isn’t confusing, it’s just a soft magical system in a story that wanted a harder one.

what i mean by this is: there are zero theoretical limits on the powers of the sundrop and moonstone, but their actual established powers are nebulous and controlled by vague concepts (“faith” and “feelings”) without any hard explanation. this works as long as the magic is a mysterious quest object and its actual use is largely incidental, but once cass takes the moonstone, the magic becomes a central component of the plot and the system fails.

for those unfamiliar with the soft/hard magical system distinction, in the most general terms, a hard magical system is explained—it has defined rules and limitations so the audience can understand How It Works—while a soft magical system isn’t. neither is better than the other per se, but which type works best for a given story depends a lot on how the magic is used in the plot.

to give an example, bending in avatar: the last airbender falls into the “hard” category. bending is a martial art with a strong spiritual component; there are four types of bending, each tied to one of the four nations; with one exception, benders can only bend a single element, and the exception is explained and given his own set of rules, like the requirement that he must learn the four types of bending in a particular order. even the last-minute introduction of a fifth type bending is logical within the context of the universe: humans learned the other four types of bending from powerful magical creatures, so the lion-turtle’s ability to gift energy bending to aang follows the established rule for how humans acquired bending abilities in the first place; and aang himself has long been established as valuing and prioritizing the spiritual aspect of being the avatar, so it makes sense that when he entreats the spirits for a way to defeat ozai without killing him, the spirits basically go “sure, here.”

and of course, we the audience need to understand these rules, because bending is integral to the plot and to the way characters solve problems. if the characters in atla were constantly pulling new powers out of their butts to deal with the problem of the week, would that be as satisfying a story? characters do discover new powers (katara’s healing, toph’s metalbending, iroh’s lightning redirection, hama’s bloodbending), but when that happens the series is quick to establish how those powers fit within the framework of what we already know. we see this happen in fanworks too, because the audience understands the underlying mechanics and we can extrapolate new powers that fit within the defined rules, eg: could a sufficiently skilled and motivated firebender manipulate the electrical signals of the brain? taking control of a pre-existing electrical discharge and manipulating elements inside the human body are both possible, so i don’t see why not.

now back to rta.

the magical system in the series is very soft. for the purpose of this discussion, we’re going to focus on the sundrop, moonstone, and zhan tiri, because those are the core pillars of the magical system—the assortment of enchanted artifacts that pop up are sort of tangential and irrelevant here.

let’s start with what we know.

the sundrop and moonstone are two halves of an ancient cosmic power (hereafter ACP). the ACP was destroyed by an unknown calamity, the two drops fell to the earth, and they have been longing to reunite ever since.

whether this “longing” implies a degree of sapience or if it’s simply an attractive force like a pair of magnets is never specified, but based on the way the two forces behave i think the magnets explanation makes more sense.

the sundrop and moonstone are said to be inverses of each other. the sundrop heals, the moonstone harms. simple enough.

...but the moonstone also has a secondary protective ability, which it gifts to rapunzel in the form of her unbreakable hair. and the moonstone has the black rocks, which seem to exhibit both the destructive and protective/invulnerable facets of the moonstone’s power.

and the the sundrop also has a secondary destructive ability in that it. explodes.

so...

sundrop heals ↔ moonstone harms sundrop destroys ↔ moonstone protects

now this internally contradictory set of powers for the drops does make sense when you remember that they were originally just one thing. the ACP was theorized to have basically unlimited powers of destruction and creation, so it makes sense for its two halves to exhibit that duality within themselves as well.

if we consider the wording of the four incantations (and the events of BVA), we can kind of get a sense of what else the drops might be able to do:

i think there’s a strong argument to be made for understanding the healing/decaying capabilities of the drops as temporal manipulation. the sundrop doesn’t “heal” so much as it reverses time so it’s like the damage never happened (“make the clock reverse!”)—which incidentally would explain how gothel stayed fertile for two thousand years a lot better than “healing”—and the moonstone’s decay does the same but in reverse, so fast forwarding rather than rewinding.

they both alter/manipulate fate (“change the fates’ design”/“end this destiny”). this may be a metaphorical reference to the temporal manipulation thing, or it could be that the tangled universe truly is deterministic and the drops powerful enough to literally change fate.

a case can be made for a third dichotomy of sundrop faith ↔ moonstone will. by which i mean that the sundrop runs on belief/faith while the moonstone runs on feelings/willpower. the sun incantation focuses on hope (“and let our hope ignite”) and eugene having faith in rapunzel in LAF is what allows her to activate the sundrop nuke even without the incantation. meanwhile, the moon incantation focuses on willpower (“bend it to my will”) and in BVA, the moonstone is shown to react intensely to cassandra’s feelings and is also able to manipulate the feelings of other people (meaning that, presumably, the sundrop could also inspire faith).

...but notice, here, how much of this is postulation. very little of this is explicit textual information; instead, i’m drawing connections between the lore given in LAF and the things that we see the sundrop/moonstone do on screen in an attempt to line up what we see with the loose, vague framework of “two halves of a broken whole that are opposites/complements of each other.”

and i really think this is what people mean when they say the sundrop/moonstone lore is “confusing.” unlike in a hard magical system like atla, the series dedicates no time to explaining how it all works. it’s just There, and while we can make some extrapolations based on what we see, it’s not really a system that is meant to hang together in a coherent, rules-based way. and—unpopular opinion—that is FINE. hard systems are not innately better than soft systems.

do i personally have a preference for hard systems? yes. are hard systems in vogue in modern fantasy? also yes. does that make soft systems inferior to hard systems? no. can i suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy a fantasy story with a soft system? absolutely, yes, though no force on earth can stop me from picking over it with a fine-toothed comb to develop a personal theory on how it all works, or from breaking it down into its component parts and then building a hard system from scratch for my own fanworks like i did with bitter snow.

but—the key thing is—it’s not confusing if you go into it with the understanding that the magical system is soft. the nebulous vague what you see is what you get thing is a feature, not a bug.

the same goes for zhan tiri. i’ve already expounded at great length about her canon lore and i’m not going to get into it again, but suffice it to say: she’s some sort of powerful ancient shapeshifting demon with nature-based magic, a side helping of dream/mind-based magic, and a penchant for deceit and manipulation. and again, the underlying mechanics of any of this are not explored, because rta has a soft magical system.

but farran, you said rta needed a harder system, so why are you now saying that soft magical systems aren’t bad?

i did say that, yes, but it’s not because soft systems are bad. it’s because soft and hard systems are different tools used to accomplish different things, and rta as a series tells a story that, ultimately, would have been better served by a hard system rather than a soft one.

let’s start with cassandra’s control over the moonstone. in RR, she uses its powers instinctively and effortlessly. then, she loses that ability, and zhan tiri tells her that it’s because she needs to focus on her rage because that’s what the moonstone responds to (this is an obvious lie ziti uses to get cass to wallow in her anger, but the basic principle that the moonstone responds to emotion appears to be sound). and then, in BVA, cassandra’s fear about attacking rapunzel causes her to spontaneously manifest a completely new ability that sends magical fear-empathy rocks all the way to corona where they start giving people nightmare visions and petrifying them.

that’s huge! we had no idea the moonstone could do something like that. but then they go away and cass never uses them again. why? who knows!

next, zhan tiri (off screen -_-) evidently tells cass that it’s not actually a matter of trying harder to master the moonstone’s power, she needs to use the moon incantation to unlock it. this is inconsistent with what we’ve seen before (RR and BVA proved that she could access the full range of the moonstone’s power, she just doesn’t know how), and could be explained by zhan tiri lying again... except that when cass recites the incantation it works as-advertised.

and “mastering the moonstone’s power” turns out to be... black rocks and lightning, but bigger and more elaborate. that’s it. there’s no expansion on the withering incantation, or the empathy-rocks or petrification abilities introduced in BVA, it’s just black rocks and a light show. and black rocks shaped like dogs that one time in plus est.

the same thing happens with the sundrop. it glows and it blows things up and it heals things and that is all it does. it just does it... bigger, and flashier, after rapunzel recites the sun incantation.

and when zhan tiri acquires both of the drops, something that we are told grants her the (undefined) “ultimate power,” she... uses them to make rocks, but they’re golden now. what do the golden rocks do? who knows! and she uses the decay incantation, which works exactly as it did when rapunzel used it except faster and bigger and not uncontrolled.

and then she’s beaten by whacking her over the head with a frying pan and tricking her into clapping her hands together, which blows her up. and then rapunzel takes the unified drop and revives cass everyone before letting it fly off into space. yay!

but... do you see the problem here? why so many people felt so dissatisfied with the lore surrounding the drops and zhan tiri in season three? people say it’s “confusing,” but i think that describes a symptom, not the root of the problem. a good, well-utilized soft magical system doesn’t cause confusion; it blends into the story and doesn’t call attention to itself. it’s like... lighting. it’s just there and it just works and it enriches the story but we don’t question it.

whereas a hard magical system is an actual component of the narrative, almost like a character in its own right in the sense that we understand what makes it tick. there are rules, and we understand the rules, and because we understand the rules we can make predictions about what influence or role the magic will have in the plot. to use atla as a very simple example again: when iroh teaches zuko how to redirect lightning, we can predict that this ability will become a vital form of defense against azula and ozai. atla sets up lightning bending, then sets up a defense against lightning bending, and we don’t need to wait around for it to happen to understand that this is going to become Very Important later.

now compare this to rta season three. a whole episode is dedicated to establishing that the moonstone is connected to cassandra’s emotions in a pretty significant way. after bva, there was a lot of speculation about how this fact would play out in the events to come; speculation about other types/colors of rocks and what effects they might have; speculation about how this would tie into cassandra’s emotional arc; speculation about how zhan tiri’s manipulation might interact with the moonstone’s emotion-based magic. and... absolutely none of that happened, because that was rules-based speculation built on the assumption that rta’s magical system had definitive rules. and that was an assumption made because, in s3, rta’s soft magical system started to behave as if it were a hard one. ie, it jumped into center stage and went “look at me! i’m important.”

except it was still a soft magical system with no definitive rules, so any rules-based speculation was impossible and pointless. it is like trying to build a house out of beams of light. you can make a house shape, but if it rains you are still going to get wet.

and i made this mistake, too! i also made the assumption, after BVA, that answers were coming and we could expect the magic to continue to develop into, if not a hard system, at least a hybrid one, and a lot of my speculation after that point came from a place of expecting answers (and trying to unravel the answers on my own before the series showed them to us).

but rta’s magical system just was not built that way. it wasn’t set up to play this central role in the plot, it didn’t have definitive rules, it didn’t have a preexisting framework that could be used to expand and elaborate on characters’ abilities in a naturalistic, predictable way, so... as is often the case with mis-used soft systems, the magic just got vaguely Bigger whenever the narrative called for escalation, and the “ultimate power” ended up being completely underwhelming because it was just More Of The Same, But Make It Yellow.

as... a point of comparison here, because i’m struggling to articulate what i’m driving at, let’s consider my take on the sundrop/moonstone lore—the hard magical system i created for bitter snow.

1) magic is drawn from a powerful magical entities (deities, demons, spirits).

2) magical abilities are based on the abilities of the patron.

3) the sundrop and moonstone are artifacts belonging to/created by a solar deity (huma) and lunar deity (turul). they are basically teeny tiny shards of those deities that fell to earth when it was still a molten lump of raw material and then molded it into a world capable of supporting life. the drops themselves can serve as direct conduits to huma/turul, and both have extensive root systems; the sundrop’s roots support the outer crust of the earth, while the moonstone’s roots (the black rocks) form the inner core.

4) the magic of the sundrop is restorative, and it also “casts” a shadow in the form of destructive magic. the restorative/destructive magics are always equal (hence the “shadow” metaphor). the restorative magic heals, creates and nourishes life, offers strength. the destructive magic is the opposite: it destroys, it kills, it weakens.

5) the magic of the moonstone is transformative. it takes the sundrop’s “shadows” and refashions them into the black rocks. it adapts, it moves, it alters things. it is neutral, centered, and stable in comparison to the sundrop’s intense extremes.

6) both huma and turul (and by extension the drops) are also connected to zhan tiri, as all three formed very early in the beginning of the cosmos. like huma and turul, zhan tiri’s magic is centered around change; hers is corruptive. zhan tiri’s magic manipulates strengths into weakness, and weakness into strength. it gives by taking away. it feeds.

7) to put these three types of magic into more concrete terms: let’s say alice, bob, and carol all break their arms. alice calls on the power of the sundrop to heal herself, and her arm is instantly and perfectly repaired, but some destructive, uncontrolled magic is unleashed into the world to balance the scales. bob, meanwhile, calls on the power of the moonstone, and it transforms the broken arm into solid stone; the pain is gone and the arm is no longer broken, but it is also no longer, strictly speaking, a human arm. and finally, carol entreats zhan tiri for healing, and zhan tiri sets the bone but also infuses it with her own magic, so it festers/grows into a well of power for carol.

now, if we apply these rules to a plus est en vous type of situation where zhan tiri claims both of the drops for herself, what does that look like? it’s the power to instantly unmake and re-make the entire cosmos. it’s the power to transform the entire world and everything on it into stone or ice. it’s the power to cure every disease and heal every injury suffered by every living thing on the planet instantaneously, and to inflict those same sufferings on everyone and everything with a snap of your fingers. it’s, literally, limitless. (it also fuses zhan tiri, huma, and turul into a single entity called jinarche but that is a little beside the point for the purpose of this discussion.)

and... how do you beat a creature like that? well. you sort of can’t, on paper, but in practice the overwhelming shock of the fusion of that much power into a single being would cause a few minutes of intense disorientation and that creates a window of opportunity to break the fused power apart again... but this isn’t a “win” scenario either, really, because when you do that it is going to cause an explosion of power violent enough to shred the entire cosmos so it is basically hitting the reboot button on the whole universe.

so, operating within the bitter snow magical system, the key to defeating a zhan tiri who wanted to acquire the sundrop and moonstone (and fuse with huma and turul in the process) would be to stop her before she gets her hands on both drops. because of the framework created by this hard system, the plot of this alternate plus est en vous is all about preventing zhan tiri from acquiring the drops, because the second both of them are in her possession it’s game over even if you manage to kill her. you either get an unkillable, omnipotent god or you get the entire universe self-destructing. the stakes are that high.

*deep breath*

with this in mind, let’s wrap this back around to canon. when zhan tiri takes both the sundrop and moonstone, what... are the stakes?

in TOTS, when zhan tiri revealed her plan to take both drops for herself, did the stakes feel high? we are told at several points that the drops have the potential to destroy the world, but does the stinger at the beginning of TOTS feel like an “oh, shit, the literal planet is at stake here” moment?

does zhan tiri in plus est feel like a super-powered demon who has just acquired the ultimate power of creation and destruction? no! the golden rocks and turbo-charged decay incantation don’t even feel like an escalation over the cassandra vs rapunzel battles in CR and earlier in plus est—in fact, frankly, they feel like a downgrade by virtue of being less flashy!

the series has given us no frame of reference for what the ultimate power looks like while simultaneously providing no internal scaffolding on which to build that kind of escalation. this is the biggest downside of a soft magical system—it’s really damn hard to keep raising the stakes if you don’t have the basic framework of “here’s what the rules are, here’s the limitations.”

back to bitter snow: neither zhan tiri, turul/the moonstone, nor huma/the sundrop on their own are powerful enough to rip the whole universe apart. zhan tiri is the most individually powerful of the three, and while she could probably destroy the planet if she really put her mind to it, that would take centuries to come to fruition. it would be a matter of planting the right seeds, worming her magic into the right cracks, growing and feeding and hollowing it out from within, and then hitting the pressure points at just the right time. it is only in combination that these three become strong enough to just unmake the whole cosmos in the blink of an eye. this kind of escalation is possible because i know what the limits are.

in a soft magical system version of bitter snow, it’d be more like “well zhan tiri is really powerful, the sundrop and moonstone are pretty powerful too, if you put them all together they’d all be... like, Really Really Really powerful.” because the whole point of a soft magical system is that it’s vague. it’s not supposed to have this level of clarity and precision in how it works. this doesn’t make escalation impossible, just super difficult, because it’s so easy for escalation or new powers to come across as plot contrivances (BVA) or deus ex machina or purely aesthetic in nature like the gorgeous and dramatic fight in CR or the golden rocks zhan tiri uses. and from an audience perspective, there is literally no way to guess what might happen next because there are No Rules. you can predict character beats and plot developments, of course, but you can’t make accurate assessments about the magic.

and when you’re using a soft magical system in this way, where escalating stakes based on magic use are integral to the plot, you are basically inviting your audience to go “hey, wait a minute, how does this work...?” for the same reason audiences try to analyze and understand why characters are acting the way they do.

and that’s why rta’s magical system ultimately failed. not because it’s confusing, but because it was too soft for what the story wanted to do with it.

#rta #farran rambles about worldbuilding for thousands of words again #only semi-coherently rip i have a lot of thoughts and only a vague idea of how to articulate them #anyway!!!#tldr: rta has a soft magical system #soft magical systems are NOT bad #but rta used magic in a way that would have BENEFITED from a harder system

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

Text

tagged by @rose-blooms-red

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

Only going with Batfam fics since that’s the fandom I share with Ro, and like, I’m ridiculous and work on literally dozens of WIPs for years at a time in fits and starts, in the idea of occasionally finishing one and posting it in completion which works great in theory but never seems to work out that way in practice OH UNKNOWABLE UNIVERSE, INEXPLICABLE ME.

Which means my Batfam WIP folder, as in fics that are actually in existence in bits and pieces because non-linear writing FTW (dubious), is already ridiculous enough as is. Keep in mind this is the accumulation of like....literally five or six years of adding content and writing stuff here and there. But yeah, also keep in mind like, I’m just ridick. Thing you gotta remember is I write primarily for me, to just get things out of my head. Like, I do really like external validation too, but I’m very very weird in that like, I have tons of stuff people have never read, original and fic-wise, and its not like...because I don’t want people to read them, its just......Things Happen and then they don’t and....yeah. This has been a presentation of Deep Thoughts, By Me. Let’s just say management is aware of the issue and its being worked on.

SERIES

KINGS OF THE SKY (aka that one where Jason doesn’t die, one-shot installments)

Weapons of Choice - Dick POV during his Robin days

Teachable Moments - Jason POV when he calls Dick after the Felipe Garzonas case and everything jumps ship from canon

Blood of the Covenant - Jason POV while Dick’s recovering from the Church of Blood storyline, plus enter The Adoption Issue

There are other later installments that make sense to me but wouldn’t make sense to anyone else without the in-between pieces, so just leaving them out even though whole ones are entirely written ahfishflahfal

BURY YOUR DEAD, LAY THEM DOWN, LET THEM REST (aka Ric fix-it series, plus addressing Lots More, one-shot installments)

Tell Me Your Secrets, I’ll Make You A Ghost - Duke POV with Dick pre-shooting, plus with Cass in near aftermath

You Can’t Take It With You, But Don’t Leave It Behind - Cass POV immediately following previous one, Interlude-ish

The Dead Don’t Live Here Anymore - Ric POV, bonding (slowly and awkwardly and very very dysfunctionally) with Jason and Cass at the same time, hello powderkeg, meet match

The Good Die Young and the Bad Aren’t Dead - Jason POV investigating things hinted at in the previous

Welcome To Purgatory, We Hope You Like Your Stay - Tim POV confronting then awkwardly teaming up with Damian who has Plans re: these Nightwing impostors

Life After the End of The World or What the Hell Are We Even Supposed To Be Doing Now - Jason POV confronting Cass about the secret she’s been keeping re: Dick but its not what he thought it was

A Ghost, A Zombie and a Dead Guy Walk Into A Bar - Ric POV, with Cass and Jason again

The Long Dark Night of Richard John Grayson - Ric vs the door keeping his memories locked up tight

Two Houses, Built In Shadow (aka that one where I build a rival family of villains/antiheroes to act as the Batfam’s foils)

Smoking Guns and Smoking Mirrors - Dick POV and Babs POV, introducing Dick and Babs’ counterparts - 3 chapters plus epilogue

Werewolves of Gotham - Jason POV, introducing his counterpart, 5 chapters

Ghosting the Machine - Tim POV, introducing his counterpart, 3 chapters plus Interlude-y epilogue

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil - Duke then Steph then Cass POV, three long-as-fuck-dear-god-what-was-I-thinking chapters

Providence - Bruce POV, introducing his counterpart, seven thankfully much shorter chapters (its all relative, shut up)

Queen’s Gambit - Dick POV then Cass, pinning down the identities of the rival fam before they can figure out theirs first, format to be determined as everything written for this part is an incomprehensible mishmash of paragraphs out of context hahaha I do things smart

Way Down Deep Where The Sun Don’t Shine - Jason POV, the climax and denoument, five chapters plus epilogue

MULTI-CHAPTER STANDALONE FICS

They Never Said Saving the World Would Go Like This - that epic saga of Dick and Kyle

The Spy Who Forgot To Come In From The Cold - the Spyral + amnesia fusion fic

Ghosts of Graysons Past - John Grayson makes a deal with his old buddy Boston Brand to save his son from his fate at the hands of the Court of Owls, and Jason gets roped into riding shotgun via ‘so apparently I can see dead people now, but not all dead people, just SOME dead people, the really really loud ones’

99 Views To A Kill - that Dick and Boone Vengeance Academy AU

Been There, Done That - Dick fosters then adopts a kid being fucked over by the system in ways eerily similar to his own past, aka does the Bruce Boogie and projects like whoa

The Vienna Game - the Batfam versus a global criminal gang with secrets upon secrets and unveiling some of theirs in the process

The Brothers (Most) Grim - that one where Jason is thrown by Dick being a mob enforcer then supervillain as he prepares to make his return to Gotham, Things Then Do Not Go According to Plan, Dammit Dick

The Patron Saint of Robins - the one where Dick doesn’t forget but everyone else still does

Shadows Cast - that one where Jason becomes Flamebird and he and Dick focus on abused kids in specific

Hunt the Dark - that one where Dick learns some magic in the in-between Robin and Nightwing time, which comes in handy when Jason’s return from the dead is accompanied by some unseen supernatural predator stalking the ghost that got away

SHORT(ish) MULTI-CHAPTER STANDALONE FICS

First, Do No Harm - aka the one where Dick saves a fairy and the fairy’s a little shit about it

We’ve Only Got Nine Lives, Let’s Waste Not A One - aka the one where Dick and Selina bond over something and Bruce has no idea what it is and its driving him nuts - not cute, very angsty, I am sorry

The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side of the Tracks - aka five times Dick taught a sibling how to trainsurf plus one time they reminded him he gave them good stuff to go with the bad

The Boy in the Red Hoodie - years later, Dick realizes the kid he taught a few self-defense moves during that brief time he ran away in Robin: Year One wasn’t really named Peter anymore than he was really named Freddy

Once Upon A Time In Gotham - that de-aged to a teenager fic

Forget Us Not - Jason and Dick are revisited by reminders of a case they worked on together when Bruce was ‘out of town’ years ago while Jason was still Robin

The Centuries Can Wait - that one with Amelia Crowne versus William Cobb over the course of generations

ONE-SHOTS THAT HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT BEING DONE, WHAT AM I EVEN DOING (oh right, I guess technically I have SOME excuse for fanfic not having been the biggest priority in my life for a few years but look I am Drama, hear me wax rhapsodic whilst emoting most verily)

Where Other Leaves Did Fall - Dick POV, Dick discovers relatives from Amelia Crowne’s side of the family, aka his grandfather had a half-sister he never knew about

Point of Origin - Jason POV, fall-out from the Bruce mindwipe reveal in Identity Crisis and how it might have made his relationships and way of interacting with Dick and Jason in particular like...swerve

Two Wings and a Prayer - Dick POV, Court of Owls wingfic, look, I am me, you had to know there was a wingfic in here somewhere

Sitting In Darkness, Still Waiting On That Dawn - Jason POV, Dick dealing with the revelation of his family’s history re: The Court of Owls

Tell Me No Lies - Jason POV, despite the years and the death between them, post-UTRH, Jason still knows his brother’s tells, and his brother knows his....its why they’re avoiding each other

Witness to a Crime - Cass POV, that thing where you notice things no one else does, but not always knowing what they mean

We’re Just Not Gonna Talk About These And The Passage of Time, That Asshole

Born Under a Bad Sign - and its sequel. They still exist! In theory!

By Lost Ways - oh yeah, I was supposed to get back to posting that huh, I should do that, okay, righteo, that’s a mea culpa my dudes

Tagging anyone who wants to be tagged lol, cuz I suck at this but if you see this and are inspired to do this as well, you can totes blame me for the tagging!

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gothealed · 3 years

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NINA GOTHEL - ARCS

inspired by @zzozo <3

𝐀𝐑𝐂 I : 𝐏𝐑𝐄-𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒

the youngest daughter of mother gothel , nina grew up isolated and almost entirely alone on the isle of the lost , with only her mother and her older half-sister ginny as company . an introvert at heart , she preferred to keep to herself rather than make allies with other isle born children or dedicate herself to a gang or faction . she reasons that it is too much baggage , that other people are too much weight to carry , but she knows that it is truly because no one really cares about her . when most ask what their opinion of her is , they would say that she is dull and entirely forgettable ; that there was nothing remarkable about her , even with her legendary heritage . she certainly wasn’t comparable to her older sister , that’s for sure .

it isn’t until the day she is fleeing a group of bog boys that she meets james stabbington , the son of sideburns stabbington . and suddenly , something has changed in her ; he tells her she’s beautiful , and unique , and clever , and she can’t help herself . she opens herself up to him , despite the worry in her gut that warns her against it . she’s sure that it couldn’t end too horribly .

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐈𝐈 : 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒

she had been wrong . it couldn’t have ended more terribly , in fact . after he had stolen half of nina’s personal belongings , made himself comfortable in her bed , inserted himself into every crevice of her life , the other shoe drops . he tells her that the sex was alright , but that he felt it was time to move on . and it all comes rushing to her head , that she had just been a toy , a plaything , that she had given him everything she had and he had taken it and had no intention of giving anything to her . and he had tried to walk away , but she wasn’t going to let him get away with this . in a blind fit of rage , she grabs the first thing she sees , a baseball bat , and chases after him . when she’s finished , his nose is permanently crooked and scarred , and she leaves him practically unconscious on the ground . she feels empty and used up .

but despite her revenge , he still manages to get the upper hand on her . when he recovers , the rumours begin to spread . how she’s crazy and possessive , how he had attempted to break off the relationship and she had thrown a fit and attacked him , wanting to ruin his face so no one could ever want him again . then rumours spread that she was easy , that she slept with all of his friends while they were together ; in fact , she slept with anything with a heartbeat , according to him . the rumours were nasty and they did not hold back ; and it had its desired effect . no one would go anywhere near nina gothel , not unless they thought they could take her home with them . and the worst part hadn’t even been that , but the aftermath of her mother finding out she had been disobediant and sneaking a boy into the house and seeing him in secret .

with no more privacy , no friends to defend her , and nowhere to run , she watches the limo carry the core four through the barrier and hopes to god that they succeed in taking the barrier down . not for the sake of evil , but so she can run far away from this place , from these people , and never look back . in the meantime , all she has to cope is cheap booze and the cigarette addiction that james gave her .

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐈𝐈𝐈 : 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝟐

the barrier doesn’t come down , and so nina is left stuck in dire circumstances that she has no control over . all she can do now is control how she protects herself , how she guards everything about herself . she completely shuts out anyone who tries to get close , and practically stops appearing in public altogether to avoid the unwanted propositions thrown her way at every turn . she carries as many knives as she can possibly hold on her body , all concealed beneath her clothes , perfectly unassuming until someone gets too close . if she had been dependent on booze and cigarettes before , it was ten times worse now ; it’s a crutch now , it’s something she cannot last a day without . the cigarettes calm her anxiety , soothes the shaking in her hands that stems from her exhaustion , her lack of sleep , her shitty life at home . the alcohol tamps down the emotions she so desperately wants to stop feeling , muffles them , makes them harder to pay attention to . it’s the only thing she feels she can depend upon now .

time passes on agonizingly slow . she drinks and smokes like her life depends on it . she wants to hide in her house but can’t stand being around her mother . but going out in public means getting harassed . she lives at an impasse , until the cotillion happens , until uma nearly gives them a taste of freedom once more . stupidly , she allows herself to hope that escape was in her grasp . but it’s all for naught , and uma disappears into the sea like she never even existed . and nina retreats into darkness again .

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐈𝐕 : 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝟑

she’s at her wit’s end , it seems . no matter how many people she beats back , she can’t even seem to find the peace she’s desperately searching for . drinking herself into a stupor just makes her miserable , but she can’t seem to stop . the nightmares torment her , and when it isn’t nightmares , she can’t seem to get to sleep without a drink or a smoke . and though a handful of people have managed to at least insert themselves into her life in some way , though there are people that have become a part of her life , she still can’t find the bravery to open herself up to them . it frightens her too much , the thought of letting herself become open and vulnerable to a person who could easily use it all against her . she holds everyone at an arm’s length most days , though they may get lucky if they catch her truly wasted .

and then , to her shock , the barrier comes down . freedom is in her grasp , it’s close enough to touch , and she grasps for it like her life depends on it . it does . she will go anywhere , any place where the traces of her past cannot be found .

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐕 : 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 ( graphic by @magdiron )

unbeknownst to almost everyone on the isle and in auradon , the demon sorceress zhan tiri had been contained and shipped off to the isle to prevent her from every attempting to gain control of the sundrop and the moonstone ever again . as extra precaution , she had been contained in an ancient amulet guarded by yen sid , and even should she break free of her prison , the barrier would have kept her contained . when the barrier came down , clean up crews ventured to purge the isle of anything dangerous that could potentially cause harm . one clumsy crewman accidentally knocked over the case that held zhan tiri’s amulet , causing it to crack open and the spirit to escape without a trace . a mad search occurs to search for the demon , but it’s too late . zhan tiri attempts to immediately go for the sundrop and moonstone , but finds that the museum has barriers in place to prevent spirits like her from entering .

at this point , nina is adjusting slowly to the environment of auradon . she opts into attenting auradon prep for a single year , to fine tune any skills that could potentially get her a decent job to support herself in the adult world . in the meantime , she discovers that she has a second half-sister in cassandra , a close friend of queen rapunzel and prince consort eugene . reluctantly , she accepts cass’ offer to let her stay in her home , and even begins to form a rather pleasant relationship with her . though she is wary of rapunzel and eugene , she does not shy away from them . on one night , after experiencing a crippling night terror involving her mother , she leaves the house and steps into the woods to get some fresh air , but comes upon a shadow with glowing eyes that leaps at her , causing her to black out . the next thing she knows , she’s waking up in a hospital bed after cass found her unconscious in the grass . the following month brings a series of episodes that cause nina to fall into a faint ; every time it happens , she sees a series of flashing images like a flower , an opal , glowing spikes erupting from the floor , beaming golden light , then nothing . she has no memory of any of it upon waking . it would become bad enough that cass would insist that nina come home until they get a diagnosis , but nina asks to at least hold out until the break .

their last day of classes end up entailing a trip to the museum of cultural history . nina isn’t exactly thrilled by it , but she attends anyway , out of sheer curiousity . at the mid-point of the tour , they come across the exhibit for the sundrop and the moonstone , encased in a magical barrier . they seem familiar to her . she begins to feel lightheaded and nauseous , ready to pass out again , but this time , she doesn’t : instead , she feels something take control of her limbs , feels magic crackling at her fingertips , she watches the barrier holding the moonstone drop . her mouth opens and a voice that is not her own spills out , people scream and jump out of her way as she moves forward against her will . her mind screams for help , she tries to fight the possession , but there is nothing she can do ; zhan tiri has taken full control of her body , and she watches her hand grab the moonstone and knows that there may not be a chance for her at redemption .

the moonstone’s magic sears her flesh , but zhan tiri is delighted by this . the transformation is agony for the human vessel , but the demon sings as the black rocks begin to shoot up from the ground , as light blinds every eye in the room . when the dust settles , nina is transformed ; neon turquoise hair , practically glowing along with the eyes to match . the power is electrifying , and for the first time in her life , and entire room of people are cowering in fear of her , but for once , it is the last thing she’s ever wanted . she tries to scream for help , but nothing comes out ; zhan tiri has full control , and the crone’s voice drawls from her lips instead of her own . before the demon can even attempt to reach for the sundrop , the alarms begin to sound , and reinforcements have already begun to barrel into the room to disarm the newly freed demon . zhan tiri decides to leave the sundrop for later , and uses her vessel’s new powers to make their grand escape .

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐕𝐈 : 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘

the moonstone debacle nearly kills nina . auradon’s best healers fought to keep her alive in the aftermath of not only the moonstone being ripped away from her , but the process of having zhan tiri exorcised from her body . her body was never meant to wield that much power , nor was it meant to handle being possessed for such a long period of time as well . when she awakens , she waits for the inevitable punishment that will surely be given for what has happened , but king ben seems to have the opposite idea . while she had been preparing for a lifetime of imprisonment , he had already been fully informed on the circumstances of the incident by multiple witnesses , as well as the testimony of rapunzel , eugene , and cassandra . though they barely knew her , they vouched for her innocent and pleaded for mercy on her . and it was granted , much to her complete and utter shock .

the incident had too great of a toll on her body for her to return to school without having to repeat the year , so she opts to instead drop out . her body’s recovery is long ; physical therapy is required for her to regain the use of her legs , and a lot of her fine motor skills are shot for a long time . and unfortunately , the incident has left her with the choice to either drink and smoke herself to death or to choose to become sober , for the sake of her own health and safety . therapy is made mandatory for her recovery as well , much to her chagrin , but she goes because cass asks her to . when she is ready and willing , she already has a position lined up for her in rapunzel’s castle . and she thinks , perhaps , that things might turn out alright after all .

#☾✶☽ ( arc i ) rose-coloured glasses are distorted .#☾✶☽ ( arc ii ) what a shame she went mad .#☾✶☽ ( arc iii ) drink what i want . be what i want .#☾✶☽ ( arc iv ) my past has tasted bitter for years now .#☾✶☽ ( arc v ) plus est en vous ( there is more in you ) .#☾✶☽ ( arc vi ) i'm shattered porcelain glued back together again .#☾✶☽ ( my edits )

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