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doublel27 · 1 year

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That’s so valid about Owen. “I’m gonna go annoy my kids now”

And there was something so squishy about the 3 of them being a lil family unit now 🥹

I'm sure whoever you are, dear sweet nonny, you threw this in here knowing I would likely meta on about it.

And I've been thinking about the end scenes nearly all day.

I'm notoriously interested in Owen as a character. He's a facinating character who, like his son, has had his life scarred by loss. Owen's whole raison d'etre is saving his brother. It's why saving that one little girl from drowning sent him into a life focused on saving others. Then he lost his entire firehouse in 9/11, and slowly lost other survivors of 9/11 to cancer and mental health disorders.

Then, he has to bring his son back from the dead and moves him to Texas in an attempt to save his life and restart, all while diagnosed with cancer. We lose Tim Rosewater which sets Owen into deep levels of depression and guilt, because he'll never be able to keep the promise that everyone who starts a shift goes home at the end of it.

Gwyn is in town, and they're still in love and he's working on making it work. They're gonna have a baby and Owen has a redo. He's got a chance to do it RIGHT this time. Because Owen's fatal flaw is always believing if things had been different, if he had been better, if he'd beena moment sooner: maybe he could have fixed things. He had a whole speech to that effect in last night's episode, where he figured if he'd known about 9/11 ahead of time that he could have prevented his whole team from dying.

Then the baby's not his and Gwyn leaves and whatever Owen managed to cobble together of his mental health for Gwyn and teh baby disipates and there's a lot of very classic PTSD/depressive/anxiety things that come up in Owen.

And then we lose Gwyn which is devestating to everyone but Owen soldiers on for TK, but he's...not doing well, at all. He finally gets his ass to therapy and even though we see him make some progress he's still keeping TK at a distance. Mostly because TK's doing well and Owen CANT be Captain Save a Ho for TK in these moments. He does crop up (usually) when TK's struggling, but only when there's something TO DO.

This episode marked a change.

Owen, in talking with O'Brien, who is giving a speech pretty reminicent of Owen's own speeches, about how he made a promise and he didn't keep it because look at this awful thing that happened, and Owen manages to give solid reasoning to be like "Look, he's alive and his son's alive and that's something."

And then it's like the lightbulb goes off in Owen's brain as O'Brien takes off after his great nephew - that Owen is indeed alive, and his son is also alive, and that's something. He may not have saved everyone but he saved TK.

Then, Owen goes and picks up food (which is really one of Carlos and TK's main love langauges, is feeding people - TK does it with takeout because he shouldn't be in the kitchen) and brings it over. But he doesn't just pick up any take out, he picks up the chinese food that TK introduced Gwyn to that they used to eat as a family.

I take this to be significant in multiple ways:

One, the Gwyneth Morgan of it all. Owen picked something that was a family thing and brought it over. Which is a very significant thing to do.

Two, it's one of the few times that food is involved and Owen doesn't mention the healthy/unhealthy nature of the food. Look, I could probably write a whole disertation on why Owen Strand, who has survived 21 1/2 years post 9/11 is obsessed with his health, but nearly every interaction with food, Owen has a coment about it. He doesn't make a single comment about this round of chinese food. I lied, he doesn't mention it in 3.08 either. But that's in the wake of grief, and maybe here Owen's still living in it.

Three, ordering chinese is very clearly TK's comfort meal. Look, a lot of us who are neurospicy joke about TK being neurospicy. And when you are neurospicy, there are certain foods that are..."safe" or an instant "yes" all the time. And we default to them often. I know when I'm struggling when I'm like "It's a comfort food day." (I have a rotation) but it eliminates decision fatigue and the need to emotionally regulate if it's not exactly what you wanted. Chinese food has a connection to Gwyn, and comfort and it comes up a lot when TK's stressed. (Even in 3.03, when Carlos doesn't come home, TK ordered chinese for them)

And then Owen does something he hasn't done...at all...since TK moved out (maybe they did when they moved into Owen's house and I don't know where they had chinese in 3.08) but Owen shows up at their place to share a meal with them.

And it's significant because TK and Carlos have invited him over for many meals between seasons 2 and 3, and Owen never accepts. Or, in the case of 2.11, Owen accepts and then goes off to catch an arsonist instead, which could be his hero complex but could also be a general avoidance of things that are uncomfortable for Owen, like TK growing up and not needing Owen anymore.

For as much as Owen has been an absent father for various parts of TK's life, because of his PTSD and trauma and general *waves hands* Owenness, Owen is a loving dad who would do just about anything for his son. We know this, we've watched him do it. But Carlos is also a competent control freak who Owen trusts implicitly with TK's life on numerous occasions. I do believe there's a big part of Owen's psyche that doesn't know what to do if he's not NEEDED.

But at the end of 4.06, he shows up, with chinese food, which is not needed because TK and Carlos already made a beautiful dinner and are looking very handsome, but he comes in and tells TK that he's proud of him, again. And you know, not trying to blow people up is a very low bar, but you know, TK clears it. And then they stay and have dinner, and Owen inserts himself in his son's life, not because TK needs him, but because Owen WANTS to be there, and that's such a drastic change for these two.

I love that Carlos and TK bring him in. Look, we could punish Owen for his mistakes and transgressions, but that's never been who TK is and this is his last living biological parent (Enzo forever) and TK loves him. And Carlos loves TK and respects Owen and wants them to have a good relationship.

And I cannot wait for Owen to "do what he does best" (owen's words) and be a pain in their asses about this wedding.

#911 lone star spoilers #owen strand #owen strand meta #tk strand #the strands #911 lone star #911 lone star 4.06 #911 lone star meta #doublel27 talks #anon ask #anon reply

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catofadifferentcolor · 9 months

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Terrible Fic Idea #58: Percy Jackson x Criminal Minds

While perusing the PJO tag for the first time in ages, I stumbled across yet another crossover I never would have thought of trying - and which, naturally, hasn't escaped my head. It managed to mash together the worlds of PJO and Criminal Minds... and so, naturally, I thought: if I were going to write this crossover, what would I do?

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon - until MoA. There Percy plays off the judo throw in New Rome to avoid starting a war with the Greeks, but after they're alone on the Argo Percy tells Annabeth that he doesn't appreciate 1) being blamed for his disappearance, as if Hera had asked him if he wanted to lose his memories and half a year of his life, and 2) being physically attacked by his girlfriend outside of weapons practice.

Naturally, Annabeth doesn't take this well and doubles down on her position, and the two fight like cats and dogs throughout MoA and HoO. By the time they reach Akhlys, Percy is hardly inclined to listen to Annabeth at all, and so doesn't stop poison-bending.

It's not obvious at the time, but not stopping fully unlocks Percy's divine powers. He's now immortal, like Chiron, but not a god. It's also rather the final straw for Annabeth and Percy's relationship.

Because he doesn't immediately realize he's immortal, Percy goes on with normal human things like high school and college - attending both at Camp Jupiter, which is better equipped to handle demigods than the average mortal school. It's only after he starts grad school at nearby Stanford University and gets a lot of comments on how young he looks does anyone start realizing what's happened.

Fast forward to about 15 years after HOO, when Percy has joined the BAU - because even immortals have to pay the bills somehow.

In my head I picture this to be S8/S9 of CM, largely because I enjoyed Alex Blake's character and think she'd be a good outsider POV for the story I want to tell, but dealer's choice.

Percy proves to be the BAU cryptid. His primary and secondary school records say unsub in the making... then he double majors in marine biology and classics in college (because everyone who survives four years in the legion or slays a particular number of monsters gets a classics degree when they graduate by default). Then he goes on to get a doctorate in psychology from Stanford... and swim twice for Team USA in the Olympics. He once went on vacation in the Keys and found the wreck of a lost Spanish galleon free diving. He's polite and mild mannered and goes nowhere without at least three knives on his person and a week's worth of survival gear. When he's tired, his reports sometimes slip into Ancient Greek or Latin. He may be a Hellenist and speaks of Hell as a place that he's been.

Percy is, in short, unfathomable to his profiler colleagues. They like him, but every new thing they learn about him only complicates the profile they're definitely not putting together.

He's been in the BAU for about 18 months before they receive reports of a serial killer's dumping ground in the Oakland Hills, not more than a mile from Camp Jupiter. The victims are all in their late teens and signs indicate all were killed in a ritualistic way. Most of those the investigators can identify are runaways.

Once the BAU is on site, Reid determines that someone is trying to recreate an obscure Ancient Roman sacrifice.

More importantly, Percy realizes that, yes, these are definitely the bodies of Roman demigods - and not one of them was killed by a monster before they could get to camp. In fact, he's pretty sure there's a secret entrance to camp not 100' away from the oldest body.

It's this last point that causes Percy to lead his team to Camp Jupiter. This is a revelation in itself and should answer many of the team's questions about Percy but give them twice as many new ones.

It should also be perfect timing, as they arrive just as praetors Frank and Hazel were thinking of reaching out to Percy, as he's the only real investigator either camp has. They're not aware of most of the murders, as it's not unusual for one or two demigods every year to be killed after leaving the safety of camp, but the last three victims went missing in the last three months under odd circumstances.

(One was a granddaughter of Apollo who'd talked about wanting to join the Hunters of Artemis, and when she disappeared everyone assumed that's what she did, only for the Hunters to visit later claiming she never showed. The most recent was a daughter of Bacchus who hated the regimented life of the legion and wanted to transfer to Camp Half-Blood where things were a little more their speed. Most the others were legacies or the children of minor gods.)

They set up shop in Percy's house - in part because CJ has no police force beyond the legion, which houses their main suspects - in part because Percy's house is built like a Roman temple on the edge of the temple district and no one would dare sneak into it.

(The demigods have been actively treating immortal Percy as a god, because if deification worked for Nero, they can make it work for Percy. And a deified!Percy could only be good for them.)

In the end it comes out a grandchild of Hecate/Trivia was sacrificing other demigods to their ancestor in hopes of obtaining more power - they should be just powerful enough to disguise their actions with the Mist but not much more, and intensely jealous their ancestor handed already-powerful Hazel more power during the Giant War.

Bonuses include: 1) Thalia and the Hunters showing up to help, as do Nico and Will. This should be an intensely confusing family reunion to watch from the outside given that two are immortal. Extra bonus points if the BAU recognize Nico from some wildly successful paranormal investigative channel on YouTube and are shocked to find out all the ghosts are real; 2) Will calling Percy "mom", on account of the fact he's been dating Apollo for the last five years now - Apollo's longest relationship ever - though Percy refuses to consider marriage or children until fifty years have passed; and 3) One of the BAU being tangentially involved with the mythological world already - Hotch had a relationship with a disguised Justice before meeting Hailey and their child is at Camp Jupiter? Reid has just recently met a disguised Athena at a conference and is now worried he'll arrive home to a baby on the doorstep?

And that's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back to me if you chose to do anything with it.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

#plot bunny #fic ideas #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #criminal minds #crossover #percy x apollo #trials of apollo #toa

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goldendoodlerlockerlove · 4 months

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Thank you so much for invading my ask box again, Babs!! I appreciate you so much 🥹❣️

All right, The Cobra is my Marvel WIP (technically WIP even though it's published, because it's unfinished and I haven't been able to find the time to continue it for quite a while). But it's a fic I want to finish someday, eventually, though I don't know when. It's a fic that's very dear to me. It was my first big writing project that I actually published for the world to see, so I love it a lot for that. Okay, buckle up for some lore. I told @koko-raccoon all about my OC, so here's everything I told them:

Her full given name is Lucille Dorothy Barnes, but she goes by Lucy for short, or Luce (She/Her pronouns!! She's a Cisgender Lady :3 Tbh, I like to headcanon her as the type to put Pronouns in her Bio once she gets to the present and has an actual phone and learns how to use Social Media). Anyway, she's Bucky's younger sister, and he's her oldest brother (yes, she has two older brothers and one younger brother. I gave her two additional brothers because according to canon lore, Bucky's supposed to be the oldest of four, even though nothing about his siblings is known in canon).

She and Bucky are 1000% the closest to each other in their family, they were each other's first best friends!! That's the power of sibling love. The two of them eventually meet Steve, and she becomes Steve's bestie as well at the same time that Bucky becomes Steve's bestie. The three of them kind of become a friendship trio, like The Three Musketeers. Oh yeah, and she's also Aro/Ace, but doesn't figure it out until later, because of how taboo being LGBTQ+ was back in the forties. Her being Cis and Aro/Ace is based off my best friend, who is also Cis and Aro/Ace, pffffft (and despite being Aro/Ace, she's one of the most loving people I know).

Anyway, Lucy never gets powers, but does support Steve while he gets the serum, and actually does manage to join the army with him. Even though she's a woman, she still gets in because let's just say that's how desperate they were, lmao. And they also tour together selling War Bonds as Captain America and The Cobra (which eventually becomes her actual superhero name). Then they both get trapped in the ice. I don't know how she survived, because she never got the serum. Let's just say she's built different--and somehow the ice protected her all of those years, I don't know. I don't think I thought about that enough when I wrote it.

Anyway, they wake up in 2012, join the Avengers, and craziness ensues. But the craziest part is reuniting with Bucky, who she thought died all the way back in the forties. She definitely took his presumed death the hardest, she grieved so much. She never really fully recovered from when she thought she lost him. She actually turned to drinking to make herself feel better, it was that bad (she previously never even touched alcohol). And she even cut her long, brown hair and dyed it; it eventually grows back and regains its old, natural color, but it was still a huge, rebellious move for her. She gets even more upset when she learns that Bucky was brainwashed, and he's barely even her brother anymore. But part of her that she thought would never heal heals when Bucky is eventually freed of his mind control and becomes a part of her life again. They definitely become each other's support system when Steve goes back to live out his life in the forties and dies, leaving the two of them (and Sam).

And she's reminded just how fun it is to spend time with her big brother again. She just missed him so much 😭 I like to think that she's also trapped in the town Wanda creates in WandaVision, and actually forgets everything, and Wanda tries to justify it by saying that now she gets to live the life she lost. Very sad stuff. I actually kind of used this fic as an excuse to write a character going through the grieving process, sort of?? It was definitely interesting.

Here's an excerpt of Lucy dealing with grief and turning to drinking as an unhealthy coping mechanism:

When they got back, she turned to drinking. Being drunk erased the pain. It numbed everything. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it helped. She was old enough anyway. She and Steve sat in the remains of a building, listening to a broadcast.

“Blackout is still in effect throughout the London area. Please wait for the all-clear. Your attention, please. All citizens should remain indoors until further notice. Blackout is still in effect throughout the London Area.”

Peggy suddenly appeared in a trenchcoat. Steve cleared his throat and spoke, his voice sounding rather raspy, “Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn’t just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells. Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means I can’t get drunk. Did you know that?”

“I can.” Lucy hiccuped, pouring herself another shot. “It helps with the pain. Physical and mental. Also, Steve, m’pretty sure your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person.”

She heard that her words sounded slightly slurred, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“I was just about to say that.” Peggy grabbed a chair and sat beside them. “He thought it could be one of the side effects. It wasn’t either of your faults.”

“Did you read the report?” Steve questioned, probably sounding harsher than intended.

“Yes.”

“Then you know that’s not true.”

She slammed her shot glass on the table, startling Peggy, “I was a coward.”

“You did everything you could,” Peggy assured them. “Did you believe in your friend and brother? Did you respect him? Then stop blaming yourselves. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He damn well must’ve thought you were worth it. Both of you.”

“That’sss Bucky for you.” Lucy’s “s” was slightly drawn out. She laughed drunkenly and then hiccuped again.

“I’m going after Schmidt,” Steve decided. “I’m not gonna sleep until all of Hydra is dead or captured.”

“You won’t be alone.”

Lucy never forgot those words of comfort.

Here's an excerpt of a small part of WandaVision that I wrote in advance because I got so excited to get to it:

Lucy started to grow angry herself for not being listened to, “What is outside of Westview, Wanda?”

“You know full well what’s out there,” Wanda snapped. “Lucy, I did this for you, too.”

“What?”

“Haven’t you noticed? You’ve gotten to live through all of the decades you never got to experience. You never had to be a hero,” Wanda explained.

Lucy’s hands curled into fists, “I thought you were my friend, Wanda. How could you do this? People here are suffering!”

“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand?” Lucy hit the table with all her strength and started to shout, “I knew damn well what I was getting into when I got into that plane with Steve!”

“You don’t get to make a choice for us, Wanda!” Vision exclaimed.

Also, the best flipping part about this fic is that Lucy is canon is some way thanks to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!! Sort of. Okay, I still made Lucy up, and Bucky's sister never appears on-screen, so it can be assumed she never made it to the present and passed away at some point. Or he could even be lying. But let me have this!! When my best friend, Matilda, pointed this out, I squealed with happiness so hard.

#ask game #marvel #i still want to finish this at some point because it's very near and dear to me now #i just think it's a pretty interesting concept #matilda actually as an oc too her name is ella and she's loki's wife #we also made a whole fic where they got to meet during the events of the “loki” series #okay now i'm really starting to get nostalgic hahaha--i just remember how fun it was updating this every week and how far along i got #that definitely made me feel so accomplished

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universesrising · 2 years

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[collapses and dies as my hands disintegrate off my body]

i finally have plot for this au! which means i can properly introduce it

the entire plot is as follows, for those interested in a literal wall of text. idk what happened here. i went feral and the writing braincell came out halfway through. but here you go:

lost lightning is an au where long ago, an old master of lightning disappeared from ninjago, taking their element with them. no one knows where they went, no other master of lightning appeared, it was completely gone. years later, wu gathered the other masters of creation, all but lightning who, of course, never appeared.

the au goes along as basically a sort of “ninjago but without jay”, up until season 4. chen, needing lightning for his spell, obviously needed a way to get it. so how does he do this? well, clouse, with knowledge of the other realms from his studying of magic, manages to open a portal to the first realm, the realm of dragons, where the two planned to capture one such dragon to use its power of lightning to complete the spell. at this point, chen had all the other elements at his disposal, so that paired with clouse’s magic gave him a pretty good chance of succeeding at this.

the current ninja plus wu, of course, couldn’t let him do this, so they used traveller’s tea to follow him through to the first realm. while there, they encounter one of the residents of the first realm. not a dragon, but a distant relative of one known as a scavenger. scavengers have access to the elements, but theirs is a limited power, not nearly to the strength of a master or the dragons themselves. after a trade, which scavengers are known for, he can later be seen following the group, but they don’t think much of it as he isn’t a threat, and makes no move to meet again.

by the time the group finds chen, he’s already in the process of capturing a dragon. before they can do anything about this, a spear nearly hits chen, the owner of which being the scavenger. he is not happy about the dragon being attacked, since scavengers have a good relationship with dragons, and so he rushes into the dragon’s defense. however, chen takes interest in him since he happens to wield the very element he needs, that of lightning.

unfortunately, our good friend the scavenger doesn’t last long in the fight due to the loss of his spear. even utilizing electric bombs, he eventually gets cornered and is forced to resort to shooting pure lightning at chen - something scavengers can not do. though he defeats chen with the unexpected move, everyone else has a sudden realization.

the element of lightning’s been in the first realm all along, and he’s the current master.

but they get chen’s staff and their elements back from it, and the time comes to return to ninjago. but, well, they found the master of lightning, who is very much important. problem is, it’s revealed that he... doesn’t actually know he’s the master of lightning.

scavengers aren’t really known for their communication skills, most don’t know how to talk, and those that do speak only a few words with unfortunate grammar. needless to say, stories don’t hang around for long. so how exactly did lightning get passed down to the scavengers?

well, when that master of lightning from so long ago disappeared, they actually were sent to the first realm. there, they befriended a scavenger, who helped them ssurvive in the harsh desert. when the master got old, they ended up passing their element down to that scavenger, so it wouldn’t be lost. and that scavenger passed lightning down to their children, and it eventually reached the one we’ve met today.

it’s obvious who it is, even if it took him a bit to remember his name. they aren’t exactly important in scavenger culture, at least not past childhood. but he is jay, the master of lightning.

and he wants to see ninjago. he’s curious about it, and there’s not much to do in the desert except survive, anyway. so he joins them, and leaves the first realm.

the story doesn’t end there. although jay doesn’t become a ninja, he does tag along on their adventures. his skills gained from living in the first realm come in handy a number of times, even if ninjago is much different than what he’s used to. he learns a few things, and the others learn about him.

the series continues, but much different than we know.

#if you have questions about the lore feel free to ask me!#also what happened. the drawing was surprising in itself but then i WROTE?? WORDS??#impossible how could i #anyway hope y'all enjoy the au!#ninjago #lego ninjago #jay walker #jay ninjago #ninjago au

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 1 year

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Question for mod - what happened to the participants of the Demon hunt in the storyline?

//If I go one by one, it’s like this. If we start with the one’s that are often shown on the blog...

Komaru is self-explanatory. She’s now working for the Future Foundation while continuing to monitor activity in Towa City, alongside Toko and the now redeemed Warriors of Hope. She’s also gotten married to Toko and adopted Akeru Yozora as her kid. I think what’s been going on with her is obvious though.

Yuta Asahina survived the bridge incident but remained stuck in a coma for around 8 or 9 years. Not only that, but he also lost both his left arm and his hearing in his left ear. He still lives in Towa City, doing odd jobs to get by while living in the flat across the street from Toko and Komaru. He’s also roommates with Ryoma.

Taichi Fujisaki also survived his incident and, like Yuta, started taking odd jobs that suited his skills in order to make money. After he was saved from Kokichi’s cabaret and reunited with his son Chihiro (see The Amnesiac and the Alter Ego), he now works for his son’s branch at the Future Foundation.

Hiroko Hagakure remained with Haiji Towa’s group after the incident, but retained close ties to Komaru and the Future Foundation. Haiji eventually killed her because she chose to prioritize her loyalty to Future Foundation over him. She’s currently buried on Future Foundation grounds where anyone can visit her.

Kanon Nakajima also still lives in Towa City on her own. She does modelling as a part time job, but due to her skills with a hacking gun, is also one of the Future Foundation’s guns-for-hire.

Kameko, Toko’s stinkbug, still lives with her, Komaru and Akeru, and Toko continues to raise her pet well.

Fujiko Yamada lives alone. Her life didn’t change very much after the incident. When it blew over, she went back to writing her manga and remained as a popular mangaka. She does pretty well for herself. At this current point in the story, Hifumi is staying at her home in the wake of the Fall of the Future Foundation.

//And then the rest of them. They’ve all been mentioned at some point in conversation on the blog, but none of them have actually been physically shown.

Fuhito Kirigiri passed away of natural causes a few years after the game ended. Before that though, Kyoko denounced him and her family name, and cut all remaining ties with him, in light of the truth about the situation with Jin Kirigiri and her mother coming to light. He died a peaceful, but lonely death.

Kenshiro survived the Demon Hunting game, and thanks to the combined efforts of Mikan and Seiko, overcame his terminal illness, much to his and Sakura’s joy. Now in a much better state of body and mind, he now manages Sakura’s family dojo for her, after it was rebuilt post-tragedy, doing so in Sakura’s place while she prioritizes her work for the Future Foundation. The two have made plans to be married after Sakura’s retirement.

Of the other four members of Sayaka’s idol group, Ayaka Haneyama was the only one who survived in one piece. Two of the other members died, and one was left in a coma, waking up paralyzed from the neck down. Ayaka and Sayaka cut ties after some disagreements and went their separate ways. The good news is that Ayaka is currently running a successful solo career, gaining ground after being the only member of the original group now in the business. Her merch is very popular and she’s become a household name. However, she knows she wouldn’t be where she is today without Sayaka and the other girls, so she’s looking for a good way to break the ice and thank her.

What happened to Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg, Celeste’s cat, is a mystery. He disappeared and went off on his own journey after the Demon Hunting Game and never returned. He never reunited with his owner.

Aloysius Pennyworth currently enjoys retirement in his old age, using the money he earned from working for the Togami’s to life a happy life. However, he and Byakuya still retain close connections with one another, and still treat each other with the same respect they always did. Aloysius (as shown in Into the Ocean) is still willing to do whatever Byakuya requires of him, even though he’s no longer employed by the family.

Takemichi Yukimaru reunited with the Crazy Diamonds post-tragedy, but then left the group. The new gang was now being spearheaded by Eje Karma, who he did not see eye-to-eye with; mainly due to Takemichi’s undying respect for Mondo, and Karma’s unbridled detest for him. Yukimura now lives a clean and happy life. He abandoned his delinquent ways and went back to school. Despite his punk roots, he made many friends and even started a romantic relationship with one of his classmates. As of right now, he is currently training to be a police officer.

Much like some of the other “demons” Takaaki Ishimaru is retired. However, he still retains contact with his son who works for Future Foundation. Taka visits his father whenever he has a spare moment. Wholesomely enough, Takaaki approves of his son’s relationship, despite Mondo’s punk roots, and the two get along very well. Mondo always brings Takaaki a gift during the holidays.

//I hope that cleared some things up for you.

-Mod

#mod #danganronpa ultra despair girls #drae

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the-girl-in-the-box · 2 years

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Can You Imagine? XVIII

A/N: Hello all! Finally back with another update! I'm so excited to *finally* get to post this, as difficult as it's been to find time in my schedule for writing! Please bare with me as I'm probably not going to have the most consistent posting schedule in the world for at least another three weeks, but I hope to even out after that! Until then, I will be updating as soon as I have chapters ready, and I hope the wait won't be too horrible! Until the next one, I hope you enjoy! Skål!

Summary: Freydis was dead. At least, when she’d lost consciousness, she’d been sure she was. But now she has woken up in a cold, sterile environment, one she is certain is not Valhalla, and the world as she once knew it has changed. People now have strange abilities, some of them, and people they call ‘scientists’ are trying to give them to her. The bigger issue, though, is the fact they have also woken the very man who killed her. Ivar the Boneless lives again as well, in the same way Freydis does, and if they want to survive… she may have to learn to trust him again.

Masterlist

We Move As One

The dark of night was the perfect cover for Björn, Freydís, and Ivar to begin their journey to the facility that had once held them all captive. He and Ivar had both begun to notice Freydís changing along this journey, the way her eyes looked tired now, the darkness and shadows around them. Something was happening to her, something bad.

But that wasn’t the only thing. No, they’d also both noticed how her attitude was changing. She’d started snapping more often, letting herself be angry and threatening, even with the two of them. It had gotten to the point that they’d glance over at each other each time something happened, checking to see if they had both noticed it. With each thing, it became more and more obvious that they were both noticing it all.

They waited until they had a chance to speak alone, when she’d gone off to practice something a little more dangerous where it wouldn’t hurt one of them, to speak about the changes she had undergone. Ivar came to sit beside his brother then, and Björn lifted a brow at him. “You are here about your wife I take it?” he asked.

“I am,” Ivar confirmed. “You asked me to come, didn’t you? So I am here.”

Björn gave a small nod, then took a deep breath. He knew how Ivar could be, and didn’t think any sort of criticism of Freydís would go over very well with him. But, he figured that as this wasn’t so much criticism as it was concern, perhaps Ivar would be more open to hearing him out. He certainly hoped so. “I am afraid she is messing with something she does not understand,” he said. “I heard whispers of what her power is… It is not safe, Ivar. Not for us, and not for her. Not unless she fits a very specific condition.”

“And what condition would that be, hmm?” Ivar questioned Björn.

“She would have to be the one meant to wield this power.”

What Björn and Ivar did not know, was that Freydís had never been alone in the training of her power. It wasn’t as obvious as someone standing beside her, an external being helping her to train, but instead a presence she now felt with her at all times. But when she was training, practicing her craft, it was as if the presence was manifested, always just behind her where she couldn’t see.

The presence encouraged her to branch out, to attempt new things with her powers, and unbeknownst to her husband and his brother, it was pushing Freydís beyond a point from which she may never return. It wasn’t easy to get candles out that far, but she had managed it, and had set them up in a circle around her, lit so she could levitate in their center. The presence whispered words to her, instructed her on what she was meant to do, which pages in her book to find to give her the spell, and then it was cast.

It was disorienting to pass through so many different people’s consciousness, seeing different perspectives as she walked through their memories searching for the mind she needed. The path was long, from one to the next to the next, having to pass from a memory into the next person’s mind, where she searched for another memory which she could jump through.

This use of her power was supposed to be forbidden. The horrible effects it had on each person whose mind she borrowed might last for weeks or months, if not longer. Everyone took trauma differently, but no one would shake easily the image of someone crawling into their head, fingers grasping at their mind as they were overtaken by splitting pain, flicking through memories until suddenly she’s gone, nightmares left in her wake.

It was no wonder she wasn’t willing to use Ivar’s or Björn’s mind for this. They were her friends, more than that with Ivar and close enough at least with Björn, and she wasn’t going to subject them to that sort of violence. Besides, she shouldn’t need their minds anyway. They weren’t the only people in the world who knew Doctor Schmidt and Professor Andersen, so why should she have to resort to using her allies’ minds to get to theirs?

Unfortunately, she found that the final connection was proving difficult to make. She wasn’t finding someone with that last path to just one of the two, though she was finding people with memories of Björn and Ivar. The more she tried to find that last bridge, the more frustrated she grew, beginning to push harder and harder, moving through minds at a horrible pace, ripping through memories as fast as she could, until suddenly she gave an infuriated scream and released her last victim from her control, ending the spell with eyes wide, panting.

Björn and Ivar heard her scream, and they stopped their conversation about Freydís immediately to rush to her aid.

Freydís was hitting the ground, falling to her knees when they reached her, her eyes wild and furious. Björn hadn’t seen such a look since he’d faced off against his brother on the battlefield. To see it now in her, it was unnerving to both Björn and Ivar.

The latter of the two bent down to help his wife to her feet, but a shock of concern coursed through him at the sight of her fingertips. Where once they had been just the same color as every inch of the rest of her skin, now they looked like she had dipped them in black tar, almost as though her skin were decaying before she was even dead. “Freydís,” he managed, unable to tear his eyes away from them. “Your hands…”

This brought Björn’s attention to the offending limbs, and his eyes went wide with shock. “What were you doing?” he asked her, and she looked up at him slowly.

“I’m trying to get information for us,” she replied. “I can connect to people’s minds through other people’s memories of them, and use those memories to continue into the mind of the person I want. But I can’t start with someone who has a strong mind, I can only enter their mind through someone’s memories of them.”

“Freydís, where did you learn this spell?” Björn questioned, beginning to look intensely troubled by her explanation. She stretched out a hand, and out of thin air materialized a book, which hovered between them. Like Ivar, the sight of it alone caused dread to creep into Björn’s chest, making him want to get away from the thing as fast as he could. “Why do you have the Book of the Damned?”

A cold wind blew over them as Björn spoke the book’s name, causing Ivar to look up and around into the trees. Everything went still again, unnaturally so, and his eyes turned back to his wife. “Freydís…” he said softly, and her eyes hardened.

“It was a gift from our generous benefactors,” she said, almost hissing out the bitter title. “But I understand this book, unlike anyone else who has ever tried to read it. It’s as if it were meant to be in my care, as though the spells in its pages were meant to be cast by me.”

Horror washed over Björn as he realized, “That’s because they were.” Ivar looked at his brother with confused eyes, wondering why he seemed so shaken, and finding that this response was likewise shaking him up. “I should have realized when you said you wielded chaos magic…” Björn mumbled. “No wonder your fingers are turning black, Freydís, those spells are the darkest in the world!” He gestured toward the book eagerly, making Freydís snatch it back as though she were afraid he would try and take it.

“Maybe they are!” she snapped at him. “But they are my spells and I will use them when and how I see fit! Get off your moral high horse, Björn Ironside. You know you would do the same given the chance! Both of you would! But this power is mine, and as you told us, mine alone!”

Björn shook his head. “I don’t think I would,” he replied. “Ivar might, but I think you know that, and you want to believe I would too. It makes you feel better about what you’re doing now.”

Freydís hissed out, “You don’t know what I would do.”

This caused Ivar and Björn both to look at each other in concern. “Freydís…” Ivar began. “I know you’re desperate to stay free, and to help the others, but…”

“Do you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Then you will understand why I have to do this.”

Ivar, unlike Björn, knew better than to argue with her just then. Freydís had always had a tendency toward stubbornness- just as he had- and so it wasn’t any surprise to him that she was quickly getting stubborn on this matter. It seemed like whatever that book was doing to her was causing a darkness to grow in her, one that reminded him of how he himself had once been, when he had called himself a god and forced the citizens of Kattegat to follow him with undying fealty. It had been a dark time in his life, and he didn’t like seeing it reflected in her now.

“What will you do once it’s done?” he questioned in return. “Because I don’t think this is the sort of power you want to give up. Is it? Would you give it up?” Freydís smiled as if everything were just as simple as the day they’d met in York, so long ago.

“Of course not,” she replied. “What’s to say there won’t be another threat? What if our lives are to be shortened because we have already been dead? Why would I give up the power to bring you back again?”

“Freydís, you sound like Doctor Schmidt,” Björn said. “I thought we were angry at her for interrupting the design of the Norns and the gods? Now you want to do the same?”

She shrugged slightly. “I may as well be a Norn now. Maybe this is my place.”

“And now you sound like me,” Ivar pointed out.

“No, you said you were a god, but you only had their favor. I can do whatever I wish with this world- you’ve seen it, have you not?” she countered. As he had seen it, he swallowed hard, remembering their reunion. “See? You remember.”

“I also remember that no matter how much I believed I was a god, I was not a god. Freydís, you are a witch, not a Norn. Your powers can obscure reality, but they cannot control it.”

“Can’t they?”

Freydís tilted her head, something in her eyes causing a feeling of dread to grow in her husband and his brother. “You both know I can rewrite reality if I wish to. It wouldn’t be the same as what Doctor Schmidt did when she woke us from death. I would just… rewrite things so that you had never died, and so that you were healed of whatever took your life.”

She said it as if that were some small feat, not a big deal in the slightest, while Björn and Ivar both recognized the disastrous effects that she could bring about, using her powers this way. “This is why I say I may as well be a Norn,” she clarified. “If I can rewrite fate, what is the difference between us?”

“The difference is that it is the role of the Norns to write fate- it is not your role to rewrite it,” Björn argued. “As a witch, you can guide people to their fates, and seek out your own, but you cannot rewrite it!”

“But I can!” she shouted, shooting up to her feet to get in Björn’s face. “Perhaps I should rewrite your own! Would you like that, Björn Ironside? Perhaps I should send you back to Kattegat and declare that you do not let Ivar kill you, and you will remain King there until Ragnarok comes for you! Is that what you want?”

“Freydís-”

“Be quiet!”

Freydís whipped around to face Ivar as she snapped at him, cutting him off from his attempted intervention, only to find that in her anger, she had rid his face of a mouth. Björn gasped in horror as Ivar’s eyes went wide, and his hands came up to feel at the suddenly all too smooth skin. His chest rose and fell rapidly as panic began to set in, and something began to flicker in Freydís’s eyes, making her obey immediately when Björn cried out, “Freydís, let him go!”

Her hands shot out and there was a flash of red as he regained his mouth, and they shared a distraught look, before she suddenly pushed hard against the ground with her magic, vaulting herself into the sky and immediately disappearing from sight.

Ivar looked as though she may as well have struck him- but then, he might have deserved that, he thought. He had struck her before, and far worse, but even as Björn helped him up, he found that wasn’t the reason he wouldn’t hold this against her. No, that would be because he could tell this wasn’t really her.

“It’s that book, isn’t it?” he asked Björn, looking at him anxiously. “Don’t try to spare me from the truth. She is my wife, and I need to know-”

“It’s the book,” Björn answered. “They warned me about its power before they sent me to hunt you down. Every spell in it is corruptive, and the one who can use it… she is its rightful owner. She would have been able to use it as early as Kattegat, if she’d known she had this power.”

Ivar’s brows lifted as he looked up at Björn. “I thought she gained this power here, from the experiments?” he questioned.

Björn shook his head. “It was being exposed to whatever they gave her that brought it out- she already had it.”

Understandably, this was quite an unnerving revelation for Ivar. If he thought back to everything he had ever done to her- starting with Baldur and concluding with taking her own life- it began to occur to him that she could have simply spoken him out of existence with little more than a word, just the same as she’d done to his mouth only a moment ago.

“We need to find her,” Björn continued. “We know where she’ll be going, but we can’t let her get there first. If she’s been reading that book too much, I don’t think she’s thinking of mercy anymore. We’re past the point of her being reasonable.”

He shook his head. “We both have specific experience with Doctor Schmidt,” he pointed out. “Think about it. If she needed to reach her mind with that spell, she only needed someone with memories of her. We have memories of her. All she would have had to do is go through our minds, and she’d be there.” Björn’s eyes went wide as he realized this. He didn’t know just how horrible it was, but she’d stopped instead of pressing through the people she knew and cared about.

“So you’re saying…”

Ivar nodded. “That was her being reasonable.”

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius, @katfett, @sylki-simp, @heavenly1927, @punkrocknpearls, @pomegranates-and-blood

If you want to be added to the taglist, feel free to reach out either by commenting, reblogging, DMing me, or sending an ask, and I’ll be more than happy to add you!

#ivar the boneless #ivar ragnarsson #ivar #freydis #queen freydis #ivar x freydis #freydis x ivar #freyvar #alex høgh andersen #alicia agneson #ivar's heathen army #vikings #vikings history channel #history channel vikings #can you imagine?#chapter eighteen

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lazywerebat · 1 year

Text

Space Knight !

Marko x Male! Reader

Modern & Astronaut Au!

warnings; Marko having anxiety & panic attacks ( if i missed smth pls let me know )

summary; Marko survived being staked by Edgar. In 2000s he met Reader, they fell in love & got married. Reader is human and knows Marko is vampire but it isn't mentioned.

a/n; english is not my native language so some sentences might not make sense!! i tried to combine two of my interest, The Lost Boys & space!! if you have some writing tips, that would help :))!! This is Modern Au, it can be any 2000s year you have in mind!!

word count; 3.3k

After horrific events that happened, Marko never thought in his life that he would be standing on ground alive again with you, hell he didn't knew he was going to marry a man with well known consequences.

Marko spends full six months without you in cave. He's really trying to feel happy for the man he's in love with. He knew that his husband being an astronaut always meant spending time away from each other but he feels lonely sometimes. Somehow he always finds himself waiting for a call, no matter if its in daylight or night time, cause he'll find a way to talk to you even if it means killing him again, he waits, despite not promising to. His anxiety would built more and more knowing his husband is somewhere a far away from atmosphere is eating him up until he founds himself crying or calling one of boys for comfort. Only into few weeks drove him to more insanity than anything could. He would in panic go to one of boys in cases of

"What if he forgets to eat, he always does that!? What if its too cold up there? Do they sleep up there?".

In the end Marko was an anxious mess when it came to his husband and boys managed to calm him, well for a while though. They made him a promise to stay close by to wiped his tears away

"Y/n's going to be fine. You know that he's been training for this."

davids voice was calming and soft to not made him more worrying than he already is.

"He'll be back, before you can say cookies."

added Paul, Marko has never failed to lighten up every time he gets an video call from Y/n. He could listen on hours till end on whatever adventure Y/n was, all crazy things he saw and how there is no gravity at all and hell he would even listen Y/n talking about moon rocks at this point.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

said Y/n worryingly looking at Marko.

Marko was almost in tears when question was asked.

"What? No? Nothings– no, everything is alright. Why wouldn't it?"

said Marko with a shakey voice trying not to form tears while look at his husband. Y/n frowned, possibly looking at any hints that something is wrong with Marko

"You're just so quiet today. Somethings up. Is everything okay without me?"

he slightly narrowed his eyebrows.

"Just missing you."

said Marko looking everywhere but his husband. Ignoring Y/n's confusion, silence between them felt comfortable and comforting.

"Hearing your voice is favourite part of my night so listening to you talking about your adventures in space is amazing."

said Marko giving in and letting his eyes trail back to meet Y/n's, whose having a trouble holding up a smile.

"Youre such a halfwit."

said Y/n teasingly.

"HEY! I was having a moment with you and this is how you reply?? I demand kisses at this very moment."

Marko as Marko still made sound of offense.

"Three more months, moonshine."

Y/n said laughing softly and lightly.

"After all this is over, you can have all kisses in world from me."

Suddenly Y/n turned away from video call for a moment before turning back to Marko.

"I'd like to come home to my bright star."

said Y/n smiling at Marko.

"I love you so much Y/n."

said Marko with warm smile.

"I love you too Marko. I'll be home soon."

said Y/n blowing a kiss to Marko before turning off a video call. After this video call Marko knows that he'll be over and over anxious mess till his space knight is back.

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baroquebucky · 3 years

Text

reach

soulmate au where when you touch your soulmate you see glimpses of your future with them; the winter soldier touches you and realizes there’s so much more out there

series masterlist // previous // next

part two

word count: 3.3k (worth it me thinks)

masterlist

a/n: hi bffs !! here is part two to touch !! i hope u guys enjoy !! might make a part 3 if you guys want ?!? let me know what u guys think !!

You stared at the clunky metal cuffs on your hands, silent as the four of you were squished together along with two agents. Tears staining your cheeks, you had stopped crying as soon as the agents had cuffed you, turning on a steely exterior.

“i knew him” Steve spoke, you were all silent as he stared at the floor, “he looked right at me like he didn’t even know me” his voice distant.

“that was over 70 years ago how is that possible?” Sam spoke, looking at you and then at Steve.

“Zola, Buckys whole unit was captured in 43” Steve explained, his gaze hardening, “Zola experimented on him, whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall” his voice softening.

“they must have found him and-” Steve’s voice was tender as he trailed off.

“none of that’s your fault steve” Natasha groaned, bleeding through the bandage you had put on her.

You looked over at her and frowned, “we need to get a doctor in here, she’s lost a lot of blood if we don’t put pressure on that wound” you turned, looking at one of guards next to you.

You flinched as they turned on the taser, scooting back closer to steve. Your eyes widened as they knocked out the other agent, taking off their helmet only to reveal Maria Hill. You smiled softly.

“that thing was squeezing my brain- who’s this guy?” She spoke, staring at sam.

After breaking out of the cuffs and escaping the truck the five of you headed to some secret base, you were quiet as they chatted among each other, thoughts of bucky clouding your mind.

“y/n, why- what happened?” Steve spoke gently, falling into step with you.

You looked at him, slowing down a little bit. “It was him steve” you whispered, voice shaking. Steve stopped completely, grabbing your wrist and pulling you away from the group.

“what- i thought- are you sure?” He rushed out, breathless.

“i saw us, together” you managed out, a tears falling from your eyes, “it was our future,” you looked at Steve, wiping your eyes before continuing to walk forward.

“y/n we have to talk about this” Steve rushed next to you and you nodded, he opened his mouth but you stopped him as you approached sam, Maria and natasha.

“not now, please” you pleaded and he nodded, holding your hand and squeezing it softly.

“She’ll want to see him first” Maria spoke, a smirk on her face as you all looked at each other in confusion, following her as she pushed some plastic curtains out of the way.

Your stomach fell and a smile found it’s way onto your face, “son of a bitch” you chuckled.

“about damn time” fury mumbled you couldn’t help but smile.

As they attended natasha the rest of you listened to fury rattle off his list of injuries, explaining why he had to stay hidden and why no one was told of him still being alive. You nodded along in understanding, your eyes trained on the floor before looking at him with a smile.

“does this mean i still have to turn in that report?”

Buckys mind was racing. The smell of freshly baked cookies and visions of you in his head. Even flashes of the blonde who was with you.

He could hear his scream after he fell, he saw flashes of them turning him into who he was now. He memorized your face, the way your hair looked and the smile you had on your face for the few seconds you had together. He focused on the future, the picnics and the singing.

Bucky mourned for himself, for who he was and who he wish he could become.

The sound of an argument and multiple footsteps brought him to reality, his eyes still red and nose pink from crying when he saw you. Alexander Pierce walked in and bucky felt sick to his stomach, watching as the agents lowered their weapons on his command.

“Mission report” he spoke coldly, angry when he had to repeat himself once more. Pierce crinkled his nose, hitting bucky in frustration.

Bucky hesitated, he shouldn’t tell them about you, he couldn’t. He needed you safe, he didn’t want you hurt.

“the man on the bridge, who was he” he mumbled, voice fragile as he spoke. Buckys eyes met Pierces, worry flickering in his eyes before pushing it away.

“i knew him” he mumbled, Pierce sitting in front of him. His words were fuzzy as he thought of you and the blonde man, he wanted you, he was meant to be with you. “but i knew him” bucky mumbled once more when Pierce finished talking, his lips pressing into a smal tight smile for a second.

“prep him” Pierce spoke, bucky wanted to cry, his stomach was in knots as Pierce told them to wipe him. Panic rose in his chest, he couldn’t forget you, he couldn’t lose his only hope in 70 years. He leaned back as they pushed him into his seat, his breathing ragged and heavier. He had to hold onto you, the smell on baking cookies in his mind as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“I never liked him” you spoke, turning to Natasha, “i told you remember! You brushed me off” you huffed, turning your attention to Maria and some suitcase.

Maria explained insights plan, telling the four of you how to stop the carriers. Making sure to emphasize the need to link all three carriers.

“- we can salvage what’s left” Nick spoke, you furrowed your brows and shook your head, anger bubbling in your chest.

“we aren’t salvaging anything!” You spoke angrily, Nick staring at you in shock. Steve nodded his head.

“we’re taking down SHIELD” Steve spoke and Nick tried to defend himself, “SHIELD had nothing to do with this!” The man grumbled.

“You gave me this mission, this is how it ends” Steve spoke firmly, “SHIELDS been compromised you said so yourself, HYDRA grew under your nose and you didn’t even notice” his brows furrowed and eyes cold.

“why do you think we’re meeting in a cave, i noticed” Nick shot back, you shook your head in disbelief.

“how many paid the price before you did?” You quipped, thinking about your soulmate, where was he? what would happen to him?

“I didn’t know about barnes” Nick softened, looking at Steve, the blonde rolled his eyes.

“even if you did would you have told me about it? Or would you compartmentalize that too” he scoffed, you bit your bottom lip in frustration.

“HYDRA, SHIELD, it all goes” you stated firmly, eyes set on fury, he looked around at the others.

“they’re right” Maria sighed.

You stood atop the dam, the sound of the wind rustling the trees calmed you down, you focused on one of the flashes you had seen when you touched bucky.

“You set this all up for little ol’ me?” You teased, bucky rolling his eyes with a smile on his face, taking your hand in his and leading you to the middle of the meadow he had found.

“only the best for my sweets” he replied, shooting a wink at you and you blushed slightly, the cool wind hitting your flushed skin.

“oh wow you even got us a little cake? went all out did you barnes” you teased and he smiled, letting a soft groan out.

“can you please stop laughing at me for five minutes” he pouted, and you smiled at him softly, sitting on the blanket and pulling his down with you, kissing the pout on his lips.

“i love it angel” you mumbled, kissing his lips softly before pulling away and reaching into the basket, pulling out the sandwiches and handing one to bucky along with a drink.

“found it the other day, thought you would like to watch the sunset from here instead of that old park” he spoke, taking a sip from the water bottle you handed him and your heart fluttered in your chest.

“i love you so much James” you mumbled, leaning over and peppering kisses all over his face, a smile on his lips as he soaked in all your loving.

You giggled as he moved over, picking you up with ease and spinning you around. Bucky set you down gently, you rested your head on his shoulder as you marveled at the sun setting, pinks and reds painting the sky, golden rays hitting the two of you.

“you know I’m yours forever, right doll?” Bucky mumbled, his head in your lap as you played with his hair. You smiled sweetly at him, nodding your head.

“and I’m yours forever and more lovebug” you replied.

“He’s gonna be there, you know” Sam spoke, causing you to jump slightly. Steve walked next to him, the two men approaching you.

“I know” you nodded.

“whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, he’s not the kind you save, he’s the kind you stop” Sam spoke, Steve standing next to you as Sam looked at the two of you.

“i don’t know if we can do that” Steve spoke for the two of you, Sam looked at you softly. Your eyes meeting and you gave him a small smile.

“he might not give you a choice” he whispered, you shook your head as he continued, “he doesn’t know you.”

“he has to, he has to remember me, I’m his soulmate” you spoke, eyes welling up with tears once more.

“gear up, it’s time” Steve spoke gently.

Your hands shook softly as you changed, taking in a deep breath as you fell into line with Maria, Sam and Steve, walking towards SHIELD.

“excuse us” you smiled as the man opened the door to the control center, moving out of your way quickly when he saw Maria and Sams guns, “alrighty star spangled man, your time to shine” you smiled, patting him on the back.

Steve began his speech, a proud smile on your face as he spoke, feeling the shift in the air, your heart thumping against your rib cage.

“did you write that down first? Or was it off the top of you head” Sam smiled and you laughed softly.

The sirens blared and you heard the echoes of gunshots, “they’re initiating launch” Maria spoke in your ear, you jogged next to Sam and Steve.

“how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?” Sam questioned.

“if they’re shooting at you they’re bad” you replied, Steve smiling before the two of you hopped down and fought the men on the airstrips.

You were in a whirl of punches and gunshots, throwing your knives and taking down men to help Steve get to the helicarriers.

Steve ran from behind you, the two of you running to put in the cartridge, “alpha lock!” You spoke, you and Steve running to leave the carrier. Sam calling out “bravo lock!” Not long after.

You took down a couple guards, hitching a ride with a pilot and Steve counting on sam to get him to the other helicarrier.

You ran out as soon as you could, blood running cold as you recognized the metal arm grabbing sams wing.

You froze as he tore the wing off, kicking him off the side, eyes wide you ran out, “Sam!” You cried out, panic filling your chest.

“I’m fine, I’m just grounded, I’m sorry guys” he apologized and you let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m still on the helicarrier, i got it” Steve spoke and you felt relief knowing he was safe.

“I’ll come down and help you” you spoke, turning around and coming face to face with three men. You groaned in annoyance as they approached you, moving quickly to take one of their guns, knocking them out with the butt. Using another one as a shield before kicking him off you and into the other man.

“Y/n no! Wait on my signal, he’s here and- we just need to wait for the right moment” Steve spoke, out of breath as he spoke. You hesitated, watching bucky run to beat Steve.

“okay” you spoke softly, doing what you could to make sure it was only steve and bucky in the helicarrier.

It felt like an eternity until Steve finally called for you, breathless. “Y/n get down here!” You ran quickly, maneuvering your way down and seeing the two men fighting.

“take it!” Steve yelled, bucky laying on the floor next to him, you nodded, running up to him as his tossed it to you, catching it before taking off again.

You felt the bullet whirl next to your head, he was shooting at you. Your stomach fell as you realized, running faster. You heard Steve groan, falling next to you.

“Steve!” You cried out, stopping before realizing you had mere seconds left. You saw the blood through his suit, biting your lip before taking off, hurrying to put in the cartridge, rushing to help Steve up.

“Charlie lock!” You cried out, putting his weight on your shoulder, struggling to carry him.

“get out of there!” Maria called, you looked at Steve, his eyes telling you all you needed to know, you nodded softly.

“fire now” Steve spoke, Maria began to argue but you cut her off, “do it!” You commanded, losing your balance as the helicarriers shot at each other.

Bucky’s groan caught your attention, your heart breaking as you saw he was trapped under a piece of metal. Without hesitation you and Steve jumped down, lifting the metal between the two of you.

“it’s gonna be okay” you whispered, moving to reach out only for the helicarrier to decline sharply, causing you to slip away, inches from his hand.

You grasped onto a ledge, steadying yourself and attempting to get back to the two super soldiers, the constant explosions making it difficult.

Bucky punched Steve, fear in his eyes as they spoke, you ran to them, continuously getting knocked over by the crashes.

“I’m not gonna fight you, you’re my friend” you heard Steve say, dropping the shield as bucky tackled him.

“you’re my mission!” Bucky spoke, anger in his eyes.

You leaped, tackling Bucky off of Steve, flashes of your future in both of your eyes.

“y/n!” Steve cried out.

“no wait pull over!” You cried out, eyes focusing on a box you had passed on the highway, bucky furrowed his brows in confusion.

“doll it’s raining it’s just a box” he slowed down, pulling over anyway.

“no there were cats!” you squealed, unlocking your door quickly and running out of the car, the rain immediately drenching you to the bone. Bucky cursed softly as you ran out without your jacket, following you quickly. His eyes landing on the two cats in your arms.

“told you so” you teased, motioning for him to grab the other two from the box. Bucky grabbed them quickly, running to your car and setting them on your lap, wrapping them in your jacket and trying to warm them up.

You arrived at the shelter quickly, heart aching as they took the four kittens from you. The small white one mewling and sinking his claws into your shirt, you smiled softly before taking his claws out of the fabric, handing him to a vet.

“We’ll call you when we’re done with all the tests and diagnostics” the woman smiled kindly and you nodded, bucky slipping his hand into your easily and you leaned into his warmth.

You were cuddled up next to bucky on the couch, head on his chest and watching one of your favorite shows.

“doll?” Bucky called out, moving you gently and you got up from his chest.

“sorry, I’m just worried about the kittens is all” you sighed, chewing on your bottom lip, bucky let out a breath before pulling you into his lap.

“that white one really liked you” he chuckled and you nodded, a smile on your face as you remembered the way he didn’t want to leave you.

“almost as much as you do huh” you teased and bucky laughed, shaking his head at your statement.

“no one can love you as much as i do dollface” he replied, his face serious before breaking into a smile as you rolled your eyes. You moved to get off his lap but he stopped you.

“why don’t we keep him” he smiled, nervous as he proposed the idea to you, “you could use some company when i go away for missions and I’ve always wanted a cat, and plus statistics say people are happier with pets-” bucky rambled.

“yes! oh my god finally! I’m so excited” you cheered, jumping of the couch and hopping around, a smile on your face as you turned to look at bucky.

Bucky smiled as you sat back down, leaning in to kiss him softly, a smile on both of your faces. “Should name him alpine” Bucky suggested a smile on his face as you nodded.

Bucky went overboard on toys and treats, his arms full as he set the bags down, a smile on his face as you finished kitten proofing the apartment.

“James! You didn’t need to get that much” you spoke shocked at the amount of things he got for your new kitten.

“this is our son we are talking about, he deserves the world” bucky scoffed, fixing the bags and putting everything away, the two of you excited to pick up your new child.

The two of you played with alpine for hours when he got home, giggles filling the apartment as you observed his antics. The three of you curled up on the couch, alpine asleep in your lap as bucky had his arm around you, some documentary playing.

“i love our family” you smiled, looking at bucky and kissing his jaw softly. He smiled at you as you pulled away, laying your head on his chest again.

“i love it too sweets” his heart was melting at the sight of you, cozy in his arms with the kitten in your lap.

“I’m yours forever bucky” you whispered, eyes closing as exhausting took over, his heart fluttered.

“I’m yours forever y/n” he replied, a smile on his face as the words left his lips.

Buckys eyes widened as the scenario played out in his eyes, you looked at him, a small smile on your face.

“it’s you” he whispered, a small smile forming on his face.

“it’s me, forever” you mumbled, moving to sit up and hug him.

Before you could, debris broke the glass you were laying on, your reflexes not quick enough to hold onto something, causing you to fall into the water, fear in Buckys eyes.

Both him and Steve dove in after you, bucky reaching you before his friend and pulling you out frantically. Steve helped drag you to shore, shaking you before giving you CPR.

You coughed up water, rolling around before your vision cleared, a smile on your face as you saw Steve, wrapping your arms around him.

“wheres bucky?” You questioned, heart sinking as you searched for the metal armed man.

“i- he was just here” Steve spoke, looking around, panic in his eyes.

Within moments Maria, Natasha and Sam found the two of you, rushing you to a hospital, treating all your wounds and any broken bones. Falling asleep moments after with Sam watching over both you and Steve.

It had been close to a month since SHIELD fell, since you last saw bucky. You woke up to knocking on your door, your eyes bleary as you checked the time, 7:34 am.

You groaned and forced yourself out of bed, “who needs something at 7 am on a Saturday!” You called out, angrily opening the door. Your anger sizzled away within seconds, you eyes meeting the baby blue ones you had only seen for moments at a time.

“Bucky” you whispered, your wind had been knocked out of you as you saw your soulmate on the other side of the door.

“hi doll” he smiled softly, his eyes brighter as he looked at you.

tag list !

@felicityofbakerstreet @newyork47 @classygirlything @ebxny27 @hhaydenn @miaangel24 @shawnie--jo @quinnmaddie @mugscraps

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griffintail · 3 years

Text

The Lost Ones

Summary: Several of the SMP members find an infant in a place they didn’t expect and decide to care for them.

Pairings: Platonic! Parental! Tommy, Wilbur, Philza, Technoblade, Eret, and Dream x F! Child! Reader

Warnings! : Swearing, Village Raid, Minor Violence, Minor Deaths (Mostly mobs), mentions of blood

A/N : I’m the biggest sap for child readers. Dating back to 2014. I literally couldn’t help myself. Just so everyone knows, I suck at writing in gender neutral terms, that’s why the reader is specifically female in all of these (Including Tommy’s, Minor Spoiler, Tommy’s just an idiot and doesn’t look). So, sorry about that.

I’ll most certainly will make more of these. I won’t always have it just like this, I might write a certain character individually in a scenario. It’s all dependent on my mood. I might add more characters! This is just basically the introduction. So yeah...ENOUGH RAMBLING! Hope you enjoy :)

Tommy (Before the First Disc War)

Tommy smirked proudly to himself as he tucked his new disc safely into his inventory bag before starting the walk back to his home. His adventure was successful, he managed to get a rare disc and it was now all his. Walking through the small bit of woods, he rested his hand on his sword handle. It was still night time after all and the monsters were out to play.

As he could see the lights from the small town of the Dream SMP, he heard a cry. Looking back into the woods, he frowned before grinning.

Someone is in trouble! He’d save them and get a payment—er— “willing reward” from them. Pulling his sword, he ran over towards the sound of another cry, this time the sound being continued. He rolled his eyes, someone was crying, what a pussy. As the crying was practically on top of him, he frowned in confusion as he only found a skeleton, which was trying to shoot at a basket hanging in a tree. There was no one there to be crying.

He shrugged regardless, taking his shield off before going for the skeleton. It only managed one arrow before Tommy killed the mob. Looking at the basket, Tommy hummed before putting his weapon and shield away to climb up. As he got to a safe place to reach the basket, the crying now made sense as his eyes went wide.

“You’re a fucking baby!” He shouted in surprise.

Said infant noticed the new face and their wails quieted, but small cries still came out.

“Quiet down. You’re going to bring monsters!” He hushed, moving carefully, getting the basket off, and brought it to himself. “How the hell did you get up here? Who just leaves a baby?”

He looked down at the baby as he sat back in the tree. He couldn’t help but think how small she was, had he been that small when he was this young?

“Guess you got nowhere to go huh?” He asked as the child looked up, their cries having gone silent seeing the boy much closer.

They played with their blanket and he hummed as he held the basket close, making his way down the tree.

“You’re lucky, a big man saved you! I don’t live far, so you’ll come with me. Of course, I wouldn’t just leave you here again.” Tommy rambled, despite knowing the infant couldn’t respond back. “I’m not some kind of monster!”

He made it back to his home, putting the basket on his bed, and looked down at the baby with his hands on his hips.

“If you were left out there like that, you’re alone.” This time, the baby gave a small babble and he couldn’t help the small smile that came on his face. “Well, then I’ll take care of you! I’m a big man and can do it easy! Phil took care of my brothers and me after all and he’s old and stupid. I’m young and very wise, so I can do it. I suppose you’ll need a name now.”

If anyone had been in the room with Tommy, they’d be surprised how gentle he picked up the small human. Carefully, he held them properly, only knowing how as Phil had once shown him when they were helping a village out after a raid when he had taken the younger boy to trade.

“Hmm, I’ll call you (Y/N)!” He decided. “And I will be the greatest father ever! And I know the perfect way to celebrate today!”

Going into his bag, he grinned as he pulled out his new music disc. Putting it on the jukebox, he sat on his bed as the infant looked over at the object making the beautiful sound. His grin went into a gentle smile as he watched (Y/N) listen to the music. They’d both be happy; he’d make sure of it.

Twenty Minutes Later…

Tubbo sprinted down the stairs of his house as he heard frantic knocking on his door and the sound of crying. Swinging the door open, he let out a startled noise seeing a distressed Tommy holding a wailing baby.

Of course, he’d need some help since there was just a little bit of a learning curve.

Wilbur (Right after Declaration of War)

Times were hard. Wilbur had just started a new nation to free himself, his friends, and his family from the iron grip of Dream and his friends, but they did not like the loss of power and declared war on him. As well as the war, Fundy had become a rather rebellious teenager and Wilbur wasn’t sure how to handle all of it. He didn’t let it show to the others though. He’d be a strong leader for them.

He looked over his map of L’Manberg. They needed better defensive points…they fought with their words but Dream fought with weapons of destruction. They needed safe spaces to protect themselves…

Wilbur jumped, knocking over an ink bottle over on the table when there was pounding on the van door.

“Damn it.” He grumbled, quickly flipping the bottle back up and moved the map out of the way before going to the door.

He opened the door to see Eret standing there, making Wilbur raise an eyebrow as Eret was on guard duty at the moment but looked shocked seeing what the other man was holding.

“Hello, sir. They were just outside the gate. I didn’t see anyone else around.” Eret rapidly explained to his leader, the small infant wiggling in his hold. “I brought them here because they were cold.”

“Get inside,” Wilbur instructed, going into the back of the van again quickly.

He heard the door close as he grabbed his spare coat.

“Hand them over,” Wilbur muttered, Eret carefully transferring his hold to the other man.

Wilbur saw they had a blanket but it was thin and the child was cold to the touch. Wrapping his coat around them, he instructed Eret to light a furnace, which he did post haste.

“Hello there, love.” He whispered quietly to the infant, rocking them lightly. “We’re going to get you warmed up and something to fill your stomach, how does that sound?”

The baby didn’t fuss, too tired and cold to even thinking about making one. Wilbur stood next to the now lit furnace and looked up at Eret.

“Is anyone out there?” He asked, his proud leader voice coming out.

“No sir, I was worried about the child.”

Wilbur nodded. “I commend you for saving their life, but I have it from here. Send someone to fetch milk and then please stand guard again.”

Eret nodded before leaving the van.

Once the two were alone, Wilbur sighed heavily as he sat on the floor, still close to the furnace. He felt the child’s forehead, feeling them warm up to his relief.

“You gave us a scare little one.” He chuckled quietly. “But don’t worry, you’re in a safe place. L’Manberg will care for you. I suppose it was lucky you were left here rather than the Dream SMP.”

He hummed quietly as he gently rocking the child, their eyes closing as they relaxed in his hold. As they relaxed, he gave a quick check for their gender.

“Welcome little one. You’re the first woman of L’Manberg.” He smiled lightly.

For a short while, he was able to forget about everything outside the van. He could relax himself and let his mind clear as he watched the little girl in his arms. They were both at peace.

After a few minutes, he looked up as he heard the van door open. As he was standing up carefully, his own son Fundy came in holding a bucket.

“Hey, Eret said you needed…What the hell is that?!” Fundy exclaimed in surprise, startling the girl in his arms, tears appearing in her eyes.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Wilbur whispered to her as he rocked her again and he wiped her tears away with one hand.

Fundy cautiously came over, raising an eyebrow. “Who are they?”

Wilbur paused thinking for a moment, before smiling. “Meet your new little sister my son. (Y/N), the newest member of our great nation.”

Philza (Right before Wilbur’s Betrayal)

Phil shook out his wings as he landed in a village. He needed to rest them for a bit before continuing on his journey to L’Manberg. He had gotten word of how the tides had turned badly for his sons in the new nation they made to try and live peacefully. Originally, they hadn’t asked for his aid as Tommy and Wilbur had made contact with Techno and they believed with their older brother, they could surely turn it back. Yet, Tommy had sent him a letter with worry for Wilbur’s state of mind and Phil decided he needed to be there for his sons.

Yes, he wanted them to learn the world on their own but there were some times when Phil needed to be there to help them.

Looking at the sky, the night was fast approaching so he managed to get a house in the village for the night. Keeping his sword by his bedside, he went to sleep for the night…

Startling awake, Phil heard the sounds of the village bell.

“God damn it,” Phil mumbled, scooping his sword and bag before putting his hat on his head.

Running out, he saw the cause of the panicked ringing. A pillager raid, and it was already out of control. Fires were crackling madly and blood littered the paths.

“Shit.” He swore as a pillager spotted him and he dodged the arrow before running them through with his sword.

The few surviving villagers ran from their homes and Phil went to follow when he heard a wail, the wail of a child. His throat tightened as he looked back to the burning buildings, his fatherly instinct along with his good nature kicked in.

“God…” He muttered before spreading his wings.

With ease, he was able to dodge between pillagers and ravagers alike as he followed the sound. Landing at the house that was most certainly ablaze, Phil kicked in the door. Holding his arm to his mouth and nose, he rushed in and found a small nursery, the flames engulfing the walls and ceiling. Rushing to the crib, he found the small child and quickly picked them up.

“Let’s go kiddo.” He said as he rushed back out.

Once he was outside, he took flight again and flew high enough to be out of arrow range, and flew far from the village. As he did, he looked the small child, of which he found out was female, over for injures as she screamed and cried. She had no visible injuries but Phil knew she had to have inhaled smoke. So, after a handful of minutes flying, he landed and shushed her quietly.

“It’s alright kiddo, hang on,” Phil told her quietly as he went into his bag taking out a health potion. “I got something that can help you.”

Being gentle, he gave them a few drops of the potion to hopefully clear out any smoke and heal the damage it might have done. The little girl gave hiccups and small cries.

“It’s alright. You’re safe now.” He bounced her lightly, slowing down her cries to nothing. “There we go. We’re ok. Once morning comes, we’ll find the others of the rest of your village and see if we can’t find your parents.”

The little girl’s eyes merely drooped and he gave smile before he frowned as he looked up to see the fires in the distance. They were a human child and he didn’t remember seeing any humans running away with the survivors but he’d try. And if not…

“Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of you,” Phil assured the now sleeping infant.

Technoblade (Start of Retirement)

Techno shouldered the bag of wood he had gathered over his shoulder, his axe on his belt as he made his way home through the snow. The voices were relatively calm, not hungry for blood at the moment, and Techno was able to have a peaceful moment. As he trudged closer to his house, he slowed to a stop seeing footprints by the stairs and the voices kicked up as his thoughts went wild.

Phil always gave him notice on his walkie if he was on the way and whoever had been there had gone up the stairs then walked away in a different direction from where they came.

The voices were bringing up the question of if he was being scouted out. Who could have found his house? How did they find it? They started to demand blood.

Technoblade took his axe off his belt while putting down the bag of wood. Going towards the porch carefully, he held it ready to expect the worse when he entered his house but he didn’t even go up the stairs to find something. On his doorstep, there sat a large huddle of blankets.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he came up to the huddle carefully and slowly with his axe raised. Stopping when it was fully in view, he stared in even more confusion.

“What the hell?” He questioned, lowering his axe slightly as he looked around the snowy tundra. “Who leaves a child on my doorstep!”

In the middle of the huddle of blankets was a sleeping child, who wiggled slightly at the loudness of his voice.

They’re an orphan now

You know how you feel about orphans

Blood for the Blood God

Techno winced at the sounds of the voices as he looked at the child. They were right…they were an orphan now. Someone had left them on his doorstep and now they were abandoned. He gripped his axe tightly as he looked down at the infant.

It’d be quick and easy…

The small human opened their eyes slightly, squirming slightly as they saw him. Techno’s grip loosened, the voices screaming in protest. They were so small and so defenseless…he wasn’t calling for blood anymore.

Grunting, he put the axe away, going back down the stairs to grab the bag as he clenched his jaw at the loud noises of the voices before going back and picking up the child with surprising gentleness as the child was startled slightly. He shouldered his door open, dropping the bag of wood next to the unlit fireplace before making his way upstairs to his bedroom. He put the child down, who watched him in silent curiosity as Techno took the walkie off his belt.

“Phil, you there?” He questioned into it.

It took a minute but the device crackled.

“Yeah, what’s going on?”

“I got a…issue. Come over as soon as you can.”

“An issue? What kind of issue?” Phil asked in surprise as usually, Technoblade could handle most of his issues.

“It’s hard to explain, just come over.” Techno rubbed his temple at the screams of the voices.

“Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He put the walkie down as he looked over at the child watching him.

“What?” He huffed.

Then the child gave a small giggle, trying to get their hands free to hold them out to him. The man stood there in shock as his heart melted. He had not felt something like that in a long time. Scrunching up his nose slightly before coming over and taking the infant out of the blankets and holding her as he used to with Tommy.

“What the hell am I going to do with you?” He muttered and the small human held lightly onto his shirt, making even the voices slow down.

He down a level in his home to wait for Phil, keeping the child in his hold as he just decided to do his normal routine. He started a fire and began to brew a few potions when the knock came on his door.

“Come in.” He called.

In stepped his father, who immediately dropped his bag in surprise seeing what Techno was holding as he added a new ingredient to his potion.

“Hello.” He greeted the older man without looking at him.

“What the hell did you have?” The older man questioned.

Techno looked over at him confused. “Blaze powder.”

Phil took his hat off as he ran a hand through his hair. “I meant the baby!”

“Oh! Yeah, this.” Techno said casually, the older man freaking out. “Someone left them on my porch.”

“Oh god…are they ok?” Phil asked, coming over.

“Yeah, they’re fine. They were swallowed by blankets.”

The child tried to take a bottle in their hands and Techno simply moved it from them and kept working like it was the most natural thing in the world. Phil stood in surprise at how casual Techno was, he knew about the orphan thing and how vicious the voices in his head could be.

“What…what are you going to do with the child?”

“That’s why I called you,” Techno said, before holding the child to the man. “You take it.”

“What?! Techno, I can’t just take this child. I…” Phil’s hand shook slightly at the thought of Wilbur. “I can’t have another child right now. And L’Manberg will question where I even got them in the first place.”

“Well then what do I do with it?!” Techno huffed as he was surprised by the quietness of the voices.

“Well…you could take of them.”

“I don’t know how to take care of a child. I don’t even like children, have you seen me with Tommy?” Techno rolled his eyes.

“You seem to like this one.” Phil pointed out as Techno was holding them willingly and at the gentleness, he had with them.

Techno frowned as he tried to think of a good reason. “That’s because they’re quiet.”

“Look…I know you don’t want to hear this but maybe you should look after them, even just for a while. I can see if I can find someone who wants a child.”

No, you found them.

They’re rather cute…

Keep them!

The voices had done a full turn around from when they first saw the child. They were demanding Techno care for them and protect the fragile being. Techno couldn’t disagree with them because in his heart…he wanted to protect the child that had been left on his doorstep.

“Fine, I’ll take care of them for a while but you need to help me, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

Phil chuckled. “Of course, son. We should look them over first to make sure they’re alright.”

Techno rolled his eyes but agreed, listening to Phil as he told him what to do. The father was smiling proudly as even though Techno was frustrated with the new task, he continued with it. Once she, as they discovered, was checked over, Phil put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“What do you want to call her?” Phil asked.

He looked down at the child, who was giggling as Phil smiled at her.

“Blood Child.”

“Techno!”

Later, Techno actually decided on (Y/N) and for once, the voices were on his side.

Eret (Before the founding of L’Manberg)

Eret chuckled to himself as he walked down the path back towards his castle. Tommy’s antics for the day had been particularly ridiculous that it still brought a chuckle to the older gentleman as he went back to his home. He knew the days around the Dream SMP certainly wouldn’t be boring.

Walking to his castle, he stopped as he noticed a basket left in front of the door and peered inside.

“Why hello there.” Eret smiled seeing a small face peering back up at him as they squirmed slightly in discomfort. “What are you doing here little one?”

He carefully picked up the basket and went inside his castle. As he got to his bedroom, he carefully took the infant out struggling a bit but managed before searching a bit in the basket.

“Hmm, no note or anything.” He muttered as he looked at the child squirming around. “Well, someone made a mistake leaving you behind. Let’s see if I can’t figure out what’s making you so fussy.”

After a bit of trying, first checking to see if she needed a diaper, he figured she needed some food and managed to get milk, putting it in a clean potion bottle to help her drink it easier. That also took a few trials, but he managed to help her drink until she stopped fussing.

“There we go, now I can see your lovely face better.” He smiled as he sat on his bed, wiggling his finger in front of her making her giggle.

As he played with the small girl, he frowned slightly as he looked over the basket that she had been left in. Why would someone leave someone so precious on the doorstep of his castle? It was truly a shame for those that did leave the little girl as Eret couldn’t help but slowly smile again as the little girl grasped onto his finger.

“You’re not going to have to worry little one. You can stay here with me and you can be the princess of this castle.” He promised her, hugging her lightly, making her giggle. “I’ll make sure you’re safe and happy. It will take me a little while to learn how to do it all properly but I’ll learn. How does that sound…(Y/N)?”

He chuckled as he moved his head back as she reached for her glasses. Yeah, this sounded like a beautiful idea.

Dream (The Very Start)

Dream rolled his eyes behind his mask as he heard George screaming in the distance, Sapnap laughing wildly in return. Those two never know how to stop.

“Come on you two! We need to build a house before the night comes.” Dream called to them. “Stop goofing off.”

Yet, he could still hear George’s high-pitched scream and he just chuckled and shook his head at his friends’ behavior. They were the company he kept and he honestly wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Eventually, they did stop screwing and they were able to get to work on building their first home of the new land they had. The three of them joked and there was some arguing still between Sapnap and George but it just made it peaceful for the three of them. It was how their lives were.

Dream went to go look for some sheep to get wool for beds before night fully struck, leaving the two “children” at the house. As he went searching, he jumped when he heard the sound of screaming, but it wasn’t liking George’s scream. It was quieter but still a scream.

“Hello?!” Dream called as he pulled out his stone sword.

As he went towards the noise, he realized it wasn’t a scream of terror as he first thought it was. No, it was a screaming cry, the kind a child would make. He started sprinting at that thought and skidded to a stop as he found the infant that was making the sound laid on top of a rock, a group of three zombies trying to get it.

Dream gripped onto his sword before shouting to get their attention and moved back, quickly taking care of the mobs. He pushed his smiley mask to the side of his face as he finished them off and rushed over to the baby.

“Hey! Hey. It’s ok now.” He told them as he climbed up next to them, dropping his sword at the bottom. “All the bad things are gone.”

He gently picked up the baby, shushing them as he put a hand on top of their head. Slowly, they quieted down and Dream smiled wiping their tears away.

“Hey, there you go. See? There’s nothing to cry about.” He chuckled before screwing his face up to look funny.

The child giggled and he grinned.

“There we go. Now, let’s check you out.” He muttered, looking them over. “No injuries. That’s very good princess. Now, what are you doing out here?” He asked as he looked around, seeing no signs of human life other than the two of them.

Dream’s blood boiled slightly. Someone would just leave a child out here? If it wasn’t for him, she would have died!

“You got nowhere to go huh? Well, you don’t have to worry.” He said, carefully sliding down.

He picked up his sword, putting it back in its sheath, before walking back towards his friends.

“I’ll take care of you. You’ll be the princess of our new land! You, me, and your two idiot uncles.” He laughed, the tiny girl giggling at the sound. “And I’ll make sure you always have a reason to smile.”

#mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #dreamsmp #tommyinnit x reader #wilbur soot x reader #technoblade x reader #philza x reader #eret x reader #dream x reader

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bluerosesburnblue · 3 years

Note

I don't suppose you could explain the ending for khux for me?? i've watched it and i've been following the translated storyline for it and this ending just. does not make a ton of sense to me. i can usually figure out kh endings no problem but this time i'm just lost.

Isn't that just the state of the writing for it, where even people familiar with the series are having trouble understanding it. And, of course, the game dies as it lived: screwing over Global so we can't even compare/contrast with an official English version yet to see if it's more clear

Anyway, sure, I'll try to break it down scene by scene (Note: these aren't the actual scene titles, I just needed a way to delineate them so I made titles up)

Scene 1: The Master and Luxu

The update begins with a continuation of the past flashbacks expanding on the Case of Luxu and the Master of Masters' instructions to him. He explains that he knew that Darkness could only truly be defeated in the future, and so he made sure that Keyblade wielders would exist to fight it by recruiting many Keyblade wielders in Daybreak Town (as per the start of KHx) and then using the Dandelions to stall Darkness's takeover and give them time to make sure that the Keyblade legacy would live on. As Luxu turns to leave, though, the Master stops him with one more bit of information that he feels Luxu needs to know

He explains that back when he was younger, the being known as Darkness tried to gain the advantage in their battle by becoming incorporeal and attacking people's hearts instead of their bodies. There were 13 of these original Darkness beings, and because they lack bodies they aim to win by quantity and so created the Heartless as lesser, but more physical versions of themselves. The original 13 still haven't given up their desire to regain a physical form, however, and so they target those with strong hearts to take their bodies for themselves

The Master of Masters, knowing this and knowing that something without a physical body can't be destroyed, came up with a plan. He took in six children, his apprentices, and raised them to be a prison for Darkness. To foster light so strongly within them that Darkness couldn't possibly taint it, and then seal the strongest 7 of the 13 Darknesses within himself and his students, trapping the Darknesses inside their impenetrable hearts of light. Then, he instigated the Keyblade War. This is only my interpretation of the line, but it sounds to me like the purpose was to get the Foretellers killed in the War and the Darkness sealed inside of them along with them. How this relates to them coming back in KH3 is unclear

When Luxu asks if the War and the idea of a traitor were necessary, the Master goes on to say that the purpose of making the Foretellers believe there was a traitor was to instill negative emotions like fear and doubt in them. Darkness feeds on those emotions, and so by making sure that his students would produce them and yet not have their light tainted, he would attract Darkness into their hearts by giving it something to eat, only for it to realize that it was trapped in light that couldn't be consumed. The infighting amongst the Foretellers was bait to lock Darkness in their hearts the entire time

After that, there's only six left and so the Master chose five individuals, the Union Leaders, to be the uncorruptable lights that would house the weaker Darknesses. The final one, he would simply trap in the Data Daybreak Town

At this, Luxu flies into a rage at his master, angrily shouting that he can't possibly accept a plan that sacrifices so many people, but the Master stands up and starts talking over him. He's made it clear that he doesn't see Darkness as human, and he's seen this inhuman thing take countless lives, including people he's cared about. He doesn't believe them to be heroes, and he doesn't care. The entire purpose is just to ensure that in the end, humanity is what survives the war. He knows it's a tragedy, but for one who believes that tragedy can't be fully avoided, this is a solution that will at least save some

Luxu accepts this answer and leaves, but behind his back the Master muses on what Luxu, the traitor, needs to do. Luxu was the traitor from the lost page the entire time, given a role to take him out of the infighting so that his identity as the traitor wouldn't be discovered (or at least, that's how it seems to me considering that he needed the Foretellers to fear and doubt to attract Darkness to them)

Scene 2: Fleeing Daybreak Town

We now cut to the real Daybreak Town in the present, where Lauriam, Elrena, Ventus, and Brain have just emerged from the Data Daybreak Town into the real-world version of the lifeboat room. Daybreak Town is breaking down around them, about to be fully consumed by the aftermath of the Keyblade War which had been temporarily staved off while the Data simulation was running

Brain is attempting to enact his plan to extract all of the Dandelions from Data Daybreak Town and bring them into the real world, but he's worried that there won't be enough time to actually do it before the simulation shuts down and the real Daybreak Town is destroyed. The only thing he has time to do is get their three remaining friends (Ephemer, Skuld, and Player) out to the real world, and the only way that he can think to do this is to send Lauriam, Elrena, and Ven away to the future and to safety and then send the remaining lifeboats back into the datascape so that there's enough for the three trapped in there to use

Brain is willing to stay behind to man this operation, but he wants to ensure that at least one of the true Union Leaders (Lauriam) manages to live on in case things go wrong and save as many of them as he can, so those going to the future must be sent first. Lauriam, etching his mission to finally find Strelitzia (or even just her data) into his heart, departs with Elrena and Ven. Once they're gone, however, Brain notices someone enter the room and turns to find Luxu approaching him

Scene 3: Those Trapped in Data

We now cut to Player, Ephemer, and Skuld in the data version of the lifeboat room, contemplating how the others are doing. Just as they muse about how quiet the end of this world feels, Player turns to find that four of the remaining six Darknesses have entered the room (presumably the other two are the one sealed in Ven and the one that Luxu was fighting in the real world and who helped Maleficent, who seems to be gone by the time Brain and the others end up back in the real world)

The Darknesses, it seems, have come to politely ask the gang to open up a way out of the Data Daybreak Town for them, so that they can spread to other worlds. They don't want to fight, and obviously even if they did they'd win, so just open a gate for them to escape with already. They could always just take over Ephemer's friends and force him to watch as they rip them away until he complies

Ephemer mocks this and moves in to attack, but before he fully commits he whispers his plan to Player: he and Skuld will hold them off to buy time for Player to get into the last pod and run. To his shock, however, Player begins mimicking Darkness's speaking patterns and then goes to attack their friends. It seems that Darkness has done to Player what they did to Ven, taking them over and forcing them to act out. Player is now their bargaining chip; they'll only give Player back if Ephemer opens the gate. And since Darkness can only be defeated if it has a body, their options are to give in or destroy the possessed Player

This initiates the final boss fight against Ephemer and Skuld, Player's dearest friends who have been with them since before the war

And the duo prove no match for the Darkness-possessed Player, who taunts them about not just leaving when they had the chance. Ephemer begs his friend to stop as Player goes in to finish off Skuld, and in his desperation to protect one friend, he opens up the portal to Game Central Station and forces his fallen friend though. As it closes, Ephemer breaks down in tears, muttering apologies to the friend that he was unable to save

Scene 4: Luxu and Brain

We cut back to where we left off in Scene 2, with Luxu confronting Brain in the real lifeboat room. He introduces himself, and Brain is taken aback that one of the missing masters has finally returned. Luxu asks Brain if he's a Union Leader, and when Brain confirms that he is, Luxu then gestures to the missing pods and asks where the others are. Brain tells him that one escaped, and the other two are still trapped in the data. Luxu's confused; there should be five Union Leaders, but Brain only listed four. He asks what happened to the fifth, and Brain confirms that they were struck down

Luxu assumes that Brain is going to make his escape, but Brain denies this. They have a friend who he calls a Dandelion (even though Player did not consider themself one) who is trapped alongside the other two Union Leaders, and he intends to get all three out no matter what. Furthermore, Brain has no intention of using one of the real lifeboats. Rather, he has resigned himself to staying behind in the past and finding some way to survive the end of the world to eventually extract the rest of the Dandelions from the data as well, and wake them from their data sleep

Luxu, however, has some bad news. While normally that would be true, the Data Daybreak Town was designed to lock Darkness away. Once it's locked up, nothing will ever be able to get out of it again. If anything could get out, then Darkness would as well. It was meant to be a grave for an intangible being

Not only that, but Luxu expresses doubt that Brain has properly prepared for his friends who use the lifeboats to awaken in the future. What does Brain plan to use for mediums? Who are the memories going to come from? Brain doesn't have an answer, but he has to do this and he's willing to put his life on the line for it

This seems to earn Luxu's respect

Scene 5: The Two Who Remain

We now resume with Ephemer and Skuld in the data lifeboat room, having just sealed Player away. The two real pods that weren't used yet are digitized and sent to Ephemer and Skuld to use for their escape. Ephemer picks up the weakened Skuld and places her in a lifeboat, then looks forlornly over to the one on the other side of the room. The one meant for Player. Then he reclines back into his own pod and the two leave the Data Daybreak Town

Scene 6: "You're So Gullible"

We now join Player inside of the familiar tunnel that joined the Data Daybreak Town to Game Central Station

The four Darknesses swarm around Player, commending them for goading Ephemer into being desperate enough to open up a gateway for them, implying that Player was at least partially in control by the end of the fight. In a bizarre way, they seem to be trying to help Player as they warn them they must cast off their body if they don't want to be destroyed by the simulation shutting down

Player laughs

They ask if Darkness is always this easy to trick. After all, it can't go anywhere without a Keyblade and without a body it can't use one, either, which is why it needed one of them to open a path for it. Player turns, and locks the end of the pathway that leads to Game Central Station. And since Ephemer sealed the Data Daybreak Town end when he cast Player and the Darknesses through the portal, all five of them are now trapped in this space between worlds on the cusp of shutting down along with Data Daybreak Town. This was Player's plan all along, opening their heart up just enough for the four Darknesses to try and use them as a host and then provoking their friends into sealing them away and taking Darkness with them

Darkness flies into an anger-fueled frenzy but is unable to do anything to escape. Player collapses, and Chirithy appears. Petting them much like they did during the Keyblade War, Player apologizes for forcing Chirithy to be sealed away with them since their hearts are bound. Chirithy shakes their head, signaling that they don't hold it against Player, and the two go in for a final hug and are bathed in light

Scene 7: The Destruction of Daybreak Town

Back in the real lifeboat room again, Ephemer and Skuld emerge and are met with blaring sirens signaling that the world is at its end. The other are gone, including Brain and Luxu, and the two have no idea what happened to them (or that Luxu was involved). They simply hope that they made it out safely, and decide to check outside just to see what's going on

They're met with the destruction of Daybreak Town. Smoke is everywhere, the sky is red, and pieces of debris are being drawn into a swirling dark orb in the sky not unlike the destruction of Destiny Islands from KH1. Ephemer decides that they need to leave, now, and Skuld muses about how it takes a lot of time and effort to build something, but none at all to destroy. The two retreat back into the lifeboat room to make their exit

Scene 8: The Master's Plans

We now cut to our final continuation of the flashback of Master of Masters' talk with Darkness from before he disappeared

Darkness muses that it truly does not understand the Master of Masters at all. The Master asks if it wants to, and Darkness replies with a very clinical, "Yes, understanding your enemy is important." The Master muses if it means all of the Darknesses or just the one who is speaking, and Darkness states that it's speaking for all of them

The Master muses for a bit about how small worlds are easy to control. If this small world simply expands gradually over time, then eventually there will become parts of it that the light can't reach, but Darkness will have free reign over anywhere it pleases (much like real light can only shine so far, and anywhere it doesn't reach is filled with shadow). This skews everything in Darkness's favor when vying for control and is precisely what would happen if the world of the Age of Fairtytales continued to expand

Darkness simply notes that of course it will always be around, that's what "friends" do, but the Master says that sometimes he'd like to be left alone. And so, to get away from Darkness, he plans to flee to a world that Darkness does not know about. One where neither Darkness nor Light can be controlled. Darkness asks what this world is, and the Master says that humanity, even if their lives end, want to believe in a world that exists for them in the future. For him, this is a world of fiction and imagination. This implies that he plans to flee into the world of Quadratum, the fictional world that we learned about in Melody of Memory that exists on the other side of the "real world"

Darkness is clearly lost as it asks if he's talking about the Data World. The Master simply says that even if it started out as fiction, you can make it real. But he won't explain any more. After all, the point is that this is a world that Darkness doesn't know about. It cannot reach it, even if it tried

Of note is that he mimics what the illusory Xehanort remarks about Sora in Melody of Memory by calling this a place where neither your "eyes nor voice" can reach, much like Sora's voice could not reach Kairi in The Final World from Quadratum. His final description of it is as "a world of [symbol]." It's unclear if this is an actual term that is unpronounceable and unspeakable in-universe, or if this is simply done to censor the word for the players

Scene 9: Goodbye

We once again return to the real lifeboat room amidst the destruction of Daybreak Town. As she gets into her pod, Skuld starts sobbing and thanks Ephemer through her tears for staying with her until the end. Ephemer tells her that she can't give up until it's all over. As he goes into his pod, he flashes back to all of the time that he spent with Player, and mutters their name through his tears as their pods close and the room caves in around them

(AND THIS IS WHERE IT SHOULD'VE ENDED BECAUSE IT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD UP TO THIS POINT BUT HERE WE GO)

Scene 10: Where Do Dream Eaters Come From?

Player and Chirithy are floating in a white void alongside all of the other Dandelions that were trapped in the Data Daybreak Town and their Chirithies. Some of them are familiar faces, like the "My friends aren't my power" kid and the squad of four kids that Player had befriended and their ex-teammate. As Player awakens, they watch these sleeping Dandelions revert to the forms of hearts that are then eaten by those Chirithies, transforming them into the Spirits seen in Dream Drop Distance

Player's Chirithy explains that because Chirithies are bonded to their Keyblade wielder's heart, they take on a state to match their wielder. If the wielder dies, so do they. And if the wielder falls into a deep sleep, they take on a stronger form to protect it

Contrary to what the fandom is saying, NO, Spirits aren't dead Keykids. Rather, the Chirithies are simply taking their sleeping hearts into their bodies and transforming into a stronger form to keep them safe. This is only my assumption, but I would assume that this is possible since they don't technically have bodies anyway, having been digitized. Therefore, their body-less hearts would otherwise have been sent directly to sleep with no protection, hence the Chirithies moving in

Now, this still doesn't make sense regarding Dream Drop Distance by overriding the lore that all Dream Eaters are simply the form that Darkness takes in Sleeping Worlds, which made sense from a metaphorical perspective of "you sleep at night which is dark, so dreams are darkness and both good and bad dreams are made of the same stuff." And also you can totally craft Spirits and have them explode if they take too much damage, all with zero indication that a keykid heart was involved in the creation process or released on destruction, but whatever, let's just move on

Player asks if this is what will happen to them and their Chirithy, and Chirithy responds that they have a choice. If Player doesn't want to go to sleep, then their heart will be broken down and reconstructed as an entirely new heart to live a new life

Smash cut to an unfamiliar town where a woman in purple with black hair and silver eyes hand over what is obviously a baby Xehanort to a hunched figure in a blue cloak, holding a cane. She sobs. Cut again to the figure in blue holding baby Xehanort standing on Destiny Islands' play island. Cut once more and Xehanort is now his teenage self from Dark Road on the beach of the play island. The figure in blue is standing on the ledge behind him, and as Xehanort stands up to walk to the shoreline, the figure collapses onto the ground. Xehanort does not notice this. Two more cuts, this time to the day that Xehanort found himself in Scala ad Caelum and a chess match with Eraqus

We return to Player, who closes their eyes peacefully and decided to move on to another life. Chirithy is confused, but goes in for a final hug as both of them dissolve into light, Player's heart flying off into the white void

The implication of all of this being that not only did Player reincarnate as Xehanort, introducing reincarnation into a series that it has never been a part of and overcomplicating the lore even worse, but that Xehanort isn't even from Destiny Islands in the first place, invalidating nearly all of his character motivation from the series

This is so bad that it deserves its own post though, so we're moving on

Credits Roll: Scenes From the Game Play Over It

Post Credits: Aftermath

We find our scene in a vast expanse of water, littered with debris. A lone lifeboat floats amongst the rubble. Some houses from Daybreak Town can be seen partially submerged, setting this after its destruction. The lifeboat comes to a stop and opens up, revealing Ephemer's silhouette. He looks around

It's unclear why Ephemer seems to have landed so far back in the past compared to the others, though some people have noted that he also doesn't appear to have lost his body, so it could be that his pod simply didn't activate (note how we only saw it close, not disappear into light like Lauriam and crew's) and that Ephemer didn't time travel at all but simply rode out the destruction of Daybreak Town inside the lifeboat

We see a rendition of the scene from KH2 where Diablo the raven brings Maleficent's cloak to the three fairies and she revives, showing that this scene was, indeed, her coming back from her time travel adventure

Lauriam wakes up in the field of flowers from Dwarf Woodlands, and looks confused and startled as a white butterfly flits about him. The flowers clearly a nod to his element among the Organization

Elrena is shown still unconscious along the cliffs that lead to Maleficent's castle in Enchanted Dominion. Much like Lauriam, her element is represented in the thunderstorm that rages around her

Ventus is shown unconscious in the Keyblade Graveyard, and a silhouette approaches him. Many believe this to be Xehanort finding him, though as of now the figure's identity is unconfirmed

We cut to a scene of Luxu dragging the black box behind him in the Keyblade Graveyard, much like a certain scene from the end of Back Cover. However, this time the scene continues and he removes his hood to reveal Brain's face. The implication here is that after Scene 4 above, Luxu took Brain's body as the first of many that he would steal to prolong his own life. This is why neither of them are seen when Ephemer and Skuld emerge from the datascape; Luxu has already taken Brain's body for his own and made his escape to survive the destruction of the world with the black box

We get a title card, but are treated to one final scene. Brain wakes up (sans hat) in the same town that we saw baby Xehanort being given away in. A hooded figure in strange garb arrives, holding Brain's hat, and asks if he is Brain. At Brain's confirmation, the figure returns the hat and introduces themself as Sigurd (a Norse mythology name much like the other Scala ad Caelum characters so far). They seem to have been waiting for Brain and report that they found him into an earpiece of sorts

Brain is understandably confused, and Sigurd explains that they know of the Brain who escaped Daybreak Town's destruction and that he would appear in this spot on this day. Brain panics, realizing that he doesn't know where any of his seven other friends are and if they made it to safety. Sigurd tells Brain that he's the only one who made it to this spot. Brain, utterly crushed that all of his friends have seemingly perished, listlessly follows Sigurd as Sigurd leads him to their headquarters

On the way there, however, something catches Brain's eye. He sprints to the fountain and looks up at something that's not in the frame in shock. Sigurd explains that this is a statue of this town, Scala ad Caelum’s founder (so Xehanort's actually from Scala...) and the first ever Keyblade Master, Master Ephemer. The camera pans up to show the statue of Ephemer as we know him holding the Master Keeper Keyblade that he got from Brain

Brain is overcome with emotions, and through his tears states that he knows exactly who that is. That's his best friend, and he's so proud of him for rebuilding

This is just my speculation, but what I believe is going on in the final scene with Brain is that when Luxu took his body, he ejected Brain's heart from it. A lifeboat wasn't used up, so Luxu must have either used time travel on his own to send Brain's heart to the future or simply left Brain's heart stranded and waiting in the ruins of Daybreak Town. This would let Luxu have his body, but Brain's stranded heart could make a new one with the proper resources in the future like the other hearts sent via the pods. That's what I think the focus on the hat is about. Luxu is shown without it after he takes Brain's body, and Sigurd has it. So my assumption would be that the hat was the medium used to bring Brain's body back like Maleficent's cloak was for her. It’s possible that Luxu set this up, but I can’t confirm. As for the memories, I couldn't say

I would also speculate that this scene takes place a decent amount of time before Dark Road, since Eraqus has been implied to be a descendant of Brain due to their similar looks. If Brain is in Scala ad Caelum in the past, then he could easily be the grandfather that Eraqus mentioned

My final bit of speculation is that the reason Sigurd and crew know who Brain is is because Ephemer, the founder of Scala ad Caelum and the inheritor of the Book of Prophecies, likely saw when Brain would emerge and set up a system to take care of him, knowing that he wouldn't survive to see him again

Apologies for the length, the ending was 40 minutes long. But, hopefully, I've made it clear which scenes are connected to which and what is actually happening. If it wasn't actually clear, there's two flashback sequences involving the Master of Masters that take place before KHx, the scenes in the data and real lifeboat rooms are running concurrently with each other (Brain and Luxu are having their conversation at the same time as Player is being possessed by the Darknesses, etc.) and everything else is roughly chronological with the exception of the scenes where Maleficent, Lauriam, Elrena, and Ven are revived after time traveling. Lauriam, Elrena, and Ven's scenes all must take place sometime before or around BBS (Lauriam and Elrena for their ages to match up, Ven because he's in BBS). Maleficent's is at the beginning of KH2

#kingdom hearts #khux #khux spoilers #anon asks #liz answers #between the amount it cuts around and the entirety of scene 10 which is really my only problem area i can see why you'd be confused #i think this would actually be a decent ending without scene 10 but scene 10 is SO BAD #it leaves such a bad taste in your mouth for the ENTIRE FRANCHISE that it ends up bringing literally everything else down with it

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eligaxy · 3 years

Text

Wind

☆ℜ𝔢𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔭 : Venti x gn!Reader

☆𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 : near death experience, you’re confused asf about everything, bad writing cause i suck, spoilers for the we will be reunited quest!! And also for venti’s backstory, venti is serious for once (yes it’s a legitimate warning🤚)

☆𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢 : Some angst, some fluff? Idk bye🤨

☆𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶 : "It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask." (2.8k words)

♪𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 : i’m an idiot simp, i did this in one sitting and half asleep, english isnt my first language BLA BLA IM SORRY FOR MY POOR WRITING BUT HAVE THIS

basically you don’t know if you can trust venti or not, head says no, heart screams yes

Also, I was listening to stormterror’s lair ost while writing it, just because its fucking amazing, you might wanna listen to it too

I’m nervous to post this?/&:! This is the second fic i’ve ever finished in my whole life

i love venti and he’s hot in his god outfit i don’t make the rules

KAY ENJOY <3

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

Saying you were exhausted would have been an understatement. After reuniting with your sibling, you had been frantically searching for clues about khaenri'ah and ways to Inazuma. With no luck, you couldn't find any traces of Dainsleif or of your twin. The ruins had been sealed and you had no idea what happened to the inverted statue or the corpse you had found there. Desperately, you clung into every little information you had, you would have turned every rock on this archon damned continent if you had to, which is what led you into those ruins near Guilli plains.

Walking along the destroyed buildings your eyes caught sight of a dandelion and you froze. You missed them so much, why couldn't they go back home with you? All you ever wanted was to be by their side why, why were they running away from you?

You remembered your travels, the moments you shared together, their protectiveness over you, the fondness in their eyes when you smiled at them. You remember the times you got hurt and healed one another with your now missing powers. You remember sleeping by their side and being grateful to the universe to let you keep your ray of sunshine everywhere with you. How ironic.

What had they meant 'once you reach the end of your journey' ? What does that even mean? Stupid twin, if they knew you were here the whole time, why hadn't they come to you? Why were they always leaving just when they were within your grasp? Why? Did they know how much you missed them and how much your heart broke when you finally saw them? Did they?

You only realized you were crying when a small gust of wind had your wet cheek react to the cold, breaking your train of thought. Wind.

The wind is everywhere, you think, free as a bird, always accompanying every citizen of this world, never truly alone. With this in mind, you resumed your exploring, slower this time.

A sigh escaped your mouth. You didn't want to admit it, but the wind did comfort you a little. Almost as if he was here. God of freedom and of the breeze, he was more a singer than a protector and you couldn't bear to think about him. Was it true? What Dain said... Did he destroy this nation? Was he the cause of the scenery that still haunted your nightmares up until 500 years later? Your brain simply couldn't accept that Venti, your Venti, you catch yourself thinking, could have made such an act of wrath. He was the epitome of freedom, why would he take the very thing he based all of his existence on from mere mortals? Barbatos simply couldn't be afraid of being overpowered, he didn't even care about power. All he wanted was freedom and happiness for his people. Surley this couldn't be right?

But then again, who were you to deny the wipe out of an entire nation? The gods did it. They were afraid that Celestia would be overthrown by the pride of humankind, the destruction of khaenri'ah by divine beings was a fact. There was no misunderstanding about this. That was the one thing you were sure of. So why did you feel like crying even more now?

The mere thought of a gentle soul such as Venti committing innocent people to an eternity of suffering didn't sit right with you. Even when his dearest friend Dvalin had turned against him, he didn't try to stop him, didn't even ask the dragon to save him. He healed and helped him, gave him a choice.

'What is freedom if demanded of you by a god?' was the same person that asked this question the same one who committed mass murder? Genocide?

Did the little wine-lover bard you had grown fond of destroy all hopes and light your kin had?

You remember that night when he freed Stanley from his burden, freed his and his friends' spirits. You had marveled at his action, in that instant he was a god, and he definitely hadn't struck you as a murderer. You remember that look of silent pain and grief in his eyes when he sang the tales of the nameless bard he had taken the appearance of. You knew he trusted you enough to share his story, something so personal, you could almost feel the war that took down the tyrant of Mond. Oh how much you cherished that evening, treating him to some well deserved dandelion wine afterwards, his favorite, and asking him to sing you more about the time where was nothing but the spirit of a breeze.

Your heart broke a little, remembering his rosy cheeks and drunk smile, you wish you could talk to him, ask him what happened. What did he do, was he really as dangerous as you had been told? If so, then why did you feel so good around him? Why did you feel like you could give hi-

You stopped walking upon seeing a ruin guard up ahead in the distance. You're so stupid, you think. Feeling this way is not gonna get you anywhere, especially with how the bard had been missing for a few weeks now. Ever since you had last seen your sibling.

Where was he, where was he wandering off to? You walk towards the disabled ruin guard, not really paying any mind to it, still thinking about the god you longed to meet with. If you could see him, what would you even say? Would he even answer your questions? Why did your stomach feel so light and funny when you thought about seeing him, why aren't you angrier?

You're almost at the killing machine's level now, so lost in your thought you don't notice the five other similar robots hidden behind a wall next to it. You notice them only when it's too late and you've already turned them on while thinking about examining them and collecting their serial numbers. When you hear the familiar tick of the mechanism turning on, you internally panic and think about running away only to calm down moments later and think to yourself that you can simply beat it and take what you came here for. Even if you are emotionally and physically tired, you can manage, you think.

That was before hearing five other consecutive ticks right after it, and all around you.

Turning around, your gaze falls upon the small army of field tillers. Fuck.

Paimon wasn't with you today, you had asked for some time alone which she hesitantly accepted, so you couldn't ask her to go fetch help. You would have been worried if you had all your capacities but with the state you were in, you were wondering how you were going to survive this fight. You were alone, none of your companions with you, and deeply weakened by the busy day you had and the few hours of sleep you had managed to steal away from the night. Was it today you would meet your doom, with all your questions and uncertainties unanswered?

You tried your best to fight with the strength you had left, but quickly grew desperate after what felt like hours of efforts to swing your blade and being able to only take one monster down out of the six. It didn't help that you got injured along the way, their blows becoming harder and harder to dodge. After being thrown on the grown for the third time, you understood you had at least two broken ribs and that your shaking legs would soon fail you as well.

Fear crept upon you, you would die here today, alone. Alone. You couldn't talk to your sibling after all, couldn't understand. You didn't even get to talk to him one last time. Him... You would die without the knowledge of the truth about your bard. You would die alone. You didn't want that, you couldn't look death straight in the eye.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

In Mondstadt, there was a musician, a weird singer everyone had heard about at least once. He lived off of his songs and was mostly known for having a great story-telling and being an alcoholic.

The number of people who knew the true nature of his identity were few and he was perfectly content with that. He didn't wish to be a god anymore, his gnosis had been taken away anyway and it's not like he had any power over the city of wind nowadays. Even if his people still worshipped him as Barbatos, it didn't sit right with him to be called a god anymore. It actually never did, he thinks to himself with a smile, he never really took any responsibilities that came with the divine title which is why he was so weak today. But it didn't matter to him, his smile turns into a soft giggle.

Sitting on a mill that was once born from his steps he looks fondly over the city he founded. Even if they were godless, the citizens were still thriving and free. He cared oh so very deeply about the place even if he rarely, if not never, showed the affection within his heart. He remembers the day he grew strong enough to dispel the storms over his actual Mondstadt, and made the weather gentle enough so that there was no need for fireplaces. Nowadays, he loves watching birds nest into the chimney tops and seeing them found their own home. It gave him a sense of belonging like no other, not above his people, but walking among them and watching them nest into this cocoon he created. He was proud of what happened to his land and would do it all over again if he had to.

Especially since it led to him meeting you. This thought doesn't catch him off guard, you often roamed around in his mind after all, and it's not like he didn't write at least three songs about you and your feat, your smile, your courage...

Ah there he goes again, rambling about you in a whisper. He turns around to the statue of him his people erected in his honor, chuckling at how they never made the connection with his signature braids. His, but not really his, since he had stolen this form from someone who was much more deserving of this power than him. Seeing his friend being honored with the statues of the seven around the land made him happy, he hoped that it was a good enough thank you gift in return for everything that the bard whom he couldn't even remember the name of anymore did for him.

Upon gazing at the statue, he remembered telling you of his long gone friend. It was the first time he had talked about him to someone else, he didn't even mention it to Venessa, she who made him believe in himself again. He could ask himself why, but he simply knew that you had something different, more than meets the eye. Perhaps it was because you weren't from Teyvat, or perhaps it was just you being as simple as your natural self but he was simply and utterly captivated by your being. You inspired him to no end, at first he thought it was because he had never met someone like you and he loved new things! But as time grew and he got to know you, he understood quickly the meaning and depth of his passions. He thought of it with a light chuckle, content with your presence alone. He really did need and want you around.

So why did he purposely avoid you like the plague?

The wind had brought to his ears that you had met with Dainsleif.

And your twin.

His first reaction was to search for you, talk to you, he wanted to be here to know what happened! You had searched so long, he couldn't contain himself, still listening to what the wind told him, he started running with excitement but... But wait, Dainsleif was... He told you what?

Oh.

So you heard about Khaenri'ah. He had stopped dead in his tracks and turned back, only sending a warm current of wind your way, hugging you from afar.

He wasn't ready to talk about this yet, not ready to face you and absolutely not ready to answer your questions. He was a coward, he thought, running away like that but what else could he do, really. It was only natural for him to be as uncatchable as air.

A sorry excuse to avoid the fact that even if his past had marvelous story like the one of the nameless bard, it also had its share of darkness, something he wasn't ready to dive back into. Especially not now when your arrival has been shaking this world up like it hasn't been since at least 500 years.

But oh, how he longed to see your face or to hear your voice. So he asked a breeze to report to him what you were up to, and where you were. Just in case! he tells himself, what if you needed help ehe? But he knows you're competent and you won't need the help of a weakling coward like him anytime soon. Or so he thought.

Because when the breeze only gives him a few words back, his blood runs cold.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

As you murmured these words in your desperate state, not really for anyone but yourself as a last resort, a prayer of some sort, you tried to stand by leaning yourself on your sword and failing miserably. You didn't dare look up as you heard the loud footsteps of the metal giants coming your way. It was over, and you barely managed to accept it.

As you rested your forehead against the cold handle of your sword, you closed your eyes, tears starting to make their ways out of your closed eyelids. All you could feel was remorse.

A soft breeze moved your hair slightly and your chest felt like a black hole had taken place where your heart used to be, regretting to not have been able to meet him under the tree at Windrise one last time.

The breeze quickly grew stronger, until it felt unnatural and you looked up from the ground, only to close your eyes again immediately when you realized the wind was too powerful for you to keep them open. If you had struggled to see though, you would have been blinded by the white light that soon illuminated the whole ruins. You didn't have enough time to register the situation when you felt a hand being laid atop your shoulder, snaking around your collarbones and pulling you back into... nothing? Another arm circled your weak form and a voice you immediately recognized said

"I've dealt with things worse than you, now crumble."

You realized that if you couldn't feel a chest behind you while still being embraced by his arms, it was because he was floating above you, and not standing behind you. A look in his direction confirmed your suspicions but what stunned you wasn't the fact that he was flying, but the attire he wore. Barely covering his body, a white set made of materials that seemed like clouds and liquid gold contrasted perfectly with his regular green clothes. His hair was glowing green and his eyes that were focused on the ruin guards up ahead had a marvelous shine that you had never seen before. He had that same aura he did the night he freed Stanley, but there was also something different about the way his hands gripped you a little too tightly or the way his voice sounded.

"Venti.." You muttered his name, relief and affection flooding you all at once, in his presence you felt as if nothing bad could happen to you. How foolish could you be, just a few hours ago you were speculating wether or not he had wiped out an entire civilisation and now here you were, being saved by him and feeling safer than you had in months.

"Close your eyes, I don't want give you a headache" he said, slowly floating legs first towards the ground. His unusually serious voice surprised you (and him) but you did as he told you. Letting go of your sword and leaning back into him, you let him deal with the monsters ahead of you.

"It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask."

Being protected by a god really didn't feel that bad. Especially when you were in love with said god.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Thank you so much for reading whatever this is until the end :’)

Don’t hesitate to comment or reblog, tysm <3

Ps: venti loves u and so do i do pls take care of urself mwah

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact #genshin impact angst #genshin impact scenario #venti x reader #venti x traveler #venti x lumine #venti x aether #el writes♡

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holden-norgorov · 3 years

Text

I was wrong: an apology for Show!Kaz.

Listen, at first I didn't even want to write this post down, but as I noticed that a considerable amount of people have been showing disappointment toward Kaz not being "smart enough" in comparison to the book, I feel the need to point some things out with the hope of making you re-evaluate your line of thinking.

The thing is, Kaz Brekker in the show is a character that very much grows to book-readers with a needed careful and attentive rewatch.

I binged the whole season in a consecutive-7h-long binge-watching session during April 23rd, and came out of it feeling mildly disappointed with the way Kaz had been written (but not portrayed; Freddy was truly amazing). The one aspect that really bugged me at first was that his typical modus operandi when it came to plotting and scheming (by which I mean, keeping the big picture of his plans to himself and revealing just tiny pieces to everyone else according to each one's strengths and weaknesses, so as to make sure to reach the maximum potential of success while risking failure as little as possible) seemed to be kinda absent. I could easily make peace with Kaz not being as ruthless as he is in SoC, because the writers couldn't possibly make only-viewers willing to root for someone like Kaz without presenting at least some way in which he was vulnerable compared to other villainous characters. And to be honest, the fact that Kaz was ambushed by Pekka and forced to his knees not only nicely ties up with him wishing for Pekka to kneel in front of him at the beginning of SoC, but it also provides a reason as to why he would become closed-off and hesitant to apologize to Inej in the future. He was so concerned and willing to openly apologize to Inej in this scene that he lowered his guard enough without thinking and ended up giving Pekka access to Inej's name and revealing to him his own soft spot for her, before being beaten up.

That said, this was not my issue with the character. My issue was with the absence of his modus operandi as a masterful planner. I just didn't feel it during the binge-watch. But then I carefully rewatched the show, paying close attention to the actual succession of events more than to how accurate the characterization of the Crows was compared to the books. And I completely changed my mind.

If you pay attention, you can see that Kaz has been manipulating Arken from the very beginning, and everything Arken has accomplished was made possible because Kaz wanted it to happen, so that Arken would believe to be one step ahead of him and not see his betrayal coming. He quickly realizes that he and Arken think alike, and that he has to find a way to outsmart him.

As soon as the Conductor appears in the show, Kaz points out that he reached out to him not only because he can make them cross the Fold, but also because he smuggles Grisha who are unwilling to fight out of the Little Palace. He immediately grasps that the Conductor actively profits from the existence of the Fold and therefore that his own transport has to be constantly operative and effective. Which makes him realize that there has to be a political interest in his smuggling business for it to be allowed to flourish and survive undisturbed, and that someone has to financially back him up and subsidize the mantainance of the train and the feasibility of the crossing.

Soon after the Crows discovered that Nina had been captured and could no longer guide them to the Little Palace, Arken tries to sabotage their mission by convincing them to abandon it. This is where Kaz understands that he is actively interested in their kidnapping of the Sun Summoner to not happen, and begins suspecting he might have a separate agenda.

He purposefully risks the whole mission on Jesper not gambling everything away while looking for alabaster coal by deciding to grab the goat by himself, which is a less time-consuming task. This grants him the opportunity to attend to a quick rally for West Ravka's independence led by General Zlatan, where he sees Arken retiring with him in a private tent. His suspects about Arken are validated, and he understands that Arken has been smuggling Grisha out of East Ravka to the West with the support of Zlatan, who is also making some kind of alliance with Fjerdians and keeping a blind-eye to druskelle hunting and capturing Grisha (as we find out later on).

While they are crossing the Fold, Kaz is visibly skeptical of Arken's story about the transport being conveniently effective because of his knowledge of engineering and physics, and a chunk of luck. Arken seems to know too well how to safely cross the Fold, and the trasport seems to have worked far too many times for it to be the product of the underground, illegal practice of just one man.

In East Ravka, Kaz comes up with the Royal Archive Heist with the hope of stealing the Little Palace blueprints from the Palace of Kribirsk. But there's a very short scene here, which apparently seems unimportant but is actually pivotal: Kaz gives Arken money to make friends with East Ravkans so as to grant them a safe passage to Os Alta. Keep in mind: at this point Kaz is sure that Arken has been given by Zlatan a personal agenda to carry out regarding the Sun Summoner (I genuinely believe he also grasps that the secret plan is to kill her, so as to prevent the Fold from being destroyed and their smuggling business from being no longer profitable), so he knows Arken has total interest in making sure that they actually have a ride to the Little Palace. Which means, by urging him to "make some friends", Kaz already knows Arken will come up with a plan to be able to arrive to Os Alta and carry out his own mission at any costs, if the blueprints of the Little Palace that they are planning to steal end up being useless. And not only that: he wants Arken to believe he is being one-step ahead of them by "saving their asses" with this back-up plan, so as to easily come to the conclusion that the Crows have no reason to distrust him (how could they, when he finds them a second way-in?) and completely disregard the idea that Kaz might stab him in the back before he does the same thing to them. This is some mastermind thinking and completely IC for Kaz, because all the inner workings of his schemes go completely unnoticed on the outside.

Now that Arken proudly looks like the one who managed to grant them passage to Os Alta, he has no reason to believe Kaz might have ulterior motives when he decides to be the one carrying out a preliminary exploration of the Little Palance's hallways, despite his wounded leg making it difficult for him. But here's when Kaz sees Marie and immediately understands that she's supposed to be a decoy for Alina. So he coldly plans the whole kidnapping operation so as to make sure Arken ends up trying to kill (or directly killing) Marie. Which is why he shows no surprise when Arken reveals he can actually open the Fabrikator-made door with a device he carries with himself (probably provided by Zlatan to be able to get access to Alina's private rooms, or maybe already in his possession from when he had smuggled other Grisha out previously), and shows no hesitation when saying outwardly to everyone that Arken will be the one actually carrying out the kindnapping just because "he knows his way around Grisha locks". I actually believe Inej senses that there's something going on that she doesn't fully know when Kaz so light-heartedly allows Arken to lay his hands on their 1 Mln Kruge prize, but her suspicions (likely born out because she knows Kaz too well) are quickly put to rest and given an explaination only after Arken effectively falls into his trap.

After Alina escapes from the Crows in the following episode, we are led to believe that Kaz abandons the idea of kidnapping her again because of Inej, and this turns out to be actually true (despite Inej herself being incredibly suspicious of this, because of how unseemly it would be). Inej also believes Kaz to be so calculating that she points out that he might have planned to let Alina go in the first place and to detonate Arken's transport so as to travel with the same sandskiff Alina is embarking on and kindap her there. Inej would not have such a suspicion if Kaz's reputation didn't live up to that modus operandi.

While we actually learn that Kaz was being genuine with Inej about having abandoned the idea of kidnapping Alina, we also quickly learn that Kaz has spent the last two episodes silently coming up with a whole new other plan to make sure they can go back to Ketterdam without being killed by Dreesen and Pekka Rollins.

Now, as you can see, this is actually a lot. And this whole progression of events is handled so smoothly by the writing that it's fully admirable only by rewatching the show and paying close attention to Kaz's actions, while also knowing how his mind works. All of this is internal workings, which is typical Kaz.

So, I was wrong. His modus operandi is very much present. It's just barely detectable, as it should be for it to be believable. I hope this might reassure some deluded fans who came out of their watching session feeling let down by Kaz not looking "smart enough". It's all there! And the fact that so many of us couldn't see it at first hand, if you think about it, is just further proof that Kaz's intelligence and ability to scheme were handled extremely well. They couldn't make his mental workings too obvious to the casual viewers, or the character would have lost what actually makes him brilliant, which is the ability to outsmart others without being detected, exposed or anticipated.

#kaz brekker #freddy carter #show!kaz #six of crows #crooked kingdom #soc #ck #sab spoilers #shadow and bone spoilers #a defense of how kaz was written #i hope this helps someone ??#arken #the conductor #inej ghafa #the crows

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remsmoonlight · 3 years

Text

— title : sweeter than candy

— word count : 3k words

— pairing : daryl dixon x reader

— summary : daryl is good at keeping things buried, but when the thought of words left unsaid do you both realise you have both been thinking the same thing about the other.

— warnings : mentions injuries, mentions of death

“ hi!! OMGG I came across your account and I’m obsessed with your writing!! I was wondering if you could write a Daryl Dixon x Reader following candy coated promises. Where Daryl has developed feelings for reader and following an errand run she gets injured and has to stay in bed. And Daryl find out! If that makes sense! Thank you!!! “

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* requests are open ! / requested by anon *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A deep desperation of yearning to be useful has led you to forget the risks involved in the interminable list of things that wish to cause you harm and are able to on such an intense scale. Luck had been on your side for so long, the illusion of life’s greatest ally refusing eluding your group for this long has proved itself to be just that — nothing more than an illusion. Once the burning of fear had dulled to nothing more than a dim ache, all you now feel is the one wound that does not run red yet pours into your veins as if it does. Stupidity. You’d volunteered yourself to go on a run with a small group, you’d spent enough time before the barbed wire fences, that you felt yourself becoming trapped.

A deep regret that would follow you even in death would be if any of your group would, too, meet their chapter’s end too soon by an immense error made on your part.

One thing that lays dormant in your mind, yet unable to completely fade is the fear of becoming too settled in safety. Spending too much time wrapped in a blanket of comfort that provides refuge from the grit the outside world revels in only hands you a vulnerability unsuitable for a reality submerged in death that roams freely. You don’t want to forget how to survive, you’ve come too far for that.

Part of that is how you have ended up being put to bedrest.

Your brain is yet to sort through and file the fleeting images that blend together into one disorientating image instead of a folder of what had occurred picture by picture. In one instance the group and yourself had been rummaging through the shelves that still contained some stock and the next, you’re rushing Maggie out of the way and pushing over shelves onto a growing horde of walkers. Though in the next second, your heart fell a thousand feet below as you lost your balance from the liquid coating the floor from where they’d tumbled and smashed to the floor, with the shards of glass forming a bewitching hazard.

“ your ankle still givin’ you trouble? “

The voice pulls you out of your thoughts, your sight settling on Maggie.

“ I don’t know if that hurts more or if these scratches do. “ You complain, your fingers lightly tug at the bandages that cover the fresh wounds that coat both of your palms, you take note of a number of loose fibres from the material.

“ Glass’ll do that to ‘ya. “ She chuckles, slowly moving into the room. She grabs a chair from the metal desk on the side and moves it next to your bed. “ I never got a chance to say thanks. “

“ You don’t have to worry about it. “ you refuse, shaking your head in turn.

“ I feel it’s my fault you’re like this. “

“ If we’re going to blame anyone, let’s blame my eyesight. I should have seen that wet patch. I should have been more careful. “ Frustration that burns bright in your reply as you turn away from her. Perhaps you’d spent too much time concealed from the harsh reality that constantly claws at you all as it takes refuge in a thick coat of a hauntingly isolating fog as it waits to drag you down with it further into the depths.

Mistakes are synonymous with fatalities now, one moment you’re on top of the world and in the next you can be in a free fall clutching the thin air as if it should be your saviour. Never have moments been promised, and this fact has never shone clearer than when the dead claimed the Earth for itself in an effort to void it of life wholly.

“ Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. “ Maggie brings a hand forward to squeeze your shoulder momentarily, a comforting smile packaged with it easing some of the self loathing you could feel weaving itself into your being.

“ I don’t have much to do in here by myself, I have to keep myself entertained somehow. “

“ Well, I got an idea.. “ She trails off, a mischievous grin lifting her lips.

“ Maggie.. “ You utter a strict warning, already knowing where the conversation is about to lead.

She pauses for a second, laughter bouncing from grimy wall to grimy wall as she reacts to your cautionary tone, the light in her eyes bursting with the power of a thousand stars as it illuminates her features. Gratitude for the fleeting moments of rare normalcy that reflects a past occurrence in the old world runs deep, for a fraction of a second you can pretend you’re simply two friends joking about something goofy and foolish. For a minute, you’re not sheltering in a decrepit prison as you run from walkers, it’s a perfectly average afternoon.

“ You can’t tell me you don’t realise the way he looks your way now? I know you’ve been lookin’.. “

“ Okay, I think I'm tired now. “ You huff, shifting your body as to your ability with your injured ankle to face the wall that has an array of stains permanently painted into its surface.

Maggie only laughs in response, the sounds of steps dulling into nothing more than a ghost of an echo that informs you of her departure. Her words have pulled a string you’d not wished to pay attention to until it would be absolutely necessary. Needless to say that as much as you’d tried to bury the budding seeds of affection into the dirt, they’d only bloomed in force into a sea of colour with the evidence left to coat your fingertips for everyone to see.

Never had it been your intention to entertain this idea, when anything positive you’ve managed to seize with both hands can be ripped away so unexpectedly that you are left to nurse the empty space left behind of what once had been, grieving the idea of what could have been. However, there’s a dim curiosity that softly grows in size that envelopes around you, compelling a desire to reacquaint yourself with a human intimacy that fell to the back of the queue as the instinct to survive overwhelmed it. You don’t want to fear living, you don’t want to fear connecting to others on a deeper level, but you can’t help but simply.. be afraid.

Had you been in a different reality where the world continued on as normal, you would have probably fallen under his spell sooner.

Only after that one night you’d spent on watch together after he’d gone out of his way to bring you such a simple gift illuminated him in a way that your sight would often lean towards him. Many times you would find yourself analysing his actions on a deeper level, a coy warmth burying itself in the pit of your stomach when realising he’d included you in his thought process. From the chocolate bar, to you being the first person he’d check on if you needed anything before heading out on a run, to even the simple act of being there just to talk when life felt rough. A shape of one Daryl Dixon had been carved out by the man before either of you had realised.

A thunderous groan erupts from your lips as you turn onto your back to stare at the bunk on top with the realisation hitting you like a train threatening not to stop. You completely adore the Dixon.

About an hour away from the Prison Daryl secures the last of the rabbits caught, they swing side to side with each of his calculated movements. All Daryl finds himself wanting to do is to get back to the Prison, unable to push down the inclination of being back to the comfort the life behind those metal fences bring. It’s been a long day and all he’s interested in is getting back to those he holds dear.

That thought is when a fleeting frame of your face crosses his mind. Though he speaks not of which he truly wishes to share, the time you do spend together is something he cherishes more than a billionaire would with all of the money and rubies in the world if they had them in the palm of their hands. The darker side of him, the side that would always listen to those who preferred to taint his waters with their gloom, doesn’t allow the emotions constantly swirling within him to be touched by the burning sun rays as they are laid bare.

Heavy breaths fall without grace from his chest as he’s let through the gates, the stony expressions etched deeply into Carol’s features. No words need to be uttered to know it’s to do with you, Daryl doesn’t even allow a thought before he’s making his way on a path he has walked a thousand times and will walk a thousand times more. Creaks that echo in the darkening corridors that are not lit by the comforting flames of candles, the prison sounding as if it’s more in pain than it appears — still, he pays no care. His only goal is to check on you, he’d be unable to forgive himself if anything were to happen to you and he’d never be able to see you one last time. His brain conjures a number of horrific scenarios and tainted pictures to accompany them as it runs wild in a sea of dread.

The crossbow that had been secured in Daryl’s grip is lowered gently to the ground as he scans your form, a grateful sigh when he sees the slow movement of breathing.

He lowers himself into the chair next to your bed, trying to pinpoint the moment he’d stopped gazing upon your form as a friend to replace it with an aura of starlight — no longer did he see the colour of your eyes, but galaxies full of life and wonderment. Daryl allows himself a few seconds to chase each other by as he considers his next action, though deep down he’s aware his decision had already been chosen, as he threads his fingertips into yours to allow your warmth to comfort the panic that had been raging at the thought of your demise. His thumb traces a circle that is light enough to keep you tucked away in a slumber and as a comfort technique for him, where his mind allows him the time to placate himself.

Before he’s aware of it, the sky blends into itself once more as the pastel hues paint it with dashes of gold from the sun as dawn breaks and he’s hunched over with your hands still connected as one — the position held the entire night. Nothing can be heard in the confined space except a symphony of soft breathing from you both, the serenity only the early hours in which no one is awake brings comfort to the sleeping forms of you and Daryl.

A lengthy yawn escapes your lips as your eyes fight to open as they blink heavily to adjust to the light that invades as much as it can. The weight of something lying comfortably in your hands confuses you, as you distinctly remember there had been no pressure previously, the image before you washes your entire body with the icy grip of shock as you scan the trail leading from the hand within yours to the person it belongs to. Teeth grip your bottom lip as you bite it, attempting to battle away a smile that wishes to break free, you can’t believe the sense of humour that the universe has. Not an inch is moved by any part of your body, you seek to savour the intensity that such a simple action bears, your eyes positively glowing in adoration as a softer side to the man is revealed. Moments like these are few and far between, it leaves you wanting to bottle it up and pocket it forever.

A squeak of displeasure cuts through the serenity the early hours have worked so hard to cultivate as you inch your injured ankle to the side, clearly different positions prove to be the opposite of beneficial. The noise is enough to wake Daryl, his sudden alertness makes you doubt whether he’d truly been in a deep rest, but it’s the least of your worries as he realises he spent the night with his grip connected to yours. The warmth that brought a grounding comfort to your being now is a phantom touch you crave again once an eerily coolness now surrounds your empty palm.

“ ‘M sorry ‘bout that. “

“ There’s nothing to apologise for, Daryl. It was nice. “ You confess, your volume touches the air with a softness of a feather that descends to below in an elegant waltz.

“ Mhm. “ He turns his gaze to the floor, a thumb is chewed upon lightly as he’s wondering what he should say next. “ ‘Was worried about ‘ya as soon as I got back. “

“ Yeah, things just kinda happened. “

“ ‘Ya gotta watch y’self more out there. “ He scolds you with a light scorch of misplaced anger that almost lays eternally with him, a wave of anxiety at the thought of losing you are twins in a realm of horror he never wants to bear witness to.

“ I know, Daryl. “

Poisonous words full of fire and fury born out of dread of your existence in his life being cut short itch to burn your indifference to the situation. As he settles his gaze upon you, all he can see are the stolen moments you both have shared away from the group, where the person he’d created in his head built without even speaking to had been smashed into shards the more he got to know — you’re a fresh breath of peace in an unstable world that thrives on chaos. Quiet moments where all he can hear are the flickering embers of the fire are the memories he finds himself kicking for, all that lost time to never be recovered due to his preconceived notions.

“ Do ‘ya? “ Daryl shakes his head in frustration, his soul a pot of swirling emotions and thoughts blinding him to the point he can’t see straight. “ I can’t lose ‘ya. “

His voice is so low you barely hear it, your brows thread together in the slightest form as they’re unused to the window of Daryl’s vulnerability being so widely open.

“ You won’t. “ A faint twitch of your lips means well, you try to comfort the man. Your touch is delicate as your palm overlaps his with warmth.

“ Y’can’t promise that. “

“ But I can try! “ You argue lightly, a bounce in your response.

“ Forget it. “ Daryl sighs harshly, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the thoughts that run circles around his mind.

“ Daryl! Wait. “ Your voice falls on deaf ears as he’s already halfway towards the exit of the room, for a moment you forget your injury and a burning sensation flies with boundless wings up your protesting muscles and you land in a heap on the floor. The bandages do nothing to cushion your fall, you cry out in pain from the intensity of the throbbing plaguing your body.

“ Why can’t ‘ya be careful!? Damn it. “

Before you know it, Daryl is level with you as you feel his touch grazing your skin — ensuring you’d not injured yourself further. Guilt pools in his stomach at the thought of your current suffering being his fault, his ire now directs itself brightly towards him.

“ Dar — what’s going on? Why are you acting like this? “ You quiz as your expression contorts into a grimace. You’d not seen him behave like this for what feels like a long century, even more so when directed towards you.

“ Like what?! Huh? “

“ You’re being crazy! “ You state, your finger jabs into his chest.

“ Ain’t it obvious? “ Daryl asks suddenly.

Your head shakes, confusion clouds your features as if it’s an angry storm that has waited long enough for the calm — nothing can be seen through the darkened skies. All you want is for the sunny rays of truth to shed light upon this mess.

“ ‘Ya mean more to me than you should. “

“ Daryl? Do.. do you — ? “

He nods suddenly, unable to hear the words out loud no matter how true they ring, because as real as it is. There would be no taking it back then. Your lips purse as a sad smile lifts itself with no help from you, your heart hurting as you realise this could have been avoided entirely since you both appear to be on the same page. You acknowledge the fact that actions would speak louder than words in this scenario, your fingertips brush through darkened strands of hair as if they play a sheet of music with the aging competence of a commanding pianist. This is one of many songs your mind finds itself conjuring, a burning hope of this forging something more between you. It’s not long before your arms are wrapped around his neck, with Daryl unable to believe the scene in which he finds himself in, you’re a sky full of stars that he finds himself wanting to get lost in.

“ We can take this one step at a time, yeah? “ You question softly, not wanting to be witness to the fleeting images of a set of angel wings.

He agrees silently, a warmth spreads outwards from your cheeks and treks outwards to cover your completely. The moment is sweet, as it concludes with a honeyed kiss on his tanned cheek. In one frame you both are thinking the same thing, just how lucky you are to have fought through your fears of living and given in to taking the plunge into unchartered waters that Maggie and Glenn have already found themselves navigating.

In a world full of the dead, you both agree that to love shouldn’t be a reason to cower and hide.

#daryl x reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon oneshot #twd imagine #daryl fic #twd oneshot #daryl dixon imagine

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