#who ended up in charge. who i think are probably the people of the sky.

[paintpanic]

#kirby series #kirby triple deluxe #no characters to tag today! #i made myself a new desktop background. if you like you are free to use it also. #it was fun to draw something in this style again. maybe we'll see more of it in the future? #headcanon time i think the castle here was left overgrown and in a state of disrepair after tdx. not at all a priority for the people- #who ended up in charge. who i think are probably the people of the sky. #apologies for the infrequency in posting! i've been drawing but it's all doodle sheet type stuff which i bet you guys are sick of by now. #i'd really like to be able to make more complete pieces but i'm in a bit of a creative rut atm. maybe when tablet come it will get better? #who's to say. certainly not me. #...if you read this all the way through you win a cookie.

[psychedelic-ink]

ㅤㅤㅤ✦ 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓

ㅤㅤjoel miller x f!reader

genre: angst, hurt comfort, minors dni

word count: 5k

summary: You, both a member of David's group and one of his former victims, are already contemplating escape when Ellie arrives at the resort. Seeking Ellie, you decide to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity to run. But before you can find Ellie, you cross paths with Joel instead.

warnings: age gap, virgin!reader, mentions of past grooming attempt, mentions of cannibalism, past rape attempt, PTSD, blood, canon typical violence, no smut for now, spoilers for s01 e08

a/n: this was previously named let me follow this is also new for me because I've never written virgin!reader before (mostly because i didn't have the best experience with that) but i felt like it was fitting with the story and where i wanna take it in the future.

Revelation 13:3-4 "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?'"

The wind blows cold. You, a girl who has lost everything, sit on your knees on the ice. Your family has been long gone. Your hope dwindles, hanging only by a simple thread. You don't know how long you've been crying. Your hands, young yet covered in the warmth of blood. The scent of pine reaches your nose, and you sniff involuntarily, just like you did before you lost everything. Before the world ended. You hear the sound of men approaching you, and you wish they would just kill you. Sixteen and already you wish for the sweet mercy of death.

“Now what do we have here?” A man speaks, his tone is humorful. Melodic. Your mind and body already slipping and reaching towards the warmth of it. “You poor young thing. Where’s your family, girl?”

When you finally look up from your hands you see a man on a horse. Typical for this day and age. Near him hovers four others. All of them looking weathered and older than you. Your eyes move back to the one that seems in charge. He has strawberry blond hair and a thin beard of the same color. His eyes narrow slightly. They pop under the cold blue sky and the frozen lake. You don’t know what to say. How to answer this man who is an obvious threat. 

He hops off the horse, and you attempt to move away but your legs are frozen in place, your heart beating loudly against your ribcage. He kneels next to you. Observing. You swallow, fear coating your tongue with the taste of bile. His eyes soften when he takes in the sight of you. Bruised and wounded. Your eyes squeeze shut as he reaches out and pushes a loose strand of hair only for the wind to bring it back. 

“No need to be afraid, child. We’re a peaceful group and there are more like us if you want to join.” 

“J–Join?” your teeth chatter, your lips hurting as you speak. There’s a bit of light filling the cracks of the iron cage of your heart. Hope. You realize it to be. Hope that you found someone to help you. To look after you in this infected world. He must’ve seen it in your expression because his soft smile grows, eyes glimmering with mirth. 

“So afraid,” he hums. “But we’ll change that soon enough. You’ve been brought here for a reason. And I think I know what your purpose is in our small clan.” 

He swiftly stands, leaving you dumbfounded and still upon the freezing ice. Your mouth gapes, your body buzzing with a newfound need to stay alive. 

“What’s your name?” you ask. He throws an old coat over your shoulders. Not his own. But one he had extra on his horse. Probably taken from someone else who was more unfortunate than you. 

“David,” he answers gently, as if he’s scared you’ll run away. Before you reach out, he grabs your hand and lifts you. You nearly fall, only prevented thanks to the strong arm that wraps around your waist. He’s warm. Much warmer than you expected. “Lovely to have you with us.” 

The men near him don’t seem to share the same sentiment but you smile all the same. 

You don’t want to think for a while. Maybe not even for a millennia. If possible. 

10 YEARS LATER

Whispers of death surround you. The names of the fallen circling you and squeezing your heart tight. Suffocated. That’s how you feel. Helpless. Trapped. Consumed. Faint murmurs fill the hall room. The cold that seeps through the wood, the same wood that was intended for summer and not winter, worries everyone, including you. But at the same time, you think this is what you all deserve. An icy grave. Freezing to death and surrendering to the cold. 

You were never meant to feel warmth. You know that better now. 

The chair creaks next to you and when your eyes shift to the side. You see James taking a seat. A sudden rage fills you. An indescribable rage. It disappears as soon as it appears like it always does. He turns to you and gives you a curt nod. You don’t nod back. He might think he’s looking after you but he’s not. All he’s done is turn the other cheek to a faith that is spewed by a liar. A deceiver. A disgusting man that makes your stomach turn—

The aforementioned man finally stands and clears his throat. Loudly. But not loud enough to overpower Hannah’s cries. She sniffles. Rubs her eyes roughly. Her mother wraps an arm around her and starts whispering words of comfort. You have no idea what that comfort would be since it was her father that had died. You remember the day you lost your parents. You felt utterly defeated at the time. Hopeless. Swallowed by darkness. Your eyes rubbed raw and stinging from crying and crying and crying—

David opens the bible and reads. His glasses are perched innocently above his nose. His voice, despite the rasp of time, still carries that melodic lilt. You don’t listen. Refuse to. 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new Earth. For the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away. . .”

You close your eyes with a stuttered breath. Your body is thrumming. Your legs shaking and heart pounding. These are the most painful times for you. The times where you have to listen to him and pretend to be moved by God’s will. You hate hearing his voice. The same voice that told you you were his. The same voice that commanded you to strip for him completely when it was only your arm that was wounded. 

Your pulse quickens. Your cheeks grow warm. 

You can’t breathe. You can’t breathe. 

It happened years ago but it doesn’t matter. No matter the passage of time it still feels like it happened yesterday. His touch on your cheek. The way his blue eyes ate you up as he stalked around you, pretending to be worried while he was just taking in the sight of your body. A soft touch here and a soft touch there. Knuckles following the curve of your spine. Palms feeling the weight of your behind. The memory makes you sick. The way he was marinating you for something unspeakable. 

He enjoyed when you flinched. Enjoyed the way you whimpered and curled away. He laughed and did nothing else. He wrapped a bandage around your arm while you remained stark naked. Then he left. Leaving it to James to come to the room, telling you to get dressed while averting his eyes. 

You jerk, eyes going wide as a sharp cry echoes within the thin walls. 

“. . . And I heard a great voice out of heaven say, ‘Behold… the tabernacle of God is with men. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes—’”

He’s trying hard to ignore it. You can tell by the way his lips twitch ever so slightly, his nostrils flaring with annoyance when another cry is heard. 

He stops. 

And your heart stops along with it. 

You’re still afraid even when his anger isn’t directed at you. Cold beads of sweat make you feel clammy and gross. You want to hide. And even though you blame him, you want to move closer to James, hoping that whatever it is that’s going to happen, he can shield you from it. 

David turns his gaze towards Hannah and Joyce, Hannah’s mother, and lets out a sigh as if it pains him to see someone so distraught. 

“I’ve read this passage too many times,” He walks towards Hannah, his brows slightly furrowed and eyes full of rue. He places the book on the table and removes his glasses, placing it above it. You’re surprised when he kneels but your stomach twists as he places a hand above Hannah’s knee. She’s unaware, her bottom lip trembling. “Do you remember what comes next?”

She shakes her head. 

“‘And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes… ‘that there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither will there be any more pain… for the former things are passed away.’” 

Your eyes move to the crowd. Everyone holding on to one another, eyes red and wet. Hannah takes a sharp inhale, your gaze promptly landing back to the scene. 

“Do you know what that means?” She nods and when she does, David grips her shoulder. “Good.” 

He exchanges a glance with the mother and stands up, a groan dropping from his lips as he does so. You feel a momentary satisfaction at his discomfort. 

“When can we bury him?” 

The question surprises everyone, including David who doesn’t show it. The only oddity is him looking at James, a gaze so quick and short that if you hadn’t been sitting next to James you would’ve missed it. “The ground is too cold to dig. We’ll bury your father in the spring.”

Hannah seems content with the answer for now. The sermon is over when David opens the doors. His eyes linger on you as you get up, slow and groggy. Despite her recent loss, you find Hannah to be lucky. At least she had someone to protect her for a good while, her body free of being viewed as an object that belonged to someone else. 

You don’t look at either James or David as you leave. Not that it mattered. They were too busy talking amongst each other.  

You wipe the snow that catches over your eyelashes with the back of a gloved hand. Everyone had a job to do and yours today was to chop wood in the freezing weather. You hate the feeling of shivering and sweating at the same time. It’s a disgusting feeling. But you were the youngest of the group—and had fallen out of favor with David, which meant that he didn’t try to get into your good graces by giving you the stay-by-the-fire duties. Not that you missed it. You’d rather freeze to death than give any part of yourself to him. 

Your feet drag over the snow. Your biceps ache with the added weight of the firewood within your arms. Breathing from your mouth, your eyes are drawn to one of the sheds. That place always gives you the creeps. It’s always locked. The windows dusty and blocked by cabinets from the inside so no one could see. You never thought of asking what the hell was in there, no one else did either. Everyone just wanted to survive. A herd of sheep following the blood-stained mouth of their leader. Not that they knew he had a blood-stained mouth. That information was only reserved for his victims and James. 

A log slips from the top and you loudly groan towards the sky. You need to leave this hell hole. You don’t know when. But you have to. 

Just as you lean down you sense someone coming towards you at full speed. Jumping, you move back only to see James huffing and puffing with a small package in his hand. You raise a brow. “Weren’t you supposed to be hunting?” you ask, picking up the log. “What the hell are you doing here running like a maniac? ‘Scared the shit out of me.” 

“David is at gunpoint.” Good. “And the crazy girl demanded some medicine. Hopefully, I can sneak up on her.” 

You scoff, “A girl? Since when does David follow any kind of demand?” 

“It’s complicated.” He looks uncomfortable, you must’ve struck a nerve with that. “She’s with the man that killed Alec.”

“You’re taking medicine to her? Actual medicine.” 

“David said. . .” 

You raise a hand and shoo him away, “Just go. I don’t care.” 

Watching him leave, your brows knit tightly together. This had to be a joke, they found the girl and by proxy, the man who killed Alec and. . . David is helping the girl? You don’t necessarily care for revenge— but the fact that he’s actively wanting to show just how kind he is to this girl is suspicion-worthy. He likes what he sees and pulls a curtain over his true colors to obtain it. You know word of this will come out soon. You’re positive that James told at least one person when he went in to get the medicine. It would spread like wildfire. 

And most of the people here, starving and cold with no warmth left in their chests are hungry for the heat of revenge. 

Just like you had predicted rumors were spiraling. 

You’re sitting someplace unnoticeable and near the windows. Snow hits the glass like heavy rain. The clear panels freezing over, you visibly shudder. Your decades-old jacket isn’t enough anymore to keep you warm. 

Your head turns with another whisper coming nearby. Something about a girl being with the man who killed Alec. Your eyes shift to Hannah and her mother sitting in the middle, the young girl seemed furious, her eyes hardened but still carried a juvenile chubbiness in her cheeks. The look doesn’t suit her. It looks like a drop of blood on top of snow. No one is touching their food. Steaming bowls of meat sitting on top of weathered tables. You’re not hungry so you push it away. You’re hoping with every fiber in your body that they haven’t found the girl. You wouldn't wish David on even your worst enemy.

The doors open with a loud, bone-chilling creak. You jump at the sound. Soft flakes of snow hurry inside, melting as soon as the light touches them. James holds the door open for David and the latter, with great effort, drags a large stag inside. The entire room stops breathing, their eyes glued to the scene, their minds full of questions. 

The door closes. Suddenly you feel trapped and suffocated. 

“Big one,” David says, looking towards the tables with a crooked smile. Not even one person is talking now. Just deafening silence. James moves away quickly, his eyes find yours, and takes a seat next to you. You’re not sure why he hovers around you. Maybe in some sick way, he thinks you’re friends? 

David sighs loudly, bringing your attention back to him. “If you’ve heard a rumor… yes, we found a girl who was with the man who took Alec from us. When the sun rises, I’ll lead a group out to pick up her trail. Won’t be hard to find in the snow. We’ll follow it to wherever they’re hiding… and we’ll bring that man to justice.”

“You should kill him. You should kill both of them.”

David’s head snaps towards the vengeful voice. Your blood freezes, a tingle settling at the base of your neck, your skin grows taut over your muscles. You’re afraid. And your fear only grows when David stalks towards the girl, a faint smile on his lips, he removes his gloves. One by one. His movements slow, unrushed. He stands in front of Hannah, briefly stares down at her—

You flinch at the sound. The loudest smack and thud you’ve ever heard. Your eyes widen, heart beating in your throat as your eyes remain glued to Hannah who’s scrambling on the floor. David seems unbothered by it. Like he hadn’t just backhanded a young girl. The mom stands, murmurs getting louder, without thinking you attempt to get up too, thinking of all the ways you can kill the man. 

But James—fucking James—he stops you with a hand on your knee. You give him a disgusted look and he quickly pulls his hand away. But the damage was done. You settle back, the chair groaning underneath you. 

You watch as David halts the mother with a single hand, gently gesturing her to sit back down. She does—she does and it drives you insane. It’s surreal almost. There’s a loud hum in your ears as David kneels next to Hannah, her eyes looking anywhere but him. Scared, she takes David’s offered hand. You feel sick. Your stomach churns, bile rising to your throat. He helps her up and sits her down. He’s still on his knees, his eyes soft. 

Disgusting. 

“I know you think you don’t have a father anymore. But the truth is, Hannah, you will always have a father. And you will show him respect when he’s speaking.”

Tension rises with his words. You can tell from the brief glances that happen behind David’s back. However, it’s not enough. No one does anything. They just sit and wait as Hannah’s mother brings David a bowl of food. They begin to eat, the rest follows. 

Spoons clink. Wind blows. Birds caw.  

You look down at the meat, clutching the fork in your hand. You can’t. Something disturbs you. James also lingers before he takes the first bite. Something in his eyes makes you rather starve than taste. 

You look back at Hannah. Her bottom lip is trembling, her cheek red. 

She eats. 

“Where is she?” 

David’s eyes glimmer with amusement, his teeth showing as he smiles. You’re out in the open. Snow falling all around you. Your chest squeezes. You can barely breathe, yet your chest continues to rise and fall. 

“Is my little lamb jealous?” Heat simmers under your skin. How fucking dare he? “Head back. This doesn’t concern you.” 

“Like hell, it doesn’t,” you snap. His eyes narrow and for a brief moment, your mind flashes images of him tying you to the bed whenever you swore. A nasty shiver crawls up your spine. “Let her go.” 

“And why would I do that?” he shakes his head. “Do you want to know why I never touched you again? I got bored. I knew I could have you whenever and wherever I wanted. The fire in your eyes died. You had no fight left in you.” he chuckles. You’re trembling now, your legs feeling weak underneath you. “And I enjoyed seeing the fear in your eyes whenever I entered the room. . . wondering. . . thinking about when I would finally make you my own.”  

You don’t know what to say. The snowfall picks up in pace. Hurling, dancing around you both. A sign of a storm. The cold kisses your cheeks. David grins and extends his arms towards the sky, you take a step back. 

“I finally found myself a pet that’s fun to play with. Someone that won’t be so easily broken.” 

Broken. Broken. Broken. 

That’s what you are, isn’t it? Broken. Alone. Unwanted. 

You have to get to the girl and get the hell out of here. 

You lift your chin, “You’re sick.” 

Bad move. His nostrils flare with anger as he grips your chin and forcefully brings you closer to his face. As someone who went on and on about you being too submissive for his liking, he sure as hell seems to hate that you’re defying him. 

“Don’t you dare talk back to me,” he spits, squeezing your jaw until your lips part with a whimper. “I'm the one who saved you and spared you. I’m a good man but never forget that you belong to me.” Without hesitation, he cups you between your legs. You stiffen at the touch, fear chills your skin, feeling little pins needling into your muscles. “You’re mine to break and when I do, you'll love it. And you'll finally be a woman.” 

He doesn’t linger. Leaving you, he disappears between the cabins. You collapse to the snow, shaking, trembling and tears flooding your eyes. You fist at the snow, your fingers becoming numb as it melts between your fingers. You were a fool to think that you were safe. You genuinely thought that after so long he’d let you do your own thing within the community. But no. He still had his eyes on the “prize”.

You want to run into the forest but you can’t. Your eyes fall to the ground where his footsteps are perfectly visible. Now you know where the girl is. 

The door that is always locked is open. 

Your brows knit together as you observe the old wood swaying back and forth due to the wind. Your skin is icy cold. Coming closer you see that the lock had been broken, shattered. You see a spray of blood on the snow and that entices you to take a step forward into the dark cabin. You know you shouldn’t be taking any detours. Your backpack is secured tightly against your back filled with essentials and some sentimental items you gathered during the years. You should go. But you’re curious. You have to know what’s been in this shed for all these years. 

You sigh. Curiosity killed the cat. 

“But satisfaction brought it back,” you murmur. 

You pull out your gun, your finger on the trigger as you explore. It seems pretty standard. Some items, lots of dust—

Two large hands shove you roughly against the wall. You choke, all the air leaving your lungs as your gun is knocked out of your hand. Momentarily you’re pulled away and slammed back against the wall again, this time the back of your head thudding against the wood. You groan in pain. Your body screaming at you to run and hide. 

“Where is she?” you hear a man hiss through gritted teeth. “Where the fuck is she?” 

You’re slammed once more, tears prick the corner of your eyes and you barely manage to raise your hands. 

When you finally manage to open your eyes, panting heavily, you see a disheveled man. At first glance, he doesn’t make you feel that you’re in danger—which is an ironic feeling considering the throbbing at the back of your head is his doing. Lines run across his face, his eyes full of worry and anger. You immediately know who he is. There was only one girl after all. 

“You’re—” you swallow. “You’re him.” 

His hand tightens around your throat and a gun is hastily pressed against your forehead, “Tell me where she is or I’m shootin’ you.” 

“I’m actually trying to find her myself,” you answer, which by the looks of it was the wrong this to say. “I—I wanted to help her. Free her. David. . . the man that took her—he’s a monster.” 

His eyes narrow, “You from this community?” 

“He took me in when I was sixteen,” you explain. “I had no choice but to join.” 

“And why should I trust you?” 

“Because I know exactly where she is,” you bite the inside of your cheek. “And I know that you’re hurt. I can help.” 

“Then what?” 

You shake your head, not understanding. He clarifies. “You help me and then what? What’s the catch?” 

Your eyes blur with tears. You’re just so fucking tired. 

“I just want to leave.” 

Something about the way you whisper must’ve wake something in him because he lets you go. He lights the flashlight. “I ain’t in the business of takin’ in strays.” 

What? “What?” 

“Just leave. I don’t need your help.” 

“You—You don’t understand!” Just as he turns you jump towards him, fisting the back of his jacket, the fabric isn’t soft enough for you to get a good grip on him so you grab his shoulder instead. “He’s a monster! Everyone fucking underestimates him—he’ll—he’ll—!”

He stills. Rushed steps coming to a halt. You think he’s going to shove you off, push you away but he’s glued. With the fear of silence, you pull back and step to the side. He’s still not acknowledging you. His hard gaze glued to where the flashlight is illuminating. You follow the light speckled with dust. Horror curling in your stomach like a hook. 

There are three of them. Three bodies hanging like animals being prepared to cut into pieces. 

“Oh god—” 

You bring your hands to your head, your heart ramming into your chest, you shake your head. “No, no, no, no—” You take a step back. The man rips his gaze away from the bodies, away from what it implies. You take another step back and another. You’re shaking, your eyes glued to the floor. He—David—he fed you people. 

Fucking people. People that you knew.

Finally, the scent hits you. The smell of flesh and blood. 

You scream. 

The man is on you in an instant, you tumble to the ground and he goes down with you willingly. “Shit—no no no. Shut the hell up— shut the hell up.”

The knot that forms in your throat is large and uncomfortable. You bawl your eyes out, hiccuping against his chest. He takes you into his arms and you can’t be bothered to think of the why of his actions. His biceps tighten around you. You’re still shouting, still thrashing around, crying—he presses you further into his chest, muffling your sounds. You vaguely hear him shushing you, telling you it’s gonna be alright. Lies. He’s telling you lies. 

You start to quiet down and only then do you begin to make sense of his words. He’s murmuring bits of his life. Of what he’s seen. You finally learn the name of the girl: Ellie. The thick baritone of his voice is like a melody. It soothes you. Maybe not fully. But it helps calm your raging heart. You breathe. He smells like wood and snow. 

“Thank you,” you manage to whisper, pulling away. “Please let me help you.” 

“Yeah—Yeah, you can help.” He guides you to your feet in a way that your back is turned to the bodies. Just the thought of what's behind you makes your lungs cave in. 

“What’s your name?” you ask, desperate for any kind of distraction. 

“Joel.” 

“Alright, Joel,” you head towards the door. “Let’s go.” 

She escaped. 

You can’t help but be impressed at the sight of an empty cell. But the pride for a girl you haven’t officially met dies in your throat when you see who’s against the wall, covered in blood. 

“You knew him?” Joel asks, his tone lacking any kind of grief. A question asked more so as a courtesy than actual worry. 

You stare at him. His blue eyes now lifeless, lips parted. It almost looks like he’s sitting, just taking a rest on the cold floor. It would be easy to make you believe that if it wasn’t for the cleaver sticking out of his neck. 

“No,” you answer dryly. Yet, you still walk to the dead man and gently close his eyes. You warned him this would happen. Joel doesn’t ask any more questions. He doesn’t have to. “We need to find her before David gets to her.” 

Joel immediately rushes out, you following him close by. You feel utterly useless. You have no idea where Ellie might’ve run off to. It doesn’t help that some part of your brain is still occupied with James. You hated him in a way but still, he was there. You’ve known him nearly your entire life. It felt off to be the one to close his eyes. 

The storm had stopped. The sun reflecting from the snow irritating your eyes. Joel seems to be getting irritated with every step. Desperate. 

He’s the one that sees her first. 

Ellie staggers out the large building currently being engulfed in flames. Her walk is uncoordinated, her steps uneven as she breathes in the icy air. Before you can warn Joel not to startle her, he’s already running, grabbing her by the shoulders. Your heart shatters into a million tiny pieces when you hear her screams and shouts. 

“It’s me,” Joel says, cradling her face with both hands. She hits his chest with sideway fists, he holds her more firmly. “It’s me.” 

You see it in her face, the exact moment she realizes. You see blood splattered across her face, her expression hurts you. It’s the same expression you’ve seen on yourself for years. 

“Hey… look. It’s me… It’s me. It’s okay.”

She mumbles, “He—” Before Ellie can complete the sentence she wraps her thin arms around Joel, the man hugs her tight. Your heart shatters then. The damns you were so adamant on keeping locked being teared down by people you barely know. 

You cry. Salty tears just bursting out of your eyes. There’s no slow build, no single tear and then the rest. It just all comes down flooding. Your shoulders sag, your fingertips numb. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay, baby girl. I got you.”

You sniff and look up to the sky. Fuck. It’s so hard to stop when it begins. You see grey smoke rising into the crisp air. He’s dead. You don’t need to see the body to know that he is. 

Your eyes drop to the two survivors embracing infront of you. That girl saved your life while you were trying to save hers. You were too late. Both of you were. She looked the beast in the eye and slayed it. Freeing you. 

They part and Joel quickly wraps his jacket around her tiny trembling shoulders. You’re empty. What now? That was his question. You don’t know. Do you go back? Do you explain to the people who David manipulated just how horrendous he really was? Would they believe you? 

Your eyes are drawn to a flicker of movement. Joel is looking straight at you. Ellie still unaware of your presence and you can’t blame her. 

You’re lost. 

But then his eyes soften with something akin to understanding and he gestures you to follow. 

Like a lamb to a stream, you do. 

#joel miller x reader #joel miller x fem!reader #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller fanfic #the last of us fanfic #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfic

[hellfirenacht]

Water Balloons

Summary: You’ve been dating Eddie for a few months, but never talked about the future.

Tags: Eddie x Reader, sfw, fluff, neither reader or eddie want kids, mentions of breeding kink but it’s Reader being a little shit, NO ACTUAL KINKS INDULGED IN, no use of y/n, fem!reader

Notes: I have nothing against breeding kinks or parent!Eddie fics. But this is for anyone who does NOT enjoy those specific things. 

Bassed off of this post by @deathbecomesthem 

You and Eddie laid on the roof of his van, a blanket under you both as you stared up at the sky. The two of you had been watching the late summer sun slowly disappear over the horizon in shades of fiery reds and oranges. Now the two of you stared at the stars above, creating new constellations as your fingers intertwined. 

This had been the best summer of your life. Eddie had asked you out the second he ran off the stage in his graduation gown, diploma in hand. You had barely said yes before slamming your lips against his. He’d been waiting two years to ask you out, not wanting you to have to explain to people that you were in your early 20s and dating a high schooler. 

Summer days were stretched with Eddie visiting you at work, day long games of dungeons and dragons, hanging out at the pool, and driving around with music blasting. Nights had been endless memories of the Hideout, watching him play, sneaking into his trailer when Wayne was at work, and long conversations that would only end when the sun came up. 

You didn’t think it could be better than this, which is why you had been putting off this conversation for so long. 

Eddie was talking about how he’d snuck into the High School to play Dustin’s latest one-shot. Without Eddie as the DM, the other members had been taking turns running different smaller campaigns. 

“The kid has imagination.” Eddie said, his hand giving yours a squeeze. You could feel the clunky rings on his fingers digging into your skin but you had grown used to the feeling by now. “He always threw me off when I was in charge but he’s on a whole other level as the DM.” 

“Did anyone catch you sneaking in or out?” you asked, looking at the small sliver of moon above. 

“Not a soul.” he looked over at you and grinned. “Besides, what would they do? Expel me?” 

“Arrest you for trespassing.” you nudged him with your own grin. “Remember, I don’t have bail money.”

“I’d break out.” Eddie said. “Get myself a spoon and start digging.” 

You giggled and ran your thumb over the back of his hand. You’d always had a thing for his hands before, but after dating they were one of your favorite parts about him. His fingertips were rough and calloused from playing guitar, but the rest of his hand was smooth and soft from the lotion you’d always put on him when you applied it to yourself. He used to pretend he hated it, but now he always offered his hands whenever you pulled out your lotion. 

“I ran into Cass Finnigan earlier.” you said, trying to keep your tone casual, as if your heart wasn’t beating out of your chest. Things were going so good, why ruin it?

“Cass?” Eddie sounded surprised. “Huh, I haven’t seen her since she graduated."

“She’s pregnant. Probably about three months.” you said, your voice going a little quiet. The pause between the two of you was closer to term than Cass. 

“Yeah?” You could hear a strain in Eddie’s voice that you wish you knew what it meant. Was that stress? Yearning? Gas? Most times Eddie wore his emotions on his sleeve but your own anxiety was clouding your reading of him.  

“Yeah.” you echoed. “Surprised me, considering how young we are.”

“Too young.” Eddie said, and you felt him shift next to you. 

“Way too young.” 

The silence between you stretched miles, each of you trapped deep inside of your minds as you thought about a former classmate's pregnancy. 

You decided to rip the bandaid off.

“I don’t want kids.” You said, staring harder at the sky. You held your breath, waiting for the shoe to drop. Kids had never been something that appealed to you, not in a million years. The idea of children, pregnancy, parenthood, none of it sounded rewarding or exciting. It only filled you with dread and anxiety. 

You’d lost boyfriends over it, partners that you had really liked. They all said the same thing. That you were still young, still in school, of course you didn’t want kids now. You’d change your mind. 

You never did though. 

As you held your breath, Eddie deflated next to you. Shit, this was going to end the same. He was going to repeat those same tired lines and you’d have to break this off. 

Then Eddie started laughing.

“Oh thank Christ.” he said, rubbing his face. “I was terrified you were dropping a hint that you wanted to start a family.” 

“What? Oh no- Eddie. Eddie, no.” you shook your head quickly, the tension in your body starting to ease up a little. “But I mean it, Eddie. I don’t want kids. Ever. Like, ever ever. I don’t want pregnancy, I don’t want to adopt... I don’t want to be a parent.” 

“Me either.” Those two words could have knocked the wind out of you. 

You sat up and looked down at him. Eddie looked so pretty with his long hair splayed on on the blanket and brown eyes that reflected the stars that you had just been looking at. 

“Do you mean that?” you asked firmly. “Because I mean it.”

Eddie sat up and faced you, not letting go of your hand. “I’m not dad material.” he said. “I never have been, and I never will be. Being a parent scares the shit out of me. I wouldn’t even know what to do with a kid even if I had one.” 

“I think you need to feed it sometimes.” you gave him a smile. “Take it for walks twice a day and teach it not to poop on the floor.” 

Eddie laughed, and pushed you down so that he was on top of you. “No, that’s me you’re thinking of.” he joked. Moving his legs on either side of your hips. 

“Oh, I hope you’re housebroken, Munson.” you laughed. “Otherwise I want a refund.” 

“Sorry, I don’t do returns. You know this.” he kissed your cheek.

“You’re so fucking weird.” you giggled, wrapping your arms around his neck. 

“I believe the word you're looking for is freak, sweetheart.” 

Your fingers ran through his hair and he closed his eyes, a faint smile on his face. “You’re really okay with that?” you asked. “I know we’ve only been dating a few months, but I don’t- I’m not just dating you to date you. I want this to be real. If you want kids, we can stop this whole thing and-”

Eddie didn’t let you finish, cutting you off with a kiss. “No returns.” he said firmly before kissing you again. “I don’t want kids.” Kiss. “You don’t want kids.” Kiss.

You couldn’t resist messing with him, and looked up at him with a grin that Eddie learned quickly meant trouble. 

“Oh but Daddy, don’t you wanna knock me up?” you said, batting your eyelashes. The look on Eddie’s face was priceless as he looked at you like you’d eaten a bug. He tried to get off you but you grabbed him and pulled him back. “Come on, Eds, let’s make Granny Eckard right and get some Munson Jr. Jrs running around!”

“Absolutely not, oh no. Get off me, woman!” Eddie struggled to pry you off, but you just held him tighter. 

“Don’t you wanna... uh....be my Daddy and also be the father of my children?” you laughed, tears streaming down your cheeks. 

“I think my poor dick just went into early retirement.” Eddie said dramatically. “I may never get it up again because of this conversation. And what will you do then, hm?”

“You have fingers and a tongue still.” you wiggled your eyebrows. “And I have plenty of toys if those go limp, too- MMFFF...!”

Eddie had covered your mouth with his hand, and despite how pale he had gone for a second he was now laughing hard. “Stop talking. You’ve abused your talking privileges for the night.” Eddie looked down at you. “I’m gonna let go, and you’re gonna stop making it weird. Can you do that?”

You nodded, still shaking with your laughter. It was tempting to keep going, but you wanted to check just one more time. 

His hand pulled off your mouth and you both sat up again, your giggles echoing in the small park that you were in. 

“I mean it.” Eddie said, taking your hand again. “I don’t want kids either. I could live the rest of my life with just you and I’d be happy.”

Your heart jumped up in your throat. “The rest of your life...?” 

Eddie realized what he said quickly. “I mean, you and I have been friends for years and I know that the whole dating thing is new for us but... yeah. I know I’m not exactly Mr. Romantic, but...”

That was enough for you, and you took his hand and kissed his knuckles gently. “So... kids no, but open to marriage?” 

“Not right now.” he said. “Later.” 

“Aww, am I not enough for a whirlwind, runaway marriage?” you smiled. “Not gonna drive me to the courthouse right now and make an honest woman out of me?”

“Considering how your specialty was always a bluff check, I doubt anyone could make an honest woman out of you.” Eddie snorted. 

“I guess you’re worth the wait.” your leaned closer to him. “You were always worth the wait.” 

“You’re gonna make me blush.” Eddie said, cupping your cheek and kissing you softly. “You know... since we’ve agreed that kids are off the table, I do have a half used box of condoms in the back of the van that could be used right now.” 

“Oh, and what happened the the other half of the box?” you smirked, knowing full well what happened. 

“Well, you see sweetheart, a few weeks ago we decided to have a water balloon fight but we ran out of balloons so me and Jeff had this idea-” 

“Eddie no!” you laughed, smacking his arm. “Seriously? Where was I during all this?”

“You abandoned me.” 

“I was at work wasn’t I? Remind me to quit tomorrow.” 

Eddie pulled you in closer “Well that’s only where a few of them went. The rest went to this really hot chick who somehow decided to take a chance on the biggest freak in Hawkins.” 

“Lucky her.” you said, pecking his lips. “So... wanna show me these makeshift water balloons? For science, of course.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Eddie said with a smile. 

Eddie helped you down from off the top of his van, and you just knew that this was it. No matter what happened after tonight, you knew that you both were in it for the long haul. No need to change or force things just because of what everyone said you should do. From then on, it would be just you and Eddie, and that would be enough.  

#nacht fic #eddie munson x reader

[rodolfoparras]

Hi! I just have to know… what are your thoughts on Makarov/Price, or just Price with a very intense and feisty partner 👀

Oh my god friend I loved this question but Istg every time I went to answer it I ended up with a response in the form of a book so I’m doing my best to stick to bullet points

Anyways I present to you Price with a very intense / feisty reader

First and foremost I want to note that Price isn’t docile himself, he feels rather strongly and sometimes acts impulsively but he’s learned to handle it throughout the years.

However when he first enlisted , fresh faced and ready to conquer the injustices of the world, higher ups saw these attributes as something to take advantage of so that they did.

Back then he didn’t see that, he was just happy that there were people in power willing to listen and willing to help him and while he got his hands dirty and went against everything he stood for, the higher ups stayed back home while offering simple promotions for his dirty work.

Since Price rose so fast in ranking, he probably attended many private parties and banquets organized by the army, and at one of those events he was bound to meet his future s/o

Back then he’d met you because he’d snuck out the event, had felt suffocated by the crowd and went outside to smoke.

There you were leaned up against the wall and offering him your cigarette

He swiftly takes it, while discreetly giving you a once over, noting you must be a soldier but not one attending this specific event for whatever reasons.

“Party that boring eh?” You say, noting the suit on him and the gloomy look on his face,

“You can say that” he says before taking a drag of the cigarette. “I’m not much of a party person actually” he says, taking another drag before passing the cigarette back to you.

“Yet you attended this one “‘you say with a smile on your face while exhaling a cloud of smoke into the air.

“Didn’t have a choice” Price shrugs watching tobacco smoke swirl around in the dark sky.

“Says who?” You say, passing the cigarette back to him.

“The party’s for me” Price says, lip curling in disdain.

You feel your eyes widen at his words, attention now fully on him rather than the tobacco.

“Oh now you’ve got me curios”

“Just a promotion, nothing special” he says, lips now curling into a small smile

“Nothing special eh what is it? Captain?”

“Lieutenant”

“You’re right, doesn’t sound special at all” you snort and he laughs along with you

Just as you’re about to say something else you see someone waving him over.

“Looks like someone’s calling for you -“

“Price”

“I’ll see you around Lieutenant price “ you say with a smile on your face, snuffing out your cigarette before walking away.

The next time he sees you, is when you’re being reprimanded for your behavior and he’s in charge of your punishment. It had been a minor offense but had resulted in you having to run laps in the rain. However when you had arrived in front of him he had quickly released you off of it.

“A merciful lieutenant who’d think that?” You say with a smile on your face.

“Don’t see a point of you just running around in the rain, join me instead?” He says with a smile on his own while waving a cigarette in the air.

As you sit down and smoke, he finds out that many times you’ve ended up being reprimanded for your behavior but that they haven’t kicked you out yet since you’re a very good soldier.

However he cant seem to comprehend why you keep getting yourself in trouble and you don’t give him a clear answer to that question either.

“Just remember while our hands get dirty someone else’s stay clean, I’ll see you around lieutenant Price”

After that you continue to bump into each other and every time you do, it’s because you’re in some trouble and Price is the one to get you out of the punishment. He’s still torn between being loyal to the higher ups and accepting the fact that they’re using him as a pawn in their own little games .

However he ends up making a decision when you get in trouble despite having done nothing wrong. You’re sent to your room and ordered to attend a disciplinary meeting. Price tries to reason with the higher ups, but they aren’t listening and in that very moment he realizes that these people don’t care about doing the right thing. They care about having power and controlling their subordinates

Feeling frustrated about the situation, and also feeling deeply worried for you, he decides to go and see you.

For someone who risks losing their entire career you look calm as ever, opening the door with a soft smile on your face.

“Lieutenant” you say while gesturing for him to come in

“Price” he subconsciously correct while walking inside.

“So what brings you here? Not that I’m opposed to it or anything.”

“Just wanted to see if you’re alright after everything that happened today”

“Oh that?”You wave him off before patting down the pockets of your coat that hangs on the wall, and pull out a pack of cigarettes.

You quickly light one up and pass it to him, before gesturing for him to sit down on your bed with you.

“You’re not worried that you’ll get kicked out?” He says, taking a drag of the cigarette before passing it to you.

You chuckle in response, putting the cigarette between your lips before you go to respond “not really, maybe I’d be if I still were a recruit but now? Not so much?”

“Why?” He says watching you exhale the smoke into the air before his eyes fall onto your lips, the way they pucker up to release the smoke, before falling back into a natural pout.

“I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet but they don’t give a shit about us here”

“I’m starting to” he says, eyes still locked on your lips, noting the way they’re curling up into a grin.

“Good” is all you say, “now if that’s all you wanted to say I suppose we’re done here unless..” you trail off, voice going lower as you lean closer to him.

For a second his eyes widen, body freezing in place. You continue to lean in closer until there’s only a cloud of smoke between you, serving as a barrier.

“Im- I -“ he tries to speak but his brain isn’t cooperating with his mouth. Instead he focuses on the way you lick your lips before you speak.

“If you don’t want this tell me to stop and I’ll-“ but before you can say more he grabs ahold of your neck and smashes your lips together, leaving you wide eyed and gasping before your eyes flutter shut and you lose yourself into the kiss

“You sure you don’t want me to come with you” he says looking like a whole sight with the sheets draped over his waist while lounging on your bed.

“No I’ll be fine” you say while shrugging on your shirt. “You stay here, I’ll be back soon” you add, eyes trailing over his naked body and feeling blood pool down to your lower half.

“Okay “ he says biting down on his lips before sinking back into the sheets .

You return quickly just like you had promised, and Price keeps his own promises by staying in your bed.

He stays there all day and for many more years to come. However the two of you don’t become anything official until much later on seeing as he’s focusing more on his career than having a relationship.

But in between those years of waiting you become a close companion of his as well as someone who knows his body better than anybody else in this world. You taught him to not let people take advantage of him and to do what he thinks and feels is right. He’s still loyal to some degree to those above him solely for the reason that they sometimes can come in hand. However Price wouldn’t let anyone dull your spark. He’d always aim to make sure that you get to stay true to yourself even if that means getting into a fight with his squad because you’re getting on the teams nerves with your temper, or making it clear that you are to be as respected as he is even though you don’t have some fancy title to go with your name

You work seamlessly together so much so people will come up to him and tell him “keep your dog on a leash” referring to the way you’re hovering behind Price and barring your teeth. But Price’s lips would only curl up into a smile before he responds with “it’s not him you have to worry about” because even though he’s learned to bite his tongue in order to keep important pawns on his chess board, he’d bite anyone’s neck off if they were to disrespect you.

#Jesus Christ this became a whole book half way in I had to wrap it up bc I’ve been sitting with this all day just bc I didn’t have a simple #answer pls 😭 #anyways thank you sm for asking me sugar I love love love questions like these #have a wonderful day and thank u for the amazing price art u make #alec answers #call of duty #john price #john price x reader #john price x male reader #captain john price #captain john price x male reader #captain john price x reader #price x male reader #price x reader #x male reader #male reader

[brighttears]

Liberation

Joel Miller x f!reader

No physical description, no use of y/n

Summary: While escaping Kansas City in the midst of its liberation, you run into Joel and Ellie. After helping each other escape, you’re injured right before you’re home free. But, you’ve proved useful enough and good enough company for them to offer you aid and to tag along for at least a couple more days.

Warnings: Violence 

Word count: 4k

A/n: Ok I know this is literally the third time I’ve said I’m going to continue one of these on but I actually have an idea of what I can do with this so. Part one Probably

—

So this is what liberation looks like you think, crouched behind one of the nearly wrecked cars strewn around a large square parking lot, watching the scene before you.

FEDRA guards are being shot, dragged naked, stabbed, hoisted by their necks over fucking bonfires, and generally getting the shit beaten out of them by ex-rebels who are obviously having the time of their lives. Cheers and choruses of “FUCK YOU FEDRA” and “FREEDOM” blend in with the laughter and screaming in front of you. Every so often, the red of flairs paint the sky.

These hunks of metal you hide behind are the only cover you have here and the blacktop is covered in cracks and potholes–one wrong move, one second off, you’ll be caught landing on your face. But this is your only way to cross into safer territory, so you’re just gonna have to be clever about it. Going deeper into the city doesn’t make you feel good, but you’ll need to for the long game of escaping Kansas City.

You control your breathing in between breaks from car to car, keeping yourself calm enough to focus on where you need to go. It takes about 5 minutes to make it into an alley. The fires were lighting your way, without them, you’re widening your eyes in an attempt to improve your vision in the darkness of night. 

You stagger to the other end of the alley, dragging your hands on either side of the walls feeling for a door, but no luck. Just as a line of light crosses your body you slam against the back of a dumpster. 

“KANSAS CITY BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE. COLLABORATORS, SURRENDER NOW, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A FAIR TRIAL. WE HAVE CONTROL OF THE QZ AND THE OPEN CITY. ANYONE CAUGHT HIDING WILL FACE CHARGES OF COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES.” 

You can’t help but hear the similarity between the man on this megaphone to a FEDRA guard with a megaphone, riding through the streets with their big guns on big trucks. You’re not a collaborator and, you guess, technically, you are a rebel, but really, you just want to get the fuck out of this city. It’ll be better without FEDRA but tonight is not a redemption. You’d be better off on your own. 

After you count to ten and hear no trucks or footsteps, you dash across the street to the opposite alley. A flare briefly lights above you and reveals that there are no doors in this alley either. 

Shit.

Now your heart is starting to race. You run up behind another dumpster at the end of the alley as the chant from another rebel truck approaches. As soon as it passes your side of the street, you peek around the side of the dumpster and succeed in using their flashlight to spot a door in the next alley. Still crouched, you bounce on your ankles and huff breathes, readying yourself to bolt across another open street. As soon as your front foot skids to bring yourself up to run, the door cracks open, and before you can duck back you make eye contact with the man holding it open. You don’t recognize him at all. Hiding like he is, he can’t be a rebel, so maybe he’s a collaborator, but that means he’s trying to get out of the city just like you are. He holds your gaze, breaks it to look back through the door, then takes it back at you. 

Pleasepleasepleaseplease

That door is really your only chance. Luck’s been on your side for this long but it’s going to run out at some point. You have no reason to shoot him, he has no reason to shoot you, you have the same goal. All you can count on right now is the goodness of this stranger's heart. 

After a few more agonizing seconds of eye contact, the man nods his head toward himself. The relief is almost dizzying. You steady your mind and sneak further into the street, as soon as you know it’s clear you make a run for it. He steps back to open the door for you, closing it behind himself the instant you’re in. You sprint through so fast that you smack into the concrete wall a few feet from the entrance.

“Woah.” A flashlight pointed at your body reveals a young girl, but your attention is brought back to the kind (or so you thought until just now) man with the slamming of the door behind him, who immediately points a gun at you. Just as fast as he does, though, you’ve grabbed yours from behind your back to point right back at him. There’s a few breaths of silence. 

“Should I have my gun out?” the kid asks. 

“No,” you say, eyes still on the man across from you, “and neither should you, and then I’ll put my gun away, because I don’t want to hurt you and you don’t want to hurt me. We’re both looking for the same thing, here.”

“And what’s that?”

“To get the fuck out of Kansas City.”

“You know a way out?”

“Be quiet, Ellie.”

“I have a better idea than you do. You’re not from here, are you?”

“Nope, just passing through.”

“Ellie.”

“Ellie, why don’t you tell your dad to put his gun away?”

“He’s not my dad.” mixes with “I’m not her dad.”

“Ok, well, Ellie, why don’t you tell your paranoid partner in crime to put his gun away?”

“Ok, paranoid partner in crime, why don’t you stop pointing the gun at the nice lady who knows how to get the fuck out of this insane fucking city?”

He sighs and reluctantly lowers his gun. You follow, but tell him, “Mine doesn’t go away until yours does.” He slowly returns his gun to its holster and you tuck yours back between your pants and shirt.

“So you know a way out?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“‘Kind of’ sounds good enough to me.” Ellie speaks again, earning another glare from the man.

“Great. Follow me.” you begin to walk to the concrete stairs.

“How do we know we can trust you?”

“Well, I guess you don’t. But here we are, so how about we get moving?” you raise your eyes at him and motion up the stairs. 

“Alright, fine.” he huffs and follows behind you up the stairs. 

“His name is Joel by the way.”

“Goddamn it, Ellie–”

“Nice to meet you Joel. I gotta admit I like your friend more, though.”

“I am a very likable person.” Ellie speaks from behind you.

“Did I not just bail you out?”

“You did, and you get a point for that, but Ellie didn’t point a gun at me and has been a lot nicer, so, she’s got one up on you.”

“Ha-ha, get fucked, Joel.”

“Hilarious.” 

“Alright, I’m gonna take us to the roof and we can map out which streets are clear from there.” 

“How many flights?”

“Only six.”

“Fuck.” Joel mumbles.

“What?”

“He’s got bad knees.”

“My knees are fine.” he rebuts.

“Whatever you say, old man.” she replies.

You’re all panting a little once you make it out the door onto the roof.

“Okkaaayyy…” you put your hands on your hips and survey around the edges of the building. “Alright, here,” you point along a clear path of streets and buildings to the edge of the city. “See?”

“What, you want us to just waltz our way out?” Joel scrunches his face up to show you how stupid he thinks your plan is.

“No, I’m not fucking brain dead, just so you know.” You walk close to the edge of the roof and point to the next one over, the break between them about five and a half feet. “We get across this way.”

“You want us to jump from building to building? Do I look like fuckin’ Spiderman?”

“No you do not. Come on. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He huffs, looking away, “I have bad knees, ok?”

“Just try once.” 

Joel glares at you. 

“Just try it, ok? If you can do it, it’s the quickest way out.”

“Come on Joel, I believe in you.”

“See, Ellie believes in you.” You point to her.

“Looks fun, too.” Ellie adds.

“It is fun.” you turn to the young girl and smile. “Come on, I’ll show you how it’s done.” You walk to the very edge, eyeing the distance and where you’re aiming to land. You take a step back, squaring your feet beneath your hips, crouch, raise your arms, and swing them with you as you launch yourself to land on the next building over. 

“COOOOOLLLL!” Ellie calls after you. 

“Keep your fuckin’ voice down.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s very cool. Alright,” you turn back to them, “You’re up next, kid. I’ll walk you through it. First, feet hip length apart. Alright, don’t jump, just follow my movements. Swing your arms forward and up, like this. Now, you’re going to throw your arms up angled forward with your jump. Not straight up, you’re leaping forward. While you’re in the air you’re gonna kinda swing your legs to where you’re landing–so find that before you do anything, focus on where you want to land. About half way across, both feet come forward to where you’re landing. You’re swinging your arms up and forward at the same time. Do not lock your knees, let your gravity follow down to your ankles. So,” you turn and illustrate the proper postures in slow motion, “Okay? Try those positions out first. Show me. Up, down, swing the arms up, great, okay, awesome. Don’t be scared, alright? Just focus on where you’re gonna land. I’ll be right here to catch you, or break your fall.” you smile and get her to laugh.

“Ellie–” Joel raises his hand forward towards her but before he can finish his sentence Ellie is leaping to you, landing with a wobble. 

“I DID IT!”

“SHH.”

“I did it!” Ellie whispers loudly, beaming, and you give her a double high-five. 

“Damn, girl, you’re a fucking natural.”

“Your turn, old man.” Ellie turns and giggles at Joel.

“Okay, I don’t know that, uh, I don’t, uh–”

“Well, we’re already over here, so unless you want to waltz out…” when you see the nervousness in his eyes you adjust your tone. “You’ll be fine. Do you want me to show you again?”

“No.” 

You can tell he’s just nervous and embarrassed. “I can tell you’re a capable guy.  I’ve done this a hundred times and seen guys older than you manage.” that’s a lie, but you really do believe in him, “Just try this one, if this isn’t a good idea we’ll figure something else out. Look at me,” you wait, “just don’t hesitate. You’re gonna be fine.” You hold Joel’s gaze until he nods. 

He takes a few deep breaths, crouches, swings his arms, and makes it over. He grunts in pain when he lands and you and Ellie grab his shoulders to make sure he doesn't fall back. 

“I am not doin’ that again.” he says through gritted teeth.

“Alright, yeah, not a sustainable method. Props to you for doing it though, you can cross that one off your bucket list.”

“That was not on my bucket list.” Joel stands and adjusts his jacket by pulling it down.

“Well it was on mine.” you and Ellie high five again.

“Now what?” Joel asks in an irritated tone.

“Hm.” You look around the roof, much bigger than the last, with a couple panels of ventilation fans, some milk crates, and a pile of 2x4s. You walk over to the planks, standing one up to examine it. You take it to the next break between buildings, eyeing the length of each. “Ellie, grab me another one of those?” You lay one on the ground and slide it over the break and then the next one beside it. The gap is a few feet longer than the last–you could’t have jumped it, anyways. “Ah, perfect.” you stand and look back at Joel with pride. He is not convinced. Before either of them can finish saying “DON’T” or “WAIT,” you walk straight out to the middle, turning back and then jumping lightly. The planks barely move with your weight. Once you’re across you look back, beaming.

“Your recklessness is not impressive.” Joel points an angry finger at you. 

“I’m not reckless. I just live here. We’ve been fine so far, haven’t we?”

“It’s taken us ten minutes to get 20 feet farther outta this goddamn city.” He retorts.

“Well, maybe if you’d stop dragging your feet,”

As you speak, Ellie walks casually over the planks to join you. 

“Ellie, you’re gonna give me a fuckin’ heart attack.”

“Come on, ya lazy ass.”

That lures him over, knees bent and arms out as he steps across. 

“I’m 56 years old, you little shit.”

“Alright, enough bickering.” you grab the planks and set them across to the next building. 

Your pace picks up as you go but Joel is sweating by the time you finally make it to the last building. 

“Ok, listen,” he looks at you and Ellie, “we don’t have a car so we’re gonna be walkin’ for awhile before we’re clear. I don’t know about you but I am fuckin’ exhausted. I say we take that door and lay low inside for a few hours. Maybe get some sleep.”

“Sounds good.” you lead the way to the roof access door and down the stairs. 

It's an old office building, so you set yourselves up on the floor of some cubicles. 

You checked the breakroom for food and while what little was left in the fridge was rotten almost to the point of dust, you catch a break in the cupboards, finding some wrapped, homemade crackers. 

It’s a fantastic find but you can’t help your mind from wandering to just why you got so lucky–no one just leaves without taking their food with them. This luck came from death, as most things do these days.

“I’ve never seen you two around here.” you state to ask as you dine on your incredibly stale crackers.

“Well we’re not from here,” Joel answers you, “like she said, just passin’ through. Why aren’t you down there partyin’ with rest of the rebels?”

“I’m not a rebel.”

“Well you’re not FEDRA. You a collaborator?” He accuses you fiercely.

“No, no–technically, you could call me a rebel, but I’m not with any of them. I’m here because there are resources here. Now, even though it’s been ‘liberated,’” you air quote, “this is still Killa City. Being out from underneath FEDRA’s thumb is going to be an improvement no doubt, but the bar is fucking low. I have enjoyed my stay–well, no I haven’t, but, it’s time for me to go. Where are you guys headed?”

Joel hesitates. “Wyoming.”

“What’s in Wyoming?” 

“Doesn't concern you.”

“Jeez, fine. Just curious. Well,” you brush the crumbs from your hands, “I can take first watch.”

“You’ll take second watch.”

“Calm your tits, cowboy. I think we’ve proved to each other that neither of us wants to kill each other, so I don’t see how all this suspicion is necessary. You’re the one who said you were exhausted, but, fine, I’ll be happy to get some shut eye.” you get up and walk to your corner of a cubicle.

“If it makes you feel any better, he never lets me take watch.” Ellie tells you.

“How many days has it been since you slept then?” you question Joel.

“I’m takin’ first watch.” he states.

“Your loss.”

You and Ellie both lay down to sleep, her using Joel’s jacket as a blanket and you using your own. You angle yourself so that you can see Joel but all he can see of you is your feet. You’re sure you’ll outlast him and catch him falling asleep before his watch is up. Even in Killa City, you’ve been able to sleep most nights. You’re proven right within an hour when Joel’s eyes finally defeat him and his chin slumps to his chest. You stand up and walk over to him silently and then crouch down in front of him. Trying to keep yourself from giggling, you blow on his face a couple times to wake him up. He does with a start but is met by your wide smile, finger over your lips to tell him to keep quiet while also trying to hold in your own laughter. “You’re fine. It’s only been an hour and you’re already passed out. Let me take first watch. I’ll wake you up for second, or I can take both, you obviously need to sleep.”

He takes a few blinks to think it over. “Jus’... wake me up for second.” he pushes his rifle into your hands. 

“You got it. Nighty night, cowboy.”

Joel glares at you as he lays down in front of Ellie, facing you. His breathing slows into sleep within two minutes. 

You’re happy to be able to let him sleep. He does an alright job hiding it, but he looks fucking exhausted. Crossing over buildings had to have been his body’s last straw. 

As his face relaxes, this is the first time you’ve seen him not scowling or looking otherwise vexed. He’s still handsome then, but like this, he’s straight up pretty. His hair is silver kissed, his brow deep, lips a little pouty, and the end of his nose has a cute little pinch. His lips part slightly with his face laying on his hand, and he’s got his legs almost curled up. He’s totally just a big teddy bear. Besides his looks, the other thing that gives it away is the young girl tucked up behind him. You have no clue what the deal is; apparently, she’s not his daughter, but there’s no doubt he is–or was, somebody else's. What you can’t figure out is why he’s being so fatherly to some random kid. Maybe she’s someone else’s, maybe he knew her parents and they died, or he’s taking her to them in Wyoming. Maybe he just found her and couldn’t make himself leave her. Whatever it is, they couldn’t have been together long because he still hasn’t warmed up to her, or, rather, is still trying to hide it. Anyway, it’s pretty adorable, and you’re dying to figure him out.

You decide to deal with his well-rested temper tantrum and take both watches. Ellie is the first to wake as the rising sun flushes orange through the wall of windows. She rises to lean on her arm and wipes the sleep out of her eyes. “Hey.” she croaks. 

“Morning, little one.”

“Little one?”

“Well you’re little, and you’re one, so I figured it suits you.” 

“Whatever.” She stands, steps over Joel and slides down the wall of the cubicle to sit next to you.

“So he let you take second watch?”

“No, he passed out within an hour and I woke him up.” you both laugh quietly. “So what's the deal with you two?” 

“Uhhh…” 

“You don’t have to tell me. Just curious. You make an odd pair.”

“We do?”

“I guess, kind of. It’s just like, your contrast. You’re a sunshine, he’s a rain cloud.”

“Ah, he’s just putting on a show.”

“I know.”

Ellie pauses and looks at you, “Really? You think he’s just, like, acting like a rain cloud?”

You’re adorable. “Oh, totally. He’s just a big teddy bear. I don’t know what the relationship is, but he really cares about you.” you turn to study him. “He’s just… lost a lot of people. I mean, who hasn’t, but… I dunno. You can just tell with some people. It’s just armor, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah.”

You look back to her and her face has fallen a little, eyes distant. You nudge her. “Hey. Wanna see something cool?”

She looks back at you with that adorable kid smile “Yeah.”

You pull out your butterfly knife and start flipping tricks. Her mouth drops, “You HAVE to show me how to do that.”

“Show’er how to do what?” Joel grumbles upon awakening. Once his eyes land on the knife in your hand, he immediately says, “No.” It takes him a minute to sit himself up, moving slow with grogginess, blinking his sight back. “Why’re you holdin’ my rifle?”

“Um, cause you gave it to me?”

“That’s a lie.”

“No it’s not! You basically shoved it in my face when I woke you up.”

“Woke him up? Joel, I thought you were taking first watch!” Ellie calls him out, straight up teasing him.

“Yeah, he did, for like an hour before he passed the fuck out.” you play along.

“How irresponsible of you, Joel.” Ellie says with sarcastic sternness. She laughs and Joel huffs, giving you a side eye before snatching the rifle back.

“I told you to wake me up fer second watch.”

“I tried waking you up but you wouldn’t budge.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Yes it is. You just looked like you needed the sleep.”

“Well… you shoudl’a woken me up.”

“I will next time.”

“Next time? What makes you think there’ll be a next time?” 

“Damn, alright, I guess not.”

“You mean you’re not gonna let her come with us?”

“No.” Joel says to Ellie, his tone like it’s the stupidest question she could ever ask. She looks to you and you shrug. 

“Come on, Joel, pleeease? She just saved our asses!”

Joel checks that the rifle is loaded, “Well, I saved her ass first, so now we’re even.” He looks at you and you’re struck by this first good look at big, beautiful, deep brown eyes. 

“Yeah, fine,” You almost stutter, “let’s just get out of the city first, and then we’ll say our fond farewells.”

Joel says nothing, Ellie huffs. 

You’re all completely silent getting down to the first floor of the six floor office building. It seems quiet outside so far, but after last night, you have no idea what to expect from the city. You’re sure that if the rebels see you trying to sneak out of the city, you’ll all be automatically assumed guilty of collaborating. You’re not in a great position in this office building with it being mostly windows, most of them broken, and no matter how slowly you step it’s gonna be noisy. 

Joel leads, peering around a corner to check your surroundings. Then he turns back to speak to you. “Where’re we going?”

You step forward to check from where he had. Before you is an empty parking lot. Bordering the farther ends are overgrown grasses and then a few trees, just thick enough to provide some kind of cover. Right past those is a steep hill leading up to the highway. “It’s pretty much a straight shot up to the highway. Ok, I’ll go out first and then–”

“I’ll go out first.” Joel interrupts. 

“No,” you order, “I’ll go out first, because I’m not taking care of a kid.” That shuts him up. You raise your gun straight out before you and make your way to the treeline, conscientiously observing every angle. Once you make it to the trees you wait a few seconds to be sure it’s all still all clear before nodding to Joel. Once you’re all there, you once again take the lead up the hill, following the same caution, especially since once you’re on the highway you’ll have nowhere to hide. You take longer this time before having the two follow you. 

“Alright. Thanks for everything, goodbye.” Joel nods to you curtly. As soon as he finishes his sentence a gunshot rings out and you all instantly drop to the ground. Your eyes move sharply to spot the movement, which is coming from three targets ducked behind the siding of the highway. Keeping your gun in line with your gaze, you take the gunman out before Joel has cocked his own gun. Another shot rings out and you feel a jolt down your leg and lose your focus. Joel takes the next shot to take that one out and then one posted right beside him behind the concrete blocks. You remain laid still on the ground for a count of five and then you throw a nearby piece of broken concrete ahead of you. After another count of five with no movement, you slowly rise. You feel a burning on the side of your calf and before you’ve even looked down, Ellie announces, “Shit, you got shot.”

Sure enough, blood is seeping through your pants. It starts and drips from where you’d felt the jolt, a little below your knee. You kneel down and hike up your (thankfully pretty loose), now ripped and bloody pants to reveal an about six inch gash down the side of your calf. “Shit.” You sit down fully and tear the fabric from where it's ripped below your knee and then wrap and tie the long strip around the wound. 

“We gotta get that clean.” Joel says, having come up to kneel right next to you.

“Yes we–we…” you smirk up at him. 

“YES.” Ellie pumps her arm in the air, “Not at you being shot, I mean you coming with us.”

He looks you up and down thoughtfully. “Fine.” Joel stands and offers his arm down to you, you grab his wrist so he can bring you to your feet without you having to put pressure on your injured left leg. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, but I probably shouldn’t for long.”

“Alright.” Joel takes a deep breath and surveys. “Well let’s get movin’. There any bodies of water around?” He asks you.

“Yeah, Missouri River’s actually only about a 30 minute walk from here, there’s a bridge that crosses there too, heading in the right direction, towards Wyoming.” 

“What’s around there? Somewhere we can set up for a night?”

“No, pretty much nothing. There’s cover under the bridge, though.”

“Alright. We’ll head down there. Find a way to boil some clean water, wash that, ‘n then… see from there.”

“Sounds good.” You smile at him, he eyes you but doesn’t return it, walking on to cross the highway.

Ellie comes up beside you and looks at your pretty much bloodsoaked ankle. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll live.”

“Good, cause you’re a lot better company than Joel.” she grins at you as you start to walk. Joel glances back with a famous fake glare. 

And suddenly, you’re part of a group for the first time in a good few years. Walking with one boot filling with blood, beside you, a foul-mouthed, adorable little kid is who is basically skipping at your side, with a handsome, mysterious, teddy-bear in shining armor leading the way. Not a bad setup.

#the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #joel the last of us #the last of us hbo #joel miller the last of us #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller x f!reader #tlou #tlou fanfiction #tlou hbo #joel tlou #joel miller tlou

[bonefall]

Do you have any plans for Shaded Moss, since Gray Wing is dying in his place? (The specifics of that in my brain was Gray Wing shoving him out of the way of the carriage)

My own thoughts were something along the lines of him having been second-in-command to Gray Wing, but after xir death, Clear Sky starts undermining them, 'suggesting' to people that hey, maybe he *set that up* like, isn't it convenient? That Gray Wing died? Leaving Shaded Moss in charge? Wow, funny like that, huh? And even if most of the group dismisses it as bullshit, it's still "What kinda moron almost gets run over by a carriage and has to be pushed out of the way? Should we really be following him?" Eventually, Clear Sky takes the people who listen to him and leaves, and Tall Shadow kinda forces him to step down, and Shaded Moss kinda lives on the fringes of the group until after Bumble gets driven out. He kinda serves as a surrogate father to Thunder (because I kinda want to keep adoption a thing) and teaches him how to pass better as a tom (because I love older transmascs helping guide their juniors, I wish I had had someone older who knew a little more helping me with that shit as a kid).

I imagine he dies in the First Battle, either just before the "Tell the stars you won" line, or just after, knocking Clear Sky off of Bright Storm and getting killed for it just before Starclan intervenes.

GREAT IDEA let's take it!

(Note though: Shaded Moss -> Shaded Flower, because they now have a naming system that includes a familial last name. Shaded Flower and Rainswept Flower are father and daughter like canon.)

It'll be good for showing how "connected" tribe culture is, to have Thunder Storm have bonds with a lot of the cats he will eventually come into conflict with. Thunder Storm having a surrogate dad figure in the disgraced leader works nicely. Here's how I'll approach it though, taking your suggestions and making sure it works with what's established;

Gray Wing was the leader, Shaded Flower was second in command. He was a logistics sort of guy.

They had never seen a horse before. The group charged in front of it while crossing, spooking it.

Something I found interesting in Sun Trail is that Clear Sky was commanding them across the road that gets Canon!Shade killed on. I think I want to keep that, having Clear Sky be the one who shouted for them all to charge.

Shaded Flower's response to the large animal rearing up was to hiss and freeze

And of course, Gray Wing runs back to save him, getting kicked and killed.

While burying xem, Shade was catching flak. He panicked and his response was to freeze. Clear Sky never takes responsibility for his own actions, and what kind of guy freezes in front of a deer so huge??

He didn't really "step down" so much as Tall Shadow and Clear Sky just naturally started becoming the new leaders. He was pretty ashamed that he got Gray Wing killed.

Embarrassingly, Rainswept Flower ended up having to be his defender a lot of the time. He didn't want her reputation to suffer as a result of his cowardice, but... ugh here they are.

When Jagged Peak broke his leg, Shaded Flower didn't speak up, doubting his own judgement.

But when Bright Storm comes back with her three-legged newborn, he is IMMEDIATELY on Tall Shadow's side in the split. Though his reputation took a big hit, him being on her side IS still helpful.

He probably teaches Thunder Storm how to cook along with helping his transition, since this is going to be an important skill he displays later when he befriends River's Ripple. Rainswept Flower is like a young 19-year-old at this point, making her own life, and Shaded Flower has a sort of loneliness about him.

He probably looks out for Bright Storm, too, since they both had a pretty traumatic experience with Clear Sky treating them like ass. Brings her food and such, makes small talk, watches her kid when she needs a break.

Shaded Flower is, however, probably not a member of early ThunderClan. Or at the very least, he's kind of conflicted about it.

Rainswept Flower is loyal to Tall Shadow, and will remain ShadowClan for her whole life. He really doesn't want to leave her behind

(She even eventually has kittens with Sun Shadow, but that's not super relevant.)

Though... I may have him be part of Bright Storm's Reinforcements, and note how much he's torn between supporting the boy who's practically an adopted son, and his daughter back in Tall Shadow's Clan. He can love them both equally and be torn up over it.

Whatever happens, he will be dying in the place where Rainswept Flower dies in canon. His death in Clear Sky's jaws, "I'm not greedy, just strong!" enrages Bright Storm, who bumrushes him.

She delivers the Star Line, Clear Sky rejects it, and Thunder Storm rushes in to end his battle with Clear Sky once and for all before StarClan halts it.

#I'll clean this all up later along with any other Shaded Flower suggestions anyone has #And make an official character summary #BB!DOTC #Shaded Flower #BB!Shaded Moss #Better bones au

[skyyknights]

biggest thoughts on skyward sword link?

aight. get ready. because I have many thoughts about him.

So, first off, yes, he is a silly sleepy doofus of a sky boy who is extremely soft and adorable and deserves everything. But, while that take is 100% correct and should not be overlooked, he is also a feral rabid gremlin who can and will tear your face off with his bare hands if the need arises (such as if you threaten Zelda).

(I mean. there's your proof right there...)

Now, a lot of people think that Link from Breath of the Wild is the strongest/toughest/etc.

Politely, I disagree.

So then who is the strongest? None other than Sky Link.

Let's start with the basics. He might not have been raised on a farm or in service as a knight for the royal family, but at the same time, he's attended an academy specifically for training knights his entire life. At the start of the game he can lift and throw massive barrels, is stated and shown to be an excellent climber, is a natural at Loftwing flying and at catching Zelda when she throws herself off of Skyloft, and is already excellent with a blade. Later on he can lift and throw small boulders, and push large wooden crates and metal carts.

But like I said, that's just the basics.

Sky Link also fights/defeats the Imprisoned and Ghirahim three times. Both grow stronger with each battle, but he defeats them nonetheless. Ghirahim at first sees him as just a silly little child who can't possibly defeat him; he quickly learns Link is anything but that and in all three of his fights becomes so humiliated that he rages at Link and on two occasions leaves instead of allowing himself to be defeated further. "You think I can't defeat you? You think I can't win? What are you, boy?" he asks in the final fight. He's afraid of Link, because Link is too powerful for him. He's the silly soft sky child, but three times now he has claimed victory over the Demon King's right hand man.

Then there's the Silent Realms, of which Link goes through four. Each one becomes increasingly more difficult and dangerous, and yet he completes all of them. Not only that, but he finds each Sacred Flame required to strengthen Fi and ends up forging the true Master Sword. He also earns and wields the full Triforce, which only a tiny handful of other Links have done. He also survives getting crushed by boulders on numerous occasions and is imprisoned (probably with a concussion) but escapes; battles a massive army of Moblins, Stalfos, and Bokoblins; and with each Silent Realm, his spirit grows, signifying he is not only strong physically, but mentally.

Anything I'm forgetting, besides the fact that Hylia specifically chose him to be her hero and defeat-

Oh yeah.

Demise.

Yup, in case anyone forgot, Sky Link kills Demise, the literal embodiment of evil itself, the original villain from whom Ganondorf comes. Demise is the most powerful enemy in LoZ who not only destroyed Hylia, but nearly all of the Surface as well; according to him, humans cower and quake upon seeing him; none but Link have ever dared to even consider standing up to him. Fighting Link, to Demise, is a casual, lighthearted ordeal where he believes he can take it easy before going off and destroying the world.

But yeah, that doesn't quite happen.

In the end, Link defeats Demise utterly on a battlefield of water and lightning, charging his own blade with it and striking the killing blow. Demise perishes and is absorbed into the Master Sword, directly after threatening that his hate, never perishing, will follow Link and Zelda throughout time.

And there you have it. Sky has just defeated the original incarnation of a cycle of endless hatred.

(while looking like this 90% of the time. he is babey. but stronk and dangerous babey who could kill u with a look).

#sorry my thoughts went all over the place #i could go more into him but I think you were just wanting to know about what i said in the tags of a recent post #about how i think hes the strongest? i think thats where you were going #if not lmk #skyward sword #asks and answers #anon #legend of zelda #sky link #link

[jelzorz]

141.

The tension isn't unexpected. It certainly could be worse but it could be a lot better too, and Rayla had thought that they might have talked things out by now, but it's been weeks since her return, since Umber Tor, since they set sail on the Sea of the Castout and the situation... hasn't progressed.

(And who can she blame but herself? There'd been that one moment at Umber Tor, when he'd pulled her out of the rubble of the collapsing mountain and held her tight to him, and she'd thought maybe they were okay—but had she really thought that would be it? That it'd be fixed and they could go back to the way things were just like that? Had she really been that naive?)

But the tension breaks, as all things do, when the stakes matter most. There's a storm, and the seas are rough, and Rayla, thankfully, has learned how to walk on sea legs and keep her lunch in her stomach by the time all hell breaks loose, and then there are the pirates—

It's a hell of a storm, all right. Lightning flashes through the sky and rain hammers against the deck like a sheet. Rayla can barely see, can barely keep her grip on her blades because her fingers have grown cold and numb. They've put Nyx, of all people, in charge of keeping Ezran out of harm's way because Soren is out cold, slumped against the deck from a blow to the back of the head, and Callum and Rayla have their hands full.

The ship tosses about, and Rayla stumbles. Her legs betray her and send her barreling into Callum, who yelps and only narrowly misses the pointy end of a cutlass.

"Watch it!" he snaps, and he's right, but the way he says it makes her bristle. Two weeks of awkward, stilted conversations, and now he's snapping at her for something that isn't her fault.

"You watch it!" she snarls, tugging him out of the way of a lunging pirate. "Get over to Ezran!"

"You're not in any position to tell me what to do!"

Rayla ducks under a sword and glowers at him. "Are you serious?"

"He's fine," he snaps, and just to prove it, he jerks his head at Ez and Nyx who are dragging Soren to safety under the stairs. "You're not!"

Rayla scowls, parrying against a pirate, water sloshing about in the folds of their hat. "This isn't the time to be stubborn!"

"I'm being stubborn?" Callum shoves a pirate back and rounds on her, furious. "You can't seriously think you can take all of these guys on your own!"

Probably not, but that's beside the point. Rayla sweeps the legs out from under the pirate she's facing and finds herself hauled up again by Callum, who presses his back to hers and uses his staff to block a blow. Rayla will admit that he's a lot more capable than he was, but that doesn't change things. That doesn't change the way her heart seizes with fear whenever someone swipes at him. It doesn't change the fact that he's only out here trying to protect her and if he gets hurt—

"I'll be fine," grumbles Rayla, dodging one way only for Callum to pull her another—and out of reach from a pirate she hadn't seen.

"Will you?" Callum's eyes are hard and stubborn, even as they find themselves backed up against the railing and otherwise surrounded. He scribbles a rune into the air and waves his staff—"Aspiro!"—and the pirates brace themselves against the gale of his breath. Dimly, Rayla remembers the way he'd shielded her and Ezran from an avalanche a lifetime ago, when things were simpler, easier, when her heart fluttered for him far more innocently than the way it does these days. "What the hell is the matter with you? Why can't you just admit that I can help?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt!"

"And you think I can stand to see you get hurt instead?"

"Interesting pair, you are," says a pirate, her hat sloshing with rainwater as she advances again, her smirk irritated but amused.

"Stay out of it," snaps Rayla. She catches the pirate's blade with her own and shoves her backwards, just as Callum scribbles another rune and raises his hand into the air.

"Fulminis maxima!"

Lightning strikes the deck. There's an explosion of sound, of fire and splintered wood, and in the chaos, Callum kisses her.

The world falls silent. Rayla's heart stutters in her chest. She can't even feel the rain or the rocking of the ship anymore—there's only Callum, and the cold of his lips, and the warmth of his hands against her face.

When he pulls away, the world hesitates. It waits, its breath hitched like Rayla's own in her throat.

"Let me help you," he says. His eyes say something else.

Rayla swallows. The world speeds up. "Okay."

#rayllum #in anticipation #this took half my shift?????? #4 hours for this????? really?????????

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Any HC's or theories on Regulus Black?

Hi! This was a really fun ask actually and I ended up blabbering a lot about Regulus Arcturus Black because I have thoughts.

Okay, so I'm going to do something similar to what I did with Theodore Nott since there isn't a lot of info about Regulus, but there's a lot implied and I love extrapolating. I think Regulus is a fascinating character that can be read in multiple ways (part of the fun!)

It got a bit long, but here are my thoughts about him:

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

“Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal . . . my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them . . . that’s him.” Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name REGULUS BLACK. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.” “But he died,” said Harry. “Yeah,” said Sirius. “Stupid idiot . . . he joined the Death Eaters.” [...] “No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having purebloods in charge. They weren’t alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things. . . . They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first.”

(OotP, 112)

So, first, we have some background. Regulus Black was the younger brother of Sirius. Part of the main male line of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

What we know of Sirius' childhood is that the Blacks were pure-blood fanatics. From Elladrora who hung house-elf heads on the wall to Araminata who billed the ministry to legalize muggle-hunting. Not to mention the Blacks' tendency to disown and disinherit anyone who doesn't fall in line with their standards of purity. They are, after all, "Always Pure".

So Regulus grew up wealthy in a family that considered themselves magical nobility (and probably are, in that I think they have a family Wizengamot membership). He never lacked anything, but his childhood came with expectations, more so after Sirius left.

I've seen many write Walburga and Orion as abusive, but I don't think they cursed their children. I don't think they were great parents, but I truly believe they never raised a wand (or hand) against one of their sons. What I think they did, was heft some impossible standards on their sons.

Sirius is the eldest, the heir, therefore as children, he would've carried most of these expectations. Sirius would be the one Walburga and Orion dotted after. Kreature says Sirius leaving broke Waburga's heart and I honestly believe it to be true. I think Sirius was Walburga's favorite. The eldest, the brightest, the cleverest, the most handsome. The brightest star in the night sky.

Regulus, as a child, would always come second. He would see his brother cause havoc and get all their parents' attention, so, in his bid to get attention too, he did the opposite of Sirius. If Sirius got attention for being a rebel, Regulus would follow each and every standard their parents put down to the latter. This is something you see in many families, each sibling wants to have their own "niche" so they tend to do the opposite of the sibling that came before them. And that's exactly what we see with Regulus. Sirius was the rebel, so Regulus became the dutiful, obedient perfect pure-blood son his mother wanted to win her affection and differentiate himself from Sirius.

These comparisons between them Sirius mentioned, they probably went both ways. Walburga reminded Sirius of how dutiful and reliable Regulus is and "Why can't you be more like your brother," but Regulus heard the exact same sentence. "Why can't you be as witty/talented as you're brother".

And after Sirius left, I think these comparisons got worse. I think Walburga and Orion talked about Sirius constantly after he left.

I believe Sirius and Regulus were actually close as young children and started growing apart once Sirius started school. Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor was a new point of tension in the home. The constant comparisons they both heard to each other made resentment grow and after Sirius left, Regulus couldn't speak to his parents without hearing "Oh, Sirius would say this" and "Sirius would think that" I think that resentment and bitterness got worse. So, he did what he always did to differentiate himself from Sirius — be the perfect Slytherin pure-blood.

I think this helped his decision to join the Death Eaters. Not the only factor, mind you, I don't think it's Sirius' fault Regulus joined the Death Eaters, it was still Regulus' decision. But I think the situation at home after Sirius left factored into it.

Who was Regulus as a person?

Now I want to talk a little bit more about Regulus' personality before covering his untimely end everyone is familiar with.

It was a pompous little sign, neatly lettered by hand the sort of thing that Percy Weasley might have stuck on his bedroom door. Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black

(DH, 163)

They moved over the threshold together, gazing around. Regulus’s bedroom was slightly smaller than Sirius’s, though it had the same sense of former grandeur. Whereas Sirius had sought to advertise his diffidence from the rest of the family, Regulus had striven to emphasize the opposite. The Slytherin colors of emerald and silver were everywhere, draping the bead, the walls, and the windows. The Black family crest was painstakingly painted over the bed, along with its motto, TOUJOURS PUR. Beneath this was a collection of yellow newspaper cuttings, all stuck together to make a ragged collage. Hermione crossed the room to examine them. “They’re all about Voldemort,” she said. “Regulus seems to have been a fan for a few years before he joined the Death Eaters . . . ” A little puff of dust rose from the bedcovers as she sat down to read the clippings. Harry, meanwhile, had noticed another photograph: a Hogwarts Quidditch team was smiling and waving out of the frame. He moved closer and saw the snakes emblazoned on their chests: Slytherins. Regulus was instantly recognizable as the boy sitting in the middle of the front row: He had the same dark hair and slightly haughty look of his brother, though he was smaller, slighter, and rather less handsome than Sirius had been. “He played Seeker,” said Harry.

(DH, 164)

I believe you can learn a lot about a person from their living space. Regulus' (and Sirius') bedrooms remained unchanged by their parents from the moment they left them. As Regulus died when he was 18 or 19 the room is frozen as it was when it served him. So, what does Regulus' bedroom tell us about him?

Harry refers to the sign on the door as something pompous, and written in a nice handwriting. I believe the sign was put up when Regulus was younger, specifically against Sirius. It's one of these signs children put on their doors specifically against their annoying siblings who steal their stuff or rummage through it. And even after they grew out of it, after Sirius left, Regulus kept the sign up. I think he couldn't really muster to put it away even once Sirius wasn't around to poke into his room anymore.

As I mentioned above, Regulus tried to be the opposite of Sirius and decorated his room accordingly. The most Slytherin pure-blood child of Hosue Black there could be. The Hogwarts memorabilia is some of that perfect Slytherin son image, but it's also really sad. It's a reminder of just how young Regulus was when he died. Sure, he would've probably kept a lot of it as an adult, but it's unlikely he would've displayed Slytherin banners and pictures of the Quidditch team in the same way long after school was over. But Regulus graduated a year before his death, he didn't have time to grow up and grow away from his school experiences. So his room, like him, is stuck at 19.

The Black family crest and motto painted above the bed is another extra mile to show Regulus' dedication to being the perfect son, the perfect child his mother wanted. I headcanon this was painted after Sirus left. A sort of sign to say that Regulus wouldn't leave. That he cares about his family.

Harry also mentioned Regulus was a Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, according to his seating in the photo. It doesn't tell us much more about Regulus, I think it's just more of him trying to please his parents. That and I think he genuinely liked Quidditch, which is a fun little tidbit.

Now, we don't know much about Regulus at school, but I'd say he was a good student. He wasn't as naturally talented and gifted as Sirius, but Regulus knew to work his ass off. The neat handwriting on the door sign is probably his, I bet he had really organized notes in school that everyone wanted to copy. Regulus as the second best to Sirius, would be more of a hard worker than Sirius in general and strive for perfection in his school work out of his desire for attention and recognition from his parents.

Now, let's talk about the newspaper clippings elephant in the room...

Regulus the Death Eater

Sirius said his parents thought Voldemort had the right idea about muggles and muggleborns, and it's clear Regulus agreed with them. Regulus was a Voldemort fanboy before he became a Death Eater, yes, the circumstances he grew up with and his resentment towards Sirius were part of it, but it was a choice he made. He thought it was a good idea, he thought muggles and muggleborns should know their place. I think there are a lot of parallels between Regulus Black and Draco Malfoy, especially when Kreature talks about how Regulus was at first as a Death Eater:

“Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress’s heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns . . . and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve . . . And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said . . . he said . . . ” The old elf rocked faster than ever. “. . . he said that the Dark Lord required an elf.” […] “Oh yes,” moaned Kreacher. “And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do . . . and then to c-come home.” Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs.

(DH, 168-169)

Like Draco, Regulus was proud to be a Death Eater, excited to do something against the "filthy mudbloods" plaguing their society. He considered helping Voldemort an honor. A good thing. Same as how Draco talks about it at first. But like we see with Draco in book 6, that it became too much for him, that he was having mental breakdowns in the toilet with Myrtle, I think Regulus experienced something similar.

He grew up spoiled, well-treated, well-mannered. He wasn't raised a soldier, a killer. I don't think Regulus had it in him, same as Draco. He couldn't bear to torture and kill.

Regulus, Kreature, and Empathy

The other interesting note in the above quotes is "Master Regulus always liked Kreacher". I find this adorable and jarring. We see how Sirius treats Kreature, he doesn't treat him as an equal being, he treats him like a slave, like a house-elf. Sirius does it because that's how he was raised to see house-elves, even the Weasleys think of house-elves in this way. It's a societal thing. But Regulus doesn't.

Regulus is kind to Kreature, and cares about him, likes him. It's kind of insane for a blood-purist Death Eater to show affection for a house-elf, especially the kind of affection in which Regulus chose to die instead of torturing his elf (his choice to die had other factors in it, and I'll get to it later). It's just, I don't know, the dynamic Regulus and Kreature had is really precious to me, okay?

Like, the fact it could happen goes to show how compassionate Regulus was even with his bigoted views and choice to become a Death Eater. Sirius calls Regulus "soft" and I think he is 100% right. Regulus was the "softer" and more empathetic of the two brothers. That softness doesn't mean he didn't think muggles and muggleborns are lesser and chose to become a Death Eater on his own accord. But that empathy is what probably made him uncomfortable among Death Eaters and get cold feet once he saw what was going on inside.

I imagine Kreature and Regulus were friendly for years. Kreature has served the Hosue of Black for a good while, which means he likely raised Regulus and Sirius. I think he helped with Regulus more than with Sirius, just because of how they reacted to him differently. Also, Waburga and Orion probably had less attention to give to Regulus when he was just born as Sirius was still really young then (a year or a year and a half old), so their attention would be more divided and Kreature would help more. I headcanon when Regulus was a young child Kreature would, like, sneak him extra desert and such and a young Sirius would complain he's not getting any.

How do we know what happened to him?

“Was he killed by an Auror?” Harry asked tentatively. “Oh no,” said Sirius. “No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort’s orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don’t just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It’s a lifetime of service or death.”

(OotP, 112)

Now, what's interesting about this quote is how Sirius found this out. Why would he know that's what happened? Who could he have spoken to that would've known to tell him this?

Voldemort killing traitors is known, and many other characters mention it, but who would know Regulus turned traitor?

Other Death Eaters. Specifically, highly valued Death Eaters that are related to Regulus, like Bellatrix, who happened to be in Azkaban with Sirius.

I believe Sirius "found out" from Bella or other Death Eaters in a neighboring cell who told him that's what happened. I just don't really see any other way he'd come to this conclusion on his own. It's either that or wishful thinking on Sirius' part.

I think the inner circle Death Eaters were told Regulus was killed for treachery but nothing beyond that. I didn't really write about how I think the Dark Mark works, but I think it allows Voldemort to magically know when a Death Eater dies (and a bit more). I don't think he knew how Regulus died, just that he did. But Sirius mentioned he knew Regulus betrayed Voldemort, it means someone had to know. It means Voldemort likely knew Regulus was a traitor and told some of his Death Eaters. The same ones Sirius was in Azkaban with.

Regulus' betrayal and Death

“So what happened when you got back?” Harry asked. “What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?” “Master Regulus was very worried, very worried,” croaked Kreacher. “Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then . . . it was a little while later . . . Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell . . . and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord. . . . “ […] “And he made you drink the poison?” said Harry, disgusted. But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione’s hands leaped to her mouth: She seemed to have understood something. “M—Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had,” said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. “And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets . . . ” Kreacher’s sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him. “And he order—Kreacher to leave—without him. And he told Kreacher—to go home—and never to tell my Mistress—what he had done—but to destroy— the first locket. And he drank—all the potion—and Kreacher swapped the lockets—and watched . . . as Master Regulus . . . was dragged beneath the water. . . and . . . “

(DH, 171)

To the Dark Lord I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.

(HBP, 609)

So, there are a few things to talk about here:

1. Why did Regulus choose to betray Voldemort when he did? What changed?

As I mentioned above, I think Regulus was always empathetic, just not towards muggleborns (at least until he saw torture first-hand perhaps?), but he was towards Kreature. That worry over Kreature, that's the first big seed of doubt about Voldemort. Regulus cares a lot about Kreature and he's clearly clever. He's smart enough to realise Voldemort must think Kreature is dead so it'll be better if he didn't see Kreature, hence why he told the elf not to leave the house.

I think seeing Keature in a state after he was in the cave is what really caused the shift in how Regulus thinks about Voldemort. I think there were doubts before, I don't think Regulus was ever on board with being the one to torture and murder, he doesn't strike me like the sort, but as long as he didn't really need to partake and it was only "filthy mudbloods" he could kinda excuse it to himself. And whenever a pure-blood was killed or tortured (the first war killed more pure-bloods than muggleborns) he could excuse that too, "they were against us, after all". But then Kreature was hurt too, it was the final nail for Regulus. That's what he couldn't excuse to himself as "justified" anymore.

So Regulus continues being a Death Eater, but he is suspicious, he doesn't trust Voldemort's goals are what he always promised them, and he is uncertain about the means being justified anymore. He is unsure if he is willing to go as far as Voldemort is. So he watches, and study, and waits for his chance.

And that chance came when he found out about the Horcruxes.

After Regulus finds out about the Horcruxes Kreature describes him as "disturbed in the mind" and "strange", it's clear the something rattled him. A lot.

I think finding out Voldemort made a Horcrux pushed Regulus' betrayal to happen. Like, I think Horcruxes are very taboo magic, even among wizards who practice the dark arts. As I mentioned in the past, you need to essentially kill yourself to make a Horcrux. I think messing with your life and soul is considered perverse and twisted even for dark wizards, and Horcruxes even more so. I mean, I think it's uncomfortable to learn you swore your allegiance to someone who's willing to kill himself to gain immortality. It means that someone would stop at nothing to achieve their wishes.

And Regulus is already disenchanted with how far Voldemort is willing to go for goals he isn't even certain of anymore, and then he discovers the Horcrux. A magical item that says that as far as Voldemort went with the war, he could go further, because he is a man who'd stop at nothing, not even self-mutilation is too high a tool for him. That is frightening. Following the orders of someone like that, someone who doesn't care for you and is never going to say "maybe this is too far" is terrifying. The idea of someone like that ruling a government is even worse... no wonder Regulus turned traitor the moment he learned about the Horcrux...

So I think finding out about the Horcrux is why Regulus decided to turn on Voldemort and destroy the Horcrux.

As you can tell, his opinions on muggles or muggleborns aren't the main factor I believe changed Regulus' mind. The means, and how far Voldemort was willing to go is what mostly caused the change of heart. I think Regulus had too much heart for it, even if he thought muggles and muggleborns lesser, he took no sadistic joy in others' pain the way some Death Eaters do. And seeing pure-bloods like him could be hurt in the same way (the Order were mostly pure-bloods), I think was especially abhorrent to him.

2. Why did Regulus choose death?

Regulus chose to drink the potion because he wanted to spare Kreature. This is the same kindness and empathy that I've already discussed, but he could've ordered Kreature to take him back home, nothing stopped him from doing that... and Kreature would've, happily so. So why didn't he?

In the letter Regulus outright said he'd be dead by the time Voldemort reads it, he went into the cave with the full intention to die, he never planned to leave. Kinda like how Harry walked into the forest in Deathley Hallows... but why? Why did he choose death?

I think Regulus chose to die because he knew he wouldn't be able to hid his treachery from Voldemort. I mentioned already I believe Voldemort told his inner circle Death Eaters that Regulus turned traitor and died for it. Voldemort knowing Regulus is a traitor makes Regulus' decision to die make more sense.

The phrase "I want you to know it was I", makes me think Voldemort suspected someone had learned of his Horcruxes but didn't know who. Maybe Voldemort suspected there was a traitor who knew about the Horcruxes, and after Regulus died Voldemort investigated after the fact and figured it was Regulus that turned traitor. Maybe he even checked on the cave and saw Regulus was dead there, so he didn't bother to check on the Horcrux. I don't think he would've expected Kreature to have been there too, otherwise, he'd see no reason for Regulus to be dead. Because for Voldemort, it wouldn't make sense to allow yourself to die like that, he wouldn't really understand why anyone would choose to die if they had the choice.

So Regulus even kept the secret of the Horcrux being taken at all by his death.

Additionally, Regulus chose to die and take out the Horcrux while doing it to avoid being tortured and killed by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. By dying, he also protected his family from being hunted down to try and locate him. He died to protect himself and everyone he cared about from the treatment of Death Eater traitors. Which we know is not pleasant...

3. How did Regulus find out about the Horcruxes?

This is something I'm less sure of and is foraying into heavier speculation. The only hint we really get is: "I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret" from his letter, but what exactly does this mean?

Well, Kreature told Regulus everything he saw. He told him a locket was placed in a cave filled with magical protections. Kreature's information about the locket is probably how Regulus made/bought the replica. But how from "well protected magical item" Regulus reached the conclusion that it's a Horcrux? How did he discover the secret?

I don't know how he was discovered, as for the Horcrux, I have a guess.

Regulus said he discovered the secret, I think what he did was piecing the puzzle together not unlike Dumbledore. He knew from Kreature that Voldemort had an item he guards very securely, he might've heard from Bellatrix that Voldemort is immortal since I'm pretty confident she was told what the cup in her vault is. And I think Regulus, as a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and a clever enough dark wizard, could trace a book about Horcruxes and figure out that's likely what the locket is.

Some random headcanons

1. I think Regulus could be just as much of a little shit as Sirius. I mean, there's a certain edge to how he words his note. I like to think, that when they were young, before Hogwarts, they'd pull pranks together in balls or other stuffy functions and get in trouble together.

2. I have little to no basis for this headcanon, but I'd like to think the painting of the Black family crest and motto above Regulus' bed was painted by Rregulus. I mean, he can do nice calligraphy on the sign on his door, I see no reason he couldn't also paint.

3. And finally, to a kinda sad headcanon, Harry actually saw Regulus in the cave:

the wandlight had slid over a fresh patch of water and showed him, this time, a dead man lying faceup inches beneath the surface, his open eyes misted as though with cobwebs, his hair and his robes swirling around him like smoke.

(HBP, 565)

I assume most of the corpses are muggles, and most of them are actually described as worse for wear than the one robe-wearing wizard corpse Harry describes above. For these reasons, I believe this corpse is Regulus. It's a sad thought, but it crossed my mind when I read this passage in my recent HBP reread.

#harry potter #hp #asks #anon asks #anonymous #regulus black #hp meta #harry potter meta #regulus black meta #regulus arcturus black #r.a.b #hollowedtheory #hollowedheadcanon #hp headcanon

[marvelsage]

4.Avatar: The Way of Water

PT3 PT5

“Kiri..” said girl glanced over her shoulder, your approaching figure causes her to scoot over as you sit beside her. For a moment nothing was said between a one another, you just took a moment to gather yourself.

“When Gaia was around Tuks age, she had just begun to sneak away from her lessons as a healer. Thinking nobody would notice the clinking of her beaded bracelets.” You laugh lightly at the memories.

“After the third time I decided to just follow her and see where she goes off to. Turns out that she had bonded an abandoned Tulkun.” You felt Kiri curious gaze on you, meeting her eyes you smile softly.

“You and your siblings remind me so much of her.”

“Is that you always stand up for us? In her remembrance?”

“It is part of the reason, yes. But, to also remind those who need it that you are all just children. Getting into trouble, rebelling against the odds, and making mistakes it is a part of you growing up. You know.”

“Yeah, I just wish that I wasn’t so different. Did you know that I can no longer connect with the ancestral tree because of my seizures? It-it is like a part of me..has been stripped away.” You pull her into a hug and let her cry.

“Oh Kiri, you must remember that Eywa is all around and in us. Along with the ones before us as they watch over us be it by the tears from your eyes, in the stars in the night, in the wind on your skin. They are never too far from us, Kiri.” Pulling away to see her nod in understanding and pull you back into a tighter hug.

“You remind me so much of her too…” You figured she was speaking of her own mother that you recalled having heard of in one of the conversations you had with Neytiri.

“They are never far from us.”

The distant sound of crashing and wails cause a reaction from the depths of the ocean as you and a few of your warriors went to investigate. The sight before you all enraged something deep within you. The sky people were hunting a mother Tulkun and her calf. With quick orders, you took action and dived below the ship sending two warriors to warn off the other Tulkun. Together you and your warriors did some damage to their subs and ships with minor cuts and bruises.

“…rail her in!” Arrising on one of the rocks your heart broke as they were able to catch the mother and about to proceed with the calf. With a running start, skilled steps and breathes you heaved your spear into the middle of the main boat there, at the heart of their gadgets.

“Mahana! Nani! Take the calf!” Running along the rocks as one of the boats that had been damaged from your people struggled to hit you. Sliding down the moss into the water, quickly being handed another spear and heading back for the main boat.

With a great war cry from your throat, you leaped in front of them and stabbed the front deck causing the back half to lift. The sky people rocketed in the air and into the water some were probably being saved by their subs. Rising from you kneeled position making eye contact with a certain blue man. He charges first, sloppy, a quick sidestep and flick of your wrist the spear knocks into his back sending him into the rail. He flips around but by then you had the sharp end at his throat.

“You disgu-” A quick swipe across his face and great force slam the spear centimeters from his head.

“You are what you hate, I would not speak so boldly.” He was not yours to end, he will live for now. You back away and with a final look, you dive back into the water and gain distance from the scene.

Arriving at the agreed location with your people even form a car you could hear the wails from the babe. Swimming up beside it as they turn to you and with the soft shake of your head, they curl against the side of another elder Tulkun as you gave them the space to mourn. Signing to surface, you each take a spot on one of the small sand bays conflicted. You let them have their moment as well as a few sniffles were heard and tune everything out.

“What do we do?” It was Mahana who had asked the question breaking the ice. You continued to stare into the water taking deep breathes to not cry but also to retain your burning rage. Collecting yourself before spinning to the group and looking to each on of them.

“…Make sure the Tulkun get far away.” Heading in the direction of the metkayina tribe, motioning for Mahana and Nani to follow.

“Yes, Olo’eykte Y/n” Being the last you hear from them before submerging into the water.

@zatarias-pandora @lovelyspecs @laylasbunbunny @ladylovegood-69 @atwerkingbee @bunnysimp08 @lilithizhere

#avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #avatar fanfiction #avatar x you #jake sully #neytiri #tonowari #ronal #x reader #avatar #aonung #neteyam #kiri #loak #tumblr fyp

[neverchecking]

The Chain as AOT (And ASOT) People

As decided by me. And @lilac-and-daydreams and @angry-trashcan.

・❥・So, this all started because they were making fun of my taste in men and the pattern of it (Link, Vash, Knives, Armin, Hawks, Gordon Ramsey-)

・❥・Just let me set that straight.

・❥・ Ganon is Zeke.

・❥・Legend is Levi. Short, short tempered, good at everything. It just seemed to fit.

・❥・Time, is this might seem controversial, is Erwin. The man in charge, at first, and has bad eyebrows, knows things he won't tell the others. Plus, c'mon. They're practically the same person.

・❥・Hange is four. Both are wicked smart and a little unhinged. Maybe not like season 1/2 hange but DEFINATELY commander Hange.

・❥・And then we had two directions. Option A) Was Wild was Eren and Mikasa was Cal (Quiet, calculative, good at fighting bc lore accurate AOC Link is CRAZY) or Option B) was Wild was still Eren and Twilight was Mikasa (Protective, follows like a dog).

・❥・It will surprise no one that we threw out the idea that Wild was Eren. BUT Twilight was decided to be Mikasa. Again, super protective, dangerous, good on their own.

・❥・Anyway-

・❥・Wild is Connie.

・❥・Thats where we threw him. And I KNOW someone will be like? What about Sasha? He could be Sasha? IM GETTING THERE-

・❥・Bc Wild's personality is more than food, just like Sasha's and his personality is closer to Connie's than Sasha's. >:(

・❥・Plus Wild never knew his mom so I could make the "His mom is a titan" Joke.

・❥・Sage we thought at first would be Armin. He's Armin coded in the least. Manipulative, gaslighty, you know, the finer things in life.

・❥・But in the end Bailey was like "What if he was Eren?" And yk what? They were so right for that.

・❥・The lost in translation, blurred between good and bad, because, like Bailey said, Sage is the perfect Antihero/antivillain. Because he's self-driven. He's looking out for himself. He knows what he wants and how he wants it done.

・❥・And SPOILERS

・❥・ To be taken out by the only person who tried to help him? Divine.

・❥・END SPOILERS BTW

・❥・Now, you guys are probably like What about Armin? Who's Armin if it's not Sage?

・❥・It's Sky.

・❥・Sky, whom looks so sweet and innocent and will cry to get what he wants. Sky, who knows what words are need to make what things happen. Sky who's willing to step on those under him all the way to the top.

・❥・Sky is Armin.

・❥・We joked that Wars would be Jean for a while, but then we scrapped that idea and decided that Hyrule would be better funnier as Jean. The vibes man. The VIBES.

・❥・@fanfic-fairy-fountain said Cal could also be Armin. Which I also agree with.

・❥・As Lilac said it's the underlying manic pixie girl energy.

・❥・We knew Wars was gonna be a Yeagerist-- which Ironic we know bc he hates traitors, but also it just fit too well otherwise.

・❥・ BUT THEN-

・❥・Wars as Reiner, and then WIND as either Birth control or Annie. Because Wind follows Wars and when he...disappears, it'll destroy Wars.

・❥・Plus Wind as Bertllala and then getting along with Hyrule/Jean only to then get sniped? MMM.

・❥・Cal is Sasha. Both eat questionable things. 'nough said.

・❥・FIERCE. He's the OG titan. Iykyk you know?

・❥・Wild is a slap on titan Armin thank you. But just for this-

"Who's that babe you're with?"

"Wild? And their not a girl."

"Hey there Wildmina, you wanna take a bath later?"

"....Can I bring an industrial strength lightning rod?"

・❥・I love it sm <3

・❥・Anyway those were our thoughts. Tell us what you think or don't. I can't control what you do /lh

・❥・ I WAS DOING TAGS AND OMG

・❥・SAGE IS A SLAP ON TITAN LEVI

・❥・"Don't cry Natura...You're so ugly when you cry."

・❥・Natura would be petra in a slap on titan

・❥・I AM CRACKING MYSELF UP WITH THIS SHIT-

Sage: Kid, what the fuck was I to you? Batman?

Wild: YES.

Sage: Huauubh?!

Wild: NO.

・❥・

Sage: And wild child, just so you know-

Wild: Yeah?

Sage: I'm Batman.

Wild: OH MY GOD I HATE THAT MAN.

・❥・

Wild: Admiral Casual? Your nickname is Admiral Casual?

Sage: Look, Wild, I'm just going by reality.

Sage: That's why your nickname is baby dick.

・❥・

Sage: Listen, buttercup, Ima need you to tone it down several notches. You're at an eleven right now, I need you at about a four.

Sage: You have no idea the hangover I'm fighting right now.

・❥・

Time: Here's the truth.

Time: Most of you are going to die.

Time, pointing to each villager: Dead, dead, you are DEFINITELY Dead, you're cute so maybe you'll live, dead, dead. By the golden three I don't even wanna know whats gonna happen to you.

Time: Who knows how you'll pass? *Proceeds to describe several very graphic ways of dying*

Time: Literally all we do is die.

・❥・

Time: I used to have a job crushing cans.

Time: It was Soda-pressing.

・❥・

Hyrule: A black flare? We never went over this? Either everyone's dead or-

Hyrule: ...Or Voldemort's returned.

・❥・

Hyrule: This is why Wild always told you to mix it right or the hallucinations start kicking in!

・❥・

Titan: You again? Really?

Hyrule: Yes.

Hyrule: Come to me. My Waifu.

・❥・

Sage: Look, Wild, sometimes you gotta run. I've been running from people all my life.

Sage: The military police, debt collectors,

Sage: Some bitch I know named Hylia.

Wild: Do you even have a plan?!

Sage: Of course I have a plan! I always have a plan for everything.

Natura: OH MY GOD HE'S BLUFFING- HE'S BLUFFING, thats what he says when he doesn't have a plan!

Sage: HEY- HORSEFACE-

・❥・

Natura: Im sleeping with WILD.

Sage: WILDCHILD? That swagless BEAST?

・❥・

Wild: So this is what you do?

Wild: Drop tail and run away? Like a little BITCH?!

Sage: Wild, you're only saying that because I can't reach back there and pimp slap the shit out of you.

・❥・

Sage: I DO NOT care. What I do care about is that basement.

Sage: Through heaven and hell, fire or rain, we are getting to that basement.

Sage: And I am wearing your dead mother's panties ON MY HEAD.

Literally all of Episode 18 is SO THEM.

#cinder rambles #linked universe #linkeduniverse #legend of zelda #attack on titan #imagine #Sage is a slap on titan levi

[charmixpower]

The boys, from best to worst decision making skills:

Timmy: Has good decision making skills, actually uses them, and convinces other people to make a good decision. Bless your heart and soul Timmy, your the only thing keeping all these idiots alive

Brandon: Brandon had the highest emotional intelligence of all the guys, he's just smart, and knows how to learn from situations. This boy probably could make the best decisions in the group. He doesn't though. Something about watching the people below him do things that are absolutely bad shit insane brings him delight in a way he can't explain. Will stop them from making truly bad decisions, but will always enable harmless stupidity. No exceptions. He actively choses to be in the number two spot and Timmy is exhausted

Helia: Can make good decisions, actively chooses not to. Are you tired of being nice? Don't you just wanna go ape shit? Helia is and does. Has enough braincells to stop a lot of the idiocy going around him, but much like Brandon often thinks it's too funny to do much of anything about it. Unlike Brandon however he tends to partake in it himself

Nabu: This idiot, this idiot. People think he's smart, because he is, he's very book smart. This accidentally confuses everyone around him into think he has good decision making skills. He does not Nabu, baby, sweet heart, love of Aisha's life. What the fuck man. Genuinely. What the fuck were you thinking in s3?? Unlike when Sky did it, I honestly believe that Nabu was completely oblivious to how fucking weird he was being. Like he just didn't know until someone told him. He's a little stupid, a lot stupid. I blame this on his upbringing. He was so sheltered he wouldn't know a good decision if it punched him in the face, simply because he's never had to use those skills on a large scale before. Someone please help him. Also enables the idiocy of the two below him

Sky/Riven: Neither of these two should be left in charge of anything and it shows. Why the fuck the show thought it was a good idea to put Sky in charge of the specialists I will never understand. Neither of these fuckers have made a good decision in their entire lives and need to be stopped. At least one, usually two, major conflicts each season could be avoided if either of these idiots had two brain cells to rub together. This gets infinitely worse when they're together, feeding off of eachother's bullshit, and making eachother worse merely by proximity. The only reason Sky ended up as squad leader is bc his parents paid for it. Most of the conflict in s1 could of been avoided if someone just smacked both of them. The reason they're ranked the same is because Riven (ignoring how how post s3 his character arc is reset every fucking season) starts learning how to make good decisions at the end of s1, and Sky does the same at the end of s2, and they kinda go back and forth with who's making the current worst decision. Like Riven had to be manipulated into a relationship by Darcy, with mind control on top, to competely and utterly fuck up in s1. Sky did that shit on his own. Idk what to tell you, they're both dumb as fuck

#winx club #winx timmy #winx brandon #winx helia #winx nabu #winx sky #winx riven #rus chatters #winx headcanons #winx club headcanons

[writtenonreceipts]

This is the chapter that kinda started it all, especially the flashback. I’m trying to make things move faster than they want to.  I think I’m just resigned to be that fic writer who never finishes anything.  Sorry you have to deal with me…

Find the Masterlist Here // Ao3 Link

Warnings: These apply to the flashback portion at the end of the chapter: language (nothing major, just more than I typically like using), war, blood, injury, minor character death, if you’re iffy/worried dm me or send an ask and I can summarize details if you’d like.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Where We've Been, Where We're Going--Part Eight  

The next few days continued in an easy rhythm.  

Rowan didn’t know what surprised him more--that he adapted so easily to the various tasks he had on hand or that he and Aelin had entered into a cautious friendship.

Though, to be frank, cautious was putting it lightly.  It was a situation he’d never found himself in before and he wasn’t sure how to proceed.  He made sure he wasn’t in the house when Aelin wasn’t and tried to stay out even when she was home, only returning when he had to or she sent him a message about an extra pizza slice in the fridge for him.  But he didn’t want to intrude.  Or he really just didn’t want to run the risk of letting something slip or proving just how incapable he was at being around other people.  

Keeping busy helped.  

Unfortunately, he didn’t sleep any better which was more of a pain than he’d let anyone know.    During the day he could distract himself with various tasks of making sure fence posts were even or he did a decent job installing windows.  At night, alone and in the silence, was when his mind would wander most.  It was here in the quiet confines of his mind that his memories came out from the shadows.

 For now, it was easy enough to keep to himself.  When he got too restless at night he’d go out and sit in the bed of the truck and stare out at the night sky.  More often than not, it was cloudless and he could watch the stars.  It was much as he did in Kovac only with different constellations.  

The only thing that really bothered him was ignoring the various texts and calls now that he was letting his phone remain charged up.  He’d only done it to keep Aelin appraised of his watching Meiri that one night.  And then, for some reason, he left the damn thing on and charged ever since.  

Aelin only sent him a few messages during the day.  Mostly simple reminders to eat something.  And then a few updates on Emrys as well.  Rowan didn’t tell Aelin he’d given Malakai his number already.  He didn’t want to run the risk of her not messaging as often as she did.

Which he realized made him a miserable ass, but he already knew that.

By the time two full weeks had passed since his arrival, Rowan had become a recognizable figure in Terrasen.  People actually knew his name and would greet him on the street or at the store.  Some would hire him out for odd jobs in their yards, even Sartaq let Rowan swing by to fix up a few other cars on occasion.

He was still helping get the motel up and running of course.  Emrys was still in rehab after some tests came back a little less optimistic than what the doctors preferred.  So, Rowan kept up his usual ritual of odd job help in the morning and hammering away at the motel until well into the night.

The routine was more helpful than he’d ever admit.

It almost made it easier to bear the memories.

Until his phone kept buzzing.  There was only one consistent number that reached out to him and after a while, Rowan wondered if he should just save the new contact.

Which was probably why he was currently distracting himself at Sartaq’s garage.

It was a late Friday afternoon with the usual summer heat and bright sunlight banking through the open doors.  Rowan was staring down into a nearly obliterated radiator and hose tear wondering just how poorly this car had been treated in the past when Sartaq finally broached a topic he’d much rather had avoided.

They’d both served in Kovac, Sartaq for such a short time and Rowan had been busy in sniper training that they’d never met.  Sartaq also hadn’t been in a position that could also lead him to potential harm.  Family strings and all.  Rowan didn’t begrudge the man for that--as far as he could tell, Sartaq would have been in the front lines even now if his family would allow it.  Instead, to keep him from getting himself killed, his wealthy parents let him land in Terrasen fixing up old cars.  Rowan had the feeling his new friend resented his family quite a bit even if he liked the work he was doing.

“Did you ever go to Orynth?” Sartaq asked.  He leaned over another car that had been brought over doing a general assessment on what would just be a break-check and oil change.

Rowan paused to wipe his hands on a grease rag, not really wanting to talk about the war.  But he figured Sartaq would be a decent enough guy to back off if Rowan started showing any signs of disinterest in the topic.

“No, but I heard it was rough,” he said. “One of my mates was reassigned there for a few weeks out of punishment.”

Lorcan never did say why Maeve made him go, just that he’d learned his lesson on the matter.  He did, however, share that they could all consider themselves lucky for not going.  Lorcan had always been that way: never sharing anything, never revealing anything, never opening up with vulnerability.

“Nesryn was stationed there for ages,” Sartaq said.  He often referred to his friend as though Rowan knew her himself.  As it was, she was a constant staple of conversation in the garage.  “Always said it was the worst place to be.”

“Isn’t she the one that would whip out a bow and arrow instead of actually using a gun in training?” Rowan asked.  In all honesty, he was desperate to have some sort of a good connection to his memories of Kovac instead of the blood and violence and misery.  So why not play into this conversation just a little?

Sartaq chuckled. “Yeah, probably.  She was only a translator so she never liked using a gun, but the locals had bows and arrows to use when their resources were so shitty.  So she’d entertain the kids when their parents were dying or after a raid when the Valg gangs would wreak havoc.  She was good like that.”

Rowan remembered her.  He’d never actually met her, only saw brief snippets of her or heard other soldiers talk about how she’d take no shit or stupid orders.  The one real memory he had occured after that damn raid that sent the rest of his military career into hell.  

He’d been kicked out of a debriefing and instead was trying to clean his rifle when this woman waltz through camp with a bow and arrow.  She had a bag full of candy and water on one shoulder and a beautiful handcrafted weapon on the other.  Kids tentatively approached while she put on a small show of all the odd places she could land and arrow from all sorts of strange positions.

It was the first time in a long time he’d seen the kids of the village smile.

“Yeah, Maeve got pissed at her for it too,” Rowan said.  He loosened a bolt on one of the spring clamps that needed to be replaced.  “Said she was being too distracting.  But Nesryn just shot an apple straight from a kid's hand.  Didn’t even look.”

With a fond shake of his head, Sartaq didn’t say anything for a minute. “You were under Maeve’s command?”

And just like that, Rowan felt an icy dread pool in his gut.

“Yeah.”

“I heard about her and that prick Hammel.”

Static started buzzing in Rowan’s ears.  He crossed to where there were some extra bolts and equipment waiting to be used.  Tacky sweat gathered on his skin and he wondered if he could get along with disinterested grunts the rest of the day.

“They were always so elitist, yeah?  Really careful about who they let on their squad.”

Sartaq didn’t notice Rowan’s dilemma in the slightest.  Which was supposedly a good thing.  If he didn’t notice then he wouldn’t ask about it.  

“How’d you manage to be a part of that little cadre?”

“I was a sniper,” Rowan said.  He took his time picking out a new bolt, clamp, and radiator hose that would fit the car’s needs he was working on. “Had the best marks, I guess.”

“Strange she’d let you go after getting her claws in you.”

“Proof we don’t always get what we want,” Rowan said, lightly.  He added a laugh, strained though it was.  

So, Sartaq didn’t know about that last mission.  Not surprising considering how long he’d been out, but still.  Rowan was grateful he didn’t have to talk about it.  He could manage a passing tale about Talbot if he needed.  But that last raid?  The one where he’d screwed up enough to be stripped of his previous honors?  To be dishonorably discharged?  That one he’d take with him to his grave.

…

It was late the next day when Rowan got a call he actually wanted to pick up.

He was back at the motel trying to figure out how to reach one of the window ledges that had not been planned out very well when his phone buzzed.  The only reason he knew who it was was because Aelin stood and watched as he saved the number.

MALAKAI steamed across the screen in bold letters.

For a moment, Rowan worried if it was bad news.  He wasn’t sure he could handle a messy phone call.  But then he managed to convince himself that Malakai certainly wouldn’t try calling him if it were bad news about Emrys.  He’d be too focused on Aelin and his son. So, Rowan picked up the call.

“Malakai,” he greeted.

“Rowan, glad you have caught you,” Malakai said.  The unspoken I didn’t know if you’d actually answer was particularly loud in the brief silence that followed. “I wanted to let you know that Emrys’ numbers improved and he’s being discharged tomorrow.”

It was a strange thing to feel joy.  Especially when it had been so long since the last time you felt it.  So when his heart skipped and all the tension eased from his body, Rowan had no idea how to respond.

“That’s,” he finally managed, “that’s good to hear.”

“I tried calling Aelin, but I know she’s on shift,” Malakai said. “I know it would mean a lot to her if she knew sooner rather than later.  Would you mind going--”

“I can do that,” Rowan cut in.  Hell, there was nothing he’d want to do more. “I’ll head over there now, I was just finishing up one of the windows at the motel.”

There was a beat. “You were doing what now?”

Ah.  He’d forgotten he hadn’t actually told Malakai what he’d been doing the last two weeks.  Everyone just assumed he had and Rowan went along with it.

“I gotta go.”  Rowan hung up.  He didn’t really like talking to people anyways.

He made quick work of packing up and ensuring the motel was locked.  The ladder went around the far corner of the motel near the alleyway.  Despite some rambunctious teens and the usual problematic people in a small town, nothing was really in danger of getting stolen.  Plus, Rowan would see to it personally if anything was taken from Malakai and Emrys.

He closed up his tool box and settled it in the bed of his truck before driving the short few blocks to the diner.

The parking lot was nearly empty aside from Nox’s car around back.  Aelin usually walked to work whenever she could.  Only a dark truck was in the lot and Rowan recognized that as Mr. Aguayo’s.  He always swung by to purchase an order of steak and gravy for his pregnant wife.

Rowan parked near the back of the lot, not minding an extra walk.  It was still warm even as the summer days slowly drifted closer to fall.  From what he’d heard, it wasn’t until October that the weather drifted below seventy degrees.  And then usually the first snow came in November.  It’d been ages since Rowan had experienced snow and he wondered what it would be like…

Though, he’d be leaving soon enough so it didn’t really matter.

Mr. Aguayo was leaving just as Rowan walked up to the door.  They exchanged a quick greeting--Rowan really didn’t know the man very well aside from his small landscaping business.  And Mrs. Aguayo loved her steak cooked at a medium rare.  And she often craved Funyuns too.

Once inside the diner, Rowan almost felt like home.  The 50’s aesthetic was just as garish as the first day he’d been in there.  The red booths and checked floor looked a bit tired, but clean.  

“Welcome in! Oh, Rowan.” Aelin rounded the corner from the back of the restaurant, dressed in her usual shorts, t-shirt, and an apron that had seen better days.  Her blonde hair was in a long braid over one shoulder, frayed edges poking out after a day of running between tables. “You here to eat?”

“Have you checked your phone recently?” he asked instead, though he knew that if she’d seen any messages from Malakai she would have already heard the news and would have been telling him all about it.

She frowned, scrambling for the pockets of her apron. “What happened?  Is it Marion?”

“Wh-No, no,” Rowan said.  He wondered briefly why her mind went straight to Marion, but he hurried to cross the space between them to reassure her.  He rested a hand on her arm before he thought better of it. “It’s good news, I promise.”

She stared at him with wide, blue eyes.  There was apprehension there, but trust too.  It had been so long since anyone had looked at him like that, trusting and open, that Rowan found himself speechless.

“Emrys is being released from the hospital tomorrow.”  He didn’t want her hanging on anymore of his words waiting for bad news. “Malakai just called me.”

Aelin released a shaky breath before she laughed.  And then, in a turn of events that Rowan had not expected, she threw her arms around him in a hug.

The first thing Rowan noticed was the fact that Aelin smelled like jasmine and honey.  The second was her soft curves and vice like grip.  And then he thought about how long it had been since someone had hugged him.

No one on his squad cared for anything other than the roughhousing or smacks upside the head.  He hadn’t seen either of his cousins since before he enlisted and even then, the Whitethorn’s weren’t touchy-feely.  And that was it.  That was everyone he knew that he would even consider hugging.  And here was Aelin who had been through hell and back hugging him as though they were friends as though she actually liked him.

And he had no idea what to do.

Oh he knew the mechanics of a hug and how not to be a complete robot in his emotions.  Somewhat.  But this was Aelin.  Who in just a few short weeks had come to actually mean something to him even if he didn’t know how to define it.  And he was Rowan who had only ever been a complete and utter screw-up.  In everything.

“Sorry,” Aelin said, pulling back while Rowan just stood there. Her cheeks were flushed with a mix of embarrassment and residual excitement. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.  I wasn’t thinking.”

Rowan cleared his throat, nose still tingling with the scent of her. “It’s fine.  It’s good news.”

“Yeah, it is,” she agreed.  She was still smiling but it was jaded now after he’d gone and made things awkward by not hugging her back. She brushed an errant hair from her eyes and didn’t meet his eyes. “Really good news.  I know they’re both ready for him to be home.  And Luca will be so excited too.  He’s been a mess since it happened.”

“It’ll be good for him to come home,” Rowan said.  This was the type of news everyone deserved to receive.  The type of news Rowan wished he could have given more than he did.

“Emrys always had that way about him of just making a place home, you know?  And giving me so much patience when I didn’t deserve it.”  Aelin exhaled slowly before looking at him. “Thank-you for coming to tell me.”

“I was glad to,” he said.  Really, it was the best change of pace from having to acknowledge another death.  And if it meant seeing her smile like that and have a bit of joy in her life?  Rowan would do anything for her to keep smiling, he decided.

“I’ve been a mess all week with his new tests going through,” Aelin said as she finished pulling her phone out of her apron pocket. “And Meiri is not enjoying daycare this summer, plus Marion--”

She waved a hand in dismissal and pulled up Malakai’s number on her screen.  Rowan should have left then, a part of him was screaming too.  She still had an hour on her shift, he’d told her what he wanted to, and there was still daylight left to try and finish another window at the motel.  And if not that, Murtaugh at the hardware store donated paint to help give the motel a new look.  Rowan could start in on that.  And yet, he stayed.

“Malakai,” Aelin said when the other line picked up. “Yeah, no, Rowan just told me.  He’s coming home tomorrow?...Good, that’s so good to hear…I’ll make sure Chaol brings Luca home…You too.”

She hung up, a small smile still on her lips.

“We’re going to have a welcome home party,” she announced.  She nodded firmly to assert her words more fully. “With chocolate cake.”

There was nothing that sounded more like Aelin than chocolate cake and parties.  Rowan could easily imagine that Aelin would put an overwhelming amount of detail and care into such a venture.  For the first time in knowing her, she actually looked happy and at peace.  Which, from what Rowan had gathered about her, was a miracle in itself.

“You’re going to come, right?” Aelin asked.

Rowan hesitated.  As of late, he’d never been one for social gatherings.  Especially not with so many people he didn’t know.  Sure the last few weeks he’d gotten to know many of the people in town.  But it wasn’t the same.  Not when the second the motel was finished he’d be gone and in California.

Crowds especially had been difficult and he’d avoided them ever since coming back home.  Most of the time he knew what his triggers were and how to avoid them.  Being in a crowded room could easily overwhelm him.

“I--” Rowan was blissfully cut off when the door of the diner opened and Chaol walked in.

The sheriff was only partially dressed in his uniform--the tan pants that most law officers wore looked a little worse for wear as they were stained with dirt, grass, and dark splotches that were almost certainly blood.  Instead of the usual brown button-up, he wore a plain white t-shirt that was a mess of dirt and dried blood.

“What happened to you?” Aelin asked when she took Chaol in.  

“Bad day,” Chaol said.  He scowled and ran a hand through his short hair.  “Told Luca I’d pick up food.”

It looked decidedly worse than a bad day but Rowan had a feeling Aelin was already gearing up to chew Chaol out.

“You have blood on your shirt,” she said, resting her hands on her hips.  She fixed Chaol with a glare that rivaled even the worst that Rowan had received.

Chaol returned the deadpanned stare. “It’s fine.”

Rolling her eyes, Aelin turned to head back to the kitchen. “There’s a few extra sandwiches in the back, give me a minute and I’ll do up some fries.”

“Thank’s Aelin,” Chaol called after her.  She waved a hand overhead to acknowledge she’d heard.

It was only when she was gone that Chaol sighed and ran a hand over his face.  He eyed Rowan for a moment before speaking up.

“It was an accident involving a kid,” Chaol admitted lightly. “Ten-years old.  Nothing anyone could have done.  And you know she wouldn’t take that easily.”

It was the simplest explanation he could have given, but Rowan could already paint an exact picture of what had happened.  Especially with how run down Chaol appeared now.  Rowan wondered why Chaol would take it on himself to use a filter around Aelin, especially considering her no nonsense attitude and strong will to simply survive.  Though, he’d try not to judge the sheriff too harshly for his choice.

He’d lived through his fair share of accidents. Accidents where no matter what anyone did it just wasn’t enough.

Rowan knew exactly what that was like.

“I’m sorry,” he said honestly.  

He thought, briefly, about spoiling the news of Emrys’ hospital release, but decided that would best be left for Aelin to reveal.  Besides, he needed to leave.  He didn’t know where he needed to be just anywhere but here.

Instead, Rowan offered a single nod and headed back out of the diner.  “Have a good night.”

Chaol frowned in confusion, gesturing to the kitchen doorway where Aelin had gone. “Do you want--”

But Rowan was already gone, lost to the heat of the night and the memories of his past.

…

There was a man dying next to him.

Rowan didn’t know him.  Rowan didn’t want to know him.

All he knew was that just moments before this man had been trying to kill him.  And he knew that now, amid the darkening shadows of the night, he was trying to say one final round of prayers.  And he knew that the blood seeping into the dusty ground was innocent.  Innocent.  Innocent because what right did Rowan have to kill this man?  Because of a raid that might not amount to anything?  Because of a war that had been drawn on so long that violence had become the only answer for any question asked.

The man’s final breath rattled wetly.

Forcing the man from his mind, Rowan pulled his knife from the man's gut and returned to his rifle.  He had to wipe the blood from his fingers first, but that couldn’t be avoided.  He slowly wrapped his fingers around the grips and rested his finger on the trigger.  When a soft breeze blew, the wet blood caused a chill to snatch across his skin.

Through his sights he could see the streets of the village they were about to raid.  Maeve was insistent the Valg gang that had been terrorizing this side of the city would be moving weapons tonight.  Rowan didn’t know where exactly the intel had come from, only that it was from a reliable source.  He supposed the dead man beside him was evidence enough.

Hammel had barely developed a plan besides watching the trucks that rolled in and out of the city.  Even though it had been one week since his arrival, the new co-captain hardly seemed interested in doing his job.

“White Hawk?” Gavriel’s voice came over on the coms. “I saw signs of a struggle.  You good?”

Rowan clicked his com in acknowledgement.

“Where’s Talbot?” Gavriel demanded. “Shouldn’t he have your back?”

“Taking care of a few spooks, sir,” came Talbot’s quiet reply, “circling back now.”

Rowan hadn’t been concerned over the kid making sure they wouldn’t have any more surprises.  While Talbot was a little younger than him, he was eager and a hard worker.  Smart too.  He would trust him with his life and not just because he had to.

“All clear at the North and East entrances,” Rowan murmured in his coms.

At his words he watched as Hernandez led a group of her soldiers through the street to the building in question.  Rowan had seen at least three targets circle back to the building over the course of the night, each either carrying something or pushing a cart.  The thing was, this area was family dense.  Someone could simply be transporting food or extra blankets or wanting to move in the dark without being seen.  

Then why had the man beside him tried to attack him?

Rowan watched and listened as Hammel ordered the entrance.  Half of the squad took the front and Gavriel led the others through the back.  It would play out like it always did: orders to stand down, not to move, don’t resist, watch the west side.

It was how it should have gone.

“Front’s still clear,” Rowan said into his coms, “Redline, what’s your status?”

Talbot remained silent.

“Redline?” Rowan repeated.  He switched to the mainline for the rest of the squad just in case the network was fritzing. “Talbot, check in.”

There was a flicker to the north side of the building the squad was raiding.  Rowan turned his scope in that direction and adjusted his sights.

“Lionheart we’ve got a bogie to the north, Redline is unresponsive.”

“Roger that,” Gavriel responded. “Keep your eyes open, White Hawk.”

Rowan tried to ignore the feeling in his gut that grew with every passing second.  Something was wrong.  He didn’t know what it was, but it was damn near palpable.  Talbot never went radio silent.  Not like this.  Hell, he had to remind the kid to stop talking when they were on stakeouts.  But Talbot was still responsible.  He knew his duties and he did them well.  

For one, brief moment, Rowan considered leaving his post and looking for the kid.  But with Maeve and Hammel watching, he knew he couldn’t.  All he could do was hope the kid showed up. Maybe his radio disconnected and he just hadn’t noticed.  Or he didn’t charge it properly before the mission.  It had happened once before.  Or--

“White Hawk?” Talbot’s quiet voice crackled through Rowan’s radio.

Thank the fates. “Where the hell have you been, kid?  I’ve been--”

“Found something,” Talbot cut in.  His voice was still distorted with a bad connection, static fizzing and popping horribly. “Had to make sure,” a loud pop of static, “something’s wrong, can’t reach Lionheart.”

“Repeat that, Redline, you’re breaking up,” Rowan said.  He kept his sights trained on where he’d seen the flicker of movement, knowing Gavriel was keeping tabs on the other side of the homestead they were raiding.  As far as Rowan could tell there was just a flickering curtain he’d already cleared.  And a flash of silver but given this part of the village that shouldn’t be a concern.  He’d noticed something similar, but it flicked so irregularly that he decided it was nothing important.  Morse code wasn’t universal, but Rowan knew most codes various countries used and there was no discernible pattern that he could note.

“Rowan,” Talbot’s voice finally rang clear and strong. 

“Talbot--Danny,” Rowan sighed, relieved. “What happened?”

“Think I was spotted,” Talbot said, “I came back around to see where the bogie came from.  Saw something weird.  Rowan, we gotta pull out.”

“Hold on kid.”  Rowan did a sweep of the surrounding area but didn’t see anything.  “Where are you?”

“North.  There’s a few Kovac soldiers dragging boxes around,” Talbot said as the static returned. “Rowan…I think they’re smugglers not--”

Talbot was cut off by something crashing on his end followed by a shout in another language.

“Talbot?” Rowan shifted, drawing one hand to his commlink and pressing it into his ear, as if that would help with the connection. When no response came Rowan switched frequencies. “Lionheart, we’ve got a situation.  I think Redline found trouble.”

There was a pause and a round of muffled voices before Gavriel responded.

“Copy,” Gavriel finally replied. “We’ve got it under control here, I’ll send Fenrys--”

“There’s no time,” Rowan said, nerves spiking despite how hard he was working to control himself.

Rowan was up and moving before the captain finished speaking.  He made sure to stay low and keep his position as uncompromised as possible.  The hot air whipped around him digging sand between his skin and the straps of his goggles.  Sweat trickled down his back as he moved.  Even at night the heat was unbearable.  

The discomfort all but faded from Rowan’s mind as he ran down the dusty trail than wound down from his snipers nest.  Underbrush crunched beneath his feet and sand picked up in thick plumes.  Rowan hardly noticed.  In a matter of minutes he was down from the bluffs and in the near empty streets.  He hardly noticed the weight of his rifle in his hands as he ducked behind the wall of a small home.  There was nothing to indicate any potential danger.  

He slipped around the corner keeping his gun ready and eyes open.  Nothing.  Nothing but the wind picking up and the sound of scattering debris.

“Whitethorn, what are you doing?” Gavriel demanded through the comms.

Rowan ignored him as he sprinted down the road to the building he last saw Talbot clear.  He was closing in by the yards, slipping behind doorways or abandoned carts when he thought he saw something.  He didn’t dare try and contact Talbot in case his radio crackled, giving him away.

On cat's feet, Rowan darted the last stretch of road to where he’d last clocked Talbot.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary--no extra footsteps, no strange sights.  All there was, was the faint, sweet scent of almonds.  But then it dissipated.  

Rowan was about to risk radioing Talbot just to see if he saw anything, or if he’d changed location when the first shot rang out.

The singular pop echoed through the otherwise silent night.

And Rowan felt his heart seize.

Time passed too slow as he dropped all pretense of stealth.  Another gunshot rang out as Rowan pushed himself harder through the streets.  He threw open the door of the house Talbot was checking.  Through his radio he heard Hammel and Gavriel both yelling at him.  The first to stand down the second to report.

Rowan focused only on his steps, his breathing, the tight turn around a corner and the body he found slumped against the wall.

Blood smeared in an aftershadow against the dark wood and already began trickling down in a slow, slow pull.

“Man down,” Rowan said into his radio, “medic needed.”

His voice was strangely calm as he said the words.  

His body too as he dropped down beside Talbot.  Already there was a pool of blood forming beneath the other man.  How, with all the layers Talbot was wearing, was that possible?  Rowan wouldn���t let himself think of the implications.

“Talbot,” he said, pressing his hands over the first entry wound he saw, hot blood wrapped around his fingers. “Talbot, look at me!”

With a groan and a cough, Talbot’s eyes fluttered open. “What’re y’doing, Whitethorn?”

“Applying pressure, you idiot,” Rowan said. “You’re gonna be fine, alrigh’?”

Talbot tried to laugh and Rowan pretended it wasn’t blood pooling at the corners of his mouth.

“Two gunshot wounds, gut ‘nd chest.  I’m not…I’m not--”

“Shut up,” Rowan growled, “I said you’re gonna be fine.”

His radio was going off with demands for answers, the eta of a medic, the call for a pull back.  Rowan ignored it all.  He should have been able to respond to some of the calls, should have multi-tasked, but all he could do was apply pressure to the wounds hemorrhaging blood and the way Talbot’s face quickly became ashen.

“Just talk to me, alright, kid?” he said. “What happened? We had the clear.”

Talbot’s head lolled to the side, eyes bleary as he tried to focus. “I saw him.”

“Who?  Who’d you see?”  Where was the medic?

“Thought my mind was playing tricks on me, he shouldn’t be here,” Talbot continued.  He weakly raised a hand to latch on to Rowan’s wrist. “Rowan--”

He had no idea what Talbot was going on about.  The slur of his words, the confusion--none of it was good.  Rowan pressed harder on the wounds, blood hot even as the beat of Talbot’s heart stuttered.

“We’re gonna get you fixed up,” Rowan said, “then you're gonna go home and see your mom, alright?  I’ll come visit, you can show me all there is to see.  Like that county fair, yeah?”

“It ain’t shit,” Talbot laughed, falling into a wet cough. Rowan held him down. “You should go to the mountains.  The mountains--”

Rowan’s radio crackled.  Medic on route.  They should have already been here.

“You gotta do something for me Rowan,” Talbot said, his voice growing too weak. “You gotta tell my family--”

“Tell them yourself.”

“Tell them, I’m so-sorry.”

Rowan stared down at his friend.  Slowly, the rest of the world came back.  The too hot air and metallic tang of blood.  The shouts in the distance.  The decrepit creak of wood where they sat.  There was noise and chaos in a world that just kept moving and Rowan…and Rowan…

“It’s gonna be fine,” Talbot whispered.

And then he was gone.

And Rowan had blood on his hands.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

tags still aren't working for me so if you'd reblog for more people to see this update, I'd really appreciate it. as always, i'm so grateful for ya'll <3

#rowaelin #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #throne of glass #tog #throne of glass fanfiction #fanfic #fic #where weve been where were going #wwb wwg

[dailyhelldorm]

[TL][Eichi Feature Scout] Compass in the Heavenly Sky/Chapter 1

Scenario Writer: Yuumasu Character: Eichi, Wataru, Tori, Yuzuru, Hokuto, Subaru, Makoto, Mao, Tatsumi, Hiyori, Hajime, Ritsu Season: Winter

Summary: Because of the continuous postponements, Eichi's turn to have his Exclusive Outfit comes quite late. While pondering his costume design choice, he goes out for a walk to have a change of pace...

Directory: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

[Part 1 ♪]

Location: Meeting Room

Eichi: Even though we are busily preparing for the special 'SS' on New Year,

But I am delighted that none of our 'FLAVOR' members failed to attend our activities like this.

Hiyori: When I hear this will be our last meeting for the year, there is no way I will decline this occasion. It will be boring if the main character isn’t here, isn't that right ♪

Ritsu: That's right. Along with all the delicious desserts from your own private patissier too.

Being together with someone who enjoys idle chit-chatting and having a back-and-forth conversation is pleasant~

Hajime: Fufu. The five of us can come together like this, it is truly a nice thing... ♪

Lately, every meeting always has someone who can’t attend. I understand that it can't be helped, but looking at the empty spot makes me feel a little heavyhearted.

Tatsumi: You are right. The five of us make 'FLAVOR'.

Next year will be busy as well, so I would like us to have the time and spend together like this.

Eichi: Of course, that’s my intention. If not, my mind and body will start yearning for it.

Even superman needs a break too.

... As for this year, there were a lot of things that have happened as well. There are idols from different agencies here, so I ought to rephrase my reflecting words nicelyー

But I am happy that one of our procedures has now reached its final stage.

Part of the managing team of ES appeared to have been looking down on Producer-chan, they said things like ‘Is it even possible to make all Exclusive Outfits for every idol?’ or ‘Won't this plan end up falling apart?’

She is not your ordinary everyday girl, and once again they have had to realize that fact... ♪

Hajime: You mentioned the 'Exclusive Outfit', but Eichi-oniichan still hasn't had his yet, right?

Based on your standpoint, will you undoubtedly end up being the last one? Did Producer-san discuss it with you?

Eichi: She asked for my advice long before, when she was still drafting the Exclusive Outfits plan. ‘Public faces of ES like Tenshouin Eichi should be the first on the list’ is quite a probable suggestion.

But starting with me might create some kind of unwanted political schemes. So to deliberately avoid it, I left Producer-chan in charge of everything.

She considered how busy I was, so that girl let me decide my own timing to make the Exclusive Outfit.

I have been postponing it because I want to take into other people’s outfits as references. But I guess it is about time now.

Since all the same in the end, people might begin to suspect me if I am the last on the final performers’ list[1].

Location: STAR PRO Office (Conference Area)

Eichi: … ... ...

… 'Merry Christmas ♪'

Fufu…

(Watching Branco's PV warms my heart. My fatigue melts away just like the white snow.)

(I want to continue watching, but it's time to get back to my work.)

… ... ...

(... Today's tea party was fun. It has been a while since we had an endless chat like that.)

(It’s nice to hear the stories behind everyone’s Exclusive Outfits. Although Ritsu-kun has teased me about it. 'You're really craving for this huh~?' he said.)

(I can't help it, now can I? Other than Ritsu-kun, people won’t come and discuss their outfits with me.)

(Me too, I want people to come and talk to me casually as well. But considering my status, they might find it hard to consult me.)

(I feel a little bit resentful toward my position now.)

(... Ah, right. About my Exclusive Outfitー)

(Like what I said before, it’s about time for me to contemplate it.)

(Producer-chan told me to think about it whenever I have spare time, but if I do what she said, my outfit will never be finished.)

(This job is also one of the approaches to hype ES up, so it is quite a prominent work. I should put in some effort and come up with something.)

(... Yet, I am in a scramble now. Whenever I open the sketchbook, I can’t think of anything.)

(The only thing inside my mind is all the Exclusive Outfits I have seen until now.)

(Some people expressed their ideal individuality, some showed their true earnest selves, some considered their fans’ feelings… Everything was converted through each and every outfitー)

(And created their one and only Exclusive Outfits in this world.)

(The next one will be me. What is the thing that fits the image of the idol ‘Tenshouin Eichi’…?)

… ... ...

(... Keep gazing at the ceiling won’t get me anywhere. I need a walk to expand my mind.)

[End of Part 1 ☆]

Directory: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Translator’s note:

[1]: The word being used here is Ootori 大トリ. This is a word for when the performers are divided into groups (such as Kohaku Uta Gassen), the last performer of the later group will be the Ootori of the show. The word can also be meant for the biggest performer, as the big stars often appear late. Like Rei's TS2.

#eichi tenshouin #dorm translation #tatsumi kazehaya #hiyori tomoe #hajime shino #ritsu sakuma #translation #enstars translation

[pancake-breakfast]

The final stretch for Volume 7! We got this!

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 7, Chapters 5-6 below.

Chapter 5: Late Arrival to the End of the World

CW: Body horror

Ugh, Wolfwood did it. He brought him all the way to Knives' citadel. I know this is where Vash wanted to go, but still....

Also, I'm just gonna note this is only volume 7, so things aren't exactly gonna resolve here.

Vash's plan of attack is terrible.

Geez, he's barely walked in and his power is already going off a bit. At least he looks calm about it for once.

Wolfwood!!! Crosses? Eye of Michael turning on him? (I mean, sure, they have reason, but....) Or... is this Legato? Legato does have a thing for skulls.

Uhhh...

I'd be more worried, but I was promised a couch, so mostly I'm just terribly confused.

Oh, gods. It wasn't real. How was I supposed to know it wasn't real?!?!

Sounds like it was Legato. We don't know much about Eye of Michael, but for some reason I don't think they have weird mind abilities like that. And if they do, then they'd probably get recruited into the Gung-Ho Guns. But Legato? We've already established he can communicate telepathically and he has an established motive (he's tsundere and Wolfwood's received "undue" attention from Knives), so I'd bet it's either him or some unknown party.

"The full VIP treatment." Yeah, sure whatever. Like, Vash is that important to Knives, but Knives doesn't see other people's wills (especially Vash's and the other Plants') as seperate enough from his own to actually be able to make good calls there.

I'm not convinced Vash will be fine, but he's not wrong that Wolfwood should be particularly careful.

Wolfwood's always surprised and a bit bummed at Vash perceiving things about him and then trying to take care of him. Silly man. It's ok for the people you're closest to to worry about you from time to time.

I love how he makes an attempt to stay back, but then he can't stop himself from trying to run after Vash. If it weren't for Elandira, he'd be right there... probably being a liability. Reminds me of a post someone made about Stampede and how Wolfwood was like, "Who in their right mind would go up against that (Knives)?" when the answer was Wolfwood. Wolfwood would try and go against Knives.

Oh, honey. Elandira's a badass, but that thing earlier was not her style.

YES EXACTLY. Elandira doesn't have beef with Wolfwood. If she's gonna pick a petty fight, it will be with Legato. Otherwise, she's just doing her job. And she certainly has no desire to tear Wolfwood limb from limb. If she's ordered to kill him, a nail through the head would be good enough for her.

They're still gonna throw hands, huh? He's that desperate to follow Vash? I'm sorry, but this goes way beyond job professionalism. Or sane behavior.

Ah, that's definitely an Eye of Michael Cross. Though IIRC, Legato was the one mucking around with EoM folks last time we saw them, so... maybe this is a joint "let's take out Wolfwood" effort.

Yyyyyyeeeeaaaaahhh... there's Livio and... I forgot the other one's name.

Wait, Elandira's got her nail gun pointed at Livio??

Is this wheelchair guy the real Chapel?

LOL, Elandira doesn't have time for their shit.

Livio's still firing stuff off into the sky just to make a point, I guess.

Ugh, he's talking about Livio like he's just a pet. And... it seems like he used to be in charge of Wolfwood, too.

I like the idea that this man just... wheelchaired backwards out of there for dramatic effect.

So, Wolfwood failed to kill the person he was trying to impersonate, and he fell for his mark. I'm beginning to think he might be a sub-par assassin. (I joke, but I'm guessing it's less a matter of skill and more a matter of too much heart.)

LOL, Elandira casually flirting with Wolfwood. Probably not flirting-flirting so much as just trying to annoy him a bit.

GG Wolfwood, misgendering the canon trans person. /s At least he caught himself.

Yeah, I don't think it's blind faith from Elandira so much as it's acceptance of the inevitable demise of everything at the hands of the twins.

WTH is this stupid temple thing Vash is going to? Did Knives build himself a stupid temple??

Knives, buddy.... That canNOT be healthy.

Look at Elandira, that badass. We know Wolfwood's pretty tough, but she just wades through Knives waking up without batting an eyelash. Meanwhile, Wolfie's having to take her advice to not pass out under serious consideration.

IDK how I feel about an impending giant angel fight. Wait, yes I do. Not good. I feel not good about it. Very not good about it.

Chapter 6: Conflict

CW: Body horror, SA imagery

Oh, we're starting with Legato? That's... great. Just great.

Vash? Serious? Never!

Goshdarnit, Knives. I get you're doing this for your brother and I guess you probably don't have any intention of setting off his angel arm at this time, but... like... this isn't healthy. So very not healthy.

At least he's not surprised Vash is shooting at him this time?

Dude, your name is Millions Knives, not Hundred Guns. Put those away.

Legato, WTF are you doing?! With this... little... giant... skull scythe arm thing... just... scootching along the floor, I guess....

"Why are you so worked up?" It's because senpai hasn't noticed him and is paying attention to someone else. Duh.

This pouty face, though. I just can't with this man. He's such a freaking mess. Please throw him in the sea.

Knives: "I'm sure you understand now." Knives, a few pages later: "Dammit, Vash! How come you don't understand?!"

I love this because, in spite of everything, it's just not. Hells, it was only a few minutes back that Wolfwood tried to follow him into hell for no other reason than because he cares about Vash, and Wolfwood knows. Wolfwood knows all of it. Knives really needs to get out and meet more people.

OMG BABYGIRL <3 <3 <3 PROTECT HIM I LOVE HIM SM

In Stampede, Vash basically gives this whole speech to Knives, doesn't he?

Ah, dramatic coattails have become even more dramatic. This time on purpose and not just for artistic effect.

Not really sure what's unplugging here. Part of Vash's outfit?

Ah, yeah, that was it. I guess it's now a gun, too?

Ha! He's using the other tube to reload. Something something Stampede.

Knives... don't power that thing up.

Gods, Legato just looks like a muppet on this page.

I'm sorry, but the image of him slowly ker-plinking slowly up all those stairs in his little bag with his silly little mechanical scythe attachment thing is hilarious.

VASH. YOU PUT THAT AWAY, TOO!!! Ugh, for once I'm grateful for whatever the hell Knives is about to do to get in Vash's way.

Wait. WAIT, I TAKE IT BACK.

Knives, your logic SUCKS.

Don't worry! Someone has arrived to save the day! Behold, our hero... *checks notes* Legato Bluesummers?

I mean, fr, he's probably pretty upset already that Knives has merged with people other than himself. I guess merging with someone who he thinks might affect Knives's consciousness is too much? IDEK.

Going for some more overt rape imagery here, I see.

Gods, Knives doesn't even call Bluesummers by his name. He's just "you."

Folks... I've seen '98. I have spoilers. I know Legato's gonna break me in all different ways all too soon. But right now? I can't get over how much of a crazed muppet he is and it's just making me laugh through all the serious stuff here. But look at him! He's so giddy! Knives-sama has given him a Very Important Job! Knives-sama recognized Legato and knows Legato is here to help! Knives-sama knows this is a job for only Legato, because Legato is that dedicated to Knives-sama and is the only, ONLY person who should be at Knives-sama's side!

Oh. Yeah, I'm also worried about Vash here. I just got distracted by Legato's stupid face. I should add it to my collage.

I'm trying to decide if that's Wolfwood on the right of this shot. It looks an awful lot like Wolfwood.

Author Bonus Chapter

LOL, otaku boat....

Is that a Vash head half buried in the sand? Looking very annoyed?

Oh, I guess there was a Trigun game. I don't really know anything about it.

Waaaaaiiiiiit, that's not Trigun! That's Gungrave!

Ha! I remember when a game with dynamic world elements like that was considered top-of-the-line....

What's with this list of target audience people?

Archive

Trigun Vol. 1: Covers + 1-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 || Vol. 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Vol. 1: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7 || Vol. 3: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 || Vol. 4: Covers + 1-2, 3-5, 6-7 || Vol. 5: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 6: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 7: Covers + 1-2, 3-4

Extra Credit: Trigun Vol. 1: Nebraska vs. Vash's Motivations, Vash's Loneliness, Vash's Depression (pt 2 of post), Soupy Brains || Vol. 2: Coin Factoids || TriMax Vol. 1: Lina, Vash, and a Haircut || Meryl, Vash, and the Pursuit of Happiness || Vol. 5: Knives, Vash, and Hatred for Humanity || Vol. 6: Coping Series: Wolfwood, Meryl, Vash

#trigunbookclub #trigun maximum #volume 7 #pancake thoughts

[literally-remylebeau]

The Art of Scraping Through

CW: Nothing

Remy Lebeau - Gambit

555 Words

---

"What does it mean? Your name." Sarah looked up at Remy from where she sat next to him, messing with the hem of her pants. He nearly jumped when the little girl spoke. Having forgotten she had followed him out here and insisted on staying with him.

"'m not sure Remy really means anyt'ing, Cher." He took another huff from his cigarette.

"Not your actual name. Gambit. Marrow is pretty obvious," She continued when Remy didn't respond. "Like bone marrow… Because of my bones," She vaguely gestured to the spikes that jutted out of her body at odd angles.

Or

Marrow is curious about Remy's alias, and he doesn't have to strength to explain it to the little girl.

---

Remy watched the brightly colored lights from the roof he stood on. The sight was often compared to the night sky. He found the statement funny considering you can't see the stars in New Orleans. They were barely visible even from where he stood above the city. It was probably due to the population the place put off. Though no one bothered to think about it when they were having so much fun.

He pulled a loose cigarette out of his pocket and held it in his mouth. He snapped his fingers near the end with just enough charge to light it. Though, the smoke that left his mouth was probably due more to the temperature than the cigarette.

"What does it mean? Your name." Sarah looked up at Remy from where she sat next to him, messing with the hem of her pants. He nearly jumped when the little girl spoke. Having forgotten she had followed him out here and insisted on staying with him.

"'m not sure Remy really means anyt'ing, Cher." He took another huff from his cigarette.

"Not your actual name. Gambit. Marrow is pretty obvious," She continued when Remy didn't respond. "Like bone marrow... Because of my bones," She vaguely gestured to the spikes that jutted out of her body at odd angles.

The X-Men gave her the name after she randomly showed up at the mansion looking for Remy. He couldn't remember a time they bothered calling her by her real name after that. The group sure did love to call it as they saw it.

"Yeah, I t'ink I got it, Cher," Remy huffed a laugh.

"Well, I been thinking about it and I can't seem to figure why they call you Gambit. I can't see how it relates to you or your power at all. It don't really make any sense."

There was a lot behind that name and it certainly didn't come from the X-Men. The name was given to him by Sinister and, according to him, for good reason. The man took plenty of time explaining it to Remy.

The examples included:

When he decided to accept Julien's challenge to fight even after the guilds gave him a pass to refuse. Opting to save his reputation rather than his marriage. When he agreed to do Sinister's dirty work in exchange for him to perform that makeshift lobotomy to help him control his powers and later on rounding up a team for him for Sinister's protection. Each a moment of Gambit acting for himself.

Even after their alliance had ended, he continued to prove the man's point.

The only reason he had saved Sarah from the massacre he helped Sinister achieve was to make himself feel better. And when he saved Storm, he only did it because it gave him an escape from the people who had been chasing after him for stealing.

Following that, Xavier's whole argument to get him to join was the fact that he needed somewhere to stay. Not that he had some hidden good in him or that he had the power to help so many people. Gambit needed something and Charles knew he'd only accept if Charles could give it to him.

Yeah, Gambit was fitting.

"Hm, y'know what, Cher," Gambit put out his cigarette. "I t'ink your right. Now, c'mon. It's getting close to your bedtime." 

#remy lebeau #gambit #xmen #x men #marvel #x men comics #fanfic #fanfiction