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radioisntdead · 13 days

Note

Hihihi

I know I haven't sent in a request for a while, buuttt

I'm craving some sweet angst

Can we do one where the reader is the last person at the hotel, and isn't trying to get redeemed, but Charlie and vaggie are like, it's okay?

And then reader leaves them alone??

And if it's a song fic too it would spicy 👀👀

Love,

-XIN💙

Good evening my friend! I hope you enjoy!

The last one standing

Hazbin hotel x reader

Warnings!

Random plot convenient falling, reader misses their friends, reader technically isn't the last one standing but Alastor and Niffty aren't getting redeemed anytime soon and Charlie and Vaggie are just vibing there, some parts got mangled.

Song used

[thanks to my best friend Moony for helping me choose the song for this!]

You came to the hotel back when it was still a crummy building that no sinner had any Faith in, ran by a delightfully delusional princess, you and another sinner who went by the name Angel dust were the first residents, then Alastor came along with Husk and Niffty.

You grew close with the people inside the hotel, they became your friends, your family, you watched as tensions grew, as friendships were forged, you helped fight for that crummy hotel, you watched your friend sacrifice himself, you watched as that crummy hotel crumbled onto the ground, you helped rebuild it, you watched as heaven agreed to let sinners be redeemed

You watched as a few sinners entered the hotel in hopes of being redeemed, you watched as your friends moved on.

Universe surrounds, when you're ready

Angel dust or now known again as Anthony was the second to be redeemed after Pentious, he got sober, he worked on himself and it paid off when that shining light came down on him as he faded away up like spiderman, chain being washed away, his soul being returned to him his last act before going up was reaching out to a tearful Husk, Charlie was ecstatic, it was a bittersweet moment, he was redeemed yes, but you wouldn't see him again.

Husk was next, no one was expecting him to be redeemed next but apparently he was ready, another tearful goodbye, Alastor wasn't pleased as he watched Husk fade away, his chain breaking.

He grabbed Fat nuggets as he went up taking the pig with him.

It waits for us to, to leave this earth

With not one, not two but three known sinners being redeemed more sinners came flocking, and with time getting redeemed

Come on, they're calling your name out

One by one they bonded together, you bonded with them, new friends, new family, you got attached.

And then they left, with that shining light, that heavenly light that meant that they had been redeemed, that all they had been working for hadn't been for not, that light that meant you were being left behind once again.

I don't know

You didn't know what was keeping you from reaching above,

That was a lie you knew why, despite Charlie's encouragement, despite the promise of seeing your friends again you just couldn't let go.

You never thought things would get this far, you didn't think redemption was possible and so you weren't pushing for it and even if you were

You were scared to go above, you only just figured out how to live down here, you would have to relearn everything.

Everything you had gained down here you would lose and you'd have to gain everything back again.

You were scared you'd see the people you had done wrong in life, or worse the people you treated well, the ones you adored, you'd have to explain why you ended up below, what you did if you did anything at all.

You were scared to lose the new friends you had made.

I could stay or leave

Time continued, more people got redeemed, and you stayed, There was a whole thing with the Vee's, Alastor's deal and Lilith but that passed.

Things changed, people left.

You still had Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor and Niffty and the new hotel staff that had joined after, but they changed our periodically as they got redeemed.

Either way

You wondered if eventually Alastor and Niffty would leave too?

This hotel was Charlie's everything, and Charlie was Vaggie's everything, they wouldn't leave.

'Cause the comet can take us

They ended up leaving, only temporarily though! After all having a honeymoon in the hotel they lived in and spent the majority of their time in wasn't the best option, they decided to take a trip to one of the other rings.

They could do that, while you like every other sinner in the pride ring were stuck there, with the false pretense of freedom to do whatever when in all reality you were stuck in that ring like cattle.

All the way through

In their absence another sinner was redeemed and you got thinking,

Goodbye, same heaven

Redemption wasn't for you, maybe you should move out of the hotel, after all you had been there for what, over two decades now?

New, new world

You sighed as you made your decision.

Once Charlie and Vaggie returned you waited until they were done basking in whatever they were basking in and back to business, you sat them down and just explained that while you wouldn't trade your time at the hotel for anything you didn't think redemption was for you, at least not now maybe in the future.

You weren't too sure about that last part but a white lie never hurt anybody right?

I'll be waving

"I think I might move out of the hotel, you know to find myself maybe? Visit other parts of the pride ring, and I'll come back, maybe as staff? I mean I've been here for what twenty years now? Can't exactly leave that all behind, right?" You said as you sat across them, they were sat on the couch and you across from them.

You remember when Angel dust used to be weird on that couch.

You wondered how he was doing, and husk, did they have alcohol in heaven? Was he still a bartender?

Goodbye, same heaven

Charlie sighed, you didn't want to look her in the eyes, was she disappointed?

"We'll support you in anything you do, if you decide to leave that's alright," Vaggie popped up first,

"And if you want to stay and try again trying to get redeemed that's alright too, [Name] you're practically family you'll always have a place here at the hotel!" Charlie added as she took your hands in hers.

New, new world

Tears swelled up in your eyes as you hugged the couple, you were glad to call them your friends.

You couldn't just up and leave them, even for eternal paradise!

You were just leaving temporarily, and then you'd come back as a staff member! Maybe once the guy that took Husk's place as the bartender got redeemed you could take his spot, you'd be a great bartender, or maybe some type of manager?

I'll be waving, goodbye

You closed the suitcase that contained your things, they said they'd keep your room for you, so you decided to just take the essentials, after all you were coming back,

Pictures of friends, redeemed and unredeemed, old and new were hung on the walls over your bedroom, you traced your fingers over them gently, stopping at one particular picture, it was taken after the hotel was rebuilt.

You, Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor, Niffty, husk, angel dust, etc everyone was there,

It was bittersweet to know that you would never see them again but they were in a better place, you bet that Cherri and Sir Pentious got together up there, you bet that Angel and Husk were doing great, you bet that the friends you made after them were too! Like that one butterfly cannibal who came in with her sister and younger sibling, she was redeemed a while after them you were sure they reunited and were happy!

Reason to see, everything looks the same

You wished you could talk to them again, you missed chatting with Angel, talking about stupid stuff or dressing up in different outfits, you missed hanging out at the bar with Husk watching intently as he pulled out a magic trick he had learned back when he was alive.

You missed kidnapping one of the Eggy bois and holding them hostage until Sir Pentious would teach you how to make a war weapon, you missed causing havoc with Cherri bomb, you missed your friends.

I don't know if the change made was great

You sighed taking the picture off your wall and tucking it gently into your jacket,

'Cause the craving remains the same

You pulled the suitcase containing some clothes and other belongings down the hotel stairs, exchanging greetings and goodbyes with other residents.

Goodbye, same heaven

You decided to go for one last drink at the bar, just for fun, you wouldn't be back for a while, maybe in seven years?

New, new world

The guy that replaced Husk chatted with you, he was nice but he wasn't like your dearly departed friend, he slid you the drink of your choice and you drank it, Vaggie and Charlie eventually joined you and the three of you chatted about whatever.

I'll be waving

It happened quick, no one had noticed Niffty had somehow climbed onto the chandelier, determined to dust it.

Goodbye, same heaven

The chandelier snapped and down it went, Niffty managed to hand onto the wire attached but that snapped right after, sending the Niffty down heading straight for the broken chandelier, you didn't think and just launched yourself forward to grab her.

"That was a close one, you alright Niff?" You asked as Niffty hopped out of your arms,

"I'm fine thanks [name]!" She said before she scrambled to start cleaning up the chandelier.

New, new world

Charlie and Vaggie moved to inspect the damage speaking amongst themselves about the fallen plot convenient chandelier, you dusted off your clothes and downed the rest of your drink deciding this was a great time to skaddle,

"Well, I guess this is my sign to leave, until we meet again my friends!" You said fully intending on booking it out before another chandelier fell, you could send Alastor a postcard or something with goodbye on it.

Charlie turned towards you to give you a goodbye hug but paused and nudged Vaggie.

I'll be waving

Much to your surprise that familiar heavenly light shined down on you, you looked at Charlie and Vaggie,

"I-, How?!" You turned your focus as you began to fade away, Charlie smiled tears swelling up in her eyes, she shed those same tears for others who've been redeemed before you, Vaggie placed a hand on her shoulder and looked you in the eyes.

"You've earned it, after all these years you've finally earned it."

(Goodbye) I'll be waving

"Why? Please I don't," you gasped desperately trying to stop whatever this was, tearings falling as you began floating upwards, "I don't wanna go!"

"It will be alright, you've earned a place up there! You see everyone again!"

You reached out towards the two of them, Charlie held up her hand to you but it was just out of reach.

I'll be waving

"We can't stop it, I'm sorry but it's a fresh start!" She said in an attempt to comfort you.

"It was a pleasure working with you all these years my friend! I wish you luck on your next endeavors!"

When did Alastor get here? He wasn't helping! Why was he so cheerful about this? Screw him! Not in a sexual way but in a 'I hope someone recreates your traumatizing death on you again' way

"Thanks feelings are returned but that's not helping here Al!"

(Goodbye) I'll be waving

You weren't getting out of this, were you? You pulled your arm back, accepting your fate that you couldn't undo this.

I'll be waving

Redemption wasn't for you, you would've dropkicked Niffty if you knew this was going to happen!

(Goodbye) I'll be waving

You were almost gone now, you weren't ready but you didn't have a choice, after all these years this is what gets you redeemed?? Was the scale finally tilted with good deeds over your sins??

I'll be waving

"We hope you've enjoyed your stay."

"I did, I really did, This place was the best part of my afterlife," it was time, you shut your eyes you managed out a pathetic.

I'll be waving, goodbye

You opened your eyes to see clouds and blue skies, blue, you hadn't seen blue skies in who knows how long, you look around anxiety crept into you, where were you supposed to go? Where were you supposed to stay? What was supposed to happen, could you undo this? You didn't get a chance to dig into those thoughts when you heard landing behind you.

"Hello! You must be another one of the residents of Charlie's hotel! I'm Emily! welcome to heaven!" She said reaching out a hand for you to shake, you glanced up at her taking a second before shaking her hand,

"Yeah I guess, I'm [name] can I go ba-"

"[Name]? Oh! I've heard all about you! About time you got up here, Your friends have been expecting you!" She said interrupting you with a smile as she pulled you by your hand dragging you into the heavenly city, you took in your surroundings it was much different then hell, the air smelled clean, the streets shined, it was beautiful.

You'd have to start all over again.

Brushing a hand into your jacket pocket you felt a piece of paper, you still had that picture.

You'd get to see some of your friends again at least, unfortunately it was at the expense of leaving many others behind.

Good evening folks! I hope you enjoyed! Some parts ended up being more comedic, mainly the chandelier because I had no idea how to put Niffty in danger, I'm working on getting requests done!

#hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you

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imagine-darksiders · 3 years

Text

Homesick - Chapter 2

Behind the door.

Warnings: implied child abuse, abusive parents, blood, nosebleeds, angst, themes of childhood trauma, ptsd

Tags: Darksiders, DeathxAzrael, hurt/comfort, angst, Reader, Found family, Reader needs a hug

Chapter 1

---

“What lays beyond that door?”

Azrael's innocent question causes you to stiffen and your steps falter on the landing, knowing precisely to which door he's referring, but unwilling to even spare it a backwards glance.

The momentary delay hardly lasts for more than a second and goes seemingly unnoticed by the angel, whose gaze appears too focused on the locked, mahogany door that stands quiet and guiltless at the furthest end of your landing. Hanging back near the top of the staircase however, with eyes sharp and turned just enough in your direction that they catch the hitching of your chest, Death does notice.

Then, he blinks, and you're suddenly twisting your head over a shoulder to look beyond Azrael at the door in question, a smile on your lips but not in your eyes.

“Oh, that's just a storage cupboard,” you say casually, waving a dismissive hand through the air and continuing your journey to the opposite side of the house, “I've been in and out of there all week stacking boxes of junk up to the ceiling. Now, come this way, all the best human-y stuff is stock-piled in my bedroom.”

You're too quick to disregard the door, too eager in turning to walk towards your room on stiff legs and Death wishes the angel would turn to look at you so he might also see what the Horseman sees, if only to confirm that he isn't imagining things.

Alas, letting out an intrigued little hum, Azrael clasps his hands loosely behind his back and sweeps after you, all the while pivoting his head this way and that to take in everything your humble home has to offer.

------------------

You had so nearly forgotten what the joy of discovery looks like in another person. To see the eyes of someone else grow wide and bright with unbridled wonder at a world you've long since lost a taste for.

Azrael's fascination at the most mundane of human objects manages to put a genuine smile on your face, though the ensuing pain still throbs like the beat of an insistent drum every time your cheeks press against your bruised eye.

Luckily, the angel appears to have missed your subtle wince.

After first having dragged him away from your television, you've managed to introduce him to many of humanity's other wonders that lay dotted around your bedroom.

Before long, Death had even slunk inside to join you both, taking up the mantle of an uninterested observer and absently perusing your book collection in the corner whilst keeping a surreptitious eye on the goings on of his companions.

You've perched yourself comfortably in a bean bag, content to simply sit back and observe whilst Azrael explores your room, his wide, white wings folded neatly against his back in order to spare some of your ornaments from being knocked off their shelves.

“This... ursine mammal,” he says, pausing beside your bed and poking a finger into the fur of an old, stuffed bear sitting atop your pillow, “Does it serve some purpose?”

You're too preoccupied with fighting back a laugh to answer him right away, and by the time you realise he's watching you expectantly, Death pipes up in your stead, cutting off any explanation you might have offered.

“I imagine it's only there for decoration,” he muses, casting a critical eye over your bookcase and the dozens of unread stories scattered about on the shelves, “But then, I have to wonder if half the things in this room aren't just ornamentation.”

Knowing what he's implying, you spare the back of his head a scowl. It isn't as though you've had a lot of time to read those books he gave you, not between rebuilding your own home and helping humanity come to terms with life post-apocalypse.

“Ah!” Azrael's head shoots up and he tears his eyes from the bear, glancing towards you instead. “It is symbolic, no? In resembling a most ferocious predator, this bear represents the perfect guard for your home.”

He looks so damn pleased with himself, you almost don't bother to correct him, instead wrestling your grin into a pensive frown and nodding slowly.

“Uh, sure! That is a pretty... exciting way to look at teddy bears.” Hopping to your feet, you make your way over to the bed and sweep a few of Azrael's primary feathers aside, picking up the toy bear and squeezing it to your chest. “But mostly humans use these for comfort at night, when we sleep. We usually get given them as children. And, as we grow older, I... guess we just get too attached to get rid of them. Most humans keep their childhood toys long into adulthood.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Death huffs, shaking his head with a smile hidden beneath the bone-mask, “You humans will get attached to anything that sits still for long enough.”

Azrael, on the other hand, looks as though you've just revealed to him one of humanity's greatest secrets. Rubbing his chin in thought, he says, “Remarkable! I've heard that humans are rather famous for the bonds they forge with other species, yet I never imagined that could extend to inanimate objects as well.”

“Yeah, you'd better believe it,” you smirk, placing the bear down on your pillow once more, “Someday I'll have to tell you about the woman who married the Eiffel Tower.”

At once, the Archangel blinks hard, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair line. “A tower? Surely that’s a jape?”

So perplexed is his expression, you throw back your head and let out a bark of delighted laughter. “What are you, Shakespeare? Nobody says ‘jape’ anymore, Azrael!”

Off on his own side of your little bedroom, Death's neck twists around slightly to regard both you and the angel as you engage in a light-hearted back and forth about the use of archaic vocabulary. He doesn't even realise that one corner of his mouth has begun lifting at the sight.

There is a truth about the Horseman that even he is reluctant to acknowledge, and that is that the constant slew of bad things happening in the Universe is... wearing. It’s wearing. To be on a constant path that always seems to lead towards battle or tragedy? Sometimes it feels as though his entire existence has merely consisted of one battle after another.

He saves one world, only for another to be torn apart, he destroys a species, and another asks him to fight their war for them, he helps the makers but in doing so, inadvertently kills their elder. Century after century - a millennia of bloody battles and terrible sacrifices and trying to keep his siblings safe - If he ever stopped to think about it...

Death’s eyes slip slowly shut.

He has worked... so hard, hasn’t he? Is it really so wrong if he enjoys these moments of fleeting repose?

All of a sudden, a strangled sound leaves Azrael's throat and Death is yanked from his peaceful reverie. “Y/n!?” the angel exclaims, his expression shifting to horrified in less than a second, “You're bleeding!”

Apparently, mentioning your name and blood in the same sentence is enough to get Death's voice to crack as he whips around properly and barks, “What!?”

Baffled, you raise a hand to your nose, dabbing at a sticky wetness gathered there whilst the taste of salty liquid drips onto your upper lip. “Oh, so I am,” you observe casually, only to have a pair of chilly hands curl unexpectedly around your forearms.

Without warning, the terrifying visage of the Horseman is looming mere inches from your face and in another instant, one of his hands presses itself to your forehead and firmly – albeit gently – tips it backwards.

“Um... Death, we've talked about this. Personal space, remember?”

The Horseman remains eerily silent as he stares transfixed at the blood oozing from your nose and you squirm uncomfortably when the grip he has on your arm begins to grow even tighter. Meanwhile, his wordlessness allows Azrael to fret aloud in the background.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” the angel mutters, pacing back and forth behind Death, never tearing his eyes from the red straining your face, “You shouldn't be having all this excitement. You should be resting.”

It's difficult to hold back your groan of exasperation as you lift your arms and knock Death's hands aside, stepping out of his reach.

“Oh for - It's just a nosebleed! Honestly, what has gotten into you two?” With a hefty sigh, you skirt around the rigid Nephilim, dodge one of Azrael's wings as it tries to curl instinctively around you and march into your ensuite bathroom.

Almost immediately, the angel tries to follow, but he swiftly has the door pushed shut in his face before he can enter and soon, they hear your voice filtering out to them from the other side. “I'm not a baby, guys! Nosebleeds are no big deal, it's just happening because of... well, you know.”

Azrael's stomach twists itself into knots at the sight of yet another locked door standing between himself and his human friend. He's about to call out for you to let him see the damage when an icy chill sweeps across the room and he turns, his mouth falling open slightly at the sight of Death staring at him through unseeing eyes.

The old Nephilim's body has gone completely still and there's a haunted look about him, as though he's lost, or perhaps trapped in another time, another place.

“Horseman?” Azrael murmurs uncertainly, feeling the cold prickle at the hairs on the base of his neck. Seconds pass and he receives no answer. Hesitant now, the archangel reaches towards Death's shoulder and, when he isn't immediately shoved away, places a hand on the frigid, solid muscle that bunches under his gentle touch. “Death,” he tries again, and this time the Horseman's head snaps up to stare at him, as if only just realising he's there.

The angel ducks his head to better catch Death's eye, his voice soft enough that only the two of them can hear it. “Are you alright, old friend?”

A long silence stretches between them with only the faint sound of running water from your bathroom tap to fill it.

Then, giving a start, Death roughly shrugs the comforting hand off his shoulder and stalks past the angel towards your window, leaning his elbows heavily against the sill and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Azrael's concern. He doesn't think the archangel has ever been that close to him before, close enough that the subtle scent of old books and clean linen invaded his nose and chased away the awful stench of your blood, effectively leaving his mind clear once again.

'Idiot,' he chastises himself, eyes still wide behind the bone mask. How could he have frozen like that? In front of Azrael no less. Creator, he'd never live that one down. He had – for lack of a better word – panicked, and it's as embarrassing to admit to himself as it is to have been caught panicking. But...

The sight of your blood... The smell of it, sweet and strong enough that it even settled on his tastebuds...

It's pathetic, really. He is Death. He's seen and caused far more bloodshed than arguably any being in any realm. So why then does your spilled blood hold his dead heart in such a cruel and unforgivably tight chokehold?

The redundancy of taking a calming breath isn't lost on him, yet he does it anyway, tipping his head up to peer out of your window, chest rising and falling with motions he could only have picked up after spending so much time around you.

It's begun to rain, he notes idly. Tiny droplets of water patter down onto the dusty window panes and Death follows the path of one until it merges with several others and is lost in the fray.

Down in the streets below, many passers-by have dived for shelter, yet there are still two figures who remain. One is an angel, whose golden complexion shimmers when raindrops trickle steadily down his face. He's standing in the shadow of a water-logged bus stop and beside him, leaning just a little too close, is a serpentine demon, scales black and glittering like obsidian. The odd pair rest almost shoulder to shoulder underneath the bus stop's awning, each sharing a brief respite from the rain with what was once a well-loathed enemy.

Death blinks upon seeing that their hands are intertwined. Dainty, golden fingers curl loosely around clumsier claws and suddenly, the Horseman feels as though he's intruding on their secret moment, so he turns back to face your room.

Azrael has drifted closer once again and there's a knowing expression on his face that causes Death to frown. Sure enough, the archangel spares your bathroom door a hasty glance before he looks at the Horseman once more. “...Death,” he says slowly, “It's... all right, you know. If seeing Y/n’s blood upset you-”

Hackles are raised in half a second, a set of sharp teeth clack together and Death hisses, “You think I'm upset?”

Judging by the flat look he receives, that is precisely what the archangel thinks.

Despite the obvious vehemence behind Death's tone, he's careful to keep his voice down, ever mindful that you're only a room over. Perhaps getting defensive isn't the best idea.

“There is no shame in it, Horseman,” the angel coaxes softly, “Y/n is my friend as well. There has already been far too much human blood spilled this century.” He casts another, baleful glance towards your bathroom, quietly adding, “I didn't think I would be seeing it again, not this soon. And especially not from our human.”

...Our human.

Death is unnerved by how natural that sounds coming off Azrael's tongue.

Expertly, the Horseman wills his shoulders to slump and his muscles to relax, then, with an unmistakable air of indifference, he folds his arms across his broad chest and turns himself deliberately away from the archangel, glowering at your bedroom wall.

And Azrael, wise enough to read the standoffish behaviour for what it is, allows his mouth to fall shut because he knows that, as far as Death is concerned, the conversation is over.

He has a care not to release a weary sigh. But with you shutting him out physically and the Horseman shutting him out verbally, it's difficult for even the composed archangel to keep exasperation at bay.

Just then, your voice calls out to them from the other side of the door. “Ugh, sorry about this guys. It's slowing down, but it hasn't stopped yet. I'll just be a minute!”

“So long as you're all right,” Azrael replies.

When he receives no response from you and no further input from Death, he lets his head drop into a disappointed nod, pressing his lips together. Suddenly, his presence feels a little too big for the space he's occupying. He needs to think.

Azrael leaves your bedroom with a far heavier heart than he'd gone in with, raking his fingers through fine, white hair and expelling a soft breath from his lungs, as if that might alleviate the weight settling across his chest.

So far, this first visit to your home has not gone as he'd hoped it would. Through no fault of your own, mind. But trying to focus on taking in everything you show him whilst he knows you're in more pain than you're letting on is woefully distracting. That's without even mentioning the creeping sense of unease that has been hanging over him ever since he first stepped foot through your front door.

Briefly, Azrael wonders if Death had noticed the way your breath hitched slightly and your reply had an almost imperceptible, underlying tremor when he asked you what lay beyond the door at the end of your landing. He'd have to ask the Horseman about that later, when he's in a more talkative mood.

Already, the archangel can feel the beginnings of a frown forging crevasses down the centre of his forehead. He composes himself in another breath and finally lifts his eyes from the carpet, only to stop in his tracks.

That door – that unassuming door to your cupboard lays ahead of him, quiet and solid as all doors should be, just sitting there under a flickering light bulb, as though it had been patiently waiting for him to notice it.

And notice it, he does, because something about the door has changed since he saw it last, something so obvious, yet also entirely unsettling.

Where it had once been shut tight, now it stands ever so slightly ajar.

Despite everything in him screaming that he must respect the privacy of his host, Azrael's curiosity grows too bold and he finds himself treading silently down your landing, his shoes making no sound on the grubby, cream carpet. Drawing to a halt, the angel's keen gaze sweeps over the wooden door, taking in hairline cracks and mottled rot that a hundred years has left upon it like battle scars on a warrior's face. Slowly, he roves his eyes down to the dull, brass door handle and he immediately falters, doing a double-take.

Sitting atop the handle is a very noticeable, very thick layer of dust.

His brows knit together until they nearly touch and he reaches out to swipe a finger delicately along the brass. When he pulls away, he lifts his hand for an inspection and, sure enough, the pad of his forefinger is now sporting the same, grey substance.

'Why would a door you claimed to use recently have so much dust upon the handle?' The feeling of unease that had been stealthily keeping to the back of his mind now pokes its head out a little more, creeping forwards, daring him to acknowledge it.

'Something's wrong...' a quiet voice tells him.

Azrael's hand reaches out once more, except this time, it curls around the handle entirely and rests there for a moment as the angel's mind starts to race. 'Y/n.... Are you hiding something from us?'

As soon as the thought enters his head, he can't shake it loose.

Yes - he trusts you - he knows you'd have no reason to lie to him, and especially not to the Horseman. And yet... Clearly there is something beyond this door that you're trying to divert their attention from and whatever it is has you spooked.

Feeling more and more like a common criminal, Azrael keeps one ear on the room behind him and slowly begins to twist the door handle, wincing when its rusty springs catch and squeak in protest.

His wings shiver with anticipation as he pushes the door open.

What awaits him on the other side is decidedly not a storage cupboard...

“A... bedchamber?” he murmurs to himself.

Within an instant, he's hit by an oppressive wave of must and wood rot. The smell spills like liquid from the room and seeps into your hallway, causing the archangel's lips to curl, though he's quick to smooth his expression out again because there's something far worse lingering below the initial stench, something that – even after a hundred years – still clings to the peeling wallpaper and broken, dust-choked bed in the corner of the room.

It isn't quite magic, more like the residue of a dark and terrible memory. Azrael knows as well as any angel that memories can be immensely powerful things and capable of haunting a place long after the living are dead and gone. Hesitating, he takes a moment to steel himself before stepping over the threshold and entering that old, foreboding bedroom.

At once, he notices that, as with the door's handle, absolutely everything is covered in a thick layer of grime and dust, the television on the wall, the various, glass bottles that stand on a table at the room's centre, amidst which sits a single, yellowing glass.

Against the wishes of his own nose, Azrael takes a brief sniff at the air and grimaces.

Alcohol.

Even the most pious of angels would recognise it.

He dismissively turns his attention from the bottles and glides over towards a worn dresser that stands to the left of the bed, a bed that stinks of an odour he desperately tries to ignore. Upon the dresser are a vast array of what you;d once called 'photographs,' all of which sit inside basic, wooden frames. Inquisitive, Azrael bends down and peers at them, a soft smile worming across his face when he sees a familiar human grinning back up at him.

You couldn't be much older than four or five, but he'd recognise you at any age. It seems even as a child, you possessed that same, mischievous spark in your eyes.

You're standing alone, and in spite of a clear gap where a tooth has fallen out, you're beaming up at the camera so hard, he imagines your cheeks had to have hurt. In fact, the more Azrael inspects the photo, the more he thinks your expression most resembles a grimace, not a smile. He shrugs it off however, and moves on. After all, the facial structure of humans is such that they're capable of expressions far more complex than those of angels or demons. Perhaps he’s only misreading it.

The next picture sees you looking a few years older, sitting in the lap of a tall, angular man wearing a white shirt that looks to have been frequently stained by all manner of substances whilst his face is stretched into a grin that makes Azrael's skin crawl. Captured in stillness, it looks menacing and shark-like. Worse still is the large hand that seems to have secured itself like a vice around your thigh, squeezing noticeably into the little, blue leggings you'd worn that day.

You aren't smiling as widely in this photograph....

The archangel's face begins to fall as well.

Humming, he moves on to the next picture and in an instant, that creeping unease suddenly rings in his head like an alarm bell.

Again, you're older here, perhaps early into your adolescence, and the smile you'd sported before is barely there at all. The same man is standing behind you this time, and his long, gangly fingers are clamped down over your too-small shoulders, fingernails digging so hard into the bare skin, the resulting indents are even picked up by the camera.

Your lopsided wince that could be mistaken for a smile at a glance shows off one side of your mouth and in it, Azrael can clearly see that you're missing a tooth.

He may not be the most well-versed on human biology, but he's definitely heard that children only lose the same tooth once. And that the process is a natural one.

Through the lense of the camera, your younger counterpart seems to peer up past the glass frame, past the fabric of time and space and straight into Azrael's misty, pale eyes, a silent yet clear plea in the tilt of your brows and the whites of your knuckles.

'Help me.'

All at once, the archangel feels sick. He staggers backwards, away from the dresser and doesn't even notice the golden halo on his back is thrumming with protective magics, pushing them outwards to envelope your entire house.

He doesn't need Jamaerah's second sight to know that you were afraid of that man who's eyes are stained the same colour as yours. Hazarding a guess as to why you were afraid causes Azrael's throat to tighten.

Swallowing hard, he tries to regain his composure. The archangel has always considered rationality to be one of the greatest weapons in his arsenal and if there was ever a time to use it, that time is now.

'Perhaps... I am mistaken,' he reassures himself, 'I don’t know human customs nearly as well as I-’

“Azrael?”

The angel gives a start and jerks his head around to face the door, only to find Death eclipsing it, his eyes blazing like twin fires.

Stepping forwards into the room, he hisses, “What are you doing in here?”

The Horseman is quite certain he's never seen Azrael look so guilty.

Instead of giving him an answer though, the angel slowly breathes, “Where is Y/n?” Soon, he droops in relief when Death throws a thumb over his shoulder and replies, “Still in the bathing room, tending to a bloody nose... You didn't answer my question.”

Beckoning the Horseman closer, Azrael keeps his voice to a hushed whisper and holds the last photograph up in front of him.

“What do you make of this?”

Azrael's behaviour strikes him as so uncharacteristically odd and secretive, Death actually hurries over to him and snatches the picture frame from his hands, making an effort not to appear curious about the room he's never been inside. The angel watches raptly as Death scans the photographs with his luminous, orange eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the Horseman's fingers tighten around the little, wooden frame, hard enough to make it splinter and Azrael knows his worst fears are being realised. He hadn't imagined it.

Death sees it too.

“You guys shouldn't be in here.”

A tiny voice, low and trembling calls from the doorway and the angel's gaze snaps up. Death, in the meantime, remains too fixated on the photograph to bother acknowledging your presence.

Azrael drifts towards you cautiously, as though you'll bolt at any second. He tries to decide whether it would be better to apologise for invading your privacy or ask you why you look so terrified.

“Y/n,” he starts, paying attention to the way your hands turn over one another incessantly, “We were only-”

“... How... How did you get in? The door was - it was locked! You can't be in here... Get out!” Your voice raises in pitch. There are tears leaking from your bruised eye, swiftly turning the skin underneath it slick and shiny and there’s still a trace of blood underneath your nose.

Death finally lowers his gaze from the photograph and holds you captive under a wide and menacing stare. “A storage room, was it?” he asks curtly, showing you the picture clutched between his ever-tightening fingers.

The moment you lay eyes on it, your back goes rigid and all the blood drains from your face. “Put that down!” you demand and lift your foot as if to take a step inside the room, but as soon as you cross over the threshold, you seem to remember something, and quickly jerk yourself backwards, stumbling into the hallway again and sucking down a ragged gasp, blurting, “Just – Just don't touch it!”

“Why not?” Death drawls and tilts his head to one side, calculating, “It can't be that important to you. You've had it locked in this storage cupboard for these past two years.”

He's pushing you, Azrael realises with a sinking feeling, he's trying to provoke you into an honest reaction, no doubt. The archangel doesn't like it, but he likes the look of that man in the photograph even less.

“That's none of your business!” you snap, heart pounding like a jackhammer against your ribs. Unfortunately, your response only seems to stir something in the Horseman, who draws his head back as though you'd struck him a physical blow and he growls, “I hate to disappoint you, but it is my business where your welfare is concerned.”

“My welfare stopped being your concern about two years ago!”

Death falls silent, jaw clenching.

He'd be remiss to say that your comment hadn't struck at a place he guards jealously. He's painfully aware of the angel's eyes burning a hole into the side of his head and he nearly squirms at the pitying look he's receiving.

It would seem that Azrael knows him a little too well.

“You never once stopped being my concern...” the Horseman mumbles, his gaze moving down to the image in his hand. A younger, smaller you peers back at him with woe caught like sleep-dust behind your eyelashes. Death's eyes shoot back up to you again, the softness gone from his voice when he growls, “Why did you lie to me?”

Tensions are high enough that Azrael doesn't think it prudent to mention you'd lied to him as well.

Apparently, a direct confrontation was not the best way to deal with this delicate situation, a fact that becomes clear when you cinch your jaw shut for a moment, gaze flickering to and fro between the angel and the Horseman.

Seeing two of your most trusted friends standing in his bedroom with a symbol of your shame and your trauma held quite literally in Death's grasp sends your heart rate skyrocketing, fear like poison dripping down into your stomach. You can hardly believe they'd invade your privacy like this. Death especially, who knows better than anyone the necessity for keeping some secrets buried.

He doesn't need to learn about that part of your history - neither of them do. You don't want to have them worrying. And God forbid they should pity you.

Squaring your shoulders, you spin about on a heel and begin to march purposefully down your landing to the stairs.

“Where do you think you're going?!” Death barks after you.

Chest heaving, you pause on the first step and cast a heavy frown over your shoulder at the Horseman, matching his ferocious gaze without a single blink. “If you won't leave that room,” you tell him, “then I'll leave this house. And I'll thank you both to be gone by the time I get back.”

And just like that, you continue to descend your staircase and disappear below the wooden balustrades. Seconds later and there's an almighty 'slam' that signals you've had an altercation with the front door before leaving through it.

For some time, the house is weighed down under a blanket of silence as the pair of unearthly beings are left to stand in the aftershocks of their actions.

“Oh dear..” Azrael's stare is vacant, worried, and he has several fingertips pressed to his lips. “I fear I've reopened an old wound..”

“No. This... isn't your fault,” the Horseman sighs, “I should have addressed this sooner. I've known for some time there was something Y/n didn't want me to know. And, I suppose, I'd always suspected that this room might lead to some answers.”

Taken aback, Azrael turns a mystified look onto the Nephilim. He'd expected Death to lay the blame upon his feathery shoulders, after all, he was the one who first ventured into this so called 'storage cupboard' and upset the proverbial applecart. Still, he finds it somewhat odd that the Horseman – a nosy creature if ever one walked the nine realms – hasn't ever tried to see for himself what lay beyond the door. Tilting his head, the angel asks, “You never thought to investigate?”

At the question, Death averts his gaze and shrugs one of his pale shoulders. “Admittedly, no, I did not.”

“Well... Why?” Azrael presses, though he already has an inkling.

After a moment of frowning pensively at the photo in his hands, the Horseman turns to look at him and he's once again thrown off by the level of emotion in those wild, striking eyes. Death really has grown since knowing you.

“I never brought it up because....”

“.... You didn't want to jeopardise your friendship,” Azrael finishes for him softly, and Death is only grateful that he didn't have to say it himself out loud.

At the same time, the two of them peer back at the photograph and the archangel is surprised at himself for the anger that boils in his lungs at the sight of that man’s hands on you. Death however, isn’t in the least bit surprised at the presence of his own rage.

“Horseman...,” Azrael says, his voice eerily calm, “You don’t supposed.... Y/n might be trying to hide something else, do you?”

"The bruise...”

Furious, orange eyes meet cool and misty white.

“It isn’t out of the question,” Azrael breathes, “A random attack from human zealots? Or-”

“- Or something a bit closer to home,” Death finishes as he tosses the photo onto the nearby bed and turns to face the door.

Outside, rain continues to hammer relentlessly on the house whilst a streak of lightening illuminates the bedroom and the two, imposing beings inside, one with dark magics crackling at his fingertips, and the other with a halo of solid gold on his back that thrums with violent energy as the glyphs on his wings begin to glow electric blue.

Without a word, the Angel of Death and the Grim Reaper slip from your house and stride out into the coming storm, their ancient minds focused solely on tracking down their human.

#darksiders #darksiders 2 #darksiders 3 #Azrael #Death #Reader #abuse #child abuse #angst #Angel #Nephilim #Horseman of the Apocalypse #Hurt/comfort #found family #demon #guardian angels

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cm-top-10 · 3 years

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C.M. Top 10: Mysteries &/or Questions Unanswered

Warning - This new Top 10 may contain possible spoilers, so for your safety & others. Read at your own risk or don't read it. You've been warned! 💀

So far we've seen many things & many characters we don't know much about. Even seen items with both a mysterious power or unknown past.

So this unusual ten features all the unanswered questions about the things we may never get the answers to.

Will we ever find the answers to them? Well you'll have to be the judge on that issue. For those questions we'll sadly never know...

1. Where is the missing Ramon De La Porta?

In the 3D movie Kong Return to the Jungle, Ramon De La Porta is double-crossed by his "business partner" & was taken away to a location no one knows where.

Is he still alive & if so where is he now?

2. Who's hand did Megatron take this from?

In Transformers Prime during a desperate attempt to turn the tides back in his favor against Optimus Prime & the Star Saber. Megatron returned to Cybertron to retrieve a limb from the remains of one of the fallen 13 Primes. So that he could use it to hold the power of the Primes to use the Forge of Solus Prime, to build his Dark Star Saber.

Question that still remains is, which Prime did he cut this hand from? We may never know who...

3. Who was the first Super Saiyan?

In the earlier years of Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta told the story about the first Super Saiyan warrior who was able to use his ability during his ape form. But this mysterious warrior suddenly disappeared after rampaging.

But who was this mystery Saiyan warrior that Vegeta spoke of? & could he possibly have been Goku's ancestor?

4. Whatever became of Bourlof?

On the chase for Dally's soul trapped in his own Shushu weapon, Eva finds an old Shushu fire sword by the name of Bourlof the Butcher. What she didn't know was that Bourlof is an infamous demon known for cutting down his victims in one burning cut. But after a fight with Remington Smisse, she accidentally dropped Bourlof into the foggy depths of the city ruins, never to be seen again.

The question is where he is now? Sadly nobody knows...waste of a badass demon sword honestly.

5. Whatever became of Grogu during his training with Luke & the other young Jedi?

In the movies we heard Luke tried to rebuild a new Jedi Order with the new found younglings who were one with the Force. & a bit before that, years ago the Mandalorian returned Grogu to Luke so that he could train to be the next future Jedi himself. But years later before he could Luke's nephew Ben turned to the Dark Side & destroyed the Temple along with the said future Jedi students.

But after the destruction of the Jedi Temple, did Grogu somehow escape death again? Is he still alive out there, hopefully not alone in the cruel universe? Let's hope we find out someday, may the Force be with you small one... 😔

6. Where is the Choten hiding in the Kaiju Realm? & will he ever return?

During the final kaiju battle between Ray & the Choten, the evil mastermind managed to use his evo-mutated father to escape somewhere into the Nature Civilization across the Veil. There he's somewhere hiding never to be seen again.

The question still remains, is he truly gone forever? Or is he waiting out his return for revenge & world conquest? Let's hope we never out if he somehow does...

7. Will Ultron break free of the Mind Stone?

During the final battle against Ultron, the Vision managed to trap his own creator inside the Mind Stone. So that he would not cause harm to anyone again. However this isn't the first time Ultron has tampered with an Infinity Stone even trapped inside one.

Who knows over time he might break free. But will he be able to return?

8. Is Leah's spirit still alive somewhere?

Personally I think it's a long shot if any part of Leah especially her soul, managed to survive after the death of Diablo. As much as I want to believe that part of her is still out there, I don't think that she is. & we all know the Lord of Terror saw to that personally. Sadly it's probably only just been rumors about poor Leah.

But if it is possible could her soul still be alive out there, waiting to be found? I only wish it were true... 😔

9. Whatever happened to Predaking?

In the series Transformers Robots in Disguise, Starscream tells the tale on how he "defeated" the Predacons. But he mentioned nothing of Predaking. & knowing the big beast bot, it would take more than a turret cannon to wipe him out. & no one not even Bumblebee & his team have seen Predaking.

So the big question is where is the King of the Predacons? & what has he been up to during his disappearance?

10. Where is Ezra?

During the final battle against the Empire on Lothal, Ezra Bridger was said to of made the ultimate sacrifice for his planet & his friends. & him along with Thrawn disappeared into an unknown sector of the galaxy. However where most believed he's gone, Sabine knows in her heart that he's still alive & will do anything to find him.

Will Sabine be able to find Ezra? Let us hope so & may the Force guide her to him.

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zippdementia · 3 years

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Part 96 Alignment May Vary: A Farewell to Friends

If you’re reading this post after having read all 95 other posts, bless your heart. This is truly the final post, the last one in the Alignment May Vary series. If you are just stumbling upon this randomly, you may want to go back to at least the previous post “The End of All Things” as this is a direct continuation of the final battle described there. Also, many previous posts are linked there to help give at least some context to the encounter. You may even want to go back to the beginning and read the whole epic story. It’s the internet’s most massive and complete campaign journal!

This ends with the final lines of our campaign. I will not say farewell then, so I will say it now. The goal of this journal was to bring some small measure of the enjoyment and wonder we felt making this story and playing this game for four years to you. I hope it achieved that, and thank you for reading.

The Destruction of All Things

Meteors, the debris of a hundred destroyed worlds, or maybe worlds that had yet to be destroyed in this timeline, rained down upon the Maakengorge tower, breaking it into dust, revealing the infinity of space behind it. Imoaza tried to pull a barrier around them, made of the weave, but the weave did not obey her here. It did not even exist here. Nazragul had cut its strings. Imoaza fell under a maelstrom of heat and rock. Milosh survived a little longer, smashing the rocks with Haggemoth’s forge hammer, Haggemoth’s greatest weapon. If he could only get a clear shot on Nazragul, he thought he might be able to unleash Primus’ power on him and end this now. But Nazragul himself was engulfed in flame and Milosh drew close only to be burned and fall away into ash.

Carrick was the last to struggle on. Imoaza’s fly spell died with her, and yet momentum continued to carry him towards Nazragul. He raised his blade, knowing he would only have time for a single decisive strike. Then from the flames a skeletal hand shot out and gripped his wrist, holding him. Nazragul leaned forward, his face a grinning skull.

“I win,” he said and held Carrick as the meteor swarm crashed through them both, sending Carrick to join his companions in death.

Darkness surrounds the players. Wonderfully, they think they have lost this fight. But in reality, they have won. They brought Nazragul down to the point where he had to use his most devastating attack in a desperate gambit to destroy them forever. It ripped apart his body, as well, but he can regenerate. The players cannot. Or so he thinks.

In fact, this would have been the end of the party, except for a particular deity they helped some time ago. Now, that deity appears to them on the border of life and death. Asmodeus, lord of the Devils, and his new queen, Alyss, come to the players in purgatory. When the call comes from darkness as to who would claim the souls of the players, it is Asmodeus who answers. And then, having laid his claim, Asmodeus grants their souls new life, a return to their bodies, each of them at a single hit point.

“This is my boon, my one and only repayment for the service you rendered me. You returned me to my body and my realm, now I do the same unto you,” Asmodeus says.

“Save my daughter. Bring her soul peace,” Alyss says.

And then they go back.

A Decision Made

The players return to a world destroyed, a universe ending, a time that could come to pass, but hasn’t yet. A space between time. And in this space Nazragul sits. The body of Abenthy that he wore is destroyed. What squats on the last remaining piece of ground in that floating nothingness is a shadow, a whirling of darkness.

And now, in front of it, stand Carrick, Imoaza, and Milosh.

“N-nooo....” the dark shape mutters. “Y-y-you are a-a-ll... d-dead...” it can manage no more. But its power is growing by the second, its body repairing, rebuilding.

There is no time to waste.

“One of us must be the shield, the sacrifice,” Carrick says. “We must take on the soul of Primus.” He holds up the Surveyor’s stone, containing the spark that can link Primus to one of them.

“It’s me,” Milosh says. “I’ve already lived a life. This is all borrowed time. It is what I was meant to do.”

“But I have lived a life as well,” Carrick begins to protest.

“No,” Milosh says, the half-orc shaking his head somberly. “You never got to live your own life. The Surveyor took it over from you when you were still young. It needs to be me.”

Except, it doesn’t, Imoaza realizes. It doesn’t need to be any of them. She is peering at the weave, magic made tangible to her special abilities. And in that weave she sees a line that has not always been there. It is like a silver thread, allowing for a different path. She recognizes the lifeforce in that thread as having belonged to Ruz. Ruz, who used her wish spell to save everyone at the Maakengorge, who has become part of the weave itself in order to work that magic. Now, the last remnants of that powerful wish are there for Imoaza to use. She grips it, and instantly she can see everything, the way the weave ties together not just magic, but the whole universe. She pulls on those threads carefully, for they are delicate and she could easily do more damage than good. She pulls, and three souls emerge from the darkness that is the thing in front of them, the thing Nazragul became, the Three who rule as One.

Nazragul is the first soul and this soul Imoaza chooses to be their shield. This will forever erase him and Primus from existence, which will also destroy Chaos. But even after this, Imoaza has a little of Ruz’s power left to use. She can, she realize, bring one of the other two souls back to life: either Karina or Abenthy. They are fading fast though and the decision must be made.

Abenthy and Karina stand now before the group, and I ask their players (who now play Milosh and Imoaza respectively) to give them voice, to have a conversation between them about what choice they should make. And so the players roleplay the moment as Karina and Abenthy get to see each other one last time.

“I am sorry,” Karina said, seeing Abenthy again, seeing his grim mission lifted from him. “I am sorry I could not save you.”

“It was never your fault,” Abenthy says back. He kneels and places his sword on the ground then, turns to Imoaza. “It is time. Rebalance the scales.”

This moment is too much for all of us at the table, and the tears start again. Also, Imoaza cannot decide which of them to save. The player ends up having to roll a die to decide for her, it is too heavy a burden to take full responsibility for.

And the die decides it is to be Karina.

And so, in the final moments they have before the souls retwine and the body of the Three in One rises again, the deed is finished. Milosh opens his chest panel and the power of the Inevitability of Justice emerges from him to engulf and destroy forever the souls of Nazragul and Abenthy, as well as Primus and Chaos. Karina is reborn into her body and lands next to them, naked. Carrick wraps his cloak around her.

Then, as the final wave of power leaves Milosh, the space time that they are in collapses. They are rushed back to the world they left behind.

They return to a world saved.

The portal opens, the mountain collapses. The four emerge in a sea of white snow, wondering if their actions doomed their friends outside, who may have been buried when the mountain was destroyed. But then the ships of the Githyanki land around them, and there is a great cheer, for the armies were loaded onto the ships, and their friends saved. The last Surveyor approaches Carrick and Milosh and tells them they are both free now. Everyone is free, free of the creators, Primus and Chaos, to form their own future. All bonds are broken, except those kept in the name of honor and of love. The Surveyor then lays down in a patch of snow and closes his eyes for the last time, telling them all to seek their destiny wherever they feel it is best found.

And so the companions do. Each player makes a choice as to what their character does next, and we get some wrap ups on some of the NPCs, as well.

Carrick speaks to Roger Krisp, saying he would like to join the Green Company to keep a promise he made to Aldric. Roger gives him the Anope and lets anyone who wishes to follow him do so. For Krisp, he has spent decades trying to return from Hell back to Faerun and he takes his second in commands, the adventurers who long ago trialed the Tomb of Horrors (and died doing so) and buys a new ship: the Mankey Bastard Mk II (AKA the Mankier Bastard). He returns to sailing the seas.

Carrick swears his services to Aldric’s daughter, Sasha, and says that he will be off to sail the galaxies with the Green Company to do good throughout the universe.

Imoaza has responsibilities here on Faerun. She approaches the Yuan Ti, who are unsure of what to do next. They ask her who they will be conquering next.

“No one,” she tells them, knowing this is a moment that will define the rest of her people’s existence. “We will find a new way, a better way. The way of the dragon. The way of peace.” And Hecate is the first to bow and swear fealty to her mother, now the mother of all Yuan Ti, Imoaza.

For Karina, this return to life is full of emotion. Verrick and her embrace. Verrick’s bonds that made him a Death Knight are broken, and he is able to resume a life with her. Karina also greets many old companions whom she has not seen in generations. Roger Krisp, Daymos, and Jade. Jade in particular Karina is overwhelmed to see, as she felt responsible for her loss to Nazragul in the first place.

Milosh’s chest plate is gone, his full body finally restored to him as a last act of Primus. He is given many choices now. Carrick says he could have a place among the Green Company, or if not, he would be happy to find his home planet of Eberron and drop him off there to resume his old life. Breathgiver the shaman offers him the Blackstaff, saying he could stay and rule Waterdeep, help rebuild Baldur's Gate, Ottoman’s docks, and the other cities which were destroyed by the Tarassque. Milosh thanks everyone and says he will decide in the morning.

But in the morning he is gone, and no one is quite sure where he left to.

Epilouge: A Farewell to Friends

This scene takes place 16 years after the final battle. The player characters are asked to come to Karina’s academy on the old island of Thudd, now called Oasis. It used to be a school for adventurers, trying to train people to eventually face a darker world, in case Nazragul’s plan came to fruition. Now it is a school of knowledge and philosophy and healing magics.

Karina was old before the final batle, and though restored to her body, she still only had scant years left. She is now passing, and everyone has been called to honor her in her final hours and say goodbye.

Of the companions, we follow Carrick, who arrives with the Green Company in the Anope. He wears shining emerald armor under a green cloak. Under one arm, he holds a small, wrapped package.

He finds some new additions to the school grounds. There is a hall named for Shando, one for Daymos, and one for Lee. And in the central plaza is a bronze statue of Abenthy, not as the final terrible thing he became, but as Karina remembers him at their first meeting, and their last. A noble paladin. On the plaque at the statue’s feet is inscribed the words: “Justice is Inevitable. Friendship Does not Die.”

“Swords are easy,” a familiar voice said behind Carrick. “Capturing the look in someone’s eyes? Now that’s hard.”

Carrick turned to see a smiling half-orc standing beside him, wearing a simple tunic.

“Milosh!” Carrick said and embraced his old companion. “Where have you been all these years?” he asked, once he had let him go.

“Learning the trade of blacksmith,” Milosh said. “It seemed an honest profession, and Karina agreed to let me stay on and keep my secret.”

“I would have thought you’d be ruling Waterdeep, or Baldur’s Gate, or out adventuring even. There is still always a place for you among the Green Company.”

“You are still riding with the company?”

“Mostly. I leave most of the running of it to Sasha. She has the knack for leadership. I have focused on teaching. I have created a new order of Paladins, based around the tenets of an old friend of mine who taught me some dear lessons when he was alive. The School of Remus.”

Milosh smiled and nodded. “There is much to be learned from old friends. Your offer is a kind one, but the night we defeated Nazragul, the Surveyor told us to seek our destiny where we felt it was most likely to be found. I realized then that I had spent more years than most people get to live fulfilling other people’s destinies, solving other people’s problems. I thought maybe it was time for me, for the first time in two lifetimes, to live a life for myself. I settled here with a wife and we have a child. I am living every day filled with a contentment that I thought was not mine to have.”

Carrick clasped his shoulder and smiled. “I have watched you go through pain and loss. It is good to see you gain something. Good to see you happy.”

“Have you seen Imoaza yet?” Milosh asked. Carrick shook his head. Milosh’s own smile softened, became a little sad. “I’ll take you to her.”

Together they walked into the main hall, the hall of Heroes, where a line of tapestries depicted famous events in the history of Faerun. Before one tapestry, which showed humans breaking free of Yuan Ti slavery in the days of yore, stood an old Yuan Ti Pureblood, her hair white, her skin wrinkled, one hand holding a quarterstaff to support her weight. On one shoulder fluttered a greying ball of fuzz, that chirped softly: “chi chu!”

“There’s a tapestry of us three,” the old Yuan Ti said. “In our final battle at the Jarlsberg. I think they went a little dramatic with me, though.”

“Imoaza?” Carrick asked. The Yuan Ti turned and nodded her greeting. She had always been reserved, Imoaza, and time had not changed that. But it also looked like she had aged seventy years in the fifteen since last they met.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Imoaza said. “All three of us cheated time when we left the Abyss and ended up back on Faerun. You two paid for it with your lives. This is now my price. I am not yet gone from this earth. Time has just caught up with me, at last.”

Carrick found his eyes watering. He wiped at them as discretely as possible, but Imoaza, who had always had the sharpest eyes of them all, of course noticed. “It is alright,” she said gently. “I have accomplished what I set out to do. My people will go on. They are not powerful, but they are stronger, and better. They walk the path of balance and of nature. We are farmers, gatherers, druids. Peace suits the Yuan Ti. We take to it as seriously and studiously as we took to war.”

Carrick nodded, then said, “I have something for you.” He held out the small package. “I made a special stop at an old favorite of yours on the way back to Faerun.”

Imoaza unwrapped the package to reveal a host of sweet pastries, beautiful in their presentation, the smell of cinnamon and baked sugars rising into the air. Imoaza giggled like a little girl. “Air pastries!” she exclaimed, and reached into the bag, tearing off a piece of one of the gooey rolls, leaving strands of maple training in its wake, then popped it into her mouth and chewed, her grin growing wider.

“I’m sad they did not make a tapestry for that place,” she said.

A door at the end of the hall opened then, and an attendant of the school hailed them.

“It is time,” the attendant said.

The players enter through the door to find themselves in a grand room with pillars open to the outside, looking out upon a fabulous view of falling waterfalls and green trees, maybe one of the greatest signs of change that Karina ever brought to the world, her successful changing of the Desert of Thud into the Oasis. There is a bed here as well and on it lies Karina, her white hair braided, a cool breeze blowing through the room caressing her brow.

Many people are gathered here to say goodbye.

Daymos and Jade are there, and with them Reeves the Quasit. The brother and sister hold hands, and both are crying. Karina had witnessed both of their deaths, but also their rebirths.

Hazelwood, Ruz’s daughter and the inheritor of the power of Esheballa, has come on behalf of the Changelings whom Kaerina once sheltered when no one else would.

Milosh and his family stand in the back of the room, his half-elf wife and child both holding his hands, hands which once were literally guns, now which create instead of destroying.

The Green Company is in attendance along with Carrick. Aside from Carrick, they did not know Karina personally, but they have learned of her deeds and come now to be her honor guard as she passes.

Imoaza is the only from the Yuan Ti here to say goodbye. Hecate was left to run the Yuan Ti kingdom in her absence. Imoaza uses her weave vision to see that Karina’s life is fading but she also sees the way that life has touched so many others.

Captain Krisp comes, with the full crew of the Mankier Bastard, his new ship. He tells Karina he will name a new brand of his cereal in her honor. “Karina Krisps?” he mumbles, liking the ring of it.

Immerstal the Red is present. Knick Knack comes in his fire form all the way from the Planet of Fire. A Red Wizard arrives, holding a framed portrait of Lhu Ee. Senator Nakir, once Karina’s Apprentice, arrives from Waterdeep, with Blackstaff Breathgiver. Traki's brother is here, as are many other elves, for Karina was a great ally to them.

There are monks here, too, from Abenthy's old monastery, as well as the sister's of Celaenos, come to honor the one who saved Abenthy’s soul and to record this moment in time.

Giants and kobolds and orcs and hobgoblins all arrive, those who repented after the final battle with Abenthy.

Most surprisingly, there are dwarves here: the distant descendants of Haggemoth’s line, who have heard of how their ancestor's soul was finally saved and their family line restored to honor. They are here to give thanks to those who helped that come to pass, which includes Karina.

And finally, there is Verrick, kneeling at Karina’s bedside, holding her hand. He does not know how long he might wander the earth without his love, and he cries to think of life without her. But he is also happy, for the life she lived and the time they were able to share. And he believes they will be reunited one day, even if only to rejoin the weave that souls are built from, and be knit together into a new story, a new life.

Karina looks around her, at all these varied people, all the lives she has touched. She squeezes Verrick’s hand. Then she closes her eyes, and smiles, and Karina who had once thought she would always be alone passes, surrounded by friends.

#Alignment may vary #Karina #Abenthy #D&D #5th Edition #5e #boss #boss fight #boss monster #ending #campaign journal #RPG #D20

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dent-de-leon · 6 years

Note

what do you honestly think about keith's character development on the show?

This sounds like you’re expecting something a little different, so let me preface this with: I love him and I think he has some of the most interesting and well executed arcs in the show. Now, I think of Keith’s character development in terms of different criteria that makes the most sense to me. They are as follows:

His backstory

His ties to the Galra

His uniquely intimate relationship with Shiro

The relationships he works so hard to forge with the rest of the team

His leadership arc

If we’re going to discuss character development, it makes sense to begin at the beginning. And man, I’ve always loved Keith, but throughout season 1, he was stagnant. He gets the least development out of anyone on the team. It was even confirmed by the showrunners themselves that he has the least lines out of all of Team Voltron this season, including Allura and Coran. We’re talking about someone who spoke the least, gave the least insight to his backstory, and was for all intents and purposes a blank slate. The appeal to season 1 Keith is that he’s an intriguing character shrouded in mystery.

But really, we know nothing about him. When season 2 rolled around, people started complaining that he got too much spotlight. But he was the one who sorely needed any and all development at that time. Finally, we had something to go by–he’s galra, he’s struggling with his identity, he had a father that he lost, he’s afraid of losing Shiro more than anything, he wants so badly to be good–season 2 gives him his chance to shine.

And throughout the series, we are continually rewarded with more and more glimpses into Keith’s past and potential future–how he thinks of Shiro reaching out to him before they fall into the abyss, the innovative use of time-space mechanics to allow Keith to relive his history and properly reflect on it rather than having Krolia just tell him, the heartbreaking use of Shiro’s dreams to illustrate how much he and Keith truly mean to one another. All these elements of Keith’s backstory are incredibly compelling, and on that front, I think he honestly recieves some of the most history and background out of anyone.

Now, let’s talk about his Galran blood. Keith goes through many phases over the course of coming to accept himself for who he is. Initially, he views his heritage as something innately shameful and malevolent–haunted by nightmares, he tries to hide it. The princess in particular has a grudge against him for things completely out of his control, and he passively accepts her judgement. He never once challenges her, and instead lets her come to terms with the situation at her own pace and rebuild that bridge when she’s ready.

He’s incredibly considerate of her feelings and insists she need not apologize. Keith’s own sense of self worth has been dismal for most of season 2 though. It’s Shiro who witnesses his trial and Shiro who immediately shows his unwavering love and support right after. Many fans were upset that we didn’t see more characters really reacting to Keith beyond Hunk also learning to change his views, but the show runners clarified that the dichotomy between Allura’s resentment and Shiro’s total acceptance despite both being victims of the Galra was the focal point of this arc:

So we know how Allura and Shiro reacted to Keith’s galra reveal. What about the other paladins?

Lauren: “I think the rest knew Keith well enough to know it’s not a big issue. And they don’t know much about galra–do you grow purple fur at some point? But Allura has that history, so…”Joaquim: “And with Shiro, we have that history. But he loves Keith, so he sees the good in him.” (source).

They’re the ones who have been directly affected by the Galra, and so it’s their opinions on Keith that are ultimately the most telling. But throughout this time, Keith’s worth is continually weighed by both himself and some of his teammates. It’s very much a time of upheavel for him, of continual developments and change–and this only carries over into later seasons. When we return to Keith’s BOM arc, it’s after he’s been put under immense stress and has been forced into a position he feels he cannot handle. His earlier time with the BOM was about finding out his history. This time, he’s trying to figure out his place in the present when he feels he has none. Being Voltron’s leader just doesn’t feel right, especially with Shiro back at his side.

Especially when Shiro is also challenging his calls at every turn. The episode title here is Code of Honor, and it really reflects what was racing through Keith’s mind at the time. Honor means everything to Keith, and he’s not willing to compromise his own sense of morals–even for the sake of the team. He can’t stand sitting still and wasting time, putting on acts–when Lotor is out there somewhere, and still very much at large. When the BOM are on the verge of discovering a new strain of quintessence, when there’s just so much more good he feels he could be doing with the order.

But, even then, Keith is forced to confront his own beliefs and feels torn between personal loyalties and duty. Time and again, Kolivan tries to drill it into him that the BOM are not Voltron, that they must make sacrifices, that Keith must be willing to put the mission and self-preservation first. He would never leave someone behind, and that’s a danger to Kolivan’s entire operation. Keith is someone very passionate who acts on his heart, and Kolivan tries again and again to impress on him the importance of distancing himself from those emotional attachments– “You cannt allow your feelings to cloud your judgement.” “I wouldn’t–” “You have in the past.”

There’s more to the BOM than just Knowledge or death–the premise of his indoctrination and initial time with the BOM. It’s also a matter of acknowledging the risks, of realizing when something is a lost cause. “In Voltron, we would have gone back to save Regris.” “This isn’t Voltron.” “The mission is more important than the individual.” “You didn’t consider something might’ve happened to you. That would make me down two men instead of one.” “No, Shiro and Lotor are up there!” “Then you’ll die with them.”

Victory or Death, Knowledge or Death, stay with Voltron at all costs, leave in search of answers, the predicament of leadership and whether or not the mission is worth the individual–it’s a lot. I can’t think of many other characters who go through such a long and arduous journey of balancing different life creeds and weighing the moral ramifications of each, nevermind anyone that goes as in depth with it as Keith. His entire relationship with the Galra is a learning process that continually challenges his once stagnant world views, forcing him to confront the potential flaws in his own moral code and come to terms with what really matters most.

And you know what? The Keith we have now is presented as someone who remains steadfast in their morals, who always strives to do good and protect what matters most. He opens others’ eyes to the possibility of what a world with Galra like him could do, to a better future. He inspires them–“He’s our leader, plus he’s half Galra, so I think he’s like, the future.” “With Lotor gone, it was clear there was a power vacuum in the Galra Empire. Zethrid and Ezor wanted to exploit that for their own gain…but I knew I had to find my own path. And it led me to you.”

This is so far removed from the boy who was terrified of his own blood, who lived in waking nightmare that he was a monster. He’s self-assured and accepted in a way he never was before. Keith represents a potential new era of peace and prosperity for the Galra Empire, one where there were always be a place for people like him. This is an especially crucial change for the people within the Empire as well as the rest of the universe seeking out any sort of Intergalactic Alliance, because we know how the Empire looked down on those with mixed heritage.

How Lotor had to fight for every ounce of respect. There’s even hints at it like the mere mention of the term “Blood-Emperor,” which Lotor comments is antiquated but still seems to be highly valued by members of the Empire, “No one has used the term ‘Blood-Emperor’ since before we were a star-faring race.” Keith and those that are inspired by his code of honor–like Acxa–could very well be the ones that hold the key to a future where half-Galra are no longer regarded as lesser for their blood.

I’m gonna skip over Shiro for the moment, since his bond with Keith is one of the main overarching themes of the story that pervades and informs nearly every other aspect of Keith’s character development. So, let’s talk about the rest of the team–from the start, Keith is not a “team player.” He is, however, agressively Team Voltron, and more than willing to fight others if they ever threaten to leave the team. He sees abandoning the Lions as abandoning one’s duty, and his strict–originally much more black and white–code of honor prevents him from doing so.

He also seemingly easily weighs the decision for Pidge, and makes it clear that she’s expected to make sacrifices for some abstract “greater good.” “You’re putting the lives of two people in front of everyone in the entire galaxy!” “Keith, that’s not how a team works. People have to want to be part of it. They can’t be forced.” Again, we see that Keith starts off at someplace very different from where he ends up. Throughout the series, he’ll soon become the person risking the mission for the sake of the individual–and he’ll become disenchanted enough that he won’t see Voltron as the an infallible means to every end.

Allura even tells him, “But our mission is bigger than any one individual,” when he refuses to move on from Shiro. And later, when he tries to take a different path, she says, “Marmora can go on without you. They have for thousands of years. Voltron cannot.” What we’re seeing here is a ripple effect. At the beginning, Keith fundamentally misunderstood what it really means to be a team. Pidge’s character arc taught him that. And as with everything he learns, he internalizes it, and carries it with him for the rest of the series. He grows and develops into this very multi-faceted, dynamic character, with an idealogy and sense of ethics very much shaped by his interrelationships and experiences.

He latched onto Voltron like a crutch at first. The Blue Lion was all that kept him afloat during his self imposed exile into the desert. The Lion was there for him when he had no one else. And later, Team Voltron becomes the family he’s always wanted. His position on Voltron also presents him with the unique opportunity to feel truly fulfiled in the same way that becoming a pilot at the Garrison did. After getting kicked out, he felt “lost.” Discovering that strange energy and the carvings of the Blue Lion gave him a sense of purpose–Voltron gave him a purpose. And he desperately wants to believe in it. For once, instead of being looked down on or dismissed as a discipline a case, he can be the good person he’s always wanted to be. A hero even.

But his disillusionment with Voltron is very much necessary for his continued growth and development. Keith is never one to obey orders, and his willingness to question anything that doesn’t feel right and retaliate against it is very much one of his persistent, defining characteristics. It’s not so much instinct as intution, and Keith has always been good at reading others’ intentions. Not to mention the whole quintessence sensitivity thing. Either way, it eventually becomes apparent to Keith that he can’t stay with the team any longer, and he must first go on his own quest for the sake of what he believes is right. What’s right for the team–Shiro as the Black Paladin–as well as what’s right for the universe. He also desperately needs to do some deep introspection before he’s ready to fully accept the mantle of leadership that’s been demanded of him.

And the writers give us that–they give Keith time. Time to grow, time to heal. The Quantum Abyss is a blessing in disguise, a balm for a troubled soul. Keith is someplace safe, quiet, and has the company of his mother for the first time in years. She is able to allay all his fears of abandonment that have plagued him for so long, and the two are able to learn a lot from one another. Essentially, Keith gets to live out the picture of a happy childhood he never had. He gets to make up for lost time with his mom, and even raise a dog. Regaining some of that lost youth actually has a profound effect on his ability to mature and move on.

He can finally start to heal and move forward, breaking away from his past with the promise of a brighter future. When Shiro is brainwashed and lashes out at Keith, dredging up some truly awful things that would have once caused Keith immense pain, we see that’s he’s self assured in himself enough to not back down. He knows he’s loved, he knows his parents wanted him–he knows Shiro would never abandon him. And he’s able to admit his love for others in turn. Telling Shiro “I love you,” was huge. As was reaching a point where he was able to admit he loves Krolia. Words have power, and there’s a reason Shiro doesn’t react to the brother line but Keith’s admission of love stops him dead. Seasons ago, years ago, Keith would never be able to admit this.

Joaquim: “The one exception Keith allowed in his life in terms of expressing himself was probably with Shiro, because he felt the closest to him. And that situation was an extreme series of events. I think he was pleading with him. I think he was letting him know exactly where he stood, and why this shouldn’t be happening. And why he knew that there was still good in there…If you look at Keith going back to the original episode, where he comes out of the shack, and greets Shiro, that’s a very different Keith than the way he acted with all the rest of the Paladins. So I think with Shiro, in particular, his guard is down a bit and he’s able to express himself.”

Lauren: “But don’t expect him to go telling anyone else he loves them.”

Joaquim: “That’s right. He’s not handing out hugs and love hearts to everybody.” (source)

For a long time, Keith remained at a careful distance from the rest of the team. For reference, let’s look at his relationship with Hunk. At the end of season 1, Hunk is completely thrown that Keith would leave Allura behind. And what does he say? “What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn’t leave me, would you? Would you?” Keith has nothing to say in his defense, and Hunk is so clearly hurt by that. So, where does this distance stem from? Why is it Keith is so anxious about straying too close to others?

Well, we already know–it’s do to early childhood trauma and abandonment issues. Things we’re clearly shown, and that Keith outright later states in his vlog. “I don’t know why I’m that way…maybe, I’m naturally untrusting because my mom left me? And so, instead of accepting people into my life, I push them away before they reject me. I guess I have some walls up…”

We also know he feels further alienated by his Galran heritage, “It’s just, being Galra is a big deal. Maybe that’s why…I was never good at connecting with people.” And really, for the longest time, Shiro was pretty much the only support he had. And that meant everything. “Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me. I won’t give up on him.” So, the fact that Keith learns to take that leap of faith and reach out to others, just seeing him go from where he and Hunk were at in season 1 to a place where he was able to say, “I never told you this, but out of all the Paladins, you’re the one I’m most impressed by”–that’s huge.

He reaches a place where he’s able to comfort Hunk on such a deeply personal level at the time when he needed it most, and these aren’t just important team building skills, they’re the markings of great leadership. He’s taking care of his team. He learns to not only open up to others, but build enough of a bridge where his team trusts him completely. Where they’re able to open up and reach back out to him in turn. Lance learns to put aside his childish one-sided rivalry, and we even see moments where he goes to Keith for help and opens up about his insecurities. Keith comforts Allura after the alternate reality trip and reassures her when she’s vulnerable. This stuff doesn’t come easy to Keith, but he takes the time to learn and reach out because of how much he cares for his team.

I know there are many people who feel Keith’s arc as the Black Paladin was more so an homage to the original and had no place here, that it was ill fitting or Shiro was more suited to the position–personally, I was really hoping for a return of Black Paladin Shiro myself. But Keith has undeniably made great strides since day one, and he’s not the inexperienced, untamed fire he once was. For reference here, I remember many fans prior to season 2 citing Keith’s stunt on the hoverbike as one of the many reasons why he was a poor leader. “If Shiro wasn’t unconscious for this, he’d never let Keith have the job!” Stuff like that. And it was so incredibly rewarding to me to see that Shiro taught him that, that they were always sort of cut from the same cloth, that they had learned so much from each other.

Now, here’s just some quick excerpts from my other meta on why Keith was so opposed to flying the Black Lion at first–because, as per usual, Shiro’s presence in his life informs a lot of his behavior and feelings:

Looking back at all this in hindsight [given Shiro’s chronic illness] it’s incredibly telling, because it indicates that, when Keith was pushing back againt Shiro training him to be his successor, he knew what was really going on. Keith knows it’s not just the Galra that Shiro’s worrying about, that he sees himself as living off borrowed time. Keith’s rejection of the Black Lion is him rejecting the notion that losing Shiro is inevitable. He’s been terrified of this for years now, and it’s a possiblity he refuses to come to terms with.

He makes promises like, he’ll save Shiro “as many times as it takes,” even knowing there are some things he can’t strike down with his blade. And he’s always believed Shiro would still make it.

Keith adamantly refuses to pilot Black at first because of how much he cares for Shiro. And later, it’s out of respect for Shiro’s will that he reluctantly agrees to lead. And when he leaves the team? Again, he says it’s in part for Shiro’s sake–“It was always meant to be yours.” When Shiro vanishes, we feel that loss entirely through Keith, the one deep in mourning and unable to move on. He mourns Shiro with a grief that’s intimately personal on a level none of the others–save Allura–understand. He lashes out in grief-ladden outbursts and pushes the team away at every turn, instead seeking out the comfort of the Black Lion, clinging onto whatever remnants of Shiro he can. It’s unbelievable that, even when so overwhelmed by heartbreak, his soul still innately seeks out Shiro’s. To reiterate:

Keith can subconsciously sense Shiro’s presence. Throughout Shiro’s time in the Astral Plane–that time when his soul was interwoven with the Black Lion–Keith never acknowledges the Black Lion as her own seperate entity. He only refers to her as either Shiro himself or an extension of him: “Shiro’s the Black Lion.” “I know this is what you wanted for me, Shiro. But I’m not you. I can’t lead them like you.” “Please, no.” “This one’s for you, Shiro.”

Eventually, Shiro passes on the Black Lion to Keith, because he’s the person Shiro trusts most. And Keith is able to properly accept his new role, because for once, he feels secure and self-assured. Shiro is at his side and Keith has his blessing to pilot. Shiro is right there and isn’t going anywhere, he’s back, he’s safe, and he’s able to recover and heal. In the meantime, Keith has matured into quite a leader in the Quantum Abyss, and he’s become a man whose team will readily follow. They all look up to him in a way they never have before. Even Lance. And Shiro isn’t left behind either–becoming the Captain of the Atlas allows him to continue being the team leader he was always meant to be, as well as offering the opportunity for co-leadership sheith that has been foreshadowed for nearly the entire series.

Lastly, in terms of relationships, I think it’s no secret that I’ve mentioned quite a bit the noticeable parallels between Adam’s past relationship with Shiro and Keith in the present. Adam’s “but I won’t go through this again,” compared to Keith’s “You can’t do this to me again,” Adam walking out on Shiro and then immediately cutting to Keith determined to wait by his side, ect.

A Little Adventure also ends on the note that Shiro has come to see him in a new light–something evident since the Quantum Abyss. Again, here’s just some things from past meta real quick–because, if we’re talking about character development here, I know a lot of people have said–where could they go from here? I’ve heard people insist that the relationship was too stagnant, that it was boring or uninteresting because they never changed. But it’s obvious there is a clear shift in the relationship on both ends. So, for consideration, just some things I’ve noticed:

When Shiro’s soul is adrift, displaced from his body, he dreams of Keith. Given the emphasis on mystical bonds in this series, I think it’s no coincidence that Keith was also the one calling out to Shiro all this time. And when Keith begs Shiro not to leave him again, to return to him, by some miracle…Shiro is brought back from the brink of death. His soul, which had been all but lost, was tethered to Keith’s. That love anchored him back to this plane: “Shiro, please. Fight! You can’t do this to me again…” “I was dreaming…Keith, you saved me.” “We saved each other.”

There’s a reason why all his worst nightmares are Shiro leaving him behind–Shiro’s the one person who never gave up on him. I think it’s pretty realistic that Keith would feel so intensely for him, even at such a young age. I think Keith was always sort of carrying a torch for Shiro, I think that’s just who he is. And I think that, after years and tons of growth and change and character development, having all these memories be Shiro’s dreams, have the narrative compare Keith to his ex and then hear Shiro say, “You saved me”–it’s a pretty brilliant way of showing how Shiro’s come to have feelings for the man Keith became in turn.

See also:

But here’s the thing, Shiro isn’t weak in [his fight with Sendak], the matchup with Sendak is pretty even right up until the end there. He just needed a little help. And you know what? That’s a huge part of Shiro’s overarching character arc–how he has to learn it’s okay to lean on others and he doesn’t have to exist as a solemn statue behind stone walls.

If you look back at the flashbacks in A Little Adventure, he tells Adam, “You don’t have to protect me.” All his life, he’s wanted to prove he wasn’t weak. But at some point, he started to misconstrue that as, I have to be strong enough to never rely on anyone else, I can’t ever be vulnerable. The lesson he eventually learns that I think goes over a lot of fans’ heads here is that there’s nothing wrong with being protected.

And Keith’s way of saving Shiro is in so much more than daring rescues. It’s how he’s always been the one to believe in Shiro. It’s how he’s the one who always tells Shiro to keep fighting. It’s how he always insisted Shiro was the best leader among them. It’s how he begs Shiro to keep going no matter what, that it’s okay, don’t worry, “you’re gonna make it.”

In short, Keith became Shiro’s support in the same way that Shiro’s always been there for him. They anchor one another. And lastly, this note on how Keith and Shiro’s relationship has grown into a place where it seems meant to last:

Lauren: “And that’s something that, where Adam might be able to walk away from a relationship, because he doesn’t feel that respect, that relationship is something that Keith would hold on to his whole life, and probably never be able to walk away from.” (source)

So, suffice to say–Keith goes through a lot of character development, and honestly, so much of it is really solid with a wonderful foundation to build off and grow.

#keith #sheith #voltron #sorry its long

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iturbide · 5 years

Note

Also please publish a list of your aus to whip up the rest of your fans into a frenzy 😉

pfffff okay to try and keep this at least marginally reasonable I’m going to limit descriptions to one/two lines

Crown of Shadows/Shrouded Throne: A split-path narrative where, to stop the civil war raging in Plegia, Robin comes to Ylisse to beg aid from Exalt Emmeryn. After getting drafted by accident into the Shepherds, the Plegian and the Ylissean prince become fast friends – and very soon, something more.

Cursed Fate: Following Robin’s death, Chrom takes his body back to Plegia for burial; when a disembodied whisper confirms that there may be a chance to restore Robin’s life, Chrom goes on a quest through the Grimleal nation to bring together Grima’s remains.

Affectionately Yours: Accepting Plegia’s invitation to visit in his sister’s stead, Chrom rapidly comes to realize that everything he thought he knew about the halidom’s neighbor is at best a wild exaggeration thanks to the guidance of Plegia’s sovereign, Robin.

Accursed Divine: Robin is trapped in a curse that transforms her by day into a fell beast. Once the curse is broken, the ensuing political drama follows Robin and Chrom uniting their countries after Robin’s ascension to the Plegian throne.

Sigh No More: Arranged marriage AU where Chrom is married to Robin, who due to Validar’s ritual in her early life bears several Grima-esque features (including wings, tail, horns, etc).

The Future Built Upon the Past: A look at the events of the doomed timeline and how it led to the course of events that eventually led Lucina to alter the course of fate.

Butterfly: A split-path narrative where, after ascending to the Plegian throne, Robin reaches out to Emmeryn in an attempt to forge diplomatic ties that have long been neglected. Initially distrustful of the Plegian emissary, Chrom is forced to come to terms with his own prejudices (and eventually his deeper feelings).

Beyond Twilight’s Veil: When Risen begin appearing in Ylisse, Chrom ventures into Plegia on Emmeryn’s behalf to try to find a joint solution, meeting and readily befriending Robin along the way. When things go wrong, leaving Robin half-transformed and Validar dead, the Shepherds are forced to flee Gangrel’s pursuit; two years later, Robin claims the Plegian throne and reaches out to Ylisse in an attempt to rebuild lost friendships.

Pride and Joy: Raised in Plegia under Mustafa’s care, Robin is drafted into Validar’s assassination attempt on Emmeryn – but decides that the orders should not be fulfilled and defects, saving the Exalt’s life. In the trials to follow, Robin tries to keep the Ylisseans safe from Gangrel’s forces without exposing her own wavering loyalties.

Speaker for the Dead: Raised under Validar’s cruel abuse, Robin exists as little more than a hollow shell, surviving each day on the battlefield. When Chrom reaches out to him on the battlefield and offers a glimpse of something better than the threat of death, Robin cautiously accepts and gradually begins to recover from the traumas of Validar’s upbringing.

Prisoner of War: The Exalt’s war has left Plegia in ruins, its citizens scattered and the remnants of the army using guerrilla tactics to oppose the crusade. When his father calls him to the front, Chrom is captured by the Plegian resistance, and rapidly discovers that everything he thought he knew about Plegia (and the Heart of Grima who took him captive) is wrong.

Twist of Fate: A role reversal AU where Chrom awakens in Plegia with no memory and Robin finds him. With the Exalt mounting a new push in his crusade, Chrom struggles with the questions about who he might have been before – and with his growing feelings for the Plegian who took him in.

Manwearer: After becoming separated from his mother, Robin is raised by the taguel of Panne’s warren. On hearing about a threat to the Exalt’s life, the warren mobilizes to her aid, and Robin and Panne ally with the Shepherds to uncover the deeper mystery behind the attack.

As You Are: Robin comes to Ylisse on a diplomatic mission, hoping to warn the Exalt of a potential threat. When an attack leaves the Plegian blind, Chrom confesses his feelings – only to be rebuffed as Robin believes that the feelings are born of guilt, leaving Chrom to grapple with what he fears are unrequited feelings.

Hard Reset: A bad-end Heroes AU where Muspell invades Askr and wipes out the Order of Heroes – but before Surtr can kill Kiran, they fire Breidablik, which somehow transports them to another Zenith. Taken in by the Emblians, Kiran sets about trying to prevent the ruin that befell the world they were first summoned to.

Kintsugi: A Golden Deer-based Three Houses fix-it AU, where Claude decides from the outset of his reunion with Byleth they’re going to save as many lives as possible.

BONUS

Smoke and Mirrors: Pokemon AU where Robin and her Zoroark Reflet (who prefers a human guise that passes for her brother) join with Chrom, a Pokemon Ranger branching out into competitive training; and his sister Lissa, an aspiring pokemon medic. This brings them into conflict with the Grimleal who are hunting for the Legendary Pokemon Giratina – a pokemon that Robin and Reflet have a very curious connection to.

Design Defect: A modern AU where Robin is the son of the head of the Grimleal mafia who enters Ylisstol University and meets Chrom, son of Exalt Corp’s CEO and the heir to the family company. While Robin might have some ulterior motives for getting close to Chrom at first, he quickly gets in over his head.

Second Chances: After Chrom is summoned to Askr and finds the tactician he lost in the conflict with Grima, the two are finally free to have the relationship they were so long denied during their life in Ylisse.

A House Divided: A speculative AU exploring what might have been had Alm and Celica not attacked Grima in the Thabes Labyrinth and instead took the dragon in. He eventually befriends Tiki, and the two eventually come into conflict with Naga, who wants to destroy the abomination she fears is corrupting her daughter (and in so doing destroys her relationship with Tiki).

Heroes Canon: The constantly evolving situation in Zenith, which includes the dragon creche and the curious cases of villains truly going Hero.

Pre-Timeskip Fix-It: A Black Eagles-based Three Houses fix-it AU where Byleth gets to shut down Edelgard’s alarming rhetoric every time she opens her mouth, and the Imperial princess stumbles her way through the process of becoming a better person.

Spire Project: A Three Houses canon-divergent AU where the question of “what would have happened if Edelgard had hired Miklan to kill Claude and Dimitri at the start of the year?” snowballs into madness (when the summary is 17.5k words and 30 pages long, you know it’s gonna be a monster).

Daycare AU (collab with AcquaSole): When single father Chrom switches his young daughter into Robin’s daycare center, he quickly finds himself getting close to the soft-spoken Plegian that Lucina has gotten so attached to.

Feles Regem Aspeciat (collab with citadelity): Naga has possessed Chrom and taken over rule in the halidom. Robin volunteers to become the inside man for the resistance in the hopes of finding a means to free Chrom from the divine’s control.

War Crimes (collab with anankos): The Exalt of Ylisse becomes willing host to Naga’s power in a bid to wipe Plegia off the map, but the Fell Dragon’s return puts the war in a deadlock. Chrom is kidnapped and brought to Plegia in a desperate bid to open diplomatic channels, but when that fails he ends up as as a guest and becomes unlikely friends with Robin, the son of a Plegian tactician (who has more than a few secrets).

Assassin’s Creed: Awakening: The result of me playing too much Assassin’s Creed. When Emmeryn is kidnapped and slated to become a Grimleal sacrifice, Chrom and the Shepherds rush to save her – only her rescue comes at Plegian hands, instead. Defying his crusading father, Chrom chooses to stand by Robin and ends up embroiled in a millennia-old conflict between secret forces.

Sibling AU: Grima as Robin’s protective older sibling. When Emmeryn invites the recently-crowned king of Plegia to Ylisse for diplomatic discussions, Grima sneaks his younger brother along to show him the world he’s been missing, and both unexpectedly find new friends in what they long believed were enemy lands. (Also woe betide poor Chrom when it comes to dating.)

Promare AU: I saw Promare. It was great! So much so that my brain folded Awakening’s setting and characters up all nice and neat and shoved them into Promare’s narrative arc. And also it’s Chrobin because that’s who I am as a person.

Cardcaptor Lissa: Rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura blindsided me with the realization that Lissa would make a perfect Cardcaptor and things spiraled from there.

Vampire AU: Robin is a charming young man hired on to be Chrom’s manservant and bodyguard; unbeknownst to anyone, he hides a secret (vampiric) affliction.

Mermaid AU: Everyone’s mermaids what else do you want from me

Life Goes On: My friend wrote a thing and it made me want to write things for the thing it’s all anankos’ fault i’m writing promare stuff now

#answered #2goldensnitches #fire emblem: awakening #fire emblem: heroes #chrobin #i'm pretty sure i'm missing a few aus but honestly this is already outrageous #au list

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multiverseforger · 3 years

Text

Jean-Paul Valley, a university graduate student of computer science in Gotham City, is unaware that he is the latest in a line of assassin-enforcers for "The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas", a sinister religious secret society. For most of his life, he has been brainwashed with The System, a deep level of psychological conditioning.[6]

Valley only learned of his new status upon the death of his father, who was also his predecessor, at which time his conditioning was activated and he was called upon to take up the mantle of Azrael.[7] When he was sent by the Order to kill weapons dealer Carlton LeHah, a rogue member of the Order who turned against the others and killed Valley's father, he crossed paths with Batman, who had been investigating the death. He worked with Alfred Pennyworth to find LeHah after he had captured Bruce Wayne, using the Batman costume to kill the other Order members. Valley worked with Alfred, demonstrating a detective's intuition in tracking LeHah's movements and later risking himself to rescue Bruce despite his traditional mission of vengeance. In doing so, he was shown the error of his ways and decided to fight alongside Batman against the criminals of Gotham, rejecting his "birthright" and seeking Batman's help in breaking his conditioning to forge his own destiny.

His name is not revealed to Alfred and Bruce until the end of the story, at which point he claims it also was his father's name (a later storyline in his solo series stated his father's name to be Ludovic Valley, however).[8]

Valley is given a job as a security guard at WayneTech headquarters, and also becomes an apprentice crimefighter alongside Batman and Robin, learning basic detective work.

Valley plays a pivotal role in the Knightfall story arc (1993–1994), in which he stands in as Batman after Bruce Wayne is defeated and paralyzed at the hands of Bane. He decides that Bruce's tactics as Batman are obsolete and believes that he must fight criminals on their terms which makes him far more brutal and merciless, often even showing little regard for innocent bystanders. Against Bruce Wayne's orders, Valley fights and defeats Bane, wearing enhanced battle-armor he designed and built under the influence of the System after he was narrowly defeated by Bane in their first confrontation.[9] His performance as Batman is influenced by his Azrael conditioning. He grows increasingly violent and delusional, allowing the mass murderer Abattoir to fall to his death, thereby also allowing one of Abattoir's still-living hostages to die.[10] Valley also has control problems with Tim Drake's partnership, emphasized when Valley almost strangles him to death and bans him from the Batcave. He seals off the Batcave from Wayne Manor and the Drake property, and eschews working with Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham police. Valley also suffers from continuous hallucinations of both his father and St. Dumas who tell him that he is the real Batman and that he must avenge his father's death (having convinced himself that Lehah was just the man who instigated his father's death while one of the man's former henchmen actually pulled the trigger).

Initially, Wayne is impressed enough with Valley's results to let him remain as Batman, but when Drake tells Wayne of Abattoir's death, he resolves to reclaim the Batman mantle. With his back repaired thanks to the sacrifice of psychic healer Doctor Shondra Kinsolving, and his fighting instincts rehabilitated after lessons with Lady Shiva, Wayne goes after Valley to reclaim his identity. After a prolonged battle that stretches from a Gotham penthouse to a major bridge before culminating in a final showdown in the Batcave, Bruce tricks Valley into removing his armor, excluding his helmet (with night-vision lenses engaged), and exposes him to bright sunlight - the shock snaps Valley out of his delusional state. Acknowledging Bruce Wayne as the true Batman, Valley apologizes and asks for his forgiveness, which Bruce accepts, recognizing his own role in Valley's descent into madness during his time as Batman, but tells Valley to leave Wayne Manor immediately.[8]

Valley lives among the homeless population of Gotham for several weeks, befriending an alcoholic former psychiatrist named Brian Bryan.

Valley is then sought out by Bruce Wayne, who feels responsible for his mental breakdown after attaining and losing the mantle of Batman. Bruce grants him a small fortune in money, information on the Order of St. Dumas' whereabouts, and resources to explore his origins. Along with Bryan, he discovers the evil conspiracies within the order of St. Dumas, and they help a nun named Sister Lilhy escape. With the help of Ra's al Ghul, Valley discovers that he is a genetically engineered test tube baby, and his genes have been spliced with those of animals.

He returns to Gotham for several crossover events, including Underworld Unleashed, Contagion, Legacy, and Cataclysm. He also discovers that his father's killer, Carlton LeHah, is still alive. Valley attempts to regain Batman's trust after the events of the KnightsEnd arc. Batman, who feels responsible for Valley, especially after realizing that he gave him very little training and support, decides to give Azrael missions to carry out as a test to prove himself. The first of these missions is to defeat a resurfaced Bane, but it is not until Azrael saves the lives of a group of U.S. Senators (one of which tries to plead to Congress for the funds to rebuild Gotham City after its devastating earthquake) that Batman begins to fully trust him again. Prior to those events, Batman sent Azrael after Nicholas Scratch, who was planning to kill another Senator who also wanted federal money to save Gotham City. While pursuing Scratch, Azrael was framed for the Senator's murder after he was strangled to death moments before Azrael arrived to save him.

After being framed, Azrael is given a new costume designed by Batman and uses it for a time, especially during the No Man's Land story arc. Azrael helps Batman maintain a chaotic Gotham City, often with the assistance of the new Batgirl, and protects Leslie Thompkins' medical clinic inside of No Man's Land. After foiling Scratch's plan of framing him for murder, Azrael returns to his original costume and battles hallucinations that represent both his father and St. Dumas himself. Toward the end of the series, Azrael is plagued by supernatural occurrences in the form of possible miracles.

Azrael is seemingly killed in the series' final issue, shot with two specially-coated bullets while battling Scratch and LeHah. Scratch is arrested, and LeHah falls into the river with Azrael. However, Azrael's body is never recovered,[8] and his death went unconfirmed for several years. In Booster Gold (vol. 2) #10, a note can be seen written on time traveler Rip Hunter's chalk board reading "Jean-Paul Valley Lives!" In the following issue, another note says, "Azrael comes and goes." Azrael appears in Blackest Night #4 as an undead member of the Black Lantern Corps; although at first it had not been confirmed whether it was Jean-Paul Valley or another Azrael (such as Ludovic Valley, who died in Gotham City). The index section of the Blackest Night tabloid later indicated that it was in fact Jean-Paul.[11]

Jean-Paul Valley makes a cameo at Batman's funeral service in Neil Gaiman's 2009 story Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? He is seen stepping up to deliver his own version of Batman's death as a background event, however his story is unseen and he has no lines. The story is metaphysical in nature, not affecting the overall status of the canon or Azrael's fate.

The New 52Edit

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Jean-Paul Valley reappeared as Azrael in an arc of Batman & Robin: Eternal. His design was updated, with his main weapon being his sword rather than gauntlets (although he was later shown to still possess the gauntlet blades). His character, however, was essentially the same, working as an enforcer for the Order of St. Dumas. In the comic, he defeated Bane and eventually turned on his handler and the Order to assist Red Hood and Tim Drake. This marked the first proper appearance of a living Jean-Paul Valley in the DCU in over a dozen years, with previous appearances relegated to either minimal cameos or the aforementioned Black Lantern revival of the character.[12]

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warsofasoiaf · 6 years

Note

Traitor Primarch Ask: Alpharius Omegon and the Alpha Legion (even if they may or may not be secret Loyalists)?

As might be expected, definite things regarding Alpharius, Omegon, and the Twentieth Legion are in very short supply. The Alpha Legion is full of both absent information and deliberate misinformation which makes pinning anything down hard, even their origin stories are fake, but there are some real concrete pieces of information there when we look.

Alpharius and Omegon are twins, but they shared a telepathic connection which meant that the two were never truly alone. This concept is writ large across the entire Alpha Legion, best emphasized in the metaphor of the Pale Spear. The Pale Spear can be disassembled and carried by the members of the individual Legion, but the Pale Spear itself isn’t broken, it remains the Pale Spear. Thus, even when an Alpha Legionnaire is alone, he is never truly alone, because he is still the Legion and can strike with the force of such.

The Alpha Legion borrows a lot from modern day non-nation militant groups including insurgency tactics, focus on sabotage and assassinating targets of opportunity, especially in their cell-based structure and largely independent commanders, meaning that the Alpha Legion cells can enact their own plots without knowing of the other or betraying the Legion, meaning that some Alpha Legionnaires may oppose another Alpha Legionnaire with a different idea or compete over the same resource or mission space. Thus, some members of the Alpha Legion could be actual Chaos Space Marines, worshiping Chaos and accepting their foul blessings, while others might be Renegades and still others secret Loyalists, fighting for the Imperium in the way that they know best.

The Legion isn’t just insurgency though, they also have some very strong Cold War vibes to them, including a Manchurian Candidate-like process of planting deep cover agents to be deployed when needed. While the Alpha Legion can (and has) fought conventional battle, they love to deploy false flag operations, attacking using enemy uniforms, and other means of PSYOPS to undermine the enemy.

This style of warfare annoyed plenty of Alpharius’s brother Primarchs. Konrad Curze despised the dishonesty of the Alpha Legion’s approach, his own terror tactics were certainly striking from ambush, but left no uncertainty as to what it was and why it was happening. Rogal Dorn considered the Alpha Legion to be assassins not worthy of bearing the Emperor’s mark. Roboute Guilliman felt that Alpharius’s approach left conquered areas seething with resentment, requiring resources to build them back up and maintain them. Mortarion and Leman Russ thought that the approach was cowardly and dishonorable. Horus was noted to have valued Alpharius’s approach, praising Alpharius’s panache and forging a close bond with Alpharius. It was speculated, of course, that Alpharius’s friendship with Horus was what led him to side with the Warmaster in the Heresy.

Dan Abnett’s Legion tells us that this is a lie, that the reason he joined the Heresy was due to the Cabal, a collection of xenos with prophetic powers. According to them, if the Emperor wins, he would give his life and become an undead monstrosity, then his Imperium would stagnate, feeding Chaos with the misery of humanity and empowering them. Eventually the spirit of the Emperor would fail and Chaos would consume the galaxy. If Horus won, the short-term victory would empower the Chaos Gods, but Horus’s guilt would cause him to embark on a cleansing crusade, fracturing Chaos, ending with the obliteration humanity and the Chaos Gods both. Alpharius made the decision to side with Horus because he believed that the Emperor would want such a sacrifice to stop the Chaos Gods.

Alpharius’s conduct during the Heresy is very interesting. When working with another legion, such as in the Dropsite Massacre, they cause great damage to the Loyalists, but they permitted the Raven Guard to escape with their Primarch (though with a few Alpha Legion plants mixed in among them). By the later stages of the Heresy, Horus couldn’t trust Alpharius with missions, stating that Alpharius had his own plots, thus Mortarion had to handle the Khan. During the Chondax campaign, the Alpha Legion delays Jaghatai Khan, allowing him to receive the missive from Rogal Dorn, but they attack the Space Wolves after the Burning of Prospero and do significant damage to them at the Alaxxes Nebula. In fact, when it came to his enemies, he fought the ones who disparaged him (Dorn, Russ) much harder than the ones who had not (Jaghatai Khan was one of the most live and let live Primarchs there was). While that almost seems too petty, remember that Lion knocked out Russ over a laugh and Magnus started his folly in part because he wanted to prove sorcery could be a benefit. The Primarchs are titans, and have titanic egos to match; Alpharius seeking validation from those who mocked him was not beyond reason.

The question is, was Alpharius, Omegon, or both secret loyalists, did they ever fall to Chaos, did they change their mind during the Heresy. The Alpha Legion at times even fought itself and prevented some loyalists from turning, and Alpharius and Omegon seemed to be of different minds about the ultimate goal. By The Unremembered Empire, the Cabal is convinced that the Alpharius gambit has failed (and Alpharius kills their representatives after Deliverance Lost, stating that he would act on his own initiative). Certainly, Alpharius also hindered the plans of the Chaos Gods, by refusing to destroy the genetic Astartes material Corax used after sabotaging his plans to rebuild the Raven Guard, but he didn’t turn over the material to Fabius Bile, instead giving him ultimately useless information that prevented Bile from creating newer and better Chaos Marines.

Rogal… I did this so that you would understand… So that you would see that you cannot win. I am not here to kill you, brother. I am not here for Horus. I am here to give you victory… I know the enemy, I know your weaknesses, and theirs. I know the truth… I can give you victory, brother.

What he does in Praetorian of Dorn is very fascinating. Alpharius launches his greatest Harrowing yet, challenging Rogal Dorn directly and using every weapon in his arsenal to subvert, destroy, and undermine Dorn’s defenses of the solar system. However, when the two Primarchs finally come to blows, Alpharius quite pointedly says that he was not there for Horus, and he references the enemy as not being the same person as Rogal. It hints that the “enemy” is Chaos, and that Alpharius can give Dorn victory, but what does that mean? Did Alpharius change his mind and now wished to return to the loyalists? If he had, why did he not deploy his Alpha Legion against the Traitor Legions, and why did he do damage to Dorn’s defenses and make it easier for Horus to attack Terra? Was he attempting to recruit Dorn even to the last hour in hopes of strengthening the Traitor Legions that would eventually scour the universe of Chaos at the cost of themselves? Or was it Alpharius’s addiction to complexity that led him to craft an overly elaborate plan instead of a straightforward one that ended up getting him killed at the hands of Rogal Dorn? Indirect and endlessly open to interpretation, Alpharius was true to himself all the way to his death.

When Omegon finally sensed that Alpharius was gone, what did that mean for him? Why did he take up the mantle of Alpharius, and why did he continue to work to prevent reinforcements from reaching Terra. Was Omegon a traitor the whole time, despite the fact that he seemed to be the one to oppose the switching to Chaos? Did he become Alpharius because he couldn’t stand being alone, and acted the way that he believed Alpharius would act? Or did the loss of Alpharius cause Omegon to accept Chaos into his heart? We may never know, and it might be better if we don’t ever know, so that fans can endlessly discuss what the Alpha Legion is.

Thanks for the question, Necromancer. I think only the arch-traitor is left.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#warhammer 40k #the primarchs

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hawkeyedflame · 7 years

Audio

So I was tagged for this forever ago by Robyn (@the-heart-alchemist), Marilyn (@haganenobeato), and Camila (@didsomeonesayroyai) and now I’ve finally recording it! I totally didn’t put it off because I hate the sound of my voice or anything. I rambled a lot so I put the abridged answers below.

Tell me about you!

1. Where are you from? Rural Massachusetts, but I live in Boston now.

2. Do you like the manga, brotherhood, or 03 best? I like the manga events the best, but I think part of that is because I watched Brotherhood first, so when I read the manga I could really hear the characters’ voices. I guess Mangahood overall is my favorite, though I do like 03 for what it is.

3. When did you get into the series? I’m a latecomer, I didn’t watch it until December 2016 even though people have been urging me to watch it since 2013. @schnee-dust-co and @the-heart-alchemist are mainly responsible for getting me into it.

4. Do you create anything for the fandom (fanart, gifs, amv’s, songs, fanfiction, etc.)? I write one-shots sometimes but I have yet to really commit to something big. I feel like a lot of the ideas I could have are already beaten to death because of how old the fandom is, but I still itch to write anyways. I also try to draw but I’m not very good at it.

Fullmetally questions:

1. Who’s your favorite character and why? (Try to keep as low as three.) Good god I mean, if you can’t tell from my blog my favorite two are Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang. After them I honestly...don’t know.

2. Would you want to be an Alchemist, join the military, or work on automail? I would probably want to be an alchemist, although I wouldn’t mind being in the Amestrian military. Automail is too mechanical-ey for me.

3. Any OTP’s? I mean if I could only pick one OTP from all my fandoms it would be Royai. I ship all the canon ships, but none of them come close to Royai.

4. List some of your favorite fics or amv’s. Oh boy I...there’s so many! Too many to list but the first ones that come to mind are Until Tomorrow by @rizascupcakes, which was the first one I ever read; Here Dead We Lie by mebh, which continues to hurt my soul; literally everything by @the-flame-and-hawks-eye, Reverberations by Antigone Rex (she says she’s going to finish it too!); The Elemental Chess Trilogy by @ladynorbert, which is one of my favorite gen series; and a bunch of other one-shots and multichaps by various people and I’m sorry but I really can’t list all of them because omigod there’s so many amazing writers for this fandom!!! (I promise that even if I didn’t name you but I’ve read your FMA fics I love and appreciate you a lot!!!)

5. Where would you want to live in their universe? Probably somewhere outside of East City. Resembool is a little too rural for me but the city proper is too urban. Somewhere in between would be nice.

6. Which way do you prefer the death of the Rockbells, mangahood or 03? Mangahood 100%. I feel like, as a plot point, it kind of fell flat in 03. Like, Winry found out and then...nothing really came of it? I don’t know, I feel like it was much more important to the plot and to Winry and Scar’s character development in Mangahood. I feel like, in 03, it gave us a good foundation for Roy’s characterization but never really drove him forward when the truth came out.

7. Moments that made you cry? How about moments that made you laugh? Good god I’m a complete wimp and I cried at the second episode and every single emotional moment on my first watch through. Rewatching, Al yelling at Ed after Scar almost kills him in Rain of Sorrows gets me, as does Roy crying in Separate Destinations, Riza’s breakdown in Death of the Undying, the entire Roy/Riza altercation in Beyond the Inferno, Ling crying and begging for someone to help him save Fu, Al transmuting his soul to bring Ed’s arm back, and Edward crying and yelling at Hohenheim. idk why I pronounced Hohenheim so weirdly in my recording?? For moments that made me laugh, pretty much anytime Ed or Roy are getting picked on makes me laugh.

8. How do you feel about Roy Mustang’s decision to use the Philosopher’s Stone? I understand why he did it and I hope that the events of the Promised Day helped forge some sort of understanding between himself and the people of Ishval so that they can rebuild Ishval together. I know Roy has a good heart and I sincerely believe the only thing in his mind when he accepted Marcoh’s offer was that having his eyesight restored would help him fix things.

9. Make up a question for the people you tag! I think everyone has done this by now so I’m not going to tag anyone! :(

Robyn’s question: What is your favorite quote from the FMA series? Hmm that’s hard but a couple are: “The one thing worse than death is to avert your eyes from it. Look straight at the people you kill. Don't take your eyes off them for a second. And don't ever forget them, because I promise that they won't forget you.” “You scum sit back and safely watch the battlefield as if it were some kind of spectator sport. You don’t know anything about sacrifice and yet you’re the first to talk about its necessity.” And of course, “I can’t afford to lose you.”

Marilyn’s question: How would you feel having your soul attached to a suit of armor? I like food and sleeping way too much so I don’t think I’d enjoy that.

Camila’s question: What was your favorite aspect of the series (like character development, plot development, humor, fights, romance, etc)? I mean I want to talk about how much I love how deep and complicated each character is but if I’m being honest the thing that keeps me coming back to the series time and time again is Royai and I can’t help it.

(Sorry about that suuuper awkward ending, my roommates and their friends all came back from wherever they had gone off to right around when I started answering the question from Robyn so I got all flustered because the walls in my apartment are super thin.)

#ask tag #fma voice tag #fma #ummm sorry about my voice

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yunathun · 5 years

Text

THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL ARE ABOVE ALL OTHER NATIONS

(ALL NATIONS OUTSIDE OF ISRAEL ARE NOTHING IN THE EYES OF THE LORD AND ARE AS SPITTLE-AS THE WIND-NOTHING).

FROM THE KING JAME BIBLE (KJV 1611)

INTERPRETED BY MR: J.R.WILLIS

Shalom Family,

In this post you are going to learn the TRUTH about how the Most High feels about the gentiles and his WORLD-(THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL) in which he created exclusively for his chosen people.

EDOM-(THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS), the gentiles, the ungodly and the unlearned attempt to downplay the WORD OF GOD by constantly and repetively TEACH the SATANIC FALSE PAGAN ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE that Christ died for all and that Great Father Ahayah LOVE ALL WICKED NATIONS of the earth.

This false demonic notion is simply a LIE, and is UNTRUE.

Great Father Ahayah sent Lord Yashaya to rebuild the broken bridge that had been made with the FALL OF ADAM and when ISRAEL would continuously fall away from the Father BY NOT KEEPING HIS HOLY LAWS, STATUTES, AND COMMANDMENTS and going after the FILTHY PAGAN GENTILE WAYS-(EDOM-THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS & THE REST OF THE HEATHEN NATIONS).

In their-(THE GENTILES- THE UNGODLY-THE UNLEARNED)self delusional ignorance and shear HATRED for GOD'S TRUE PEOPLE-(THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL) they seek to FORCE their inclusion into the promises-(HOLY COVENANT) that God made with our Forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by manipulating scripture-(JOHN 3:16) to fit their wicked UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE DOCTRINE.

The BIG PROBLEM for these wicked and unlearned GENTILES is that they have no TRUE understanding JOHN 3:16 because they choose to overlook and ignore the FACT that the Lord has a chosen Holy Bloodline. This Holy Bloodline is the PURE ancestral peoples who SHARE THE VERY BLOOD DNA OF BOTH ADAM & EVE.

Then HEATHEN simply cannot accept that WE are the Lord's chosen and that the WORLD is referring to ISRAEL and that Lord Yashaya came to redeem and sacrifice himself only FOR ISRAEL who are the Poor Black and Brown people of the 12 TRIBES who THE SATANIC WORLD-(EDOM-THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS & THE REST OF THE 16 GENTILE NATIONS) has been raping, enslaving, killing, stealing from, and has waged all out genocide against.

DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, LORD YASHAYA FIRST VERIFIES WHO HE EXACTLY CAME TO BE A SACRIFICE FOR AND GUESS WHAT EDOM-(THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS) IT WAS NOT FOR YOU.

JOHN 3:16

“For God so loved the WORLD-(THE WORLD-THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

ALL GENTILES & HEATHENS ARE NOT THE WORLD

LORD YASHAYA CAME BACK FOR ONE CHOSEN PEOPLE:

MATTHEW 15:24

“But he answered and said, I am NOT sent but unto the LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL"

NOW ALL PREPARE YOURSELVES BECAUSE GREAT FATHER AHAYAH MAKES IT ABSOLUTELY CLEAR OF WHO HE LOVES AND WHO HE CARES NOT FOR-(THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN).

FURTHER PROOF GOD AND CHRIST ARE ONLY FOR ISRAEL'S TERM:

2 Esdras 6:54-59

And after these, Adam also, whom thou madest lord of all thy creatures: of him come we all-(ALL NATIONS INCLUDING THE GENTILES AND EDOM-THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS), and the people also whom thou hast chosen-(CHOSEN-THE LORD CHOSE ISRAEL TO BE ABOVE ALL PEOPLE-THEY ARE A DIRECT HOLY PURE BLOODLINE OF ADAM).

55 All this have I spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou madest the world for our sakes-(OUR SAKES IS REFERRING TO THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL. KEEP IN MIND THIS VISION IS BEING SENT DIRECTLY FROM GREAT FATHER AHAYAH TO ESDRAS WHO IS A BLACK HEBREW MAN OF ISRAEL).

56 As for the other people, which also come of Adam-(OTHER PEOPLE-GENTILES-EDOM), thou hast said that they are NOTHING-(THE GENTILES MEAN NOTHING TO THE MOST HIGH GOD AS ISRAEL ARE HIS PEOPLE WHO YOU REJECT, MURDER, AND HATE & KILL), but be like unto SPITTLE-(EDOM AND THE GENTILES ARE LESS THAN NOTHING TO THE MOST HIGH & ARE AS SPIT): and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel-(EDOM AND THE GENTILES ARE WORTH LESS THAN A DROP OF WATER).

57 And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen-(NONE ISRAELITE-EDOM-THE CAUCASIAN NATIONS AND THE GENTILES), which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us-(EDOM HAS RULED OVER ISRAEL FOR THE PAST 2500 YEARS STARTING WITH ALEXANDER THE GREEK-FOR ESAU-CAUCASIANS IS THE END OF THE WORLD AND JACOB-CHRIST-POOR BLACK & BROWN PEOPLE OF THE 12 TRIBES IS THE BEGINNING THAT FOLLOWETH-THE NEW KINGDOM), and to devour us-(DEVOUR-SATANIC WARS UPON GODS PEOPLE-DEMONIC VACCINES AND EUGENICS FORGED AGAINST US-BLOOD,CONQUEST & ENSLAVEMENT OF ESAU-CAUCASIANS OVER GOD'S PEOPLE).

58 But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy firstborn, thy only begotten, and thy fervent lover, are given into their hands-(THY FIRSTBORN-FIRST BEGOTTEN SON OF FATHER AHAYAH IS CHRIST SENT THROUGH THE SEED OF JACOB WAS GIVEN INTO THEIR HANDS-EDOM AS A SACRIFICE FOR GOD'S PEOPLE).

59 If the world now be made for our sakes-(ISRAEL-POOR BLACK & BROWN PEOPLE OF THE 12 TRIBES & NO OTHERS), why do we not possess an inheritance with the world? how long shall this endure?-(ENDURE-THE RETURN OF OUR KING WHICH IS ABOUT TO OCCUR SOON)

TO LEARN HOW THE GENTILES WHO ARE HEATHEN CAN BECOME GRAFTED INTO THE KINGDOM, PLEASE REVIEW MY BLOG POST:

(THE GENTILES CAN BE GRAFTED IN-(BUT SALVATION IS UNTO THE JEWS) FROM THE KING JAMES BIBLE (KJV 1611) PRESENTED AND INTERPRETED BY: MR. J.R.WILLIS

NOW WHO SHALL DENY THIS REPORT?

J.R.WILLIS AUTHOR: A RACE OF DEMONS REFINED 2017 AUTHOR: SPIRITUAL CRIMES 2018

AUTHOR:THE PROPHECIES

AUTHOR: DAEMONOLOGIE YEAR 2020

#THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL #hebrew israelites #BLACKS #WHITES #EDOMITES #HEBREWS #ZION #GENTILES #HEATHEN

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theamericannightmare25 · 7 years

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The Alphabet

A: Athletic- The single driving force in his life. He's physical abilities allowing him to pursue, persist, and persevere. The thing that's cause him the most constant joy and hardest times of his life. Responsible for majority of his biggest connections through his life. B: Bold- Always willing to stand in place when everyone around him chooses to sit. Not afraid to puff out his chest and go against the grain, make the hard choice and stick to his guns. Looking life in the face when it asks "are you willing to die for your love abd your faith" and simply stating with a smile "I Am" C: Courageous- the ability to wake up everyday knowing where he's been and what he's thought. Seeing his demons and accepting them as part of him instead of running from or hiding from them. Having the hard talks with those you love. Standing firm in your ways, abilities, affections, beliefs and yourself. Even if you stand...and die...alone. D: Destructive- seeing the imminent possibility that everyday could blow up in your face without question and without a second thought and deciding to move forward regardless. Allowing himself to be cut down day after day and accepting it as a condition of business, pleasure and love. E: Epitome- being the perfect representation of every mistake you've ever made and wearing it like steel armor forged in the fires of hell. Making your shortcomings your strengths and presenting the aura of imperfect perfection. F: Fatigue- a truly invasive presence in his everyday life. Growing ever tired of trying everyday to move forward only to wake up and find himself in the same place. Or worse...further away. G: Grandios- putting forth the effort to go well above and beyond in a truly outlandish display to prove himself on the regular. Planning AND carrying out a heist. Constantly over stepping his bounds. Crossing lines and disregarding boundaries. Planning small events for days on end and failing to pull them off unsuccessfully on the regular. H: Hope- the thing that that drives his feet to the floor and his eyes forward everyday. The biggest concept in his head that pushes him to keep on fighting that maybe today will be the day. And if not...maybe tomorrow. Because the possible becomes impossible only when you lose hope. I: Inconsistency- the regularly irregular treatment of everyday life. The ability to care so much in one instant about the smallest detail only to change over to a completely uncaring perspective in order to get through your day. Feeling the highest points of human interaction in one instant and feeling so incredibly alone and discarded in the next. J: Jealousy- not only seeing what people have that you can't...but also seeing what people had and knowing you never will. In its purest form, knowing how much better you are but never being able to attain rank beyond your current station. The feeling that his position will never improve because of past events and seeing the glory in others futures that will not include you. K: Kingpin- having the world at his fingertips despite all the illusions of mediocrity surrounding his life. Being able to reach out and touch his surroundings in a way to mold them around himself in any way he chooses. Presenting an aura about himself that others see as nothing less than being the alpha in all scenarios. Its his world. He merely allows you tennantship in it. L: Love- the greatest single thing one person can give another. And if he gives you his...he's giving you the key code to destroy him and all that he is. His fire hardened belief that love never fails presses him forward in fruitless endeavors and gives him faith in those others have discarded and disregarded. But make no mistake...once his love is betrayed, there is no short path to rebuild. M: Monuments- small, seemingly insignificant gestures made or shrines built in private to signify a platform he has put someone or something on. Collections of items to commemorate the funnest of times and the meaningful events in his life. Most of which built on the ruins of previously destroyed kingdoms in his mind, only to join the rest of them in the ashes of his past...or in the bottom of his closet until he can bring himself the throw them out. N: Nightmare- not in the sense of his bad dreams. In the sense of his existence. Instead of claiming to be living one, becoming one. Turning darkness into his home and allowing himself to instill it into others. Be it bringing them into the darkness with him and teaching them to feel its power; or bringing the fear to their doorstep and forcing the shadows to torment them until they jolt awake and find the light. O: Omminous- feeling the universe for what it is. Seeing the feeling in facial expressions and feeling the emotion of a room beyond your average rodeo clown. These are not parlor tricks or carnival games. These are premonitions and gut feelings. These are reading the lines that aren't being written and the words not being said. The truths not being told. He feels it and sees it all. Its burns in his stomach and keeps him awake at night. P: Positivity- not something readily possessed in his world. Through coming up in solitude and darkness he has lost his affinity to look for the light. It burns his eyes, shows his weakness and reveals his scars. It proves his mortality and reminds him that he does feel. Q: Quirky- not what you'd expect from a man of his physical stature. Weird in the oddest of ways. A goofball with a twisted sense of humor and childish affinity for pranks and laughter. Finicky at times with people and relationships. He reads others well but sometimes over looks the obvious...or worse...over sees things that just aren't there. Testy when it comes to interaction. Will shut down if he feels unwelcome or taken for granted. R: Righteous- standing on the side of he believes to be right despite who it causes him to stand against. He's lost friends over it. He's had relationships crumble because of it. He's stood with one friend and against another. Even physically sending one to a hospital because of his truthfully wrong attack on another. His true north does not waiver due to alliance. S: Sacrific- the letting go of one thing for the betterment of another. A sacrifice to the gods to end a drought. Sacrificing a relationship for a sport thats saved your life; a dream job for a shit career; a friendship for brotherhood; yourself for another. T: Timing- simply the most important facet in life. Without it nothing can work. And because of that, the easiest excuse. In sports timing can be the difference between a sack, a pick, a completion or a touchdown. A strike three, a foul ball, a single or home run. In life it can mean the difference between fond memories and happily ever after. In life, the difference between I wish and i will. U: Unconditional- his love is unconditional. He knew it from the start. You can see it in his eyemls. You can feel it from his heart. Possessing the ability to to state factual things without adding the word "but" to them. I want to...but. I'm hungry...but. Most importantly...i love you...but. V: Vitality- being active and strong. He acts with vitality in all walks. From doing the best he can in everyday life to being everything she can handle and more. His appetites are insatiable and his mind is set to purpose. W: Withdrawl- longing for some part of you that's no longer there. Missing a piece of yourself that you've allowed another to keep instead of taking it back. Longing for something gone instead of finding there is often something better or stronger in its place. He longs for his former life when things were simple. Sometimes forgetting that bigger and better things always lie ahead...not behind. X: Xeniel- though not always outwardly, often open to new guests in his life. Genreally friendly behind his shell. Looking for companionship to ease the pain and lessen the silence in his life. Welcoming until given reason to withdraw. Y: Youthful- of young age at heart, despite his jaded mind and broken heart. Will only pass on his youthful ways in order to accomodate the next generation. Never yielding to the ways of his age and only getting smarter about the application of debotchery. Z: Zany- unusual thoughts often creep through his day. Outlandish ideas and crazy thoughts fuel what he claims to be marketing genius and clever punnery. Often making up words to help drive conversations along and break up monotony. Irrational ideas behind real life issues and concepts unbecoming of decent people.

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