#All the fucked up stuff happens mainly during the eclipse
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Love Triangle - Griffith/Reader/Guts
Masterlist
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 11.4k
Warnings: Graphic depictions of Violence. Attempted Rape/Non-Con. Fluff. Angst (Happy ending)
Summary:
The events of Berserk up until just after the eclipse with the reader. (I honestly cannot summarize this well enough, but just give it a shot)
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“But what about Griffith? Casca? The men in your unit?”
Guts smiles and shrugs. “They’ll be fine without me.”
You stare at the ground and fidget with your fingers. “What about me?” you ask in a quiet voice. When you dare to look up, he looks conflicted, And for a second, you actually think he’ll stay.
“…Come with me then,” he suggests.
You blink owlishly at him. “Sorry?”
“Come with me. We can travel together and look for our own dreams.” He looks so earnest that it hurts to turn down his offer.
“Guts, you know I can’t leave.” You smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. The thought of leaving Griffith is too much to bear.
Guts furrows his brows. “We both know that’s bullshit. It’s only a matter of if you want to.”
Note:
This is an ask.
This took me a while to write because I kept getting ideas. Honestly, I'm tempted to rewrite this one day as a series instead of a oneshot, just because this version feels too condensed for what I wanted to convey. I initially thought that this wouldn't be that long, and then I ended up around 11k words, so oops. My brain is very kaputt, so there's not much else I have to say right now. I did have fun writing this though, I found it interesting.
Happy reading! (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
“Good job, darling,” Griffith praises, placing a firm hand on your shoulder. You glance over at him with a smile.
You sheathe your sword and wipe away the sweat on your forehead with the back of your hand. “Thank you. There’s still a maneuver I struggle with,” you say. You worked on it all week, but your one swing doesn’t have as much control as you would like.
“Perhaps I can help?” Griffith offers, and you nod gratefully. You demonstrate the move and huff in frustration when you miss your mark on the training dummy. “I see the problem.” Griffith comes up behind you and adjusts your stance. His breath tickles your ear. “You need to tilt your wrist at more of an angle.” His soft hands encompass your wrist—how can he have such delicate hands for a swordsman?? “Like this.” Griffith chuckles in bemusement, and you could have sworn the jet of air against the nape of your neck was intentional. “Try now.”
You tighten your grip on the sword and swing your arm, gasping when you cut the dummy clean across its torso. “Thank you, Sir,” you say, eyes still lingering on the deep gash you made.
“I merely guided you, dear. Take more credit for your talents,” Griffith says. You nod mutely and glance over your shoulder, scrambling away from him when your nose almost brushes against his. He merely flashes his usual smile and walks away to talk to the other members. You’re too lost in your head that you don’t notice Guts approaching you.
“I see you finally managed to perfect your swing,” Guts says, tilting his head towards the dummy. You grin and bounce on the balls of your feet.
“Yeah! Griffith helped me. Wanna see it?” you ask. The stiffening of his jaw is too subtle for you to notice. You’re too caught up in your excitement and the adrenaline from being close to Griffith.
“Alright, show me what you got.” Guts crosses his arms and waits expectantly. You take a deep breath and resume your stance, angling your wrist like earlier. One swing later, the dummy has another gash across its chest. You turn to Guts, the grin on your face faltering when you take in his unimpressed expression. He hums and says, “while that was a good swing, it won’t work in battle unless your enemy is unarmoured. But every armour has its weak spots.” Guts pulls out his sword and decapitates the dummy in a single swipe. “Like the neck.”
Your lips pinch together, but you manage a weak smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.” You thank him for the advice and excuse yourself under the pretence of fetching a new dummy. Walking past the shed where the dummies are kept, you stop at the bench where you left your belongings. Taking a swig from your waterskin, you douse the remainder on your head to cool yourself off. You run a hand down your face, jumping out of your skin when Griffith appears in front of you.
“I do apologize for Guts’s behaviour. He’s not very adept at matters of the heart,” Griffith says. His hair is bright underneath the sun, and you’re momentarily blinded by his beauty.
“I-I don’t quite understand,” you say. Since when did training fall under the category of feelings?
Griffith’s lips turn up in a gentle curve, and he pats your head. “I’m sure he meant to praise you in his own roundabout way,” Griffith says, wiping a drop of water that was about to drip off your chin. You shudder from the contact and cannot control the colour of your face. He seems pleased by your reaction and adds, “you did wonderful, darling.”
“I-I did?” It takes all your brain cells to say those two words. You can only stare like a startled deer. His touch still lingers on your chin, the rough pad of his thumb caressing your skin.
“Of course. Our enemies will never know what hit them. The Grim Reapers of the Battlefield and you, my Scythe.” The grin on his face is soft, but you can’t shake off the predatorial feeling. He’s never called you that before. A title makes you feel important; it gives you a purpose. You understand that Griffith has a dream, an ambitious one at that. Maybe this is his way of keeping you by his side.
“I won’t let you down,” you say, straightening your back.
Griffith chuckles and says, “Of course, dear. You never fail to exceed my expectations.” And this time, the smile reaches his eyes. Warmth blooms in your chest, and you forget your feelings of uneasiness. He kisses your cheek, and it’s the most open he’s been with his affection for you. You don’t have a label for what you two are. You obviously like him more than a friend, and he seems to reciprocate those feelings. But you’re too afraid to ask what you mean to him. Because what if you’re deluding yourself into thinking he likes you back?
“What are we?” The words tumble from your lips before you realize they’re coming out.
Griffith tilts his head to the side. “That’s quite a philosophical question,” he remarks.
You nibble on your bottom lip. “N-no. I meant us. What’s going on between us? You clearly know how I feel about you.” Your anxiety spikes when he doesn’t respond. “I can pretend nothing ever happened if that’s what you prefer,” you add.
“What do you want us to be?” Griffith asks.
You furrow your brows. “Does my opinion really matter?” He has the power in this conversation, not you. It doesn’t matter how much you love him. Your love does nothing unless he accepts it.
Griffith smiles, and there’s a gleam in his eyes. “I want to hear you say it,” he says. His eyes burn into you, and you feel so naked under his gaze. A part of you is thrilled by the attention. He must like you to some capacity if he can look at you with such intensity.
Emboldened by his stare, you say, “I want us to be lovers.”
He bows and kisses the back of your hand. “Then your wish is my command. Come by my tent tonight,” Griffith commands. Your shoulders tense, and a chill washes over you.
You lick your lips and hesitantly part them. “Griffith, when I said lovers, I didn’t solely mean sex.” You didn’t want to be used and thrown away. The lustful stares you’ve received from others are frightening. Enemies on the battlefield have sneered at you and made taunts about what they’ll do to you once they win. The nobles that Griffith deals with are not subtle at all in their advances. This is not to say that you are the most attractive person in the land—no, that title is taken by Griffith—but that humans can be awful and scummy creatures.
Griffith hums. “You desire to be my partner, do you not? There are many other activities to do during the evening. I apologize if my intentions came off as otherwise.” He makes it sound like it's your fault, but you apologize like the fool you are.
You quickly throw your hands up and sputter, “Oh, no! I’m sorry for assuming!”
Griffith strokes your arm, and a soft smile tugs his lips. You breathe out a sigh of relief; he forgives you. “Then I look forward to your company later,” he says, grinning in a cat-like manner.
You watch as Griffith walks away. In the corner of your vision, you notice Casca glaring at you. What’s her problem?
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
“You’ll freeze to death if you keep standing out there,” Guts says, observing your shivering form. You rub your hands together, hoping the friction will thaw the numbness gnawing into your bones.
“I was going to enter… eventually,” you say, pausing when you hear the gentle slosh of liquid. “What are—“
He holds out a mug and says, “It’s for you. Thought some cider would help you warm up.” This is probably the kindest thing Guts has ever done for you. You gratefully accept the drink and groan when your fingers wrap around the hot cup. Blowing on the surface of the cider, you take a small sip and feel the warm liquid flow down your throat and into your stomach. Warmth pools in your belly and the rest of your body heats up.
“I…. Thank you,” you whisper. You almost hope that Guts didn’t hear it because it was embarrassing, but the soft lines in his features say otherwise. You’re halfway through your cider, making small talk with Guts. He asks you about your hobbies and what you did before joining the band. You learn how he was picked up and raised by mercenaries. You vocalize your admiration for his tenacity. It requires tremendous strength to endure such hardships as a child and learn to grow from them. Guts is left speechless after your little ramble.
“Darling, there you are. Please, come inside. You’re shivering.” Griffith fusses over you. You actually feel quite warm now thanks to the cider from Guts. Griffith takes your hand and tugs you toward his tent. You smile and wave goodbye to Guts, thanking him for helping you warm up. He nods stoically and stands there, watching you disappear into the tent before stalking off toward the campfires.
“Griffith, your hand is squeezing too tight,” you say. A grimace forms on your face, and your hand throbs from the pressure. He doesn’t say anything but loosens his grip. You observe the inside of his tent. It’s modest since the camp is relocated often, but the tent is full of his scent. You’re too preoccupied to notice when he takes the unfinished drink from your hands and empties it into the dirt.
“Can I get you anything to drink, dear?” Griffith asks, already browsing through his wine collection.
You shake your head. “Oh, no. I shouldn’t drink. My tolerance is weak.” You want to be completely sober tonight. Alcohol will only make you feel awful the next morning with little recollection of the previous night.
Griffith tuts, and there’s disappointment in his tone. “Come now. Let us celebrate our budding relationship. Don’t make me drink by myself,” he frowns.
You bite your lip and mull over it, but you eventually shake your head. “No. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to drink alcohol tonight.”
“Just one glass, please?” Griffith gives you a pleading look, and your resolve crumbles.
You sigh and relent. “I guess one glass wouldn’t hurt.”
Griffith grins and pours you a drink. You swirl the maroon liquid and inhale its sweet aroma. Taking tiny sips, you pace yourself. The wine is nice and most likely very expensive. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth at the revelation that it was probably a gift from a noble. You always thought something was off about the way they treated Griffith.
You set down your half-finished wine and lick the remaining sweetness from your lips. You catch Griffith's gaze, and he’s staring at you intently. Heat floods your body. Whether from embarrassment or alcohol, you’re not sure. He stands up and towers over you. You look up and lose yourself in his blue eyes.
“A toast to us,” he says, holding his drink out. A slight frown forms on your lips, but you pick up your wine and clink your glasses together. After another sip, a familiar fuzziness blankets your mind. You hum and curl up in your seat. The room begins shifting and morphing in your vision.
“I think I’ve had a bit too much.” You try hard not to slur your words.
Griffith lifts your cup to your lips and says, “You’re almost done. Let’s not waste such fine wine.”
You pout. “Can’t you drink the rest for me?”
“Are you sure you don’t want the rest? It’s only a few sips.”
You shake your head. “Don’t want anymore. Head’s fuzzy now.”
“Alright, darling.” He takes your glass from you and finishes your drink.
You rub your eyes and blink to clear your vision. “Can you hold me?” you request, holding your arms out like a small child.
“I would love to. Come here, darling.” Griffith picks you up and walks over to his cot. It’s a tight fit, but there’s enough room for two. He cradles you to his chest, and you soak in his warmth. His hair tickles your face, and you brush the fair locks away with a giggle.
You look up at Griffith to see him smiling fondly down at you. “This is nice,” you say, playing with a strand of his hair.
“Yes, it is.” His breath fans across your face, and he nuzzles his nose against your cheek. You giggle from how it tickles, your skin tingling with electric sparks. His lips hover in front of yours, and he looks at you for permission.
“Please kiss me,” you whisper. His sharp inhale eases some of your anxiety. He wants this as much as you do. You wait with bated breath. Should you be the one to close the gap?
His lips make contact with yours before you can mull over the idea much longer. He tastes sweet like the wine from earlier. His fingers thread your hair, and he kisses you like a starved man. He devours you, nipping softly at your bottom lip. You groan, and he slips his tongue inside to explore your mouth. The sensation is foreign but not unpleasant. In fact, a shiver runs down your spine when he licks your gums and teeth.
An idea pops into your head, and you suckle on his tongue, resulting in your scalp stinging. “You’re going to be the death of me,” Griffith groans. You pant and catch your breath, beaming a smile at him. He shifts so that you’re underneath him now. His arms form a cage around your body. He peppers kisses along your jawline before trailing down your neck. Your skin burns every time his lips make contact. You moan his name softly, and he slips a hand beneath your shirt.
You tense up and shove him back. “Wait! I’m sorry. I’m not—I’m not ready for that,” you stammer. You’re afraid to be another conquest. Everything feels like it’s moving too fast. You bite your lip and blink furiously. Griffith looks at you with wide eyes, taken aback by the sudden stop.
He coos and caresses your cheek when your eyes glisten with tears. “That’s alright. Sleeping with you in my arms is enough. I would never force you into something so intimate without your consent.”
“Promise?” You stare into his blue eyes, and they crinkle at the corners. He kisses your forehead.
“I swear on it,” he promises. And you believe him.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
Almost a year has passed since that night in Griffith’s tent. While you’ve given and received pleasure, you still haven’t gone all the way. That’s not to say you’re a prude, but you still worry about how penetrative sex will change your dynamic with Griffith. Yes, you love him. And yes, he loves you too. But will his feelings change once you allow him to see your most vulnerable parts? Will he decide that you no longer deserve a place in his dream? Being discarded is one of your worst fears.
The band mostly comprises of men, and some of their views are… crude, to put it lightly. Honestly, how they can lust after people like they’re mere objects leaves an uneasy ache in your stomach. The love you see in this world is not always idyllic; it rarely is. So you developed a fear of getting too close to people. Because deeper connections lead to stronger heartbreak when they inevitably betray your trust. But then came Griffith, and you knew you were helpless.
Despite this, Griffith has never complained. He never pushes you further than you’re willing to go, and he always leaves you thoroughly satisfied. He seems content with the way things are. Every night spent in his arms leaves you feeling safe and loved.
You always supported Griffith’s dream. So when he was granted a noble title, you were ecstatic for him. He’s one step closer to achieving his goal. But then he stopped coming home at night. He started disappearing for days without leaving an explanation for his whereabouts. You don’t want to embarrass him by frantically searching the castle grounds, so you spend many nights waiting for him in your shared room until you pass out in an armchair or in bed. The others don’t say anything, but you can feel their pitiful gazes when they think you’re not looking.
These days you tend to avoid everyone, and they give you your space. But it seems like the only one who won’t leave you alone is Guts. Whenever you’re wallowing in the corner of a tavern or wandering aimlessly through the streets, he always finds you. At first, you ignored him, but his company wasn’t unwelcome. There isn’t the desire to impress or strive for perfection that comes with Griffith. With Guts, you’re allowed to just exist. He doesn’t expect anything from you, and that’s very liberating.
Today is one of your wandering days. Griffith didn’t come back last night. Again. The weather is growing colder, so you bundle yourself up before heading outside. You snag one of Griffith’s scarves and blink back tears when his scent encompasses you. The wind whips through your hair, but you only tighten the scarf around your neck and trudge forward. You avoid the square, not wanting to be surrounded by people. You decide to walk towards the gardens today. The collage of red, orange, and yellow might brighten your mood. Luckily, the gardens are empty. Everyone must be in the marketplace preparing for winter or warming up in the shops.
You find a bench near a tall oak tree. Leaves crunch beneath your feet, and the wind sends a couple dancing through the air. You take a seat and wrap your jacket tighter around your body. Your fingertips tingle, and you scold yourself for forgetting to bring gloves. Although your mind has been drifting lately.
“Mind if I join ya?” You turn in the direction of the voice and see Guts. He’s holding two cups in his hands.
“You can if one of those is for me,” you reply, rubbing your hands together. He sits beside you and hands you the steaming drink. “Cider?” you ask, sniffing the cup. Instead of smelling apples, there’s a dark, rich scent. You’ve only smelled something similar on rare occasions. “Is this?”
“Chocolate. Hot chocolate. I know you don’t care much for ale, and I’m sure you’re sick of cider.” Guts shrugs and takes a sip. His pleased expression makes you curious. You always find chocolate bitter, and the sweeter options are ridiculously overpriced because of sugar. He watches with an amused smile as you inspect the drink in your hand. “It ain’t gonna bite.”
You stick your tongue out at him and bring the cup to your lips. You tilt it slowly to avoid burning yourself. The hot chocolate glides smoothly down your throat, and your tastebuds feel delighted. It’s not bitter, but it’s not overly sweet. The richness of the chocolate is tamed by the warm cream, and there’s just enough sugar to make it enjoyable. You make a happy noise and take another sip.
“Good?” Guts asks, and you nod your head enthusiastically. The hot chocolate is still too hot, so you use it as a hand warmer until you can drink it without scalding your tongue.
“What brings you here?” you ask. You don’t keep track of what everyone else does in their spare time, but Guts doesn’t seem like the type to spend it in the gardens.
“That little guy over there,” he answers, pointing a finger to the tree near the bench. You look and see nothing out of the ordinary and turn back to him with confusion.
“The tree?” You hope you’re wrong, although it would be hilarious if you weren’t.
“Shh, no. Look again,” he says. You shrug and look at the tree, scanning its long trunk and colourfully decorated branches. Something moves in the corner of your vision. You narrow it down to one of the lower-hanging branches. There’s a tail flickering from side to side??
Guts whistles, and a cat jumps down from the tree. Its orange fur camouflages it perfectly amongst the leaves. The cat struts over but pauses when it sees you. You freeze, not wanting to startle the creature.
“S’alright, boy. Nothin’ to worry about. Brought a friend with me today,” Guts speaks in a soft tone. You’re honestly surprised he can sound so gentle. The cat eyes you warily but pads forward and hops onto Guts’s lap. He scratches the cat's head before stroking down his back. A low purr rumbles along with the wind. You stare in awe at the scene in front of you. Guts grins when he notices your expression.
You feel your lips curling up into a smile. “Does he have a name?” you ask, but Guts shakes his head.
“He’s a stray. Didn’t wanna name him in case I got too attached,” he replies. You nod in understanding, glancing at the cat enviously. Guts chuckles and asks, “do ya wanna pet him?”
“May I? What if he doesn’t like me?” You roll your bottom lip between your teeth, drumming your fingers against your cup.
“Just gotta move slowly. Let him sniff ya a bit,” he instructs. You shift the cup and stretch out a hand, hovering it in front of the cat. A puff of air hits your skin as a wet, pink nose sniffs you hesitantly. You hold your breath, gasping when the cat rubs its fluffy head into the palm of your hand. You take it as permission to pet him and scratch behind his ears. “Cute,” Guts mumbles.
You grin and look up at Guts. “He’s adorable. I wish we could keep him,” you say, entranced by the fuzzy creature.
“Yeah. A battlefield ain’t a place for a cat.” There’s a dip in his tone. Your smile turns bitter, and you give the cat a scritch underneath his chin.
An idea pops into your head. “We could keep him in our rooms in the capital! I think we’ve left our camping days behind us.” Your suggestion sparks Guts’s interest, which spurs you on. “He can clearly take care of himself, so we can let him out every day and ask someone to feed him when we’re away!”
“That… doesn’t sound half-bad,” he remarks.
You bounce in your seat and plant a kiss on the top of the cat’s head, which earns you a loud purr. “Did you hear that, little guy? You’re coming home with us!”
Guts smiles in amusement and says, “Your idea; you get to name him.”
You shake your head and laugh. “Oh, no. I’m terrible at making decisions.”
“C’mon, I’m sure ya got somethin’ in mind.”
“Hmmm. Then what about Ember?” you suggest. Guts ponders for a moment, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Since his fur is orange, it reminds me of fire,” you add as if your explanation will improve your idea.
“I like it. He’s warm like fire, too,” Guts says.
You smile. “That’s perfect for me since I’m always cold.” The sky has melted into a soft pink as the sun begins to dip. You didn’t realize so much time had passed. “I’ll go buy some things before the shop closes.” You rise from your seat and give Ember one last pet. Impulsively, you pat Guts on the head. His posture stiffens, and you giggle at how taken aback he is.
“I’ll, uh, take Ember to his new home,” he says, rising up and rushing to the exit. You watch as he scrambles frantically, stifling a laugh when he smacks into a bush. Heading to the shops, you make a mental list of the items you need. You stop by the butcher to buy some chicken and other cuts of meat you think Ember will like. Next is the general store, where you buy some blankets and bowls. Armed with bags, you head home, eager to return to your new feline friend.
You enter the building and nod your head to greet everyone you passed, beelining straight to Guts’s room. You adjust the bags in your grip and knock on the door. “It’s me,” you say. There’s a soft thump followed by a loud meow. You smile to yourself and wait patiently, hearing some scuffling and more cat noises.
“Come in. Doors not locked,” Guts says. You enter and set the bags on the ground. Ember is immediately interested in what you’ve brought him. You take out the blankets and hand them to Guts. He walks away to find a spot to place them, so you grab the bowls next and fill one of them with water. When you turn around, you’re greeted with the sight of Ember sitting contently in an empty bag.
“You are so damn cute,” you whisper, crouching down for a better vantage point. Ember flops onto his side, and you squeal.
“What’s the matter?!” Guts rushes to your side, looking around the room for any threats. You point at Ember, your hands shaking from excitement. Guts turns his head, and his expression softens. “Just when I thought the fucker couldn’t get any cuter.”
You gasp and grab his arm. “I have a basket I never use. What if….” You gesture frantically towards Ember, and Guts catches on.
“He would have his own bed. And you could carry him too!”
You snap your fingers. “Yes, exactly!! I’ll be right back!” You stand up and head to your room with a spring in your step. You hum happily and open the door, forgetting to close it in your excitement.
“And just where have you been?” You pause. You haven’t heard that voice in days—a week almost.
“Griffith?” You stare in shock. You wouldn’t blame yourself if it turns out you’re hallucinating. But Griffith is very much real and not a figment of your imagination when he invades your personal space.
He frowns and furrows his brows. “Were you expecting someone else?” he asks. You step back, and the smile on your face falters.
“What? Of course not. What gave you that idea?” You search his eyes and find nothing but suspicion. Does he not trust you?
“It’s alright, darling. I understand it gets lonely. I didn’t mean to leave you alone so often,” he condescends. He reaches out and places a hand on your shoulder.
White, hot anger flashes through your veins. “I hope you’re not implying what I think you are.” Your tone drops low, and Griffith smiles.
He tilts his head to the side. “Am I wrong?”
“Yes,” you seethe, shoving his hand off of you. “If you actually asked anyone here how I’ve been, you would know the answer.”
“I—”
“No.” You jab a finger into his chest. “You don’t get to disappear with no explanation for, what, a week? And then come back to accuse me of cheating?” You huff and clench your fists, raising them before letting your arms fall to your sides right after.
Griffith bristles at your raised voice. “Stop acting like a selfish child. I am doing what’s best for us. Do you know how hard I am working to improve our lives?”
“I’m not being selfish,” you say. You swallow the lump in your throat and continue, “All I ask for is a fraction of your time and affection. Countless nights going to bed and waking up alone. I’m sick of it.” You keep your tone even, refusing to let him know how much this is destroying you internally.
Griffith scoffs, “What am I? A pet? Must I return to you every night and be at your beck and call?”
You shake your head. “I never said that. Stop twisting my words!” He does this all the time. That glib tongue of his comes in handy when interacting with the nobles. But he uses it against you to gain the upper hand in arguments. You don’t have the energy to deal with this. Today was going so well—you got to pet a cat! And now, this one interaction has soured it all. You turn towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Griffith asks. Are you running from your problems? Yes. Do you care? Not at the moment, although you’re sure you’ll regret this later.
You glance over your shoulder. “I’m going to cool off.” You storm out, but not before grabbing the basket you came for. The door whips open from the sudden force. Your feet continue trudging with no destination in mind. Eventually, you stop in front of Guts’s room. You stand in front of the door and wait until your eyes no longer burn, breathing slowly to ease the tightness in your throat. With another deep breath, you enter the room.
“You ok?” Guts gets straight to the point. He takes in your expression and curses under his breath. “Stupid question. Course you aren’t.” You hate how gentle his tone is. You don’t want to be treated like a wounded animal.
“He just makes me so mad sometimes,” you say, staring up at the ceiling. Gravity works against you, and your tears still fall. Guts walks up to you but lingers around an invisible threshold. He looks conflicted. Like he wants to comfort you but is afraid to get too close. He remains an arms-length away
Guts opens and closes his mouth. You can see he’s cycling through various things to say, and you appreciate his thoughtfulness. “Cause he leaves you alone often?”
You wince. “Were we that loud?”
Guts shrugs and says, “Half the band could hear ya going at each other. The door was also wide open.”
“Fuck.” You plop onto the ground and sit cross-legged. You are not looking forward to the looks you’ll receive from everyone once word spreads of your fight with Griffith. For ex-mercenaries, they sure do love their gossip. “It’s just not fair when he gets mad at me for doing the same things he does to me. And then he has the nerve to accuse me of cheating?” You lie down, hoping the wood against your back will ground you.
Ember shimmies out of the bag and curls up on our chest. The added weight is comforting and warm. He purrs loudly, and you laugh through your tears. Guts sits down beside you, still maintaining some distance. This irritates you, so you decide to bridge the gap by shuffling closer to him.
He tenses up, but you don’t care. You like the warmth radiating from his body. “You can always come to me if you need someone to listen to your troubles,” he says, glancing down at you. “Or for some cat cuddles.” He pets Ember on the head. “They’re great at healin’ all types of emotional wounds.”.
You crack a wry smile. “Thank you.” You can faintly hear Griffith calling your name. He must be looking everywhere for you. “I gotta go. His Highness is calling me.” You sit up and move Ember onto Guts’s lap. The cat gives you an annoyed look and flicks his tail. You apologize as you stand up, promising to bring treats next time.
Guts tugs on your pants leg. “Just take care of yourself, yeah?”
You nod but don’t give a verbal answer. Waving goodbye, you head in the direction you last heard Griffith.
You never take Guts up on his offer. Griffith makes another promise and returns to you every night.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
“I’m leaving,” Guts says. He’s carrying Ember in his little basket, but your full attention is on the determined look on his face.
“Are you going to train? Can I join you?” you ask.
Guts shakes his head. “No. I’m leaving the band.”
You pause and stare. “You’re—you’re joking, right?” When he doesn’t say anything more, you realize he’s serious.
“I don’t belong here anymore,” he says. The expression on his face is all too familiar to you. The face of someone who knows they cannot stay. But you just can’t understand why he would want to leave everything behind.
“But what about Griffith? Casca? The men in your unit?”
Guts smiles and shrugs. “They’ll be fine without me.”
You stare at the ground and fidget with your fingers. “What about me?” you ask in a quiet voice. When you dare to look up, he looks conflicted, And for a second, you actually think he’ll stay.
“...Come with me then,” he suggests.
You blink owlishly at him. “Sorry?”
“Come with me. We can travel together and look for our own dreams.” He looks so earnest that it hurts to turn down his offer.
“Guts, you know I can’t leave.” You smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. The thought of leaving Griffith is too much to bear.
Guts furrows his brows. “We both know that’s bullshit. It’s only a matter of if you want to.”
“I….” You’re at a loss for words. Yes, it would be so much easier to just leave everything behind and start again. Travel with someone who actually enjoys your company. Explore the world to find yourself. But you just can’t. Silver hair and blue eyes will continue to haunt you no matter where you go. You don’t want to prove Griffith right by running away from your problems.
Guts places a hand on your shoulder, and you stiffen. No one but Griffith ever gets this close to you. “Love, I’ve seen the way he treats you. He’s cold one minute, then showers you with affection. And the two of you pretend as if nothing happened. It ain’t healthy,” he says.
You frown. Griffith can be a bit moody, but that’s because he’s been under a lot of stress lately. “No, Griffith loves me.”
“And so do I.” Guts scans your face. You’re not sure what he’s looking for. “Why can’t you see that?” he rasps.
You smile and pat his hand. “You’re a good friend, Guts.” You’re glad that he cares so much for you. You hope that he achieves his goal—you really do.
Guts chortles, “Right. Friend. Listen, if you won’t leave with me, at least save yourself the heartache and end things with Griffith.”
Your smile slips. “I love him too much,” you say, gnawing the inside of your cheek.
“He ain’t the man you think he is, and you’ll feel like a fool when you realize it,” he warns.
You shrug your shoulders. “I know I’m a fool, but I can’t stop loving him.” If only it was easy to stop loving someone. People would be changing lovers like they change clothes. Despite knowing Griffith is flirting with Princess Charlotte, you can’t bring yourself to hate him. You definitely don’t blame Charlotte. So yes, you’re well aware of how naive you are to think Griffith is still yours alone.
Guts hands you the basket. “Take care of Ember. I would take him with me, but I’d worry too damn much since I’m gonna travel lots.” You take the basket and peer at the orange tabby, who’s adjusted very well to domestic life.
“He’s going to miss you,” you say, holding back tears.
Guts pats your head, and a bitter smile twists his lips. “He ain’t even gonna notice I’m gone.”
“He will. He’ll definitely notice and miss you a lot.” There’s a pregnant pause. You both know you’re not talking about the cat.
Guts rubs the back of his neck. “I ain’t good with goodbyes, so I’ll see you again,” he says.
“Soon?” you croak, tightening your grip on the basket.
“Whenever our paths decide to cross.” He ruffles your hair and laughs when you gripe about it. You resist the urge to hug him, remembering how he flinched the last time you touched him. So instead, you wave and stand in the doorway until he disappears from sight.
“Looks like it’s just you and me now, little guy,” you whisper to Ember, who rolls onto his back and stares up at you with his green eyes. You shut the door and set the basket by the fireplace, heading to the ice chest to prepare supper.
The day that Guts leaves is the first time Griffith breaks a promise to you. You wait all night for him, but he never shows up. You fall asleep in front of the fireplace, curled up in an armchair. You don’t find out why until the morning when some band members storm your room and demand you get ready before promptly leaving.
“What have you done…” you sigh and trail after the rest of the band.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
He got captured. The stupid idiot got himself captured for treason. It’s been almost a year, and you’re still struggling to wrap your mind around it. You didn’t realize how important Guts is to Griffith. But then, doesn’t that mean you aren’t as important to him as you thought? Because at his lowest, Griffith decided to seek comfort from someone else and not you. When you came to this conclusion, you decided you wouldn’t live for someone else again. Yes, you still love him. But you can’t forgive his actions. His decision put the rest of the band in danger and destroyed everything he built toward his dream.
What’s left of the band is planning a rescue mission. With Guts back, you know that the operation is guaranteed to be successful. You were going to greet him but hung back when you saw him with Casca. It seems you have a track record of having an interest in men who have their eyes on someone else. You pretend to not notice when they disappear together. Instead, you sit on a log and cuddle with Ember, who miraculously found you after your exile. Food isn’t as plentiful as it was in the capital, but he doesn’t complain. You’re thankful you don’t have to spend your nights alone again.
When Casca briefs everyone on the plan, you feel hurt that you’re not part of the group that infiltrates the tower. She sees right through you and shakes her head before you can utter a word. You bite your lip and nod, unwilling to make a scene in front of everyone. This small interaction catches Guts’s attention, and your eyes meet for the first time since he’s arrived. You quickly look away, missing the hurt that flashes across his face.
Everyone gets into their position, and all you can do is wait.
You don’t wait long. From the racket you’re hearing, things did not go smoothly as planned. Once the signal is given, the rest of the group charges into the fray. You see the bodies dangling from weapons, and rage burns inside you. It’s been a while since you’ve spilled some blood.
By the end of it, you’ve won. Guts managed to defeat whatever that monstrosity was. And for the first time in a year, you see Griffith—what’s left of him anyway. You wait until Judeau and Casca are done before slipping into the tent. You’re having trouble reconciling the Griffith you know and the empty husk in front of you. You stand in silence as you examine how a year of torture has treated Griffith. He has a helmet on, but you imagine that his face matches the rest of his body. The scars and missing skin make you sick to your stomach. What you worry about the most is when you overheard how Griffith will never be able to walk or wield a sword again. Flesh can be healed, but tendons cannot.
A gurgled noise snaps you out of your thoughts. No. You clench your fists. They didn’t take his tongue, too, right? You see those familiar blue eyes again, but they look dull now.
“Hi,” you rasp, waving awkwardly.
“I told ya I could handle this—oh. It’s you,” Guts cuts himself off. He glances between you and Griffith. “I was just helpin’ Griffith put on his armour.”
You pause and wait. When Griffith says nothing, your feared assumption is confirmed. “What did they do to you….” You move closer and crouch in front of him. He slumps forward, and his body leans against you. You inwardly curse at how light he is. You stiffly bring your arms up and wrap them around his torso. Guts motions his head to the wagon entrance, and you shake your head. Gently, you squeeze Griffith. The bandages feel smooth in contrast to his rough skin. You hear a quiet sob that breaks your heart. “Let’s get you suited up,” you say, blinking back the tears. You receive a slight nod, and it brings a smile to your face. So you assist Guts in dressing Griffith in his armour. A commotion outside draws your attention, and Guts tells you to stay with Griffith while he checks it out. You had no idea that it would be the trigger for a series of unfortunate events.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
You stare up at the eclipse. The entire field is washed in crimson, both with the blood-red light and your fallen comrades. How did it come to this? Do his friends mean so little to him? Do you mean so little to him?
Shutting your eyes won’t help. The constant screams and cries of your friends pierce your eardrums. The roars of the monsters as they tear into flesh and bone rattle your heart in your ribcage. And, oh god, the smell. The air is foul, and you can almost taste the iron on your tongue. You feel the bile rise up your throat, and you dry heave. The sour and bitter taste is more welcome than metal.
It’s not until half of your comrades are slaughtered that you realize nothing is attacking you. You’re kneeling in a pool of blood and carnage, and not a single drop of it is yours. Why? Why must you watch everyone get slaughtered while you’re the sole exception? The guilt claws at your skin. You ignore the feeling and glare up at the pillar of flesh.
Griffith is simply watching the chaos before him. His eyes are cold, and dread runs through your veins. You want to believe that a part of him feels remorse, that a part of him is regretful over sacrificing his loved ones. But you know him better than that. He doesn’t care so long as he gets what he wants. And he will never want anything more than to achieve his dream. The end justifies the means. Isn’t that how the saying goes?
Your eyes meet. You’re too far away to see, but you can picture the smirk on his lips, the way the right corner of his mouth lifts up ever so slightly whenever things go his way. There’s an indescribable anger that simmers beneath your skin, threatening to burst through your veins to make its presence known.
And you remember that it’s because you all mean so much to him that he’s chosen to sacrifice everyone. He loves you and still chose his dream over everything you built together. But why won’t he let any of the creatures harm a single hair on your head? You are a sacrifice, and he is choosing to spare you. For what reason? For what purpose? Surely he’s not narcissistic enough to believe you’ll still welcome him with open arms after slaughtering everyone? Or maybe he’s leaving you until the end. To finish you off himself. Either way, you are not leaving this world without taking that bastard down.
You don’t want—no. You refuse to look around the field. Because you don’t know what you’ll do if you recognize one of the mutilated corpses or mounds of flesh. You might lose it if you focus too much and spot what remains of one of your close friends. So where else to look but up? Up at the one who started it all.
A gasp tumbles from your lips when you notice a figure crawling up the pillar. You had forgotten that Guts was swept away with Griffith. Even now, he’s trying to save him. Bitter tears burn your eyes. You no longer believe Griffith is worth saving. What a colossal waste of your time.
You can do nothing but sit there as the river of blood turns into a lake. Every time Guts gets close to Griffith, he’s swatted away like a fly. Eventually, he plummets to the ground. To your horror, Griffith is engulfed in a white ball of light. The monsters bellow at the sight, waving around detached limbs and corpses. Entrails and viscera fly through the air, and the squelchy splatters send a wave of nausea through you.
Everyone’s dead. Oh, God. Everyone’s dead. And now you’re all alone. You look back up to see Griffith emerge from the light. At least you think it’s Griffith. The only recognizable characteristic is the beak-like helmet that resembles the armour he wore. He is covered from head to toe in black. The blue eyes you love getting lost in now resemble an iceberg; cold and deadly on impact.
The abominations that ignored you earlier now turn towards you. All your limbs are snatched and restrained. You scream and flail against their iron grip. Griffith descends from the large hand and waits as you’re dragged in front of him.
“Hello, darling.” Griffith’s greeting is anything but pleasant. He still looks at you with affection, but you’re no longer sure if that’s a good thing. You know there are some fates far worse than death. His hands are clawed at the tips, and the sharp points trail down the soft flesh of your cheek. You stiffen, afraid that he’ll slice you open if you move. “Terribly sorry you had to witness such atrocities.” His finger trails down your neck and along the slope of your collarbone. “Well, I suppose they were only minor inconveniences.” He shrugs and studies your expression.
“Those ‘inconveniences’ were your friends,” you spit out. He grins and grabs your chin, forcing you to maintain eye contact.
“Friends?” Griffith chuckles. “Care to join them?” he asks, but you both know the answer. You feel his nails dig into your skin, fresh wounds stinging as sweat drips into them. “I didn’t think so,” he sneers when you remain silent.
“I believed in you. I listened to your promises. And for what?” Your voice cracks near the end as the tears trickle down your face. Griffith tuts and brushes your cheek, licking the tears off his finger. The grin on his face is manic. And for the first time in your life, you’re afraid of him.
“I hardly ever break my promises, especially to you, dear.” He strokes your hair, and how his talons scrape against your scalp raises goosebumps on your skin. He grins when you involuntarily shudder. “You are my scythe and mine to wield alone.” His eyes dart to the side. When you turn to follow his gaze, you see Guts fighting back a horde of monsters. You aren’t alone after all, but for how much longer? You can’t decipher whether you feel relief or terror.
The monsters release their hold on you, but some invisible force is still gripping you in place. You look at Griffith, and he’s staring at his hand with a curious expression. It’s the expression of a child that’s discovered a new toy. You attempt to wiggle your fingers, but your body refuses to listen. You grunt and can only move your head. A yelp escapes your lips when you’re turned around mid-air, and Griffith presses up against you from behind.
You watch in horror as Guts falters from your shriek and a monster clamps its jaws around his arm. He tries to behead the monster, only for his sword to snap in half. You meet his panic-stricken eyes with your own. His face twists with rage, and you hear Griffith click his tongue by your ear.
“Let’s give him a show, darling,” Griffith purrs. His tone is possessive as his hands caress your stomach. His gentle touch ends when he tears your clothes off. You scream and manage to move your limbs, kicking his leg in the process. Griffith grunts and a small smile flashes across Guts’s face before it’s replaced with worry again. “Acting disobedient, dear?” Griffith sighs with disappointment, and you freeze at his words. “I was going to be gentle, but a harsh punishment might teach you better.” The invisible force now feels twice as heavy, and you no longer have mobility over your limbs.
The breeze is freezing against your bare skin, and disgust rolls off you in waves. It doesn’t take a genius to guess what Griffith plans to do with you. But maybe this is what you deserve for denying him all those nights. You whimper when his fingers brush against your nipples. His erection presses into your back. Griffith lets out a low growl and draws blood with his sharp talons. This is not how you wanted your first time to be. Instead of candlelight and wine, you are basking in the light of the eclipse. The only red liquid around is blood. You begin to sob as utter helplessness consumes you. Griffith shushes your cries and nuzzles into your neck. You feel the vibrations when he chuckles.
Guts is still visible in your field of vision, and he looks furious now. You gasp when he takes his sword and severs his arm to escape the monster’s jaws. He begins running towards you and takes down two monsters along the way. But one of them slams into him, and they form a dogpile to hinder his movements. Guts struggles, but it’s no use. He’s completely restrained and can only watch Griffith’s twisted performance. You give him a grateful smile and close your eyes, resigning yourself to your fate.
“Did you ever notice how he would look at you?” Griffith questions, his talons digging into your hips when you don’t answer. He loosens his grip when you groan and shake your head. “He was one of my closest companions. You two are the only people I would ever consider giving up my dream for.” His hands travel down to your thighs. “But that doesn’t matter now.” He forces your legs to part, and you stifle the sob that gurgles in the back of your throat. “I hated the way he looked at you. He knew you were mine and still chose to keep his lecherous gaze on you.”
You open your eyes and let out a confused stutter. Making eye contact with Guts, you see a depth of emotions that you never noticed before. It makes the anguish on his face unbearable to look at.
“What are you doing?” you whisper. A numbness spreads throughout your chest like there’s a black hole sucking up all your emotions.
“Making sure the entire world knows who you belong to,” Griffith growls. Suddenly there’s a searing pain on your right inner thigh. The burning sensation rips a scream from you, and you nearly faint. You can only compare this to how livestock are branded with hot iron. Warm blood trickles down your leg, and you bark a bitter laugh, mind muddled from the pain.
“So now you want me,” you say, glaring at the ground.
“Don’t be like that, darling. I’ve always wanted you. The others were only a means to an end. You know that.” Griffith says and kisses your shoulder. It feels like a million insects are crawling underneath your skin, and you bite your lip to subdue the urge to retch.
“Is that what Charlotte was? A means to an end?” You can’t help but let your bitterness seep into your tone.
“Now, now. Let’s not be rude and forget our audience tonight.” You glance over at Guts, and he’s no longer struggling. He’s panting heavily with his eyes trained on your form. Frustration and fury mar his features. It’s a pity you never noticed his feelings earlier. Maybe you would have left with him when he asked, and you wouldn’t be in this mess now. “If I recall correctly, a punishment is due for your disobedience.” Griffith walks around you until you’re face to face. You don’t register the slashes until your abdomen stings and weeps with your blood. He hums and licks his talons. What is with this man and licking your bodily fluids??
“Fuck you,” you bite out, gritting your teeth to temper the pain.
“All in due time, my dear,” Griffith says with a salacious grin. You start to feel light-headed.
“You promised,” you say, blinking to clear the spots in your vision.
Griffith tsks, “Some promises need to be broken for others to be kept.” He says it like that’s just the way things are. No consideration of your feelings whatsoever. You’ve been labelled as collateral damage.
You build on your last point. “You promised you would never force me into anything without my consent.” Griffith has never broken a promise to you before. You desperately cling to that belief. Except he has. And if he’s lied to you before, what makes you so sure he won’t do it again?
“Think on the bright side. We’ll become connected as one,” Griffith purrs, eyes roaming your body. You feel like a piece of meat strung up at the butcher.
“You’re a filthy liar,” you snarl.
Griffith’s voice drops an octave. “Darling, I won’t tolerate baseless accusations.” It’s not a warning, but a demand for obedience.
You snort. That’s rich coming from him. “You’re a goddamn liar, and I fucking hope you rot.”
“You don’t mean that.” His blue eyes become glacial. “Tell me you’re joking.” His hands wrap around your throat. “Say it!” With just the right amount of pressure, Griffith can strangle you or crush your trachea. His grip tightens, but only enough to shorten your supply of oxygen.
“....” You concentrate on Guts and refuse to respond.
Your silence further agitates him. And then it finally happens. His focus slips for a moment due to his anger, but it’s enough for you to grab the dagger strapped to your thigh and drive it into his shoulder. Griffith lets out an inhuman screech, and you drop to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Air rushes into your lungs, and you hack out a cough.
“Just wait, darling. I’ll have you, even if it can’t be officially.”
The last thing you hear before you black out is the rattling of bones and the thundering of hooves.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
You wake up in a cave. There’s a faint light coming from the ceiling and the sound of water falling in the distance. Through the haze in your mind, you recognize that you’re in an unfamiliar place. You bolt upright, looking around to gather your bearings. There’s rustling behind you, and you whip your head in the direction of the noise. Startled, you scream when a girl pops up by your side.
She’s unphased by your reaction and smiles widely. “I’m Erica!” Her voice is bright and cheery. She hands you a mug, and you glance at the liquid with suspicion. The earnest expression on her face persuades you to take a sip. You sigh with relief when it’s water. Feeling parched, you gulp the rest down. “Are you Guts’s lover?” You choke on your last sip of water. Your throat burns from the coughing fit. “Cause I think you’re really pretty, and he keeps mumbling your name in his sleep,” she whispers conspiratorily to you. You turn to see where she’s glancing at and notice that Guts is lying not far from you.
He looks rough. You inhale sharply when you notice the bandaged stump at his side—fuck there’s one around his eye too. You hope he didn’t lose an eye. “Is he… ok?” you ask, voice scratchy from not talking for a while.
“Godot says he’ll be fine, and I believe him! Guts is super tough!!” she flexes her arms to exaggerate, and you can’t help but giggle. This kid is adorable. “But he did lose an arm and an eye. We’re not sure when he’ll wake up.” The graveness in her tone throws you off. “You must feel bad that he got hurt, but it’s not your fault.” Suddenly, her gaze makes you uncomfortable.
“I….” You stare at the small being in front of you. Since when were children so observant?
“Oh my god, you’re awake!” You turn your head to the cave entrance and try to decipher the figure jogging towards you.
“...Rickert?” You rub your eyes, convinced that you’re hallucinating. But Rickert pulls you into a hug, and you crumble in his embrace. All the feelings you couldn’t express during the eclipse come bursting forth. You cry for an embarrassingly long time, blubbering incoherently about what happened that night. He holds you and tells you about what happened to him and how the three of you are all the only survivors left of the band. He goes on to explain where you are and how long you’ve been unconscious. You’ve been unconscious for four days, recovering in an ore mine.
“Is there somewhere I can clean myself?” you ask. You can still feel the stickiness of blood on your skin, and surely you stink.
“Yeah, there’s a waterfall deeper in the cave. I’ll bring you a change of clothes.” He hugs you once more. “It’s good to see you again.” His smile is infectious, and you nod. While Rickert leaves fetch clothes, you head to the waterfall. Erica seems to have wandered off, so you have some privacy. You peel off your clothes and stand underneath the falling water. The pressure isn’t as hard as you expected. It’s almost pleasant. You scrub your skin until it’s raw and pink, but it doesn’t remove the stickiness or the smell of iron that lingers. You let out a frustrated groan and scrub too hard, breaking open the skin on your arm. The water stings as it laps at your new wound. But you just stand there, holding your arm out until you become numb to the stinging.
A hand grasps your shoulder, and you’re teleported back there again with him. You yelp and jump away, back pressed against the rocks. Your eyes dart for an escape route, and panic seizes you when a pair of hands grab your shoulders again. You thrash and cry out, freezing when you realize it’s Guts. You can only see the left side of his face, but his mouth is slanted in a smile. You bite your lip to prevent it from quivering.
“I’m so sorry. I thought you were….” You trail off, unable to complete your sentence. You hug your arms around yourself and avoid his gaze.
“S’alright. C’mere.” His right arm is open, and he’s waiting patiently for you to make the next move. You stumble into him and bury your face into his chest, apologizing weakly for getting his bandages wet. He kisses your forehead and holds you tight. “I get it, y’know? The whole bein’ touched thing. I, uh, had some things happen when I was a kid that made me hate bein’ touched 'cause it would always remind me of those memories.”
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.” You squeeze him tight, but it’s surprisingly difficult with how muscular his torso is.
Guts chuckles, but it’s bitter and hollow. “Yeah. There was a man who would… do bad things to me. And I couldn’t do jack shit ‘cause I was just a kid.”
“But you’re still here. Learning this about you… I think you’re the strongest person I know.” And you mean every word. Guts stares at you with a mixture of awe and adoration. He cups your face and strokes your cheek with his thumb.
“Wasn’t very strong a couple nights ago,” he mutters. You can see that he feels guilty. You also carry the same weight on your shoulders. After all, why did you get to survive while everyone else died? But you can’t allow yourself to be trapped by these thoughts. You need to figure out what to do now.
You pat his chest, feeling his heartbeat thrum against your palm. “I don’t think we should blame ourselves for that,” you say. “We had no idea any of that would happen.”
Guts shakes his head, pain etched into his features. “But I did. I knew somethin’ was going to happen. I heard a goddamn prophecy foretellin’ it. I didn’t think it would be a fuckin’ slaughter.” He rubs a hand over his face and sighs. You do your best to support his weight when he leans against you.
The moment is interrupted by Rickert, who clears his throat, holding your change of clothes. You thank him and walk away to change, leaving the two to continue their conversation. Unfortunately, the change of clothes consists of a single shirt. The shirt is enormous and swallows your frame, reaching down to your thighs. It’ll have to do for now, but you need to ask where the closest shop is. As you’re walking back, Guts dashes past you. You look at Rickert, but he only shakes his head.
A faint meow echoes through the cave. “Did you hear that?” you ask. You swear you catch a glimpse of orange by the cave entrance. Ignoring Rickert’s pleas, you exit the cave and follow the little paw prints on the ground. You walk through bushes and other foliage until you’re at the foot of a hill. Glancing up, you see a pair of cat ears twitching for a split second. Despite the dull pain in your abdomen, you trek up the hill. “Ember? Is that you?” You left him behind with Rickert and the others. From what Rickert’s told you, you’re not sure if the little guy survived the ordeal.
Another meow causes you to pivot around. There on a tree branch is Ember. You find comfort in seeing a familiar face. You coo at the cat to come down. And when he does, he weaves between your legs, rubbing his head against your calves. Something feels odd. Ember isn’t as vibrant as you remember. His body is almost translucent. A searing pain interrupts your thoughts. You see blood trickling down your leg from where Griffith marked you.
Ember hisses. You snap your head up, taken aback by the ring of figures surrounding you. The cat circles you protectively, hissing at the weird creatures. They make no move to get closer to you, so Ember eventually settles by your feet, guarding you. You remain still, unsure of what to do in this situation. The thundering of hooves draws nearer, and you hear Guts call out your name. He's riding on a horse with a skeleton? He dismounts and runs to you, frantically checking you for any injuries. He mumbles incoherently when he finds nothing.
You manage to hear him say, “I can’t lose you too.” You cup his face in your hands, smiling at this wonderful man. His posture relaxes, and he leans his forehead against yours. “I was afraid,” he confesses. “I was afraid I wouldn’t reach you in time and find you dead.”
“I’m ok. You’re ok. We’re both ok,” you state calmly. He nods, taking in a deep breath.
“How intriguing.” You don’t recognize the voice. The skeleton appears beside you, his eye sockets observing you with a scrutinizing gaze. “Yes, what makes you so special?” He leans closer, tsking with disappointment when you shrink away.
“I’m not some circus animal,” you huff.
The skeleton tilts his head. “No, but you are certainly more interesting than one. What about you keeps these spirits at bay?”
“Spirits? Is that what these things are?” you ask, eyeing them warily.
“Yes, and your little feline too. Although it’s quite rare for pets to linger. I’ve seen it with a dog before but never with a cat. However, a cat is not strong enough to protect you from spirits.” He scans your figure and focuses on your bloody leg. You are pulled away from Guts. Your shirt is hiked up to expose your thighs despite your shouts of protest. “Aha! The source of your protection.” The Skull Knight examines the symbol on your inner thigh with interest.
“That’s different from mine,” Guts points out. He traces the mark on his neck.
“Maybe everyone receives a different marking?” you suggest, failing to convince even yourself.
The Skull Knight scoffs. “The brand of sacrifice is not like a coat pattern. There is only one,” he remarks. You move to get away, but he has a firm grip on your leg. “This… this is something else.”
“If it’s not a brand of sacrifice, what is it?” you ask, wondering what would happen if you kicked this skeleton right in his rib cage.
The Skull Knight clicks his teeth. “If memory serves me correctly, this loosely translates to ‘side love.’” He finally releases your leg.
You laugh in disbelief. “Huh.” You tug the shirt to cover the mark, clenching the fabric in your hand. How ironic. When you decide to cut your losses, Griffith clings harder to you. He’s like a damn cockroach. You just can’t get rid of him. Your skin flushes hotly. How dare he mark you as ‘his’ when you finally decide to leave him. He has no right to claim you after betraying your love and murdering all your friends. The translation suggests that you won’t be the only one, and your thoughts wander to Charlotte. Of course, he always put her first.
The Skull Knight nods, tapping his jawbone thoughtfully. “Yes, I can faintly sense traces of dark magic lingering in your mark.”
“Well, how do I get rid of it?” you ask. The sooner you get rid of it, the better. You don’t want a constant reminder of Griffith permanently branded onto your skin.
“Perish, I suppose,” the Skull Knight answers. When you glare at him, he adds, “There is currently no known method to remove it.” You sigh. That’s just lovely. There’s a sour expression on Guts’s face, and you know you aren’t fairing any better. You’re potentially stuck with a reminder of your psychotic past lover for the rest of your life.
The sun rises, and the ring of spirits disappears. Ember remains, looking up at you with his big, green eyes. You scoop him up out of instinct and cradle him to your chest. You’re pleasantly surprised when you discover he’s tangible. It’s the same as if he was alive. The Skull Knight crouches in front of the cat, who pays no attention to him. “Extraordinary! It’s as if there’s some otherly force helping you retain a corporeal form during the day,” he says, but Ember’s disinterest is unshakeable. Dejected, he turns to Guts and starts a discussion. You don’t pay attention much, hearing a recurrence of ‘apostles,’ ‘demons,’ and ‘evil.’ From the determined look on Guts’s face, you have a hunch about what he plans to do.
The Skull Knight leaves, and Rickert and Erica appear shortly after. The two confess their worries over your lengthy absence. They went to look for you when you didn’t come back, fearing you would hurt yourself or get lost in the dark. The four of you head back to the cave with you and Guts trailing behind. Despite being a spirit, you can feel Ember’s weight as he drapes around your shoulders. You missed hearing his purrs.
Guts is lost in thought. You roll your bottom lip between your teeth as your eyes rake over his body. Almost all his bandages are gone. You’re sure every wound has reopened. You reach out and hold his hand. “Whatever you plan on doing, count me in,” you say. He looks down at your intertwined hands and squeezes them gently. It’s too early. You both lost a lot recently. The pain is still too raw for you to confess your feelings. But for now, you don’t need to say anything. In the following days, when he kisses your forehead, pulls you closer to him at night, or brings you hot chocolate to keep you warm, you just know he loves you too. So yes, the world outside the mine is a frightening place to exist right now. But you have time to heal, to spend time with this man you absolutely adore, and cuddle with your spirit kitty.
─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───
End Note:
I did rush the ending a bit because I just wanted the damn fic to end lol, so sorry if it feels a bit awkward. I have not watched Berserk in a while and I didn't read any of the manga so my knowledge of what happens is a little foggy. I basically just read the wiki a lot lmao.
I wanted to try and set up this dynamic with Griffith where it feels like he loves you on the surface level, but there's this creeping feeling that something is wrong. I don't think I figured out how to execute that well in this oneshot, but hopefully I do if I ever decide to rewrite this.
I did struggle a bit trying to balance the fluff between Griffith and Guts. The one thing I especially struggled with was what to do with Casca. It's implied here that she dies in the eclipse because I honestly had no plans for her. I was not able to come up with any ideas for how to use her if she survives, but I still wanted her to develop a relationship with Guts for character development purposes. So please ignore that obvious plot hole.
I'm starting to ramble so I'm gonna cut myself off here.
I'll see you guys at my next hyperfixation! (。・∀・)ノ
Reblogs are appreciated!
#berserk#griffith x reader#guts x reader#fluff#angst with a happy ending#griffith/reader in the beginning#guts/reader is endgame#All the fucked up stuff happens mainly during the eclipse#Griffith is toxic in this#Reader is dense#gender neutral reader#no y/n#I know the title is stupid but I can't think of anything else
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Hello, Toni!! <3 what is this Y/N the third AU that you speak of? I don't think I hear of it.
0w0GI!!!! Okokok so basically it’s an AU I came up with based on Lupin the 3rd!!!
Y/N is Lupin, Sun is Jigen, Moon is Goemon, Eclipse is Fujiko and Vanessa is Inspector Zenigata!!! Vanny is here too in place of Moneta (who is Zenigata but. He went villain mode for a sec)
Also I’m not good at describing personalities please bear with me</3
Y/N is a wealthy, cunning, master of disguise, violence enjoying thief, stealing mainly for the thrill of it! But they have a heart of gold when it counts! Also goofy, they are goofy!!! They’re also stubborn and reckless. Over confident to the point where it puts other in harms way.
Sun is loyal, caring and easily entertained! But he does have a streak of cynicism. Over all though she’s just as intelligent and sensible! Also more professional than Y/N, but still goofy. He’s slow to anger, but his anger is as powerful as his namesake.
Moon is very prideful, and mostly collected. He feels emotions very strongly, but keeps a fair amount of the extent internally. He’s strict yet compassionate and exceedingly patient. Though, during a mission he can and will lose what composure he has to go gremlin mode (they do out outside of missions too, especially to fuck with Sun (Y/N usually joins Moon in these shenanigans)) He can be overly strict and close minded, things should be done his way, follow what he was taught. Be strictly aligned to tradition. He will exercise what he needs to for that to happen. There have been times where his virtue turns to sin, much to his regret.
Eclipse at his core has a heart of gold, though it’s rarely seen. She is a very cautious character with herself, with her moments of greed and some over-excitement. She’s frivolous and care-free all the same. He’s independent, determined and a trickster. She’ll lie as much as she needs to get where he needs to be, or get what he needs, she uses what she has to an advantage at the cost of having trouble trusting people. He’s not above being a little two-faced either.
Vanessa is clumsy and sensitive, but with a strong heart and resolve. Determined and impulsive, she’s outspoken. Her need for justice is what drives her. She’s calculated and competitive. Her borderline obsession with justice has put strain on her relationships, making her more or less alone. The people she works with admire her determination, her ethics and strength but with her focus on capturing Y/N, she would do anything for that to happen. Even a deal with the devil.
Overall I don’t really have a clear clear story in my head but it’s slowly coming together!
@basyacriptid MORE YN 3RD STUFF!!!!
Bonus doodle of Y/N and Vanessa!
#im taking a lot from the Lupin characters themselves but still taking from the many ways we see sun/moon/eclipse/ect#I feel like a lot of what I’ll do at first are screencap redraws#but it also makes me want to branch out just a bit#draw more cars since car chase scenes are pretty common in the shows/movies#same with more action orientated scenes in general#this will include weaponry! ofc there’s the sword but also different kinds of guns too#grhagrggagrhrhhagr I’m brainrotting so hard 0w0gi#ALSO!!!#I HAVE AN ASK TAG NOW!!!!#Leon/Toni’s Letters#Y/N the 3rd AU#god I’m gonna make it so Afton and Vanessa have some sort of Bill Cipher and Ford but. not like that#it makes sense in my head HANDJDJ
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DEFENDING NALU
I was scrolling through pictures on Pinterest(of NaLu, obviously) and I was reading some comments on a few different posts that said,
“Natsu and Lucy have a brother/sister relationship. He would be better suited with Erza”,
or,
“Natsu isn’t romantic”.
I’m here to explain why these things, and more, aren’t true and why NaLu IS in fact, or more so, will be, canon. LETS BEGIN!!!
WARNING!! - This text might contain spoiler alerts, so be aware
First topic : Why Natsu and Lucy DON’T have a brother/sister relationship
I was reading comments saying that Natsu and Lucy has a brother/sister relationship, and that Lucy wasn’t “strong” enough to be with Natsu, therefor Natsu and Erza would be the better couple. Ok, first of all, Lucy is very, VERY, strong. In the first few seasons, yes, she might not have been super strong, but she still held her own in battle. There was also the argument that Lucy couldn’t fight, and she used other people(her spirits) to fight for her, but that’s not true either. She even said during the battle of Fairy Tail, “I won’t use my spirits as shields, I want to fight with them”, or something of that sort. She has her Fleuve d'étoiles to fight, and her and Loke even won against Bixslow(who previously beat Gray), with both of them fighting. And now, she has her star dress, not to mention her star dress mix. I mean, if the argument is that Natsu has to have someone super strong to be with him, then Lucy definitely fits that criteria, even though that’s not a fitting argument.
Anyway, back to the main point. One of the main reasons why Natsu and Lucy don’t have a brother/sister relationship is that he sees her naked ALL the time. And he also gropes her breasts, and does other stuff that a brother wouldn’t do to his sister. I mean, it would be pretty incest if a brother and sister did that to each other. They also have pretty emotional scenes with each other that a brother and sister don’t have, I mean, I surely don't do all that stuff with my brother. I would argue that Erza and Natsu have more of a brother/sister relationship than Natsu and Lucy do. Although, I wouldn’t quite call it a brother/sister relationship because they also see eachother naked, but they don’t make a good couple. Erza also pushes Natsu around and messes with him, something a brother and sister would do. And Natsu is scared by Erza, don't you think a lover wouldn't be scared of his significant other. Plus, Erza has Jellal, and they’re definitely canon. Anyone who thinks otherwise, has not watched Fairytail, like, at all.
Second point : Natsu is romantic
Natsu is the main male protagonist of the story, therefor he’s one of the characters that we see the most of. We see all sorts of sides from Natsu. We have his happy/caring side, we have his angry/powerful side, we also have his forgetful/nonchalant side. There’s also his emotional side, which was hidden from us up until Future Lucy died. That was the first time we’d actually seen him cry. I mean, I can't remember a time where Natsu cried that intently before. My point is, that we hadn’t see Natsu’s emotional side before in the first few seasons, so we speculated that he just didn’t have one. Then the Eclipse Arc happened, and we realized that Natsu does, in fact, have an emotional side. We had never seen his emotional side before, so whats to say he doesn't have any other sides that we just don't know about yet, one of which could be his romantic side. Just because we haven’t seen the romantic side of Natsu, doesn't mean he doesn't have one, and visa versa. In my opinion, Natsu is romantic, but none of those reasons make a valid argument, so I’m not going to say them. Well, I guess I’ll say one. Natsu. Is. Hot. As. Fuck.
Third point : The way he’s delicate with her
Natsu is a rough, raised by a dragon, kinda guy. He’s not the type of person to be delicate. That being said, the way he’s so delicate with Lucy is endearing. The way he touches her hand, the way he comforts her, all of it. Although, he’s probably a bit more rough in bed *nudge*nudge*wink*wink*. Hehe. Jkkkk, kinda. But anyways, Natsu has never been the type of guy to just stop everything and comfort you, if anything he’s the type of guy to crack a joke about it. Not to say that he isn’t comforting with other people, but it’s mainly Lucy. He does mess with Lucy and tease her and shit, but he’s doing it in a lovingly way. He wouldn’t want to actually make Lucy feel bad like he does with Gray.
Natsu cares for Lucy, we can clearly see that. Some might think that he cares for her in a lovingly way, or a family way. In some ways, it’s both. It’s an opinion. I personally think they love each other and should be together, but other people think differently, and that’s ok. I was just stating why I believed NaLu is one of the best ships, and I was also “debunking” what other people thought. It’s your decision if you like NaLu or not, but I know that NaLu will come into being one way or another.
That’s all! I hope you guys like this! If there’s anything else you’d like to hear from me, then message me or ask me in the comments. Or submit a post or something. I also make fanart and fanfics. I’m currently working on some NaLu for both fan art and fanfics, so stay tuned! See ya!
-ASE
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Boyfriend’s Background Commentary - The Twilight Saga Part Dos
Movie: Twilight - New Moon
Director: Chris Weitz
Cinematography: Javier Aguirresarobe
Budget: 50 million USD
Release Date: November 20th, 2009 (Canada)
Watched: August 30th, 2018
Boyfriend: @shiftaria
Part Uno - Part Dos - Part Tres - Part Cuatro - Part Cinco
After literally taking five minutes to even getting to the movie, due to the boyfriend shitting around and making many references made about my breaks due to the position he got me into, we finally pressed play. Shifter is telling me all about how he barely remembers the movies, and he’s very confused about the opening scene. Very professional. He’s also making the connection between the heavy reference Romeo and Juliet.
Oh, and sexual comment, commenting on Jacob’s long, beautiful hair. Right, it’s Bella’s birthday. Edward is fucking jealous of Jacob… Apparently, Edward is also a fuck boy, which I wouldn’t put past him, mainly because they imaged him that way. Kind of bothered by that since he’s much more respecting. The acting is much better than the first one, at least that’s my opinion.
We have gotten to the wonderful birthday scene by this point. Now, Shifter was really hyped about it due to the Volturi. I mean, Michael Sheen is a really good actor and makes a wonderful addition to the cast. Also, the phase with the painting was beautifully done, and just really makes it a cool way to get the backstory on characters. Now, when the party actually starts, I actually get rather confused. Wrapping paper does NOT cause that bad of a paper cut, and like I get Jasper is still getting used to blood, but like, none of these reactions have happened before. There have to be other times before that moment for Jasper, so why react now? He knows Bella is taken, he’s been around her when she was dying on the floor of the ballet studio. Yet now he’s reacting, what stopped him before? So many questions and like no answers.
Que sad cutscene about the soul and sad music video; while music lyrics are connected to anything Shakespeare related, Shifter is really picking up on that, he has been since the movie started. I’m glad he is, but it seems like the movie got that point across a lot better than the book did, as the book only gave the reader really angsty teenage girl diary for the most of it.
Finally, Edward appears again, like he’s off to a funeral. He tells Bella that his family and himself are leaving, using a very half-ass excuse about Carlisle. Really, Edward starts using emotional manipulation to get her to understand, bringing a real dick about all of it. Oh, and why the conversation has to be so far out into the forest? Great question, Shifter, we honestly have no clue. It was actually really stupid because as soon as Edward leaves, she chases after him, eventually getting herself lost. Would really help if we knew what Charlie was doing during all of this.
Shifter made an excellent point about the camera angles that were used for the goodbye when Edward gave that final kiss. As the angle started normal, Bella’s world felt right, it was perfect, then the angle started to become tilted, showing that Bella’s world was falling about in those very seconds.
“Oh! One pec! And called it!” -Shifter
Now, at this point, we paused because we were having a conversation that all the natives in this movie are from Canada, and it seems to be true.
Fun Fact: Shifter and I are both Canadian.
Back to the movie. We get a really nice time transition, with a really good monologue, showing what Bella was going through, what Charlie was dealing with. Finally, we get back to character conversation, where Charlie is trying to do the proper thing for his daughter. It’s really amazing that Charlie is trying to so hard to help his daughter. He loves her, yet stepping up into full-time father mode, it’s still pretty hard. Charlie will support his daughter in any way he can.
This next scene was really strange, because of ghost!Edward. Like I know in the book Bella is literally going crazy with grief at this point, but doing something stupid and dangerous to invoke those hallucinations should be red flags. Personally, I think it would have been better if Edward actually looked like he was there, rather than like cigarette smoke, kind of made it less of an impact to the movie. Thanks to Jessica literally putting the idea into Bella’s head that she needs to do the crazy shit to invoke an Edward Episode, she gets two dirt bikes, taking them to Jacob, because she needs help to rebuild them.
We once again paused because Shifter pointed out does twilight, a new moon, an eclipse, or the first light of dawn vanishing the horrible night have to do with vampires? Like that’s all werewolf stuff, none of that can be traced back to vampire myths. I actually had to take a step back, quest what this story was even about anymore like none of it made sense. At least now. Really messed up with this.
Ah, the famous age conversation strikes again, it’s interesting, but very unnecessary truthfully. Especially since it started to turn into a cougar joke.
“I am very confused by my teenage daughter. Send help.” -Charlie Swan, 2018 (Shifter)
I really like Jacob being around Bella like their relationship is nowhere as toxic has her’s and Edward’s. It’s healthier for Bella too. Jacob is a really great person as well. Shifter needed to point out that when Jacob and Bella were driving that is was really old school Hollywood, something I never really paid attention to before. Anyway, more backstory about Sam and a bit about why Jacob is really paranoid, well, bothered by him. It’s a good way to get information since the movie was getting to the point where it would be picking up its pace due to oncoming conflict about plot movement. Jacob and Bella ride bikes, Bella gets her Edward Episode, only to hurt herself, which leads to Jacob becoming shirtless, which was very welcomed by myself since these wolf boys are very good looking and a lot more character development than any of the vampires, at least in the movie, both parties were given equal development in the books, and you knew more about them.
Anyways, with Bella spending time with Jacob, she’s becoming more human again. With that, she’s becoming social with her friends again, even planning a night to the movies with her friends. Only for Bella to be stuck between Mike and Jacob, who both have a thing for her. Though, Jacob, he makes a move, even understands her. Only Mike to return and somehow gets under Jacob’s skin.
We actually all know why.
Bella is once again in distress, trying all her options to get ahold of him until she finally just drives to his house, in the pouring rain. Now there is Jacob; short hair, tattoo, and no shirt. Very hot. And Bella accuses Jacob of breaking up with her, fine choice of words, Bella. They exchange ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ conversation, but Jacob is really worried about hurting Bella due to seeing what can happen if he loses his temper in front of Bella. All of this leads to Bella coming up with the bright idea to travel out into the forest to the field. Not safe at all.
Seriously, it’s a terrible idea considering she runs into Laurent, who came to Forks on a favor to Victoria. Bella can’t lie to save her life either, almost leading her to get killed once again. The only reason she was saved this time was huge ass wolves, that everyone decided to think were bears, even Angela mentions about them a few scenes back. Bella rushes home to tell Charlie and Harry is over. It’s very clear that Harry knows about the wolves, so he agrees to help Charlie.
That very same night, someone comes knocking at her door, well, window, and it’s Jacob. Who really is trying to tell her what is up, and the kicker is; as Jacob verbally says on screen, Bella already knows. Thankfully, it only takes her a night to sleep on it, with a really fucked dream to go along with it all. Cut to her bargaining into the Black Household, needing to see Jacob, only for her to find Jacob sleeping. All seemed well with the world until her eyes locked onto Sam Uley and the others showing up. Storming out as Bella ‘Fight Me’ Swan towards them, yelling, even going as far as to slap Paul Lahote; who fought back, Really dumb on Bella’s part, almost leading to herself getting killed again, under twenty-four hours. Embry Call and Jared Cameron take Bella back to Emily Young’s house; Sam’s fiance. Emily has a really bad scar on the right side of her face due to Sam accidentally losing his temper. The pack is rather welcoming of Bella, Paul even apologizes to her once he returns from fighting with Jacob.
Now, it’s finally known why Victoria keeps coming to Forks, the only issue, the pack never knew until now. This leaves the movie to show what is going on when Bella decides to go cliff diving a few days later because she needs her Edward Episode. Only issue is, Bella doesn’t pay attention to the condition of the ocean. And considering Victoria jumping into the water to get away from Jacob earlier, not surprising that Victoria sees Bella in the water. Que Bella hitting her head and start stinking.
“I thought Edward’s power waw to read other's mind, not Force Projection.” -Shifter.
“Oh! Sexy McWet!” -Shifter @Jacob
How Jacob found Bella is something I totally forgot from the book, but sadness; Harry Clearwater is dead due to Victoria. Now, Jacob is really starting to open up to Bella about all of this, telling her about Sam and Emily. They almost kiss, I might as well scream because Jacob is so much better than Edward. Just Bella is stupid and doesn't listen to Jacob when she sees Carlisle’s car, because she’s going to take the risk. And surprise, there is Alice, making Bella really lucky, because it could have easily been Victoria as well. This is where the viewers find out that Alice can’t see past the pack. Oh, and Jacob doesn’t give a shit about rules and there’s apparently something totally between Jacob and Bella- Oh, wait, phone rings. Great, cockblocked again and Bella, you fucking suck.
Road Trip to Italy, to save the asshole that is an emotional manipulation, but whatever. Alice also steals a car and speeds, all calm, like nothing is wrong. There’s Bella in the passenger freaking the fuck out because they only had five minutes. Skip to Bella literally telling Edward that she can let him go, so just let her go, Edward! In comes, the Volturi, who are all wonderfully cast, and Shifter clearly has a boner for Aro; who is played by the wonderful Michael Sheen (I wouldn’t stop writing his name). Just the Volturi is beautiful, and very well played. This entire scene is just masterfully done, it suits such an old coven that is the government of all vampires. Also, Michael Sheen speaks beautiful Italian.
I literally don’t speak Italian, so this is just my observation. It sounds like he’s been practicing it for years.
Then surprise, Bella is in bed, back home in Forks. Edward is back, I am just upset, he could have just let her go, the Volturi wouldn’t be marking the Cullen’s down in their black books. They even go as far as to put Bella’s immortality to a vote, really torturing Edward, which he deserves. Sadly, Rosalie is the only one who’s said no. Kind of wish that more of them said no because Bella deserves so much better. Thank god Jacob is a no too, but he’s so wounded. Bella, you damn bitch.
Also, HOW IS A PROPOSAL A GOOD WAY TO END A MOVIE?!
#review#movie review#movie#the twilight saga#twilight#twilight saga#Edward#Twilight New Moon#New Moon#Bella#Bella Swan#The Pack#Wolf Pack#Jacob Black#Jacob#Alice#Alice Cullen#Charlie#Charlie Swan#the Volturi#Edward Cullen#Cullen Clan
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JOHANN STUFF
tagged by @odric-master-swagtician for mtg fanwalker character stuff
i dont have the energy to finish all the questions so ill come back and finish this later (?)
(also uh someone copy paste the wizards copyright policy somewhere for me to add onto this)
Character Name:
Johann Gottschalk
Age:
25
Appearance:
here, on the right (art by hazoretspartyfavors)
1. What do you know about this character now that s/he doesn’t know?
HEY DIPSHIT YOU’RE WORKING FOR A DEMON
2. What is this character’s greatest flaw?
His dependency. His reliance on faith was a pretty poor coping mechanism for the death of his family, and only fueled an (unsuccessful) campaign to kill the monsters of Innistrad. This let him easily be manipulated by a demon masquerading as a remnant of Avacyn, and well...yeah.
3. What do you know about this character that s/he would never admit?
The dorky kid he trained with as cathars is going to end up saving his life.
4. What is this character’s greatest asset?
His preparedness. Years of isolation and fervent hatred for the monster races of Innistrad allowed him to cook up a bunch of different tools and strategies to kill them.
5. If this character could choose a different identity, who would s/he be?
Honestly? A baker.
6. What music does this character sing to when no one else is around?
He really, earnestly loves Kaladeshi party songs from his time there after his first planeswalk. He keeps sheet music of them around.
7. In what or whom does this character have the greatest faith?
He still holds faith in Avacyn after her death, which led to his manipulation by the demon Süldrum. After he was saved from that sordid mess with @odric-master-swagtician ‘s Ian, and the two slew the demon, he shifted over to the ‘save those who cannot save themselves’ side of things more than ‘kill all monsters’ than he was previously.
8. What is this character’s favorite movie?
What the hell is a movie?
9. Does this character have a favorite article of clothing? Favorite shoes?
Whatever keeps him alive is his current favorite. He’s very much practicality over aesthetics.
10. Does this character have a vice? Name it.
Johann, at least to start, is a bit of a legend amongst the Innistradi for being a brutal, wrathful slayer of the monstrous. His black-and-white morality tends to view humanity = good and monsters = evil, despite the dramatic irony of a vampire creating the angel he worshipped.
This smooths out over time, but he still has a subconscious cruel streak towards his foes.
11. Name this character’s favorite person (living or dead.
By default, Johann doesn’t stick around too many other people, so it’d probably be Ian, since he saved his life and all.
12. What is this character’s secret wish?
He wants everyone good, Innistradi or off-plane, to be safe. Mainly so his work can be done and he can live some semblance of a normal life.
13. What is this character’s proudest achievement?
Felling the demon Süldrum alongside Ian, destroying an offshoot of the Skirsdag known as the Eclipse in the process. The event slightly reversed the negative opinion people had of him once news spread.
14. Describe this character’s most embarrassing moment.
Pick any moment in the prank wars Ian and Johann had in their cathar training youth, basically.
15. What is this character’s deepest regret?
His entire time as an unwitting servant of the demon Süldrum. The demon posed as Avacyn, and commanded him to exterminate the monsters of Innistrad, as well as those throughout the Multiverse. Many of them were simply enemies of Süldrum he wanted eliminated, with Johann none the wiser. It took the intervention of Ian, a near duel to the death between the two, and their combined efforts to end the demon’s machinations and his hold on Johann.
16. What is this character’s greatest fear?
Nonserious: His ichthyophobia. The guy fucking hates fish despite being raised in Nephalia as the son of a fisherman.
Serious: The possibility that if he wasn’t stopped, Johann would’ve murdered plenty of innocent people under Süldrum’s command.
17. Describe this character’s most devastating moment.
The combined shock of his loss to Ian--who he’d soundly bested for years in their cathar training, as well as the revelation that ‘Avacyn’ was actually a Skirsdag demon manipulating him was a supremely humbling moment.
18. What is this character’s greatest achievement?
See #13 (?)
19. What is this character’s greatest hope?
See #12(?)
20. Does this character have an obsession? Name it.
His mission to (previously) exterminate monsters, or (currently) safeguard the meek and innocent.
21. What is this character’s greatest disappointment?
See #17
22. What is this character’s worst nightmare?
Well shit, the guy saw his family’s corpses after they were killed by a Markov neonate. What more do you want?
23. Whom does this character most wish to please? Why?
Honestly? The common folk. He doesn’t stick around in too many people’s lives for long, so he hopes the impression he makes is a good and inspiring one.
24. Describe this character’s mother.
Lorelei Gottschalk was a housewife, but was far more crass than one would expect from that position. Her foul-mouth, take-no-shit attitude, and feisty nature won over Sergei, and the two settled down in Nephalia to raise a family by the sea.
Johann learned to cook from her, and if it wasn’t for her own ingenuity in the kitchen, he may never have learned how to be as handy with tools or food as he is today.
25. Describe this character’s father.
Sergei Gottschalk was a fisherman on the coast of Nephalia, and one of the pillars of his community bringing home most of the food for it’s people. While he would frequently have to go out on lengthy trips, he would always make sure to spend time with his family once he was back home.
He’d often joke Avacyn was ‘testing’ him by giving him a son with a fear of fish who usually refused to eat it, but was always good-hearted and patient with his son.
Johann’s fondest memory with his father was on his tenth birthday, when they were practicing fishing and he ‘miraculously’ (read: his father planted) caught a silvered necklace of Avacyn’s collar. He still has it to this day.
26. If s/he had to choose, with whom would this character prefer to live?
His mother, if only because living on a fishing ship for a majority of his life would kill the man.
27. Where does this character fall in birth order? What effect does this have?
Only child.
28. Describe this character’s siblings or other close relatives.
None to speak of, really.
29. Describe this character’s bedroom. Include three cherished items.
Most of Johann’s life is spent nomadically, but he does have a storage attic he rents out in Kaladesh he rents out and occasionally visits during times of rest.
1. His silvered Avacyn’s collar necklace (See #25)
2. Daybreak, his separating customized sword.
3. Morbid, but he keeps the pulled teeth of the neonate that killed his family in a glass container. It reminds him of his duty and what can happen when he’s not there to protect people.
30. What is this character’s birth date? How does this character manifest traits of his/her astrological sign?
Johann was born on the (Innistradi equivalent?) of May 14th, making him a Taurus.
Tauruses are: Independent, persistent, and stubborn.
(sounds good to me)
31. If this character had to live in seclusion for six months, what items would s/he bring?
Most of his life is done in seclusion, so...this is kind of just ‘default’ Johann?
He’d bring all his survival gear and weapons.
32. Why is this character angry?
BRO HE FAMILY DEAD AND MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE IS A LIE
33. What calms this character?
Safety and quiet easily transitions him from battles for survival or protection back into a calm mindset.
34. Describe a recurring dream or nightmare this character might have.
35. List the choices (not circumstances) that led this character to his/her current predicament.
36. List the circumstances over which this character has no control.
37. What wakes this character in the middle of the night?
Any noises or bumps in the night get him jumpy, given his lifestyle as a monster hunter. He rarely wakes up from nightmares in the middle of the night.
38. How would a stranger describe this character?
Cold, brutal, and overzealous.
39. What does this character resolve to do differently every morning?
40. Who depends on this character? Why?
41. If this character knew s/he had exactly one month to live, what would s/he do?
42. How would a dear friend or relative describe this character?
Bull-headed, tenacious, and loyal.
43. What is this character’s most noticeable physical attribute?
His facial tattoo in the symbol of Avacyn’s collar, a relic of his time as a near-mad zealot working under Süldrum. If he could, he’d get it removed in a heartbeat, though it has some sentimental value for what it used to represent.
44. What is this character hiding from him/herself?
Nothing comes to mind. Johann is (mostly) aware of his flaws and regrets.
45. Write one additional thing about your character.
Johann’s color identity is firmly W/B, with a bit of an equal pull towards R or U for a third color.
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This Sonic Movie Sequel Idea
Had to click in here again okay OK KO is on, "My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad" yeah that's the title my phone remembers the words.
But this....I'm gonna tell you it's very random and makes no sense. This is something that has been in my mindset for maybe since August maybe I forgot now it's September and just.....it's insane...
It's basically my fan fiction and this idea.....I think about it at times. But I'm thinking about other fandoms because the obsession with that Sony Sonic movie in 2019 and thinking of a cinematic universe and sequels. Basically if you've been following me and saw that post imagine if combing both the stories of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 into a movie.
Of just how insane it would be. This is basically the crowing beautiful thing I keep imagining and want for a Sonic movie sequel despite we haven't gotten a movie yet. But also just.....I should mention I really like BVS as a film. Including yes the ultimate edition.
Just....I want to write this because I feel this might never happen or could happen yet it's seriously insane.
Basically it's a battle between Super Sonic, Super Shadow, Metal Sonic, and Perfect Chaos against the Biolizard who's basically been wanting to say this I forgot the God damn Doomsday.
It's a battle so huge and is supposed to be the big highlight of the film and it's themes and other stuff and what it means for the franchise.
Basically it's this idea that the Biolizard is on Earth now wanting to kill everything on Earth and Shadow tries to stop it but gets his ass kicked so Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos and also Chaos is basically reformed and now using his form and powers to try to kill the Biolizard. Yet the Biolizard is programmed and grown to be huge and is able to survive and handle itself against beings like Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos. After the two try to keep fighting the Biolizard and it kills a shit ton of people including Station Square is fucked up because Chaos flooded the place which makes it worse. Along with using many of it's powers like the laser out of it's mouth and bubbles and just which helps it against Perfect Chaos. But Shadow with the help of Sonic becomes Super Sonic I remember decides to forcefully bring the Biolizard into space and even punch it up higher and wants then others to fire the Space Colony Ark's Eclipse Canon
Okay my mom came in and had to put some clothes away just socialized with her a bit to not be weird including used Google to spell eclipse it's difficult and changed channel to MTV 1
But okay read it he wants the others to fire the Ark's Eclipse Canon at the Biolizard and he's trying to keep it still also this is a reference to the ending of Shadow's game where he takes the Black Comet in space. But Perfect Chaos see's what Shadow is doing but he doesn't know theirs a plan going on so Chaos decides to shoot a laser from his mouth that can go into space everyone is shocked and doesn't like this and fearing all this energy could seriously not just kill the Biolizard but also Shadow. So Shadow notices this and shocked but he decides to keep going and the Ark is still gonna fire so he tries his best to hold the Biolizard enough where both the Eclipse Canon and Perfect Chaos's can hit the Biolizard at the same time hoping it can kill it and Shadow having to keep the Biolizard in place.
Also said hi to dad after I put Chaos's.
Both enegry beams from the Eclipse Canon and Perfect Chaos hit Biolizard and Super Shadow at the same time. Thus theirs a mixture of green stuff and blue white stuff in the air the battle is taking at night time almost to morning. It's like a nuke went off in space and everyone is shocked and freaking out. Then two things crash down from space. The biggest one being the Biolizard crashes down in a part of Station Square and the other the smaller one is Shadow and he crashes down some where far from Station Square.
The others including some far away from the battle realize and figure out the Biolizard can not be killed unless it's by pure Chaos enegry mainly straight to the heart. Including it's been now breed to be so tough it just can't die.
So Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos try to fight the Biolizard and at first it kills a shit ton of people in the part of Station Square it's at.
While Shadow still in his Super state is just in rough shape but others find him and he decides to fly back where the battle is going on.
The Biolizard is taking a lot of beatings yet able to kick Super Sonic's ass and even Perfect Chaos too. Then Metal Sonic comes in using his shield and his beam thing that can be fired from his chest which is more powerful now protects Sonic and yeah even shielding him from the Biolizard's laser. Then Super Shadow comes in knocks the Biolizard and makes it fly away in another direction. The reason Metal Sonic joins them and this is on his own will. Including Eggman before this was wondering where Metal Sonic went off too.
Metal Sonic has realized that if the Biolizard isn't stopped it's gonna kill the entire planet with everyone and everything on it. Along with the fact also yeah he mentions he will be the one who will kill Sonic not the Biolizard yet the main thing is the planet. So he realizes they need well super powered beings they have and can get to try to kill the Biolizard. Including Metal Sonic is built to be so powerful he's able to take on something like the Biolizard but has to be careful and use his shield a lot.
Then the huge battle is going on, Sonic and Shadow trying to keep punching the creature and speeding towards it, firing beams from their hands, also spindashes let's put the there too, Metal Sonic like Sonic and Shadow also using his beam, Perfect Chaos trying to bite and fire at the creature even trying to drown and strangle it with water and and water tentacles, and Shadow using Chaos Spear and you know what let's add Chaos Blast in there too. Also during that while all four are trying to keep blasting it, as Shadow arrives by firing a beam at the Biolizard it fights back using it's laser from it's mouth and a laser stand off ensures as Shadow let's out battle cry or something and even the Biolizard roars while firing but the laser is so powerful it boosts up and now pushes Shadow away far away yet Shadow is still going and gets back up.
Seriously the fight is insane, big, people stuck in buildings or just all around are watching and trying to get away from the fight. Along with theirs News helicopters getting footage from far away of what's happening. Seriously everyone's freaking out and terrified because their hasn't been something this big that so many lives are at stake and so much energy all around. Including the Biolizard smacking around the four even at times grabbing them with the tail.
Yet after so much fighting and Shadow now far away and just beaten very badly. He see's Sonic, Metal Sonic, and Chaos keep going at it with the Biolizard but it's not stopping. Including it's becoming more powerful even as the three with Chaos trying to hold it down with tentacles, and Sonic and Metal firing at it for a long time at the same time hoping it can be killed from all of that.
Shadow realizes and surrounded by others people he's met that made him rethink what he's been doing. Seeing the Biolizard not dying and realizing even more it's never gonna stop until everyone is dead. It's never gonna tire until it's mission is complete.
Now a thought by me when I was typing that. He and the others I'm gonna others now they realize this is basically Shadow before he thought of other things. Consent anger and hatred of everything. The one thing he was becoming. Including it's taken so many lives and it's Shadow's fault in a way why it's their and everyone realizes this.
Then Shadow thinks about this. He realizes even more of what he needs to do. But he also realizes even more in depth of Maria's promise. He now realizes and the others see his reaction that he knows now why Maria wanting to give the people of Earth a chance to be happy. They are like Maria, they have families and friends they love and care about. Along with the idea not everyone is bad and people make mistakes and their can be forgiveness. Along with the idea Maria sacrificed herself so he make the world a better place, to give them a chance.
He tells these others what's he learned of even more into Maria's promise and seeing everyone in fear of what could be their death tonight. He mentions that Maria gave shit a message scared me. But he mentions that Maria gave him a chance and okay another message.
But Maria gave him a chance and wanted him promise her to help people. Including saying he wants to give them a chance be happy. During this talking he summons a Chaos Spear big enough and after he's done talking he gets off the ground and fly's off while the others have in a way realized what he meant that Maria gave him a chance despite dying in the end, and what he said to them.
As he flies towards the Biolizard and Sonic see's Shadow coming and this idea that he thinks Shadow is gonna do something crazy including before he got off the ground he took all four of his inhibitor rings off to make sure this attack works. Sonic yells at him of don't you dare. Shadow doesn't care because he knows what he has to do.
He gets close to the Biolizard and stabs with enough power to get the Chaos Spear near where the heart is at. With the Biolizard roaring in agony and the other three Sonic, Metal, and Chaos fall back because of so much chaos enegry around Shadow and the Biolizard. The Biolizard takes this chance and some how is able to stab Shadow where his heart is and his scream is so loud that everyone in Station Square can hear his screaming of agony. Including because he's in his Super state and all four rings are off.
Despite the pain that is so painful and the Biolizard looking at him in anger. Shadow tries to keep pushing the Chaos Spear into the Biolizard's heart and as he goes through the Biolizard's heart the chaos enegry gets out of control and the I'll add this the Biolizard roars in pain and Shadow screams in pain one final time and at this state it's so loud and him using all his power with his rings all off. Shadow's scream is so loud and powerful it's heard beyond Earth such as other dimensions and other planets or others.
Basically I thought now around the world but also hinting the idea even Blaze from the Sol dimension, the Deadly Six on the Lost Hex, maybe hint at Dark and Light Gaia too, and also Infinite hear his scream.
As the energy around them drops even the Biolizard drops. Then we see Shadow in his super form with the huge gash where his heart is at, and his eyes in shock, and mouth opened worth blood coming out a bit, in slow motion he's begins falling down to the ground a visual reference to his fall or basically his death scene in Sonic Adventure 2 where he falls to Earth. But this time Sonic manages to catch him before he hits the ground. Yet he realizes when he is about to catch Shadow.
Shadow is dead after that last burst of energy. Their was no life flowing through him. Including as he slowly loses his super state.
As everyone is shocked and everyone who are close to the battle which well Chaos who returns in his normal state, Metal, Amy, Tikal, and anyone involved with Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and even new characters try to get over to Sonic still in his Super state holding Shadow's lifeless body. Sonic sets down on the ground, I had an idea Metal and Chaos would help carry him that's part of a joke picture in my head.
Yet as Sonic sets down he slowly sets Shadow on the ground, and everyone surrounds them. Including Amy goes to Shadow's lifeless body and gets on her knees with tears in her eyes and as one of the people who screamed Shadow's name when Sonic caught him as they were running towards them.
Also Sonic decides to return to his normal state. Including honestly I've decided I'll let Amy be the one who closes Shadow's eyes with her right hand. As she and others see Shadow is dead. Including even Metal and Chaos are surprised by this.
Everyone is surprised by this. As everyone see's and news helicopters film then moments with the news saying Ultimate Lifeform Dead or Ultimate Lifeform Ultimate SACRIFICE or some shit. Basically telling people the hedgehog that was trying to kill them saved them but also died in the process.
Including Sonic decides and then others hear it his famous line before he leaves the Space Colony Ark in Sonic Adventure 2, sayonara Shadow the hedgehog. Had to look on YouTube Google like last time to spell that right. Along with as Amy cries atop of Shadow.
After the death of Shadow and the destruction of Station Square things changed. But also helping out people clean the city and Chaos is reformed.
Yet everyone realized something. Shadow died saving the planet, and the fact he was the one wanting to destroy the planet so bad, he hated the world, and was despite he was programmed a bit, his emotions and rage controlled him. Yet he realized he was becoming the monster he hated and wanted to destroy. The one thing his sister Maria never wanted him to become because he couldn't deal with the idea of what she said and he was so angry. But realizing now of what he was doing.
Including the symbolism that Maria died giving Shadow a chance to escape, and Shadow died to save the planet to give everyone on Earth a chance to be happy.
People saw that he could of killed us all. But he realized what he was going and he changed and died for us. The idea a God like creature created to be the Ultimate Lifeform sacrificed himself for everyone to survive the next morning changed people. Including made even some shitty people realize of what they were doing and that someone like Shadow could give their life for everyone like that despite everything that's happened to him. What could they do to change their lives.
Except Eggman yet he was still surprised by the fact Shadow died to save everyone but didn't change. Yet Metal Sonic actually even reconsidered his life is and what is he doing. That someone like Shadow similar to him would actually do that. Along with the idea...it made Metal feel emotion and the idea.....does he really wanna kill Sonic anymore. Or should he just stop. Along with Chaos learning more the world isn't such a bad place no more and the Chao are okay. Yet seeing Shadow die for the planet even made him think differently of others now despite both having similar goals of hating the world and killing everyone.
Including maybe not the next day maybe a week later theirs a massive memorial for Shadow as even GUN and everyone else decides to give him a burial, with everyone attending except Eggman and any of his robots. Okay yeah Chaos and Tikal. But also Sonic watching from building but still there.
Including it's a visual reference to him sitting on a building in that one end credits animation from Sonic X the one with Amy in it. Along with as he watches and thinks about what happened the past week. About how things changed now.
Theirs even a statue of Shadow using his post of his CGI model for Sonic Adventure 2 the one seen in the part after the credits that models. Theirs also memorial stones with everyone's names who died during that night at Station Square.
Including so many people attend and they even bring candles or just...it's like a monument yeah it's that and had to look on YouTube Google for that word monument. Where they are sad for everyone but also Shadow's death.
Including afterwards the memorial service is done. Sonic and others are just standing near it but not too close such as under some trees.
Along with Sonic talking about Shadow doing that and how it made him think a bit and others. Basically what I talked about. His death changed people. It made people realize they could change, their can be forgiveness, yet even beings like Shadow could help out to give us a chance. Thought about that a bit more in detail.
After that it's mainly done. Also stuff like a post credits scene showing Blaze maybe yeah I think it was coming into their world now or her dimension after Shadow's death things such as dimensional rifts are slowly opening. Along with some how a end credits scene with the Deadly Six.
Honestly....well God damn I've been writing this for hours....oh stomach yet yeah that's my idea.......I can't typo more it's length tags
#sonic adventure 2#sonic movie#sonic the hedgehog#shadow the hedgehog#metal sonic#perfect chaos#chaos#super shadow#super sonic the hedgehog#amy rose#dr. eggman#blaze the cat#biolizard#sonic adventure#the deadly six#dark gaia#light gaia#sonic infinite#infinite sonic forces#infnite#tikal the echidna
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SO AN UPDATE N THE MOTHERFUCKIN BOI
Fuck an A so I show up like twenty minutes late because traffic was awful but we finally met up and he was like don’t even stress about it and he gave me a hug and I mentioned I hadn’t eaten all day and suggested we get something to eat first before and we got pizza but like the cashier assumed we were together and put the total to one and i was like omg i’m sorry i can pay for mine and he was like don’t worry i got this and i was like MMMMMMM OKAY??
And then we just sat and talked and ate and after that I mentioned the eclipse happening next month and he kept dropping hints that we maybe go see it together? But i couldn’t tell lmao so i dropped it and after that we went to a bar to have a drink because like he wanted to watch the fucking sunset during our little hike and we had an hour to kill before it set so we just sat and drank and talked some more and it was Very Very nice
And theNNNgjjj we drove to the little park that had a hike/trail and we started the trail but like the trees were in our way of the sun?? So we literally low-key just sat in someones yard and watched it LOL because all the trees in the park were covering it and it was the only spot to watch the sunset. And we talked some mooooore mainly just about school and stuff
FUCK AND THEN we were walking back to our cars and he’s like “so i probably should have brought this up the first couple of times we hung out but like… DO you have a boyfriend?” And I was like omg long answer put to short- no i dont, and i just told him like the short story of my shit with alan and he was like god damn what a piece of shit and i was like *monica voice* I KNOW
and then hehhehhhhghgh he was like, “okay I need to confess something to… I- REALLY like you.” and I PROBABLY SMILED LIKE AN INSANE PERSON and i was like “seriously??? because i like you too” and he smile and was like “yeah i’ve liked you probably for a better part of a year now but i just didn’t do anything about it, you know?” and i told him i get it like i was scared to and i didn’t think anything would happen lmao i never get the guy in the end i just end up with shitty ass situations?
and he was like “well now that we have that out in the open— i have to kiss you.” and i was like HHHFHGJGJGJGJ but rly i was probably like “oh. yeah go ahead” and like any kiss of course it was awkward, but like
IT WAS A FUCKIN KISS LEMME TELL U
and after that yeah we just talked for a couple of more minutes and he told me he hasn’t had a girlfriend in like four years because he got into some shit in high school and he wanted to get his life together and finish college and he was like “i just wanted to know that i could take care of myself before i take care of someone else, you know?” just gdkghdkhg the perfect answer i can’t
and i gave him a huge hug and he kissed me goodbye and WELP NOW IM HERE.
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Fairy Tail Chapter 530 Review
It’s a chapter all about Anna… joy let’s dive into, Neo Eclipse
Okay I have an issue with this cover and mainly it’s lucy. Why is she in a sexualized pose? The Phantom Lord arc was actually an arc where she was beaten and tormented and it wasn’t BDSM fanservice. It was actual torture. Easy way to fix this would be to have Natsu and Gajeel in the foreground staring down, then have the robotic castle in the mid ground, and then Makarov and Jose Staring Down in the Background. But on to the Chapter.
We open on Crocus years ago during an eclipse. That was when the eclipse gate opened and Anna appeared in this time line. But she seems to missing some kids.
Okay that’s pretty funny.
Actually here’s a question Toma sees all this but in the GMG arc he never noticed that Lucy looked like Laya and Anna. You think he’s remember seeing as they did something unbelievable and crossed over time. Oh wait, I’m trying to use logic but this poorly timed retcon doesn’t allow for that.
So Anna and Layla catch up and explain the situation. Layla explains how she didn’t want Lucy to bare this burden. Y’know hearing this talk about Lucy and it coming from 2 characters that look like her, makes really angry at the fact Lucy has gotten almost NOTHING to do this arc. I mean christ, it’s not like Lucy’s a main character and these 2 have been flash back only characters who served their purpose in the narrative.
This is weird… Like time travel itself is already tricky and now your trying to see to make a contradiction as if all this is pointless but not pointless. Or is this following the multiverse theory that altering tie makes another universe- And I’m going to stop asking questions.
Oh now you go searching for the flying children, great care taker.
Also again with the king, why did you include this, seriously retcon you’re a pain in the ass already, just please stop making more holes.
So cutting back to the present, Anna explains how in this era there is an anomaly that she discovered…
That was caused by her travel? I guess it makes sense as the plan was to use the dragon slayers to beat Acnologia and this rift in time was a product of crossing time.
Okay Jellal is right how did anyone not notice. Oh wait Anna hid it.
So this rift in time is apparently so strong nothing can exist near in it and in this era of stronger magic nothing can compare to this abnormal magic. Hey Anna, here’s an idea, why didn’t you ask the king for help? Yeah they fear Acnologia too and they know that you’d be on the up and up. Why didn’t you ask for their help with this, it’s essentially a hole in time I don’t know how bright you are Anna but with a whole kingdom working together could probably figure out what this thing is faster and kill Acnologia faster.
The Hole is also apparently very small so you can’t find it easy.
So that’s the plan. Totally not the ending goal of Rave Master.
Or the other option is the dragon slayers, the ones were brought here to beat Acnologia in the first place.
Okay this is where I make a few people scratch their heads on what I say next, this makes sense but I don’t like it. You’re probably curious why I’m so down on a flash back chapter even though having flashbacks are a great way to develop characters. Hell, if you all remember my big break out in the reviewing world was the Irene flashback chapter which I praised the fuck out of. Well, lets compare Irene and Anna. Anna is a character that had no build up that it was possible to be here, only appeared in flash back, and we knew nothing of her character. Irene was a spriggan who were the big villains of the arc, had a presence, and build up before her flash back. Irene’s flash back added to the world and made her as a main villain have more depth to her, Anna being retconned into the present was something that was so easy to explain that the text explanation she gave of how she got here was honestly enough, we didn’t need to see more of it because essentially it would be padding. Another thing that bothers me is with this time spent on something so simple we didn’t need to see it, we’re taking away time that could be spent on characters that do need it, like Lucy. I mean Anna and Lalya are characters who’s stories have been put to rest, we don’t need to know more about them when all it’s doing is reiterating what we already know and won’t impact us anymore in this point in the narrative, whereas characters like Lucy who have gotten almost nothing this arc are still left with nothing. So this whole sequence and back story make sense, but it still is pointless.
Speaking of Lucy, we cut to Magnolia
Oh look Gray is coming to terms to not wanting to endanger Natsu’s life. I’m gonna silently cry for this scene and all the greatness it could’ve had if the whole END and Gray relationship wasn’t botched.
WHAT THE HELL! YOU CAN JUST OPEN IT?! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF TARTAROS?! I mean the whole point of END not being revived sooner is because the magic in the world is so great that END can’t exist but apparently you can open it. I wouldn’t be as mad if not this chapter actually unintentionally made a reason why this is stupid and that’s how we spent so much time talking about this Era having a lot of more magic than in the past. We know in the past END was around, he knew Igneel, meaning he can live in a world with magic just not in an abundance like now.
Okay I complain about Lucy doing nothing, but Gray’s sin this arc is he’s an idiot. He’s not telling his friends about something potentially dangerous. Look Gray has kept to himself before he’s left some characters out of the loop like with Ultear but this isn’t something personal he doesn’t want to drag his friends into but this is the fate of the world he’s not telling them.
We return to the only good thing in this climax, Natsu vs Zeref
The fight continues but Zeref has come to realize that, hey he can’t die.
Yep you heard right people due to all the shit that’s happen to him he’s going to use the power of time to re make the world where he was never turned immortal. Y’know I sound like a broken record but RAVE MASTER! Seriously this is just Lucia’s goals and motivation from Rave, getting screwed over in this world so he considers it a wrong one and wants to go to a world where none of this happened and will use the power of time to make it happen. You can’t get anymore like Lucia at this point Zeref.
Oh god just dye your hair blond and call yourself Lucia at this point.
Again Natsu is sounding like the smart one here, good on ya! Also he seems to be turning into END, well I guess that choice was really pointless as the ones who decide who natsu is are his friends. Also Mavis was a key to neo eclipse. SO Mavis was a way of accessing a power that’ll open the way to using a magic that manipulates time? Well guess we should call her SInclaire now (take a shot if your playing the Rave Master Drinking game). Now Zeref’s master Plan actually does make sense. Unlike Anna’s flashback this actually makes sense of another way to get rid of his curse, as we know, Zeref only hedged his bets on END killing him, still doesn’t mean he can. SO having this back up plan is rather interesting.
As for the next chapter being called “Pegasus vs Black Dragon”, I had a rant for that but I think it best be saved for next time.
Post Chapter follow up: This chapter was weird for me. I can’t really put the Anna stuff as good or bad. It’s doing development but it only treading over already know ground. While it makes sense, we really didn’t need this and just kinda wastes time. Another thing I can’t judge is Zeref’s master plan. It makes sense for his character but it also seems so hollow. Like this is the weakness of having a villain group that’s under developed, we don’t know if he’s been lying to everyone, saying that he needed Fairy Heart to destroy Acnologia or he told them all and they were on board with this. Actually that would be interesting like maybe Irene wanted this new world so she could never become a dragonor maybe August wanted a world where he could be raised by Zeref and Mavis or Brandish who might want in this new world her mother alive.
On the negative side Anna is still negative. I went on a long rant about how she shouldn’t be this teacher because it is ruining the bond of Slayer and dragon, which is sill true but I was still open that from chapters on I wouldn’t be as down on her as I was then. But now, her problem seems to be how her existence is literally causing more holes.
Another thing on the negative is the main characters. Gray you’ve become a fucking idiot. I mean wow. Some people say this is to make Natsu look better but it really doesn’t. While Natsu is still the best thing just for verbally slapping around zeref, my attention is more drawn that Gray is acting very dumb. Lucy as well with this is still doing nothing. This is the final arc, have her do something, now some say Lucy is doing something, she’s the emotional support for the team. I hate that excuse. While Lucy has been the emotional support at times she wasn’t soley just that, she was the heart of Fairy tail. While, she cared for everyone she was still active in fights, coming up with plans, discovering things on her own etc. But now all she’s doing is sitting on her ass either crying or waxing friendship which isn’t Lucy. Lucy doesn’t have to just fight someone to be considered, “something” she could be the one who figures out how to save natsu when he was dying or she could make a way to use the book of END, that would be doing something. But all she’s doing is “emotional support” which is something all characters in this team should have but nope lets just diminish Lucy to just that.
Final negative point is that opening of the book. It doesn’t make sense and what hurts it even more is it makes a way that explains why END can’t be summoned. If he is, you are again lessening Tartaros’s story and it’s END plot.
Good points, Natsu is again the best things this chapter for pointing out this bullshit and trust me that’s a breath of fresh air. Also Yes I’m glad END is still around as a lot of people speculated END was no more thanks to the seed crap.
Another good thing is what Fairy Heart is. Most expected it to be some world ending nuke but actually it’s a way to access time. That is really interesting.
Final Verdict: 4/10
There are some things that aren’t bad but just padding
More misuse of characters
A legit interesting turn
Not bad but not good
#fairy tail#fairy tail 530#ft 530#natsu dragneel#anna heartfilia#gray fullbuster#lucy heartfilia#anti anna heartfilia#end#tartaros#alvarez arc#jellal fernandes#erza scarlet#wendy marvell#Nalu#graylu#acnologia#blue pegasus#ichiya vandalay kotobuki#mavis vermillion#spriggan 12#august#irene belserion#gruvia#gajeel redfox#layla heartfilia#juvia lockser#rhapsode reviews
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Appearance canons.
Missing: eyes, chest, groin, legs
Hair;
His hair is jet black, and unusually thick for a man of his age In fact, his hair has never thinned, so to speak, so he’s got an frankly obnoxious amount of the stuff, which he styles. After the events at the Triskelion, he keeps it a bit longer, letting the strands hang down into his face when he hasn’t combed them back into submission. He likes it this length. It’s long enough to play with, but really outside of washing it, he still doesn’t have to do much with it.
He used to shave. Really, he did. He used to keep his face pristine and free of anything. He gave up on that after joining STRIKE, and it only got worse as he slipped up the ranks. Now he’s never without his scruff. He keeps an electric razor in his kit though, because there’s a difference between scruff and looking like he doesn’t take care of himself, which there’s a very thin line there. His scruff has some very faint patches of gray growing in from the stress of the job, another reason he keeps it clipped short.
Brock is of mediterranean descent, & he somewhat fits the mold of having body hair in all the place. As a teenager, & his earlier years of the Navy, he used to wax it does out of being self conscious. Now he endures werewolf jokes from the kids at STRIKE. It’s especially prominent on his legs, forearms, & chest, very sparse elsewhere, & nonexistent on his back, abs, & digits.
Face;
His face is an easy oval, with a full jaw and sharp cheeks. His nose has been broken and set more than once, and it’s a goddamn miracle he doesn’t have health problems from it. SHIELD’s Medical plan is a significant plus. He hates his ears. A few people have pointed out they’re “pointy,” which he’ll deny with his dying goddamn breath.
He usually doesn’t give his face much thought, ironically enough. He’s less insecure about his general facial appearance than he is his mouth specifically, probably because he never faced the amount of pain and ridicule over it that he got used to with his teeth.
Mouth;
Bones has a definitive oral fixation, so it’s not uncommon to see him with something in his mouth, be it a cigarette, or one of his fingers. His ma broke him of biting his nails, but not of sticking things in his mouth, unfortunately. Great for his partners, probably less great for his lungs. His bottom lip is fuller than his top, and gets bitten on occasion, so sometimes it pops redder than pink.
His teeth are story on their own. Growing up in a not so great area, he didn’t always have the best dental care. He’s suffered his share of dental emergencies, and once he got into the military, he became obsessive about his teeth. (This is in direct contrast to his smoking habit, and he hates that he has it, but being on call 24/7 means he can’t really drink as often as you’d think. Man’s gotta have a vice.) He tends to smirk, and if he smiles, it’s usually with his mouth closed – coffee and cigarettes stain, and even with whitening trays, he’s self conscious as fuck.
His smile is pained, thin, quiet sometimes - usually when no one’s looking. He doesn’t smile with his teeth a lot (he’s too self conscious about that, he still sees them as too stained with coffee, among other things, even if it’s no longer true), so it’s mostly a closed-lipped smirk, or a small half-smile. More bemused than anything. Though sometimes if you catch him in the right mood, he’ll grin like there’s no tomorrow.
Skin;
His skin’s a light olive in coloring, an inheritance from his Ma’s Sicilian side of the family, not-so-carefully worn down and lacking most signs of softness to it. He uses cocoa butter sometimes on it since a body is like a gun, you have to take care of it if you don’t want it to jam up on you when you need it most & want to run it for a few extra years, but like most of his self care, it’s pretty lacking in consistency or embellishment. Still, it’s not as bad as it could be.
He tends to run hot, so he can get away with just his leather jacket on even some of the coldest days. Maybe a scarf if it gets especially bad. He makes a good personal space heater, but sleeping next to him during the summer can be tough if there’s no A/C.
He has several tattoos;
A skull on the right biceps ( X )
A large cross on the left biceps ( X )
A small ‘x’ on the underside of his left ring finger.
Besides the ink, he has several scars, to include;
Several cigarette burns on the inside of his forearms (right)
Various scars from improper knife work on his left forearm.
Burn scars across parts of his chest that he keeps covered under his shirt
MINIMAL BURNS AROUND HIS EYES, which he covers with his aviators.
A scar moving down from his navel that’s the result of a backwater operation during a covert op.
A handful of divots on his back from where he’s had melanomas removed.
He’s not much of a blusher. It takes a lot to coax that out. When it happens, it’s more centered around his neck, his undamaged skin on his chest. His face tends to hide it so on the rare occasions it’s managed, he can ignore it without much issue. He tans in the sun, slipping to a darker olive that’s only barely noticeable since most ops involve significant covering, and since the little stunt with the Helicarrier, he’s been damn obsessive with sun protection (even if he doesn’t need it with the serum.)
Unknown to him, the serum in his veins is slowly undoing all of the flaws & imperfections on his skin. It’ll be a while be for he notices but his tattoos will slowly fade & disappear alongside all but the absolute worst of the scars.
Hands;
Brock’s hands have seen more abuse that nearly any part of his body. It started as a kid. He’s tactile, uses his hands to feel things out more than he relies on any other sense, save maybe his eyes. He has a few thin lines, old scars, from the street fights he used to pick, a few old burns from playing with a lighter, but they’ve mainly been eclipsed by professional wear and tear. He has a scar between the 2nd & 3rd joint on his left middle finger from blocking a broken bottle his father threw at him as a kid. It nearly took his finger off. Now, whenever he flicks someone off, it’s always with that hand.
His hands, size-wise, are pretty unremarkable. It’s the dexterity he gets from repeated fine muscle movements that lend a special spark to them. He can do tedious fine-tuning as easily as he can throw a punch. His fingers are a little on the shorter side. He’ll never play piano, but he can ball them into a fist, tucking them up and keeping them from breakage easily.
His skin’s tough, calloused in all the right places. It makes it an interesting experience to be treated to them, to be sure. Lotion’s a thing, especially during cold weather when the wind kicks up and everything is dry enough to crack. They need some attention and TLC, but he never really has time to give it enough of either. He keeps his them properly bandaged, never throws a punch he hasn’t calculated.
He might be brutal in the field, but he needs his body in working order. As a joke, one of the SHIELD Academy trainees bought him a voucher for a spa manicure as a subtle hint to take better care of his hands. He now very begrudgingly gets it down once in a while when things are especially bad. Rollins found out, & painted his nails once as a joke. He wore that bright green fucking paint until it chipped off, smirking like a complete asshole in meetings and letting the new recruits know he could be a dainty fuckin’ flower and still kick their asses.
Mostly though, his hands show the wear and tear he doesn’t show on his face. He’s constantly fidgeting with them, flexing them, popping joints. He can’t wear rings because of his job -- too easy for them to cause a broken finger or get in the way -- so he has a very small tattoo on the bottom of his left ring ringer of an ‘x’. When asked, he won’t give the answer, but it symbolizes the x in the x’s & o’s on the ridiculous notes he & his wife used to write before she was killed. Should he ever get married again, it’d get updated with the ‘o’ to complete it.
Shoulders;
His shoulders are broad, though by no stretch as broad as Steve’s, but just as muscular. One of them has a permanent sore spot from where he’s had to use it to break down doors more than one, & both are touched by spots of ink from the tattoos on his upper arms. He doesn’t hunch, thankfully he has excellent posture so they sit back when his arms are at his side. He swears the other – his right – has a permanent grove from all of the bags of equipment he’s carried but a medical scan of his body disproves this.
Given his relatively low body fat (5%), his shoulder blades are prominent when he’s shirtless, & the underlying muscle around everything is very obvious. As the serum filters through him, everything has become more defined & trim, leading to his physique as a whole slowly becoming more & more similar to Steve, even though he still retains a slightly less imposing physical stature – shoulders included.
Build;
Brock has gone through several significant build changes over the course of his canon.
Before joining SHIELD, & up until the events at the Triskelion:
Brock registered as 5′10 (approx. 178cm) - not really the tallest on the team but a nice average. Thor, Rogers, Winchester, and Rollins all stand above him but not by much. Likewise, he’s not the biggest on the team – but when you compare yourself to Hulk, you’re going to be disappointed anyway. He weighed in at 172lbs (78kgs), so Thor and Rogers, again, have him beat – but not by as much as you’d think.
His chest is smaller, measuring in closer to Bucky’s 44″ than to the Thunder Prince’s impressive 48″ presence, but his biceps and legs are actually approximates of the same size, giving him a build that’s stockier than most would anticipate.
Though, really, given his extensive training and the fact he spends all of his free time on finding ways to make himself better, that’s not really that surprising.
His posture is pretty shit when he’s not paying attention to it. He lounges. It’s incredibly bad but he just sprawls out, leaning back, legs splayed wide. He’s been told it shows he’s secure in his masculinity. Mostly, he just does it because he can. If he’s at home he’s more likely to lay out on the floor or on the couch. It’s especially comfortable when he’s injured.
After the events at the Triskelion:
Very little changed in the aftermath of the Triskelion. The relatively mild/moderate fusion of Vibranium & the serum cobbled together through fusions of Steve & Bucky’s blood -- administered by HYDRA, & later, SHIELD, in an attempt to bond the Vibranium in a way that would save his life & repair the worst of the damage -- did little to affect his overall physique.
He regained the scant inches he’d lost to aging & too many years of dropping out of planes, put on a little bit of bulk, but overall, a first glance wouldn’t yield a visible difference save that he stood straighter. It was unable to repair the severity of the burn damage, which had resulted in extensive scarring to his face & body, as well as the damage to his left eye that resulted in partial loss of sight.
During his post-Triskelion probationary recovery period, he underwent experimental procedures in the Cradle with Dr. Cho, most of which was done while he was in a coma in the hopes it would repair enough damage to leave him viable for questioning & to stand trial (if applicable) once he awoke.
As Crossbones:
After being taken from outside of the Avengers Tower & given a much stronger, purer form of the serum in addition to the vibranium/serum fusion he’d already received, Brock’s build has definitively changed. He now stands at 6′4/193.04cm, & weighs in at 250 lb/113kg while retaining his 5% bodyfat -- near all of the added weight is muscle.
The damage to his eye was actually revealed to due to insertion of framework similar to that used on Akela Amador, & was subsequently removed during his time in Wakanda. It was discovered to have been inserted around the time of the work being done by Dr. Cho, though there is no connection to her or her methods. The serum repaired the damage to his left eye the framework incurred, enhancing his vision to slightly over 20/20 during his recovery time.
Feet;
Brock’s feet are almost as beat up as his hands -- possibly arguably more so, after long missions. He has scars from some of the things he’s stepped on, including a nice cross shaped one on the top of his right foot from barbed wire he encountered during a dive. They’re heavily calloused -- something he has to have taken care of regularly in medical as it’s gotten to a point it’s painful to walk in boots.
He wears a US size 11 shoe, which mostly manifests in the form of combat boots unless he’s home. Athletic shoes are the second best guess if he’s not in boots, & he’s barefoot around his apartment. He’ll swear he owns dress shoes but finds ways to get out of any occasion that demands he wear them.
His gait is pretty typical, as is his weight distribution when standing -- even across the board. While he’s learned to take better care of his body over time, his feet are often the most neglected area. One of the fastest ways to get him to relax is a foot massage, though be aware that he carries a surprising amount of tension in his feet & legs alone.
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